The world is full of wonders, and they become more wonderful when science looks at them. Scientists have uncovered some secrets behind these wonders. And     1     (honor) their efforts, the Pineapple Science Award has been created, shining a light on the parts of our lives that are easy to ignore.

The award recognizes     2     (amuse) scientific research. It was in 2012     3     (original) initiated by the Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum and Guokr.com, China’s leading popular science website. The awards     4     (divide) into 10 categories, mathematics, biology, psychology, just to name a few.

The prize for outstanding biological achievement     5     (go) to Lars Chittka in 2023. Chittka found that bumblebees enjoy rolling around wooden balls, which suggests that insects interact with objects as     6     form of play, like humans. Chittka hoped that “the work raises awareness about the many alien minds that surround us”. “I am more than pleased to accept this award. All science is a kind of playful, exploratory activity.” Chittka added, “I would be very happy if the visibility of this award gets more people interested in our work,     7     I would be proud if this leads to     8     (far) participation.”

The awards not only attract public attention and give scientific research more     9     (expose). They are also intended to build a platform to help the younger generations establish an interest in science. One winner said, “Science is critical for all. After obtaining more scientific knowledge, one can easily tell false advertising, passed off as science,     10     the truth.”

Beneath an orange tent along East 32nd Street Saturday morning, warmly dressed locals     1     (deliver) pies, filled with everything from nuts to apples and cheese, to be judged in the first-ever Great Waverly Pie Contest. After thorough evaluations based on taste,     2     (present) , and number of ingredients (原料) , a sweet pie by Matt Maxion and a savory (香草的) pie by Garrick Houston took top     3     (honor) .

“My mother’s family is from the Louisiana-Texas border, so I grew up eating jambalaya (什锦饭) ,” explained Houston. Drawing inspiration from his mother’s jambalaya recipe, Garrick Houston made his pie that contained ingredients like sausage, olive oil, and bell peppers     4     (source) from local farmers’ markets. “I    5     (live) in Maryland for four years when I was young. So I wanted to combine my past,     6     is my filling, with my present home,” Houston said.

    7     (similar), Maxion, who moved to Baltimore from California about a year ago, got inspiration for his prize-winning creation—with ingredients including the Southeast Asian plant pandan—from his Filipino hometown. With     8     help from local farmers and VMart Pilipino Store in Nottingham, he credited his successful pie     9     lots of planning and a willingness to lean into the process.

The organizer Martha Lucius was excited     10     (see) the new neighborhood competition come to life, saying, “It’s been great to see all of the excitement.”

Chinese scientists have started a scientific expedition to the Mount Qomolangma.     1     total of 170 scientists have begun to do research on water, ecology and human activity, aiming     2     (reveal) the mechanism of environmental change and optimize the ecological security barrier system on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

    3     (label) as the roof of the world and water tower of Asia, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is an essential ecological security barrier in China. It is also a natural laboratory for     4     (conduct) research on the evolution of Earth and life, and the relationship between man and Earth.     5     an important part of the research, the ongoing expedition is     6     (particular) important to the study of the impact of climatic and environmental changes in the Mount Qomolangma region on other parts of the world.

The expedition focuses on major scientific     7     (issue), such as how the extreme high-altitude environment of the Mount Qomolangma changes under the influence of global warming, according to Yao Tandong,     8     is the team leader. “The expedition has realized the     9     (transform) from ‘I want to conquer you’ to ‘I want to understand you’, achieved the application of new technologies and resulted in important international influence,” he said. So far, many scientific achievements     10     (make).

On the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (高原), the Sanjiangyuan Region, which has the     1     (impress) landscape and various wildlife, is home to the headwaters (上游) of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers,     2     is thus known as Asia’s “water tower”. The Sanjiangyuan Region is not only the source of splendid rivers, but also an important habitat for species on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. In the past few decades, the delicate ecological environment     3     (preserve) silently by the locals.

Little known to the outsiders, Jianzuo Village, located near the headwaters of the Lancang River, is the first community on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau to lead a zero-waste life. People gave up using plastic products     4     (protect) the water and soil in the Sanjiangyuan Region. In 2017, local people made use of floors, doors and windows     5     (desert) in the Yushu earthquake to build     6     zero-waste environmental protection school.     7     makes the school unique is that the insides are decorated with recycled things and second-hand furniture. And every old object has a special story. The zero-waste school also     8     (remind) the local people of the beauty of traditional culture. As the “zero-waste dream” comes true, people who have lived     9     generations on the plateau have also regained their cultural     10     (confident).

Zanhua Wei, known as “the garden on the head”, is a kind of flower headwear     1     (wear) by local women in Xunpu, a fishing village in Quanzhou, Fujian Province.

The production of it needs to go through multiple     2     (process), including cutting, laying, inlaying, coloring and so on. Main materials for making hair-pinned flowers are metal wires, jewelry stones and colored pearls,     3     (delicate) combined to form a variety of flower patterns.

Opinions vary about the origin of Zanhua Wei, with some saying     4     originated from the custom of Central Asian women wearing flowers and was brought back through the maritime Silk Road during the Song and Yuan dynasties,     5     Quanzhou served as one of the few leading trading ports on the southeastern coast of China. The ships carried spices and all kinds of     6     (value) goods to Quanzhou for trade, notably countless jewelry stones and pearls.

In 2008, the custom    7     (include) in the national intangible cultural heritage list. Besides    8     (use) as hair accessories (配饰), head-pinned flowers play     9     undeniable role in traditional Chinese culture. Zanhua Wei carries the emotions and memories of the fisherman’s family, reflecting the diligence and simplicity of Xunpu, as well as the    10     (expect) for a better life.

Stretching from east to west for over 60 kilometers, Songshan Mountain is acclaimed in folklore (民俗学) as the “origin of all mountains”. Its well-preserved angular rock shapes     1    (form) by three violent movements in the earth’s crust, and the most recent happened 570 million years ago,     2     the Himalayas and the entire Qinling Range were submerged under the sea.

However, it is the 1,529-year-old Shaolin Temple,     3    (locate) in a mountain forest near Dengfeng, and its style of kung fu that have left the biggest impression on the world. Today, Shaolin Temple attracts     4    (rough) 7 million Chinese and international tourists and martial arts enthusiasts every year.

While the area is famous around the world for Shaolin Kung Fu, it is also becoming known for other cultural     5    (aspect) including Chan Wu Yi, which combines Zen meditation, kung fu and traditional Chinese medicine, and has been promoted by Master Shi Dejian for 30 years.

In 1994, Master Shi Dejian, under the     6    (guide) of his teacher, started the restoration of the academy’s damaged buildings     7    (study) and promote Chan Wu Yi. Eleven years later, with Shi Dejian     8    (work) as its director, the Songshan Chan Wu Yi Research Institute was established. “It has become     9     normal part of our lives to practise internal cultivation, and     10     can be said that Chan Wu Yi is our basic way of life.” he said.

Imagine a vehicle that can pick you up outside your home, drive to the nearest railway line, and change itself into a train. It may sound like a story from “Thomas the Tank Engine,”     1     that’s exactly what Japan’s DMV Road-Rail buses have been doing since they    2     (launch) on Christmas Day 2021.

With a capacity of 23, the DMV is a diesel-powered (柴油驱动的) bus fitted with a set of retractable (可缩进的) rail wheels    3    can be put in place in about 15 seconds. Lighter than a traditional train, the DMV also consumes less fuel and is    4     (cheap) to maintain.

    5     (advertise) as “the world’s first operational dual-mode vehicle,” it is actually the latest in a long series of similar experiments    6     (improve) rural rail services. As far back as the 1930s, similar vehicles    7    the DMV were tested in England and West Germany.

Tokushima government hopes that the DMV buses    8       (become) a tourist draw in their own right. It also believes that the vehicles could also be useful for reaching isolated communities in the event of natural    9     (disaster) such as earthquakes, which can leave sections of roads or railway lines    10     (usable).

The 74-year-old art historian Mimi Gates has     1     (enthusiastic) participated in the conservation of the Dunhuang relies for years. When speaking about     2     topic, she goes from the cultural and historical background of the caves to the vivid details of certain paintings there.

Looking back, Gates says     3     changed her life was the decision to visit Asia when she was young. She found herself     4     (attract) to Asian culture, and decided to start with China as her primary interest. She paid her first visit     5     Dunhuang in 1995 and “had a brief glimpse of the     6     (great) of Dunhuang”. The Dunhuang grottoes are a 1,600-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site     7     (comprise) about 500 caves and a large collection of Buddhist art. She was invited to return in 2009     8     (present) a paper at a conference there. Spending a few days there, Gates visited the caves whenever she had free time.

When Fan Jinshi, the then-head of the Dunhuang Research Academy,     9     (visit) the US to raise funds for the protection of the site, Gates suggested setting up a foundation     10     accepted Fan’s offer to help organize and chair the foundation, for it was such a spectacular site and so important to humanity in her mind.

Butter arguably makes everything better — even tea. Yak (牦牛) butter tea, a traditional drink of China’s Tibetan ethnic group, is catching on with its     1     (salt) and unexpected flavor.

For Jason, who works at Café Himalaya in New York City,     2     butter in the cup of tea before him ideally comes from a yak.     3    , in New York yak butter is pretty hard to come by, so Jason, as well as anyone who orders it at Café Himalaya, has to make do with butter     4     a cow. Back in Tibet, yak butter is plentiful, yet no one knows exactly when yak butter     5     (add) to hot tea for the first time.

The     6     (introduce) of this hot butter tea to Tibet provided Tibetans with warmth and supplemented their meager (贫乏的) diet. Also known as Tibetan medicine, it is believed to be able to     7     (sharp) one’s mind and body. Today it is part of Tibetan hospitality to offer guests butter tea and refill the bowl again and again until it’s time for goodbyes — at which point a polite guest will drink up     8     is left.

To non-Tibetans, yak butter may taste strange at first as it makes for a very different taste than the sweet butter     9     (produce) by corn-fed cows. Some of them find it helpful     10     (think) of it as a sort of light soup rather than as tea.

The painting Prosperous Suzhou, ink and color on paper, 1,241cm in length and 36.5cm in width, is     1     (current) housed in the Liaoning Provincial Museum.The painting     2    (complete) in 1759 during the Qing Dynasty.     3    (paint) in hand scroll format (手卷) with cavalier perspective painting methods, the entire piece vividly illustrates     4    urban life of Suzhou during the High Qing era, with lively trades, countless businessmen and various goods. The whole scroll describes the local conditions and customs in the southern     5    (region) of the Yangtze River, including the landscape of lakes and hills, city wall and     6    (it) gates, ancient ferries and rowing boats, towns along the river, folk customs, and shops of all trades, all of     7    reflect the prosperity (繁华) of Suzhou in the mid-18th century. Therefore, it     8    (hold) extremely high historical and artistic value.       

China Post issued a set of six special stamps based on this painting     9    May 18,2022. This set of stamps, designed by Xing Wenwei, fully reproduces the artistic conception of the original painting,     10     (create) a unique visual effect.