A successful translator must have an excellent, up-to-date knowledge of his source language, full facility in the handling of his     1     language, which will be his mother tongue or language of habitual use, and a knowledge of the latest subject-matter in his fields of specialization. This is his professional     2    . In addition to this, it is desirable that he should have a (n)     3     mind, wide interests, a good memory and the ability to grasp quickly the basic principles of new developments. He should be willing to work on his own, often at high speeds, but should be     4     enough to consult others should his own knowledge not always prove adequate to the task in hand. He should be able to type fairly quickly and     5     and if he is working basically as an information translator, let us say, for an industrial firm, he should have the flexibility of mind to enable him to switch     6     from one source language to another, as well as from one-subject-matter to another, since this ability is frequently required of him in such work. Bear in mind the nature of the translator’s work is the     7     of the written word; it is, strictly speaking, unnecessary that he should speak the language he is dealing with. If he does speak them, it is a (n)     8     rather than a weakness, but this skill is in many ways a luxury that makes no much difference to him. It is, however,     9     that he should have a rough idea about the pronunciation of his source languages, even if this is restricted to     10     how proper names and place names are pronounced.

How and why, roughly 2 million years ago, early human ancestors evolved large brains and began fashioning relatively advanced stone tools, is one of the great mysteries of evolution. Some researchers argue these changes were brought about by the invention of cooking. They point out that our bite weakened around the same time as our larger brains evolved, and that it takes less energy to     1     nutrients from cooked food. As a result, once they had learned the art, early chefs could invest less in their digestive systems and thus invest the     2     energy savings in building larger brains capable of complex thought. There is, however, a problem with the cooking theory. Most archaeologists believe the evidence of controlled fire     3     back no more than 790,000 years.

Roger Summons of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a solution. Together with his team, he analyzed 1.7 million-year-old sandstones that formed in an ancient river at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. The region is famous for the large number of human fossils (化石) that have been discovered there, alongside an impressive ‘assembly of stone tools. The sandstones themselves have     4     yielded some of the world’s earliest complex hand axes —large tear-drop-shaped stone tools that are associated with Homo erectus (直立人). Creating an ax e by repeatedly knocking thin pieces off a raw stone in order to create two sharp cutting edges requires a significant amount of planning. Their appearance is therefore thought to     5     an important moment in intellectual evolution. During the process, the researchers found distinctive but unusual biological molecules (分子) that are often     6     as biomarkers of heat-tolerant bacteria. Some of these live in water between 85℃ and 95℃. The molecules’     7    suggests that an ancient river within the Gorge was once fed by one or more hot springs.

Dr. Summons and his colleagues say the hot springs would have provided a convenient “pre-fire”     8     of cooking food. In New Zealand, the Maori have traditionally cooked food in hot springs, either by lowering it into the boiling water or fey digging a hole in the hot earth. Similar methods exist in Japan and Iceland, so it makes     9     sense, if difficult to prove, that early humans might have used hot springs to cook meat and roots. Richard Wrangham, who devised the cooking theory, is fascinated by the idea. Nonetheless, fire would have offered a distinct advantage to humans, once they had     10     the art of controlling it since, unlike a hot spring, it is a transportable resource.

How to get all of the toothpaste out of the tube haunts many a bathroom. Bus not, perhaps, for much longer. Colgate-Palmolive, an American consumer-goods     1    , has taken up an invention in super-slippery surfaces to produce a toothpaste tube that     2     to deliver every last scrap of their contents.

In 2012, two inventors set up a company called LiquiGlide to commercialise their work on making liquids flow easily through pipes and out of containers. What caught many people’s imaginations at the time was a(n)     3     of how this could be used to empty a ketchup bottle without shaking it vigorously.

So far, ketchup-makers have not     4     the idea. But the health and beauty industry, where products tend to be pricier than ketchup, is interested. A Swiss company     5     the technology to lessen the amount of material left stuck to the insides of pipes and vesseis in its factories when it is time for a clean-up.

LiquiGlidc’s deal with Colgate is, though, the firm’s first big break into a consumer business. The new toothnastc called Elixu, comes in three varicties: a formula tor whitening teeth, one for gum and enamel care and a “detox”     6     which, it is claimed, removes any     7     from the mouth. All are packaged in plastic tubes that can be emptied with ease.

To produce the slippery pipes and containers, a pattern is first     8     an them and then a suitably formulated liquid is     9    . This fills the gaps in the texture, treating a surface across which gooey substances slide easily.

Besides pleasing customers who like to get their money’s worth, the new, slippery toothpaste tubes should help with recycling. Existing tubes are rarely recycled, not only because they have residue left inside them but also because they are usually made from a laminate of plastic and aluminum foil.     10     materials of this sort are hard to recycle, and therefore end up being dumped in landfills.

Exploring the Essence of Heroism

Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. But as we     1     deeper into the lives of our heroes, we inevitably confront our own need for them and start questioning the     2     of heroism itself.

Across diverse cultures, heroes exhibit certain traits that attract and motivate others. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and a community offering its     3    . The exploits of the heroes are extraordinary,    4     the collective imagination of their communities. But a hero goes beyond mere fame. Heroes are like high-voltage(高电压) transformers,    5     to serving powers or principles larger than themselves, which take the energy of higher powers and channel it for the benefits of ordinary folks.

The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. A crucial test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? If the answer or evidence suggests they are     6     solely by a quest for personal renown, they may be famous persons but not heroes.

While figures like Madonna and Michael Jackson command fame, their influence     7     in comparison to true heroes. Heroes, by contrast, serve as catalysts (催化剂) for profound societal change. They possess a vision that     8     beyond the ordinary. With their skills and charm, they mobilize the masses and pave the way for new opportunities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. It may be possible to     9     a large-scale revolution without leaders with personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, and the vision ambiguous.

In conclusion, heroes are not just individuals of genius or originality, but they are also embodiments of selflessness and service to a higher purpose. They breathed new life into unchangeable situations,    10     the beginning of transformation and progress.