1 . Video calls are common, but have you imagined being able to stretch the person on the other end of the line? Scientists are making this a reality. Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have invented a soft skin stretch device (SSD), a haptic (触觉的) device that can recreate the sense of touch.

Haptic technology imitates (模仿) the experience of touch by stimulating (刺激) localized areas of the skin in ways that are similar to what is felt in the real world through force, vibration (震动) or motion.

The new technology overcomes problems with existing haptic devices. The research team introduced a new method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”.

“Our three-way directional skin stretch device, built into the fingertips of the wearable haptic glove we also created, is like wearing a second skin,” said Thanh Nho Do, senior author of the study.

It works like this: Imagine you are at home and you call your friend who is in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with 3D force sensors. If your friend picks up an object, it will physically press against your friend’s fingers. And their glove with 3D force sensors will measure these interactions. The force signals can be sent to your glove so your device will generate the same 3D forces, making you experience the same sense of touch as your friend.

The haptic devices could be applied in various situations, allowing users to feel objects inside a virtual world or at a distance. This could be especially beneficial during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people rely on video calls to stay connected with loved ones. Or it could be used in medical practices. Doctors can feel a patient’s organ tissues (器官组织) with operation tools without touching them.

2 . One day, a mime (哑巴) is visiting the zoo and tries to earn some money as a street performer. As soon as he starts to draw a crowd, a zookeeper pulls him into his office. The zookeeper explains that the zoo’s most popular attraction, a gorilla, has died suddenly and the keeper fears that attendance at the zoo will fall off. He offers the mime a job to dress up as the gorilla, so the mime accepts.

The next morning the mime puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd comes. He soon discovers he can sleep, play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mime — he feels the job funny.

However, with days going by, he begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his. Wanting to win back his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage, crawls across a partition (隔墙), and dangles (摇晃地悬挂着) from the top to the lion’s cage first. The lion gets angry at this. The scene is a fuel to the crowd.

At the end of the day he is given a raise for being such a good attraction — well, this continues for some time. The crowds grow larger, and the mime’s pay keeps going up.

Then one day when he is hanging over the lion he slides and falls. The mime is terrified. He starts screaming “Help me!”, but the lion is quick. The mime soon finds himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion and the lion says, “Shut up you fool! Do you want to get us both fired?”

Yesterday, I spend an unforgettable afternoon with my little friend Tom, which was the child of my neighbors next door. When I reached home after school, I found Tom sit on the stair. Because I knew he had lost his key, so I invited him to my home. He started to do his homework. Meanwhile, I called his mother and told her that had happened. Soon Tom finished all her homework. Since it was still early, I decided play Chinese chess with him so that he wouldn’t feel boring. Tom was very careful and he thought very hardly before making any move. Later, Tom’s mother arrived and thanked me for taking care of her son. Tom said he had a enjoyable afternoon. In fact, I also felt very happy.

Last Saturday, tornadoes     1     (strike) some parts of Texas, causing great damage and eight     2     (death).

    3     (fortunate), no one could predict the exact time of the disaster. Serious thunderstorms,     4     (include) unusual winter tornadoes, left damages spreading over a 64-km-long area across the city in the     5     (north) part of Texas. Cars     6     (destroy) or turned upside down, with buildings damaged, trees pulled up. After the tornadoes, they discovered that several people had been caught in the     7     (fall) buildings.

It still remains unknown     8     the electricity can be restored or not. At the same time, the American National Weather Service has made     9     warning that a snowstorm will leave up to 40 cm of snow in west Texas     10     Sunday evening.

6 . A farmer had an old mule (骡子). One day the mule _________ into the farmer’s well (井)unluckily. The farmer heard the mule _________. He tried every possible way to save the mule, but _________.

After carefully thinking about the situation, the farmer decided that _________ the mule nor the well was worth greater efforts. _________, he called his neighbors together, and told them what had happened, and asked them to help carry dirt to _________ the old mule in the _________.

At first, the old mule was mad! But as the farmer and the neighbors _________ shoveling (铲土) and the dirt fall on his back, an idea _________ to him. Every time a shovelful of __________ landed on his back, he would shake it off and step __________!

This he did, blow after blow. ”Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up!” He repeated to __________ himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how __________ the situation seemed, the old mule overcame his fear and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!

It wasn’t long __________ the old mule, tired out, stepped __________ out of that well in the end! What seemed to have destroyed him actually __________ him…all because of the way __________ which he dealt with his adversity (逆境).

That’s life! We should __________ our problems and respond to them __________, and refuse to __________ to fear, bitterness, or self-pity.

7 . Day Trips out of New York City: Fun for Kids and Families in Summer

These four fun and easy day trips out of New York City will add pleasure to your family’s summer. Take a picnic and drive to any of these kid-friendly destinations (目的地) .

Weir Farm is a 68-acre United States national park for art. At the beginning of the 20th century, the farm was the summer home of American Impressionist Julian Alden Weir. Weir and artists in his time painted the landscape’s hills, forests and gardens, changing the beautiful countryside setting into Impressionist masterpieces (杰作) .

The farm is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily.

Founded in 1960, Storm King is a 500-acre outdoor museum located in New York’s Hudson Valley. Here, visitors can experience sculpture (雕塑) amid grasslands, hills, and under the open sky. Spend an afternoon picnicking and enjoying the center’s special combination of art and nature.

The site is open from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm every day except Tuesday.

Historic Huguenot Street is a 10-acre National Historic Landmark District. The Huguenot settlement changed over time, and the site helps visitors understand the historic forces that have changed America by teaching about Native and enslaved African peoples as well as Dutch and French settlers.

The Historic Huguenot Street’s Museum Shop is open Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Brookhollow’s Barnyard, a family New Jersey petting zoo, offers walk-through and drive-through farm experiences to families. Pigs, horses, goats and more as you walk or drive through the farmyard.

Walk-through tickets are available (可获得的) from Wednesday through Saturday. The drive-through experience is available on Sunday.

9 .     1     You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so, however. Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to. Here’s how:

Plan your time carefully. When planning your work, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time. First your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc. Then decide a good, regular time for studying.     2     A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you to realize what is happening to your time.

Find a good place to study. Look around the house for an area suitable for study. Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials. No games, radios, or television. When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject.

Make good use of your time in class.     3     Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes, review the important points that your teacher is going to discuss the next day, and read that material.     4     If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you’ll remember it longer.

Develop a good attitude towards tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. This helps you remember your new knowledge. The world won’t end if you don’t pass a test, so don’t be over worried.

    5     You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.

Learning Chinese calligraphy     1     (list) as one of the must-do things when I came to China. Now, I’m in the course of learning this unique art,     2     value is considered very high in China, even across East Asia today. It is not only     3     ancient artistic form of human language, but it also reflects Chinese traditions.

As someone who paints, draws, and loves all     4     (create) things, at first, I assumed I would be rather good at Chinese calligraphy. I was     5     (total ) wrong. Using thick brush tips to produce awkward brush strokes (笔画)     6     (be) very difficult for a beginner. I have no idea about the different types of calligraphy and the meanings     7     ( hide) behind each one. Also, I have to hold the paintbrush     8     a very specific way; unlike a pen or pencil, the paintbrush is held upright in the hand. I need to be extra careful when changing the angle or     9     (direct) of the brush, especially if I press too hard on the paper.

After taking the lesson, I now understand the difficulty of calligraphy and that it will take efforts and commitment     10     (master) this art form. Yet, I am grateful to learn such a special Chinese tradition.