1 . When photographer Birte Kaufmann was on a trip with friends in the Irish countryside, she met Irish Travellers. How could she dig deeper into their culture, Kaufmann wondered. She made plans to photograph them.

A nomadic (流浪的) group, the Travellers have lived on the margins (边缘) of mainstream Irish society for centuries. Efforts have been made to bring the community into mainstream culture by settling ( 安置) them into government housing and enforcing school attendance. But even living among “settled people”, they face ongoing unfair treatment.

To get access to the community, Kaufmann first asked for help from human rights groups, but failed. Then she decided to do it the hard way. On her next trip to Ireland, she simply went to the community. 

A young woman came up, speaking poor English. Kaufmann decided to lay her cards on the table. “I told her that I knew who they are and was interested in how they live,” Kaufmann says.

“The woman was totally surprised, but finally her family invited me for a cup of tea. I asked them if I could stay with them,” Kaufmann says. “They laughed, as if to say, ‘Yeah, right.’”

One of the family members — a young mother who took a particular shine to Kaufmann — began teaching her Gammon, their unwritten language. “She tried to teach me words to say if the men are being rude,” she says. “She tried to make me feel more comfortable.”

The men gradually accepted Kaufmann and allowed her to photograph them. She was able to photograph them as an observer of their everyday lives — lives, she says, that are filled with a lot of free time. As Ireland becomes less agrarian (农业的), the Travellers’ work as horse traders, farm laborers, etc. has become more scarce (稀少的).

“On the one hand life was so sad and boring because everything their lives depended on wasn’t there anymore. On the other hand there was this freedom — they live their lives in their own way,” Kaufmann says.

5 . Alifa Chin is a 13-year-old Bangladeshi girl whose last name sometimes leads to her being mistaken for a Chinese.

“I like my name very much. I think my name is the _________ of friendship between Bangladesh and China,” she said. In 2010, Chin’s mother, Jannatul Ferdous, was unable to _________ naturally due to a serious heart problem. Local doctors failed to _________ the necessary surgery (外科手术).

_________, the Chinese navy’s Peace Ark hospital ship was about to arrive to provide medical _________ for locals in Chittagong. “Now we feel _________ for the efforts of Chinese doctors and nurses that help me give birth to a healthy baby,” Ferdous said.

This year, Chin wrote a letter to President Xi Jinping to _________ her gratitude. To the family’s _________, Xi wrote back. In the letter, Xi _________ her to study hard, pursue her dream and carry forward the __________ friendship between China and Bangladesh.

“To __________ President Xi’s expectations, I will study medical science to help those in need,” she said.

The girl’s father said, “We didn’t __________ that our daughter would receive the letter from the Chinese president. This is the most __________ thing in our life.”

“We have seen how people in other countries have gained a better understanding of China through the medical __________. To local residents, China is a major country that is responsible, peace-loving and always __________,” she said.

6 . COVID-19 shutdowns forced people out of work and pushed tens of millions into poverty worldwide. Governments tried hard to provide aid. It was easy in a small country, but difficult for a country with large population and vast rural areas.     1     Doing a detailed, nationwide, house-to-house survey takes people time and money. Luckily, satellites can see poverty from space.

Researchers have been finding ways to identify areas of wealth and poverty in satellite images. Through some satellite data and aerial images of one town or another, you can sort of tell whether it’s wealthy or not. Wealthier homes tend to have metal roofs while poor homes tend to have thatched roofs. Wealthier neighborhoods have paved roads and bigger plots of lands, more spaced out.     2     The researchers trained artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize these patterns.

    3     The researchers put AI to work studying patterns of mobile phone use in those regions. Rich people will make just more phone calls than poor people. They also might make more expensive international calls. They might use more mobile data because they have smartphones.     4    

The researchers use the system to identify about 60,000 people to receive benefits. The advantage of the satellite imagery and phone data approach is that it’s extremely fast and very convenient.     5     In shocks like climate disasters where there’s no time or way to get detailed information on the ground, satellites mobile phones and AI could help deliver aid quickly to people in need.

8 . The Masai(马赛人) are continually trying to keep their own ways in an increasingly modern world. They live along the border of Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, moving their homes from time to time to follow their cattle, the source of their livelihood. They rely on their cattle in many parts of their life. They like drinking the cows’ milk.

They don’t kill their cattle for food. But if a cow is killed, the parts of its body are used to make containers, shoes, clothin,   ropes, bed coverings and so on. Not all of the men have cows. The more cattle a man owns, the richer he is considered to be. A man who owns 50 or fewer cattle is considered poor. Rich men have a thousand or more. The cattle, though owned by the man, are considered to belong to the man’s entire family. The family names the cattle and can recognize each animal’s special voice.

The Masai men have become known as warriors(勇士), protecting their cattle against other wild animals. They wear their red long hair. Most women often take care of their children, cook food, clean clothes and make clothing at home. They also make necklaces dresses and headdresses. A few women can also become authorities once they are powerful enough. They speak a language called Maa.

The houses of Masai made from sticks and grass, which are held together with a mixture of mud, are not very firm or safe. These plain houses with some basic supplies are built in a circle and make up a Masai village. They are not meant to last long since the migration(迁徙) of the cow population means that the Masai move as well. In the meantime, in order to prevent animals from entering, they also form a wall of branches. The whole setup is to protect the cattle, which sleep at night in the middle of the village. They seem to live a natural and self-sufficient life but lack modern civilisation.

9 . The United States you may not know

The United States is the only superpower in the world, and it is far more advanced than any other country. However, we can’t simply owe its _________ and prosperity to its lucky escape from the destruction of the two world wars. What other nations should _________ is the American spirit and its social system.

The most obvious features of the American spirit are _________ and pragmatism (务实思想). Nearly 70% of the important inventions have been made in the US since the first industrial revolution. Since the US occupies such an important position in science and technology, naturally it has become the first superpower in the world.

Americans are always _________ with what they have achieved, and they have an appetite for adventure over the love of _________. European countries have been pursuing a reformist policy of “high tax and high welfare” since the 1960s, while only the US _________ the policy of “high risk and high return”. _________ , the US has become the leader of the third industrial revolution (in technology of information, materials and biology).

High salary is not the only _________ that the talents from other countries find in the United States. Some characteristics of American society should not be _________. Family backgrounds and great wisdom in building connections and playing up to the boss, to which great importance is attached in other countries, are not so important to __________ development in the US. Most people are on the same starting line, and whether one can succeed or not depends on his own ability and hard work.

However, the American character is full of paradoxes (矛盾). The American people are both extremely romantic and pragmatic. The American is a(n) __________ people, but in every field there are workaholics. The Americans are open-minded but they are very conservative on certain matters. Since China’s reform and opening-up to the outside world, many media in Western countries have greatly __________ their attitudes towards China. However, the American media are singing the same old tune against China as they were in the Cold War period. The Americans __________ freedom, but their government is very fond of interfering in other countries’ internal affairs. What’s most puzzling is that the Americans __________ authority, but they highly respect the laws and regulations of the society. Therefore, in such a nation that values personal liberty, the society can still be kept in good order and operate with high __________ . Is it odd? No one can provide a satisfactory answer.