1 . The kitchen is not just where we prepare meals. In many places, the kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s where we connect with our family and friends. We have open talks about our pleasures and problems we met during the day while we make dinner or have a bite to eat. So, it can be a very busy room in the house.

Sometimes you need order in the kitchen for things to run smoothly. And sometimes you need one person to be in charge. Imagine you are cooking dinner for your friends. As you are making the soup, your friend Sara tastes it and says, “This needs more salt.” So, she adds more salt. Harlan comes to taste your soup and throws some fresh black pepper into the pot and some dried herbs. Cecilia tastes the soup and pours in some vinegar. What will the soup be like?

You are happy to spend time with your friends. But, quite frankly, all their opinions about your soup are becoming annoying. Worst of all, you taste the soup and it’s awful! And that is where we get the expression “too many cooks spoil the soup”.

This expression describes an age-old problem: If too many people help to complete a task, it may not go very well. But, you may think, “If many people are trying to get something done, the task will get done faster.” After all, American English also has the expression “many hands make light work”.

To answer that point, I will draw your attention to the word “cook”. Now, the cook is the leader in the kitchen. They may have assistants to help them. But the cook has the final say. So, what if a kitchen has many cooks? Who is the leader? Everyone! And that’s where the trouble comes.

Chinese are the world’s most optimistic people about the future of their country, says the monthly survey, “What Worries the World — July 2017,”     1     (report) by the global market research company, Ipsos, on August 6th.

US media, Axios, said Chinese are     5     (true) optimistic about the future of their country, while most Americans are worried that their country is going downhill.

Most Chinese participants in the survey worry about moral decline (道德衰退) (47%),     6     (environment) problems (40%) and unemployment (31%) while healthcare, terrorism (恐怖主义) as well     7     crime and violence, are the top three     8     (worry) for Americans, the report noted.

Besides, the report pointed out that nearly 43 percent of Americans interviewed     9     (be) optimistic about their country in July 2017, down 4 percent from the previous month, but much     10     (high) than during the presidential election (选举) in October 2016.

5 . Brendon Birt accidentally took a wrong turn down a street in Red Oak, Iowa. But it turned out it was exactly where he was _________! As he drove down the road, he saw heavy smoke from a family’s home. He knew the home was on fire. Without thinking, he stopped his car, called 911 and ran towards the _________ Brendon ran up and saw most of the downstairs was already full of _________. “I just believed there had to be someone _________ inside the house because it was so late at night,” Brendon said. “I knew I had to act _________. Every second that was going by was just getting worse.” He _________ to the side of the home and started pounding on the windows with _________, calling for the people to get out.

The homeowner, Tender Lehman, was _________ that night but her three younger children ages 8, 14, and 17 were inside being looked after by her _________ son, Bryce Harrison, 22. No smoke alarms __________, so if it weren’t for Brendon’s warning, they might not have ever __________ Brendon was relieved (放心) when he saw the four children run out of the __________ to safety. Days later, Tender came home and went to see the man who __________ all four of her children. “I’m so __________,” Tender said. “My kids wouldn’t have __________ it, without your kind action.”

7 . Liao Wentao, a pet undertaker, put the body of 2-year-old Garfield on a small bed surrounded by flowers. Then he let the cat’s owner say a last goodbye before cremation (火化). “We send off 400 to 500 pets each year, and there’s a great demand for pet funerals,” he told China News.

Keeping pets has become a trend for young people in China and people are more than willing to pay for whatever their pets need. From 2019 to 2021, China’s pet market grew by almost 18% and hit 348.8billion yuan in value in 2021, according to a report by Research Consulting Group.

As the pet economy develops, animal lovers’ various needs have boosted the emergence and development of related businesses such as bathing, pet food, pet beauty and healthcare.

In addition to basic services, pet owners are increasingly paying for many new services, such as training, pet funerals, insurance, photography and entertainment. The growing pet market has also given birth to a large number of new pet-related jobs, noted CCTV News.

Liu Wei, 33, is a famous pet detective in Shanghai. He and his team work on finding families’ lost pets. “We have successfully helped find more than 1,000 pets. Besides cats and dogs, there are other pets like birds, lizards and hamsters,” Liu said. “In many big cities, cats and dogs have become an important part of many families and are taken good care of. So what we look for are not just pets, but family members.”

Apart from pet undertakers and detectives, some people work as pet food testers, pet sitters and pet trainers. According to Tu Di, secretary—general of the Hunan Pet Industry Association, the booming pet market shows people’s improved living standards.

However, there are also problems with the industry, for example, the high fees of taking pets to the vet (兽医). Many pet owners have called for stricter pricing regulations for pet medical services, reported Global Times.

8 . Searchers announced the recovery of one of the two black boxes, and human tissue (组织) debris from the crash site of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 on Wednesday night, three days after the Boeing 737-800 nosedived from cruising altitude and crashed into a forested hillside.

One of the black boxes found on Wednesday has been identified as the cockpit voice recorder (驾驶舱话音记录器). The black box’s recorder looks badly damaged from the outside, but its storage unit looks relatively intact. It has been sent to a professional civil aviation agency in Beijing for decoding, and hopefully the data stored inside will provide evidence for the accident investigation and help produce a credible accident analysis report. The search teams are going all out to find the other black box with professional tools.

Officials also released more information concerning the crash. The weather on the route of MU5735 was suitable for flying and there was no hazardous weather when the plane crashed. The communication connection between the plane and the ground was normal from the plane’s departure until its sudden fall in altitude. The plane started service in June 2015 and it had been maintained under strict standards of technical plans and in normal conditions. Before departure, the aircraft met the requirements for flying. Pilots on board were all in good health and their flying certificates were within the validity period.

Beijing EAPs Consulting, a firm which provided a free psychological services hotline immediately after the crash, told Global Times that it has answered many phone calls asking for assistance. The phone calls are from families, friends and colleagues of people on board, who are in a difficult time. Some pilots and flight attendants called in because they feel unsafe and uncertain about their careers. There are also people who want to know how to comfort their acquaintances that had loved ones on the plane. Mental support and psychological services in the first 24 to 72 hours after a tragedy is crucial for people involved to recover from the tragedy and minimize the trauma. For more information related to the plane crash, please click here to follow the latest news.

9 . Monthly subscription （订阅） educational boxes for students can be a great way to develop an interest in a particular subject. If you want to learn something at home while having fun, you can have educational boxes delivered monthly straight to your house.

Spangler Boxes

The Spangler boxes feature a range of hands-on scientific experiments designed by Steve Spangler, a former TY host of a popular science education program on News for Kids. Projects focus on STEM—science, technology, engineering, and math. Examples of projects include exploring lava（岩浆）science, the sound waves, and physical laws.

Finders Seekers Boxes

After receiving a Finders Seekers box, you’ll explore characters of a new city and culture every month while solving puzzles. Think of Finders Seekers as an escape room challenge that takes place in your living room. Clues and online research tools are available to help in case you get stuck solving the mystery. Each puzzle takes approximately two to four hours to complete.

Creation Boxes

Creation teaches students electronics, digital tips and high-level problem-solving. Each box teaches a lesson and is progressively more challenging. A sampling of the projects includes a mood lamp, an electronic memory game, and a distance detector using an ultrasonic sensor（超声传感器）.

Kiwi Doodle Boxes

Kiwi Doodle Boxes are among the most popular boxes on the market. They feature a variety of themes customized to students aged from 8 to 18. Doodle focuses on art and design with projects such as a felt succulent（肉质植物）garden, a faux（人造的）leather sample set, and handmade soap. Doodle projects introduce students to new crafting materials and techniques and al craft supplies are included in the box.

Square dancing is a well-known recreational group activity in China. It     1     (start) to gain popularity in the mid-1990s when groups gathered at squares, parks, and other open spaces     2     (dance) in the mornings and evenings. Most of these     3     (individual) are senior citizens in search of new friends and activities to keep themselves     4     (occupy). It's about more than just dancing; it's a way about meeting new friends and sharing their life stories,     5     benefits them both mentally and physically.

Ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, when authorities launched the     6     (promote) of national fitness activities, square dancing became     7     (popular) than before. According to official statistics, there are presently over 120 million Chinese who regularly take part     8     this activity across the nation's squares. And most participants are happy with their current living conditions.

    9    , loud music played during square dancing was considered as terrible noises. In recent years, national standards and regulations     10     (introduce) to make the exercising more public-friendly and further ensure its sound development.