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When humans are feeling lonely, we can call or video chat with friends and family who live far away. But, scientists asked, what about pet parrots? New research suggests that these chatty creatures may also benefit from virtually connecting with their peers.

The idea for this study was not random: In the wild, parrots tend to live in large groups. But when kept in as pets, these social birds are often on their own. Feeling bored and lonely, they may develop psychological issues and can even turn to self-harming behaviours like pulling out their feathers.

In the study, researchers wanted to see whether 18 pet parrots could learn to make and receive video calls when they needed to help reduce loneliness. In the initial stage, the birds learnt to ring a bell and then touch a photo of another bird on a tablet screen to start a call to that bird. Calls would only work when caregivers were able to assist at both ends. In the second stage, the parrots could choose to call other birds at their own will by ringing the bell then selecting the bird they wanted to call. During a two-month study period, owners said they recorded 147 deliberate calls between birds.

"We saw some really encouraging results from the study," said researchers. The parrots seemed to grasp that they were truly engaging with other birds onscreen and their behaviour often mirrored what we would expect from real-life interactions between these types of birds. "She came alive during the calls," one pet owner said about her bird, according to a Northeastern University statement.

The team has previously designed similar technology such as DogPhone, which allowed pet dogs to shake a ball to communicate with their owner. "The animal Internet is already here—there are hundreds of products on the market that let pet owners interact with their animals remotely over the net, but their design is primarily focused on what humans want, not what their pets need," Hirskyj-Douglas from the University of Glasgow added.

The surface of Mars is etched (蚀刻) with ancient river valleys and lake basins,Some re searchers think that liquid water once flowed on the Red Planet. Today, Mars is too cold for much, if any,liquid water to exist, And 3.8 billion years ago,when the flowing water formed, the sun was fainter than it is today, making it even harder to imagine a warm Martian climate, That's why many researchers think Mars may have gone in and out of deep freezes,

Some researchers have suggested that early Mars only melt when large asteroid (小行星) impacts or volcanic eruptions temporarily warmed the planet.But Kasting, a geologist at Pennsylvania State University thinks warm windows from such dramatic events would have been too brief to carve the vast valleys that exist on Mars .Now, Kasting and his colleagues have come up with an alternative explanation: They think Mars may have experienced a series of climate cycles caused by changes in the strength of the greenhouse effect.

The idea goes like this: When Mars was cold and frozen volcanoes continued to erupt the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and hydrogen into the atmosphere.There, the gas blanket trapped heat and warmed the planet up until liquid water began to flow,forming Mars rivers and lakes. However, warm temperatures and abundant water would also have sped up certain chemical reactions that consumed carbon dioxide,mitigating the greenhouse effect and cooling the planet back down again.Then the cycle would repeat.

Kasting shared his theory with other astronomers at the December meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, and in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. So far, Kasting's team has only shown that such an explanation is possible.But the researchers say field trips could help test the idea by looking for evidence of multiple warm events, and their duration.

In artist Roy Wang's photos, mythical (神话的) creatures from The Classic of Mountains and Seas emerge in front of historical sites of Guangzhou.

The series of photographs is created by light painting in which the photographer uses light sources to produce different images which are captured by a camera, as if drawing on the photos. Roy Wang, the representative figure of light-painting photography in China, says, "What attracts me most about light painting is that, by using a simple light and against a dark background, I can paint in a free style."

Wang was a professional athlete. However, his sports career ended in 2012 because of injuries. His travels led to his interest in photography. Once he saw light-painting photos by Spanish master Pablo Picasso online and was introduced to the technique. He began to try in this field.

In 2013, he started adding the dragon and other creatures from ancient texts to light painting. Wang's work is inspired by mythical creatures that add a sense of mystery to his photography but at the same time it proves to be difficult to create such images with light."The mythical creatures are as mysterious as light painting. They both emerge in the darkness, and without an exact shape or form, they are free. I let loose my imagination,based on the descriptions in ancient books," said Wang.

To Roy Wang, the technique has a wide application in expressing different ideas. Apart from mythical creatures, he has been showing themes relevant to more recent events, such as a series in praise of medical workers during the outbreak of COVID-19.

Tradition will continue to be a creative force for Wang as he wants to add more Chinese elements in his works, including his next series, creating photos that have both aesthetic (美学) and cultural values.

Cheap and even free volunteering programs are everywhere. Don't worry about a budget that may stop you from volunteering abroad! Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary (保护区) is the right place for you.

Highlights

Volunteer with elephants and bring them back into their natural habitat.

Make a difference in the conservation efforts to save elephants living under awful conditions.

Help teach English to the communities and raise awareness about the captive (圈养的) elephant situation.

Wander the forests and observe elephant's natural behaviours in their home environment.

Our Sanctuary

Our sanctuary has rescued 5 elephants from the tourism industry and we have now brought them home to live out their lives in the forest, in semi-wild conditions. We need volunteers to help us keep these elephants happy and healthy in their natural habitat. With volunteer support. we hope to return more elephants to the forest soon.

Your tasks

Performing research on the natural elephant behaviours and the surrounding forest.

Taking part in community projects such as teaching English at the school and to other locals.

Carrying out litter pick-ups with the kids to educate on waste management.

Your Rough Schedule:

Day 1: Pickup from Chiang Mai at 9 am. Travel through a national park and stunning mountains until you arrive in our unique village. Meet your homestay family and the other volunteers, and immerse yourself in hill tribe culture.

Day 2: Wake up early to hike in the forest and find our elephants. Spend the morning recording and learning about these amazing animals and their natural behaviours. Return to the village in the late afternoon and take part in our community & teaching projects.

Day 3: Another early start to like to observe our elephants one last time. Return to Chiang Mai in the afternoon.

Standing outside the cave entrance, Grandfather admired the green-carpeted hills, but Lin hated the cave. He had come here today only because of Grandfather.

Grandfather preferred to use guano, the waste matter of bats, to fertilize (施肥) his crops. But he was too weak to do the whole job. He could gather the guano and bring it out of the cave in the basket, but he needed Lin to carry it home in the wooden cart.

Grandfather took a shovel (铲子) and flashlight from the cart. "Change your mind and come inside with me?" he asked Lin. "It won't happen again, Lin," Grandfather promised. "Last time it was my mistake. We shouldn't have waited until nearly dusk (黄昏) to go inside. I know that the bats fly out of the cave at dusk." That was exactly what had happened on the Terrible Day of the Bats. As Lin had stood at the cave entrance, a crowd of black bats had erupted from it. Lin had been terrified.

"Bats hurt no one," Grandfather had said. "Besides, you scared them as much as they did you."

But nothing could make Lin forget the horror he had felt in that black cloud of bats. "I can't go in there," he told Grandfather now.

"OK," Grandfather said. As he started into the cave, he called over his shoulder, "I'll be out in no time." Lin parked the cart and glanced at the shovel and flashlight inside it. His shovel and flashlight. He had used them before. Now they only reminded him of his fear.

Lin turned his back on the cart and walked down to the river. Grandfather would call when he was finished. Until then, Lin would put as much distance as possible between himself and the cave.

Lin watched two little birds splashing about at the edge of the river. He enjoyed the peaceful view over the vast river surface. Then Lin realized that Grandfather's "no time" had turned into a long time.

Lin hurried up the hill toward the cave. The cart was still there. Grandfather was still inside. Something had gone wrong.

注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Lin looked around but found no one he could turn to for help.

……

In the dark cave, Lin gathered his courage and yelled again, "Grandfather!"

注意：1. 词数应为80左右；2. 题目和首句已为你写好。可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Develop a Reading Habit

A reading habit is important for us.

Every year, rowers  (take) part in the Atlantic Campaign set off from the Canary Islands in December and row roughly 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. Some handle the rowing in teams of two, three, or four. Others, like Jasmine Harrison, row all by  (they).

It wasn't easy. Every day, Jasmine would row for about 12 hours, pushing her 550-pound boat across the ocean. She had a satellite phone allowed her to talk with family and friends every day. But things got a bit (hard) after her speaker fell in the water and she could no longer listen to her music. There was danger, too. Twice, her boat (turn) over in the night by large waves. The second time, she hurt her elbow quite (bad). Another time, she nearly ran into a ship.

Somehow, she kept going. On February 20, after 70 days, 3 hours and 48 minutes, she reached the island of Antigua-the end of the journey. When (ask) what she was most looking forward to, she said, "Food. Definitely food." She celebrated her (arrive) with a hamburger and fries.

Jasmine's rowing effort (make) her the youngest woman ever to row across the Atlantic — or any ocean. But Ms. Harrison's trip didn't just set record, it also raised over £18,500 for two charities.

The future is burning bright for Smell of Love Candles and its 12-year-old CEO. After 1 the business in his family's kitchen about two years ago, Alejandro will bring his candles to a world-famous shopping mall next week.

The 2 for Smell of Love came to Alejandro in 2019 when he discovered his mom's head hurt from the smell of the candles she 3 . Despite loving candles very much, she had no choice but to 4 them. Unwilling to see his mom 5 , Alejandro started testing alternatives that would be 6 to make candles. To his delight, the first product was a 7 with his mom and her headache disappeared.

After deciding to form a business, Alejandro started brainstorming potential 8 . "You smell candles, and they bring joy and love into your home, so why don't we call them ‘Smell of Love Candles'?" he said. "The name truly goes with his 9 ," said his mom. "Bringing happiness to others has been a big 10 in everything he does."

Now Alejandro becomes the 11 stand owner of the nation's most popular shopping mall. "We are very excited to support Alejandro with the opportunity to 12 his Smell of Love candles," says the manager. "This is the first time that we have rented a place to a kid and 13 it will inspire more kids to follow their 14 ."

Alejandro's business is doing well, and he's making money. Besides saving for school, he donates to charities monthly. To Alejandro, 15 isn't only about making money. It's about spreading love and helping others.

Involvement in activities outside of schoolwork makes high school a lot more interesting and fun.  Through extracurricular activities, you can develop important skills, such as teamwork, public speaking, creativity, leadership, and self-awareness.

The first step is to explore. While you can't do everything, try to get involved in as many clubs, teams, and activities that you find interesting. There is not a required one-size-fits-all list of activities. What matters is that you find clubs and programs that interest you!

You won't know if you like something if you don't try it. For example, if you think you might be interested in earning a business degree, find out if your high school has a financial association. If you think you'd like a career in politics, check to see if your high school has a Model Unite Nations project.

While you want to appear "well rounded," it is important that you don't take on too much. It can be helpful to see freshman year as the time to try a lot of things. In your sophomore year, you can begin limiting your involvement to your most important activities. This will allow you to spend more time on fewer things.

 Develop it into a true passion and try to be an expert in it. This is what makes you unique and allows you to shine on a college application or qualify for a scholarship.

A. Bear in mind what is most important to you.

B. You may feel it hard to make choices at the very beginning.

C. Participate in various extracurricular activities with interest.

D. As you start high school, you will find you have many new opportunities.

E. Allow yourself enough time to do well in the activities you care about most.

F. These activities help you gain abilities you couldn't learn through textbooks and tests alone

G. Keep an eye out for clubs that may specifically help you prepare for a particular college major.

Ariel Novoplansky, an ecologist in Israel, set up an experiment among pea plants to study how they communicate with each other.

In the experiments, Ariel put the pea plants in rows of containers. The center plant in the row was the target. The pea plants had been grown with two main roots. On one side, each pea plant had one root in its own pot and the other reaching into a neighbor's pot. The central plant connected to its closest neighbor, which connected to another neighbor, and so on down the line. On the other side, all the plants kept their roots in their own pots, unconnected to their neighbors.

With everything ready, the ecologist created a dryness for the central target plant, which had quickly closed up its leaf pores(气孔)to save water. Amazingly, the connected plants on one side gradually closed up their leaf pores, even though only one of them had experienced real dryness. On the other side, with unconnected roots pea chain, all their pores stayed open. This means the warning signal didn't travel from the stressed plants leaves through the air, but only from its roots through the soil.

It's possible that plants are just eavesdropping (偷听) even if the damaged plant didn't mean to send signals to them. Maybe the damaged plant leaks certain chemicals and nearby roots could sense those signals. But the plants with connected roots that weren't dried out passed on the drought signals to their neighbors too, which means simple eavesdropping probably isn't the answer. They seem to be having a real conversation, picking up information on one side and sharing it with a neighbor on the other.

The benefit to a plant that receives this information is pretty clear. But what's the benefit to sending a danger signal to your neigbour? Remember, your neighbor may actually be you.