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The Mona Lisa is the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of a woman with a mysterious smile. This week, the painting gave up a secret. 

Scientists using X-rays to examine the chemical structure of a small part of the painting discovered a technique Leonardo used in the work. An oil paint used for it was a special, new chemical mixture, which suggests that the Italian artist was in an experimental mood when he worked on the painting in the 16th century. 

"He loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,"said Victor Gonzalez, a chemist who has studied the chemical element (成分) of several works by Leonardo and other artists. The researchers found a rare lead compound (铅化合物) — plumbonacrite, in Leonardo's first layer of paint. The discovery proved that da Vinci most likely used lead oxide to thicken and help dry his paint. The paint in the study is about the thickness of a human hair, lying in the top right area of the painting.

The scientists looked into its atomic structure using X-rays, moving particles at the speed of light, permitting researchers to look deeper into the paint structure. " Plumbonacrite is really a fingerprint of his recipe, as it's the first time we can chemically confirm it," Gonzalez said.

Dutch artist Rembrandt may have used a similar mixture when he was painting in the 17th century. Gonzalez and other researchers have found plumbonacrite in his work, too. Leonardo is thought to have put lead oxide powder, which has an orange color, in the oil to make it thicker and dry faster. "What you will get is an oil that has a very nice golden color," Gonzalez said. "It flows more like honey. "

But the Mona Lisa — said by the Louvre to be a portrait (肖像) of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk businessman — and additional works by Leonardo still have other secrets to tell. "What we are saying is just a little brick in the knowledge," Gonzalez said.

In 1945, two sculptures meant to represent the average man called Norman and woman called Norma in the United States went on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. 

That same year, a contest was launched to find a living representation of Norma. Normal is often used to mean "typical", "expected", or even "correct". By that logic, most people should fit the description of normal. And yet, not one of almost 4,000 women who participated in the contest matched Norma, the supposedly "normal" woman.

This puzzle isn't unique to Norma and Norman, either — time and time again, so-called normal descriptions of our bodies, minds, and perceptions have turned out to match almost no one. So what does normal actually mean — and should we be relying on it so much?

In statistics, a normal distribution describes a set of values that fall along a bell curve (曲线). The average, or mean, of all the values is at the very center, and most other values fall within the hump (驼峰) of the bell. Normal doesn't describe a single data point, but a pattern of diversity. Many human traits, like height, follow a normal distribution. Some people are very tall or very short, but most people fall close to the overall average. Outside of statistics, normal often refers to an average like the single number pulled from the fattest part of the bell curve that excludes all the nuances of the normal distribution. Norma and Norman's proportions (比例) came from such averages.

Applied to individuals, whether someone is considered normal usually depends on how closely they get to this average. At best, such definitions of normal fail to capture variation. When limited or inaccurate definitions of normal are used to make decisions that impact people's lives, they can do real harm. There were examples in history.

To this day, people are often targeted and discriminated against on the basis of disabilities, mental health issues, and other features considered "not normal". But the reality is that the differences in our bodies, minds, perceptions, and ideas about the world around us — in short, diversity — is the true normal.

Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there's an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what's known as a Received Pronunciation (RP，标准发音) accent, also called "the Queen's English". However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents (口音).

Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country — from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands — are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life. 

In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowestrated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class. 

However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in a RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength. 

Kong Seongjae, 25, is an Internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He's now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he's learned. "British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent," he said.

So if you're working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.

Kaibab National Forest

The vast majority of areas and activities in the Kaibab National Forest are free to enjoy by the public. However, there are some fees for recreational (娱乐的) sites and activities such as campgrounds, cabin rentals and recreational vehicle facilities. 

Annual Pass

It covers the pass owner and three accompanying adults at sites where per person entrance fees are charged. Good for one year from the month of purchase. $80 for one year. 

Senior Pass

You must be 62 years of age or older to purchase. Passes are $20 for one year or $80 for a lifetime. An Interagency (跨部门的) Annual Pass can be used on many different federal lands across the nation. 

Volunteer Pass

It is awarded to those individuals who volunteer 250 hours at one or more recreational sites managed by 5 federal agencies as a way to say "thank you"! The Volunteer Pass is valid (有效的) for 12 months from the month of issuance.

4th Graders

This free pass is available to 4th Graders, 4th Grade Teachers, home school and free-choice learners 10 years of age. Good from Sept. to Aug. of your 4th Grade school year. 

Access Pass

People who are living with disabilities can request this $10 lifetime pass. It can be used at many different federal lands across the nation. 

For detailed information on fees associated with any Kaibab National Forest recreational site or activity, please visit its website and locate the specific site or activity of interest. 

Trudy was a child of the British Columbia Care System. 

In our home, we already had a child of our own, Margaret, who was thirteen. Our friends thought we were mad to take on another teenage child. 

That afternoon, Trudy arrived, She stepped into the front hall and clung to the walls. The first thing that came to my mind was that she looked like a hunted animal. Margaret grabbed her hand and said proudly: "Come and see your room. I helped make your bed. " Trudy pulled back, but didn't let go of her hand.

At this point, I stepped towards her and said, "Welcome to our home, Trudy. " Her eyes darted back and forth like a creature looking for a way out. This had been her fifth foster (领养) home since she was eleven. No wonder she was afraid. I put my arms around her and told her she would be safe with us.

Trudy was very quiet but pleasant and the two kids got on along well, One day, I took Margaret shopping for a new winter coat, and Trudy came too. Trudy had picked out a jacket that she liked, She walked up to Margret, modelling the jacket, and sighed, "Isn't it beautiful?" Margaret agreed as they both looked in the mirror. Replacing the jacket on the rack, she rejoined Margaret.

While they were busy, I quietly asked the salesperson to wrap up the jacket that Trudy had tried on. We bought the coat that Margaret had loved, and the salesperson had placed the parcel containing Trudy's coat where the girls couldn't see it.

When we arrived home, Margaret proudly modelled her new coat. Trudy was complimenting on her choice. I chose that moment to say, "Trudy, would you please go out and bring in the parcel I left in the car?"

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。

She happily headed for the parcel and when she returned, laid it on the table. 

I left and went to my room so she would not see my watery eyes. 

假定你是校英语戏剧社社长李华，在排练课本剧《百万英镑》The Million Pound Note时遇到一些困难，写一封信给同样酷爱戏剧表演的外教Betty老师，请她指导。内容包括：1. 剧情介绍；2. 指导内容；3. 商定时间地点。

注意：1. 词数80左右；2. 格式已给出，不计入总词数。

参考词汇：排练rehearse

Dear Betty,

Best regards,

Li Hua

Cheering, dancing and singing, local people and tourists gathered around the fire during the Torch Festival of the Yi People in Bijie, Guizhou, on Aug 12. The festival  (list) as a national intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) in 2011. 

There are different stories about how the festival started. But (probable) it was because of the natural worship(崇拜) of fire by the Yi people. Fire was important since their ancestors could use it to bring light as well as (warm) and cook food. One Yi ethnic proverb says, "Everything you eat must'see' fire. " This is due to old practice. Before bringing meat into the home from the outside, a small fire must first be lit outside and the meat should be smoked on the fire. In farming, fire was used (light) piles of branches and leaves, were later buried in the ground.

The Yi people used to celebrate the harvest, as a way to pray for a good harvest and drive away evil from their homes and farmland. Today it has become a  (society) event where people come together to light torches and join in various  (activity) such as building bonfires, horse racing, wrestling, bullfighting and beauty contests. The festival also provides people  a chance to expand their circle of friends. Through the festival, the Yi people not only share their joy and thanks for their good life,  get more people to understand their lifestyle and traditions. 

A crowd cheered Kunle Adeyanju as he turned off his motorbike engine after completing a tiring 41-day trip. The 44-year-old left London on April 19 and arrived in Nigeria's commercial center Lagos on Sunday after travelling more than 8,000 1 across 13 countries. He started the impressive journey to 2 funds for Rotary International to deal with polio(小儿麻痹症)in his native Nigeria.

Accompanied by a dozen 3 for the last part of the journey from the Republic of Benin, Adeyanju was welcomed by supporters in Ike ja, in central Lagos. Adeyanju, called "Lion Heart" by fans, won 4 among the public by 5 daily pictures with comments about his journey on social media. At every stop along the way, he was 6 by enthusiastic supporters.

He did face some 7 , like the one in Mali where one of his wheels 8 . "I was standing in the middle of the night, alone in a bush, not knowing what to do, 9 speaking the language," he said, explaining he had to walk to the nearest village. " 10 , the locals helped me. " Not all of the challenges he faced were solved 11 . "Mauritania, a country in northwest Africa, was ‘terrible'," he said, after he got 12 of hundreds of euros. "The worst experience," he added.

The former Shell employee self-funded his trip with $ 20,400 in savings, hoping to collect up to $48 million for Rotary International. "I have been suffering from a lack of sleep lately 13 I slept only three to four hours per night. But I feel 14 because I finished this challenge. "Adeyanju said just after he arrived, wiping the sweat off his face. Adeyanju added that he is now planning to have a 15 cycling trip to Ghana or a bike ride to Israel to help raise more funds. And he has another dream: to climb Mount Qomolangma.

Cultural Differences of Teenagers

Knowing the cultural differences between yourself and others of your age can help you understand friends who are of a different race or culture. You'll also know if you arc misunderstanding your friend's behaviour when it seems like he/she is being rude. The major differences between Asian and American teenagers lie in the following aspects:

Family

Family comes first in the Asian culture.  While Asian families have a greater dependence on each other, American families encourage their children and teenagers to be independent. 

Friendship

Some Asian teens generally prefer having a small group of life-long friends. They are committed and loyal to their friends. Americans often prefer a larger group of friends. There might be less commitment to keeping friends for life because of their bigger pool of possible friendships. 

Working Relationships

If you are working on a group project with teens from China or other Asian countries, they might focus on developing a good relationship with you.  Developing relationships with their group members might come second. 

In China and many other Asian countries, making direct eye contact is considered rude and disrespectful. However, in America and some European countries, it is not only seen as appropriate but also necessary because it means the person is paying attention. In Asian culture people are usually more comfortable with less personal space than Americans arc. A touch on the shoulder or an arm is common for Asians even if you don't know one another.

It's important to keep in mind that when learning about cultural differences, you should not generalize those differences. All cultures value kindness and respect.

A. Eye Contact

B. Body Language

C. In this way, you'll experience cultural differences.

D. Teenagers have a strong attachment to their parents. 

E. With this understanding, you won't be thought impolite.

F. However, American teens tend to first focus on the task. 

G. The key to understanding them with your friends is to ask them for advice. 

A Nigerian mom found out the hard way that jaundice (黄疸) is still a dangerous disease in Africa — but now she's putting an end to the disease with her new tech startup, making cribs (婴儿床).

Virtue Oboro's son, Tombra, was just 48 hours old when he had to be rushed to the NICU, suffering from jaundice, which causes yellow skin and can lead to permanent damage or even death. The treatment is fairly simple and widespread in developing countries: blue-light phototherapy (光疗).

Virtue's hospital had no phototherapy devices, so Tombra had to receive a risky emergency blood transfusion (输血). Her son made a full recovery, but Virtue was changed by the experience. "I felt like some of the things I experienced could have been avoided," the visual designer said. "I thought, is there something I could do to make the pain less for the babies and the mothers?"

What could a visual designer do? She designed the Crib A'Glow and named her new company Tiny Hearts. The mobile phototherapy unit is powered by the African sun, and costs one-sixth the price of a normal phototherapy crib — and is produced in her homeland of Nigeria. Virtue's husband had some experience working with solar panels before, so he lent a hand to the visual designer, who was busy sailing in the unknown waters of a new profession. She worked with a baby doctor through the design process to ensure all the details would benefit the tiny babies.

The Crib A'Glow can now be found in 500 hospitals across Nigeria and neighboring Ghana. It has been used on 300, 000 babies already. Virtue, who has also become a 2022 awardee for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, says a further 200, 000 babies will be saved from jaundice by using the cribs in rural areas — no hospitals or electricity needed.

In memory of Eleanor

— a woman ____

[1] Eleanor Lowenthal — my grandmother — in desperate need of income to put her husband through graduate school, walked into the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. There, she convinced the scientists that she was the perfect person to mount (安放) and catalog their growing ant collection. 

[2] At the time, a promising graduate student named E. O. Wilson was coming up in the department. Wilson, who passed away in December 2021, was called the "father of biodiversity". When Eleanor joined the department, researchers were racing to collect and catalog specimens (标本). As Wilson shifted research towards smaller, less glamorous species that nonetheless held ecological significance, he set the stage for conservation biology. Behind the scenes, technicians like my grandmother preserved the specimen that furthered Wilson's work and continue to provide new insights and opportunities for researchers across the globe.

[3] At the time, hiring a 21-year-old woman who had dropped out of art school was a significant gamble. It paid off. Eleanor's job as a technician required the same manual flexibility and coordination that art school had demanded. The job required her to work quickly, yet precisely. Rushing could risk ruining a rare specimen, but Eleanor could process ants as quickly as Wilson could mail them back from his expeditions to Australia and Papua New Guinea. She sometimes mounted as many as 200 a day.

[4]It wasn't a coincidence that Eleanor found work in entomology. Wilson's high-profile research on ants cracked an opening for women in previously male-dominated field of conservation, which was centered around studying big game in the first half of the 20th century.

[5] Even when women's early work has been credited, the language used to describe their contributions often minimized their role in the team, not mentioning them by name. A recently discovered department report includes lines such as, "A large amount of spreading and setting insects was done by the lady assistant," and "The collection has been remarkably free from pests… due to the continuous care of the lady assistant. "

[6] The department now functions like a library (specimen can be borrowed for study or examined on site), and serves as a training center for the next generation of scientists who use the collection in ways Wilson and my grandmother probably never imagined. 

[7] Eleanor didn't realize the impact of her contribution at the time — the technician role was just a job that paid $38 a week. But she's come to appreciate the significance of her work on a project that spans centuries. "You can see how it goes from one era to another," says Eleanor. "It's so important to have this library for people to make connections and new discoveries. "