2. Not a safe substitute

3. Unlimited but costly

4. Wrong labelling?

5. Tourist paradise on earth

6. A probable way out

7. Going back home

8. Richer than before

A.We all love an all-you-can-eat buffet, but how many of us have had an “all-you-can-stay” holiday? A hotel company in the Maldives is offering guests a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. The resort has a special package that includes unlimited use of its property for a year. Customers will get the use of a two-person bungalow. The resort is also throwing in airport transfers, 365 breakfasts, discounts on spa treatments, cooking lessons on Maldivian cuisine, and scuba diving. However, all this comes at a hefty cost of $30,000.

B. The Maldives is a tiny archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean, about 700 km from the southern tip of India. It has developed into a luxurious, high-end destination. It is famed for its pristine beaches, palm trees and five-star hospitality. The quality of its marine life has put it on the bucket list of adventure-seeking scuba divers. Many of its resorts are on private islands and atolls, making it a perfect choice for holidaymakers who seek seclusion and privacy.

C. The European Union has declared that companies and eateries can retain meat-like names for their vegetarian products even though those products contain no meat. The EU debated whether or not a veggie burger is a burger. There was a motion to ban the use of names like “burger”, “sausage” and “steak” in entirely vegetable-based food. Europe’s largest farming association argued that these types of names were unfair and damaged farmers and companies that produced and made meat products. It said the names promoted “misleading and unfair marketing”.

D. Many people drink diet sodas as part of their diet. They believe these drinks are healthier than fizzy drinks. However, according to a new study, “diet” versions of sugary drinks can be as bad for our heart as fizzy drinks that are loaded with sugar. The researchers who conducted the study said people should avoid diet sodas and other artificially sweetened beverages if they want to look after their health. They said the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks are not healthy.

E. Scientists have announced the breathtaking news that there is water on the Moon. They said the Moon may hold water in more places and in larger amounts than they previously thought. Based on a detailed analysis of two separate studies, the scientists confirmed the presence of water molecules on the Moon. This discovery could pave the way for more space exploration. It could accelerate the building of permanent bases on the Moon as it opens up the probability of there being a sustainable source of drinking water.

F.Great Britain has promised to return more than 5,000 ancient artifacts to Iraq over the next few months. The announcement was made by the British government during the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to London earlier this week. The repatriation marks the largest ever return of antiquities by the UK. Many of the items set to return to Iraq were stolen and smuggled out of Iraq over the past century, particularly after the Iraqi wars at the beginning of the century.

G. Scientists think they have found an answer to the problem of food shortages. One solution could be for us to eat jellyfish. This could also help to protect fish and other sea life that are endangered. The researchers warned we are eating species of fish and other sea life that are on the brink of extinction. They suggested that eating jellyfish could help protect fish that are in danger of disappearing from our seas and oceans. Jellyfish could become a common sight on menus.

2. Destruction of heritage

3. Superhuman powers

4. Health reasons

5. Recruits from fitness gyms

6. Bite the tongue

7. Reduce the impact on the planet

8. Going back to Motherland

A.The CEO of one of the world’s largest mining companies, Rio Tinto, has resigned following the destruction of two sacred Aboriginal sites. The company was mining for high-grade iron ore. The CEO acknowledged there was no doubt the company could have made “better decisions”. The ancient caves are sacred to Australia’s indigenous Aboriginal communities. There is evidence to show they were used as dwellings as far back as the Old Stone Age, when humans were developing stone tools.

B. The potato chip maker Pringles has improved its packaging. Pringles is well known for its large, round, stacked crisps as well as for its cylindrical container. However, the container has been criticised for being bad for the environment. Chiefs at Pringles went back to the drawing board to make the packaging easier to recycle. They spent 12 months designing a new tube. This move was part of the company’s promise to switch to 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by the year 2025.

C. Pope Francis has said gossiping is a danger that divides communities. He added that the devil is the “biggest gossiper” who is seeking to create division with his lies. The Pope spoke about the dangers of gossiping during his weekly blessing at the Vatican. He said: “Please brothers and sisters, let’s try to not gossip”. The Pope has regularly spoken about the dangers of gossiping, especially on social media. He added: “If something goes wrong, offer silence and prayer for the brother or sister who make a mistake, but never gossip”.

D. A sushi restaurant in Japan has come up with an idea to help its business. It is using bodybuilders to deliver sushi. The restaurant is located in central Japan and is owned by 41-year-old Masanori Sugiura. As well as being a sushi chef, Mr Sugiura is a bodybuilder. He wanted to increase sales in his restaurant after the number of customers dropped because of coronavirus. Customers need to order a minimum of 7,000 yen ($66) of sushi to get their food delivered by a bodybuilder.

E. The American R&B singer Akon has said his plans to build a city from scratch will go ahead. Akon has raised funds for a futuristic metropolis with a population of 300,000 people. It will be called Akon City and be built on the coast of Senegal on Africa’s west coast. Akon has Senegalese roots. He was born in the USA to Senegalese parents and spent much of his childhood in Africa. He hopes his undertaking will provide much-needed employment for Senegalese.

F.Elon Musk has shown off a pig with a computer chip in her brain that could lead to computer-to-brain technology in humans. Mr Musk has an impressive record in pioneering technology, from electric cars to space tourism. Gertrude the pig reveals his latest ambition — to allow us to control computers with our brains. Computers could enhance our brainpower. Musk announced that trials would begin on humans one day. Mr Musk said results from Gertrude the pig showed the potential the technology could deliver.

G. There are many advantages of wind turbines and wind farms. They are important in providing green energy. However, there are also some disadvantages. One of these is that the giant blades on turbines kill thousands of birds. Many birds accidentally fly into the blades and die. Researchers have found a solution. They say painting one blade black could help birds see the rotating blades. This could cut bird strikes by up to 70 per cent.

2. Diet needed

3. Seizing the chance

4. Sensory information from former times

5. Obsessed with salt

6. Fieldwork at the ancient site

7. Worrying information from an unlikely source

8. Reversing a natural process

A. A beagle called Wolfgang is three times heavier than a normal beagle. This is very dangerous for his health. Poor Wolfgang was in an animal shelter. His owner abandoned him and left him at the shelter. The owner had overfed Wolfgang. Many visitors came to the shelter for a dog, but no one took Wolfgang because he was so big. Then, dog lover Erin McManus came to the rescue. She saw Wolfgang and it was love at first sight. She took the overweight dog home and decided to help him lose weight.

B. China and South Korea are in a dispute over a savoury pickled cabbage dish. China is trying to win an international certificate for pao cai, a savoury vegetable dish from Sichuan province. However, South Korean officials are angry about this. They say this dish is too much like kimchi — perhaps the most famous food in South Korea. Kimchi is a staple in Korean cuisine. It is a traditional dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as cabbage and Korean radish.

C. A post office in France that answers mail it receives for Santa has described the concerns children have been expressing about COVID-19. The letters contain the usual requests for Christmas gifts, but many have emotional outpourings that provide an insight into how the coronavirus pandemic has been troubling young minds. A writer who replies to the notes said: “This year, we really feel their fears — for themselves, their grandparents or their parents. It's what really emerges from their letters. And in every country”.

D. Archaeologists in the city of Nazareth believe they have found the childhood home of Jesus Christ. They have been working for 14 years on the site at the Sisters of Nazareth Convent. They believe the first- century home is where Jesus grew up as a child. The dwelling was first found in the 1880s and first excavated in the 1930s. For decades, experts and nuns at the convent have asserted that the site was Jesus’ boyhood home.

E. Scientists in Israel say they have conducted tests to successfully stop and withdraw the biological ageing. The tests were part of a joint project by Tel Aviv University and the Shamir Medical Center. The researchers said the science behind their experiments was very simple — they used only oxygen to slow down and turn around what happens to cells as they age. They used high-pressure oxygen on cells that were in a pressure chamber. The scientists said two types of changes related to ageing and illnesses slowed down.

F.There are plenty of road signs around the world that amuse motorists. The latest to raise smiles are in Canada. Transport authorities have erected electronic signs to warn drivers not to let moose lick their cars. An addiction to salt has led moose to sate their need by licking cars. Vehicles are splashed with road salt that has been sprinkled on the road to help melt snow. It is common to see moose licking salt on the roads, but they have now developed a preference for licking it off cars.

G. What did the sixteenth century smell like? A team of researchers wants to find out. Scientists, historians and experts have embarked on a $3.3 million project to identify and recreate the aromas from the 16th and early 20th centuries. They will develop an online encyclopaedia of smells that will include biographies of those that are specific to past times. The website will include insights into the emotions created by the smells in bygone centuries. The team wants people to be aware of many smells.

2. An initial environmental campaign

3. Growing freely

4. The problems while moving a place

5. Yours for the asking

6. Heavy-handed efforts

7. A less consuming idea

8. An excessive amount of things

A. As you know, moving always forces people to get rid of stuff you don’t need any more and eliminate vast amounts of clutter. Too much stuff fills up the garage or basement or whatever, and when all your storage space is gone, you rent a storage space. Of course, you can sell or give away your unneeded stuff, but finding a good home for it, and transporting the stuff to the new home, is often more trouble than it’s worth.

B. The excess stuff people have is, for the most part, perfectly good — just no longer needed. Random small appliances and electronic gadgets. Lots of books you’ve read and won’t read again. Clothes the kids have outgrown. Extra dishes from when you had time to throw dinner parties. The list goes on. These kinds of things would be too much bother to sell on eBay, and they’d make little or no money at a garage sale. But you don’t want to simply throw them away, either, because they could be useful to someone. But who needs these things?

C. The idea of freecycling is simplicity itself. You sign up online to join one or more groups in your local region. When you have something to give away, you post a message to the group, which appears on the group’s webpage and may also be delivered by email, according to each member’s preferences. Anyone else in that local group who wants it sends you a reply — and arranges transportation, if necessary. There are no trades or barters, and no strings attached. Everything is completely free, period. And, of course, if you need something that hasn’t already been posted on the list, you can ask for it.

D. Freecycling began in Tucson, Arizona in May 2003 as a way to help reduce the quantity of waste sent to landfills. Since then, it has spread to many thousands of local groups in more than 110 countries. From what I’ve read, though, it sounds like most participants aren’t doing it for the environment. They’re doing it because it’s a convenient and free way to get rid of things you don’t need or acquire things you do. If it happens to keep landfills from overflowing too, hey, that’s a lovely bonus.

E. But all is not peace and goodwill in the world of freecycling. For starters, there’s the term Freecycle itself, which was at the center of a trademark dispute a number of years ago, as the organizers of The Freecycle Network tried to prevent other organizations from using the term, and also fought against the use of freecycling as a verb. The organization lost that trademark battle in the United States in 2010, although the name freecycle.org is now trademarked.

F.But whether under the auspices of The Freecycle Network, as part of another organization, or informally among members of a school, church, or other group, the freecycling concept is a great idea — sort of like Craigslist, but only for free stuff. In some urban areas, I’m sure you could furnish an entire apartment in a week or two by freecycling, not only saving money but doing a great favor to the people who need to get rid of their stuff.

G. Increasingly, too, there’s been quite a backlash against consumerism and its associated clutter, as people begin to realize that they’re actually happier with less stuff than with more. Even though I don’t buy a lot of merchandise, as I look around my home, I realize that I’ve only used, or even thought about, maybe 10% of its contents in the last year. Do I really need the other 90%? When I find possessions that no longer enrich my life in any way, at least I can let them enrich someone else’s life.

2. Paper wonders

3. A dinosaur for sale

4. Faster than ever

5. A winged traveller

6. Robotic cuisine

7. A computer for cooking

8. White, milk, or black?

A.A 3-year-old Macaw parrot who became spooked and flew away from his New Zealand home was spotted nine days later — and 155 miles away. Hamish and Lulu Peterson said they have raised the parrot, named Pablo and they trained him as a free-flying bird, allowing him to wander around the community and respond to whistles from his owners. The couple said Pablo fled the area nine days ago when he was spooked by a neighbor. The Petersons and their son, Kaleb, have now travelled 155 miles to East Auckland after numerous reported Pablo sightings in the area.

B. A common claim states that a sheet of paper cannot be folded in half more than seven times. But is this true? How many times can you fold a piece of paper? In 2002, Britney Gallivan, then a junior in high school in California, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most times to fold a sheet of paper in half. She is the first person to ever fold paper in half nine, 10, 11 and 12 times.

C. Chocolate is often sold according to how dark it is, with packaging touting a percentage say, 35 percent, 55 percent, 78 percent and so on that indicates the amount of cocoa powder solids and cocoa butter in the chocolate. The lower-percentage blends are closer to milk chocolate, while the higher-percentage blends are darker and less sweet. White chocolate, on the other hand, is not technically a chocolate at all it’s made without any cocoa powder or solids. White chocolate is just cocoa butter mixed with milk and sugar.

D. A supercomputer named Frontier crunched numbers with mind- blowing speed this year: 1.1 quintillion operations per second. That makes the machine, run by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the first exascale computer — a computer that can perform at least 1018 operations per second. The next fastest computer tops out at 442 quadrillion (that’s 1015) operations per second. Exascale computing is expected to lead to breakthroughs in everything from climate science to health to particle physics.

E. India’s government-run animal welfare department has appealed to citizens to mark Valentine’s Day this year not as a celebration of romance but as “Cow Hug Day” to better promote Hindu values. The Animal Welfare Board of India said Wednesday that “hugging cows will bring emotional richness and increase individual and collective happiness.” Devout Hindus, who worship cows as holy, say the Western holiday goes against traditional Indian values.

F.A Tyrannosaurus rex skull unearthed in South Dakota is expected to sell for $15 million or more at auction in New York next month, officials with Sotheby’s said Tuesday. The 200-pound (91-kilogram) skull fossil, nicknamed Maximus, is being sold by an owner who wishes to remain anonymous, the auction house said. The skull was excavated in 2020 and 2021 in Harding County, South Dakota, where other T. rex skeletons like Sue and Stan were found, according to Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s head of science and popular culture.

G. Craving for gnocchi with lamb, black risotto or zucchini pasta? You can order any of them at a Croatian restaurant where a robotic chef is able to rustle up about 70 different one pot meals. Its owners say they believe the BOTS&POTS Sci-Food bistro in Zagreb is the world’s only restaurant where ready-to-eat meals in a pot are made by robotic cookers with no human involvement other than loading the devices with fresh ingredients. The devices add oil and seasoning according to digital recipes made by a human chef.

2. A photo surprise

3. A record-breaking lunch

4. From buttons to touchscreens

5. A time difference

6. The first selfie ever

7. A bird in disguise

8. Where do you live?

A.You probably know that Russia has 11 time zones (of just 24 total in the world). So when a Russian on one side of the country is waking up at 7 a.m., another Russian on the other side may be sitting down to dinner or even preparing to sleep. Surprisingly, though, Russia is not the country with the most time zones in the world — even despite officially being the biggest country! This title belongs to France which has 12 time zones because of its overseas territories.

B. One of the most recognizable birds in the world is a pink flamingo. However, contrary to popular opinion, flamingos are actually not pink. They are born gray, and their diet of brine shrimp and blue green algae contains a natural pink pigment called canthaxanthin that makes their feathers pink. This is why flamingos that live in zoos may often lose their bright colours and turn gray again until zookeepers supplement their diets with shrimp and seaweed.

C. Some geographical names all over the world consist of just one letter — for example, A, U, D, or O. A is actually the name of not one, but several different small villages in Scandinavian countries. In turn, D is the name of the river in Lincoln City, Oregon, USA — interestingly, this river also used to hold the record for being the shortest in the world (just 130 meters!). Two more rivers — in England and in Japan, as well as an island in Sweden, are called O.

D. The first company to manufacture a handheld mobile phone that we know today is Motorola. It was invented by a famous telecommunications engineer Martin Cooper, who became the first person in the world to make a call from a mobile phone — back in 1973! However, these phones became available to regular customers only 10 years later, in 1983. In turn, the first company to produce the modern smartphone with touchscreen and Internet access is IBM. Their devices appeared on the market in the early 2010s.

E. A Brazilian food company earned a Guinness World Record by assembling a line of 1,180 submarine sandwiches to celebrate the 469th anniversary of the city of Sao Paulo. The sandwiches were prepared by a team of 40 over the course of about five hours and assembled into a line at the Parque Ibirapuera urban park. A Guinness representative verified that each sandwich measured at least 30 centimeters long and confirmed the new record, after which the sandwiches used in the event were served to the spectators in the park.

F.A 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy with dreams of becoming an astrophysicist is one step closer to his goal after graduating high school. David Balogun started at school as a third-grader, and now has been awarded his high school diploma after completing the required classes virtually from home. Balogun, who is also working on getting his black belt in karate, has already completed a semester at college and is looking into continuing his education at a four-year college or university. “I want to be an astrophysicist and I want to study black holes and supernovas,” the boy shared.

G. A trail camera set up to capture images of wildlife in Colorado was hijacked by a bear that used the camera to pose for about 400 “selfies.” Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks said a wildlife camera set up in a wooded area in November snapped 580 photos in a single night, and rangers reviewing the photos found about 400 of them were “bear selfies” of the same animal. The camera was set up to help researchers learn more about the area’s diverse wildlife.

2. Gradation of noise

3. Breadth of objectives

4. Not every noise is pollution

5. Ailments caused by noise

6. Getting used to excessive noise

7. Super creative approach

8. Ideal places for escapism

A. When I was in high school, I had an alarm clock that I truly hated. It was not merely loud, it was hideously, harshly loud. It sounded pretty much exactly like a smoke alarm, and had precisely the same effect: it scared me senseless every time it went off. I decided to perform surgery on the clock and modify it so that instead of making noise, it would flash a bright light in my face when the alarm went off. My invention merely swapped the stress created by a noisy alarm clock for the stress created by being late for school.

B. Whether due to this adolescent trauma or for more mundane reasons of genetics or environment, I have had an aversion to noise almost as long as I can remember. My idea of a good time is visiting a library, cathedral, or desert location where the loudest sound is that of a page turning or wind blowing; my idea of torture is trying to write while someone is operating a leaf blower outside, having an otherwise quiet walk ruined by loud traffic, or trying to hold a conversation on a noisy train.

C. Broadly speaking, there are two main types of what is commonly called noise pollution: low-level, continuous background noise; and extremely loud but intermittent noise. Examples of background noise include radios or TVs left on all the time, appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, computers and other devices with cooling fans, and traffic sounds. Loud intermittent noises are things like planes flying overhead, leaf blowers, sirens, vacuum cleaners, and PA systems in clubs and concert venues.

D. It can be tricky business drawing the line between “sound” and “noise,” and even the most ardent anti-noise activists agree that context plays a significant role in determining what should be considered noise or, more specifically, noise pollution. Very loud sounds, however sonorous they may be, can cause hearing damage after a period of time, so it would be fair to call a Bach cantata “music” at 80 decibels but “noise” at 130. Likewise, I may enjoy listening to loud music at a concert, but the very same music at the same volume would be noise pollution if it’s occurring in the next room when I’m trying to sleep.

E. Anti-noise pollution groups have a wide variety of aims. Some concern themselves exclusively with aircraft noise in residential areas, for example; others seek more broadly to regulate any noise that threatens the peace and tranquility of the population. The overall message is that second-hand noise is a lot like second-hand smoke: it’s one thing if you want to damage your own health, but quite another to inflict noise on other people nearby who cannot escape it, and yet suffer because of it.

F.There are more examples of noise pollution than I can possibly list here; more appear every time I turn around. The problem is that most people have become so accustomed to constant noise that they simply don’t notice it anymore. You’ve probably seen signs asking you to turn off your phone in a museum or refrain from talking during movies — these requests must be made explicitly because otherwise it would simply never occur to many people that such sounds might be offensive.

G. The biggest aim of the anti-noise pollution organizations is therefore simply to bring the dangers and annoyances of noise into the public awareness, at which point, they hope, a majority of people will be outraged enough to do something about it — either voluntarily or through legislation. I wish them, of course, the best of luck, though I can’t help noticing the irony of the squeaky-wheel effect: those who complain the loudest tend to get heard, and loudness is precisely the opposite of what anti-noise pollution activists stand for.

2. The biggest blunders you see tourists make

3. What makes for a “perfect” afternoon tea

4. To be an “afternoon tea expert”

5. Varieties of tea meals

6. Loose-leaf tea or tea bags

7. What makes afternoon tea special

8. Other etiquette tips

A. It started more as an accident. I set up a social net account, and I really enjoyed going and trying different afternoon teas. Then I went on to do qualifications and further research in the history of tea and tea itself. I’m a step below a tea sommelier. Along with hosting tea events and offering guided afternoon tea experiences in London and Belfast, I advise venues and have written an e-book on hosting afternoon tea at home.

B. The atmosphere. It’s very relaxed — there isn’t another meal like it. If you go to lunch, or brunch, or dinner, there’s always a time when you have to get up and leave. Whereas afternoon tea is a very leisurely affair. And because it’s not something you would do every day — unless you’re me! — you look forward to it. If you and I were going for afternoon tea, I would tell you my life story, I would find out everything about you. There’s a lot of connection to be had over afternoon tea.

C. Cream tea is the smallest of all. Someone might be disappointed if they thought they were going to get three tiers of food – it’s a cup of tea or a pot of tea with scones, and that’s it. Afternoon tea is your sandwiches, scones and your pastries along with tea. It’s best between 15:00 and 16:00. But you can go over lunchtime if you’re pressed for time. High tea is everything you get with afternoon tea, plus extras like quiche, pies or other meatier-type hype items. It’s more substantial than afternoon tea. Normally you would eat it a bit later.

D. Right across the UK, afternoon tea is such a big thing. We have a full week dedicated to tea in August, which is Afternoon Tea Week. It’s also very popular for birthdays, baby showers as well — all sorts of occasions where you might not want a big alcohol focus but have a little bit of luxury. And the Internet really has improved popularity. A lot of the big venues and hotels compete for the best afternoon tea.

E. Great service. Scones that break right down the middle. A good selection of jelly, instead of just one type. And then a good range of loose-leaf tea. Being able to change your tea for different courses is quite a nice touch. And sandwiches — some venues don't put as much effort into the flavour, but I think if you get a sandwich so good it stops you talking, that’s wonderful. I love a smoked salmon sandwich. My grandmother was a fishmonger, so I know a good quality one when I see it.

F.The dress code. I know a lot of tourists when they go to London, they’ve got their jeans on. But some hotels will not let you in. Some have a dress code on their website, but generally the strictest ones would expect women to wear smart shoes, no trainers, no jeans, no sportswear. Men need to wear a collar, tie and jacket. Even if you’re missing a tie, they won’t let you in. Also, book in advance. That’s a rule for all afternoon tea. You can’t just rock up on the day.

G. Make sure that you stick to the same course that everyone else is on. Everyone starts with the savouries. Then you move on to scones, and then you finish with the pastry course. Don't just jump ahead. Another one is not having your one phone on the table. Take your pictures at the start, and then sit and enjoy the meal. There seem to be more people that take a lot of pictures, and it can be off-putting for other people in the room.

2. Place-name study is helpful

3. How to get involved

4. Used to have more than one

5. Restoration rolling on

6. Community benefits

7. Helping an endangered species

8. Coping with flooding

A. Though most visitors to London think only of the River Thames, the city is a myriad of waterways. Old maps show a skein of rivers and brooks that provided “blue corridors” traversing the city for centuries, providing both sources of food and recreation. But as London boomed, these waterways faded from consciousness — encased by walls, turned into polluted backwaters or simply covered over to run unseen beneath busy streets.

B. But these “secret” rivers are imprinted on London’s geography. Marylebone started life as St Mary by the bourne; while Bayswater, Knightsbridge, Westbourne and Holborn are all named by waterways that ran through them. Deptford was the site of a deep ford over the Ravensbourne, while Wandsworth is named after the River Wandle. East Ham and West Ham get their names from an old word for an area between rivers — in their case, the Lea and the Roding. And while Britain’s leading newspapers have left Fleet Street, the River Fleet still runs beneath.

C. Across London, ongoing river restoration projects offer volunteering opportunities for visitors: The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) regularly enlist citizen scientist volunteers to help for anything from a few hours to days in ongoing river conservation work across London. The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) are looking for people to help restore a 3 km blue-green corridor along the River Crane, close to Heathrow airport in West London. Various canals also form a part of London’s “secret” network of waterways, and The Canal River Trust have regular callouts for volunteers to carry out restoration work.

D. Esther Adelman, co-founder of the Haggerston volunteer group, explained some of the key work they are doing here. “We change the river flow and get rid of invasive habitats,” she said, pointing to fallen trees that have been used to create partial river barriers — called berms — that add beneficial complexity to the water flow. “This creates a variety of habitats, such as areas of gravel where fish spawn,” said Adelman. “We are imitating natural processes — like human beavers.”

E. Between 2020 and 2022, meanwhile, Thames River Trust trained around 100 citizen science volunteers to survey eels during the Thames Catchment Community Eels Project. As part of surveying an impressive 107 km of river, the volunteers recorded 119 barriers hindering eel movement — 66 previously undocumented. This has helped create strategies to support this iconic but endangered species. Similarly, the River Hogsmill Connectivity Project spurred the removal of 17 out of 18 obstacles on this west London waterway, making it a far easier commuter route for fish.

F.Creating new wetlands also helps reduce flood risks across London, by providing areas that can naturally hold excess water from extreme rainfall increasingly linked to climate change. A key example is the Firs Farm Wetlands created after the rediscovery of Moore Brooke. Found buried within a wilderness in a little-used park in the north London borough of Enfield, this “lost” tributary of Pymmes Brook was freed by Enfield’s watercourse team to create a 3,300 sq m wetland area. That has significantly reduced flood risk for thousands of people in the area.

G. London’s river restorations are boosting wider community wellbeing too, with schools using restored banks and new wetlands for hands-on, feet-wet education. “This was just fields before, where kids could run around — but not learn anything,” said Shorey about Albany Park. “Now they come down to the water to see what’s going on.” Such public benefits are an immeasurable but vital part of London’s river restorations. The work draws so many people. It’s boosting wellbeing generally through connection with nature, along with education around biodiversity and rewilding.

2. Dancing for the culture

3. A costume party

4. A strange teacher

5. Danger in the sea

6. Education thrown away

7. A forgetful student

8. A message from the past

A.It was a scene straight out of hit film Across the Spider-Verse when 685 people gathered at a mall in Malaysia while dressed as various incarnations of Spider-Man. The event, organized by Sony Pictures Malaysia and AEON Mall, saw 685 people show up to the shopping center in Bukit Tinggi while dressed in the costumes sported by various versions of the Marvel hero, including Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Miguel O’Hara and Gwen Stacy. A Guinness World Records representative verified the count and ensured that each participant spent at least 5 minutes in the designated area.

B. A Texas teen who entered high school at age 10 has now graduated at age 14 and is headed to the University of Texas at Arlington. Oforitsenere Bodunrin, 14, graduated from James Martin High School and will study computer science and aviation this fall at the university. She is following in the footsteps of her sister, who also graduated high school at age 14. The girl’s mother Bawo Bodunrin shared that Oforitsenere learned how to read at age 2 and was doing multiplication by age 4. “Normally you would say the sky is the limit,” Bawo Bodunrin said. “For her, the sky is the beginning.”

C. Visitors to a Florida beach were in for a surprise when a black bear was spotted swimming side-by-side with their fellow beachgoers. Multiple visitors to the crowded beach saw the bear emerging from the ocean. “The bear was out pretty far,” beachgoer Chris Barron shared. “A lot of people started panicking. I was worried it was a shark.” Barron said the bear swam right by his brother and 12-year-old son. “He got to shore, shook off, and ran into the brush in the sand dunes,” Barron said. “I think most people were shocked instead of being scared. No one expected to see a bear in the Gulf of Mexico.”

D. A 16-year-old girl in India broke a Guinness World Record by dancing for 127 hours with only brief breaks. Srushti Sudhir Jagtap took to the auditorium of her school on the morning of May 29 and kept dancing until the afternoon of June 3. Jagtap was allowed one five-minute break each hour, which she was allowed to accumulate for longer breaks. The teenager chose to dance in the Kathak style, one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. “I wanted to promote our Indian culture,” she explained.

E. Trudy Shattler was taking a walk on the beach near her cottage when she discovered a message in a bottle that had been thrown out to sea by a Newfoundland man 34 years earlier. Shattler posted photos of her discovery online where they were shared nearly 200 times before coming to the attention of Rick Hamlyn. “As soon as I saw it, I knew the writing and I said, ‘That’s dad’s,’” Hamlyn said. His father, Gilbert, was well known for launching messages in bottles into the water while out fishing. Gilbert Hamlyn died two years ago at the age of 72.

F.A Texas man is trying to track down the owner of an unusual piece of lost property he found in the middle of a road: a high school diploma. Louis Anello said he was driving home from a grocery store when he spotted something on the asphalt. “It looked like something important, and I was surprised it was a diploma,” Anello told the reporters. “I thought it was a new diploma and later realized it was an old one.” The Mount Enterprise High School diploma bears the name Jonathan Michael Smith and is dated May 20, 2011.

G. An Oregon library said a copy of George Orwell’s 1984 was recently returned 65 years late with an apologetic note from the patron. The Multnomah County Library in Portland said the first-edition book was returned recently with a note explaining the now-86-year- old patron had checked the tome out as a Portland State University student. “Sorry to be so tardy,” the note reads. “At age 86, I wanted to finally clear my conscience.” The library said there will be no overdue fees for the book, as the facility is now fine-free.

2. Learning about space

3. An unwelcome guest

4. A medical discovery

5. Too hard to breathe

6. How to stay young

7. A trip to space

8. Not what it seems

A.What’s covered in gold, costs $700, weighs 8 ounces and is edible in Philadelphia? Answer: a hamburger.

At the bottom of the main page of the menu at the “Drury Beer Garden” in Philly is a very, very expensive burger. For $700, you can get the Gold Standard. That’s a Wagyu meat burger with caviar, fresh black truffle, lobster flambeed with cognac, topped with aged Irish cheddar and drizzled with honey. George Tsiouris, a co-owner of the restaurant, said, “We are excited to provide our guests some amazing, creative and tasty options with our new menu concept.”

B. Broadway theater performances of “Hamilton,” “Camelot,” and “Hamlet” are canceled due to the poor air quality in New York related to raging wildfires in Canada. “Tonight’s performance of Hamilton will not go on as scheduled. The hazardous air quality in New York City has made it impossible for a number of our artists to perform this evening,” the musical’s post said Wednesday. The air in New York is reported to break all-time records for toxicity, and hundreds of local citizens experience breathing problems, headaches, and sore eyes.

C. NASA is giving schools across the US the opportunity to receive historical objects from the agency to be used for educational purposes. The space agency opened applications for the NASA Artifacts Program. Schools, universities, libraries and planetariums can apply to receive various space artifacts through June 30. “NASA’s Artifacts program offers an opportunity to encourage the next generation of science, technology, engineering, math students, and many other space enthusiasts, with these priceless artifacts to share the agency’s awe-inspiring accomplishments,” Lauren Katz, artifacts program manager, said in a statement.

D. The benefits of friendships and activity aren't just for the young. Staying socially active can also help older adults age their best, according to new research that pinpoints volunteering and recreational activities as important for seniors. To study this, the researchers analyzed data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging of more than 7,000 Canadians aged 60 and older, following them for three years. The findings showed that those who participated in volunteer work and recreational activities were more likely to maintain excellent health. They also were less likely to develop physical, cognitive (“thinking”), mental or emotional problems.

E. A deer crashed through a window into a New Jersey woman’s home and took a swim in her backyard pool. Dianne Twersky, 85, said she was at home when she heard a crashing noise coming from downstairs. “I heard a glass explosion, the house was shaking and banging, and I was sure it was an earthquake,” Twersky recalled. Downstairs, she discovered a panicking deer. Twersky called her grandchildren who then called 911. Animal control officers opened the back door of the home, and the deer quickly darted out, jumping into the pool. The officers helped the deer out of the pool and released it back into the wild.

F.Police in Florida responded to a beach to round up what appeared to be a large alligator but was soon discovered to be a realistic sand sculpture. “Wow! Look at the size of that gator one of our officers tried rounding up on the beach last night,” the Treasure Island Police Department wrote online. The video shows an officer poking at the tail of the not-reptile, and learning it was actually a well-designed sand sculpture. “We love the talented people creating works of art in the sand, but please remember to flatten sandcastles/sculptures before you leave.” the post added.

G. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin are getting ready for their third spacewalk together since April set to begin on Friday. They will leave the Poisk airlock at 11:55 a.m. in their Orlan spacesuits and move toward the Nauka science module to activate a radiator they installed on April 19 during a previous spacewalk. The duo spent Wednesday inside Poisk setting up their Orlan spacesuits for the planned six-plus-hour spacewalk. They checked the suits for leaks, then installed batteries, helmet cameras, and other communications gear on the Orlans.

2. A face in space

3. The man-made nature

4. A birthday mystery

5. The biggest sleepers

6. A river on Mars

7. An Internet phenomenon

8. A time-travelling town

A.At 18 to 22 hours of sleep per day, koalas are among the top snoozers in the animal kingdom. They’ve got a good reason: their digestive system must work extra hard to break down the toxins in the eucalyptus leaves they eat and extract the limited nutrients. In turn, male lions are among the laziest of the big cats, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. As the prides’ primary hunters, females have less time to lounge around, but they still clock an impressive 15 plus hours of shut-eye.

B. Some countries in the world don’t have any rivers! For example, Saudi Arabia does not have lakes, rivers, and areas abundant with natural vegetation because of no rainfall. Despite that, the country manages to strive without any significant and natural sources of water. People of Saudi Arabia use desalination plants and oases to create a sufficient water supply. National efforts brought changes to the deserts of Saudi Arabia and created more demand for resources of water. The best example is the intense greenery in different regions of the country which is completely man made.

C. On December 12, 2022, from 156 miles above the surface of Mars, the HiRise camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted something peculiar: the face of a bear, looking up from the surface of the Red Planet. Okay, it’s just a natural rock formation, but it bears a strong resemblance to an ursine face — a circular fracture outlines the head, while two small twin craters are the eyes. It’s far from the only face-like image out there in space — for example, the surface of the Moon is also quite commonly compared to a face.

D. You might know the Thames as the most famous river in Great Britain, but did you know that it’s also a town in China? That’s right — the town called Thames, heavily inspired by 19th-century English architecture, was built in China in the early 2000s. It was a part of a project where architects were encouraged to use a single topic or style to build the whole city. Unfortunately, not too many people actually relocated to Thames, but its atmosphere — with old houses, churches, and even a pub — is popular among tourists.

E. Email spam is an unfortunate byproduct of the digital age. What many people may not know, however, is that spam is named after canned meat. Spam is a popular brand of canned pork that has existed since 1937. In 1970, a famous comedy group Monty Python used the word ‘spam’ in one of their sketches, repeating it endlessly and annoyingly. In the early 90s, when the first unwanted messages started arriving to users via email, it reminded people of the spam sketch — as a result, the name stuck forever.

F.The flower-like Lotus Temple can be spotted in New Delhi, capital of India. It is considered the mother temple of the Indian subcontinent and can be visited by people of any religion. Inspired by the shape of the lotus flower, architect Fariborz Sahba designed this extraordinary building, which was open to visitors in 1986. The temple has nine entrances, and its central hall’s capacity is 2500 people. Surrounded by ponds, the building does resemble a lotus flower that floats in the water.

G. If you were born in September, chances are that you share a birthday with more people than someone born in April or February. A recent study suggests that most people on Earth were born in September. In the top ten list of birthdays all over the world, a whopping 9 out of 10 dates are not simply in September, but specifically from the 9th to the 20th (the only exception on the list being July the 7th).There is currently no valid explanation as to why the first month of autumn brings so many newborns.

2. Shopping containers

3. A good residential alternative

4. The first containers’ introduction

5. A number of advantages

6. Containers for construction

7. Two-day installation

8. Distant memories

A. When I lived in San Francisco I saw cargo shipping containers in use fairly regularly — sometimes being hoisted by cranes in the busy Port of Oakland, other times filling the decks of gigantic freighters passing through the Golden Gate. They were such a common sight that I almost stopped noticing them, although if I did, they made me think of the immense scale of the global economy, and provoked curiosity about what kind of goods they might be carrying.

B. I didn’t think of shipping containers themselves as very interesting. But for the past few decades, many architects and builders have looked at shipping containers as not only a means to transport goods, but as a source of building material. Whether intended for private homes, schools, markets, or multi-unit complexes, repurposed shipping containers have become a unique way to bring exciting design and environmental concern into everyday life.

C. The use of modern shipping containers first developed in the mid- fifties in Denmark, Canada, and the United States. These containers soon became invaluable, as their use streamlined the transportation of goods between ports and inland destinations via railroad cars and large trucks. They were created to be easily stackable and made sturdy to withstand wind and water, and these same attributes are what make shipping containers so attractive to architects and builders.

D. In addition to their sturdiness and flexibility, shipping containers have other benefits. Designers looking for more environmentally friendly construction methods can practice recycling by using decommissioned containers from shipping companies. These containers are also much cheaper than standard building materials, and with their use, buildings can be assembled in much less time, with lower labor costs. Another advantage to shipping containers is that they are easy to transport, having been designed expressly for that purpose. This can facilitate their use in disaster situations.

E. While building with shipping containers may make economic and environmental sense, who would want to live or work in a windowless metal box? Designers have gotten around this limitation in a variety of ways, most notably by incorporating containers into larger construction projects, cutting and shaping the existing containers as necessary. Some of the first and most well-known projects of this kind were built by the “Container City” company in London. “Container City” is located at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London’s Docklands district, and comprises 12 work studios and three live/work apartments.

F.On a smaller scale, there are private homes designed using multiple containers. On the larger end of the scale, shipping containers have also been used to create enormous public marketplaces, like the open-air Seventh Kilometer Market in Odessa. Covering 170 acres, the market is made up of hundreds of shipping containers, with an estimated 150,000 customers a day. The Dordoy Bazaar in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, is constructed out of an estimated 30,000 shipping containers, and draws customers and merchants from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China.

G. Because of the growing interest in container homes, there are now numerous companies selling pre-made container homes, ready to be delivered and installed at your chosen location. These usually consist of one or two containers, but there are many different configurations that are possible. You can see some current options, including one house that you can order from Amazon. With its economic, environmental, logistical, and practical benefits, shipping container architecture provides a compelling alternative to conventional building methods, and seems poised to continue to gain in popularity in the coming years.

A. Masha (LEARN) to drive for six years!

B. Julia (ALREADY HAVE) lunch, so she'll meet us later.

C. I (READ) your book. Here it is, thank you.

D. I (WORK) in the garden all day and I need a rest.

E. Olya (MAKE) three cupcakes. They look delicious!

1. Present Perfect

2. Present Perfect Continuous

2. A bird on the run

3. A smelly giant

4. A geographical tongue-twister

5. The biggest in the world

6. Unusual and not dangerous

7. Secret species

8. Strange travellers

A.The longest geographical name in Europe and the second longest geographical name in the world belongs to a large village in Wales. Clocking in at 58 letters, “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch” seems excessive for a name, but when translated it actually means “St. Mary’s Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near to the Rapid Whirlpool of Llantysilio of the Red Cave.” This unusual name has made the village a magnet for tourists. Unsurprisingly, the locals still prefer to call their native village Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or even simply Llanfair.

B. Residents of a Massachusetts neighborhood were treated to an unusual spectacle when an escaped emu went running through the streets. The Brockton Police Department said calls started coming in about 9:35 p.m. Thursday about an emu running loose through the Pine Street and Perry Avenue area. Residents posted video footage of the Australian bird to social media. Police said animal control officers were able to capture the emu around 10:30 p.m. The emu was returned to its owner’s home in East Bridgewater.

C. Heterochromia is when someone has more than one eye colour. In many cases, this means each eye is a different colour — for example, one is brown and another is green. It can also mean there are at least two different colours in parts of one eye or both eyes. Heterochromia is a rare condition that affects the iris, the coloured part of the eye. A pigment within the iris called melanin gives eyes their distinct colour. A harmless genetic mutation is believed to cause this phenomenon.

D. Astronomers have divided the sky into 88 different constellations. The word “constellation” comes from a Latin term meaning “set with stars.” The first people to discover and use the constellations were farmers — in some areas the changing of seasons was so subtle that the farmers depended on the stars to know when it was time to plant and when the time was right to harvest. Most names of the constellations were invented by the Greek — these names came from their mythological heroes and legends.

E. Rafflesia, a plant with no leaves, no roots, no stem and the biggest flower in the world sounds like the stuff of science fiction. “It is perhaps the largest and most magnificent flower in the world” was how Sir Stamford Raffles described his discovery in 1818 of Rafflesia arnoldii, modestly named after himself and his companion, Dr James Arnold. It is one of the rarest plants in the world and on the verge of extinction. As if size and rarity weren’t enough, Rafflesia is also one of the world’s most disgusting plants — it smells like rotten meat!

F.In Death Valley, there’s a faraway area with a truly bizarre natural phenomenon: hundreds of stones that gradually move themselves over time. Each of the stones travels a few inches per year, leaving a trail in the dusty ground behind it. Scientists have studied these ‘sailing stones’ since the 1940s, proposing a range of mechanisms that might be responsible. In 2011, Ralph Lorenz, a physicist at Johns Hopkins University, suggested that a layer of ice formed around the stones, lifting them up off the ground and allowing them to be blown by gentle breezes.

G. The Kermode bear, which can be found in Canada, is a white black bear. Sounds strange, right? Surprisingly, 1 out of 10 black bears of west-central British Columbia has white fur. The Aboriginal people call this unusual white bear a ‘spirit bear,’ believing that it had a connection with the spiritual world. When fur trade arrived in western Canada, native people never mentioned the existence of the white black bear. Thanks to keeping silent about the spirit bears, these rare animals survived are still around.