Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix (修理)？

    In 1969, the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, Ohio. It {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(be) unimaginable that it could ever be cleaned up. The river was so polluted that it{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(actual) caught fire and burned. Now, years later, this river is one of{#blank#}3{#/blank#}most outstanding examples of environmental cleanup.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}the river wasn't changed in a few days or even a few months. It took years of work{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(reduce) the industrial pollution and clean the water. Finally, that hard work paid off and now the water in the river is{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(clean) than ever.

    Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit {#blank#}7{#/blank#}is driving your family crazy. Possibly you drink too much or don't know how to control your credit card use. When you face such an impossible situation, don't you want a quick fix and something to change immediately?

    While there are{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(amazed) stories of instant transformation, for most of us the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(change) are gradual and require a lot of effort and work, like cleaning up a polluted river. Just be{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(patience).

    According to a recent study, plants are able to make intelligent decisions. They are a lot{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(smart) than we thought. Scientists have discovered that the pea plant can make decisions on how{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (survive) best, even though it does not have a brain. Researchers grew several pea plants that had their roots {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (separate) between two pots. Each pot contained different amount of nutrients. One pot always had the same amount{#blank#}4{#/blank#}the other pot varied between a lot and a little. The plants turned out to be{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (amaze) consistent（一致的）at turning their roots to the pot with the most nutrients.

    Researcher Alex Kacelnik says the experiment raises a question, not about plants{#blank#}6{#/blank#} about animals and humans. He wonders whether the pea plant is more efficient in using its limited resources about {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(make) decisions than humans. He says, “We have a very wonderful brain, but maybe most of the time we're not using {#blank#}8{#/blank#}” Professor Kacelnik does not think that pea plants are intelligent in the human sense, but that they exhibit complex{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (behave) to efficiently take advantage of natural opportunities. It will be interesting to see how our lives would be different if we{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (adopt) similar strategies.

    If a little humanlike robot begged you not to shut it off, would you show sympathy?

    In an experiment {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (intend) to find out how people treat robots when they act like humans, many participants struggled to power down a begging robot named Nao. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} experiment was conducted by researchers in Germany, whose findings {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (publish) in the scientific journal PLOSOne.

    Nao, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} was designed to beg about half of the participants not to switch it off but not the other half, was used {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (measure) if his begging affected how people reacted.

    In one previous experiment, researchers found that people preferred communicating with robots with complementary (互补的) personality characteristics to {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (they) own. And since robots can exhibit social characteristics either {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (speak) with human voices or taking the shape of a human body, the research suggests that people tend to react “{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (especial) social to them.”

    The researchers said a possible {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (explain) for their results was that people regarded Nao's begging {#blank#}10{#/blank#} “a sign of making its own decision.”