Woman: Our design class is really interesting. Don't you think so?

Man: Yeah, I like Professor Vargas, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} sometimes he goes too fast, and I feel like I'm missing something. There's a lot we have {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (remember).

Woman: True. There are a lot of details about all the different styles.

Man: Yeah, there are Art Nouveau, and Art Deco, and Art Moderne... I have a hard time {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (keep) it all straight.

Woman: I know what you mean.

Man: For example, it seems to me {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Art Deco and Art Moderne are the same things.

Woman: Well, it's somewhat confusing. They were both popular in {#blank#}5{#/blank#}1930s although Art Deco came a little before Moderne. I think Professor Vargas {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (say) Art Deco started at an exhibition in Paris in 1925. Let me check out my notes. Right, Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1923 until the 1940s, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (affect) the decorative arts such as architecture and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (industry) design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts and film.

Man: So, they were about the same time. It's one thing that gets confusing. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} thing is, they seem so similar that it's hard to see why they're {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (consider) different styles.

    It is generally believed that obesity is a global epidemic and crisis. But people's view on weight is keeping us from doing things to help us get {#blank#}1{#/blank#} healthy body. Obesity researchers hate{#blank#}2{#/blank#} when I say this, but their own data shows that obesity is not going to kill us. Most obese people don't have {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(short) lifespans (寿命) than non-obese people and in fact it's the underweight people {#blank#}4{#/blank#} are at most at risk.

    So why does everybody think obesity is deadly? One reason is that obesity is associated with three different things that {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(be) deadly and lead to shorter lifespan: being sedentary (久坐);{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (have) lower income; and not getting enough medical care. Everyone, the medial the medical community operate from the firm {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (assume) that obesity is deadly. So any evidences contradicting that are ignored. It is true that obese people are more likely {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(get) diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But there are two things you need to realize. First of all, the obesity paradox. When obese people get the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (disease), they're less likely to die of them than non-obese people. Second, to reduce the risks that you may suffer from, you don't {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (actual) have to get thin. You just need to exercise.

    Last week, seven-year-old Charlotte Benjamin {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (become) a household name, and a hero to young girls everywhere, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} her handwritten letter to the LEGO company went public.

    In her letter, Charlotte complains about the lack of {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (diverse) in Lego characters. Here's what she wrote:

    "Dear Lego company,

    My name is Charlotte.

    Today I went to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} store and saw Legos in two sections — the girls' pink and the boys' blue. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} all the girls did was to sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, and even swam with sharks.

    I want you to make {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (many) Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun, OK?

    Thank you.

    From Charlotte"

    Charlotte's dad loved her well-written letter {#blank#}7{#/blank#} much that he had it sent to the website, Sociological Images, which posted it to their Twitter account. The letter has been posted almost 2,500 times and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (share) over 5,000 times on Facebook.

    Yesterday, LEGO responded to Charlotte {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (state) that they would include more female characters and themes, and that they have added new characters to the LEGO world {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (balance) the appeal of their themes.

    Letters as a way of communication have long given way to phone calls and WeChat messages. But a TV show, LettersAlive, is helping bring this old way to keep in touch back {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the present.

    LettersAlive took {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (it) idea from a UK program, LettersLive, released in 2013. Both {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (show) feature famous actors and actresses, but there {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) no eye-catching visual effects or any regular showbiz(娱乐圈) activities. Instead, it's just a live event {#blank#}5{#/blank#} remarkable letters selected from a wide time span and a diverse range of subjects are read. There is, for example, a passionate letter from Huang Yongyu to playwright Cao Yu 30 years ago to criticize his lack of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (create).

    Every letter is like a small piece of history. By hearing them being read, it's as if we are being sent back in time {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (experience) a moment that we would otherwise never have had the chance to.

    Compared to{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (publish) texts, letters also {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (natural) come with a personal touch. As well as celebrating the pain, joy, wisdom and humor, LettersAlive{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (commit) to promoting Chinese literature since first run.

    The world's longest sea bridge, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, links Hong Kong and Macau to mainland China. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} took over a decade to construct. A few artificial islands were built in the Pearl River Delta {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (provide) the supports for the bridge. There is {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 6.7-kilometre underwater tunnel in the middle of the bridge, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} allows ships to sail through the Delta. The bridge will {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (great) cut the time it takes to travel from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau.

    It's believed that up to 29,000 cars {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (cross) the sea link daily around the year 2030. Hong Kong will become a lot more accessible for goods and trade, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (attract) more business, so this bridge is {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (benefit) to its economy. The bridge will be open to people to drive across it. However, car {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (own) will not be able to drive across the bridge unless they have a special permit. Most people will take a shuttle bus. Compared with driving a car, this will be much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (cheap).