OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS
Animals Out of Paper
Yolo！Productions and the Great Griffon present the play by Rajiv Joseph，in which an origami（折纸术）artist invites a teenage talent and his teacher into her studio. Merri Milwe directs. In previews. Opens Feb.12.（West Park Presbyterian Church，165 W.86th St.212-868-4444.）
The Audience
Helen Mirren stars in the play by Peter Morgan，about Queen Elizabeth II of the UK and her private meetings with twelve Prime Ministers in the course of sixty years. Stephen Daldry directs. Also starring Dylan Baker and Judith Ivey. Previews begin Feb.14.（Schoenfeld，236 W.45th St.212-239-6200.）
Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote this musical about Alexander Hamilton，in which the birth of America is presented as an immigrant story. Thomas Kail directs. In previews. Opens Feb.17.（Public，425 Lafayette St.212-967-7555.）
On the Twentieth Century
Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher star in the musical comedy by Betty Comden and Adolph Green，about a Broadway producer who tries to win a movie star's love during a cross-country train journey. Scott Ellis directs，for Roundabout Theatre Company. Previews begin Feb.12.（American Airlines Theatre，227 W.42nd St.212-719-1300.）
There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers, he used two buckets (水桶). One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one, which had seen many years of service, but was now past its best.
Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets. Then he would carry them along the path, one on each side, to the flowerbeds. The new bucket was very proud of itself. It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled. The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes: before it reached the flowerbeds, much water had leaked (渗漏) along the path.
Sometimes the new bucket would say, "See how capable I am! How good it is that the gardener has me water the flowers every day! I don't know why he still uses you. What a waste of space you are! "
And all that the old bucket could say was, "I know I am not very useful, but I can only do my best. I am happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me, at least. "
One day, the gardener heard that kind of conversation. After watering the flowers as usual, he said, "You both have done your work very well. Now I am going to carry you back, and I want you to look carefully along the path. "
Then the two buckets did so. All along the path, they noticed, on the side where the new bucket was carried, there was just bare earth; on the other side where the old bucket was carried, there was a joyous row of wild flowers, leading all the way to the garden.
China is a large producer and consumer of rice. But, as a result of climate change, the amount of land available for rice growing in the country is shrinking. The concern has motivated scientists led by Yuan Longping, known as "the father of hybrid rice"，to look for new ways of growing the grain.
Now they're celebrating successful efforts to grow rice—in sand and seawater. Rice is traditionally grown in soil and fresh water. Starting from January, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, the scientists have grown dozens of varieties of rice in the deserts of Dubai. They experimented with seawater because it is easier to obtain in the desert than fresh water.
China is not the only country facing the issue of overly salty soil. Around the world, there are around 2. 35 billion acres of highly saline (含盐的)land. And the number is increasing because of rising sea levels and climate change.
"Probably only a small part of the world's saline land could be brought into production with seawater rice, but that would still have a very important effect on food security," Even R. Pay, a senior analyst, said.
Yuan told Xinhua that one of the varieties of rice grown in Dubai produced over three tons, per acre, which Yuan said was beyond expectations.
Rice is the basic food in many parts of the world. About 90% of rice consumption is from Asia, but demand in Africa and Latin America is on the rise.
A climate change researcher said the successful experiment could potentially benefit many countries. "This is a fantastic development, which is likely to have a good effect on agricultural resource and water-poor countries, particularly in North Africa region."
Even though the cost of growing salt-tolerant rice is still high, it will also have strategic value once it's commercialized.
Nearly every week, we hear news about the latest successes and failures in driverless vehicles. But we hear little about how other industries are developing this same kind of technology. One industry heavily involved in researching and developing artificial intelligence, or AI, is agriculture. Companies are experimenting with high-tech tools that can help farmers save time and money, while reducing environment-harming chemicals.
One of the companies is ecoRobotix of Switzerland. It created a robot equipped with AI and cameras to identify all plants on a farm. The robot has four wheels to carry itself through the fields in search of weeds. Computer-controlled arms then lower and spray the weeds with small amounts of herbicide(除草剂). Company officials say the robot can fully operate on its own for up to 12 hours a day while being powered by the sun. It uses the same kind of sensor and positioning technology used to guide driverless vehicles. A farmer can also control the equipment through a smartphone.
The co-founder of ecoRobotix, Aurélien Demaurex, says the farm robot can kill weeds with 20 times less herbicide than traditional methods. This is because the system uses exactly the right chemical amount in the exact place required to kill the weeds. Currently, farmers spread weed killers over massive areas to destroy unwanted plants.
Another company developing farm robotics is California-based Blue River Technology. The company has a system called "See & Spray", which it claims was the world's first smart sprayer. The system—which is connected to the back of a tractor—is also equipped with AI to identify and chemically kill only the weeds. It can also spray chemicals on wanted plants to help them grow. Ben Chostner, vice president of business development for Blue River Technology，explains in a company video that See & Spray technology uses the same deep learning methods used in facial recognition. "The first time the machine saw pigweed, it didn't know what kind of plant it was. But we taught it—by giving it tens of thousands of examples of that pigweed—and now it's an expert in pigweed. "
Many companies, including McDonald's, are removing artificial colors from their foods. Colors send important signals about food, and companies aren't going to stop using them.
Cheese
Check the packages of most cheeses, and there is likely an ingredient called annatto (胭脂红) listed. The practice dates back to when cheesemakers in England removed the butterfat from milk to make butter. The leftover milk was whiter，so cheesemakers added annatto to create a golden coloring.
Egg Yolks
Many home cooks think darker egg yolks are fresher or more nutritious. But the color may be the result of coloring products in chicken feed. Darker yolks aren't necessarily healthier. The belief that they are healthier is likely rooted in the idea that yolks are darker when hens are fed a diet of fresh plants, which contain the pigments (色素).
Salmon
Bright pink flesh may signal freshness to shoppers eyeing salmon，which is why salmon may have been fed synthetic astaxanthin (虾青素). For example, at Costco, tickets of farmed salmon are saying "Color added through feed".
"People used to get all the coloring all over their fingers. We now kind of laugh at that，" said Richard Matoian, director of a food trade association. Americans, therefore, apparently aren't entirely ready to say goodbye to the artificial colors in various kinds of food. Companies are expected to take new measures in response to customer demand.
A. Without it, cheese would be off-white.
B. But producers know the difference colors can make.
C. It's easy to change yolk colors by simply varying hens' diet.
D. But don't expect your cheeseburgers to look much different.
E. Yolk colors vary when chickens live in different climates as well.
F. Producers are asked to declare on tickets if artificial colors were used.
G. Some companies even offer various shades of pink to help judge flesh colors.
A few days ago, my husband observed a teenager doing yard work that his dad had told him to do. Instead of doing the task1, he wandered around there for hours, doing a 2 job.
The person he hurt the most was himself. His dad was trying to teach him 3and how to do a good job. As a result of his 4 attitude, he spent the whole afternoon finishing a task that should have taken one or two hours. And the yard 5wasn't clean enough when he got through.
He ruined his day because of his attitude. In addition，his dad was upset with him, and the boy's bad mood ended up 6the whole family that day.
Contrast that with a sweet lady working in a fast food 7. The minute I walked in, she welcomed me 8. She smiled as she took my order, and then as we 9 the food, she talked with me. As I walked off with my tray, she said with a big 10," I hope you have a blessed day!" I thought the food tasted better because of her 11. There was a delay, during which I sat there hearing her singing as she 12 her tasks behind the counter.
She wasn't making a large 13, and she didn't have a powerful position either. In addition, she stood on her feet for a long shift each day, often dealing with difficult customers. But she chose to be joyful.
I want to learn from her. I want to do my best, even when there's no applause or glory. Other people are watching me even though I might not 14 it at the time. I want to bring joy to all those around me. The 15can make a great difference.
China creates "harvest festival" for farmers
China has created a special day for farmers to celebrate the annual harvest, the first festival created by the state (specific) for the country's farmers.
"The Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival will fall on the Autumn Equinox (秋分) each year, (start) this year," Han Changfu, minister of agriculture and rural affairs，(explain) at a press conference Thursday. "The festival will give greater importance rural work, speed up China's rural vitalization, and push for faster (develop) of agriculture and rural areas," Han said.
"The festival should celebrate farmers, and they (encourage) to think of their own ways to celebrate harvest," Han said. Some activities will be held nationwide，most of the celebration will take place at a local level. Local governments can host various activities for the festival, such as folk culture (perform), food tastings and sightseeing.
Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival reflects high value the government places on agriculture, rural areas and rural people, as well as its determination (see) a thriving (繁荣的) agricultural industry, beautiful countryside and well-off farmers.
When I was in school, I joined an undergraduate program to chat with specific patients and then discuss it with others. But I had no specific training in this, and introducing myself to strangers was not one of my natural talents.
On one special visit, I cautiously entered a darkened room to find an elderly man lying in the bed. There was no one else in the room, and I firstly thought he was sleeping. When I moved a little closer to the bed, I realized that he was very much awake, but also very confused and anxious. He desperately wanted to communicate something to others, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. He seemed weak, and I couldn't tell if he was in pain, or just scared. I knew nothing about this man's life or history, and at that time I felt totally helpless. He obviously didn't want me to leave, but I felt so lost and uncomfortable that I had to leave the room after only a couple of minutes.
The next time I was at the hospital, I was asked to make follow-up visits with the same list of patients. I expected my time with the confused man to be just as short as the last time if he was even still alive. It seemed pointless to prevent myself from trying to talk with someone who was so weak.
As I arrived at the room, the first thing I noticed was that the lights were on. His daughter was there chatting with him. He was sitting up in the bed and looked a bit better than before. I introduced myself to the daughter and explained to her that I had come by before. Addressing the patient, I then suggested that I was certain he didn't remember me at all.
Paragraph 1:
To my surprise, he corrected me immediately.
Paragraph 2:
After this visit, the words the old man said to me were always in my mind.
