News reporters need to base their stories on trusted sources in order to avoid ______ the public.

Under the doctor’s care, my grandmother has been making ______ progress since her knee operation.

Amy asked her brother to turn down the ______ of the stereo so that she could hear her friend clearly on the phone.

Famous for his great achievements as an artist and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci is one of the ______ figures of the Renaissance.

To stop the spread of the illness, anyone who fails to wear a mask in the hospital can be ______ service and even fined.

Before the invention of farm machinery, farmers had to ______ from dawn to dusk in the fields all year round.

The boy insisted that there was a monster in his room, but it was actually an ______ created by the moonlight.

Instead of remaining ______ at home, many retired people take part in social activities and do volunteer work.

At many busy international airports, taxis are ______ available at all hours to provide transportation services to incoming travelers.

Long years of wars have forced many civilians to leave their homeland and live in ______ as refugees in other countries.

$~~~~$Denmark consistently scores high in global happiness rankings, and Danish people have some cool words for ways to be happy. The word recently voted most popular among Danes is pyt, a term that describes the nation’s philosophy toward 11 .

$~~~~$Pyt doesn’t have an exact English translation. It is usually used as a 12 to a daily mistake or small frustration, corresponding roughly to the English sayings, “Don’t worry about it,” or “Well, things happen.” At its core, the word is about accepting and resetting—a reminder to step back and refocus rather than overreact. Pyt doesn’t point blame at either yourself or another person; 13 , it helps you learn that not everything can be perfect. But this does not mean that pyt applies to everything. It should not be used when you ought to take responsibility; 14 should it be taken as an excuse for inaction.

$~~~~$Today, the word is even manifested into a literal “pyt button” in Danish classrooms for schoolchildren to press when they are upset about something insignificant. Some adults have also started using the button at home. Basically, pyt encourages people of all ages to 15 minor frustrations and move on with their lives.

$~~~~$Goose bumps are one of those fight-or-flight reactions of the sympathetic nervous system. When you experience cold or fear, a nerve reaction is sent to the muscles, which then contract involuntarily. This muscle contraction causes your body hair to stand erect. The skin with standing body hair 16 a goose’s skin after its feathers have been plucked—hence the name goose bumps.

$~~~~$But 17 is this helpful to us as a response to fear or cold? Back in the days when our ancestors may have had a lot more body hair, this might have helped to keep them warm or scare an oncoming predator. These days, however, goose bumps are 18 to human beings. Goose bumps, or the reflex that causes them, also occur in many other mammals. Many mammals fluff up their fur when 19 , to look bigger and thus more dangerous. For example, when a porcupine encounters a predator, its long sharp pointed hairs will stand up as a means of 20 . In animals with a thick hair coat, the rising of hair traps more air between the hairs, providing another layer of insulation to keep them warm.

$~~~~$Islands are different from a continent or mainland. The size and isolation of islands have a profound effect on island ecosystems and their inhabitants.

$~~~~$Scientists who specialize in species evolution have found that, among mammal species that settle on islands, big species tend to shrink while small ones are apt to enlarge. This phenomenon, discovered by J. Bristol Foster in 1964, has been called Foster’s rule, or the island effect. For instance, rodents (such as rats and squirrels) living on islands tend toward gigantism, while big mammals (like deer and elephants) are more likely to become dwarfed. Although there are a number of exceptions to this pattern, the trend generally holds true for both fossil species and living island mammals.

$~~~~$Foster’s rule shows that body size regulates everything. In a mainland environment, being large is often a safer and adaptive form of avoiding predators. On an island, with few natural predators and less competition, being really big is no longer an advantage; in fact, it can be a hindrance since a huge animal will need a lot more food in order to survive and reproduce.

$~~~~$A new fossil study of island-dwelling proboscideans (i.e. prehistoric hairy elephants) further shows that the physical attributes and ecological structure of an island may affect the degree of shrinking in big mammals. On relatively balanced and species-rich islands, competition with other species often result in a relatively less dwarfed body size. In contrast, on smaller islands where food sources are limited and competitors lacking, members of this group become smaller surprisingly quickly. On one of the Channel Islands 15 miles off the coast of France, the red deer dwarfed to one-sixth the size of deer on continental Europe in a mere 6,000 years after the island became isolated.

$~~~~$Monopoly is a very popular board game around the world today, but little is known about its American inventor, Elizabeth Magie, and the philosophy behind her invention.

$~~~~$Born in 1866, Magie was a rebel against the norms and politics of her times. Inspired by Henry George who believed that all men should have an equal right to use the land as they have to breathe air, she challenged the capitalist system of property ownership—in the form of a board game. In 1904, she patented her Landlord’s Game, which consisted of a circuit of streets and landmarks for sale.

$~~~~$Magie’s game contained two sets of rules: The Prosperity rules and the Monopolist rules. The Prosperity rules stated that every player should gain each time someone acquired a new property. The game was won (by all!) when the player starting with the least money doubled his or her fortune. Under Monopolist rules, on the other hand, each player advanced by acquiring properties and collecting rent from all who landed there later. Whoever managed to bankrupt the other players won the game. The purpose of the dual sets of rules, said Magie, was for players to understand how these different approaches to property can lead to different social outcomes: “all win” or “win all.”

$~~~~$The game soon became a hit on college campuses and among Quaker communities, and some people modified the game board. An unemployed player named Charles Darrow sold this modified version to the manufacturer Parker Brothers as his own. However, when the game’s true origin came to light, Parker Brothers bought the patent from Magie for only $500. They then re-launched the game as Monopoly, including only the rules leading to the triumph of one over all. Darrow was publicized as the inventor who had become a millionaire from selling the game. Thus a rags-to-riches myth was created, ironically exemplifying Monopoly’s implicit values: Chase wealth and crush your opponents if you want to come out on top.

$~~~~$For decades, India’s time zone has been a hotly debated issue. Back in 1884 when time zones were officially established, two time zones were used—Bombay Time and Calcutta Time. Indian Standard Time (IST) was introduced in 1906, but Calcutta Time and Bombay Time continued to be maintained after India’s independence in 1947, until 1948 and 1955 respectively. The current single time zone, though a legacy of British rule, is often viewed as a symbol of unity. Yet, not everyone thinks it is a good idea.

$~~~~$India stretches 3,000 km from east to west, spanning roughly 30 degrees longitude. This corresponds to a two-hour difference in mean solar time, based on the position of the sun in the sky. Thus, the sun rises nearly two hours earlier in the east than in India’s far west. In Northeastern states, sunrise can be as early as 4 a.m. in summer and sunset by 4 p.m. in winter, much earlier than the official working hours. This results in great loss of daylight hours and more consumption of electricity, and often reduced productivity.

$~~~~$Meanwhile, recent studies point out that the current system leads to a serious problem in education for some students. Nationwide, the school day starts at roughly the same time; thus, children go to bed later and have reduced sleep in west India, where the sun sets later. Such sunset-induced sleep deprivation is more pronounced among the poor, mostly due to their noisy environment and lack of sleep-inducing facilities like window shades or indoor beds. On average, an hour’s delay in sunset time reduces children’s sleep by 30 minutes, and an hour’s delay in annual average sunset time reduces education by about 0.8 years. As a result, children living in locations with later sunsets are less likely to complete primary and middle school education.

$~~~~$Despite various requests and proposals for multiple time zones, the government is keen to retain the current system. Reasons provided include prevention of confusion and safety issues regarding railway and flight operations.

$~~~~$Richard I was the king of England from 1189 to 1199. He was known as “Richard the Lionheart” because he was a brave warrior and was said to be afraid of nothing. After ascending the throne, Richard led an army to join the Third Crusade to recover Christian holy sites from the Muslims. He fought side by side with the Duke of Austria, Leopold V, and together they conquered the powerful fortress of Acre in 1191. However, when Richard reached the top of the castle to claim victory, he displayed only his own banner and not that of Duke Leopold, who was absent at the time. This was an insult too much for the duke to bear, so he placed a price on Richard’s head.

$~~~~$Richard was aware of the danger awaiting him on his way back to England after the war. However, he had no other choice but to cross through Austria, a land controlled by his unfriendly former ally. Richard traveled in disguise but was recognized and caught before reaching Vienna. Duke Leopold held Richard at Dürnstein, a castle on the bank of the Danube River. After a few months, Richard was handed over to the German Emperor Heinrich VI. A ransom of 35 tons of silver was demanded by the duke and the emperor to release Richard. That was a huge amount for England to pay.

$~~~~$In 1194, the ransom was paid and Richard was finally released, though the effort it took to raise the money affected people throughout England. The silver was split between the German Emperor and the Austrian Duke. The Austrians used it to improve the city walls of Vienna and some small towns in the east. It was also used to establish the Austrian mint and make silver coins. Until the 1960s, small amounts of the silver stemming from the ransom could still be found in Austrian 10 Schilling coins.

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