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Xi’an, an ancient capital of China, has secured a place among the most popular 1． (destination) for the enchanting appeal. While 2． (it) historical and cultural landmarks awe visitors, it is the varied, mouthwatering selection of snacks that 3． (true) captivates their hearts.

With its strategic location along the Silk Road, Xi’an is a melting pot of cuisine influences from far and wide, and its history of growing wheat 4． (bring) the creation of a display of flour-based dishes, with noodles taking center stage.

From the iconic biangbiang noodles to the inviting oil-splashed noodles, Xi’an’s noodle scene is a 5． (delight) journey through flavors and textures. Biangbiang noodles, are named for the “biang-ing” sound the noodles are said to make when 6． (beat) on the table as they are being formed. While the appeal of biangbiang noodles is 7． they are wide and hand-pulled, their toppings with tasty ingredients are also a highlight. Another iconic snack, roujiamo, is often referred to 8． the “Chinese hamburger”. This sandwich-like delight has a lengthy history 9． (date) back approximately 2,400 years.

Whatever you’d like to experience in Xi’an, you’ll not only have 10． taste delight, but be amazed by the wisdom of our ancestors throughout history.

Hannah, an adventurous girl, lived on a small village in a land far away. All of the villagers were used to their ________ tasks and very few had the will to try something new. Unlike them, Hannah loved to ________ and would spend hours in the woods looking for new things.

One afternoon, she ________ an abandoned cottage. With curiosity she slowly opened the door and was left ________. In front of her was a room full of books glittering in the dust! She gasped as she ________ that she had found a hidden treasure. She ________ two and decided to read them at her home.

From that day on, Hannah ________ read the books, which took her to a world of talking animals, mystical creatures, and daring knights. She read about characters who faced ________ with their determination and characters who bravely ________ for good. She learned the power of love and friendship, and that the true strength lies within one’s own ________!

With the good in heart, Hannah started to ________ the gold from the tales with the people of her village. Soon, the ________ of Hannah’s storytelling spread. People traveled from different places to listen to her stories.________, Hannah started writing stories of her own too!

Hannah’s passion and ________ blew life into the tales and her words breathed new life into countless souls. She became a signal of ________, a reminder for everyone that even in the dustiest comers, there can be a hidden treasure.

Getting negative feedback never feels good. In fact, it pretty much always sucks. Even though it feels bad, constructive feedback is meant to help us grow and improve. Here are some strategies that can help you use negative feedback constructively, leading to positive change.

1． Your instinct may be to get upset or justify yourself instantly, but it’s important to remain as professional as possible in the moment. Even when your criticizer is factually wrong, the response “You’re wrong!” won’t ever be helpful. The key is to listen without planning your reply. Simply nod until the other person has completely finished.

Recognize the good intentions. Remember, the people who will give you tough feedback are the people who really care about your success. People who tell you only what they know you want to hear don’t really care about you.2．

Don’t let it harm your confidence. Whatever you do, don’t allow negative feedback to destroy your self-esteem.3． Whatever went wrong won’t define you forever if you apply the feedback constructively and use it to your advantage.

Practice self-affirmation.4． It can be helpful to remind yourself of other aspects of your identity that are not in question to boost your confidence. For example, you could say: “Yes, my team thinks I’m a micromanager, but I can work on that, I am also a nice partner, committed volunteer and talented singer.’’

Set actionable goals. It can be helpful to break down the feedback into specific, actionable goals. 5． Set time to outline an action plan and timeline for each of these goals. With this, you can keep track of your progress and hold yourself accountable to your goals.

Though negative feedback may be disheartening, take the necessary steps to become an even better version of yourself.

Lifestyle creep, sometimes called lifestyle inflation, is when living expenses and non-essential expenditures grow with income. In bad cases of lifestyle creep, this unnecessary spending can cut into savings.

Lifestyle creep is most visible among high earners, but anyone can fall into this trap. Who hasn’t justified eating out more often every week after receiving a 1 or 2 percent raise? The temptation of a more costly lifestyle is difficult to resist. If you’re making enough money to afford a larger apartment, shouldn’t you move to a larger apartment?

Improving your standard of living as your income increases isn’t an objectively bad thing, but when that habit cuts into your savings efforts, it can be a major financial risk. As Katie Waters, a financial planner at Stable Waters Financial, says, “Something’s got to give.”

Then how to avoid lifestyle creep? It just takes the same moderation and planning you used when you had a smaller income. If you can, head off lifestyle creep from the beginning by giving your raise or bonus money a purpose immediately. This can be to pay down debt, save for a house, or add to retirement accounts. This way, you won’t be tempted to spend it on a non-necessity. If you fear you’ve already fallen victim to lifestyle inflation at any level, you can still turn your spending around. If you are putting all your expenses on your credit card, Waters recommends rearranging so only routine, fixed monthly expenses are on the card. “The monthly variable costs—food, clothing, personal care, purchases for the home, the list goes on—are where your money slips away easily.” Waters says, “Calculate your possible savings each pay period and put that money into a separate checking account.”

“As with all things, the secret to managing your finances like an adult is a constant strive for balance,” Waters says. “Have fun along the way, but don’t let the tail wag the dog.”

People who have trouble walking or moving around often have a hard time enjoying the beach. But hundreds of beaches in Greece now offer a new way for people in wheelchairs to get into the water by themselves. It’s called Seatrac.

Seatrac is basically a chair on a moving ramp (活动梯) that can smoothly carry a disabled person into the sea. Once in the sea, the person can either remain in the chair, enjoying the water, or go for a swim. The chair is operated by remote control. When the person is ready to get out of the water, the Seatrac system brings the chair back to the top of the ramp. It’s even possible to take a shower in the Seatrac chair after going for a swim.

Seatrac was invented and developed in Greece. The idea for it came when one of the inventors, Ignatios Fotiou, was talking with a friend who used a wheelchair. The friend said he enjoyed the sea, but didn’t like having to be carried into the ocean as if he were a “sack of potatoes”. Mr. Fotiou realized that there must be a way to make it easier for wheelchair users to enjoy the water. He worked with his partner and a professor at a Greek university to design the system. In time, they formed a company called TOBEA to build and sell the systems.

The company worked hard to make the system simple to put in place and easy to run. A wooden walkway allows wheelchair users to reach the Seatrac. The system is solar powered and can continue to run even if the electricity goes out. The Scatrac system can easily be packed up and stored when swimming season ends.

This summer, the Seatrac system is being used at over 220 beaches in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Latvia. Thanks to Seatrac, people who use wheelchairs now have the chance to cool down with a dip in the sea.

South Baltimore is often thought of as a place to avoid—folks are taught to be careful of it. There was a mass shooting this past July, and another in early September.

“People think Curtis Bay is a dangerous place. It’s not. It’s just we’re surrounded by dangerous things,” says Taysia Thompson, 17.

Taysia, is one of the Free Your Voice members, a group of student activists fighting against a very different kind of danger in their neighborhood: air pollution and climate change. Now, the focus of their movement is the mountains of coal. Coal releases a fine, black dust small enough to get into people’s lungs. It makes respiratory (呼吸的) diseases worse, or can even cause disease and premature death. And there are the greenhouse gas emissions after the coal is burned.

The teens of Free Your Voice are taking on a big opponent: the massive goods transportation company CSX, which transported more than 8 million tons of coal through South Baltimore in 2021. The goal is to eventually get the state regulators to deny the permit that CSX needs to operate, or at least require the company to enclose all the coal, or at the very least put water onto all of it so there’s less dust blowing around.

This past summer, Taysia and three other students spent their time gathering evidence to try and get the coal pollution out of their neighborhood. They used sticky paper to gather samples of dust from all over the neighborhood to prove that the dust is from coal. They are also sending dust samples to a scientist in California, who uses an electron microscope to compare the dust that’s in this neighborhood to samples from the piles of coal at the terminal in South Baltimore to see if it matches.

The students now have support from their community. But the responses from officials have not been very satisfying. “Everyone is just breathing the air. And we will keep fighting.” says Taysia.