A phenomenon known as "in-need-of-praise" has taken Chinese social media by storm. Users can now join a chat group on WeChat or QQ, where they will     1     (praise) and gain encouragement from others—for a price. The "in-need-of praise" chat groups are a reflection of Chinese culture     2     values modesty and humility (谦逊), leading many people to often cover their true emotions. In Chinese culture,    3     (open) seeking and giving praise is uncommon. The trend seemed to have started with a chat group on the platform Douban four years ago. Since March many other chat groups     4     (become) popular, especially among young people. For them,     5    (gain) recognition from peers is more important than getting approval from older     6    (generation). They can feel    7     sense of belonging and gain praise in these chat groups, which is     8     (benefit) to their mental health. It's also an outlet for users to show     9     (kind) and support to each other. Life pressure can be big enough, so we need to be surrounded by warm words, or even some blind confidence. But anyone receiving or giving praise in such groups should be cautious. The biggest risk is the constant focus on the “false self”, which makes     10    harder to see the “true self”.

Phrase bai lan gains popularity as severe competition and social expectations leave many young people despondent (沮丧的).

On China’s Internet, some young people say their ambitions can’t be achieved and many of them have given up on trying.    1    (frustrate) by the mounting uncertainties and lack    2    economic opportunities, they are resorting to a new buzzword—bai lan (let it rot in English)—to capture their attitude towards life.

The phrase bai lan,    3    has its origin in NBA games,    4    (mean) a voluntary retreat from pursuing certain goals because one realizes they are    5    (simple) too difficult to achieve. In American basketball, it often refers to a player’s deliberate loss of a game in order to get a better draft pick.

All these days, the bai lan-related topics    6    (generate) hundreds of millions of reads and discussions on Weibo. Netizens also created different    7    (change) of the bai lan attitude. State media have taken note of this trend. “Why do modern young Chinese like to ‘bai lan’?” one recent article in official media outlet asked. “In fact, this is as    8    result of negative auto suggestion, repeatedly    9    (tell) oneself I cannot make it. And this kind of mentality often leads people    10    (adopt) the ‘bai lan’ attitude.”