【推荐1】Mobile Payments in China

A foreigner scans the QR code to pay for snacks at a shop in Hangzhou on April 14, 2017. All vendors (小贩) support mobile payments, and consumers can scan QR codes to pay through WeChat Wallet or Alipay. Using mobile payments is not forced by the market regulator, but done     1     (voluntary). “All use, and if you do not, it means a     2     (lose).” A vendor said.

The popularity of mobile payments in China also shocked neighboring nation Japan, when an online post stated a beggar even had to use the mobile payment QR code in China. It     3     (grow) into a lifestyle choice of Chinese following the rapid development of mobile payment services     4     (lead) by third-party payment companies so far.

Mobile payments have not only become popular in large cities and urban areas, but also in the country’s county towns and rural areas. “It is troublesome to get lots of coins while buying vegetables, which are uneasy     5     (carry),” said a user. “The services, either WeChat Wallet or Alipay, will record the trades,    6     helps to know where money has gone.”

According to iResearch, the market of mobile payments reached $ 5.5 trillion in 2016, about 50 times the US market. Li Yi, a researcher, said     7     rapid development was due to the weak sense of service in Chinese banks. “Globally, in places where traditional financial systems are weak, mobile payments are     8     (develop) than those with strong ones,” he said.

    9    , the popularity of digital payments has a potential risk in data privacy and financial security. To struggle     10     this, the Chinese government has issued regulations.

China’s first artificial intelligence (AI) textbook for high school students     1    (publish) last week, following a plan by central government     2     (include) AI courses in primary and secondary school.

The nine-chapter textbook,     3     (name) “Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence”, was written by outstanding     4     (scholar) from well-known schools nationwide, under the joint efforts by the research center for MOOC at East China Normal University and AI startup Sense Time. It includes the history of AI and how the technology can be applied in areas such as facial recognition, auto driving and public security.

“The textbook focuses not only on basics of AI, but on    5     (practice) use of AI in daily life,” said Chen Yukun, a professor at East China Normal University,     6     is also a contributor to the book.

Up till now, about 40 high schools across the country     7     (undertake) the task of being the first group of Al high education pilot program     8     introducing the textbook in the curriculum. “The AI sector is facing a talent shortage     9     (global). The publication of the book is     10     breakthrough as it takes AI technology out of the ‘Ivory tower’ and makes it part of high school learning,” said Lin Dahua, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

You may ride on your bicycle in a rush to get to school every morning. You may fight to get a bit of space on a bus or on the subway. You may also watch taxis move their way     1     (slow)through traffic jams. No matter where you are, all big     2     (city) around the world have traffic jams these days.

Although they all have their problems, many cities also have a type of transportation that has become a cultural icon.

In London, to avoid the traffic above ground, people use the “underground”. The city has     3     oldest and most complicated underground railway system in the world and it is the pride of many Londoners.

New York is famous for     4     (it) yellow cabs (出租车). They serve as a quick and easy way of     5     (get) across Manhattan, where the subway doesn’t take you everywhere. Stopping a cab is easy: just stick out your arm like you do in any city.     6    , with over 12,000 yellow cabs in the Big Apple (纽约别称), there     7     (be) also a lot of traffic jams.

Since 1873 when the first cable car     8     (start) public service, the slow and noisy vehicle has been a symbol of San Francisco.     9     once damaged by a serious earthquake and challenged by cars, it is never caught in traffic jams and provides     10     (good) views than the subway.

The way we cook is important. In many countries, the two choices are     1     (nature) gas or electric-powered stoves.

The World Health Organization warns that millions of people     2     (suffer) from indoor air pollution at present time, which results from the use of dangerous     3     (fuel) and cook-stoves in the home.

WHO officials say nearly three billion people are     4     (able) to use clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating and lighting. As a result, more than seven million people die from exposure to indoor or outdoor air pollution each year. Most of the deaths are in     5     (develop) countries, such as lndia, China and Latin American countries.

WHO officials say opening a window or door     6     (let) out the harmful air will not correct the situation.     7     will only pollute the outdoors.

Nigel Bruce,     8     is a professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool, says researchers are developing good cook-stoves and other equipment to burn fuels     9     a more efficient way.

But, this is just a start. It is urging developing countries to use     10    (clean) fuels and increase access to cleaner and more modern cooking and heating appliances (用具).

Many people take the idea of saving money very seriously. Back in 1924, in Italy, a group of people     1     (think) the inability to resist spending a major social problem. They had the idea of starting a day to remind people to put away some money for a rainy day. This is how World Saving Day, held on Oct. 31st     2    (annual), was started, and it's still going strong in 2019.

Not surprisingly, a movement     3    (target) the poor was started. People in the underdeveloped world are more open     4     calls to be careful with money. But     5     idea of being thrifty (节俭) has also become popular among the rich. Take Mark Zuckerberg for example. The Facebook founder, one of the world's     6    (rich) people, doesn't spend very much money on himself.

Other people don't spend money because they don't like the culture of     7    (consume). This is connected to the view     8     we should make ourselves happy through the activities we take part in, rather than with what we buy.

But however we view money, moderate spending is certainly a good idea when we are still too young to get a job. There is a British saying that     9    (offer) some good advice in this situation: “Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after     10    (they).”