【推荐2】In Dad’s Army, a British sitcom (情景喜剧) about a home-defense Force, Sergeant (中士) Wilson would often cast doubt on his commander’s various orders with the phrase “Do you think that’s wise, sir?” His doubt, although often ignored, was usually ________.

Many employees must be tempted to imitate Sgt. Wilson when they see their bosses head down the wrong track. But caution often leads workers to keep silent for fear of appearing foolish and offensive and ________ being at high risk of losing their jobs.

A culture of silence can be dangerous, argues a new book The Fearless Organization, by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School. Some of her cases are from the ________ industry, where staff felt too powerless to make any changes due to their ranks. One was its deadliest accident: a crash between two Boeing-747s in the Canary Islands occurred in 1977 when a co-pilot felt unable to ________ his captain into changing the decision to take off. Another case was that of the Columbia space shuttle in 2003; an engineer who may have diagnosed damage to the shuttle’s wing before the flight felt unable to speak as he was “too ________” at NASA.

In a corporate culture based on ________ and obedience, it may appear that targets are being achieved. But in the long run the effect is likely to be counterproductive (适得其反的). Studies show that fear ________ learning. And when faced with a problem, scared workers find ways of ________ it or getting around it with inefficient practices.

The solution is to create an atmosphere of “psychological safety” whereby workers can speak their minds. It does not mean that workers, or their ideas, are ________ criticism, or that they should complain continuously. In a sense, this method is the ________ of Toyota’s “lean manufacturing” process, which allows any worker who spots a problem to stop the production line.

Pixar, the production firm, created what it called a “Braintrust” to give ________ to film directors. The rules were that advice should be constructive and about the idea, not the person, and that filmmakers should not be ________ in response.

And psychological safety is not about whistleblowing (检举). Indeed, if an employee feels the need to act as a whistleblower by speaking to external ________, it suggests employers have not created an environment within the firm where criticism can be ________. Nor is such a culture only about safety or avoiding mistakes. As mundane (单调的) tasks are automated, and workers rely on computers for data analysis, the added value of humans will stem from their ________. But as Ms. Edmondson’s book demonstrates, it is hard to be either constructive or creative if you are not confident about speaking out.

【推荐3】In interviews, famous people often say that the key to becoming both happy and successful is to “do what you love.” But ________ a skill, even one that you deeply love, calls for plenty of drills. Any challenging activity —from computer programming to playing a musical instrument to athletics — requires ________ practice. A perfect golf swing or faultless butterfly stroke (蝶泳) takes countless hours of practice and repetitions to perfect.

Anyone who wants to have a good command of a skill must go through the ________ of practice, critical feedback, polish, and increasing improvement again, again, and again. Some people seem able to concentrate on practicing an activity like this for years and take ________ in their gradual improvement. Yet others find this kind of focused, time-intensive work to be ________ or boring. Why?

The ________ may depend on the ability to enter into a state of “flow,” the feeling of being completely involved in what you are doing. Flow states can happen in the course of any activity, and they are most common when a task has definite goals and where the individual is able to ________ their performance to clear and immediate feedback.

Csikszentmihalyi suggested that those who most ________ entered into flow states had an “autotelic personality” — a tendency to seek out challenges and get into a state of flow. While those without such a personality see difficulties, autotelic individuals see opportunities to build skills and they have low levels of self-centeredness. Such people, with their ability to focus on tasks rather than rewards have a great________ over others in developing their innate (天生的) abilities. But how can we get into flow state for an activity so that we enjoy both the process of improving skills and the ________ of being a master？

________ for those of us who don’t necessarily possess an autotelic personality, there is evidence that flow states can be ________ by environmental factors. For instance, in Montessori schools, students do not study by following direct instruction. ________, they are encouraged to develop and pursue personal interests. Competition is ________ and grading is not emphasized. Students are grouped together according to shared interests, rather than separated by ability.

While there isn’t yet a pill that can turn dull practice into an exciting activity for anyone, it is comforting that we seem to be able to advance into flow states. By giving ourselves unstructured, open-ended time, minimum distractions and task set at moderate level of ________, we may be able to love what we’re doing while we put in the hard work practicing the things we love doing.

【推荐3】Many of the world’s islands were previously unexplored places, but over time, people have come to these places with far-reaching effects, including deforestation, over-hunting and the introduction of invasive species. _______, most of the bird species disappeared.

While the death of many birds since the 1500s has been _______, our knowledge of the fate of species before this relies on fossils (化石), and these records are limited because birds’ lightweight bones are _______ over time. This conceals the true _______ of global extinctions.

Researchers now believe 1,430 bird species — almost 12 per cent — have died out over modern human history since around 130,000 years ago, with the vast majority of them becoming extinct directly or indirectly _______ human activity.

The study, led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and published in Nature Communications, used statistical modelling to _______ the undiscovered bird extinctions.

Lead author Dr Rob Cooke, an ecological modeler at UKCEH, says:“Our study demonstrates there has been a far higher _______ impact on diversity than previously recognized. Humans quickly destroyed bird populations through habitat loss, over-exploitation, and the introduction of rats, pigs, and dogs, which attacked the birds’ nests, and _______ with birds for food. We show that many species became extinct before written records and left no _______, lost from history.”

Dr Søren Faurby of the University of Gothenburg, a co-author of the study, adds: “These historic extinctions have had a major impact on the current biodiversity crisis. The world may not only have lost many fascinating birds but also their varied ________ roles, which are likely to have included key functions such as pollination (授粉). This will have had knock-on effects on ecosystems, so, ________ bird extinctions, we will have lost a lot of plants and animals that ________ these species for survival.”

Observations and fossils show 640 bird species have been driven extinct — 90 per cent of these on islands ________ by people. These ________ from the iconic (标志性的) Dodo of Mauritius to the Great Auk of the North Atlantic to the lesser-known Saint Helena Giant Hoopoe. But the researchers estimate there have been further 790 unknown extinctions, meaning a total of 1,430 lost species — leaving just under 11,000 today. Therefore, from the perspective of protecting species ________, the protection of birds is an urgent issue for mankind.

【推荐2】China’s booming ready-meals industry shows how pre-cooked food options are here to stay

The growing popularity of pre-cooked food in China-also known as the ready-meals industry-has made it a capital darling (宠儿).

In the world’s second-largest economy, the market for pre-prepared dishes has been mainly driven by food-selling companies. But a shift from _________ to family dining tables in the past two years, has rapidly brought pre-made food to the mass consumer market.

Deloitte’s consumer goods and retail industry head, Zhang Tianbing, now says China’s pre-prepared food market looks to have a(n) _________ future, with the business becoming more mature, _________ the general consumer market is still in the process of entering ordinary people’s life. “Pre-prepared dishes meet the preferences of a new generation of consumers for healthier and a wider _________ of meals,” Zhang said.

According to the report, China’s pre-prepared dishes market _________ about 550 billion yuan in 2021, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent over the next 5 years, which suggests that the pre-made food market is more _________ this year than during the first two years of the pandemic.

As of June _________, there were more than 66,000 domestic pre-cook-related enterprises, of which more than 1,020 were newly registered this year.

As a new capital darling, the pre-cooking industry is attracting cross-sector investment from companies outside the _________ industry. In Zhuhai, the local government is preparing to build a vegetable industrial park, which will cover all aspects of the pre-made-food industrial chain, from raw materials (原材料) and production to _________ and sales.

Yin Ping, the mother of a junior high school student, bought several boxes of pre-prepared dishes online last month and was __________ the convenience and taste of the products. A dish that can be made in five minutes by simply throwing the ingredients into a pan is so convenient for me in the summer since I __________ make every effort to make yummy meals for the kids in a hot kitchen,“ Yin said.

However, the quality of pre-made dishes in the market remains uneven, as problems are __________ the lack of detailed labelling on such products, as well as difficulties in logistics and distribution. __________, the issue of restaurants using pre-made dishes without telling diners was included among the top complaints. For those who __________ food safety, without advance notice, the use of pre-prepared dishes by restaurants to replace those prepared on-site by a chef was harmful to consumers’ rights to information and choice.

With the rapid development of the pre-cooking market, it turns out that relevant regulations __________ in terms of promoting industry standardization.

【推荐3】Food-delivery firms are coming of age. Among teens and millennials, ordering food online is as _________ a habit as booking a room online. Just how _________ consumers are is clear from financial documents by DoorDash, America’s biggest food-delivery company. From January to September that year, it booked orders worth $16 billion, up by 198% year on year.

The majority of America’s 700,000 or so eateries now _________ by means of a delivery app. Modern life makes people rely more on convenience food, as more women work and everybody is _________ time. In doing so, it has also changed one of Silicon Valley’s most criticized business models.

Restaurants entered the digital world two decades ago when Takeaway.com in Europe and Grubhub in America put menus _________. Restaurants delivered the food themselves and the middlemen were reliably profitable. _________, the new “third-party logistics” firms like DoorDash and Uber Eats have to share the bills, which average around $30, three ways. Once drivers and restaurants take their _________, not much is left.

Until recently none of these startup firms made _________, even in emerging markets where labour costs are far lower. Lack of obvious economies of scale or barriers to entry meant several competitors were fighting over market share by offering diners _________ discounts — and bleeding red ink in the process. They also faced the prospect of a sharp __________ in labour costs, as California passed a law that required companies to treat app-based workers as full employees.

__________, the American firm’s numbers contained plenty to chew on. DoorDash is generating cash and is profitable on an adjusted basis. Its in-app ads business offers juicy margins. The company sees itself as the digital hub for the convenience economy, connecting merchants, customers and riders; the word “platform” arose 646 times in its filing. It has even started delivering groceries and convenience-store items and selling last-mile __________ to other companies. Looking ahead, high unemployment amid a continuing economic downturn should mean lots of cheap labour.

Other facts are __________ to swallow. DoorDash warns that growth will slow as more people are going back to work after the virus declined. The share prices of many listed digital firms that benefited from lockdowns and self-isolating consumers __________ on the news of an effective vaccine (疫苗). And despite their critics’ defeat in California, gig firms (招临工的公司) will continue to face accusations of __________ their workers. In this respect, DoorDash has already joined the club of listed tech platforms.