A guide to making a summer diary

①Think of these scenes. A girl is walking alone in the street and watching a short video on her mobile phone without noticing a car just stop beside her. Or she is walking in an empty street in the dark night without any adults with her. What if something unsafe happens? Being street smart is an important skill to have and a good way to take care of yourself if something unsafe happens.

②Always carry your cell phone with you, but do not look at it while you are walking. Being able to communicate or call for help is important, so keep a list of useful numbers. But put your cell phone away while you are walking so that you can keep your head up and see what’s going on around. If you do need to check your cell phone, stop and look at it quickly.

③Don’t wear earphones (耳机) while you are out. If you have to listen to something when you’re out, use only one earphone or play it at a very low volume.

④Travel with friends or family members when possible and never go anywhere with a stranger. It’s important to be careful with strangers. Remember not to get into a stranger’s car if they call you over.

⑤ Avoid dark and out-of-the-way places. Do not take short cuts through dark areas, even if it will make your trip much faster. If you have to go to unsafe places, go with someone you know or speak to someone over the cell phone while you are there.

⑥Run and shout if you feel unsafe. Run away as fast as you can towards a police station, hospital, on nearby business for help. Shout as loudly as you can to get the attention of people nearby.

⑦As you see, being street smart can help us avoid some possible problems. The smarter we are in the street, the safer we will be. So watch out!

We can see more and more driver-less cars in the streets and our homes can be controlled by voice. AI (人工智能) has developed so fast recently. “AI is going to change the world more than anything in the history of mankind (人类), more than electricity.” said AI expert Dr. Kai Fu Lee. That’s true. According to a research by scientists at the University of Oxford, AI will be better than humans at translating languages by 2024, writing school essays by 2026, selling things by 2031, writing a bestselling book by 2049, and treating diseases by 2053. In the next few years, AI will become an important part in our lives.

These are just a few examples of how AI will change the future. What about jobs? Will they take our jobs in the future?

“AI will take our jobs!” is the most common fear. In fact with AI automating (自动操作) all kinds of work, we can think of a more comfortable future for ourselves with millions of new job chances. According to a report on the Future of Jobs by World Economic Forum (世界经济论坛), AI will create 58 million new AI jobs by 2022. There is an excellent chance that AI will replace humans in most of the mental (脑力) tasks by 2030. However, that does not mean it will take away jobs. Taking India as an example, the Indian AI industry doubled in size in 2019 compared to the year before. In just one year, three times more companies are working on AI-based projects and this may continue. India almost doubled its AI engineers in 2019 (from 40. 000 in 2018 to 72. 000 in 2019), but still faces a talent shortage (人才短缺). Top technology companies are racing to implement (实施) AI in our daily lives, which will lead us to a really exciting AI future.

AI Future is coming soon! And there will be more new jobs in the AI industry. Do you want to be a part of this fourth industrial revolution (革命)? Will you upgrade (升级) your skills to stay ahead or will you remain still and slow in the industry? The choice remains with you. With the progress of education and training, now is the time to prepare for the age of AI.

Once an old farmer had a big farm along the seaside. The work on the farm was too heavy that he couldn’t deal with it on his own. So he wanted to hire (雇佣) a man to help. One day, a young man went to the farmer.

“Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.

“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows.” answered the young man.

Although surprised by this answer, the farmer still hired him. The young man worked well around the farm, busy from day and night. The farmer felt very satisfied with the young man’s work.

Then one night the window blew heavily. Jumping out of bed, the farmer rushed next door to the hired man’s house. He shook the young man and shouted, “A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”

The young man just said, “No, sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.” The farmer was so angry that he wanted to fire the young man. Then he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his surprise, he discovered that everything had been tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what the young man meant.

When we’re prepared well, we have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

In less than three months, Grade Nine students will take the senior high school entrance exam (中考) . They are studying hard for this big challenge. Do they have time to do something to celebrate their middle school years? Many do.

Leng Tianze, from Tianjin, said that in his class, students are already writing goodbye messages for each other. They are also swapping (交换) photos.     17     “She plans to put all our class photos and the Chinese compositions (作文) we have written onto a CD and give each student one.” said Leng.

Wang Zeyu, in Changchun, said his classmates are using colored paper to make “lucky stars” as graduation (毕业) gifts. “Before making a ‘lucky star’, you write some words for the person on the paper,” said Wang. “He or she can read the words when they unfold the star.”     18     “I’ll write: Dear teacher, you always look so serious,” said Wang. “But we know you have a warm heart. Smile more!”

In Xiao Ming’s school in Beijing, each Junior 3 student will get a yearbook, in which the graduating classes will put their photos and self-introductions. “We have written a poem!” said Xiao.     19     It is in the shape of the number 9. “Nine is our class number,” said Xiao, “Our class may be not the one with the best school grade but it must be the most creative (有创意的) one,” said Xiao.     20    

It was a sunny morning. A middle-aged man came to me and asked me for help when I was leaving for my business. He said he had no money to get food for his large family.

“You look ________. Why don’t you work?” I asked. “Simply because I cannot get work, sir.” “If I give you work, what pay do you want?” “As long as I can get bread for my family, sir.” he answered.

I decided to ________ out if he really meant what he said. “OK. I’ll give you one pound an hour, if you will ________ a brick (砖) under your arm and walk around the square for five hours without stopping.” “Thank you, sir. I will.” he replied.

I found a brick and started him on his walk before I went to my business. I never thought he would do as he had ________.

When I came back five hours later, I saw him ________ walking, with the brick under his arm.

I stopped him and gave him five pounds. He thanked me and told me that some people had ________ to help him when they knew why he was doing all this. He would go and ask them for work. Before leaving, he asked ________ I would give him the brick. I did.

Several years later, a well-dressed man greeted me on a train. Seeing I was not sure who he was, he explained that he was the brick man and had his own business now. “You know, I still keep that brick and always value it as the most ________ thing I have. He says it is that brick that has brought me luck and ________. ”

In fact, it was not the brick that made the man successful, but his firm (坚定) ________ in doing even a very little thing.

Nanjing Confucius Temple lies in the Nanjing City, at the north bank of the Qinhuai River. It was built     31    1034 to show respect (敬重) for Confucius, who was a great     32     (think) and teacher of ancient China. The temple was also a college. People considered it as a cultural center in the old times.

The whole temple covers a large area and     33     (include) a group of old buildings. For example, Gongyuan used to be an examination school. It     34     (found) in the Song Dynasty as a place to choose officials.

Now the temple has turned into a popular place for traveling. Thousands of tourists come here     35     (pay) a visit. They can not only know much about the history, but also learn Confucius’s great ideas on education. Visiting the temple at night will give visitors     36     different feeling. It’s wonderful to take a boat on the Qinhuai River. The water looks     37     (beautiful) than usual as the sun goes down. So do the ancient old buildings because they are all lit up (照亮) by lanterns. What a nice thing to recite some Confucius’s sayings on the boat!

The temple holds many cultural     38     (activity) during the Spring Festival. It’s a good chance for     39     (tour) to experience traditional Chinese arts, like paper-cutting and piyingxi. Besides, there are more than 100 kinds of Nanjing dishes and snacks.     40     you go there, why not have a try?

Wang Qian was a lovely girl, who never argued with her parents before 15. But when she became a ninth-grader, things started to change. “We often argue, sometimes because of unimportant things,” she said.

Maybe Wang has got the “ninth-grade syndrome (综合症)”. Some experts (专家) think ninth-graders usually suffer a lot because of the changes in their body and mind. A survey shows that the lack (缺乏) of support from parents makes the thing even worse. Wang’s classmate Liu Shijia is an example. “The exams in Grade 9 are more difficult, but my parents still don’t support me,” she said sadly.

As ninth-graders enter the rebellious phase (叛逆期), they want to be free and have their own ideas. The survey shows that about 47 percent of ninth-graders try to persuade (说服) their parents when they have different ideas. Wang feels this deeply. “I think I have been an adult already. I can make decisions by myself,” she said. For example, she thinks there is nothing wrong with playing with boys, but her parents don’t agree with her. They often argue about this.

To deal with these problems, an expert from Nantong gives useful advice to ninth-graders. “First, calm down and pay more attention to your studies. Second, develop some interests and share them with your parents. Finally, learn about your changes and know yourself well. Then try to accept them,” she said.