1 . After appearing as a special event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Wushu, widely known as Chinese Kungfu, will make its first appearance as an official (官方的) sport at the 4th Youth Olympic Games in 2022.

It’s a long-awaited breakthrough（期待已久的突破）for the International Wushu Federation (协会) (IWF), which made applications to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001, 2008 and 2011, but failed. The first two applications were refused at the very beginning. The third application made it to the final voting for taking part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games but missed out once again.

Over the years, both the International Wushu Federation and Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) have done a lot to make improvement with strong support from the State General Administration of Sport of China (中国体育总局). The Administration not only offers technical (技术的) support, often sending experts or teachers to help their Wushu training camps, but also generously provides a great deal of Wushu equipment (设备) for free.

Every year, many local Wushu groups are sent abroad to put on Wushu shows, trying to improve the influence of Wushu in foreign countries. Through their continuous efforts. Wushu has become widely popular across the world, especially among young Wushu fans. Studies show that, today, about 120 million people are attracted to Wushu around the world.

China got Wushu accepted as an official Olympic event successfully in January, 2020, which helps to make it more international quickly.

A total of 48 athletes from across the world will compete in four Wushu events: men’s and women’s Changquan and men’s and women’s Taijiquan.

News: Wushu Is Included in Youth Olympics
News lead	●Wushu will     1     at the 4th Youth Olympics, first time as an official sport.
News body	●Efforts made to spread Wushu and enter it for the Olympic Games: ＊IWF made applications to IOC three times but didn’t     2     each time. ＊In order to improve the situation, IWF and CWA have done a lot with the technical support and     3     equipment from the State General Administration of Sport of China. ＊Through continuous efforts like putting on Wushu     4     abroad, Wushu has been widely accepted across the world, especially among young Wushu fans. ＊Wushu was accepted as an official Olympic event successfully in January, 2020. ＊48 athletes from across the world will join in the     5     in four Wushu events.

2 .

Screen-Free Days

I remember the first time I suggested screen-free days in our school to some of our student leaders. Jokingly, I said to the group, “What do you think if we go a week without using our laptops or smartphones?”

They laughed, and one of them said, “No way, Mr. White. They would be too much.” I could feel their worry, and told them that I was only considering single screen-free days.   Even that idea left them feeling upset.

According to a survey we did, most students in our school spend about six hours a day on screens. Many of my students start their day by checking their smartphones. I often see them looking at their phones when getting off the bus or at parents’ drop-off, they can’t use their own “screens” at school. They usually work on computers at school for at least two hours during the day.

It’s clear that our students spend a lot of time on screens. We do see the benefits of technology. However, we teachers also want to make sure that students have balanced learning and social experiences away from their screens.   That’s why we have come up with the idea of screen-free days.

During the course of the year, we have built in several screen-free days that require us to make different plans for our students about how they will communicate with one another and the world around them without “screens”.   For some teachers, this means bringing back a valuable lesson plan that has been put off for some time because it is “out of date”. Others have designed something completely new.

Fun activities, for example, card games and room escape(密室逃脱) games, are organized at school. In these activities, students socialize without smartphones and have face-to-face communication without checking on “likes” they’ve got online. These fun activities also make it possible for the whole grade to enjoy the company of their friends with no smartphones.

After our first screen-free day, students mentioned that they were surprised they enjoyed it.   Finding ways to help our students connect with one another is important.

While technology is already part of our world, it shouldn’t play such an important role in a learner’s life.

1. How many hours do most students in the school spend on screens every day?
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2. Why have the teachers come up with the idea of screen-free days?
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3. What fun activities can the students have at school?
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4. How did the students feel after the first screen-free day?
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5. What do you think of the idea of screen-free days? Why do you think so?
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