2 . During the initial stages of instructed L2 (the second language) acquisition students learn a couple thousand, mainly high frequency words. Functional language proficiency, however, _______mastery of a considerably large number of words. It is therefore _______ at the intermediate and advanced stages of language acquisition to learn a large vocabulary in a short period of time. There is not enough time to _______the natural (largely incidental) L1 (the first language) word acquisition process. Incidental acquisition of the words is only possible up to a point, _______, on account of their low frequency, they do not _______often enough in the L2 learning material.

Acquisition of new words from authentic L2 reading texts by means of strategies such as contextual deduction (演绎) is also not a _______for a number of reasons. There appears to be no _______to intentional learning of a great many new words in a relatively short period of time. The words to be learned may be _______in isolation or in context. Presentation in bilingual (双语的) word lists seems an _______shortcut because it takes less time than contextual presentation and yields excellent short term results. Long term memory, ________, is often disappointing so contextual presentation seems advisable.

Any suggestions on how to use this in educational contexts should be based on a systematic ________ of the two most important aspects of the L2 word learning problem, this is to say,   selecting the relevant vocabulary (which and how many words) and creating the best conditions for the acquisition process. This article sets out to ________a computer assisted word acquisition programme (CAVOCA) which tries to do exactly this: the programme operationalises current theoretical thinking about word acquisition, and its ________ are based on a systematic list of the vocabulary relevant for the target group. To ________its frequency, the programme was ________ in a number of experimental settings with a paired associated method of learning new words. The experimental results suggest that an approach combining the two methods is most advisable.

3 . Background noise—like the chatter in a coffee shop or the drone of passing traffic—might slow our reading speed, but according to a study of Russian readers, it doesn’t _________ how our brain understands written text.

_________, if you’re wondering whether you should be listening to podcasts or music while working, the study has some interesting points to make. In particular, it examined how we might change our reading style to compensate for auditory noise and visual distractions such as typos or poor formatting.

“Overall, previous studies reported a harmful effect of both auditory and visual noise on reading fluency and _________, though their results varied,” write linguistics researcher Nina Zdorova and colleagues. “So far, none of the studies exploring the influence of noise _________ it in the framework of the language processing theories.”

One of the language processing theories examined was the noisy channel model, which proposes that our brain deals with noise by looking at the meaning of _________ words more and at entire sentences less. We then use a bit of smart guesswork to _________ the overall meaning and relationships between words.

The second theory is the good enough model; that’s when our brains aren’t analyzing every single detail of a text but instead only grabbing enough words for a ‘good enough’ understanding. By focusing less on the precise words, our brains can _________ some cognitive resources to deal with noise.

To see how reading was affected by noise _________ these models, the researchers ran two experiments: one on auditory noise (71 participants) and one on visual noise (70 participants). When it came to the auditory noise test, background chatter from overlapping podcasts caused people to spend longer looking at the key section of sentences before completing their reading. This extra time could _________ the noise, meaning sentence comprehension isn’t affected by it. In the visual noise test, comprehension remained the same while reading speed __________. That’s a bit __________ considering previous studies, but the researchers think people just wanted to finish the task, with the visual noise an uncomfortable distraction.

There’s a lot going on in this study, but overall it’s a bigger win for the good-enough language processing theory and an indication that auditory and visual noise doesn’t make us __________ any more or less on any particular comprehension method while we’re reading.

With so many variables to measure in terms of what’s being read and what the __________ noise is, further study is required to learn more. __________ potential distractions may not interrupt your reading as much as you think.

4 . History has not yet _______ what we will definitively call the postmillennial cohort (2000年后出生的人) that now _______ more than 60 million people in the U.S. These kids and _______ with no concept of life _______ the Internet have so far been called the App Generation and Generation Z. They’ve been referred to as Homelanders, having grown up under the ghost of terorism. They’ve also been _______ the Plurals, for their historic diversity, as well as the Founders, at least by MTV.

Whatever we _______ naming them, marketers and academies are turning their attention to this group, which has billions in _______ and is already shaping the culture. This generation is growing up “totally and utterly connected,” says California State University psychologist Larry Rosen. Experts like Rosen have concerns about these kids’ Google-inspired expectations that everything be _______. They worry about their inability to _______ even five seconds of boredom. And they worry about the demands that come with ________ several identities online, from Facebook to Twitter to Snapchat. “There’s so much pressure on young people, who are still ________ their identities, to present this crystallized, idealized identity online,” says the University of Washington’s Katie Davis.

Historian Neil Howe sees ________ with the Silent Generation, the spoilt, risk-avoiding, “nice” generation of kids who grew up during the Great Depression and World War II, although some marked differences are found. Today’s youths are also coming of age among geopolitical trouble and fears about the economy, he says, ________ schools emphasize an intense far-reaching sensitivity to other kids. He suspects this ________ will be known for being well behaved and perhaps boring the culture by playing it safe. “There are typical examples that occur repeatedly,” Howe says, “even if they go by different ________.”

5 . If at first you don’t succeed, as the old saying goes, try, try again. Good advice, up to a point. But let me offer a _________: even when you do succeed, try, try again. Tempting as it is to declare victory and move on, in many endeavors there is much to be said for rethinking an apparently satisfactory formula.

Consider the advice for job interviews in Talent, a new book by economist Tyler Cowen and venture capitalist Daniel Gross. They suggest asking a(n) _________ question, such as “give me an example of when you resolved a difficult challenge at work.” Then ask for another example. And another. The pat answers will be _________ quickly, and the candidate will have to start improvising, digging deep — or perhaps admit to being stumped.

Indeed, one way to describe this tactic is that the interviewer is asking for answers in _________ rather than for answers in series. Instead of stringing together a logical sequence of 17 questions, the interviewer is asking for 17 different answers to the same question.

While that approach is _________ in job interviews, it is common practice among designers. They often produce several _________ attempts to meet a given brief, rather than immediately focusing on what seems to be the best idea. In doing so, the designers force themselves to _________ the full range of possibilities, to avoid the risk of committing too early to a concept that seems attractive but may _________ be a dead end.

A striking example of parallel design is the creation of the Windows 95 startup sound. Microsoft was looking for an opportunity to _________ the audio capabilities of the computers of the day, so it is commissioned the famed music producer Brian Eno to do so.

Eno recalls receiving a brief, asking for music that was “inspirational, sexy, driving, provocative, nostalgic... there were about 150 __________. And then at the bottom it said, ‘and not more than 3.8 seconds long’”.

Eno describes himself as being “completely bereft of ideas” at the time. He found the brief both hilarious and inspiring. In the end he __________ more than 80 tiny pieces of music. The final result was a musical signature that has stood the test of time and was one that helped to creatively liberate Eno. “It really __________ a logjam in my own work,” he told The San Francisco Chronicle.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, in their delightful book Designing Your Life, suggest an exercise in which you sketch out a vision for the next five years of your life. What will you be doing? Where will you live and with whom? Are you hoping to run a marathon? Start a business? Write a novel?

This is often a straightforward act of __________, but what makes the exercise excruciating is what comes next: Burnett and Evans ask you to do it again, only this time, you’re to write an entirely different projection — the idea at the heart of the plan is one that is completely forbidden: Forcing yourself to go back to the __________ board, not only a second, but a third time.

I’ve tried this myself and seen others try it. People squirm. They protest. Sometimes they cry. And then, sooner or later, the ideas start pouring out.

We all contain __________. But we don’t always let them see the light of day. Perhaps we should try producing answers in parallel more often. Even when you do succeed, try, try again.

6 . A study of teenage girls’ selfie-taking (自拍) behaviors found that taking and sharing selfies on social media is not linked to poor body image or appearance concerns. However, when adolescent girls spend too much time struggling over which photo of themselves to post, or rely heavily on editing apps to alter their images, there may be cause for concern.

The study, by researchers at the University of Arizona, found that selfie editing and time invested in creating and selecting the perfect selfie were both related to self-objectification, which led to body shame, appearance anxiety and more negative appearance evaluations in teen girls. “Self-objectification is the idea that you come to think of yourself as an external object to be viewed by other people,” said senior study author Jennifer Aubrey, an associate professor at the UA.

Based on a study of 278 teenage girls, “Our main finding was that we really shouldn’t be too worried about kids who take selfies and share them; that’s not where the negative effects come from. It’s the investment and the editing that yielded negative effects,” Aubrey said. “Selfie editing and selfie investment predicted self-objectification, and girls who self-objectify were more likely to feel shameful about their bodies or anxious about their appearance.”

“Self-objectification is the pathway to so many things in adolescence that we want to prevent,” Aubrey said. “So, interventions really should focus on how we can encourage girls to develop an awareness of themselves that doesn’t only depend on what they look like to other people.” The researchers said parents and caregivers of adolescent girls should be aware that if a teen seems to be obsessed (痴迷的), it might be time for a talk.

The researchers also note that there can be different motivations for sharing selfies. “Selfies are a part of the media landscape, but you should post them for reasons other than trying to get people to admire your appearance or your body.” Aubrey said. With an estimated 93 million selfies taken each day, they aren’t going away anytime soon, nor should they. The important thing to remember is: Selfies aren’t bad. Just don’t obsess.

9 . Antibiotics, which can destroy or prevent the growth of bacteria and cure infections, are vital to modern medicine. Their ability to kill bacteria without harming the patient has saved billions of lives and made surgical procedures much safer. But after decades of overuse, their powers are fading. Some bacteria have evolved resistance, creating a growing army of superbugs, against which there is little effective treatment. Antimicrobial (抗菌的) resistance, expected to kill 10 million people a year by 2050 up from around 1 million in 2019, has been seen as a crisis by many.

It would be unwise to rely on new antibiotics to solve the problem. The rate at which resistance emerges is increasing. Some new drugs last only two years before bacteria develop resistance. When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often store them, using them only reluctantly and for short periods when faced with the most persistent infections. That limits sales, making new antibiotics an unappealing idea for most drug firms.

Governments have been trying to fix the problem by channeling cash into research in drug firms. That has produced only limited improvements. But there is a phenomenon worth a look. Microbiologists have known for decades that disease-causing bacteria can suffer from illnesses of their own. They are supersensitive to attacks by phages, specialized viruses that infect bacteria and often kill them. Phages are considered a promising alternative to antibiotics.

Using one disease-causing virus to fight bacteria has several advantages. Like antibiotics, phages only tend to choose particular targets, leaving human cells alone as they infect and destroy bacterial ones. Unlike antibiotics, phages can evolve just as readily as bacteria can, meaning that even if bacteria do develop resistance, phages may be able to evolve around them in turn.

That, at least, is the theory. The trouble with phages is that comparatively little is known about them. After the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928, they were largely ignored in the West. Given the severity of the antibiotic-resistance problem, it would be a good idea to find out more about them.

The first step is to run more clinical trials. Interest from Western firms is growing. But it is being held back by the fact that phages are an even less appealing investment than antibiotics. Since they are natural living things, there may be trouble patenting them, making it hard to recover any investment.

Governments can help fun d basic research into phage treatment and clarify the law around exactly what is and is not patentable. In time they can set up phage banks so as to make production cheaper. And they can spread awareness of the risks of overusing antibiotics, and the potential benefits of phages.

10 . I write this on a spring morning, in the van I have called home for two years now.

From one small window, I have a view of joggers pounding the sunny path by the Oxford Canal, and the other looks onto the busy railway line along which trains travel from Southampton Docks to Birmingham.

The woods where I’ve parked my van have grown up between them. This ancient van, a vehicle designed for freedom and the open road, has proved a stable solution for surviving the current housing crisis.

I became a travel writer after my studies ended, committing to brief “residencies” with museums and art centres—where temporary accommodation is often provided in exchange for producing new work about a community. Over the years that followed, living and working on location in the polar regions or Scandinavia or the Alps, not settling down for very long, meant wherever I landed was always “home”.

During the pandemic it was necessary to adopt a more permanent engagement with locality. Oxford had often drawn me back. It’s a crossroads of reality and the imagination, the perfect city for a writer.

It takes a surprising amount of work to keep a tiny home in order: buying a used van online; ensuring the smooth running of a gas cooker and car batteries; fetching water and emptying the mobile toilet. I began to enjoy taking care of my immediate surroundings. Over the summer, I worked to turn waste-ground into a wild garden, replacing weeds with wild plants.

I made friends with the self-sufficient boaters living nearby, always ready to share knowledge on the low-carbon simplicity of life without electricity. I’ve learnt that comfort can be found away from the bright infrastructure of urban life: in watching the birds that nest in the tree and the foxes playing in the woods at dawn, in making a cup of coffee on a spring morning.

My step away from conventional housing has been a necessary act of personal economy, but the benefits include taking nothing for granted, and unexpected delight.