3 . As the Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, Jessica Pels is responsible for managing the content of one of the world’s largest young women’s media brands. Pels has ambitiously navigated her career to the top role relatively quickly, but the path she took wasn’t traditional.

Pels learnt ballet as a child and found her way to New York City dancing for a summer, but eventually gave up dance when she knew she “wasn’t good enough to be a star”. She didn’t give up her dream of working in the big city, though. Pels attended a film school at New York University and as a sophomore (大学二年级), got her first internship at The New Yorker. After graduation in 2008, many brands were in a hiring freeze. But Pels was not affected. She got a job doing communications for a charity.

Six months into her first job, Pels got a job at Glamour Magazine to work for the Editor-in-Chief Cindy Levy. She would turn this first assistant role into her career, and finally found her way to Cosmopolitan, where she became the youngest editor-in-chief in the magazine’s history.

Reflecting on her career and the worst advice she’s ever received, Pels said it was “to say yes to everything”. It was a habit she had to learn to break. And while she acknowledges the importance of seizing opportunities, she doesn’t think that strategically saying “no” would have been a damage to her career.

She remembers the conversation with her boss Kate Lewis that changed her perspective on over-committing. “I had just started at Marie Claire as the digital director, and she said, ‘I worry you’re going to burn out because you’re saying yes to everything and you are acting in such an aggressive way, and you need to take a step back and prioritize.’ And that really changed my life. I thought that was an incredible career moment.”

At a table on a small terrace (露台) overlooking the Garonne River, I’ve just finished a classic southern French dish of shellfish. The restaurant seems to be one of the last on the block to appeal more _________ than tourists. I drink my coffee and _________ for the moment when the bright sky reaches that post-sunset shade of dark blue. As the moment_________, I finish my coffee and walk 200 meters to join the _________ on the street, across from the Place de la Bourse.

We gather at the edge of the miroir d’ eau (“water mirror”). It is a shallow pool the _________ of a sports field that goes through a nonstop 15-minute cycle of _________ with about two centimeters of water, then emptying out.

After a couple of minutes, the water has flowed away,_________a field of flat, wet stones to create a perfect _________ of the splendid 18^th-century buildings. At _________ that moment, the lights at the foot of the building__________, creating an image of instant beauty that is __________ with a mix of “wows” and “ohs” and the clicking of cameras.

__________, I cross the street to visit the Old City. I pass the grand structures along the quai (码头) and wander along the __________ streets behind it, which are __________ with restaurants, wine bars and shops. This contrast is what I always like so much about this city. The architecture of the Grand-Theatre, the museums and the town hall __________ the fact that the word “grandeur” is truly French.

5 . Artificial intelligence is one of the most concentrated industries in the world, which influences education, criminal justice, hiring and welfare, But so far the industry has escapedregulation (管理), despite affecting the lives of billions of people, even when its products are potentially harmful.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sped this up. Many Al companies are now promoting emotion recognition tools (ERTs) for monitoring remote workers. These systems map the “micro-expressions”in people’s faces from their video cameras. Then they predict internal emotional states drawn from a list of supposedly universal categories: happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise and fear. However, there is scientific doubt whether emotional states are accurately detected at all. “It is not possible to confidently infer happiness from a smile, or sadness from a frown,” a 2019 review stated.

Resistance to this highly controversial (有争议的) technology is growing; the influential.

Brookings Institute suggested ERTs be banned completely from use by law. The European Union becomes the first to attempt a proposal to regulate AI, but the draft AI act has its problems. It would ban most “real-time” biometric ID (生物识别) systems — but fails to define what exactly real-time means.

Clearly, we need far stronger protections and controls that address such harmful effects on society. However, too many policymakers fall into the trap of “enchanted determinism”: the belief that AI systems are magical and superhuman — beyond what we can understand or regulate, yet decisive and reliable enough to make predictions about life-changing decisions. This effect drives a kind of techno-optimism that can directly endanger people’s lives. For example, a review in the British Medical Journal looked at 232 machine-learning algorithms (算法) for predicting outcomes for COVID-19 patients. It found that none of them were fit for clinical use. “I fear that they may have harmed patients,” said one of the authors.

Many countries have strict regulations and thorough testing when developing medicines and vaccines. The same should be true for AI systems, especially those having a direct impact on people’s lives.

6 . In a weightless, microgravity environment like space, how can someone with sight or mobility problems navigate in the space station? As scientists continue to push the boundaries of spaceflight and the possibility of human life on other planets, how can we build space infrastructure (基础设施) friendly to all humans？

The Mission AstroAccess project aims to answer these questions, starting with a historic parabolic (抛物线的) flight that took off from Long Bench on Oct. 17, 2021. A group of 12 disabled scientists, students, athletes and artists launched into a zero-gravity environment as a first step. To get a better idea of what is needed for more inclusive (包容的) space travel, AstroAccess plans to conduct a series of follow-on parabolic flights after the first launch. On these flights, a plane flies up to an altitude of around 32, 000 feet and then begins a descent at about 4 miles per second. This quick descent creates a microgravity, weightless effect lasting roughly 30 seconds. Afterwards, the plane climbs back up to a stable altitude, and repeats the process again.

The 12 AstroAccess Ambassadors selected for this first microgravity flight included four blind or low-vision Ambassadors; two deaf or hard-of-hearing Ambassadors；and six with mobility disabilities, all carrying out various tasks in the weightless environment. One of the challenges was seeing whether all members could perform basic safety and operational tasks. The crew also tested whether sound beacons (声信标) could be used for blind members to direst themselves, They are also investigating how American Sign Language will be impacted by microgravity.

“My whole career goal is to make the average person able to go to cuter space, where you don’t have to be a crazy trained astronaut with perfect physical abilities and health to visit cuter space,” said Brenda Williamson, head of the AstroAccess logistics committee. “I grew up on Star Trek, so the idea of exploration is really important.”

7 . As well as hosting New Zealand’s largest and most populous city, the Auckland region features many attractive, diverse places.

Central Auckland

Central Auckland is a hub of urban delights set against beautiful coastal scenery. You can take a trip up the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The adventurous can also try SkyJump-New Zealand’s highest base jump-or the incredible Sky Walk where you’ll walk around the outside of the Sky Tower for extraordinary sightseeing.

Rangitoto Island

Emerging unexpectedly from the sea some 600 years ago, Rangitoto, with its distinctive shape and superb location just off the coast, is the youngest and largest volcano in the Auckland volcanic field. The island is a favourite destination for hikers and day-trippers. Walk up to the top, and you can see the black lava caves on your way up and don’t forget to bring a torch to explore them with the kids.

Great Barrier Island

Great Barrier Island is a large island with a small population. For thousands of years, Bt has sheltered Auckland’s harbour from the continuous swells of the Pacific Ocean. The wilderness areas are home to several unique plant and bird species. Most amazingly, the community on the island is not using the public supplies of electricity, gas or water, but entirely relying on renewable solar power and collection of freshwater.

Waiheke Island

In landscape, lifestyle and experience, Waiheke is a world away. The three white sandy beaches are perfect for swimming, kayaking, or having a picnic. If you’re a walker, explore the island’s tracks which wind along cliff tops and into cool native forests. At the eastern end of the island, a walkway leads you to a system of World War Il gun emplacements (炮台) and underground tunnels.

8 . “After taking off the tape and glue and smoothing out the creases (折痕) across the pages, the near hundred-year-old letters and martyr’s certificate (烈士证) were restored," said Chen Hezhen, a 71-year-old grandmother from Ningbo, Zhejiang.

On Nov 13, she received the restored memorial papers left by her father, who lost his life on the battlefield when she was only 1 year old. She was grateful to a group of college students from Ningbo University of Finance & Economics (NUFE), who helped bring her precious memory to life.

Repairing relics (遗物) left by martyrs is a part of NUFE’s social practice project. Since June, these young people have helped restore litters and other documents and returned them to families of revolutionary martyrs.

“When we visited martyrs’ families, we heard many inspiring stories and were touched by those late soldiers,” said Wang Yiqun, 21, the project’s leader. “Their family members have saved their letters in memory of them. But we’ve found that those objects have different degrees of damage, so we want to do something to help them.”

However, it isn’t easy to restore these relics. Pan Yi, 22, one young restorer, stared at a damaged page of a martyr’s litter with tape. For days, she worked to separate the tape and paper safely. Her teacher helped her make a special spray (喷剂), which could help remove the tape little by little. After that, Pan carefully checked the holes and worn-out margins (页边). She then stuck paper made of the same material over the damaged area with a brush full of special paste.

“I need to be especially careful and patient because the process can take a few weeks just to repair a single page,” said Pan. “What motivates us is our faith — those old papers carrying the spirit of undaunted heroes who never gave in when facing great difficulties. We need to repair them as they were before.”

Now, these students are preparing to hold an exhibition of restored relics, sharing their stories with more people. “Repairing a martyr’s certificate requires more than mastering basic repairing skills. It’s important to fully understand the story behind the original text” said Cao Ming, their tutor.

“I’m proud of our students because they can apply what they’ve learned to help families of martyrs and spread the heroic stories in a more vivid way.”