1 . Consider a tale of two Amy veterans (退伍军人). Jeff served two terms in Afghanistan, moved home to the Midwest, graduated from college and landed a secure job in a firm. Matt fought alongside Jeff, left the Army at the same time and headed home to North Carolina. By the time he was in his 30s, though, Matt was unemployed and dependent on government checks.

Why did Jeff develop so well while Matt lost his civilian footing? The answer, according to Daniel M. Gade, a retired officer, and Daniel Huang, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—in particular, its strong disability system.

In their convincing description, the authors show in detail how a well-intended system can unintentionally lead fragile veterans, step by step, away from the worlds of work and community. The path typically starts just before separation from the service. Soldiers meet with VA representatives who emphasize opportunities to collect disability compensation (补偿). Jeff, for example, wanted to “get out and get on” with his life, while Matt took the VA agent’s advice “and applied for every condition he could think of.”

Matt’s career plan had been to attain an ideal job in law enforcement (执行), but the field was highly competitive. So be took a job with his dad’s construction company. But the physical damage of the job was too much for his knees and back. Deeply depressed, now out of work and living in his parents’ home, Matt tried college but felt unbearable. Meanwhile, anxious about his future, be kept applying for higher disability ratings—receiving, eventually, a monthly tax-free check over $3,000.

For many partially or fully disabled veterans, PTSD (创伤应急障碍) is their primary diagnosis (诊断). The condition, can be very weak, but it is also treatable. A psychologist told the authors that, when it comes to PTSD, the agency “has been doing harm to millions of veterans by telling them that they’re disabled.”

In Matt’s case, remarkably, even after the VA determined him to be “housebound,” it didn’t mandate (强制执行) treatment. “The natural athlete who had conquered his fear of heights to excel as an airborne (空降的) soldier,” the authors write, “had become a disabled man one year later.” The VA’s record on treatment in general looks poor: More veterans today, relative to their overall numbers, are compensated for disabilities than ever before in the VA’s history. Under 0.1% of the veterans who receive disability benefits for mental disorders have their benefits reduced over time because their condition has improved.

3 . This Is the Way Learning Center

The staff, parents and children enrolled (招收) at This Is the Way Learning Center are one big family. We take the health and safety of our family very seriously. This Is the Way Learning Center is committed to maintaining a safe environment for your children. We are following all safety rules. Should you have any questions regarding the processes in place please call our center. We will be happy to answer your questions.

This Is the Way Learning Center cares for and educates children aged 6 weeks and up. We are enrolling for all programs (Preschool and Nursery School) in addition to basic childcare. There will be no enrollment fees and registration fees. We are devoted to the future of your child and creating a lifetime love of learning at every age and stage. What can be more precious or important than the early developmental and learning years of our children?

This Is the Way Learning Center is located across the street from Henry Barnard School at 18 Shaker Road. It is conveniently located just minutes from 91 North and South, in the town of Enfield.

• 6:30 am through 5:30 pm

• Monday through Friday

• Closed only on major holidays.

• Children through kindergarten

• School age

• All-day, all-year daycare

• Homelike setting

• Age-appropriate play areas

• Child-friendly curriculum

• Computer education

• Trained and experienced teachers

You may email us at requests@thisisthewaylc.com or call us at 860-253-0010 to ask your questions and request a free brochure.

A 24-hour self-service library was     1    (official) opened to the public in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous (自治的) Region, as part of an effort     2    (promote) reading.

Located inside the city government’s service hall, the 24-hour self-service library operates through     3     unattended borrowing and returning device based on RFID technology. It is the region’s first 24-hour self-service library with the technology, according to the regional library,     4     is in charge of the project.

Tseten Butri, head of the regional library, said it has been conducting different reading activities in various forms online and offline. “It     5    (advocate) core socialist values and traditional Chinese culture and aims to integrate (融入) reading into people’s lives by giving readers easy access     6     good books,” said Tseten Butri.

The library uses a facial     7    (recognize) system for admission. Visitors can also use IDs or social security cards for entry. The library houses a total of 240 books of different kinds,     8    (range) from law to social science and literature in Chinese and Tibetan languages.

Kalsang Lhamo, a resident of Lhasa, is pleased with the service. “I am happy to see that we have such a     9    (convenience) library in our city. It means the city is developing, and more residents will benefit from it,” Kalsang Lhamo said. “The library’s current collection is small,     10     it will grow as time goes by, and I hope we will have more smart self-service libraries at various sites in the region.”

From November 5th to 10th, 2021, the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE)       1     (hold) in Shanghai with a large number of new products, technologies, and services featured at the expo. The       2    (successful) organized event not only showed fancy products but also avant-garde (前卫的) consumption     3    (concept) as well as innovative ideas. The     4    (significant) of CIIE continues to grow as it becomes an economic hotspot for countries and enterprises.

The display area for consumer goods occupied 90,000 square meters of exhibition space,       5     largest among all areas. The Food and Agricultural Products exhibition area accommodated ( 容 纳 ) the most exhibitors,     6    (attract) many enterprises from different countries.

The Online Country Exhibition enabled 58 countries and 3 international organizations       7                (show) their development achievements. Leaders of participating countries and organizations expressed high praise for the CIIE’s furtherance of     8    (globe) openness and cooperation.

Having experienced the benefits of the fourth CIIE, enterprises described it as an event       9     allows them to tap into China’s massive consumer population and a lot of opportunities. Registration for the fifth CIIE has already started, and it has seen a considerable increase     10     the sign-up rate compared to last year.

9 . “We work four-day weeks because it makes our staff more motivated,” says Joe Munns, CEO and founder of Bakedin, which makes home baking kits and cake mixes.

Joe has put his 40 workers on a four-day week since he started the firm in 2013, when he was working for the computer giant IBM.     1     When he was at IBM, he actually reduced his hours down to a four-day week and had Fridays free, when he could work on Bakedin, which became his second job and he was devoted to.

    2     It means that he could do what he liked and took that opportunity to start the business with a four-day week. So they have the normal working week of Monday to Thursday—then everyone gets those three days off.

Because there is still some business to do on Fridays, such as dealing with customer enquiries, some of Bakedin's office workers volunteer to work on Fridays.    3    

Bakedin staff put in nine-and-a-half-hours on the four days they are at work.    4    “When we are together, we just find that we’re more productive. We get more done this way, because we don’t get that tired, Friday feeling.”

Many firms and countries. have started experimenting with four-day, rather than five-day weeks.    5     Bakedin is in the food industry, which has a very high turn-over rate for staff. “Every year, some 30% of employees in the food industry leave their jobs,” says Joe. “But at Bakedin, our staff turnover rate is under 5%. So a four-day week is an excellent way of keeping staff loyal.”