2 . On January 1st, 2018, “gaming disorder” — in which games are played uncontrollably, despite causing harm — gained recognition from the World Health Organization (WHO). Last year, China, the world’s biggest gaming market, announced new rules limiting children to just a single hour of play a day. Clinics are appearing around the world, promising to cure patients of their habit.

Are games really addictive? Psychologists have different opinions. The case for the defence is that this is just another moral panic. Similar warnings have been given about television, rock and roll, jazz, comic books, and even novels. As the newest form of mass media, gaming is merely enduring (忍受) its own time before it finally stops being debatable.

However, some argue that unlike rock bands or novelists, games developers have both the motive and the means to engineer their products to make them addictive. For one thing, the business-model has changed. In the old days games were bought once and for all. But these days, games are free and money is earned from purchases of in-game goods, which ties playtime directly to developers’ income. For another, games makers combine psychological theory and data, which helps them maximize the playtime. Smartphones and modern video game machines use their permanent Internet connections to send gameplay data back to developers. That allows products to be constantly adjusted to increase spending on games.

The gaming industry should realize that, in the real world, it has a problem, and that problem is growing. Now that gaming addiction comes with an official WHO recognition, diagnoses (诊断) become more common. Clinics are already reporting booming business, as lockdowns have given games more time to spend with their hobby. And being put together in the public mind, fairly or not, with gambling (赌博) will not do the industry any favours.

3 . Work starts early on White Gate Farm in East Lyme, Connecticut. By 7 a. m., farm manager Dan Wood was at the East Lyme Post Office dropping off a box of fresh produce that later in the day would be delivered by mail to Chelsea Gubbins, who lives across town.

White Gate Farm is a member of Farmers Post, a pilot programme that enables smallholder farms across eastern Connecticut to ship fresh produce and other farm products to local households through the United States Postal Service (USPS). Farmers Post takes advantage of a USPS programme called Connect Local that allows small businesses to offer same-day and next-day delivery at a fixed low cost.

Food remains in the fields because either market prices are too low or the cost of the workforce is too high, or because the size and shape of the produce make it unattractive to stores. Each year, around 10 million tons of crops never get harvested, causing about 16% of total US food loss and waste.

“Food that is wasted has a much larger influence than just the loss of the food itself,” says Julia Kurnik, senior director of Innovation Start-ups at WWF. “Everything that went into growing it goes out the window as well—the water, the land, and the energy. And as the food breaks down, it produces greenhouse gases. The bad effects amplify greatly.”

Besides reducing food waste, selling farm products directly to local customers cuts down on the cross-country shipping of food grown in California or elsewhere. This reduces the so-called food miles that researchers believe cause about 6% of the world’s greenhouse gases. Fruits and vegetables, which are often transported out of season and require refrigeration, produce lots of greenhouse gases between farms and people’s plates.

Wood understands that Farmers Post can help to end that waste. “Farming is kind of like cooking for a big group.” he says. “This is helping us get right on the money, using almost 100% of what we grow and harvest.”

4 . My kids and I were heading into the supermarket over the weekend. On the way, we spotted a man holding a piece of paper that said, “_______my job. Family to Feed.”

At this store, a sight like this is not normal. My 10-year-old noticed him and made a _______ on how bad it must be to have to stand _______ in the cold wind.

In the store, I asked each of my kids to pick something they thought our “friend” there would _______.They got apples, a sandwich and a bottle of juice. Then my 17-year-old suggested giving him a _______. I thought about it. We were low on cash ourselves, but… well, sometimes giving from our need instead of our abundance is _______ what we need to do! All the kids _______ something they could do away with for the week.

When we handed him the bag of _______, he lit up and thanked us with _______ eyes. When I handed him the gift card, saying he could use it for ________ his family might need, he burst into tears.

This has been a wonderful experience for our family. For days the kids have been looking for others we can ________! Things would have played out so ________ if I had simply said, “No, we really don’t have ________ to give more.” Stepping out not only helped a brother in ________, it also gave my kids the ________ taste of helping others. It’ll go a long way with them.

5 . The setting of leap month is a way to fill the gap of days between the solar calendar and lunar calendar in one year, which is 11 or 12 days, so as to make sure the four seasons basically fit the months. “Leap month” refers to a repetitive month and there are some traditions and customs during leap month in China, which are varied in different places.     1    .

Send special-made pastry (糕点) to parents

In some parts of China’s Henan Province, daughters will prepare wild goose-shaped pastries for their parents before the leap month comes, wishing for good luck. In some parts of East China’s Shandong Province, the married daughters will send dough-made (面团) fish and toad (蟾蜍) to their parents, which symbolize “wealth” and “health” respectively.     2    .

Drink tea

People living near Mount Wuyi in China’s southeast Fujian Province have the tradition of drinking tea at leap month, and only women are proper to participate.     3    , and they drink tea while chatting, creating a harmonious atmosphere among neighbors.

    4    

In Southeast China’s Taiwan Province, leap month has such traditions as well. The married daughter has to buy pig feet and thin noodles for her mother, usually two front feet and six bunches of thin noodles, and the noodles have to be tied with red silk threads and spring flowers.

Eat dinner together

Just like other festivals, a reunion dinner is essential among the traditions of the leap month.     5    , parents will invite the married daughter to return home and have dinner together, cherishing a wish for happiness and good fortune.

7 . A dozen years ago, William Dunn noticed his six-year-old neighbor, Camran, shouted at his mom angrily. He started a (n) _________ with the boy. Camran told him that his _________ wasn’t in his life.

William asked Camran’s mom for _________ to take him fishing. Camran was _________ by the experience from that first trip. The two fished together several times a week, and William saw _________ changes in Camran’s behavior. Soon William was teaching Camran’s friends and other kids in the neighborhood to _________.

On weekends, William and a few other _________ take 20 to 25 kids out fishing on a rented boat. Many have never been fishing or even on a boat, so William starts by teaching the _________. Then come the life _________ that fishing offers: patience, team work and the simple __________ of relaxing outdoors. He and the other volunteers have taken more than 600 fishing trips with almost 2, 000 __________ who don’t have a father in their lives.

William wants to share his __________ of fishing with kids who don’t have a father to take them. He said he just wanted to show the kids that he __________ them and that he was there for them. Because many kids go on several trips, William is able to build __________ with them. He and Camran, now 20, still __________ fish together, and Camran sees Big Willam as a father figure.

9 . How Star Wars Changed Movie-making Forever

“May the force be with you!” If you are a Star Wars fan, then you have probably heard this phrase many times.     1     So many characters, devices, and phrases from the movie have become well-known. But you might be surprised to find out how much this movie has changed how movies are made.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...” is how Star Wars begins. Its plot was not ground-breaking.     2     The story was typical science fiction with lots of drama, traditional characters and good battling evil, in space and in hand-to-hand fight.

It was the special effects that made Star Wars stand out from other movies. People still talk about the light swords that could cut，burn and melt through most substances. Spaceships sped through space and landed on huge, realistic-looking space stations.     3     When Star Wars first came out in 1977, most movie theaters were stand-alone buildings, with just one movie screen. Using the money Star Wars had made for them，movie-theater owners built more theaters, leading to the multiplexes (多影厅影院) that are common today.

Theaters needed more movies to show on all the additional movie screens and in all the new multiplexes. So new movie companies sprang up, including small ones creating experimental movies.     4     Some of the methods became popular and others failed. But, thanks to Star Wars, people got to see new types of movies.

    5     There had been movie continuations previously, but they were often just poor imitations of the first movie. The Star Wars movies were all popular. There have been two trilogies (三部曲) so far，with more planned.