TikTok will soon be banned in the United States if its parent company ByteDance     1     (refuse) to sell the platform, according to a bill     2     (pass) by the White House on Saturday (April 13).

An earlier version of the new bill, which was attempting     3    （give）the China-based company a six-month deadline to sell the app, was passed in the Senate (众议院) last month, even after both Democrats (民主党人) and Republicans (共和党人) voiced concerns over national security.

The revised bill has now been combined     4     a larger package of international policies, including support for Israel and Ukraine, and is being presented to the Senate where it again waits for     5     (approve).

Over the past month, ByteDance     6     (push) back against the bill, and encouraged its 170 million U.S. users to contact the government and express     7     protest to the ban.

“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you, with     8     we together build this amazing platform,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video uploaded in March. “We will continue to do all we can, including using our legal rights, to protect this platform.”

Once the bill passes successfully, it will extend the deadline for ByteDance to sell to nine months, with an     9     (addition) three months available if a sale is     10     progress.

3 . An increase in a country’s working-age population is a blessing. Lots of workers support relatively few children and retired people. So long as the labor market can absorb an increasing number of job-seekers, output per head will rise. That can boost savings and investment, leading to higher economic growth, more productivity gains and developmental speed-up. Yet for countries that fail to seize this opportunity, the results can be tough.

Consider Thailand. It is rapidly aging. In 2021, the share of Thais aged 65 or over hit 14%, a figure that is often used to define an aged society Soon Thailand will, like Japan, South Korea and most Western countries, see a decreasing supply of workers and flagging productivity and growth without extraordinary measures. Yet unlike Japan and the rest. Thailand is not a developed country. It has got old before it has got rich.

This is a big barrier to Thailand’s future development. To protect its aging citizens, many of whom are poor, Thailand’s government will have to spend more on health care and pensions (养老金). This will make it harder to invest in productivity-boosting skills and infrastructure (基础设施). And where Thailand goes, many developing countries will follow.

One conclusion is that countries with a working-age burst need seeking more economic growth out of it. India may never have a better chance than the present. It is widely accepted that privatization and looser foreign-investment rules could raise its growth rate.

Another conclusion is that developing countries need to start planning for old age earlier. They should reform their pension systems, including by raising retirement ages. They should encourage financial markets, providing options for long-term saving and health insurance. And they should try harder to increase female participation in the labor force. Getting more women into jobs would help deal with the fact that women live longer than men, but tend to have less savings and pensions, leaving them in difficult situations in old age.

4 . If we want to define grit, the correct way to put it is as a non-cognitive trait (非认知特性) based on someone’s ability to insist despite many challenges and obstacles to achieve a given goal. It is the trait that tells you to keep trying at something when everyone else has given up on you. It is a measure of emotional intelligence and well-being.

New research revealed that students with grit tend to gain a higher grade point average than their less gritty classmates. They are also more likely to win in spelling contests even with a lower verbal IQ.

Grit is equally important as intelligence. One of the most famous stories in science is how Isaac Newton came up with the concept of universal gravity. An apple fell from a tree, and this sparked the genius that later revealed the secret of why things keep falling back to Earth. Such narratives are very appealing stories but discouraging. There is no hard work, just a new concept produced by a gifted man. The apple story then proved wrong. It took many, many years of labor and failures before he came up with the concept. The purpose of this article though is not to undermine intelligence. Newton was clearly a genius, but intelligence alone would not have made him reach their goals.

“Nobody is talented enough to not have to work hard, and that’s what grit allows you to do,” says Angela Duckworth, the foremost researcher on the field of grit study. In her study, Duckworth isolated two qualities that seem to define gritty people. The two important qualities separated are:

To end this post, I leave you with a quote from Kahlil Gibran, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are burned with scars.”

5 . Lobb, a 24-year-old banker from Toronto, has been sharing everything with his friend, an artificial intelligence engineer Jafri.

One day, the two were _______ in a lunchtime workout on Pier (码头) 15, overlooking the East River, when Lobb froze. “Somebody’s in the water,” he said. _______ Jafri could respond, he climbed over the rail and jumped into the cold water without any slightest _______. Seeing this, Jafri also swan-dived towards him even without _______ his shoes.

_______ the unconscious victim, Lobb saw that it was a big, middle-aged man. He was 3 feet _______ the surface by the time Lobb reached him. The rescuer dove, _______ the man and kicked upward until they both appeared above the water. With great efforts, the pair _______brought him back to Pier 15 where a crowd had gathered.

Both men, extremely _______ from 20 minutes in the water and bleeding from numerous cuts, watched as rescue workers loaded the nearly drowned man into a(n) ________ and drove away. They even ________ learned who he was, what became of him or how he’d fallen into the river.

In place of that knowledge, they have a story they get to tell now, another experience that has further ________ their bond. Lots of people were on the piers that day,________ only the two of them jumped in the water — because, they say, they were the fittest people there and, so, had a moral responsibility.

“If I know I’m ________,” Lobb says, “why wouldn’t I help?”

Jafri ________, laughing, “People always say, ‘If your friend were in danger, would you reach out to him?’ I think I answered that one.”

As the pursuit of health becomes an important hobby for many young people, a trend known as “New Chinese-style Wellness” has taken over social media     1     (platform). Health is no longer a term typically to the middle-aged and elderly. Faced with intense     2    (compete) in education and their careers, those born in the 1990s and 2000s have already embarked on a journey     3     (safeguard) their health.

The concept of “New Chinese-style Wellness” emphasizes the idea of a light and nutritious diet.     4    (addition), it promotes mental health by combining traditional Chinese medicine theories to regulate emotions and achieve     5     balanced development of physical and mental health. Furthermore, it advocates for light exercise, such as tai chi, to     6    (strength) the body and achieve the goal of wellness and fitness.

The information from the Z Generation Nutrition Consumption Trend Report, published in 2022, also     7     (show) that young people are becoming the main drivers of health-related consumption, among     8     the 18 to 35 age group accounts for 83. 7 percent.

According to data from Meituan Waimai, a major Chinese food delivery platform, since September 2022, the weekly search volume for “healthy milk tea” nationwide has doubled. Consumers     9    (age) between 20 and 30 account for over half of the searches, with young people in Shanghai leading the trend,    10     (rank) first in the country for using the search term.

Zong Qinghou,     1     founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, China’s leading beverage manufacturer (饮料制造商), passed away on Sunday at the age of 79. As one of the most respected     2     (representative) of China’s first generation of entrepreneurs (企业家), Zong, with his modest style and innovative spirit, greatly impressed the public     3     a famous figure among China’s early entrepreneurs following the country’s reforms (改革) in 1978.

    4     (bear) in 1945 in Suqian, Jiangsu province, Zong took over a small grocery store at a school in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in 1987. Originally distributing soft drinks and ice treats for kids, he later established Hangzhou Wahaha Nutritional Food Factory in 1989,     5     developed into Hangzhou Wahaha Group after rescuing a     6     (struggle) local food factory. Zong’s introduction of the popular Wahaha AD calcium milk in 1996 became a hit with Chinese consumers.

Zong, ranked as the richest person in China by Forbes in 2010, 2012, and 2013,     7    (lead) a simple life and it was common     8     (see) him dressed in a white shirt and black cloth shoes. He once said, “I am an ordinary person,     9     luckily I was born in such an era.” He mentioned that Chinese business entrepreneurs need to do     10     (they) part in society by helping people become richer. He also suggested they make more jobs, get involved in charity work, and help the country grow economically and socially.

10 . The Dark Side of Digital Age: Cyberbullying

What is cyberbully? Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices. It can include sharing personal and private information about someone else.     1    . Some cyberbullying even crosses the line into unlawful or criminal (犯罪) behavion.

    2    . Text messaging and messaging apps on mobile or tablet devices are also common grounds for cyberbullying. Instant messaging, online chatting, forums, and online gaming are common for cyberbullying. Additionally, Email exchanges also contribute to the widespread of this digital harassment (骚扰).

With the popularity of social media, comments, photos, posts, and content shared by individuals can often be viewed by strangers. What you post online stays public and can be seen by anyone. This forms an online reputation (名声) that can be checked by schools, employers, and others researching you.     3    .

Cyberbullying can be a big problem because it doesn’t stop easily and stays online forever. Detecting cyberbullying is also a big problem as it often happens out of sight from teachers and parents, making it harder to identify.     4    . Also, what’s shared online tends to stay public unless taken down, which could harm their future opportunities like getting into college or finding a job.

Every state has rules for schools to handle bullying. Nowadays, with cyberbullying on the rise, many states have updated these rules to include cyberbullying.     5    . Some states also address bullying that impacts students’ academic success. Please check each state’s laws and policies, especially those regarding cyberbullying.