What will our cities be like in 2050? How much will artificial intelligence advance? Some scientists     1     (make) different predictions recently.

Joel E.Cohen from the The Rockfeller University says    2     is likely that by 2050 the majority of the people in the world will live in urban areas, and will have a    3     (significant) higher average age than people today. Cities will be     4     only realistic solution to housing a population that will expand     5     9.7 billion by 2050.

And the technology is expected    6     (advance) rapidly. According to Bill Michell, the late director of MIT Media Lab’s Smart Cities research group, cities of the future won’t look like “some sort of science-fiction fantasy’’ or “Star Trek’’, but virtual (实质上) reality will change    7     we live. Self-driving cars will make the roads more secure, driving more efficient, and provide     8     (fast) transport.

Charles Ebinger at the Brookings Institution thinks that by 2050 we will also have a so-called “smart grid” where all of our    9     (appliance) are linked directly to energy distribution (分布) systems,     10     (allow) for real-time pricing based on supply and demand. Such a technology would greatly benefit most people and reduced the consumption (消耗) of fossil fuel energy.

In order to hold a simple, safe and yet splendid Winter Games, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games     1     (be) not lengthy or marked with a large-scale (大规模的) performance. The Olympic cauldron (主火炬) at the snowflake-themed ceremony was small,    2     the flames conveyed significant messages of greener Olympic Games.

The use of     3     (advance) technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine vision, 5G and cloud broadcasting added to the novelty of the opening ceremony. The performances,    4     carried forward the theme of global peace and shared future for humankind, focused on environmental     5     (protect), human health and physical fitness.

To reduce the carbon footprint of the Winter Games, all the Olympic venues were run on clean energy. For example, about 70 percent of the materials     6     (use) in the Games were obtained through renting, including new sporting equipment, furniture in the Olympic village, technical devices. Also, the medal platforms     7     (make) of recyclable and environmentally friendly materials.

More     8     (important), thrift (节约), a traditional Chinese virtue, can hep build a healthy social environment for China to realize     9     (it) targets of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. All this made the 2022 Winter Games an important Olympics to focus     10     achieving carbon neutrality.

Though the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ended on Feb. 20, it has left a deep impression     1     people across the globe.

At Beijing 2022, a total of 2, 877 athletes from 91 countries and regions     2     (compete) for 109 gold medals. More than 45 percent of those athletes were women, an all-time high in the history of the Winter Olympics.

Athletes competed     3     (courageous) to exceed limits, setting     4     number of new world records and Olympic records. Besides the competitions, the unique charm of Beijing, the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, and the    5     (thought) services that the city provided to all participants were also valued.

As the first global multi-sport event held as scheduled during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beijing Winter Games prioritized the health and     6     (safe) of all participants. Our COVID-19 policy has been effective,     7     set a successful precedent (先例) for other major international     8     (event) held during the pandemic.

    9    (theme) “Together for a shared future”, the Beijing Games have also left the city with rich legacies,     10     (include) engaging 346 million people in ice and snow sports as well as hosting the Games in a more sustainable way.

Today was my first day back in San Francisco. It     1     (definite) feels good, to be back in the city again. The city rebuilt     2     (it) after an earthquake in 1906. My hotel is in the Mission District, one of the oldest parts of the city,     3     is the center for art, music and food. Many people     4     (live) here are from Mexico and Central America. Here, an art movement     5     (call) the “Mission School” started.

In the afternoon, I headed     6     a local museum that showed the historical changes in California. In 1848, gold     7     (discover) here, which started     8     gold rush. Many people from all over the world came to seek their fortune. The museum did a good job of showing how America was built by     9     (immigrant) from different countries and cultures. This evening, I went to Chinatown, where I     10     (select) a Cantonese restaurant to taste good food.

Tomorrow evening, I am going to a jazz bar in the Richmond District.

Yuan Longping was a famous scientist in China. Yet, he considered     1    (he) a farmer because he continually worked the land in his research. As farmers often had poor harvests and sometimes even had a serious shortage of food to eat, he     2    (choose) to study agriculture. After graduating from college, Yuan worked as a researcher. He realized he had to help farmers to boost yields in the fields. Yuan     3    (convince) that the creation of hybrid rice could be the answer. Through intense effort, Yuan succeeded in     4    (develop) the first hybrid rice in 1974. This hybrid enabled farmers to expand their output     5    (great).

Today, it is estimated that about 60% of domestic rice     6    (consume) in China is comprised of crops generated from Yuan’s hybrid strains. Yuan’s innovation has helped feed many other countries that depend     7     rice too.

As a man of the soil, Yuan cared little for celebrity and money. He donated a lot of money     8    (support) agricultural research.     9     impressed people most about Yuan Longping was his ongoing ability to fulfill his dreams. His latest vision for “seawater rice” has become     10     reality.

This morning, I saw the shocking headline: “Passenger Dies When Car Crashes in Driverless Mode”. In the article,     1    (vary) people said that the public should oppose the idea of developing driverless cars. They said that some     2    (advance) in technology were unnecessary and could even be dangerous. Hence, we should cease     3    (accept) technology just because it is new. The newspaper reported that the car company had already apologized for the accident,     4     the families of the deceased said it was not enough. Nevertheless, the company still claimed that most people would be travelling in driverless cars one day soon.

    5     the one hand, there are many different groups of people around the world     6     live happily in the absence of new technology. Probably the most well known are the Amish, a group of Christians     7    (live) in rural America. They do not own or drive cars, watch TV, or use the Internet. They     8    (live) mainly as farmers since the 18th century, and they will probably be living the same way in the distant future. They advocate     9     simple life with an emphasis on hard work, family, and community. They think that is better than caring about luxuries or following the lives of the rich and famous. It could even be argued     10     the Amish’s quality of life is better since they live in and appreciate the natural environment rather than living in large, polluted cities.