1 . British people work some of the longest hours in Europe, but are among the least productive. Now some companies are shortening the working week to increase efficiency, health and happiness.

Rich Leigh has introduced a four-day week at his PR company. In fact, his company has Friday off, because his firm has taken a four-day week. It is one of a handful of UK businesses that now operate like this: workers still get paid the same as their five-day salary, but they work a day less. The company found that they achieved just as much—and there were even signs of growth. “The key to the scheme’s success,” Leigh says, “is how happy our employees now are.”

The average British worker takes only a 34 minute lunch break and works 10 hours overtime each week (more often than not this is unpaid). Yet UK productivity falls seriously behind their European neighbors, who tend to work fewer hours.

British working practices have caused loss and damage to the nation’s health and happiness. More than half a million workers in the UK quit jobs with work-related stress or anxiety last year. Moreover, the working conditions are changing. Automation（自动化）and AI will have a significant impact on the labor market, where it’s a struggle to have regular work.

Britain is the only EU member that allows workers to ignore the EU working time limit and work longer hours. Now it is the time for a change. O’Grady, an advocate, argues that where businesses have increased their profits as a result of automation, success should be shared with workers in the form of reduced hours. “It’s time to share the benefits from new technology, not allowing those at the top to enjoy the benefits by themselves.” she says.

7 . Fear of missing out or FOMO is “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent”.     1    

Researchers have found that FOMO leads us to check social media more frequently, leading to a negative cycle that can be hard to break. FOMO can lead to feelings of depression, loneliness, and boredom.    2    We should do something to reduce the negative effect caused by FOMO.

Change your focus  

Rather than focusing on what you lack, try noticing what you have. “Meritocracy(精英) society” is advocated today, but in fact, everyone owns their own success.    3     Live in the moment, you will find nothing is missing out in our life!

Keep a journal  

It is common to post on social media to keep a record of the fun things you do. However, you may find yourself noticing a little too much about whether people are following your experiences online.    4    Keeping a journal can help you to shift your focus from public approval to private appreciation of the things that make your life great. This shift can sometimes help you to get out of the cycle of FOMO.

Seek out real connections  

You may find yourself seeking a greater connection when you are feeling depressed or anxious, and this is healthy.     5    Talking with families, making plans with a good friend, or creating a group outing that can help you to shake that feeling that you are missing out. It puts you in the center of the action.

Only a few weeks ago, China,     1     the coronavirus outbreak began, was the only country to suspend classes. But the virus has spread     2     quickly that by Wednesday, 22 countries on three continents had announced school closures of varying degrees.

The speed and scale of the     3     (education) chaos — which now affects 290.5 million students worldwide, the United Nations says — has little parallel in modern history,     4     (educate) and economists contend. The effect of closing them for days, weeks and sometimes even months could have untold consequences for children and societies at large.

In some countries, older students     5     (miss) crucial study sessions for college admissions exams, while younger ones have risked     6     (fall) behind in reading and math. Parents have lost wages, tried     7     (work) at home or scrambled (仓促) to find child care. Some have moved children to new schools in areas unaffected by the coronavirus.

School and government officials have sought to keep children learning — and     8     (occupy) — at home. The Italian government created a web page to give teachers access     9    videoconference tools and ready-made lesson plans. Iran’s government has made all children’s internet content free.

The offline reality, though, is challenging. Technological hurdles and unavoidable distractions pop up when children and teenagers     10     (leave) to their own devices — literally.

A desperate call came into Jimmy Gilleece’s bar. A newly married woman who had spent the afternoon at his dive(潜水) beach bar couldn’t find her wallet. She didn’t care about her ID, credit cards, or $150 in cash—but her wedding ring was inside.

Gilleece didn’t like the idea that stealing could have occurred at his place, so he set out to find the wallet. He spent hours looking through footage(片段) from 16 different surveillance cameras(监控摄像头), watching the woman’s every step in the bar. At 4pm, the woman went to sit on a bench outside the bar and left when her taxi arrived. Within minutes, a young man in a hoodie(连帽衫) approached the bench, put something in his pocket, and walked off. Gilleece posted a picture on the bar’s Facebook page.

Within hours, Gilleece got a text from 17-year-old Rivers Prather, who’d heard about the post from his sister. Prather admitted having taken the wallet and told Gilleece he’d done it because he hadn’t eaten in two days. He said he saw the ring but thought it was fake( 假 的 ), so he took the money and threw the wallet off the public docks(码头) into the ocean. Then he bought a sandwich. Gilleece, unsure whether he believed Prather, told the teen to meet him at the docks. There,

they got to talking, and Prather told him that he wasn’t getting along with his family and had been living in the woods for a week. Gilleece, a father of two, looked up and down Prather—his small figure, his red cheeks—and saw him for what he was: more of a kid than a criminal.

But the police were already on the case, and because of the missing ring, Prather could be facing crime charges. “He would be going to prison,” Gilleece thought to himself. “I had to help him somehow.” So, Gilleece hired two divers to search the waters where Prather had thrown the wallet.

When Gilleece and Prather arrived at the docks at noon the next day, a policeman was already waiting there.

Just then a diver appeared out of the water.

10 .     1     Well-designed office spaces help create a company’s image. They motivate workers, and they make an impression on people who visit and might be potential customers. They make business work better, and they are a part of the corporate culture to live in.

As we move away from an industrial-based economy to a knowledge-based one, office designers come up with designs different from the traditional ones of the past.    2    

As employee hierarchies(等级制度) have decreased, the design industry has moved away from a fixed office setup and created more flexible management environments.    3     Because of     changes to methods of working, new design takes into account expansion or movement of desks, storage, and equipment within the workplace.

    4     Designers have improved by breaking the walls that separate workstations. Designers have also created informal gathering places and upgraded employees’ access to heavily trafficked areas such as copy and coffee rooms.

Office designers also face a number of demands, including fund limits, employees’ hierarchies and technological advances. These demands are often competing and must be well balanced, so that work spaces can enable employees to do their best.

All these elements of office design are related.    5     The well-designed office and the employees that occupy it are seemingly made for each other.