1 . Facebook Is a Big Waster

During the first decade of the 21st century, a popular and new word has come into our vocabulary — Facebook. This is the most popular social networking website on the Internet.     1    You can send messages to your friend’s electronic wall, put up a status saying something like “Going to the mall, I need to get a new pair of shoes” or “it’s finally the weekend!”.

In spite of the benefit it does on common people, it is true that this social network is a big waster. There are about 350 million active users on this website and 67% of them are between the ages of 13-25. More than 35 million users update their status every day.     2    

The highest age group who use Facebook are teenagers. Most of them keep the website running whenever they are using the computer, if they aren’t in school or when they aren’t asleep. Facebook is just changing the new generation of youngsters unconsciously. The teenage life is one of the most important stages of life.     3     It is a distraction to their mind as well. Nowadays, when all their homework and research are on ICT (information and communication technology), they would easily switch to Facebook just to check if there was anything updated among their friends. 

Facebook is also where people can see the gossip among their friends, virtual arguments, relationship status and updates, who is in whose “top friends”, you can become a fan of anything, join groups, post pictures and videos, play childish games, invite friends to parties or events and a lot more. Generally, all these would just disturb people into living life to the fullest. It’s not just teens who become addicted, even grown-ups do. An average person spends about 55 minutes on Facebook.     4     Technology might be taking over people’s life. Furthermore, people who use Facebook through their mobile phones are 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile phone users. This shows people using Facebook on their phones as well as computers just can’t stand being away from the website. Facebook is like crack to some folk.

    5     This would make them think how life is like without saying what’s on their mind to all their friends on the Internet. A break would also make them more active, like socializing in person. This would finally help them focus better in school or in work. Although about 80% of people who take a break would come back to Facebook within days.

Pixar is one of the world’s     1     (famous) and successful film studios.     2     (it) latest animated film, Soul, was released in 2020. Soul tells the story of Joe Gardner, an aspiring jazz musician living in New York. One day, after an accident, Gardner ends up in the Great Before — a place where souls must “find their spark” before entering a human body. When Gardner     3     (give) the job of mentoring a soul called 22, he tries to find his way back to Earth.

4 . I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left _________. Why do these people create mistrust and problems, especially with those from other _________?

I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s, when children from different races and religions played and studied together in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone’s throw from Ismail’s. And no one was bothered that Ismail was a Malay Muslim and I was an Indian Hindu—we just _________ our differences. Perhaps, our elders had not filled our heads with unnecessary advice, well meant or otherwise.

We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d _________ the countryside on our bicycles, hoping to come across the unexpected. At times Ismail would accompany my family as we made a rare shopping trip to town. We would be glad of his _________.

When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I _________ touch with him.

One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. I _________ my destination. The driver acknowledged my _________ but did not move off. Instead, he looked fixedly at me. “Raddar?” he said, using my childhood nickname. I was astonished at being so _________ addressed (称呼). Unexpectedly! It was Ismail! Even after two decades we still recognized each other. Grasping his shoulder, I felt a true affection, something __________ to describe.

If we can allow our children to be themselves without prejudice, they’ll build friendships with people, regardless of race or religion, who will be by their side through thick and thin. On such friendships are societies built and then we can truly be, as William Shakespeare once wrote, “We happy few. We band of brothers”.

Liberal Arts’ Hidden Value

If you have to pick one, who do you think made greater contributions to the world: physicist Isaac Newton or philosopher Aristotle?

Chances are that you’d find it hard to make a decision. But when choosing a major in college, the line between the two areas couldn’t be clearer. Science majors, such as technology, engineering, math, are considered to be more practical choices because of the wealth of opportunities, while those who choose a liberal arts (文科) major—language, music, philosophy—may have more difficulty finding a job.

But perhaps we should look at liberal arts studies in another way to understand its value. In the documentary Civilizations, for example, presenters (主持人) take us to 31 countries to appreciate human creativity, such as the Great Wall and the Pyramids. To Simon Schama, one of the presenters, human civilization isn’t just about technology, but about liberal arts or creating things to leave a person’s mark of their existence for future humans to witness and admire.

By comparing science and liberal arts, we’re drawing “an artificial line” between the two, said Loretta Jackson, an associate professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, US. And to some of the greatest innovators (革新者) in history, this line never existed. Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was an outstanding scientist and painter. He was so interested in biology and anatomy (解剖学) that he drew the famous Vitruvian Man, which perfectly shows proportions (比例) of the human body. Then there’s Steve Jobs, who is an engineer and also an artist. He summarized the relationship between science and arts: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts that brings us what makes our heart sing.”

10 . People’s distrust of scientists arises partly from the blurring (模糊的) of boundaries between science and technology, between discovery and manufacture. Most governments, perhaps all governments, justify public expenses on scientific research in terms of the economic benefits the scientific business has brought in the past and will bring in the future. Politicians remind their voters of the splendid machines “our scientists” have invented, the new drugs to relieve old disorders, and the new surgical equipment and techniques by which previously unmanageable conditions may now be treated and lives saved. At the same time, the politicians demand of scientists that they tailor their research to “economics needs”, and that they award a higher priority to research proposals that are “near the market” and can be translated into the greatest return on investment in the shortest time. Dependent, as they are, on politicians for much of their funding, scientists have little choice but to obey. Like the rest of us, they are members of a society that rates the creation of wealth as the greatest possible good. Many have reservations, but keep them to themselves in what they regard as a climate unfavourable to the pursuit of understanding for its own sake and the idea of an inquiring, creative spirit.

In such circumstances no one should be too hard on people who are suspicious of conflicts of interest. When we learn that the distinguished professor assuring us of the safety of a particular product holds a consultancy (顾问工作) with the company making it, we cannot be blamed for wondering whether his fee might cloud his professional judgment. Even if the professor holds no consultancy with any firm, some people may still distrust him because of his association with those who do, or at least wonder about the source of some of his research funding.

This attitude can have damaging effects. It questions the integrity (诚实正直) of individuals working in a profession that prizes intellectual honesty as the supreme virtue, and plays into the hands of those who would like to discredit scientists by representing them as corruptible (腐败的). This makes it easier to dismiss all scientific pronouncements (声明), but especially those made by the scientists who present themselves as “experts”. The scientist most likely to understand the safety of a nuclear reactor, for example, is a nuclear engineer, and a nuclear engineer is most likely to be employed by the nuclear industry. If a nuclear engineer declares that a reactor is unsafe, we believe him, because clearly it is not to his advantage to lie about it. If he tells us it is safe, on the other hand, we distrust him, because he may well be protecting the employer who pays his salary.