1 . New research finds a link between poverty and poor decision making. The findings may explain why poor people sometimes make bad choices that continue their hardship.

Earlier studies have found the poor less likely to escape poverty. But there has been little research on why the poor make decisions that make their lives harder. Until recently, Eldar Shafir, a psychologist and his team did two experiments. One took place at a shopping center in New Jersey. The other was carried out among sugar cane (甘蔗) farmers in rural India.

The New Jersey experiment involved individuals with low paying jobs and others belonged to the middle class. All the volunteers were asked what they would do if their cars needed repairing.

The volunteers were given two imaginary situations. In the first, the car repair cost $150. In the second, $1,500.

“In the first, the poor and the rich performed equally well.”

“And when the repair cost $1,500, the poor performed significantly worse.” The poor lost about 13 IQ points on average. This is about the loss experienced when a person has not slept for one night.

The scientists then wondered if the same person reacted differently when he was rich and when he was poor. Once a year when the harvest comes in, the India sugar cane farmers earn most of their money, which often does not last through the year.

“So they find themselves basically rich after the harvest when the income comes in and poor just before the harvest.”

The researchers gave them tests similar to the ones taken by the people in New Jersey. They tested the Indian farmers before the harvest and after.

And the results were much the same as with the mall shoppers.

“They performed much more slowly and made many more mistakes when they were poor than when they were rich.”

Mr. Shafir says the results support 50 years of research that shows all humans have limited mental power to deal with things in life.

“And so the insight here is that, having not enough of something in a way makes it harder to make good decisions for everything else.”

2 . As the world’s wealthiest country, it’s hard to understand that there are 38 million Americans living in poverty. Poverty is defined as a household income below the national poverty line, which is $25, 750 for a family of four.     1     Millions of people are struggling to afford basic necessities like food, shelter, and healthcare.

There are many factors that contribute to poverty in America.     2     In many cities, the cost of rent is astronomical(天文数字), and even those with full-time jobs can’t afford to pay for both rent and other basic expenses. Additionally, low-paying jobs and a lack of access to quality education can also contribute to poverty.

    3     People who live in poverty are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases and mental health issues, and they are more likely to die prematurely. Children growing up in poverty are at a disadvantage from the start, as they often don’t have access to quality education or healthcare, and they are more likely to experience food insecurity and homelessness.

Poverty is a complex issue with no easy solutions.     4     These include things like increasing access to affordable housing, creating more job opportunities with livable wages, and improving access to education and healthcare for all Americans.

In conclusion, poverty in America is a harsh reality that affects millions of people every day.     5     Necessary steps should be taken to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to live a healthy and prosperous life.

China’s technique of growing Juncao,     1     is the herbal plant used in the growing of edible (可以吃的) mushrooms, has led to     2     (globe) poverty reduction.

Lin, the chief scientist of National Engineering Research Center of JUNCAO Technology and     3     professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, started to plant the grass in 1983. The technique later spread from Fujian Province to other     4     (area) in the country and has even reached countries across the world.

Juncao is helpful to many farmers in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. So far, the technique     5     (introduce) to more than 100 countries around the world. Twenty years ago, villagers in Papua New Guinea began to learn this modern biological technology     6     the help of Chinese agronomists (农学家). After the Juncao grass was     7     (successful) planted in Papua New Guinea, villagers,     8     (shout) “Juncao, China!” expressed their excitement. Many people in developing countries have rid     9     (they) of poverty through growing Juncao grass and mushrooms.

Many Chinese experts have been trained     10     (extend) the technique to more countries, contributing Chinese wisdom to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

6 . Imagine you’re a farmer in India with a crop of potatoes to sell. Typically, you go to a marketplace called a mandi and get the best price you can from a local middleman, who will then sell them to another middleman.

Sanjay Agarwalla learned about Indian farmers’ lack of access to buyers even when he was a student decades ago. After talking the problem over with his son Aditya, then a computer science major at Princeton University, the two decided to form an online marketplace they called the Kisan Network in late 2015.

“Anything that deals with agriculture in India is pretty large. So, if it’s a problem, the problem can affect millions of people, and the impact of the solution could be enormous,” Sanjay says. After all, some 70 percent of rural households in the country depend on agriculture as a main source of income.

Kisan Network’s app lets farmers advertise their produce and see potential buyers beyond the local mandi. Once the deal is completed online, Kisan runs the produce from the farmer direct to the buyer, each side staying put.

Kisan’s fee ranges from 5 to 15 percent of the sale, and farmers get to keep more than they would under the traditional system, where middleman after middleman raises the price of the produce before it reaches a final buyer. “Even with low-profit crops like potatoes, we have been able to offer 10 percent more than physical market rates. That’s what our entire goal is,” says Aditya. “As for higher-profit crops, the improvement goes up.”

Building products for this new set of technology consumers brings its own challenges. “All of our engineers are from urban backgrounds,” says Aditya Agarwalla. “It’s not like you’re building something you would use on your own.” To be effective, Kisan’s platform must work with inexpensive smartphones on slower networks and be able to support regional languages.

Today, farmers feel it’s better selling to someone who is at their doors. They do not have to typically travel miles to a mandi, staying overnight without a place to sleep.