What will your future life look like? Let’s have     1     look.

In 3000, medical technology will be better than ever. When you get up in the morning and look into the mirror, your face will be beautiful and young-looking. Many people at your age could live to be 120, and your parents will just have an anti-aging (抗衰老的)     2     (treat). All of you will look the same age!

Besides, “smart clothes” will contain special particles (粒子),     3     will be much smaller than the cells in your body. They can     4     (design) to change your clothes’ color or pattern. When you say to your shirt, “Turn red,” it will change from blue     5     red. There will also be a great change in your house. If you get into the kitchen, you     6     (find) a special food machine that will tell you what your body needs and help you eat     7     (healthy). In 3000, cars will drive by     8     (they). You can just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, it will be possible     9     (change) the color of the car at the flick of a switch.

Such “smart technology” will be all around you, and let’s look forward to     10     (experience) it.

4 . When you think of a map, is north on the top or the bottom? Usually, maps are designed with north on top, though when we think about it, there is no logical reason for this bias (偏见). After all, there is no up or down in space. So what is wrong with south, east or west being on the top of the map? The answer is: nothing at all. In fact, north-up maps only became the norm in the last few hundred years.

Ancient Egyptian maps had south at the top because the Nile River flows downhill from mountains in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north. Mecca was to the south of most early Muslim civilizations, and south-up maps were designed so that viewers would look up to see Mecca. Medieval Christian maps had east at the top, as they believed the Garden of Eden was in the east. The only early maps that had north at the top were those of early China because the emperor lived in the north.

North seems to have settled at the top of maps during the 16th century, largely thanks to a Flemish mapmaker, Mercator. Mercator was a great admirer of an early Greek mapmaker, who, for reasons now unknown, put north at the top of maps, so Mercator did, too. When Mercator’s world map became the standard map to navigate the oceans, north up became standard as well.

What is the implication of this north-view of the world? Psychologically, people tend to think of up as good and down as bad. Just think of words and phrases like “upmarket”, “upbeat” and “moving up in the world”, and how they contrast with their opposites. Because north is so consistently put at the top of maps, people now think of north as good, too.

Several attempts have been made in recent years by introducing south-up maps to the market. These maps not only give us a chance to see the world differently, but also give everyone the chance to see themselves on top.

Sincerely yours ,

Li Hua

Many people take the idea of saving money very seriously. Back in 1924, in Italy, a group of people     1    (think) the inability to resist spending became a major social problem. They had the idea of     2    (start) a day to remind people to put away some money for a rainy day. This is how World Saving Day, held on Oct. 31st annually, was started, and it’s still going strong now.

Not     3    (surprise), a movement targeting the poor was started. People in the     4    (underdevelop) world are more open to calls to be careful with money. But     5     idea of being thrifty (节俭) has also become popular among the rich. Take Mark Zuckerberg     6     example. The Facebook founder, one of the world’s     7    (rich) people, doesn’t spend very much money on himself.

Other people don’t spend money because they don’t like the culture of consumption. This is connected to the view that we should make ourselves happy through the     8    (activity) we take part in, rather than with what we buy.

But however we view money, moderate spending is certainly a good idea when we are still too young to get a job. There is a British saying     9     offers some good advice in this situation: “Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after     10    (they).”

9 . Students who are better able to understand and manage their emotions effectively, a skill known as emotional intelligence (EI), do better at school than their less-skilled classmates, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

“It’s not enough to be smart and hardworking. Students must also be able to understand and manage their emotions to succeed at school,” said Carolyn MacCann, lead author of the study. MacCann and her colleagues analyzed data from more than 160 studies, representing more than 42,000 students from 27 countries, published between 1998 and 2019. The students ranged in age from primary school to college. The researchers found that students with higher EI tended to get higher grades and better achievement test scores than those with lower EI scores. This finding held true even when controlling for intelligence and personality factors. What was most surprising to the researchers was the association held despite different ages.

As for why EI can affect academic performance, MacCann believes a number of factors may come into play. “Students with higher EI may be better able to manage negative emotions, such as anxiety, boredom and disappointment, which can negatively affect academic performance,” she said. “Also, these students may be better able to manage the social world around them, forming better relationships with teachers, classmates and family, all of which are important to academic success.” Finally, the skills required for EI, such as understanding human motivation and emotion, may overlap with (与……重叠) the skills required to master certain subjects, such as history and language, giving students an advantage in those subject areas, according to MacCann.

However, MacCann cautions against widespread testing of students to identify and target those with low EI as it may stigmatize (给……打上烙印) those students. Instead, she recommends interventions that involve the whole school, including additional teacher training and a focus on teacher well-being and emotional skills. “Programs that integrate emotional skill development into the existing curriculum would be beneficial, as research suggests that training works better when run by teachers rather than external professionals,” she said. “Increasing skills for everyone not just those with low EI would benefit everyone.”

10 . It took a thunderstorm for Gordon Hempton to truly appreciate quiet. After a visit home to Seattle, Washington in 1980, the graduate student found himself tired from the 3,000km way back to his university in Wisconsin.

Deciding it was time to sleep for the night and that the August heat made it unnecessary to live in a motel, Hempton pulled over and laid down in a field. He stretched out after hours on the road. Suddenly, a thunderstorm sounded overhead. Too tired to move, he decided to stay right there. What he did next led to an awakening: he listened.

“I heard all: the movement of the air, the insect activity, the drops of the rain, the echo of the thunder,” he says. “My eyes were closed, but it was as if I could see all the creatures I’d been sharing life with but never known. I was impressed by my awareness.” So vivid was Hempton’s awakening that he immediately dropped out of university, giving up a degree in Economics, and changed the course of his life.

After that, Hempton travelled within Olympic National Park with microphone and recorder, where he captured the wonderful sounds from the wildlife in quiet. Quiet, in this sense, does not mean complete silence. He says, “We might say that quiet offers an opportunity to be aware of our surroundings.”

Yet, despite these ear-arresting experiences, Hempton realized that quiet places were disappearing at an alarming rate, with noise pollution making it more difficult to listen to the quiet sounds of nature.

In 1998, the Smithsonian hired Hempton to go on a trip to Hawaii, collecting sounds of endangered animals and plants to be played at a photography exhibition.

Now 67, he is a famous acoustic ecologist (someone who studies sound in living environments) and co-founder of Quiet Parks International (QPI), an organization that identifies and preserves natural soundscapes by testing sound levels and encouraging visitors to recognize the importance of quiet.