1 . What can bring people from around the world together? Skin colour? Language? A favourite football team? According to a recent study conducted by OnePoll, a London-based marketing research company, food is the answer.

OnePoll surveyed 2,000 people around the world. 84% of participants said that food had the power to connect people of different cultures and backgrounds.

“Food has to do with how we live—it’s not just something that we ingest. Food is a part of our lives, and it helps bring people closer together,” one participant in the survey said.

People can get a better understanding of another culture through trying its cuisine. For example, Chinese culture is based on the idea of harmony (和谐), which can be seen in almost every aspect of life in China, most noticeably its cuisine. In Chinese cuisine, every ingredient is used in a balanced way to create delicious dishes that go well together. Another example is the rich diversity of American cuisine, which directly reflects the rich diversity of its multicultural influence.

Food can help strengthen cultural ties. Every country has its own way of doing things, which means that sometimes there can be very little common ground between countries. However, every country has food in common—after all, we all need to eat. So something as simple as a dinner gathering has the power to bring together people from different countries or cultures. In fact, food is often the catalyst (催化剂) in forming many important decisions and friendships.

“We believe food has a transcending (超越的) ability to connect us, and that delicious things can happen when we share heritage, culture, and uniqueness through food,” said Jason Levine, one of the survey’ s conductors.

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).”

3 . It’s easy for consumers to buy food and drinks like a bowl of hot rice and coke online or from neighbourhood shops, but for astronauts such things were impossible in the past.

Members of China’s Shenzhou manned space flight last year, however, were able to enjoy such food, thanks to Joyoung, a Chinese firm. Joyoung created a mobile space kitchen for the astronauts. A drinking water machine, an air heater and a soybean milk maker were all accessible in the kitchen through a smart app. Tang Hongbo, who was a member of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft said in the news that during his three-month trip, he could eat hot food with just half-hour efforts, a contrast to the past when similar attempts required several hours. “If we had time, we would also use equipment to eat homemade yogurt. We could also control the equipment in the space kitchen through mobile phone apps.” he said.

In the past, most foods couldn’t be directly heated in a microwave oven in the space. Conduction equipment often caused uneven (不均匀的) heating. An astronaut had to spend as long as four hours to heat some vegetables in the space kitchen. To solve the problem, Joyoung has developed equipment that gives out hot air to heat vegetables in a 360-degree way. That enables astronauts to eat steaming-hot fish-flavoured pork and Gongbao chicken, a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish.

Besides Joyoung, a group of companies, including Xiaomi Coip and Huawei Technologies, have contributed their technologies to the development of the space station. A vacuum (真空) cleaner made haircuts on the spacecraft possible. NOLO VR, a Chinese virtual reality manufacturer, has helped astronauts develop an experimental equipment through which laboratory technicians on the ground can see and experience what astronauts are doing in space.

Last Saturday, David was taking a walk in the park near his home when he noticed a woman with a boy of about eight years old. When David passed them, he heard the woman yell. “How stupid you are! You’re good at nothing.” David stopped and looked at the little boy. The boy said nothing. He just stood there, looking upset.

David was reminded of his English teacher Mrs Brown in middle school. After he entered a middle school, David lacked self-confidence because he was often made fun of by others. He was often told that he was good at nothing, which David behaved. But one day it all changed.

One day, in an English writing class, Mrs Brown asked them to read a novel. They were asked to write a new chapter of the novel after they finished reading it. A few days later, David handed in his story. He didn’t give it much thought. But the next day, to his surprise, the comment “well done” from Mrs Brown came into view the moment he turned to the page where the story was written. When David read that, he almost burst into tears. He never expected to be praised one day. He suddenly gained some self-confidence.

That day after he returned home, he wrote a short story and gave it to Mrs Brown the next morning. And again he was praised. David became very interested in writing. He often wrote short stories and asked Mrs Brown to read them improve writing skills. One year later, David joined the school newspaper and became an editor of it. He was no longer that boy who lacked self-confidence. He gained his confidence, and was hopeful about his future.

He succeeded in entering a college and kept writing. Several years after graduating from college, he had his first book published. With some more books coming out, he became famous as a writer in his country. And he owed his success to Mrs Brown’s encouragement. Without her encouragement, his life might be very different now.

Inspired by his own life story, David decided to do something for that boy.

The mother was ashamed when she heard that.

6 . 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.”