3 . Technology seems to discourage slow reading. Reading on screens tires eyes easily. So online writing is more skimmable than print. The neuroscientist Mary Walt argued this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, dramatic transformation” in how readers process words. And brains now favor rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.

We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as we learn to read more skillfully. And fears about declining attention spans have proved to be false alarms. “Some critics worry about attention span and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline, ” The American author Selvin wrote. “But nobody ever said poems were evidence of short attention spans. ”

Yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. First, it means there’s more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing means rapid release and response. Once published, online articles start forming a comment string underneath. Such mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun, but is probably lacking in profound reflection.

Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a source of personal achievement. But this advocacy emphasizes “enthusiastic” or “eager” reading — neither suggest slow absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in their slow comprehension of words. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he’s done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.

The human need for this kind of deep reading is too determined for any new technology to destroy. We often assume technological change can’t be stopped, so older media are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle hasn’t killed off printed books any more than cars killed off bicycles. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.

Chain of Love

One cold winter day a man saw an old lady standing on the side of the road, obviously in need of help. So he pulled up in front of her beautiful Mercedes-Benz and got out of his beat-up old car.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, so he said, “I’m here to help you, madam. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

It was a flat tire, bad enough for an old lady. Bryan crawled under the car and began to work. She rolled down the window, saying she couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid and asking how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her.

Bryan just smiled as he finished changing the tire. A young man without much money for his baby due next month, he never thought twice about being paid for helping someone in need. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed.

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed home.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe, and went in to grab a bite to eat. It was a dingy (昏暗的) looking restaurant. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain (压力) and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger.

Then she remembered Bryan.

5 . Social media is taking over our lives: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now, TikTok. These social media platforms have changed from a way to stay connected to an industry where even kids can make money off their posts. While this may seem like another opportunistic innovation, it’s really full of hidden false realities.

The median income (中位收入) recorded in the United States of America was about $63,000 in 2018. TikTokers can make anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 for a TikTok brand partnership, and TikTokers with over a million followers can make up to $30,000 a month—$360,000 a year. They are making more than the average person trying to feed their family and keep a roof over their heads simply by posting a 15-second video.

This is mad in more ways than one. Not only is it an overpaid “job”, it promotes undeserved admiration from viewers and a false sense of reality. Many of these famous TikTokers are still teens and the effects of fame at such an early stage in life might cause issues later in life, such as mental illness. Teens between the ages of 13 and 17 make up 27% of TikTok viewers, who can be easily influenced by what they are watching. They can put a false sense of self-value into who they look up to and what they represent: money, fame, being considered conventionally attractive.

While TikTok has become a great tool for marketing, it’s important to understand how this content affects young viewers. If we’re constantly consuming content that shows us all we need to do to be successful is be conventionally attractive and post a 15-second video featuring a new dance, it will challenge our knowledge of what really makes someone successful and will in turn affect our individual work ethnics (伦理). What about the people who miss birthdays and family holidays due to their jobs and aren’t getting paid nearly as much as these TikTokers?

Richard Colyer, president and creator of Metaphor, Inc, had his own view on this issue. “It sounds great that kids can make money for doing the latest dance moves in a 15-second video, but we should feed the minds of kids and not just their bank accounts. TikTok can be great if used properly. Money alone is not good; technology alone is not good and connectedness can be bad if it is only online.”

Again, as a fellow consumer of TikTok, I do enjoy the app when I have some time to kill and need a good laugh. I’m not against someone making a living on entertainment, but what does getting famous by posting a 15-second video teach young people?

6 . My brother and I were driving home together and we were deep in conversation. Because of his _________, my brother took a wrong turn, taking us towards a _________ and we had no way to turn back. _________, my brother paid the bridge fee and drove on. He was clearly frustrated by the mistake and the _________ waste of $4.

We eventually reached an exit slipway and, as we took it, my brother _________ a beat-up black car parked by the side of the road. A young guy was standing nearby _________ someone. I was busy trying to figure out which _________ we went next but my brother _________ and asked the guy if he needed any help. And he did. He had a(n) _________ tire and needed a tool to get it off. My brother gave it to him, then proceeded to help him __________ the tire. After we had finished the job he thanked us again and again, pulled out $20 and tried to give it to us. “No,” my brother said. “We were never __________ to even get on that bridge. We took a __________ turn. But now we know why we did. It was to help you. Thank you for turning our mistake into a(n) __________ to serve.”

What I loved most was watching my brother throughout this __________. He was able to see a chance to help even in an otherwise __________ situation, which can only come from a calm mind and an open heart.

7 . In this world of rapid changes, everything seems to be possible. There will eventually come a day when the New York Times stops _________ stories on paper. Exactly when that day will be is a matter of debate. “Sometime in the future,” the paper’s publisher said back in 2010.

Nostalgia (怀旧)   as people are for ink on paper, there are plenty of reasons to _________   print. The basic facilities required to make a _________ newspaper—printing presses, delivery trucks — isn’t just expensive. Readers are keeping away from print anyway. And though print advertisement sales still _________ their online and mobile counterparts, income from print is still declining.

Cost may be high and circulation lower but rushing to _________   its print edition would be a mistake, says BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Petretti.

Petretti says the Times shouldn’t waste time getting out of the print business, but only if they go about doing it the right way. “Figuring out a way to speed up that _________   would make sense for them,” he said, ‘‘but if you discontinue it, you’re going to have your most faithful customers really upset with you.”

Sometimes that’s well worth _________ anyway. Petretti gives the example of Netflix   _________   its DVD-mailing service to focus on streaming (流媒体). “It was once seen as a(n) _________,” he said. The move turned out to be foresighted. “If I were in charge at the Times, I wouldn’t pick a year to__________ print,” Petretti said, “I would raise prices and make it into more of a legacy product, which has some advantage over a modern product, making it appealing for customers to keep it around.”

As a matter of fact, the most loyal customers would still get the product they __________. The idea goes, and they’d feel like that they were helping maintain the quality of something they believe in. “So if you’re __________   print, you could feel like that you were helping,” Peretti said. “Then increase it at a higher rate each year and essentially try to generate additional __________.” In other words, if you’re going to print product, make it for the people who are already obsessed with it, which may be what the Times is doing already. Getting the print edition seven days a week costs nearly $500 a year — more than twice as much as a digital-only __________.

“It’s a really hard thing to do and it’s a tremendous luxury that BuzzFeed doesn’t have a legacy business,” Petretti remarked. “But we’re going to have questions like that. We’re doing things that don’t make sense when the market __________ and so does the world. In those situations, it’s better to be more aggressive than less aggressive.

8 . During my second year at the city college, I was told that the education department was offering a “free” course, called Thinking Chess, for three credits. I ______ the idea of taking the class because, after all, who doesn’t want to save a few dollars? More than that, I’d always wanted to learn chess. And, even if I weren’t ______ enough about free credits, news about our ______ was appealing enough to me. He was an international grandmaster, which ______ I wound be learning from one of the game’s ______ . I could hardly wait to meet him.

Maurice Ashley was kind and smart, a former graduate returning to teach, and this ______ was no game for him: he meant business. In his introduction, he made it ______ that our credits would be hard-earned. In order to ______ the class, among other criteria, we had to write a paper on how we plan to ______ what we would learn in class to our future professions and,   ______, to our lives. I managed to get an A in that ______ and learned life lessons that have served me well beyond the classroom.

Ten years after my chess class with Ashley, I’m still putting to use what he ______ me: “The absolute most important skill that you learn when you play chess is how to make good ______ . On every single move you have to ______ a situation, process what your opponent (对手) is doing and evaluate the best move from among all your options.” These words still ring true today in my ______ as a journalist.