4 . In our information-driven society, shaping our worldview through the media is similar to forming an opinion about someone solely based on a picture of their foot. While the media might not deliberately deceive us, it often fails to provide a comprehensive view of reality.

Consequently, the question arises: Where, then, shall we get our information from if not from the media? Who can we trust? How about experts—people who devote their working lives to understanding their chosen slice of the world? However, even experts can fall prey to the allure of oversimplification, leading to the “single perspective instinct” that hampers(阻碍)our ability to grasp the intricacies of the world.

Simple ideas can be appealing because they offer a sense of understanding and certainty. And it is easy to take off down a slippery slope, from one attention-grabbing simple idea to a feeling that this idea beautifully explains, or is the beautiful solution for, lots of other things. The world becomes simple that way.

Yet, when we embrace a singular cause or solution for all problems, we risk oversimplifying complex issues. For instance, championing the concept of equality may lead us to view all problems through the lens of inequality and see resource distribution as the sole panacea. However, such rigidity prevents us from seeing the multidimensional nature of challenges and hinders true comprehension of reality. This “single perspective instinct” ultimately clouds our judgment and restricts our capacity to tackle complex issues effectively.

It saves a lot of time to think like this. You can have opinions and answers without having to learn about a problem from scratch and you can get on with using your brain for other tasks. But it’s not so useful if you like to understand the world. Being always in favor of or always against any particular idea makes you blind to information that doesn’t fit your perspective. This is usually a bad approach if you would like to understand reality.

Instead, constantly test your favorite ideas for weaknesses. Be humble about the extent of your expertise. Be curious about new information that doesn’t fit, and information from other fields. And rather than talking only to people who agree with you, or collecting examples that fit your ideas, consult people who contradict you, disagree with you, and put forward different ideas as a great resource for understanding the world. I have been wrong about the world so many times. Sometimes, coming up against reality is what helps me see my mistakes, but often it is talking to, and trying to understand, someone with different ideas.

If this means you don’t have time to form so many opinions, so what? Wouldn’t you rather have few opinions that are right than many that are wrong?

5 . This year, people around the world are lining up to buy electric vehicles even as prices increase. Electric vehicle, EV, demand has stayed strong even as the average cost of lithiumion (锂离子) battery cells increased to an estimated $160 per kilowatt-hour in the first quarter from $105 last year. Costs rose due to supply issues, restrictions on Russian metals and investor speculation (投机).

For a smaller vehicle like the Hongguang Mini, the best-selling EV in China, the higher battery costs added almost $1,500, equal to 30 percent of the listed price. But gasoline and diesel fuel costs have also increased since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and experts noted that environmental concerns are also pushing more buyers to choose EVs.

Manufacturers from Tesla to SAIC-GM-Wuling, which makes the Hongguang Mini, have passed higher costs on to consumers with price increases for EVs. More may be coming. Andy Palmer, chairman of Slovak EV battery maker InoBat, said, “rising costs will have to be passed onto carmakers.” But EV shoppers have so far not slowed down. Worldwide EV sales in the first quarter jumped nearly 120 percent, said the website EV-volumes.com.

Venkat Srinivasan is director of the Center for Collaborative Energy Storage Science at the U.S. government’s Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. He said, “more and more people would buy EVs despite the cost of the battery and the vehicle.”

This increase in battery costs could be an unusual short-term change in a situation in which improving technology and growing production have pushed costs down for almost 30 years. Industry data showed that the $105 per kilowatt hour average cost in 2021 was down nearly 99 percent from over $7,500 in 1991.

Experts say battery costs could stay high for the next year or so, but then another large drop is likely as big investments by automakers and suppliers change the balance from shortage to surplus. “It’s like a bubble (泡沫) and for that bubble to settle down, it’s going to be at least the end of 2023,” said Prabhakar Patil, a former LG Chem executive.

The industry has long been awaiting the battery cell cost of $100 per kilowatt-hour, as a signal EVs were reaching a similar cost to fossil-fuel vehicles. But with gasoline prices high and consumer preferences changing, such cost considerations may no longer matter as much, experts say.

I live in a city where jobs are difficult to get and if you want to find a well-paid job, it will be even harder. Therefore, it is not surprising for you to see many people in our city walk a long way because they can’t even afford an old used car.

It was a cold windy day. I saw one of these people who often have to walk from and to work every day, when I was driving after work. A middle-aged man wearing only a thin overcoat was walking down the road and trying to ask for a ride from the passing cars. Unluckily, there was no driver willing to stop their cars. When I saw two cars in front of me pass him by, I wanted to do the same. But the sight of that poor man remained in my mind for quite a moment. I felt as if a big hand was dragging me and forcing me not to leave. Finally I drew back and gave him a ride.

As I drove along, we had a conversation, during which he told me something about himself and his family. I learnt that the man was doing everything he could to support his family using the limited salary from several part-time jobs. As you could imagine, every coin he earned was going to be used to pay for the house and food.

It was a long drive before we got to his home. All the way, I could feel his hardship and tiredness. But as we came close to the house where he was living, I saw his tired eyes grow bright and the whole body was lit up. His lovely girl was playing in the front yard. Seeing her father was out of the car, she ran to him as quickly as possible, reaching out her two small hands. He held the girl with his two strong hands, laughing and kissing her cheeks. I was lost in that happy moment. I smiled, said goodbye to them, wished them the future happiness and then drove off.

On my way home, something came into my mind.

Half an hour later, I got home.

8 . Advice on how to help you beat (战胜) test stress（压力）

Studying for your tests at school can sometimes make you feel a bit stressed or worried, so we’ve put together some top advice to help you feel calmer and more confident.

Don’t compare yourself to your friends. Everyone learns things differently and some people find things easier than others. Choose a revision (复习) plan that works best for you. If your friends are different, then that’s fine.     1    

If you are feeling stressed, talk to someone. It could be a friend, a teacher or your family. Don’t feel like you’re letting people down by admitting you are feeling stressed.    2    They will hopefully help you to feel better.

Try to take regular breaks during your revision. Taking your mind off things will help give your brain time to deal with all the information you are learning.    3    You could go for a walk or even just close your eyes and relax for a few minutes.

    4    It’s important to try to eat well and get lots of sleep during the lead-up to a test. If you don’t give your mind a rest or give your body the right energy, it might not work as well as it could.

Doing exercise really helps! Whether you are playing football, going for a walk or a run, dancing, or even just riding your bike, exercise can really help to take your mind off things.     5    

9 . The Munfords were moving into a house they bought. They wanted to see if all the furniture was in good condition before they used it. James Munford was_________ the built-in drawers in the closet last month, when he found two cases holding 46 gold Liberty $5 coins and 18 Morgan silver dollars that were made in the 1800s. They looked really old, like they were really worth a lot of _________.

James and his wife, Clarrisa, who are both retired thought the coins are _________a family heirloom (传家宝), so they went ahead and made sure the owner _________them back. James texted pictures of the _________to the home’s former owner and made plans to _________them.

“We really didn’t know anything about the _________of the coins. We really didn’t _________, to be honest with you. We knew they were not ours,” said Clarrisa Munford, who runs a restaurant business.

The home’s _________owner, who asked not to be __________, estimated (估算) that the coins were worth about $25,000. He said he’d put the containers in the back of his sock drawer a few months ago for safe keeping and didn’t see it in his__________ to get packed up and moved out of the house. The rest of his coin collection was in his safe. He didn’t realize the coins were __________until the Munfords contacted him. He added that he would never have known if they had __________to sell the coins and keep the money for themselves.

The Munfords are still unpacking and their furniture just arrived last week, so they haven’t had a __________to see if there are any other __________.