3 . As a speaker of 10 languages I know the benefits of speaking more than one language. To start with, we need to dispel (消除) four common misconceptions about language learning.

You have to have a gift for learning languages.

No, you don’t.     1     In Sweden and Holland most people speak more than one language. They can’t just all be gifted at languages. In language learning it is attitude, not aptitude (天赋) that determines success.

    2    

Some immigrants to North America never learn to speak more than broken English. Yet we meet people in other countries who speak flawless English. With the Internet, language content is available to anyone with a computer.     3    

To learn a language you need formal classroom instruction.

Classrooms may be economical to run and a great place to meet others. They have the weight of history and tradition behind them. Unfortunately, a classroom is an inefficient place to learn a language.     4     A majority of school kids graduate unable to communicate in languages that they study for 10 or more years.

I would love to learn but I don't have the time.

How about the time you spend waiting in line or going for a walk? Why not use that time to listen to a language on your iPad? Once you get started, even 10 or 15 minutes a day will soon grow to 30 minutes a day, or one hour.     5     As I do, you will find the time.

With the International Conference on Food Loss and Waste closed on Saturday in Jinan, Shandong Province, the country has sent a signal to     1     world that China will deal with issues concerning food security by reducing loss and waste in agriculture. With the theme of reducing food loss and food waste and promoting     2     (globe) food security, the three-day event     3     (hold) both online and offline attracted more than 300 participants.

The current world grain production is about 2.8 billion tons a year. Therefore, the loss of only one percentage     4     (be) equal to the loss of 28 million tons of food. This can feed about 70 million people.

In recent years, China     5     (make) great progress in controlling loss and waste in food, with main efforts including upgrading facilities and     6     (equip). In Shandong Province, China’s major grain producer, the Sinograin (中粮集团) grain storage site is equipped with 4,500 high-definition cameras and 280,000 temperature sensors     7     (ensure) that the stock (储备) is in the best condition. Data shows that during China’s 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) , about 13 million tons of food had been saved     8     (year) after production.

We cannot end hunger     9     we do not deal with the high levels of food loss and waste. Cooperation and innovations (创新) in business models, technologies and digital solutions could all contribute     10     reducing food loss and waste.

6 . New methods have allowed researchers and scientists to find a way to reduce heat loss from buildings by about 30%. This new “green” solution is quite literally (确实地) green as it involves fitting a living wall by sticking soil and plants onto the walls, according to a new research.

To see what effects renewing a living wall on an existing building would have on the environment, the scientists decided to test it out on a building at a university in the UK, which was originally built in the 1970s. As a control, part of the building was not fitted with the living wall. Both of the parts of the building were west-facing and the test was conducted over 5 weeks. They found that the part with the living wall lost 31.4% less heat as compared to the side without it. So it took less energy to heat and had environmentally friendly effects.

In the UK, approximately 57% of buildings were built before 1964. They have caused 17% of greenhouse emissions (排放), about 60% of which come from house heating. If people could reduce heat loss from older buildings by 30%, a huge part of greenhouse emissions could be eliminated. While regulations have changed recently to improve the thermal performance (热性能) of new constructions, it is the existing buildings that require the most energy to heat and are a significant contributor to carbon emissions. It is, therefore, essential that people begin to improve the thermal performance of these existing buildings if the UK is to reach its target of net (净) zero carbon emission by 2050, and help to reduce the possibility of fuel poverty.

The new research suggests living walls can also provide significant energy savings to help reduce the carbon footprint of existing buildings. Perfecting these living wall systems, however, is now needed to help increase the environmental benefits.