Protecting the Wild Animals

2 . I’ve never been one for Disney movies and other animated movies aimed at kids that are often in theaters now. So deciding to watch Spirited Away, I was feeling pretty unenthusiastic but its glowing reviews and Studio Ghibli’s reputation pushed me to still watch it.

Spirited Away is about a 10 year old girl named Chihiro. While on the way to her new home her parents and she go down an old road. After passing through a tunnel they end up in what seems to be an abandoned town. In the town, her parents find an open food stall and eat the food, saying they can pay the shop owner once they get there. But they turn into pigs! Guided by Haku, who she meets while looking around, she sets off to try and save her parents and return to her own world.

Although it is a children’s film, I found the story to be surprisingly mature (成熟的) and enjoyable. Near the beginning of the story, Chihiro was a bit of a spoiled kid, but she progresses a lot as a character as she meets and interacts with the residents of the spirit world. The movie does a lot to create a sense of mystery and often uses soft world building. The animation is wonderful. It all flows very well and allows for breathtaking scenes that really bring the world to life alongside your imagination. The film has its fair share of twists and turns and was very enjoyable, while I feel that we could benefit greatly from multiple rewatches, which I’d gladly do, in order to get the full experience.

This is a movie I would definitely recommend to all ages. A small note, it does show blood in a few scenes, so if you’re a parent whether or not that’s okay for your child would be up to you. All in all, I feel that despite not being a part of the intended audience, this is an excellent movie that deserves a watch no matter what type of person you are.

3 . While computers are incredibly useful tools, they can also be addictive. Many kids have the problem of spending too much time on the computer. Help your child overcome their own computer addiction by using the following methods.

    1     If you are not at home, you can change the password (密码) daily and send it to your child remotely once you’re ready to give them access (机会).

    2     Limit your child to using the computer for a maximum of two hours per day if they are over two years old. Children under two should not have access to any screen time.

Talk with your child about their excessive computer use. Find out if there are any specific reasons why they spend so much time on the computer.     3     If your child is facing problems that are causing a desire to escape, address those with them through discussions, providing advice, or getting them help when necessary.

Be a good role model.     4     Instead, be present when you are with them and work on spending more time together.

Encourage them to join clubs or organizations. Find out from them what clubs or organizations are offered at their school.     5    

5 . What will restaurants look like in the future? What would your dinner taste like if a robot cooked it? A robot restaurant in Tianjin may give you the answers.

Covering an area of over 400 square meters with a total of 112 seats, the X Future Restaurant is a robot restaurant that opened in November 2018. The restaurant has amazed customers with its fully-automated (全自动的) technology, which covers every step of the dining experience, from ordering to cooking to serving the dishes and even taking payment.

Entering the restaurant, one can order dishes by simply scanning the QR codes on the table. There are over 40 choices of dishes. After taking the order, “robot cooks” prepare dishes using fixed time, temperature and ingredients designed by famous Chinese cooks.

“As the cooking is controlled by a computer system, the taste and quality of dishes can be good,” said Li Xiaokui, manager of the X Future Restaurant.

Robots also complete the delivery of dishes. Without following any designed route, the robot waiters serve meals thanks to automated driving technology, which helps each robot timely change its route when something is in the way.

These eye-catching technologies have received wide praise from customers. “The dishes taste surprisingly good. I couldn’t believe that they were made by robots, especially dishes that were difficult to cook.” one customer said. “The application of robots has increased our efficiency and cut down our costs,” Li said, “I think robot restaurants will develop fast and have a bright future.”

6 . One summer night, my friends and I stole into the Jordans’ backyard and started harvesting their sweet, juicy raspberries (树莓). We were enjoying every bite of the tasty berries _________ Mr Jordan came charging outside all of a sudden.

“What are you boys doing out here?” he yelled as my friends ran off _________ all directions. He attempted to catch one or two as they rushed past him, but they were too _________ for the older gentleman to catch. Within seconds, the boys _________ into the dark of the summer night, all except me. Speed was never my _________. I took the tongue-lashing (痛骂) that Mr. Jordan gave me as he marched me down the block to my house, where my mother took over and scolded me _________. My friends said they could hear every colorful word she spoke from the darkness of our backyard, where they had gathered to _________ their escape and to observe my capture.

They _________ me about it for days afterwards, while all I could do was complain about how _________ it was that I was the only one who had to pay the price. After about a week of this, I complained to my father about the inequality of the situation. Dad said, “You took raspberries without __________, and you get exactly the punishment you deserved.”

“But what about the other guys?” I asked. “They didn’t get punished at all!”

“That’s not my concern nor should it be yours,” Dad said. “You can’t __________ what happens to others. You can only __________ what happens to you. You made a bad choice that night, and you were punished for it.”

For the duration of the following years, I come to realize there is no __________ that life will treat us fairly. That’s why we can’t __________ comparing our lives with the lives of others. Like Dad said, that isn’t our __________.

8 . With the development of our society, cellphones have become a common part in our lives. Have you ever run into a careless cellphone user in the street? Maybe they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new "species" of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name—phubbers (低头族).

Recently a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cellphone while letting his patient die. A pretty woman takes a selfie (自拍) in front of a car accident site. And a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events will finally lead to the destruction(毁灭) of the world.

Although the ending of the film sounds unrealistic, the damage phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear the effect and the result of it. "Always bending your head to check your cellphone could damage your neck," Guangming Daily quoted doctors' words. "The neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching." Also, staring at cellphones for a long time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.

But that's not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. When getting together with family or friends, many people prefer to play their cellphones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.

It can also cost your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cellphones in broad daylight.

9 . Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16 - year - old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.

“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”

Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.

Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent - child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.

No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”

But family experts warm that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There's still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”

Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.

“My parents were on the "before' side of that change, but today's parents, the 40 - year - olds, were on the ‘after’' side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It's not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”