1 . Alipay, the digital payment arm of Chinese financial technology company Ant Group, is allocating more resources to roll out translation services in 16 languages, to ensure foreigners in China can use mobile payments without any hurdles.

Alipay’s move comes amid China’s intensified efforts to further improve foreigners’ payment _________ in the country.

Alipay has allowed foreigners in China to link their _________ bank cards, including Visa and Mastercard, to its mobile payment tool, greatly streamlining (精简) the payment processes, said Zhu Xugang, director of the cross-border business at Ant Group.

Users of 10 overseas e-wallets are also able to use their familiar home e-wallets on their own phones by _________Alipay QR codes, to enjoy seamless mobile payment experiences across Alipay’s vast merchant network.

According to Alipay, foreigners can use the app to complete payments at restaurants, hotels, scenic spots, convenience stores and supermarkets, as well as for ride-hailing, shared bikes, buses and other public _________services in China. The newly _________ multilingual app includes English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese.

The mobile payment app has also _________ the single transaction (交易) limit for overseas travelers using mobile payments from $1,000 to $5,000 and lifted the annual cumulative transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000.

The State Council, China’s Cabinet, published a guideline on improving payment services and _________ payment convenience in early March, a move to better meet the _________payment needs of the elderly and foreign visitors.

Last week, the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, _________a payment guide that provides foreigners with text and graphic __________ on using bank cards, cash, mobile payments and e-CNY in China, the latest step in the country’s push to optimize the payment experience for foreigners.

Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst at market consultancy Botong Analysys, said the intensified efforts to provide convenient payment services will not only __________ improve the living and consumption experience of foreigners in China and attract more of them to the country, but also promote the healthy and sustainable development of the payment __________.

Wang said the move demonstrates the country’s resolve to expand high-standard opening-up, __________ the online payment scenarios of Alipay are wide enough, with high usage frequency. So, what it should do now is to expand the scope of foreign bank card binding and improve and simplify authentication of new users, to provide more convenient payment services to foreigners.

Meanwhile, Chinese banks are taking measures to expand the __________ of overseas bank cards and facilitate their use of cash in the country.

Dong said more efforts are needed to expand the scenarios of various types of payment methods at tourist attractions, sporting events, transportation hubs, healthcare and beauty centers and other daily __________ sites.

2 . Flexible thinking for your career

Does work ever leave you feeling stuck in a rut with limited opportunities to be creative? To thrive, you might want to _________ your brain’s flexibility. But is this even possible, and if so, how?

Most jobs require the ability to solve problems and deal with _________, at least to a certain extent. Imagine a teacher who has a new and very nervous student in their class. If that teacher is a flexible thinker, he will be able to _________ his classroom management, even if he hasn’t seen this situation before. According to Leonard Mlodinow, author of Elastic, flexible thinkers rely on idea generation and imagination — they are willing to _________ and take risks. “Elastic thinking is what you need when the circumstances change, and you are dealing with something new. It’s not about _________ rules.” Therefore, instead of following the typical _________ for welcome a new student, the teacher might come up with a tailored response, based on prediction and previous experience.

So, how can you become a more flexible thinker? According to Dr Lisa Feldman Barrett, it’s all about _______   the brain. One way of doing this, she says, is through exposure to a variety of experiences which make it easier to adjust to new situations. A lot of companies now consider flexible thinking in the workplace, _________ when it comes to design. Workspaces may have couches(长沙发) where workers can _________ and relax, giving them the space to come up with and process new ideas. Mlodinow says it’s very important to take time to daydream, listen to ideas and concepts you disagree with and spend time doing activities outside of your __________. This will help you understand multiple points of view and therefore blossom in many different aspects of your career.

So, if you want to make a change, you can become a flexible thinker too, with a little practice.

3 . Acupuncture(针灸), an ancient Chinese medical practice, has been the remedy for countless patients for thousands of years. Before modern medicine came to life, ancient Chinese used stone tools to ______ pain. Over time, this primitive practice ______ evolved into a comprehensive and profound medical system and ______ the root of acupuncture.

Acupuncture is a treatment that aims to ______ the body’s self-regulating functions. Its therapeutic principles are in line with the ______ concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, which emphasizes all-inclusive treatment, meridian(经络) adjustment, balance of bodily functions and overall physiological well-being.

Practices can ______ in forms, including needle insertion, cupping and scraping. Needle insertion, the most common method, is______ by inserting hair-thin needles into meridians, ______ specific points on the body that ______ vital energy (the qi). Practitioners lift, twirl and rotate needles to unblock the flow of energy; ______ yin and yang balance; and stimulate the body’s innate ______ to heal itself.

Looking beyond China, acupuncture has become a global ______. Over the years, acupuncture has seen many advancements in scientific research and modern medicine. It is now a mainstream ______ and complementary treatment for a variety of weaknesses. According to a 2019 WHO report, acupuncture is used in 113 of its 120 member countries, ______ its widespread recognition and application.

As an ancient Chinese medical ______ with a rich history and deep cultural significance, acupuncture is an embodiment of profound cultural heritage and a holistic path to healing.

6 . Have you ever had a song stuck in your head and, no matter how hard you tried, you could not get rid of it? The song played on and on, whether you were loading the dishwasher, weaving in and out of traffic, or attempting to _________ your mind at the start of yoga class.

Having a song stuck in one’s head, known as an earworm, is an experience that over 90% of us have on a _________ basis. We’re more likely to catch an earworm after we stop focusing, in moments when the working memory is _________, when we’re relaxed, when work is finished or when we’re a bit sleepy.

Certain songs are _________ than others, and so more likely to “auto repeat” in your head. There are certain musical characteristics that make songs more likely to become earworms, such as if the piece is repetitive, if there is a longer duration of certain notes, if _________ between the notes are smaller. _________, we know that mood can have an impact, with some people reporting that they always get the same earworm when they feel good, or people experiencing a fast-tempo earworm when they are _________. And of course familiarity with a song is a key _________. Songs that you don’t know very well are less likely to pop up as earworms.

If you’ve had enough of your earworm and need to stop it in its tracks, you would be well warned not to try to block the song out, but rather to _________ accept it. A determined effort to block the song out may result in the very __________ of what you want. According to psychologist Daniel Wegner, __________ the song may make your brain keep playing it over and over again. To get rid of an earworm, you may be best served by simply __________ it, accepting it, and leaving it alone to let this phenomenon ends up weakening itself little by little.

Some people try to __________ themselves from the song, and it works. You can try reading a book, listening to a different song or even playing an instrument. Others __________ the tune in question, because it is commonly believed that earworms occur when you remember only part of a song; hearing the entire song may stop it. Neurologists (神经学家) point out that it’s recommendable to chew gum to reduce the __________ of an earworm because jaw movement interferes with musical memory. However, it’s important to note that this phenomenon usually lasts less than 24 hours.

7 . Are you a digital hoarder?

Most people are familiar with hoarding (囤积) and the psychological issues associated with it. Hoarding leads to messy homes and difficulty ________ with items that you don’t use and don’t even need. But hoarding can also occur in the digital world.

Digital hoarding, also known as e-hoarding, is too much acquisition and ________ to delete electronic material no longer valuable to the user. Most computer users save digital files to some extent, and that’s expected. With digital hoarding, however, the act of saving the files becomes an uncontrollable ________. Digital hoarders may collect emails, photos, articles, podcasts, or any type of computer files they believe they may want to revisit in the future, and ultimately, in most cases, they ________ get to actually use it or listen to it or read it.

Digital hoarding also occurs when someone is too ________ to the data even to consider getting rid of it. This can include chats and photos of an old partner, ________ sent by a long-lost friend, or even screenshots collected several years ago.

Researchers have ________ digital hoarders into 4 different types, according to their characteristics. “Collectors” are organized, ________ and in control of their data. “Accidental hoarders”, also called “________ or disorganized hoarders”, don’t intentionally save unnecessary data. They just don’t know how to organize it. “The hoarders by instruction” keep data on behalf of their company (even when they could delete much of it). Finally, “anxious hoarders” have strong emotional ________ to their data — and are worried about deleting it.

The problem has only gotten worse since we have more ________ to digital storage than ever. In addition, cloud storage makes it incredibly easy to purchase more storage as needed. With ________ cloud space, it’s logical when network users don’t think twice about saving files.

However, studies found that digital hoarders experience increased levels of stress and now researchers are observing that the negative consequences of digital hoarding may be similar to those of ________ hoarding. ________, it’s important to set time aside to have a good clear-out, in the same way we do in the physical world. By organizing and ________ useless files in a regular way, people with this problem can ease some of their distress and clear their own mind as well.

8 . Farmers around the world face serious challenges in growing food more effectively. Climate warming increases the risk of crop damage from insects, fungi (真菌), and bacteria. So to manage the threat, farms are turning to artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and computer vision to target pests more ________.

In 2019 the United Nations reported on the pest ________ causing crop losses of between 20 and 40 percent of global production each year. Damage from plant diseases, it said, costs the world economy an estimated $220 billion annually, and invasive insects around $70 billion.

Smart farming is one way to combat the problem, using AI and robotics to kill bugs and reduce reliance on pesticides while ________ skilled worker shortages and adapting to climate change. Technologies include soil and crop sensors, satellite and drone monitoring, plus computer vision and AI data analysis to reduce the number of affected plants and increase crop ________.

Insect monitoring services like the UK’s Spotta offer ________ real-time data on invasive species. The company uses internet-connected dry traps to catch red palm weevils (象鼻虫) that attack date palms, causing more than $1 billion of losses in the Middle East, Africa, and North America each year.

Traps alert plantation workers to trees infested (寄生) with weevils so they can eliminate them before they cause any real damage. And this targeted approach means less pesticide is used, ________ the impact on other species.

________, the Californian agriculture technology startup FarmSense uses visual sensors and machine learning algorithms (算法) trained to find and track insects in real-time. With non-native invasive insect species ________ to increase 36 percent worldwide by 2050, these technologies could give farmers a huge advantage in eco-friendly pest control and food growing.

Precision spot spraying linked to AI is another valuable add-on that aims to ________ pesticide and herbicide use. Spraying entire crops can harm insect pollinators (传花粉者) like bees and becomes part of agricultural run-off when it is washed out of soil. But targeting weeds or insects using cameras and directed sprays can vastly reduce ________ use.

In the Czech Republic, scientists at Mendel University in Brno have built a sample robot that patrols greenhouses and can identify the different ________ of insect growth. It then ________ just enough insecticide to kill individual pests, working 24 hours a day to keep things under control.

Companies like Root AI and 80 Acres Farms are banking on indoor growing and AI-controlled systems as the future of farming. In the case of 80 Acres, its pesticide-free indoor farms are ________ by AI every step of the way. Robots do a lot of the work and computer vision lets them know if crops need more nutrients or if pests are causing ________.

Their efforts are part of what analysts say will be a $2.6 billion AI-farming market by 2025. Reimagining how farming operates will be crucial says the World Bank – reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. And technology will play its part in helping farmers improve their all-around crop ________.

9 . With vigorous promotion and extensive participation over the past two years, waste sorting is a new trend that has reshaped the image of campuses across Beijing.

“In the past, sanitation workers sorted the garbage next to the trash cans near the dormitory, _________ a disgusting odor. On windy days, the trash was blown everywhere and we always _________ around it with our hands covering our noses,” says Sun Jiajing, a sophomore at Beijing Forestry University. “Now, we are more active in classifying waste.”

Since a revised guideline on household waste disposal in Beijing was _________ on May 1, 2020, many students have seen their campuses take on a new look that is more pleasant, tidy and appealing.

At Beijing Forestry University, about one in four students are trash-sorting volunteers.

In the Beijing No 20 High School, bins to recycle waste are placed on each floor and students on duty will set their wits to turning trash into _________.

“I received training on trash classification before taking on the role as head of the trash-sorting station. My job is to remind everyone to classify waste and recycle to the best _________,” says Ding Shuyi, a student at the school.

As China pushes _________ the “double reduction” education policy, which aims to ease the burden of _________ homework and off-campus tutoring for primary and middle school students, understanding of waste sorting has been fused into academic teaching via various innovative approaches.

“Our Chinese teachers encourage students to write poetries _________ on waste classification, math teachers lead them to do math on topics such as water conservation, while our music teachers choreographed a ‘waste sorting’ dance with the students,” says Zuo Chunyun, principal of a primary school in the suburban Tongzhou district of the capital.

Zuo adds that students in senior classes will join trash-sorting projects and map out _________ in the form of handwritten newspapers and mind maps. Decorations made from recycled materials are exhibited in the school’s corridors.

The same scene can be seen in Qianjin Primary School, Haidian district. “Garbage can be turned into __________,” says Wang Liping, the principal. “We have raised 100,000 yuan ($15,760) of charity funds by encouraging students and their parents to recycle waste, and the money was used to purchase movie screens for schools in Hotan, Xinjiang.”

According to Liu Jianguo, a professor at Tsinghua University, the implementation of garbage sorting depends on the __________ participation and unremitting efforts of society, which is conducive to the__________ of social civilization.

“Wide participation of students and school staff will help promote garbage sorting to become a new fashion in society,” adds Liu.

Official data shows that over 90 percent of the residents in Beijing have participated in waste classification, and about 85 percent can __________ categorize the garbage. But still, relevant departments are __________ to further raise the ratio.

“Our next move will be more precise supervision of groups that did __________ poorer jobs in sorting out garbage,” says a staffer with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management.