1 . Critical thinkers start by asking questions about whatever is in front of them. They consider ______. If this, then what? If that, then how is the outcome different? They understand that every action has a ______, and they think about all possible outcomes of decisions before they make them. Asking questions helps this process.

Once you have asked every question you can come up with about a matter, ______ information that will help you answer those questions.____! Do some research. You can learn almost anything on the Internet, but it’s not the only place to do your research. _____ people. I’m a big fan of polling (民意调查). Ask the experts around you. Gather ____ and various opinions you can use to make your own determination. The wider the variety, the better.

You’ve got _____ information, and now it’s time to analyze it all with an open mind. This is the most _____ part, in my opinion. It can be pretty difficult to recognize the filters that were instilled (灌输) in us from our first families. We are products of our environments, of the ways in which we were treated as a child, of the role models we've had throughout our lives, of the opportunities we have said yes or no to, of the sum of all of our experiences.

Try to be as aware as possible of those ______ and biases (偏见), and turn them off. Question everything during this step. Are you being _______? Are you speculating? Assuming anything? This is the time to look at every thought as _____ as possible. Do you know it to be absolutely true? What are the facts? Have you considered the situation from every different point of view?

Critical thinkers are more interested in solutions than in placing ____ complaining, or gossiping. Once you’ve reached a conclusion through critical thinking, it’s time to communicate and ______ a solution if one is called for. This is the time for compassion (同情), empathy (同理心), diplomacy. Not everyone involved will have thought the situation through as ______ as you have. It’s your job to understand that, and to _____ solutions in a way that everyone can understand.

3 . AI can transform education for the better

As students return to classrooms for the new year, it is striking to reflect on how little education has changed in recent decades. The sector remains a digital laggard (落后者). American schools and universities spend 2% and 5% of their budgets, _________, on technology, compared with 8% for the average American company.

When the pandemic forced schools and universities to shut down, the moment for a digital _________ seemed close when the market value of online tutoring providers like Chegg and Byju’s both increased. However, once covid was brought under control, classes continued much as before.

If the pandemic couldn’t overcome the education sector’s _________ to digital interruption, can artificial intelligence? ChatGPT-like generative AI, which can converse cleverly on varieties of subjects, certainly _________. So much so that educationalists began to _________ that students would use it to cheat on essays and homework. Increasingly, however, it is generating excitement as a means to provide _________ tutoring to various students and speed up boring tasks such as marking.

Learners, for their part, are _________ the technology. Two-fifths of undergraduates reported using an AI chatbot to help them with their studies. Indeed, the technology’s popularity has raised awkward questions for companies like Chegg, which was losing customers _________ ChatGPT. Yet there are good reasons to believe that education specialists like Chegg who employ AI will eventually _________ generalists such as OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

For one, AI chatbots often talk nonsense, an unhelpful trait in an educational context. “Students want content from __________ providers,” argues Kate Edwards, chief pedagogist at Pearson, a textbook publisher. The company has not allowed ChatGPT and other AIs to __________ its material, but has instead used the content to train its own models, which it is embedding into its set of learning apps.

__________, as Chegg’s Mr Rosensweig argues, teaching is not merely about giving students an answer, but about presenting it in a way that helps them learn. Understanding pedagogy (教学法) thus gives education specialists an __________. Pearson has designed its AI tools to __________ students by breaking complex topics down, testing their understanding and providing quick feedback, says Ms Edwards. Byju’s is incorporating “forgetting curves” for students into the design of its AI tutoring tools, refreshing their memories at personalized __________.

Bringing AI to education will not be easy, but once answers on how to make use of this technology become clearer, such a development will certainly deserve top marks.

4 . A Neurologist’s Tips to Protect Your Memory

As we age, our memory declines. This is a fixed ___________ for many of us; however, according to neuroscientist Dr. Richard Restak, a neurologist and clinical professor, decline is not ___________.

Ultimately, “we are what we can remember,” he said. Here are some of Dr. Restak’s tips for developing and ___________ a healthy memory.

Some memory lapses are actually attention problems, not memory problems. ___________, if you’ve forgotten the name of someone you met at a cocktail party, it could be because you were talking with several people at the time.

One way to pay attention when you learn new information is to ___________ the word. Having a picture associated with the word, Restak said, can improve ___________.

There are many memory exercises that you can ___________ into everyday life. Dr. Restak suggested composing a grocery list and memorizing it. When you get to the store, don’t ___________ pull out your list (or your phone) — instead, pick up everything according to your memory.

Once in a while, get in the car without turning on your GPS, and try to ___________ through the streets from memory. A small 2020 study suggested that people who used GPS more frequently over time showed a steeper cognitive ____________ in spatial memory three years later.

Dr. Restak’s “favorite working memory game” is 20 Questions — in which a group thinks of a person, place or object, and the other person, the questioner, asks 20 questions with a yes-or-no answer. Because to succeed, he said, the questioner must hold all of the ____________ answers in memory in order to guess the correct answer.

The point is to ____________ your working memory, “maintaining information and moving it around in your mind,” Restak wrote.

One early indicator of memory issues, according to Dr. Restak, is ____________ fiction. “People, when they begin to have memory difficulties, tend to switch to reading nonfiction,” he said. Fiction requires active engagement with the text, starting at the beginning and working through to the end.

Storing everything on your phone means that “you don’t know it,” Dr. Restak said, which can ____________ our own mental abilities. The second way our relationship with technology is harmful to memory is because it often takes our focus away from the task at hand.

5 . In recent years breakfast cereals (谷物) seem to have lost their appeal. Many contain things that ________ consumers avoid, from carbohydrates and gluten to artificial flavours and genetically modified (GM) grain. Add to this a rising ________ for big brands and adoration of small, “authentic” ones, and large cereal-makers have been suffering declining sales. The market for “ready-to-eat” cereals shrank by 9% in America between 2012 and 2015, according to Euromonitor, a data firm. In Britain, the second-biggest cereal market, sales fell by 6%.

Now, the manufacturers are boasting a(n) ________. On February 16th General Mills told investors that its American cereal sales were stabilising. Kellogg follows, reporting on February 17th that it expects its American cereal sales to grow this year. But it will take hard work to make breakfast’s business ________ again.

Cereal firms have tried many ways to cope with customer’s ________ appetites. They have ________. Post Holdings, which sells Honey Bunches of Oats and Grape-Nuts, now also sells eggs and protein shakes. Some firms have ________ trendier brands, with mixed results. After Kellogg bought Kashi in 2000, many of its loyal customers ________. Kellogg is now trying to win them back, returning Kashi’s headquarters to California. A new Kashi cereal features popped sorghum （高粱）, crispy yellow peas and smashed red beans.

Makers are also spending to help their main brands. Kellogg has put more fruit in its Special K Red Berries cereal. General Mills plans to ________ all artificial flavours and colours from its cereals by 2023. Retailers do not want cereal to enter terminal decline — it is too ________ for them. Jim Holbrook, who led Post’s cereal business and is now boss of Daymon Worldwide, a retail consultant, says grocers might ________ sales by placing milk or bananas alongside cereal.

For now, cereal-makers can take ________ that at least some brands are still popular. Sales of Kellogg’s Froot Loops and General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch have ________ in recent years, points out Alexia Howard of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, even as more virtuous brands such as Fiber One, All-Bran and (until recently) Special K were failing. ________ shoppers may or may not come back to their cereal habit just due to smashed red beans. But cereal’s most ________ customers are those who don’t mind heaps of sugar, or “red #40” food colouring, in their breakfast bowls.

6 . Perhaps no issue attracts more senior leadership attention than growth does, and for good reason._______in gains and profits is the standard by which we tend to measure the competitive fitness and health of companies. Analysts, investors, and boards are especially concerned about growth_______to get insight into stock prices. _______are attracted to faster-growing companies because they offer better opportunities for advancement and higher pay. Suppliers prefer faster-growing customers because working with them improves their own growth prospects.

While sustained profitable growth is a nearly universal goal, it is a(n) _______one for many companies. Many researches conducted on the long-term patterms of growth in U.S.corporations suggest that when inflation is_______, most companies barely grow. _______in an analysis of 10,897 publicly held U.S.companies from 1976 to 2019, researchers found that firms in the top quartile grew at an inflation-adjusted average of 11.8% per year, but those in the lower three quartiles experienced little or no growth (0.3%, 0.03%, and 0.5%, respectively). And the majority of firms in the top quartile were unable to _______ superior growth performance for more than a few years.

Over the past two decades, I have tried to understand why some companies are effective at sustaining growth. I have found that while the usual explanations, such as market forces and technological changes do play a role, many companies’ growth problems are done by themselves. _______, firms approach growth in a highly reactive, opportunistic manner. When market demand is booming, they throw resources at developing new capacity, and build out organizational infrastructure without thinking through the _______— for example, whether their operating systems and processes can scale, how rapid growth might affect corporate culture and what would happen if demand slows. In the process of chasing growth, companies can easily destroy the things that made them __________in the first place, such as their capacity for innovation, their great customer service, or their unique cultures.

7 . Methane (甲烷) is a greenhouse gas. Over 20 years it has over 80 times the planet-cooking power of carbon dioxide, and is _________ for nearly 45%of warming today. Because methane is the main _________ of natural gas, much of man-made emissions comes from the energy industry. Yet because it is short-lived, controlling methane offers the world its best possible chance for _________ progress against climate change.

As COP28, the UN’s climate summit, gets _________ in Dubai, it is greatly encouraging, therefore, that the chances of such a deal on methane are good. Negotiators must _________ at a rare opportunity to strike one.

The reason a deal looks possible is that the politics are promising in all the biggest markets. China has recently announced that it will start including methane in its national climate plans. America will soon finalize regulations to _________ methane emissions from its huge oil and gas sector, including measures that cover leaky pipelines and storage. And the European Union has also agreed on tough methane standards, covering both domestic sources and _________ fossil fuels.

_________ are helping, too. A range of new technologies for monitoring methane will help _________ large sources of emissions from the energy industry. Because oil and gas firms can often sell methane (rather than wastefully burning or releasing it), many investment s to avoid __________ will pay for themselves. Most firms do not invest because of the trouble, higher returns on other projects, or wells’ distance from consumers. Whatever the reason, they suffer no __________ for adding needlessly to global warming.

Since green-washing, the process of conveying a false impression about how some products or measures are environmentally sound, is quite common, if a global methane deal is to be more than that, __________, it will need rigour (缜密). Methane-control seemed to __________ at the UN climate summit in Glasgow two years ago, when negotiators __________ came up with a proposal to cut emissions by 30% by 2030．Yet the deal was voluntary, and had no enforcement mechanisms (机制); emissions have since __________. An agreement this time round must link promises to national climate plans and, crucially, to domestic enforcement mechanisms.

8 . It’s safe to say Jeremy Scott is having a lucky year. In March while working as a chauffeur, he told his boss about his plans to set up a driving business. By the end of the journey, Scott’s boss had offered to _______ his idea — a starting capital along with the gift of a £110,000 limousine (豪车) to kick start the business.

Of course, there’s an element of luck to everyone’s career. Whether you’re a chief executive or an artist — your _______ won’t be based on hard work alone. For example, the place you were born _______ your education. It determines whether you learn to read, write or complete qualifications, which _______ limits your career choices.

Many people believe success is down to talent and hard work, but “this is because most people underestimate the role of _______”, says psychologist Dr Elizabeth Nutt Williams. “We do a lot of work to prepare for our careers — education, training, taking advantage of mentoring — all of which tend to be in our control.” People don’t like to acknowledge the role of luck in their work, as it _______ this feeling of being in control, adds Williams.

Everyone remembers working hard, so people are more likely to overestimate how much of their success is down to diligence than something much more _______ like luck.

The reality of success (at least in terms of _______) is less clear cut. In the UK, studies show where you are born is likely to determine how much you earn. 2017 research found that there is a “class pay gap’’, where professional employers from _______ backgrounds are paid almost £7,000 less a year — despite having the same role, education and experience as colleagues from more privileged families. ________, black graduates earn up to 23% less per hour than white university leavers, whereas woman in the UK earn 14% less on average than men.

Socio-economic status also plays a big role in the ________ you enter. A recent study by the Debrett’s Foundation found seven in every 10 young people aged 16 — 25 use ________ to get their first job. While research has shown that less able, richer children are 35% more likely to become high earners than their brighter poorer peers.

The truth is: chance and coincidences ________ our careers more than we like to think. Realizing that parts of your career are out of your control sounds ________, but being grateful for the role of luck in your career can actually make you more fortunate.

This is because when you acknowledge the role of luck in your work, you become prepared to take advantage of more fortunate moments. “Chance events occur but it is all about the individual’s ________ to see those events as possibilities and their willingness to take a risk,” says Williams.

10 . If you are a dog owner looking to add a new cat to your home, it's important that you strategize how you will introduce the two species to each other in your household. The_________thing you want is continual fighting between your pets.

The good news is that there is an effective way to make sure both of them ___________. The American Kennel Club offers pet owners the right way to introduce your cat and dog to each other with the following_________.Keep the cat and dog _________ for the first few days. It's best to get your new cat adapt to its new home by having it live in a room with the door closed. Make sure you provide it with a litter box, water and food so the cat does not need to___________ the room.

Your dog will know there's a___________ smell in the house. Let the dog sniff (嗅) near the door of the room with the _________, so he gets used to the smell. You can also let your cat sniff one of your dog's toys so it becomes _________ with him.

After a few days, let your dog stay in the room with the cat. When doing so, leave the door open, and make sure that it is after your dog has exercised as he will be_________ . If the dog doesn't seem to behave around the cat, turn to some basic__________commands in the presence of the cat. Giving your dog some food as a __________for appropriate behavior in the presence of the cat will provide an encouragement for him to continue acting appropriately.

Always make sure the cat has a way to run away from the dog. Having a(n)__________space the dog can't reach but the cat can easily get to, such as a table, is important for precautionary (预防的) reasons. Until the cat and dog are__________ with each other, supervise their interactions and continue to provide safe spots for the cat to escape.