1 . On March 16th I left the offices of The Economist to head home. That was the last day when all editorial staff assembled in our London office. And, at the time of writing, no date for a return to the office is in _______

It is remarkable how quickly we have adapted. The newspaper has been written, edited and produced from couches and kitchen tables. January and February seem like an ancient era — the BC (before coronavirus) to the new AD (after _______).

The shift may _______ great workplace transformations in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it has been a much more sudden transition than occurred with factories, enabled by advanced economies that revolve around services instead of manufacturing. Back in the 1970s, when Britain adopted a three-day week (to commit a miners strike), there were power cub and TV stations had to close down early. This pandemic has not turned the lights _______

Not only that, it has made remote work seem both normal and acceptable. In the past employees who stayed home had to overcome the _______ that they were bunking off (偷懒). Now those who insist on being at the office sound self-important.

Things are _______, of course. Video calls Jack the spontaneity of a normal meeting; no off-the-cuff (即兴的) remarks to lighten the mood. Distance makes it difficult to generate camaraderie. Creativity is probably harder to foster. Experts say new ideas come from weak links in networks — i.e., people you meet occasionally. Such “ _______ collisions” have become rarer.

Yet _________ offices will not disappear, it is hard to imagine that working life will return to BC ways. For more than a century workers have stuffed themselves onto crowded trains and buses to get into the office. For the past two months they have not had to commute. _______, for their part, have maintained expensive offices in city centers because they needed to gather staff in one place. The rent is only part of the cost; there are the cleaning, lighting, printers, catering and security ________.

Another aspect of the AD era may be the disappearance of the five-day working week. Even before the pandemic many workers became used to taking phone calls or answering emails at the weekend. In the AD era, the ________ between home and working life, a useful way of relieving stress, will be even harder to sustain.

In future employees may work and take breaks when they please, with the company video call the only ________. The downside, however, is that the rhythm of life has been disrupted and new ________ are needed. Looking further out, the AD era may bring other changes. Some may decide to live in small towns where housing costs are lower, since they have no need to commute. Men will have ________ excuses to skip cleaning or child care if they are not disappearing to the office. In a sense, this is a(n) ________ to normal: until the 19th century most people worked at or close to their homes. But social historians may still regard 2020 as the start of a new age.

2 . Bobby and I had been friends right when we were five. I had a natural talent and _________ for painting, but Bobby’s life was marked by sorrow. While he had lost his parents, we _________ through our youth together, playing, chatting, loving and studying, until we graduated from college.

I was fortunate enough to find a job that allowed me to _________ my passion for painting. Bobby, on the other hand, seemed to wander _________ in his search for employment. Having heard his situation _________ when he fell ill, I decided to put my career on hold to look after him. When I stepped into his house, _________, a single room that he lived in, I saw it was covered with a layer of dust. Bobby’s only _________ during his days at home was a tree outside his window, holding desperately on to a single leaf.

Bobby would often pour out to me, “If that last leaf falls, I probably won’t _________ either.” Determined to lift his spirits, one early morning, I drew a leaf and tied it to one of the branches. It was so _________ that it appeared as if it belonged to the tree. This leaf never fell; it became Bobby’s symbol of hope.

As time passed, under the silent encouragement of the leaf, Bobby’s health began to __________. Eventually, he was hired as a clerk in a bank close to his home and __________ his enthusiasm for life. It turned out that the leaf I had drawn was more than just an artistic creation — it was an unbreakable __________ of our friendship.

Our experience taught us that sometimes, a simple __________ can have far-reaching effects. Friendship proves to be the most __________ power along our path, even when faced with all challenges. This is the very __________ of life.

3 . Maps, number lines, shapes, artwork and other materials tend to cover elementary classroom walls. However, too much of a good thing may end up _______ attention and learning in young children, according to research published in Psychological Science.

Psychology researchers Anna V. Fisher, Karrie E. Godwin and Howard Seltman of Carnegie Mellon University looked at whether classroom displays affected children’s ability to maintain _______ during instruction and to learn the lesson content. They found that children in highly decorated classrooms were more distracted, spent more time off-task and demonstrated smaller learning _______than when the decorations were removed.

“Young children spend a lot of time — usually the whole day — in the same classroom, and we have shown that a classroom’s _______ environment can affect how much children learn,” said Fisher, lead author and associate professor of psychology in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Should teachers _______ their visual displays based on the findings of this study?

“We do not suggest by any means that this is the answer to all _______ problems. Furthermore,_______ research is needed to know what effect the classroom visual environment has on children’s attention and learning in real classrooms,” Fisher said. “_______, I would suggest that instead of removing all decorations, teachers should consider whether some of their visual displays do make it difficult for young children to _______.”

For the study, 24 kindergarten students were placed in ________classrooms for six introductory science lessons on topics they were unfamiliar with. Three lessons were taught in a heavily decorated classroom, and three lessons were given in a sparse (稀疏的) classroom. The results showed that while children learned in both __________ types, they learned more when the room was not heavily decorated. Specifically, children’s __________ on the test questions was higher in the sparse classroom (55% correct) than in the decorated classroom (42% correct).

“We were also interested in finding out if the visual displays were removed, whether the children’s attention would __________ to another distraction, such as talking to their peers, or the total amount of time they were distracted would remain the same,” said Godwin, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology and fellow of the Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research.

However, when the researchers totaled all of the time children spent off-task in both types of classrooms, the rate of off-task __________ was higher in the decorated classroom (38.6% time spent off-task) than in the sparse classroom (28.4% time spent off-task).

The researchers hope these findings will lead to further studies into developing guidelines to help teachers design classrooms __________.

4 . Apartment owners cash in on upcoming holiday trips

The National Day holiday is around the corner, and those making last-minute plans to travel at that time are busy booking _______ hotel rooms in popular tourist destinations.

In a bid to cash in on this rush for rooms, social media users are _______ platforms with offers of apartments for _______ just for the holiday week, at prices that are a part of what is being _______ by hotels, many of which are sold out.

Unlike hotels, those renting out their homes are not charging anything _______ for cleaning the apartment while it is _______, no contract or deal needs to be signed and the ID information of the renters is not _______ required.

Meanwhile, some netizens have expressed _______ over this trend of renting out personal apartments.

“It is so unsafe. What if the people install a camera in your home or make it a complete mess,” one asked while _______ on a post seeking tenants(房客). Another said, “Won’t you be afraid of people opening your computer and checking what’s inside?”

Experts said this novel way of sharing one’s home not only means extra earnings for the homeowners, but also improves the ________ of the cities. However, they also warned that there are risks involved.

Fu Jian, a lawyer at Henan Zejin Law Firm, said that as there is no written ________ being signed between homeowners and renters, and the ID information is not ________, it would be very difficult for the owner to safeguard his or her rights should an argument ________.

Moreover, if there is a theft or an accident involving the guests during their stay in the apartment, the owner will more or less be held ________, he said.

He advised owners to be aware of the rules and regulations before renting out their apartments, and added that renters should also choose ________ to avoid unnecessary risks.

5 . Social media has made it very easy to change your appearance using filters (滤镜). They may come in _______ when you desperately need to record a video but not in a good state. But there has been a lot of talk around the _______ of filters and unrealistic expectations _______ on women.

One woman has taken the responsibility to _______ the filters to prove that, while she is beautiful, her face doesn’t _______ look the way it does with the filter on. Katia starts off the 20-second video clip using the infamous Bold Glamour filter. It’s the filter that has people questioning their _______ of their own faces because the contrast is so _______. But Katia doesn’t _______ with one filter. She puts on another and makes sure she emphasizes the use of a ring light. After turning the ring light and the filters off, the woman _______ her makeup, revealing an inflamed and imperfect face.

People flocked to the ________ to thank her for exposing the truth behind filters. “You’re beautiful and this message is so important. Thanks for the ________,” one person wrote. “In real life, we all have ________. As a mature woman, I appreciate your ________.” another said.

Social media can really do harm to people’s self esteem, especially when they’re ________ themselves to something that’s not real. Messages like the one Katia shared can help pull back the ________ on the reality of social media.

6 . There is growing interest in East Japan Railway Co. ltd, one of the six companies, created out of the privatized national railway system. In an industry lacking exciting growth ________, its plan to use real-estate assets in and around train stations ________ is drawing interest.

In a plan called “Station Renaissance” that it ________ in November, JR East said that it would ________ using its commercial spaces for shops and restaurants, extending them to ________ more suitable for the information age. It wants train stations as pick-up ________ for such goods as books, flowers and groceries ________ over the Inter. In a country where city ________ depend heavily on trains ________ commuting, about 16 million people a day go to its train stations anyway, the company ________. So, picking up commodities at train stations ________ consumers extra travel and missed home deliveries. JR East already has been using its station ________ stores for this purpose, but it plans to create ________ spaces for the delivery of Inter goods.

The company also plans to introduce ________ cards—known in Japan as IC cards because they use integrated circuit for ________ information ________ train tickets and muter passes ________ the magic ones used today, integrating them into a/an ________ pass. This will save the company money, because ________ for IC cards are much less expensive than magic systems. Increased use of IC cards should also ________ the space needed for ticket vending.

7 . My mom loved to pass her wisdom to me: ”Nothing beats a good bite that bites back.” She was referring to her bitter-taste foods like dill pickles and rhubarb (大黄叶). But I was not a big fan.

Three years ago, I finally decided to ask if I could ________ out her rhubarb while weeding the garden. “________ not!” Mom gasped, throwing me a(n) ________ look. Clearly, I had underestimated her________ for it. However, as I continued ________, I thought about how rhubarb is one of the first to appear in spring. It ________ the snowy ground before the arrival of other plants. How can anyone fail to ________ it? When those first sprouts (嫩芽) appeared, Mom would count them like a ________ counting a newborn’s fingers and toes.

When I was a kid and my mom gave me that pie, it made me ________ to try. In my teens, it made me complain about the bitterness. Even ice cream or candies did not ________ the deal for my young taste buds (味蕾). Rhubarb was something to be ________ at all costs.

Then, last summer, I came across the ________ for her rhubarb pie in an old drawer. So I decided to give it a ________. A few attempts later, I served rhubarb pie to family and guests. All agreed, including me, that it tasted incredible.

Since then I’ve come to a ________ about rhubarb. Rhubarb’s taste may be lost on children, but adults can________ it. Like my wise mother, I now understand that “Nothing beats a good bite that bites back.”

8 . Nuclear pollution is a serious global   ___________, brought to the forefront by major accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. These events have demonstrated the significant health and environmental risks _________by nuclear disasters. Not only have they caused immediate health problems, such as radiation sickness and increased cancer rates, but they have also _________lasting environmental damage and genetic changes in affected communities. As a result, nuclear pollution remains a pressing concern for governments, scholars, and individuals worldwide.

When nuclear accidents occur in coastal areas, the _________environment becomes a critical concern due to the crucial role that oceans play in _________the climate, ensuring food security, and supporting the livelihoods of billions of people globally. In recent years, the increasing threats to marine ecosystems from ocean pollution have _________public awareness of the need to protect the marine environment. Studies have shown that human activities pose a _________threat to marine environments, emphasizing the importance of improving environmental management and taking measures to mitigate environmental risks.

Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, efforts to cool the reactors by pumping in seawater resulted in the _________of a significant amount of nuclear waste in the water storage tank at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. _________attempts to manage this waste, the Japanese government’s decision to release nearly 1.26 million tons of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean over the next 40 years has faced opposition __________neighboring countries, local ____________, and international environmental organizations.

This __________poses serious risks to marine life, fisheries, and human health. Radioactive isotopes present in the wastewater, such as tritium, carbon-14, cobalt-60, and strontium-90, can accumulate in marine organisms and ultimately affect human populations through the food ____________. Therefore, there is an/a ____________need for further research and mitigation measures to __________the widespread impacts of nuclear pollution on the environment and human health.

9 . Caring 17-year-old, Lauren Schroeder, was inspired to help bring healthy food to needy families in her community. When she was just 14, she volunteered at a local _________ to help fill boxes for people in need with canned and packaged food. She felt something was missing: fresh vegetables. “I thought it would be great to _________ that,” Lauren told the Washington Post about her motivation to grow and _________ homegrown produce.

This _________ teen then told her parents of her desire to start a garden on their family farm. Initially, while proud of her daughter’s _________, Lauren’s mother, Katie, admitted to some _________, wondering how much work this would mean.

Coming from a farming family, Lauren had some _________ with agriculture, but she had never tried growing _________ at scale (规模). She _________ plants online, checking the instructions on how to take care of each crop. She then secured a __________ from the National FFA Organization, which supports __________ education, to cover seeds (种子) and gardening supplies.

And importantly, Lauren didn’t __________ from hard work. During Iowa’s hot and dry summers, she had to __________ her crops for around three hour daily. She also __________ cheeked for harmful insects, and bent down to pick her green bean crop, the most challenging vegetable to harvest in her opinion.

With assistance from her family, Lauren has donated more than 7,000 pounds of homegrown produce in the past two years. She has also won the __________ of her community.

10 . Last year I attended the annual autumn saffron (藏红花) harvest festival on a trip in Italy, known as the sagra. Giovannina Sarra and her family ________ me at their home. Early the next morning, we ________ among the fields and participated in the harvest.

Saffron , taken from the stigmas (柱头) of the saffron flower, is a(n) ________ crop. Also called red gold, it is a(n) ________ from Spain, first introduced into the region around the 13th century. Saffron is ________ in the hours just before ________, while the petals (花瓣) are closed. This helps protect their precious stigmas and makes the flowers easier to ________, especially preferred by the acquirers (收购商). Later, on the same day, the stigmas — three ________ strings per flower — are separated from the petals. It’s a delicate ________ that takes hours with a skilled and ________ hand. In the evening, over an open wood fire, the stringlike stigmas are ________ to make saffron powder to add to the richness of the color and the flavor, which brings considerable income.

Now sitting at a mouth-watering plate of Risotto alla Milanese, a dish cooked with saffron, I ________ the freezing morning with Sarra and her family. There’s no ________ that it is the families like the Sarras that stick to the many ________ that have survived from generation to generation. ________ more people will join them.