Yours,

Li Hua

2 . The idea of low material desire, low consumption and refusing to work, marry and have children, concluded as a “lying down” lifestyle, recently struck a chord with many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly-competitive society.

Many millennials (千禧一代) and generation Zs complained to the Global Times that burdens, including work stress, family disputes and financial strains, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution(内卷),” joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get trapped in an endless competition against peers.

“Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary lying down as catharsis (宣泄) and adjustment,” said a scholar. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”

Interestingly, the majority of millennials and Gen Zs reached by the Global Times, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, acknowledged that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel guilty about their constant loss of morale (士气) far beyond their reach.

“Young people on campus have both aspirations and confusion about their future, but most of us have rejected setting ourselves up in chains to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”

3 . Called the “Iron Hammer” in her playing days, Lang Ping is considered as one of the biggest heroes of Chinese sports.

At the 1981 World Cup in Japan, the Chinese women’s team showed the world their speed and power for the first time. Playing outside hitter, Lang helped the team take home its first major title. Thanks to teamwork and their strong spirit, they achieved a record of five world titles in a row, which include two World Cups, two World Championships and a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Despite a lot of victories, after eight years of hard training and fighting, Lang retired as a player in 1986. But she never said goodbye to her favorite sport. In 1995, Lang became the head coach of the Chinese national team and led China to silver medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic and the 1998 World Championships in Japan.

Though she left the job in 1999 to coach an Italian club, in 2013 she returned to coach the young national team. In 2016, her team took home the gold medal at the Rio Olympics, making her the first person to win an Olympic gold for volleyball both as a player and a coach. The team was listed fourth after the preliminary competition. But Lang said in a public interview, “Sometimes you know you may not win, but you still have to pull out all the stops.”

Lang plays an important role in the creation and passing on of an honorable tradition of fighting and teamwork. “The spirit of Chinese women’s volleyball team is never to give up. My duty as the coach is to guide this young team to carry on this spirit,” said Lang. The spirit is about more than sport; it is an important source of spiritual strength for the country to draw on in its effort to press ahead.

4 . How to read more and learn more

Today, more and more Chinese people enjoy sending and receiving messages on the phone. It can help them to get the latest news and communicate with friends. But I think I should read more books besides the textbooks, the more, the better. It can open my eyes and improve my language skills.     1     Do you know how to read more and learn more? Here are some tips for you.

◆ Clear your purpose for reading

    2     Most people read for two main reasons, pleasure or knowledge. Clearing about your reading purpose can not only help you choose the books you really need to read, but also remind you why reading the book is important to you, so you will keep reading and complete the book faster.

◆    3    

No matter what you are reading, it is important to enjoy what you read. Your friends may tell you the books they love, but those books might not necessarily be the ones you enjoy.

◆ Give up books that you don’t enjoy

You may have chosen books that you are interested in, and they are right to your purpose. But while you are reading them, there may still be some books that you don’t enjoy reading. Whenever you realize that you aren’t enjoying the book you are reading, give it up.     4    

◆ Set a reading goal

It is interesting that I read the books borrowed from libraries faster than those I bought. The reason is the books I bought don’t have a due date! I don’t need to return those books.     5     Before you read each book, ask yourself what time you need to complete this book by.

5 . The books in David’s schoolbag felt like bricks as he ran down the street. What he wanted to do was to play basketball with Eric, ________ his mother told him he would have to return his sister’s books to the library first.

He had never set foot in a library and he wasn’t about to do so today. He would just ______ the books in the outside return box. But there was a ________: it was locked.

He went into the building, only a few minutes ______ closing time. He put the books into the return box. And after a brief ________ in the toilet, he would be on his way to the playground to ________ Eric.

David stepped out of the toilet and stopped in ______— the library lights were off. The place was empty. The doors had been shut. They ________ be opened from the inside; he was trapped — in a library!

He tried to__________a telephone call, but was unable to ________. What’s more, the pay phones were on the outside of the building. As the sun began to set, he searched for a light and found it.

________ he could see. David wrote on a piece of paper: “_________! I’m TRAPPED inside!” and stuck it to the glass door. Surely, someone passing by would see it.

He was surprised to discover that this place was not so unpleasant, __________. Rows and rows of shelves held books, videos and music. He saw a book about Michael Jordan and took it off the shelf. He settled into a chair and started to __________.

He knew he had to wait, but now, that didn’t seem to be such a __________ thing.

6 . We humans love to stare into our smart devices. We gaze for hours—about 10 hours and 39 minutes a day—at our computers, smartphones, tablets and televisions. Is all this staring bad for us?   It might be, mainly because as we stare at our devices we are exposing ourselves to blue light.

Blue light is a type of electromagnetic radiation with a very short wavelength that produces a high amount of energy. While it’s true that light can damage our eyes under certain circumstances, there’s no scientific evidence suggesting that blue light is harmful to our eyes. But many people still think it is, which is why blue-light-blocking glasses are so popular. So, do the glasses work?

“Everyone is very concerned that blue light may be causing damage to the eye, but there’s no evidence that it may be causing serious damage, ” Dr. Rahul Khurana, a clinical spokesman, told Business Insider.

Blue light exposure is nothing new. In fact, the sun is the largest source of blue light. Moreover, blue light is also present in LED light. But if blue light isn’t harmful, then why are we constantly rubbing our eyes when we’re looking at our screens?   The answer is eyestrain (眼疲劳). More than 60 percent of people experience eye problems associated with digital eyestrain. And blue light, it seems isn’t the cause. Instead, our eyes are so strained because most of us blink less when we stare at our digital devices. So, if eyestrain is the real issue, blue-light-blocking glasses are probably of little use.

A man came home from work late again, tired and annoyed, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door. “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

“That’s none of your business. What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded (恳求) the little boy.

“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed.

Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00, please?”

The father was angry. “If the only reason why you want to know how much money I make is just that you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish.

I work long, hard hours every day and don’t have time for such childish games.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so, the man calmed down, and started to think he might have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

“Are you asleep, son?” he asked.

“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man.

“It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation (激怒) out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, beaming (笑容满面). “Oh, thank you daddy,” he yelled.

Then, the little boy reached under his pillow, and pulled out some crumpled (变皱的) bills.

After hearing what the boy said, the man felt so sorry for what he had said to his son.

Yours,

Li Hua

10 . Years ago I began to learn to drive in a driving training center. It was many miles away from where I _________, you know. I had to get up early at home and _________ a bus on the roadside to get to the center. The bus ticket was not expensive but you had to have small _________ for there was no conductor or any automatic paying system to be _________ on it.

One day, I was in a hurry before I _________ to the bus stop. When I stepped on the bus, I began to feel my _________ to find some change, which made me completely _________. I _________ searching but it seemed that there was none, and I began to feel _________. At the same time, the bus door was already __________ and it was moving.

I __________ to the driver and said I would __________ at the next stop though I should get off at other __________ to reach the training center. Just at this time, a lady beside me told the driver that she would pay for me.__________, I didn’t know the lady.

But before I started to express my thanks, the driver said, “In that case, just __________ it.” And then he said, “If you meet people who forget to bring the fees with them, just pay for it.”

Now, I hold the belief that a small positive action can be printed in my heart as long as I live.