1 . Donna Edmonds certainly knows a thing or two about getting children outside of the classroom. Having been a teacher for 23 years, she’s now in charge of Farms For City Children, a program enabling children in cities to explore the farms in the British countryside. Visiting children can take part in the farm tasks: growing and harvesting in the gardens; caring for chickens and looking after the land; and cooking up a home-grown meal in the farmhouse kitchen.

Donna’s connection with the charity led to a life-changing experience. She explained, “In November 2000, my headteacher said we’d got this trip going to a farm. I didn’t want to do that. I’m from south London and had no interest in farming.” But the week at Farms For City Children changed Donna’s entire life.

Donna said, “Quite honestly, the nature connection gap in our society is embarrassing; there are so many children who haven’t been to the countryside. I remember asking them what cows drank and they replied “milk”. Seeing them fall in love with nature was incredible to my life.”

Donna believes there is a strong need for teachers to bring city children into close contact with nature. Farms for City Children was founded in 1976, and it has now embraced a new direction — more children from different backgrounds can get into the countryside and they may one day even make a career from it.

2 . Bells ringing around the necks of dairy cows eating grass lazily on a green field may sound peaceful, but if you live next door, it can be noisy.

Two residents( 住 户 )who recently moved to the small village of Aarwangen in the Swiss Alps, which has a population of just 4, 700 people, complained about the ringing of cowbells. They asked for the cows’ bells to be removed at night so they can sleep.

Long-term residents and the village’s remaining farmers were angry. They felt it was an attack on their traditional culture. Cowbells have been used in rural Switzerland for centuries. They were once useful for tracking herds( 牧 群 )in the Alps in summer. Older farmers say they could hear each individual cow by the sound of its own bell. Another resident, Mr Andreas Baumann, said cowbells were an important part of the Swiss soul. Referring to the sound of cowbells, he said, “As soon as I hear them, I know I’m back home.”

The noise level of these cowbells is usually between 90 and 113 decibels(分贝) —which is equal to the noise from an alarm clock, hairdryer or some power tools. In modern times, however. many farmers have changed to using electronic chips instead of bells.

This year’s argument is not the first time residents have complained about cowbells. In 2015, a Zurich court( 法 庭 )ordered a farmer to remove the bells from his 27 cows from 10 pm to am since they were safe in a farm and always keeping the neighbors awake.

Next month, Aarwangen’s villagers will gather for a public meeting to vote on the future of their bells. They will decide how the sound of the bells can continue without breaking noise pollution laws.

3 . What your dinner photos on Instagram say about you

Posting pictures on Instagram is a modern day version of writing a journal: It’s all about creating a connection between ourselves, our lives, friends, family and the wider public.     1     Each day, at least 95 million posts are shared on Instagram.

    2     Some people will post photos of their pets, their holidays or their social life — but in recent years, posting photos of the food that we eat conveys to the viewer something more than the food itself.

If someone posts photos of a meal that they have just cooked, the message they’re trying to convey is that they are a capable person. For example, if someone is on a health kick, they often seek social approval. If they’ve made a really healthy meal, they will typically post it with hashtags “#” like diet or health, which tie into other people’s experiences.     3    

There is also a growing trend of people taking photos of their food when they dine out at a restaurant.     4     These Instagrammers often tag places that are considered selective or to have a certain clientele (顾客群) , like celebrities — to indicate that they’re a person of worth. It feeds into their need for social approval and is a way of boosting their own self-esteem.

If people are on a diet or trying to eat a bit better, they can use platforms like Instagram to track what they’ve been eating. It’s a way of motivating other people as well as holding themselves responsible, while subconsciously saying “    5    ”. Sharing the diet is a way of both getting attention and taking responsibility from a wider audience.

Citywalk is a new travel trend for youngsters to explore different cultural spots. Gather together a couple of good friends and take a walk through the streets — this is     1     many youngsters in China enjoy doing when they visit a new city. To them, Citywalk means wandering around the city on foot. They can follow a fantastic urban route, experiencing the atmosphere,     2     (explore) old buildings, sipping a cup of coffee, or tasting a variety of local snacks.

In China, the Citywalk trend is spreading from the first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai     3     the second and third-tier cities, encouraging more participants and event organizers     4     (take) part in. Some organizers invite folk culture    5     (researcher) and enthusiasts to act as tour guides. Citywalk not only     6     (offer) a way for young people to interact with a city but also provides     7     (they) with a new social scene. They can     8     (easy) make friends with people     9     have the same ideas and interests. At the same time, Citywalk represents an opportunity for tour guides and travel service providers to offer a more     10     (profession) service to meet with ever-changing market needs.

7 . If a scientist’s first language is not English, would it be truly difficult to publish an article in an international journal? Recent study looked at tons of scientific journals in the field of biology and found that they don’t do much to help scientists who are not native English speakers. The study found most of these journals judge articles based on how well they are written in English. This can be a problem for scientists who are not fluent in English because they have to work harder to make sure their papers can be published in international journals.

“The role of journals is huge because they can be a source of language barriers (障碍), but they also have the ability to solve many of the barriers,” says Tatsuya Amano, a biodiversity researcher. He added that though some journals have started to offer tools to help scientists whose first language is not English, such examples are still rare.”

Another study by Amano found that non-native English speakers are more likely to have their papers rejected because of writing issues compared to native English speakers. This shows that the language unfairness in journals can have serious consequences for scientists who are not native English speakers.

So apart from waiting for the journals, what can non-native scientists do? One solution is to work with other scientists from English-speaking countries. They can help to check the writing skillfully to double the possibility of being published by the international journal.

8 . When Gayle Macdonald reached the summit (顶峰) in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountain range earlier this year, she didn’t just stop and take in the moment. Instead, she did what a great many people would do—she looked for the best spot to take a selfie (自拍) for her social media accounts. Gayle even admitted that she moved dangerously close to the edge while doing so. It was after that moment that she decided to quit social media.

“I was like ‘this has got to stop,’ ” recalls Gayle. “Taking a photo used to be the first thing I thought about when I got out of the car. Thinking all the time about creating content and worrying about what to say, were taking up too much head space and getting me down.”

Social media can be addictive for many reasons, the main one being that it is a form of escapism, especially for the younger generation. It’s simply a way of connecting without connection, and it’s a 24/7 comfort blanket of company for many. For many of us, most of our time is spent on social media. One global study found that the average person spends 2 hours and 29 minutes per day on such apps and websites. While some people might think that this is a bad habit that they should cut down on, for others it’s an actual addiction that they need help to overcome.

Hilda Burke, a psychotherapist (心理治疗师), says there’s now more widespread awareness about how much time people are spending on social media. “This is now easily to figure up, as most phones show you the breakdown of how you’re spending your time online,” she says. “Seeing how it all adds up can serve as a powerful wake-up call.” She advises that people quitting social media should let all their friends know, so they don’t continue to try to contact you via the sites.

Burke welcomes the fact that more people are quitting social media. It’s likely that we’re eventually starting to realize the damage it can cause to our relationships, mental health and our experience of real-world moments.

9 . It happens in every disaster (灾难): For those in need, people often donate (捐赠) things that turn out to be more of a trouble.

Juanita Rilling remembers it happened in 1988 when she was a disaster expert trying to help people suffering from a hurricane (飓风) in Honduras. “One morning I received a call from one of our logistic operators (物流运营商), and he explained to me that there was a plane carrying medical supplies that needed to land,” says Rilling. “But the ground was full, with lots of donations that no one had required. The plane—full of needed supplies—had to find someplace else to go. And it ended up stopping everyone’s plans by about 48 hours, which is important time in a disaster.”

Rilling now runs the Center for International Disaster Information, which is trying to make sure things like that don’t happen again. So when Superstorm Sandy hit, Rilling’s group started a project to encourage money donation. “Even a small donation can make a big difference and can quickly become exactly what people affected by a disaster need most,” Rilling says. But despite this, donators do that over and over. About 60% of the things donated after a disaster couldn’t be used. Often it’s old clothing or food.

Meghan Hara, who deals with kind donations for the American Red Cross, says she knows that some people are careful with giving money. And she doesn’t think that the need to give something concrete (实物) should be completely stopped.

“Part of what people are doing is that they’re helping, and they’re trying to help. What we need to work out is how to effectively deal with that,” Hara says.

10 . The sharing economy is an economic model known as a peer-to-peer(P2P)based activity of getting, providing, or sharing goods and services that is often promoted by on-line platforms (平台) It allows persons and groups to make money from the assets (资产) which is not _______ .In a sharing economy, underused assets such as parked cars and spare bedrooms can be _______ when they are not used. In this way, physical assets are shared as _______ .

Concerns about the sharing economy often includes the uncertainty about _______ .While businesses offering rent services are often _______ by local governments, people who don’t have official permission to _______ rent services may not be following these rules or paying the costs. This could mean putting them in a better position that makes it possible for them to ask _______   prices to get a bigger market share.

Another _______ is that lack of watching over businesses will lead to _______ uses of both buyers and sellers in the sharing economy. There have been many cases ________ known to the public like hidden cameras in rented rooms, lawsuits (诉讼)over ________ treatment of ridesharing drivers by the platforms ________ employ them, and even murders of customers by real or ________ ridesharing providers.

There is also a fear that lots of information shared on online platforms can create racial or sex bias (偏见) among users. This can happen when users are allowed to ________ who they will share their homes or cars with, or because of the database of users with poor credit history or bad behaviour ________ .