A cashless society is defined as one that doesn’t use cash in monetary transactions (交易). These societies favor alternative means of payment, such     1     credit cards, or contactless payment.

Of all the companies     2     (move) closer to becoming cashless, most people agree that Sweden is the closest. 85% of the country has access to online banking and only 2% of the country’s transactions consist of cash.

There     3     (be) a number of reasons for this cashless trend. Sweden has access to a popular payment app     4     (call) Swish, which more than 50% of the country uses. But the     5     (big ) catalyst (引发变化的因素) so far is that most Swedish merchants don’t access cash payment.

China also has a vast cashless market,    6     is mostly dominated by Tencent’s WeChat Pay or Alipay, which is owned by Alibaba. But unlike many other countries, China hasn’t embraced (欣然接受) credit card payment. Instead, most Chinese consumers make payment by scanning QR codes (二维码) on     7     (they) phones.

Most merchants request payment via QR codes and it’s not uncommon     8     (see) QR codes located all throughout China. And this trend is starting to spread to other countries that have a lot of Chinese     9     (travel).

The growing cashless trend has led many people to wonder     10     the U.S. will eventually go cashless. It is possible since U.S. consumers are increasingly moving away from cash and embracing other forms of payment.

2 . What’s your baby doing right now? I hope he or she is not rolling on the floor. Such behaviour might seem natural and age-appropriate but this laid-back environment could come back to haunt you at a later date.

Eventually you may be forced to reflect upon those wasted opportunities. In allowing your baby to unproductively behave just like, well, a baby, you may be failing to foster his or her personal growth. Are you denying your child the chance to achieve his or her full potential as a well-rounded baby?

You see, some parents are hot-housing their infants as we speak. While your baby’s programme revolves around the traditional routines of sleeping, eating and playing, other people’s offspring are on the fast-track to certain giftedness. And Baby Einstein DVDs, which were all the rage when I was a new mother, are really the least of your problems.

Ever eager to exploit our perceived inadequacies, smart marketers have found something else for parents to feel guilty about. There’s a manufactured fear that we’re squandering those valuable moments when a baby’s brain is said to be like a sponge, ready and willing to soak up new information at an alarming rate.

I’ve never seen the point of deliberately setting up your little one to be more advanced than his or her peers. I like the idea of babies just being babies and children just being children. Anyway, if they can read at the age of three then what will they learn in their first year of school?

One thing’s for sure: for some people parenting has taken on the proportions of a competitive sport. Some children wrestle with after-school activities every day of the week. Others are enrolled in extra tuition — sometimes simply to reach an acceptable standard and other times in order to be top of the class. There are tennis camps, swim academies and dancing schools. Some households even speak English downstairs and French upstairs. What? That’s not how you run your home? Oh dear. I see bilingualism passing your child by, for sure.

It’s odd — we’re always talking about the healthy work-life balance and know that working long hours can lead to stress, anxiety, and    1     (depress). Yet, we continue to devote more and more time     2     our jobs. In fact, research shows that 80% of workers answer emails and return phone calls after hours.

People believe long hours on the job to be proof of their work ethic (职业道德). And no matter how much we’d like     3     (think) there’s a direct correlation between hours worked and results produced, it might not actually be the case. Quite the contrary — doing overtime     4     (find) to lead to lower productivity.

A study     5     was made by Ford Motor Company in the 1990s already showed that every additional 20 hours of work could only increase productivity     6     (temporary) before it drops. Another research indicates that working more     7     48 hours a week is associated with significant declines in productivity, more     8     (mistake), and more mental health problems.

Clearly, doing overtime     9     (be) not a sustainable way of working, and that’s why it’s time for us to rid     10     (us) of the always-on mentality. The key is not to add more working hours to your day but to increase efficiency during your working hours. But how can we achieve this?

4 . A team of leading environmental experts have warned that the current war on plastic is detracting from the bigger threats to the environment. In an article, they say that while plastic waste is an issue, its prominence in the general public’s concern for the environment is overshadowing greater threats, for example, climate change and biodiversity loss.

The team argue that much of the bad talk about plastic waste is based on data that is not always representative of the environments that have been sampled. The dislike of plastic associated with this could encourage the use of alternative materials with potentially harmful effects.

The authors warn that plastic pollution dominates the public’s concern for the environment and has been exploited politically, after capturing the attention of the world, for example, through the images of wildlife caught in plastic was alarmist headlines. They say small political gestures such as law banning cosmetic microplastics, taxing plastic bags, and financial rewards for using reusable containers, as well as the promotion of products as “green” for containing less plastic than alternatives, make people neglect other environmental problems that are not as noticeable as plastic pollution.

The article also highlights that plastic is not the only type of polluting materials, originating from human activity that pollutes the environment. Other examples include natural textile fibres such as cotton and wool, and brake-wear particles from vehicles — all of which are present in different places. The authors note that these materials are often much more abundant than microplastics and some are associated with “plastic alternatives” that are marketed as solutions to plastic pollution. The impacts of these materials are less well-known than plastic and microplastic pollution, yet they could have huge impacts.

The article states that solutions are likely to come from a greater focus on designing materials and products that can be recycled, that have their end-of-life, and that markets and facilities exist to recycle.

6 . It’s cool to be a fool in school, obviously. Research from Florida Atlantic University shows that aggressive, troublesome adolescents often end up becoming quite ________ among their peers (同龄人).

Importantly, researchers explain that being popular and having friends aren’t one in the same. Popularity ________ that everyone knows you, but they may not necessarily ________ you as a good friend. Study authors theorize that certain children ________ popularity to lots of friends. Why?

Being popular is thought a major status symbol for an ________. While it is certainly ________ that many popular children are fun and ________ , others are troublemakers.

The team at FAU performed a study to test their ________ that disruptive (破坏性的) children often start conflicts with their fellow classmates to ________ their social standing and become more popular. The results showed that higher initial levels of peer-reported ________ and disruptiveness were indeed associated with an ________ in peer-reported popularity during the semester. This was especially true for kids reporting frequent ________ with peers.

Aggression, ________ , occurs in the heat of the moment during a conflict of some kind. Researchers theorize that many kids just want to avoid quarrels, or perhaps even ________ harm. In such cases they usually ________ when challenged by an aggressive peer. These ________ “ provide visible evidence of dominance (支配地位) and ___ short-term gains in popularity” for the aggressor, the authors ________.

While researchers don’t think ________ is enough by itself to boost up (提高) one’s overall social status, they do ________ it can be used as an effective way of improving certain aspects of popularity.

9 . Santosh Jadhav, a 28-year-old farmer from Maharashtra’s Sangli district, had never dreamed he would be trending on YouTube tending to his land. But as you watch his videos on Indian Farmer—the channel he runs with his friend, Akash Jadhav, 27—you quickly understand why he is attracting millions of views.

Set up in 2018, Indian Farmer was a result of the two friends’ love of farming, technology and filmmaking. Their videos offer tips, advice and information on various aspects of agriculture, including direct-farming techniques, agriculture-related activities, new farming tools, and agricultural apps. In addition to explaining how agricultural markets function, the channel shares success stories from across the country. A section that draws the most attention features workable solutions to everyday problems and do-it-yourself mechanical quick-fixes.

“We were looking to do something together. Agriculture was something we had in common. Plus, we were young and idealistic—we wanted to do something with a social impact,” says Santosh.

The channel has certainly made a mark, as the numbers show. Since 2018, their channel has built a user base of 21.5 million, thanks to the affordable mobile data revolution and the increasing popularity of smartphones in India. While Akash takes charge of the production side of things, Santosh offers his hands-on knowledge obtained from running his family farm. According to them, the Indian Farmer channel adds an average of 60,000 subscribers and earns between 70,000 and 100,000 in revenue every month.

“Knowledge in this sector is often inter-generational: a farmer is limited to what the others nearby know and do. There was very little by way of books or culture channels that addressed the needs, mistakes and scarcities of farmers. Social media has changed things, enabling cross-sharing of knowledge, all for free,” Akash says.

10 . California has been using recycled wastewater for many years. A team has used it to make ice surfaces for the game of hockey(冰球运动). It has been used to make snow for the sport of skiing. And farmers use it to water their crops. But it has not been used directly for drinking water.

Recently, California officials approved new rules to let water agencies recycle wastewater and put it right back into the pipes that carry drinking water to homes, schools, and businesses. It is a big step for California.

California’s new rules would let—but not require—water agencies to take wastewater, treat it, and then put it right back into the drinking water system. That means proving to people that recycled water is not only safe to drink but also not dirty. California would be just the second US state to permit this, following Colorado. It has taken officials more than 10 years to develop these rules, a process that included several studies by independent groups of scientists.

A project in San Diego is aiming to produce nearly half of the city’s water through recycling wastewater by 2035. And the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California aims to produce up to nearly 570 million liters(升)a day for its 19 million people. Adel Hagekhalil is with Metropolitan Water. He said the new rules will permit new projects that have not yet been considered.

California’s new rules require the wastewater be treated for all bacteria and viruses, even if they are not present in the wastewater. In fact, the treatment is so intense that it removes all of the minerals that make fresh drinking water taste good. That means the minerals need to be added back at the end of the process. Polhemus is a director of the drinking water group for the California Water Resources Control Board. “It’s at the same drinking water quality, and probably better in many instances,” he said, adding that it takes time and money to build these treatment centers. So, they will only be available for bigger cities at first.