1 . During a ransomware (勒索软件) attack, attackers enter a target’s computer system and encrypt (加密) its data. They then demand a payment before they will free the system. Ransomware is a collective problem, and solving it will require joint action from companies, the U.S. government and international partners.

In 2020 the Federal Bureau of Investigation received more than 2,400 reports of ransomware attacks, which cost victims at least $29 million. The numbers underestimate the total impact of ransomware because not all organizations are willing to report it when they fall victim to this kind of crime. Even these limited statistics, however, show the increasing fearlessness of ransomware attackers: the number of attacks in 2020 increased by 20 percent compared with that of the previous year, and the amount of money paid out more than tripled.

As long as victims keep paying, attackers will keep profiting from this type of attack. But cybersecurity experts are divided on whether the government should prohibit the paying of ransoms. Such a ban would discourage attackers, but it would also place some organizations in a moral dilemma. For, say, a hospital, unlocking the computer systems as quickly as possible could be a matter of life and death for patients, and the fastest option may be to pay up.

Other solutions are more straightforward and involve pushing organizations to protect themselves better. Cybersecurity defenses make it harder for attackers to access systems. Segmenting (分割) one’s network means that breaking through to one part of the system does not make all data immediately available. And regular backups allow a company to function even if its original data are encrypted.

All these measures, however, require resources that not all organizations have access to. Meanwhile, ransomware people are adopting increasingly advanced techniques. Some work for weeks to gain entry to a company’s network and then enter their system, finding the most vital data to hold hostage (人质). Some groups deliberately compromise an organization’s data backups.

Others sell instructions and software to help other attackers launch their own attacks. As a result, security personnel must engage in a constant game of cat and mouse.

2 . Gender (性别) equality at work benefits everyone and the way to get there faster is to empower men as allies (同盟) in the fight.

The difference between women’s and men’s earnings is on average 18 cents per dollar earned, and even more than that for women of color. After years in which women have formed about half of the college-educated work force, this significant unchanging pay gap and the lack of representation of women in the upper ranks of senior management are troubling. In fact, only a surprisingly tiny 7.8 percent of CEOs at S&P 500 companies were female at the close of 2020. Why is it taking so long to break the well-known glass ceiling once and for all?

At an individual level, men who are unwilling to work closely with women can of course have a damaging effect on the careers of their female colleagues. But men who are indifferent about gender equality and also without necessarily meaning to prevent women’s advancement.

However, men have never been entirely absent from the struggle to expand economic access and professional opportunity for women. In 1984 the Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives and another two officials-all men-spoke out in favor of naming a woman to the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and eventually, they made Geraldine Ferraro the vice president, the first woman ever to run on a major party ticket. Ferraro’s access to an important leadership role was the product not only of decades of activism and protest by women but also of powerful men’s endorsement of those demands, a practice that continues to be important today. In 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden made a promise to select a woman as his vice-presidential nominee (候选人) and ultimately shared electoral victory with running mate Kamala Harris, the first woman and first person of color to be elected vice-president.

Men’s voices are important. When men speak up against gender discrimination, they not only become obvious as allies who can be counted on to support industry or company rules to advance equality, but they also improve awareness and acceptance of gender inequality as a shared problem, not a special interest.

Nowadays we are living in the web and information times. There     1     (be) a kind of language called Web language. Some people even speak Chinese     2     (mix) with English words. This is such     3     strange phenomenon as is well worth thinking about.

Some people think     4     makes no difference in helping people learn English. Besides, it has a bad influence     5     our language. However, other people, especially the youth, are fond of this new language. They think it of special help in expressing     6     (them). What’s more, it may make the language more meaningful.

In my opinion, it’s no good     7     (apply) this kind of language. It may be popular, but you may also get others     8     (confuse). It is a kind of language     9     will ruin our Chinese language. All of us should try to avoid using web language in     10     (communicate).

6 . Books are very important for us in our life. Books teach us about the world and open our minds to amazing new ideas. And where’s the best place to _________ piles (成堆的) and piles of enjoyable books? The library! But what if you live far, far away from the library? Sometimes, the library can _________ you!

Some families in the Gobi Desert travel from place to place _________ their animals. A library in a building would not _________ for them, because it couldn’t move. But a camel library can!

The first _________ libraries in England were pulled by horses. Now trucks do the _________ . Library trucks, also called bookmobiles, drive all around the city and into the country. Some villages in the mountains of Thailand, _________ , can not be _________ by truck. To bring books, you have to walk or ride an elephant. Besides elephants, there are some other   _________ that help move the ______________ . Luis Soriano, a librarian in Colombia, ______________ up and down the hills of Colombia every weekend with his donkeys (驴), bringing ______________ to children who live in faraway villages.

Books are delivered to other places in ______________ ways. In the icy Arctic areas of Canada, kids who live in small towns there get books in the ______________ from libraries in bigger cities. When they’ve ______________ reading the books, they bring them to the post office to ______________ them back.

Before cell phones, if you wanted to make a ______________ outside your house, you used a phone box. Now that most people ______________ their own phones, some telephone boxes in England have been ______________ libraries! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tiny library on the corner of your street? The good news is it’s open 24 hours a day. The ______________ news is if you want to sit down, you’ll take up the whole library.

8 . For young people with autism（自闭症），growing into adulthood can have its own challenges. But students at the non-profit educational program Exceptional Minds prove that autism can also mean special talents.

Madeline Petti is an example of how Exceptional Minds helps students with autism seek and reach their full potential. "I want the world to know that I like designing things and Exceptional Minds is a great place for me. ” Madeline is part of a new wave of digital effects artists. She is a young, talented student who has autism. She is learning all about the entertainment industry with Exceptional Minds， which provides vocational（职业的） training for young adults with autism.

Madeline has played video games since the 4th grade． She has also always loved watching animated（动画的） shows. But she said she had a torturous time learning in traditional settings. “I get bored easily when I’m just sitting there and people are talking around me. I’m not really personally devoted to the material. When you are not personally devoted, you have to force yourself to stay in the moment and pay attention. If you don’t have the motivation to force yourself, you are pretty much going off into your personal La La Land. ”

Exceptional Minds provided the right kind of learning environment for Madeline. More action, less talking. She said, “I like coming here because it’s so hands-on. We get shown examples or we will follow along with the directions. I guess we are doing more. ”

Ernie Merlan is an EM program director. He said, “The heart of our program is a full time three-year vocational program specifically for the entertainment industry. The program teaches the students not only the technical skills they need but the work readiness skills they need in order to get a job. So we focus on how they look and what their attitude is, and then work place conflict which we all have. ”