Lunchtime Naps in China

In China, lunchtime naps (小睡) are a must. Typical Chinese    1    ( company) generally take much longer to eat lunch, after which, you will see staff    2    (sit) around for a bit longer, checking their WeChat Moments, Weibo or chatting with colleagues.

The Chinese view napping not only    5    a time honored tradition for stress relief but also as a way to improve work efficiency in the afternoon. Once a person has eaten a meal, the stomach begins its digestive (消化的) process,    6     will naturally tire us. This is    7    (special) true in the summer. So,    8    power nap is necessary.

Regardless of its human biological benefits, naps are rooted in Chinese culture. Chinese school periods usually end around 4 pm or 5 pm, sometimes even 6 pm. This makes lunchtime naps all the most important so students can have as much energy as needed    9    ( get) through the rest of the day.

Over the years, most Chinese    10    (train) themselves to take a nap after lunch wherever possible. To show you how they’ve become good at taking naps, Internet users have posted a collection of photos of lunchtime nappers. You have to appreciate the creativity and the lengths people will go to for their nap.

4 . There are different regional accents across the UK, and a number of regions have several different dialects-that is, they have their own unique vocabulary and grammatical phrases. There are many different accents native to London, because it is not just where a person is born in the UK that decides their accent. Language and accents also differ across class and level of education. Therefore, the recent rise of a new accent coined at the end of the 20th century, “Multicultural London English.” Other factors are also important in the invention of new accents and ways of speaking. These include the influence of people from different racial(种族的) backgrounds and different age groups, too.

The word “yoof’ is a slang spelling of “youth”. Some people consider “yoof” to be a negative term, since its pronunciation is easier and lazier than youth. Other people see the term as positive, because it describes how young people are creating their own language, concepts and identity. By using words that their parents don’t understand, children can talk about things that their parents might not agree with. In this way, young people are starting to find freedom, independence and self-expression. They are creating a “yoof culture”. A few features(特点)of the yoof style of language are as follows:

· instead of “think”, “the”, “that”, “what” and “because”, yoof will say “fink”, “da”, “dat”, “wot” and “coz”.

· instead of using a variety of tag questions like “., isn’t it?” or “... don’t they?”, yoof will use the all-purpose “innit” (e.g. “It’s hot, innit! ”or “You can dance really well, innit!”)

· instead of “I don’t care!”, yoof will say “Whatever!”.

Certain groups of society feel threatened by “yoof culture” or by the British working classes having more social freedom. As a result, a negative term now commonly used in the UK is “chav”.It is an insult(辱骂)and is meant to describe someone who is uneducated and anti-social (e.g. “He’s a chav!” ). A young person who wears a jacket with a hood-after all, it is often cold and rains a lot in the UK-is sometimes called a ‘hoodie’. It is a negative term again and suggests that the young person is interested in committing a crime(犯罪).

Learners of English often feel that the best test of their English is how well they can talk to a native speaker, but perhaps they should worry less about this. In fact, when we think about ‘international English’, there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker. The UK no longer owns the English language.

5 . John Utsey went hiking with his two children one Saturday in August. While strolling along a trail (小路) in New Mexico’s Santa Fe National Forest, they heard someone calling out. About 600 yards away, they found a man ______ on the ground. He had spent 14 days waiting for ______ to arrive.

Two weeks earlier, the man ______ his back in the forest. Unable to stand or walk, he had to wait and hope ______ hikers would find him. As more days passed, he ______ by filling a water bottle from a stream by his side. When John found him, it was ______ that he wouldn’t be able to ______ for much longer.

After giving him all their food and water, John and his kids ______ back to the trailhead. The moment they had reception, John called 911. When the rescuers arrived, he ______ them straight to the ______ .

Because the man was in such bad ______ they built a fire to raise his body temperature before they tried to ______ him. The rescue team carried the man back down the trail. After nine long hours, he was ______ out of the woods!

Now, he’s getting the best ______ possible at a local hospital, where he can rest ______ and hopefully make a full recovery.

9 . Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world today. The scientific consensus (共识) is clear: the Earth’s climate is changing, and human activities are the primary cause. However, there is still debate among some politicians and members of the public about the reality of global warming and the extent to which humans are responsible.

One major source of controversy is the role of carbon dioxide (CO²) and other greenhouse gases in causing global warming. Some skeptics (怀疑者) argue that other factors, such as changes in solar radiation or natural cycles of climate change, could be responsible for the warming trend observed in recent decades. However, the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that the evidence points to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, as the main driver of global warming.

Another point of contention is the potential impacts of climate change on the economy and society. While some argue that the costs of transitioning to cleaner energy sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions would be too high, others point out that the costs of inaction could be even greater. Rising sea levels, more frequent and severe weather events, and damage to ecosystems could have significant economic and social consequences.

Despite the ongoing debate, many countries and international organizations have taken steps to address the threat of climate change. The Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries in 2015, aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with a goal of limiting the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve this, countries have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase investments in renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies.

Many young people dream of having both a cat and a dog. However, they often have limited energy and financial resources at the present stage and have no choice    1    to keep just one pet or nothing. So whether to have a cat or a dog, that’s the question. For people    2    live in cities, they may more tend to keep cats. Cats have overtaken dogs as the favorite pet of Chinese urban (城市的) people, according to a survey.

A new report     3     (publish) Tuesday by Pethadoop, a platform (平台) specializing in China’s pet industry, said cats accounted for 59. 5% of all the pets among the 30,000 respondents surveyed for the research. China    4    (see) an increase in pet ownership over the years, with people    5    (increasing) choosing cats. Keeping cats has also turned into    6    social phenomenon in China and elsewhere. Many cat lovers online also identify    7    (they) as “cat slaves” and “cat sniffers”, publicly expressing their pet    8    (prefer).

Liu Yi, the report’s chief editor, said that many city residents have busy lives and relatively smaller accommodations, thus    9    (make) cats their perfect companions—it’s easy to raise cats, unlike dogs that require more attention and outdoor    10    (activity).