Two things are unique about 2024. First, it’s a leap year, and second, it has     1     same calendar as 1996. This has made 1996 calendars a hot item on websites like eBay,     2    some are sold for almost $200. On certain Chinese online platforms, the keywords “1996 calendar” have surged to the top of the search rankings,     3    (result) in a significant increase in the prices of these special vintage calendars.

In this wave of discussions about calendars, some netizens also asked, “Are there still people using paper calendars currently?” Regarding this, some netizens said, “Although everyone now uses electronic     4    (product), just like some people love to collect stamps, there are also many people who have a hobby of collecting old calendars.” “Anyway, I buy a calendar every New Year.”

A netizen exclaims, “When     5    (use) a paper calendar, one can better experience the     6    (pass) of time from brand new to gradually turning yellow calendar pages, and also each important day     7    (mark). This is the time I have experienced.”

It is not unusual for leap year calendars to be     8    (entire) identical. Every 28-year cycle, leap year calendars will be precisely the same. Are you wondering when your 2024 calendar will repeat? You can reuse it in 2052.Netizens immediately subscribed     9    the view     10     it will be a “business opportunity,” suggesting “Let’s stockpile this year’s calendars and sell them online for a good price in 2052!”

3 . Consider the following statement: “My husband bought me a pink Lamborghini...” The correct way to finish the sentence, according to some, is not showing appreciation or acting excited, but to complain about the pricy gift. If you say, “The color is so ugly, men have such bad taste!” Congratulations, you have mastered the “Versailles (凡尔赛) literature.”

The term has nothing to do with the French palace nor with literature. It came from the Japanese manga series “The Rose of Versailles” and was coined by a Chinese influencer earlier this year. This new kind of bragging (吹嘘) is called humblebragging, the psychology behind which is to be recognized for one's successes and be liked by others at the same time. “The humblebragger recognizes that it's hard to be liked and be a showoff at the same time,” said psychologist Dr. Susan KraussWhitbourne at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

In an article titled “Why people hate humblebragging” published in Psychology Today, Whitbourne noted that the humblebrag is a “strategy in pursuit of respect” because it draws attention to one's accomplishments, but in a roundabout (迂回的) fashion.

However, studies on social media users show that humblebragging, as a self-promotion strategy does not work. In the essay, “Humblebragging: A distinct-and ineffective-self-presentation strategy,” researcher Ovul Sezer concluded from his research that humblebraggers are perceived more negatively than straight braggers due to the former's insincerity. “The critical factor telling these strategies was sincerity. People don't like braggers, but they at least see them as more sincere than humblebraggers.”

“So, next time if you hear ‘My husband bought me a pink Lamborghini. The color is so ugly, men have such bad taste!’. Just pretend you don’t get whatever it is they try to show off.” a Zhihu user advised others on how to respond to a “pretentious narcissist”, “Respond with genuine sympathy for their complaint.”

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Deepfakes are videos which have been digitally manipulated (操纵) to show people saying something     1     they haven’t actually spoken. In the past, videos like these could be made only by     2     (experience) special effects artists or video editors. Now, anyone with the right tools can make a convincing deepfake.

These videos are easy to make and dangerous. Cases     3     (report) about misused deepfake technology in the past few months. So, how can we know whether what we are seeing and hearing is real?

Wael Abd-Almageed, who leads     4     team of five researchers at the University of Southern California, is trying to answer that question. This team has designed computer software which can determine whether a video is a deepfake. “If there is inconsistency (不协调) in the video, such as an unnatural eye     5     (move), we can spot it,” he said.

How can you avoid     6     (fool) by a deepfake? Wael Abd-Almageed suggests not     7     (immediate) believing what you see online. Instead,     8     (make) sure you research a video first. “Don’t take anything on the Internet for granted,” he warns. “Ask     9     (you), ‘Would this person really say something like this?’”

Wael Abd-Almageed also advises watching a video     10     a slower rate so you can spot inconsistencies. This is possible by using the settings on most popular video platforms.

7 . The first person to receive a brain-monitoring device from neurotechnology company Neuralink can control a computer cursor(光标) with his mind, Elon Musk, the firm’s founder, revealed this week. But researchers say that this is not a major feat — and they are concerned about the secrecy around the device’s safety and performance.

Musk announced on 29 January that Neuralink had implanted a brain–computer interface (BCI) into a human for the first time. Neuralink, which is headquartered in Fremont, California, is the third company to start long-term trials in humans.

The Neuralink chip contains 64 flexible polymer threads, providing 1,024 sites for recording brain activity according to the company’s study brochure. That is considerably more than Blackrock Neurotech’s BCIs, the only other single-neuron recording system to have been implanted long-term in humans. So the Neuralink device can improve brain–machine communication.

The company has also produced a surgical robot for inserting its device. But it has not confirmed whether that system was used for the first human implant. Details about the first recipient are also scarce, although Neuralink’s volunteer recruitment brochure says that people with quadriplegia(四肢瘫痪者) stemming from certain conditions “may qualify”.

This week, Musk said on Spaces — an audio component of his social-media platform X — that the volunteer “seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of” and “is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking”.

To researchers working on implanted neurotechnologies, this achievement is underwhelming. Controlling a computer mouse with one’s thoughts could enable people living with paralysis to regain some independence and functionality. But it is a far cry from Musk’s ambitions for the Neuralink device. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” Musk wrote last month on X. “That is the goal.”

However, even more important at this stage, researchers say, is safety — of both the device and the surgery. Sheth says he and other researchers are in the dark about the system’s first application in the clinic.

China’s Changan     1    (sign) a deal last week with the Thai authorities to build a vehicle-producing plant in the Southeast Asian country, as     2     state-owned carmaker speeds up efforts to explore overseas markets,     3    (especial) those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Chongqing-based carmaker said it will invest 8.8 billion baht (around $240 million) in the production facility, initially     4    (design) to produce 100,000 new energy vehicles a year.

The NEVs to be produced in its Thai plant     5     (sell) in the country and exported to other     6     (market) such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Changan is joining the ranks of other major Chinese carmakers including SAIC, Great Wall Motor as well as BYD,     7    have release d plant plans or are already producing vehicles     8     Southeast Asia.

Their local production can boost the local automotive industry and will allow those Chinese carmakers     9    (become) more competitive in the market, said Yahaya Ahmad, technical leader of the ASEAN New Car Assessment Program.

Ahmad said the     10     (popular) of Chinese branded vehicles is growing thanks to their improved quality.

“I would expect Chinese carmakers to be competitive…they can compete in terms of the safety, in terms of the cost, in terms of the quality,” he said.