Many people take the idea of saving money very seriously. Back in 1924, in Italy, a group of people     1    (think) the inability to resist spending became a major social problem. They had the idea of     2    (start) a day to remind people to put away some money for a rainy day. This is how World Saving Day, held on Oct. 31st annually, was started, and it’s still going strong now.

Not     3    (surprise), a movement targeting the poor was started. People in the     4    (underdevelop) world are more open to calls to be careful with money. But     5     idea of being thrifty (节俭) has also become popular among the rich. Take Mark Zuckerberg     6     example. The Facebook founder, one of the world’s     7    (rich) people, doesn’t spend very much money on himself.

Other people don’t spend money because they don’t like the culture of consumption. This is connected to the view that we should make ourselves happy through the     8    (activity) we take part in, rather than with what we buy.

But however we view money, moderate spending is certainly a good idea when we are still too young to get a job. There is a British saying     9     offers some good advice in this situation: “Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after     10    (they).”

3 . China has set new rules limiting the amount of time children can play online games. The rules limit children to just three hours of online game playing a week. That is one hour between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday most weeks.

Li Zhanguo has two children aged 4 and 8. Even though they do not have smartphones, they enjoy playing online games. Like many other parents. Li is happy with new government rules. But experts say it is unclear if such policies can help prevent addiction to online games. Children might just get addicted to social media instead. In the end, experts say, parents should be the ones to set limits and support good practice.

There has been a growing concern in China about gaming addiction among children. Government reports in 2018 found that about one in ten Chinese children were addicted to the Internet. The new rules are part of an effort to prevent young people from spending too much time on unhealthy entertainment. That includes what officials call the “irrational fan culture”

Under the new rules, the responsibility for making sure children play only three hours a day as largely on Chinese gaming companies like Net Ease and Ten cent. Companies have set up real-name registration systems to prevent young users from going past game time limits. They have used facial recognition technology to check their identities. And they have also set up a program that permits people to report what is against the law. It is unclear what punishments gaming companies may face if they do not carry out the policies. And even if such policies are performed, it is also unclear whether they can prevent online addiction.

A specialist treating Internet addiction expects about 20 percent of children will find ways to break the rules by borrowing accounts of their older relatives and find a way around facial recognition. In his opinion, short-video alps such as Douyin and Kuaishou are also very popular in China. They are not under the same restrictions as games.

4 . The hit movie Notting Hill begins with a famous scene. Hugh Grant bumps into Julia Roberts and spills orange juice all over her. After the collision, Grant repeatedly says, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

His actions in this scene are very British. If Roberts’ character were from the Britain, then she would probably apologize repeatedly as well — even if the crash was not her fault. But this doesn’t happen in the movie, as Roberts is from the US.

A report in The Telegraph once said that three quarters of British people apologize when they bump into someone in the street — regardless of whether they are responsible or not. In fact, Britons use “sorry” in many situations. For example, if they mishear someone, they say “Sorry?” The person they are talking to will also apologize by replying,“No,I am sorry!” This can go on for up to five minutes as if they were competing over who is the most sorry.

Why are Britons so sorry? Mark Tyrell, a psychology writer in the UK, thinks that their apologetic tendencies are rooted in British class system. “We say sorry because historically the new middle class in Britain had to apologize for not being the working class, but also for really being the upper class.” Another theory is that they apologize to avoid conflicts. For example, if they bump into someone, he might get angry. To avoid this, they instantly say “Sorry!”

True manners are about being considerate,and today’s constant use of apologizing shows that we are perhaps not as thoughtful as we once were.The word “sorry” has lost some of its meaning.

Do you see my point? Sorry, it might just be a British thing.

8 . From self-driving cars to carebots (care+ robots) for elderly people, rapid development in technology has long represented a possible threat to many jobs normally performed by people. But experts now believe that almost 50 percent of occupations existing today will be completely unnecessary by 2035 as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to change businesses.

“The next fifteen years will see a revolution in how we work, and a revolution will necessarily take place in how we plan and think about workplaces,” said Peter Andrew, Director of Workplace Strategy for CBRE Asia-Pacific. A growing number of jobs in the future will require creative intelligence, social skills and the ability to use artificial intelligence.

The report is based on interviews with 200 experts, business leaders and young people from Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. It shows that in the US technology already destroys more jobs than it creates. But the report states, “Losing occupations does not necessarily mean losing jobs—just changing what people do.” Growth in new jobs could occur as much, according to the research. “The growth of 20- to 40-person companies that have the speed and technological know-how will directly challenge big companies,” it states.

Another study by Pew Research Centre found 52 percent of experts in artificial intelligence and robotics were optimistic about the future and believed there would still be enough jobs in the next few years. The optimists pictured “a future in which robots do not take the place of more jobs than they create.”

“Technology will continue to affect jobs, but more jobs seem likely to be created. Although there have always been unemployed people, when we reached a few billion people, there were billions of jobs. There is no shortage of things that need to be done and that will not change,” Microsoft’s Jonathan Grudin told researchers.

9 . One of the most important ways to learn and master the English language is to read, read, and read. It is said that a good reader is also a good writer and a good speaker. However, in today’s world, reading is something that most children dislike doing.

There are simply so many distractions (分心的事物) that books, magazines, and newspapers are often ignored and they are in favor of video games and movies. And while video games and movies also play a role in helping the child learn the English language, they still can’t quite compare to reading.

And as a result, kids are learning less and less. Take a look at an elementary level text book. You’ll notice that the books for elementary students are filled with pictures and colours. Those pictures and colours in the elementary level text books aren’t there just for the sake (缘由) of design. Colours and pictures make us more engaged in the act of learning grammar. They catch our attention and help us retain (保留) more of what we read. This is especially true for little children who enjoy fun English.

Children are quite easily distracted. When you ask them to sit down and read quietly, their minds will often wander and it won’t take long before you find them doodling (涂鸦) and not doing what you told them to do. But if a book is colourful enough to catch a kid’s attention, then you’ll have a better chance at getting the kid to sit down long enough to learn English.

The same principle holds true for interactivity (互动). Like colours and pictures, interactive reading materials like English songs for kids also get the child engaged in what he or she is learning. Interactive reading materials get the child to focus since using them is almost like playing.

10 . According to a new US study, couples who expect their children to look after them in old age should hope they have daughters because daughters are twice as loving as sons generally.

The research by Angelina Grigoryeva, from Princeton University, found that, while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can get away with and often leave it to female family members.

Her analysis of the family networks of 26, 000 old Americans concluded that gender （性别）is one of the most important things that decide whether or not people will actively care for their elderly parents.

In a paper presented at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco, she concludes that simply having a sister makes men likely provide less care. Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a study which has been recording those people over 50s for the last decade, she analyzed that women provide an average of 12. 3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5. 6 hours.

“Sons reduce their relative caregiving efforts when they have a sister, while daughters increase theirs when they have a brother.”

“This suggests that sons pass on parent caregiving responsibilities to their sisters.”

In the UK, the 2011 Census showed that there are now around 6.5 million people with caring responsibilities, a figure which has risen by a tenth in a decade.

But many are doing so at the risk of their health. The census showed that those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a fulltime job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts who are not carers.