Have you ever wondered what life is like now     1     (compare) to, say, the 1980s or the 1990s? I went to ask some people I know who were adults in the ‘80s and 90s’, and the answer I got was that “Overall, life is a lot     2     (good) now!” This didn’t really surprise me. I mean, these days we’ve got mobile phones and the internet and so on — but     3    (actual) those weren’t the things they talked about.

So what did they talk about? For     4     start, we don’t have to work physically hard since now there are a lot of things like dishwashers for housework. Then there’s the matter of how, these days,     5     is possible to work at home — it’s mainly     6    (computer) that have made this possible. Not only that, there’s a lot more     7     (equal) now. It’s easier for all people, whatever their social background, gender (性别), colour and so on, to have equal access     8     a variety of career opportunities.

That said, it’s not all a matter of improvement. Quite a few people told me that they feel more stressed these days because they rely a lot on technology and they are always     9    (anxiety) about security on the internet. Plus, we spend a lot of our time     10     (use) smartphones. One person said, “Wouldn’t it be great to be off the grid (不上网) for a few days?”

3 . Pupils are receiving laughter therapy (疗法) to fight against post-COVID gloom (疫后忧郁). The £15,000-a-year Brighton Girls school hopes that the hour-long classes will ease anxiety and other effects of lockdown son children.

A report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists has said that almost 200, 000 young people have been referred to mental (精神的) health services in the past three months, almost double the level before the pandemic(大流行病). The government is to give £517 million to strengthen mental health support to help pupils.

Emma Jennings, a laughter therapist, who runs the classes, said: “Children have been separated and no amount of online contact makes up for that.” Her lessons begin with children talking about feeling any nerves or anxiety before they are instructed to laugh “in the style of a James Bond villain (剧中反面人物)”.

Jennings then leads the girls through deep breathing exercises before “playful and silly games” where they are told to point at themselves and laugh while making eye contact. “Eye contact is really important as it has some effect on the brain so you smile because others are smiling and you laugh because others are,” Jennings said. “That is why tiny babies are able to smile at you when you smile at them.” She added: “We end the class by laughing for no reason while sitting in a circle. You just-listen to the sounds of other people’s laughter, which brings more laughter.”

Rosie McColl, the head teacher of Brighton Girls, said: “We thought it would be great to introduce a fun class, which young girls can walk away from having physically felt a drop in stress levels. Children laugh on average 400 times a day while adults manage just 15, which explains why adults are a lot more stressed generally.”

“I’d like to make sure our pupils are laughing as much as possible. We are also introducing the classes for our teachers and parents too.”

6 . In the pre-COVID-19 era, children’s personalised books used to be a niche market (小众市 场). Far from their early version that merely had the child’s name stuck on the book cover today’s personalised books feature entire families — including pets. Instead of meeting unknowr characters and new story worlds, the readers meet themselves. With the persuasive power of personalisation, publishers find their way into children’s inner worlds quicker than with non- personalised books

Well-designed personalised books can enhance children’s vocabulary learning. However, it’s also been found that in their talk about the story of a personalised book, they talk about “me, me, me”. Part of this self-centredness is natural at a young age, but part of it is caused by the personalised character of the book. In a recent study, personalised books, as opposed to thei non-personalised versions, do not help children understand the moral of a story or apply it to thei own lives

In most popular personalised books, children are pictured as the heroes and stars of their own stories. What is certain is that in addition to personalised hero books, we need personalised books where the child is a minor character or a character who experiences depression. The problem is that such books are unlikely to be popular and are therefore unlikely to be written. We are thus heading towards a situation where children see themselves in a positive light in their own personalised books and where they see others as failures in non-personalised books. It introduces children to a culture of“me vs you” where shared humanity is replaced by a false narrative of “I am the best!”

The most powerful children’s books are those that hit the sweet spot of personalisation and diversity. Such books teach children out-group empathy (同感) that occurs with story characters whose,experiences are different from their own. Authors can convey such out-group empathy by constructing strong plots that immerse (使沉浸) children in the story, but also challenge them to think beyond their comfort zone. The current personalised books take us from this ideal. They represent an economic interest in individualisation, and might ill prepare young minds for an uncertain future.

8 . If you want to travel on holiday, the very first question you must ask is, “How much is it going to cost?” With little money, you are not going to get very far.     1     Local transport is used, and sleeping is done in tents(帐篷) or not expensive hotels.

However, it seems that many young people have found a different way to see the world. They usually come from a western country and are from well-off families. They pay for a flight from their home to an Asian country, and then try to beg for money once they arrive.     2     It’s become so popular; it has been given its own name: begpacking. It’s a cross between “begging” and “backpacking”.

It is now quite usual to see begpackers sitting on the streets in some of Asia’s popular shopping districts.    3         “I am travelling around Asia without money. Please support my trip.”

In many Asian countries, poverty is never far away. Citizens of popular holiday destinations are asking why visitors arrive on their streets and expect the locals to pay for their travels. When these locals want to travel to a western country, they have to prove that they have enough money to travel.     4    

There have been recent reports that some countries are beginning to tire of begpackers. A law was passed in Thailand recently. The local government can now take action against any foreigner begging on the street.     5     There, western begpackers are taken by the local police to their foreign embassy. And then they are returned to their home.

9 . The mall(购物商场)is increasingly the exception. Dozens nationwide have fallen into disuse in the past decade, and a quarter of the around 1,100 -that remain are projected to follow by 2022, leaving large areas of empty space.

“We built too many malls, and we built them too cheaply,” said Amanda Nicholson, a professor at Syracuse University. “Only the strong will survive, while the weaker ones fold.”

After losing three of its four anchor(主力)department stores, the country’s oldest shopping mall was in need of new life. Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, is getting it this month in the form of a Life Time “resort(度假胜地),” complete with a rooftop pool and beach club. The new gym—which also has a full-service spa—will take the place of a former J. C. Penney store. Life Time is spending $43 million building the three-story facility.

“Malls have become a great opportunity for growth,” said Parham Javaheri, president of Life Time. “They have great visibility, great access and many of them have been around for a long time, so they’re located at the center of offices and homes.”

Fitness centers and gyms now lease(租用)three times as much space in US shopping malls 12 as they did a decade ago. Chains such as Planet Fitness, SoulCycle and Life Time have become coveted because they draw a lot of rich members who stop in a few times a week. Life Time now has country club-like locations at malls around the country and plans to open more than 30 more mall gyms in the coming years. Each gym attracts about 3,000 people a day, Javaheri said, which amounts to “a lot of consumers”.

Other cities have been even more creative with empty mall space. Simon Property Group, the country’s largest mall owner, recently spent $5 million on Allied Esports and announced plans to create 200 mall gaming rooms for competitive video gaming events across the country. “We believe focusing on gameplay will drive traffic and excitement for our properties,” said Lee Sterling, a senior vice president at Simon.

Using social media too much and posting many selfies （自拍照)have caused a rise in narcissism，according    1     a new study.Narcissism is when someone becomes very self-centred and believes they are quite attractive.They want attention and likes from other people and think they are    2     ( good) than everyone else.Researchers at universities in Swansea and Milan studied how 74 people aged 18 to 34 used social media and    3     (look) at how their personality(性格〉changed. The researchers found that those    4     used social media    5     ( heavy)through posting selfies showed an average 25% increase in narcissism over the four months of the study.

Professor Phil Reed，from the Department of Psychology at Swansea University，said:“There have been    6     (suggestion) of connections between narcissism and the use of selfies on social media but    7     was not known if using social media was connected with narcissism until this study.The results of this study suggest that posting selfies can increase narcissism. Professor Reed said that about 20 per cent of people may be at risk of    8     (develop)narcissism. This is because they want     9     (get) attention from other people after they post a selfie and show others how    10     (they) life is better or how they are more attractive.