2 . Movie stars might think their lives are private after leaving the acting location, but they ought to know that they have much power over their audience. The power gives them an ability to change people, events, even history, making them to have the responsibility of being good role models.

With time going on, movie stars become celebrities (名人) and in the process get a large number of fans. Some of them follow their deeds, dress, and act like them. In reality, they want to be like their favorite movie stars. If a movie star engages in acts that the society does not approve, those who look up to them, especially the teens, will do the same. Movie stars should be responsible for what they do and say as following the actions is now simpler because of social media. It is important to behave like a role model even when they think no one is watching.

Nobody is perfect, and movie stars also have had their down moments. They may not have been good role models at the time, but they can change the narrative by doing the right things. They can also turn the past shortcomings into positives by opening up about problems and how they overcame the challenges. And their audience can learn to discuss their problems and seek help.

People starring in movies are the target of companies to promote their products or services for a fee. Their celebrity status is a reason enough to think beyond the payment. A movie star should not recommend something that will influence the way teens live negatively. It would be wrong to promote something like sweetened drinks or foods without health benefits. Movie stars face problems like other people, but because of their influence, they have a responsibility to be role models in the public eye.

College Rankings Are Something, but Not Everything

I am always confused when reading statements like “Princeton University is the number one college in the United States.” Are those who attend Princeton inherently brighter than their     1    ? Is Princeton able to produce more geniuses upon graduation?

High-ranking colleges in global education leagues attract greater talent in staff and students, and     2     better facilities, therefore generating more profits. In the United States, however, this virtuous cycle can turn vicious when financially-challenged parents end up spending their life savings on their children’s education, while     3     individuals can simply buy their way in. Besides, these rankings face criticism for potentially influencing colleges to make minor adjustments in     4     to improve their position on the table.

I didn’t care about college rankings for years until I recently saw something different. This past October, Shanghai Ranking Consultancy     5     the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023, which assesses universities worldwide across 55 subjects in five disciplines. It is said to employ a more in-depth     6     to evaluate the performance of universities. And this makes it easier for prospective students to choose the best college for their specific subject. But how much weight should you give to these rankings?

In my opinion, college rankings can serve as a reference, offering a     7     into the reputation and strengths of institutions. However, they should not be the only determining factor for you. There are many aspects to a university education that can only be     8     when you are clear about your goals.

I once taught a three-month program to prepare university students for overseas exchange programs in England. But some of them displayed low     9    . It wasn’t merely due to a language barrier. These individuals seemed to lack communication skills, critical thinking and, more importantly, a     10     of purpose, which might help determine their future academic quality. After all, what lies in the heart of education is “U” .

4 . While screen time is known to affect sleep, new research suggests that interactive (互动的) activities, such as texting friends or playing video games, put off and reduce the time spent asleep to a greater degree than passive (被动的) screen time like watching television, especially for teens.

The team studied the daytime screen-based activities of 475 teenagers using daily surveys. They asked the teens how many hours they had spent that day communicating with friends through social media and how many hours they spent playing video games, surfing the internet and watching television or videos. Finally, the researchers asked if they had joined in any of these activities in the hour before bed.

Next, the team measured their sleep time for one week. The researchers found that the teens spent an average of two hours per day communicating with friends via social media, about 1.3 hours playing video games, less than an hour surfing the internet and about 1.7 hours watching television or videos. For every hour throughout the day that they used screens to communicate with friends, they fell asleep about 11 minutes later averagely. For every hour to play video games, they fell asleep about 9 minutes later. Those who talked, texted or played games in the hour before bed lost the most sleep: about 30 minutes later.

Interestingly, David, lead author of the study, said the team found no obvious relations between passive screen-based activities and sleep. “It could be that passive activities are less mentally exciting than interactive activities,” said Anne, co-author of the study. “It’s a tricky situation,” she said. “These screen tools are really important to everyone nowadays, so it’s hard to put a limit on them, but if you’re really looking out for a teenager’s health and well-being, you might consider limiting the more interactive activities, especially in the hour before bed.”

5 . The big French pet care company AgroBiothers Laboratoire will no longer sell very small containers for raising fish.

The company has a 27 percent share of the French market for products used by people who raise animals at home. But it said it would no longer sell any fishbowls that hold less than 15 liters of water. They will only offer four-sided ones.

The company said it was animal abuse (虐待) to put fish in small bowls without added oxygen and filtration. Filtration is the process of removing small waste from the water with a device.

AgroBiothers chief Matthieu Lambeaux recently used the term “impulse”—meaning a sudden strong desire to do something—to describe why many adults buy goldfish. “People buy a goldfish for their kids on impulse, but if they knew what torture it is, they would not do it. Turning round and round in a small bowl drives fish crazy and kills them quickly,” Lambeaux added.

Goldfish can live up to 30 years and grow to about 25 cm in large aquariums (养鱼缸) or outdoor ponds. But in very small bowls they often die within weeks or months. Lambeaux said goldfish are social animals that need other fish, lots of space and clean water. He added that having an aquarium requires some special equipment and knowledge.

Germany and several other European countries have long banned (禁止) fishbowls, but France has no laws on the problem.

Lambeaux explained the company’s decision further by saying, “We cannot educate all our customers by explaining that keeping fish in a bowl is terrible. We consider that it is our responsibility to no longer give customers that choice.”

“There is demand for fishbowls,” he said, “but the reality is that what we offer children is the possibility of seeing goldfish die slowly.”

In a specially designed studio theater in Hangzhou, New Dragon Gate Inn, a traditional Shaoxing Opera performance    1    (bring) to life. Recreated from the 1992 film of the same name, the opera presentation shows amazing artistic performance, successfully attracting the interest of younger    2    (generation) by mixing traditional Chinese opera with modern theater models and dramatic (戏剧性的) ideas.

    3    (compare) with traditional stages, the theater is designed as an inn,     4     the audiences becoming guests. The audience sits very close to the actors and actresses, offering them     5    unique and fascinating viewing experience. Upon leaving the theater, these audience members feel a sense of satisfaction that drives them to willingly share short clips of the performance online,     6    (promote) its popularity.

As the play gains popularity in the past weeks, Chen Lijun,     7    plays the important supporting role of Jia Ting,     8    (become) a social media hit. She said this show represents one of the     9    (challenge) skills in the opera world. It tests not only the physical strengths, vocal skills, and acting abilities of actors and actresses    10    their willpower and determination.

8 . Many Silicon Valley parents are becoming more concerned about preventing their children from using screens. Some parents think that even a little screen time can be extremely addictive, so it is better if their children avoid using or seeing these devices completely. However, it is difficult for working adults in the 21st century to give up using a phone at home. So, it’s simpler to employ someone to do this.

“Silicon Valley nanny (保姆)”, who takes children back to a time without screens every day is widely needed. From Cupertino to San Francisco, it’s widely agreed that screen time is harmful to youngsters. Therefore, parents are requesting nannies to keep phones, tablets and computers in a hidden place. Others even offer no-phone agreements.

Research shows that spending too much time on technology can harm young minds. For example, teenagers who use social media frequently are more likely to feel depressed and anxious. Insomnia (失眠) rates have also increased amongst this age group, and an increasing number of children display the signs that they can’t focus attention. These seemingly minor (轻微的) problems could become significant challenges for future generations.

“Many parents come back home and focus on their smartphones, ignoring whatever their children are trying to say,” said Shannon Zimmerman, who works as a nanny in San Jose for families that forbid screen time. “As a nanny, I also call on more parents to spend more time with their kids.”

10 . Conflict (冲突) between teenagers and parents happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes conflict happens between teenagers and parents just because conflict happens between human beings anyway. Humans have different needs, different feelings, different opinions about what they want, and the relationship with people can be really difficult. However, teenagers can cause further conflict because of the hormonal (生理的) changes that are happening and the stage of life that they're in.

Teenagers and parents have different understanding about rules and at times they find it difficult to look into the future. So parents and teenagers will often experience conflict about many things, do chores, homework, whether teenagers speak respectfully or not and about what they're allowed to do.

Before we think about rule boundaries (界线) for teenagers, we need to make sure that we have a really good relationship base. There's no point saying “From now on, you have to listen to me”: if you don't have a positive relationship with your teenager. We need to go back and make sure there is some degree of shared respect, and some degree of positive communication and enjoyment being together. you do that first, it means that rule boundaries are a lot easier to set up.

Often we're dealing with conflict on the fly. This is not the right time to be dealing with it. We really want parents and teenagers to sit down and think about the kinds of things that may happen in the house before the problems come. The more detailed your rule boundaries are for teenagers, the more likely it is that they are going to follow them. So this means we don't have rule boundaries like “Have the bathroom cleaned”. It needs to be “The floors mopped, nothing on the countertop and the mirrors cleaned by ten o'clock every Saturday”: Rule boundaries need to be written down, and set out ahead of time so the teenager knows exactly what's expected.