1 . The Silver Line, created in 2013, is a free, 24 hours telephone helpline. It offers information, friendship and advice to_________ people.

“It’s often easier to speak to a_________, and nice to know you can_________ day or night,” says Bolton, who has no family nearby. She called the helpline after it was _________ by others.

New figures show that August was the charity’s_________ month, receiving more than 45, 000 calls. Summer can be a(n) _________ time for those left behind during the holiday season, _________ familiar faces are away for holidays, from the shopkeeper to the bus driver or even family members. Two-thirds of calls are_________ at night-time and weekends, when no other services are _________.

84 percent of older people say it is very difficult to __________ that they feel lonely, even to members of their __________ because they do not wish to become a “burden or trouble”.

A recent study found that almost three-quarters of older people in the UK are__________, and more than half have__________ spoken to anyone about how they feel.

Seniors can call the Silver Line__________, or can be connected with the aid of a relative. Helpline staff try to learn callers’ __________ first and then suggest information or__________ voluntary support from their communities.

“For a community, trying to solve the problems of seniors is a__________ task,” says Sophie Andrews, chief leader of the Silver Line, “Older people are regarded as being vulnerable (易受伤害的) to any social issues”. To__________ this situation, Andrews wants a greater understanding of their mental health__________: Being older means you are still exposed to mental health issues, but your ability to change your situation is__________.”

2 . Blind boxes originated in Japan. As the name implies, they are boxes that may contain surprise or ________ The buyer has no idea what the contents will be inside because each series has twelve same ________ packing boxes. Blind box collectors usually spend ________ to get the secret toy. The more they buy, the more they want. It is apparent that this cannot be explained by traditional economics--the marginal benefit is ________--buying an additional unit of product will cause the additional benefit to decrease. However, for consumers of blind boxes, the more they pay, the more they want.

Digging deeper into the issue, you will learn the very marketing of blind boxes is called ________ selling. The possibility to get a secret one is 1/144. Research has shown that blind box is the easiest approach for the shoppers to fall in love and become ________ customers. One of the most popular blind box brands Pop Mart ________ 8.18 billion yuan in sales in the first half of 2020. For shoppers, uncertainty about the box content ________ excitement and surprise combined, a potential neural hit in the brain typically experienced by gamblers and thrill-seekers, thus making consumers have the desire to ________ the purchases. Blind boxes are not exactly a(n) ________, but represent a harmless rush of adrenaline (肾上腺素) for Generation Z, a consumer born in the period from mid-to-late-1990s to early 2010s.

Why are blind boxes so popular among Gen Z? Well, these are consumers raised in a relatively good period characterized by abundant ________, when demand for food and clothing was easily met. ________, the pursuit of consumption that can pack in special excitement and surprise leads them to products like blind boxes.

Blind boxes can be used as a tool to clearly identify target consumers and their needs. Ever since Pop Mart launched its first store in Beijing in 2010, it has been ________ and upgrading the products to figure out and suit the consumers'' tastes.

While trying to stimulate consumption demand with blind boxes, companies should be aware of the hidden risks. They should not hold the surprise tricks as a way to ________ consumers. Consumers may not return for purchases if they feel cheated once. Without ________ products that deliver value, no company can go far. Once the wave of blind boxes subsides, a company without good products may never be able to catch the next wave.

3 . Bella arrived at the parking lot at about 12:00 p.m. She ________ into her car, and began the 40-minute ________ home. She’s just worked so much and felt quite ________. She almost drove on auto-pilot (自动驾驶仪). A few minutes later—wham! Out of nowhere a truck ________ her backward 100 feet onto the railroad tracks. She sat in the car, injured by the hit.

As it happened, Peter was going to bed ________ he heard the loud noise of metal on metal and ________ glass coming from not far. As a volunteer firefighter, without ________ Peter grabbed a flashlight and ran out. He came to the truck that had ________ Bella’s. Once Peter concluded the driver was OK, he ________ himself and spotted Bella’s car trapped on the railroad tracks. Just then he heard an urgent bell sound: a ________ was coming!

Peter ________ to Bella and knocked at the window. She just looked at him, her eyes ________. Peter thought he had to get her off right now. He pulled the handle ________, but the door was damaged and jammed shut. Peter ran to the passenger’s side and threw open the door. He grabbled Bella’s arms, and pulled her until he could ________ her out and bring her to ________ behind a signal box a few feet away. Within six seconds, the train crashed into Bella’s car!

4 . Is loyalty in the workplace dead?

Just recently, Lynda Gratton, a workplace expert, proclaimed that it was. In The Financial Times, she said that it had been “killed off through _________ contracts, outsourcing, automation and multiple careers.”

It’s sad if this good virtue is now out of place in the business world. But the situation may be more _________. Depending on how you _________ it, loyalty may not be dead, but is just playing out differently.

Fifty years ago, an employee could stay at the same company for decades, said Tammy Erickson, an author and work-force consultant. Many were _________ longtime employment along with health care and a pension.

Now many companies cannot or will not hold up their end of the bargain, so why should the employees hold up theirs? Given the opportunity, they’ll take their skills and their portable retirement accounts elsewhere. These days, Ms. Gratton writes, _________ is more important than loyalty: “Loyalty is about the future - trust is about the present.”

Ms. Erickson says that the quid pro quo (交换物，报酬) of modern employment is more likely to be: As long as I work for you, I promise to have the relevant skills and _________ fully in my work; in return you’ll pay me _________, but I don’t expect you to care for me when I’m 110.

For some baby boomers, this _________ has been hard to accept. Many started their careers _________ that they would be rewarded based on tenure (任职).

A longtime employee who is also productive and motivated is of enormous value, said Cathy Benko, chief talent officer at Deloitte. On the other hand, she said, “You can be with a company a long time and not be highly committed.”

Ms. Benko has seen her company shift its ____________ to employees’ level of engagement - or “the level at which people are motivated to deliver their best work” - rather than length of tenure.

Then there are the effects of the recent recession. Many people - if they haven’t been ____________- have stayed in jobs because they feel they have no choice. Employers may need to prepare for disruptions and turnover when the job market improves.

If the pendulum(摇摆不定的事态或局面) shifts, how will businesses persuade their best employees to stay? ____________ may do the trick, but not always. Especially with younger people, “you’re not going to buy extra loyalty with extra money,” Ms. Erickson said. ____________, employers need to make jobs more challenging and give workers more creative space, she said.

Loyalty may not be what it once was, but most companies will still be better off with at least a core of people who stay with them across decades.

If loyalty is seen as a ____________ to keep workers of all ages fulfilled, productive and involved, it can continue to be cultivated in the workplace - to the ____________ of both employer and employee.

5 . It's no secret that as a population, Americans have been getting heavier, but researchers now say that our weight problem may be worse than we thought.

In a study published in the journal PLOS One, lead author Dr. Eric Braverman says that our current measure of obesity -- body mass index, or BMI -- significantly _________ the number of people, especially women, who are obese.

Braverman and his co-author, Dr. Nirav Shah, studied 1,400 men and women, comparing their BMI measurement to their percentage of body fat, as measured by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. While BMI is a simple ratio of a person’s height and weight, the DEXA scan-- which is normally used to measure body density (密度) -- can _________ between bone, fat and muscle mass.

Based on BMI, about one-third of Americans are considered obese, but when other methods of measuring obesity are used, that number may be _________ to 60% according to Braverman.

Physicians have complained for years that BMI is a(n) _________ measure of healthy weight. Extremely muscular people, _________ , may weigh “too much” for their height, since dense muscle mass weighs more than fat, thus qualifying as obese even if their bodies contain very little fat. Yet it’s not extra weight itself, but excess fat that _________ health problems.

“People aren’t being diagnosed as obese, so they’re not being told about their risk of disease or being given _________ on how to improve their health,” Braverman said. Data show that people who start to _________ pounds are more likely to continue getting heavier, increasing their risk for a number of diseases.

So why is BMI still being used, if it’s not _________? For now, it’s the best and easiest way for physicians to measure a person’s healthy weight while taking into account his or her general body __________. DEXA scans are far too expensive to be used as a __________ measure during doctor’s visits. BMI isn’t perfect, but many experts say it’s the best they have.

Still, as results like Braverman’s continue to __________, it may be time to consider other ways of tracking weight, and __________, body fat. “It’s important to point out the __________ of the BMI,” Dr.Richard Bergman, director of Cedars Sinai’s Obesity and Diabetes Research Institute in Los Angeles said. “It’s a poor measure of __________, and we do need better measures.”

6 . How Common Is Sweatshop Labor?

The prevalence(普遍) of sweatshop labor depends largely on the definition being used. At its most ________ definition, in which the term refers to work in a confined space (small, surrounded by wall) that is extremely difficult or dangerous, sweatshops can be considered fairly common. If the definition being used is closely related to the commonly—held ________ of a factory with overworked, underpaid workers, sweatshop labor becomes less common than expected, ________ still prevalent in third—world countries. Following the definition of the United States Government Accountability Office, which states that a sweatshop is any workplace that violates one or more state and ________ labor laws, the prevalence soars, becoming very common. Using a mixture of these definitions, experts believe that roughly 50 percent of manufacturers — ________ in the clothing industry — employ sweatshop labor.

It can be ________ to figure out the exact number of sweatshops in a particular area due to the fact that these workplaces usually, if not always, violate labor laws. Violations include worker compensation(报酬) lower than minim wage, child labor, and a severe lack of safety regulations. ________, many of these locations tend to disguise their identities as sweatshops through a number of means, including bribery of government officials.

Another factor that ________ the prevalence of sweatshop labor is the economic situation in the country or region. Many individuals choose to work in sweatshops simply because there are no better alternatives ________ livelihood, even if the compensation still cannot support basic standards of living. This has led to a sharper increase in sweatshops in third—world economies, where there’s a ________. advantage to settling for (accept unwillingly) sweatshop labor rather than not working at all ________ , the abundance of individuals willing to work for such conditions gives employers more incentive to nun sweatshops, as the minimal investment in these workplaces yields higher profits.

Certain economists, such as Jeffrey Sachs and Benjamin Powell, argue against the popular opinion that sweatshop labor should be considered ________. Sweatshop advocates argue that the workplaces are a necessity for more impoverished countries, where sweatshop workers actually earn more than average. Sweatshops are considered an economic stimulus following this train of thought, employers following this philosophy are ________ to increase the number of sweatshops in poorer countries.

Other experts maintain, however, that ________ labor standards in third—world countries creates a downward spiral in which people are willing to work in increasingly worse situations. The demand for work is significantly larger than the number of jobs, making it nearly ________ that wages and employee rights will continue to trend downwards in response to desperation. Employers who follow this philosophy often make it a point to ensure that none of their laborers work in sweatshops.

7 . Teens around the world use social media a lot. But is this a good thing? While you can say nice and _______ things on the Internet, you could also say mean and hurtful things too. When someone says something mean or hurtful _______, it's called cyberbullying (网络欺凌) .

When people say mean things to us, we feel _______, depressed and powerless. These are just some of the possible _______ effects that could affect teens who are cyberbullied. When people are often sad or depressed, they could begin to _______ suicide (自杀) . They think that their lives aren't worth anything or that their lives are too _______ to handle. It's difficult to believe that one person saying mean or cruel things to another person could make him think about _______ himself, but it's true and it does happen. Now, you could _______ everything that was said. You could say that teens can just turn off their computers or their phones. They can just block (屏蔽) the person who _______ them or just simply ignore him. __________ people, especially teens, love going on the Internet and talking to people. It's part of their daily lives. It's __________ to tell teens to turn them all off. In addition, __________ they block someone, the person can just __________ coming back on a different account or as someone else. Also if it's a publicly posted video, picture or message, everyone can see it and __________ report or share it. It's impossible to block everyone.

And finally no one can just __________ so many mean words that are being said to them.

Overall, cyberbullying is a terrible thing that people do. There should be laws to protect people from cyberbullying.

8 . Many nursing homes all over the world are locked down to protect their residents from the COVID﹣19. Group﹣f is a________ company in Belgium, whose employees wash the outsides of tall buildings, using platforms that are lifted by cranes (起重机). When the COVID﹣19 hit Belgium, Group﹣f's________ slowed down. The cranes sat________. But one day, company manager Bosch saw a man standing on the________ and shouting up to his mother who was looking down________ from her window on the third floor of a nursing home. This gave Bosch a perfect________.

Bosch realized he could put the cranes to good use. Ever since, he has been________ them to nursing homes. There, a family can________ a platform that a crane operator will lift up to the window of a loved one.

Eve Putseys came to see her 88﹣year﹣old aunt, who lives in La Cambre, a nursing home. Before she________ the platform, Putseys didn't know what to expect. “It’s been seven long weeks that I haven’t been________ to see her, ” she said. But when Putseys returned to the ground, she was________ “I finally got to see her. She looked very happy to see me, ” she said.

Officials at La Cambre helped organize the crane﹣operated________. “It’s been hard work but quite________, ” director Thibaut Chevrier says. Bosch________ that operating the machines costs his company money. But he has no________. “It’s a great honor to help people, ”he says.