3 . Do you find yourself looking at your Facebook page or watching YouTube videos instead of getting work done? Are you________your plans for the summer? If you do, you’re not________. Many people do that, including me.

I am in my second year at college. In almost every________, I find it hard to sit still and pay attention. If it’s not________my phone, it’s daydreaming about what my plans are for the weekend. It’s________. I hate it. But I can’t control myself. I pick up my cellphone to________my emails and messages without________it. And I find myself________ news on social media, ________knowing what’s going on around me.

Yes, we live in a digital age where we even use________in the bathroom. Because of using digital devices, our attention span (注意力持续时间) has become much________than before. Yes, that’s true—a recent________made by Microsoft Corporation shows that people now usually________concentration after eight seconds. Interestingly, I usually find it________to study around people who are also studying. I_________can focus more that way.

My________ to students reading this is that when it comes to study, you’d better turn off all digital devices. Our brain________to focus on things that are right in front of us. Removing out distractions altogether, especially________you get a lot of them, seems to be one of the best________of doing better in your work.

There is no easier solution to this; you must turn off digital devices, or you won’t focus. It just takes some________.

4 . There is growing interest in East Japan Railway Co. ltd, one of the six companies, created out of the privatized national railway system. In an industry lacking exciting growth ________, its plan to use real-estate assets in and around train stations ________ is drawing interest.

In a plan called “Station Renaissance” that it ________ in November, JR East said that it would ________ using its commercial spaces for shops and restaurants, extending them to ________ more suitable for the information age. It wants train stations as pick-up ________ for such goods as books, flowers and groceries ________ over the Inter. In a country where city ________ depend heavily on trains ________ commuting, about 16 million people a day go to its train stations anyway, the company ________. So, picking up commodities at train stations ________ consumers extra travel and missed home deliveries. JR East already has been using its station ________ stores for this purpose, but it plans to create ________ spaces for the delivery of Inter goods.

The company also plans to introduce ________ cards—known in Japan as IC cards because they use integrated circuit for ________ information ________ train tickets and muter passes ________ the magic ones used today, integrating them into a/an ________ pass. This will save the company money, because ________ for IC cards are much less expensive than magic systems. Increased use of IC cards should also ________ the space needed for ticket vending.

5 . In 1919, in the aftermath of war, the International Labour Organization used its first convention to limit working hours to eight a day and 48 a week. The Depression later prompted employers to __________ a five-day week.

The latest crisis is dealing a __________ shock to how jobs are designed. The pandemic (疫情) forced many employers to implement remote working. It accelerated the use of technology to help them stay productive. As well as struggling with the challenges of hybrid work, some businesses are now __________ paying staff the same salary for a four-day working week, once as weird a concept as an eight-hour day.

Promised __________ include improved wellbeing, better focus, fairer sharing of childcare between men and women, and even a lighter carbon footprint. Fear of missing out on the latest trend must not, __________, blind companies to important obstacles and drawbacks.

Offsetting the cost of a four-day week at a national level looks ___________to achieve. As economic historian Robert Skidelsky pointed out in 2019, in a report for the UK Labour party, “__________ working hours nationwide, like France’s 35-hour working week, is not realistic or even desirable, because any cap needs to be adapted to the needs of different sectors (行业)”.

The Wellcome Trust, the science research foundation, decided in 2019 that even a trial would be __________, partly because its staff performed a mix of roles. Some jobs were hard to confine to four days. Other employees preferred to spread their work over five days. __________ already on a four-day week feared they might lose out.

Lockdowns exposed the gap between flexible homeworking professionals and front-line “__________” staff. A four-day week might __________ it.

Some staff want or need to work extra hours. To the risks of a two-tier workforce and reduced freedom of choice add the danger of __________. The approach fails if improved productivity does not cover the potential increased cost. If leaders’ determination to hit the same targets forces staff to work four 10-hour days, to shift their workload back into their __________ weekends, to rush jobs that require more time, or to hire additional hands to plug gaps, some of the benefits of offering workers more free time will quickly disappear.

For each of these __________, advocates have an answer. One is that companies just need to organise staff more efficiently. In itself, better __________ would improve productivity. Another is to cut working hours, rather than days, allowing greater flexibility.

6 . In the early hours of the morning on April 17, Kevin Record, 43, was sleeping in his apartment on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. His dog, Shogun, jumped onto the bed and ______ him up. Record’s e-scooter (电动摩托车) was sparking. In a sudden, the scooter’s battery ______ and the bedroom was quickly set on fire.

Though suffering serious life-changing ______ on the right-hand side of his body, Record managed to ______ from the flat and survive from the fire. ______, Shogun lost his life. “Losing my hero dog especially made me ______.” Record said. “He was everything to me. I’ll never ______ what he did for me.” Record added: “I can’t explain the ______ of the fire. I had never seen anything like that. Within seconds, it was like a fireball that ______ to everything in sight. It was so quick and ______.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) ______ to the apartment fire. They put out the fire but could not ______ any of Record’s belongings. Fire investigators believed that the ______ in Record’s e-scooter had been overheated while powering up, causing the scooter to catch fire.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Kevin promised he would routinely check his e-scooter and make sure it is in good working ______. After Kevin recovered from his injuries, the 43-year-old was hoping his experience would serve as a(n) ______ for anyone storing or charging e-scooters.

7 . It’s cool to be a fool in school, obviously. Research from Florida Atlantic University shows that aggressive, troublesome adolescents often end up becoming quite ________ among their peers (同龄人).

Importantly, researchers explain that being popular and having friends aren’t one in the same. Popularity ________ that everyone knows you, but they may not necessarily ________ you as a good friend. Study authors theorize that certain children ________ popularity to lots of friends. Why?

Being popular is thought a major status symbol for an ________. While it is certainly ________ that many popular children are fun and ________ , others are troublemakers.

The team at FAU performed a study to test their ________ that disruptive (破坏性的) children often start conflicts with their fellow classmates to ________ their social standing and become more popular. The results showed that higher initial levels of peer-reported ________ and disruptiveness were indeed associated with an ________ in peer-reported popularity during the semester. This was especially true for kids reporting frequent ________ with peers.

Aggression, ________ , occurs in the heat of the moment during a conflict of some kind. Researchers theorize that many kids just want to avoid quarrels, or perhaps even ________ harm. In such cases they usually ________ when challenged by an aggressive peer. These ________ “ provide visible evidence of dominance (支配地位) and ___ short-term gains in popularity” for the aggressor, the authors ________.

While researchers don’t think ________ is enough by itself to boost up (提高) one’s overall social status, they do ________ it can be used as an effective way of improving certain aspects of popularity.