Beijing will carry out measures to help bridge     1     has become a digital divide for many older people to make sure they share in the benefits of a smart society. Given that technology brings       2     (convenient) to society in many ways and has become widespread, such as the use of scanned codes for payment, entrance to buildings and registration, seniors who are not tech-savvy face     3     (grow) difficulty in daily life.

Li Xiaoli,     4     63-year-old Beijing resident, said she once waited for 40 minutes along a street trying to hail a cab but none     5     (stop) for her. She didn’t know how to use those car-hailing apps. Public venues are increasingly using online reservation systems,    6     (especial) since the start of COVID-19, which presents a barrier to health, cultural and leisure facilities for the older population.

    7     (help) solve difficulties facing those seniors, the Beijing city government will carry out 52 specific measures this year. An additional 37 measures     8     (take) in 2023.

“Smart technology should serve them, instead of blocking them     9     a happier life, ” said a volunteer. He is helping to teach seniors to use smartphones and become more familiar with the internet and related services. “They need unhurried and patient explanations. That's the way to bring them to where they can enjoy these     10     (benefit), too. There is no shortcut for caring,” he said.

A new report released on Tuesday by Pethadoop said cats accounted for 59.5% of all the pets among the 30,000 respondents surveyed for the research. As of last year, there were some 58 million pet cats in China’s urban households,     1    (compare) with some 54 million pet dogs.

China     2    (see) an increase in pet ownership in recent years, with people     3    (increasing) choosing cats. Globally, though dogs are still more common pets, cats have emerged     4    the most popular pet in the European Union lately.

Cats also became the subject of popular videos,     5    have turned into a social phenomenon in China and elsewhere. Many cat lovers online also identify     6    (they) as “cat slaves”, publicly declaring their pet preference.

Researchers owe the fast growth of cat pets to the lifestyle in Chinese cities, with some experts also suggesting that the cat’s     7     (popular) with the young is related to the young generation’s pursuit of individuality.

Liu Yi, the report’s chief editor, said that many people living in the cities have busy lives     8    relatively smaller accommodations, thus     9    (make) cats their ideal companions —it’s easy to raise cats, unlike dogs that require more attention and outdoor activities.

“Our research shows that the majority of the pet owners are people born after 1990 and 1995,” he said. “Young people are looking for freedom in their lives, and     10    habits of cats are more suited to their needs.”

Cotton bags have become a means for brands, retailers and supermarkets to indicate a planet-friendly mindset-or,     1     least, to show that the companies are aware of the overuse of plastic in packaging.

So far, so Earth-friendly? Not exactly. It turns out the wholehearted acceptance of cotton bags may     2     (actual) have created a new problem.

An organic cotton bag needs to be used 20,000 times to reduce     3     (it) overall impact of production, according to a 2018 study. That equals daily use for 54 years-for just one bag.

Cotton is water-intensive, and figuring out ways of     4     (deal)with a bag in an environmentally low-impact way is not nearly as simple as people think, according to     5     environmental science professor at the University of Maine.

“You can’t, for example, just put a bag in a bin. Even when a bag does make it to a treatment plant, most materials used to print logos onto them are PVC-based and thus not     6     (recycle); they’re extremely difficult     7     (break) down chemically,” said Christopher Stanev, the co-founder of Evmu, a Seattle-based textile recycling firm. Printed     8     (patten) have to be cut out of the cloth; Mr. Stanev estimates 10 to 15 percent of the cotton Evnu receives     9     (waste) in this way.

That’s not to say cotton is worse than plastic. In the end, the     10     (simple) solution may be the most obvious. “Not every product needs a bag,” Comey says.

With the rapid development of third-party mobile payment tools,     1     increasing number of consumers across China are using cashless payment methods.

Transactions (交易)     2     (involve) third-party mobile payments rose by 39.1 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the previous quarter to 74 trillion yuan. Although China has the most third-party payment accounts in the world, it is not the     3     (one) country to seek a cashless society. Developed states like Sweden, Denmark and Singapore are also witnessing that increase.

    4    , the rapid development of cashless payments does not mean there are no challenges and criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema Fresh Store,     5     people can shop, dine and order goods for delivery from their mobile phones via Alipay,     6     (come) into the spotlight recently. Media reports say that consumers can’t purchase goods with cash there, which would be considered     7     (legal).

Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third-party mobile payment tools, have also launched campaigns to encourage more merchants and customers     8     (use) cashless payment methods, which has caused concerns over whether cash will soon disappear.

However, experts believe that a cashless society does not mean that cash will     9     (complete) disappear. As the economy grows, the circulation of cash is still very huge. In the long term, various payment     10     (method) will be used by consumers, and merchants should respect consumers’ payment habits.

Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting     1     (bad), according to the doctors.

Some people blame (责怪) the fact that we     2     (surround) by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods     3     low prices. If there were fewer of these, then children would buy probably less take-away food.

There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children     4     (become) overweight. Actually, good eating     5     (habit) begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If     6     (give) fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, children will go for sweet and     7     (salt)foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.

A third reason is     8     children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers. Not only is this     9     unhealthy hobby, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food.     10     they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.