Limiting the screen time of teenagers is not as effective as intended. A report     1     (release) Tuesday showed that the “teenager mode” on 20 Chinese major video platforms, including Douyin, Bilibili, and iQiyi,     2    (lack) relevant content for minors as required, with some showing empty pages with no videos. Instead of adding more educational and knowledge-based videos in the feed, many were filled with food     3    (recommend).

Introduced in 2019 by China’s top Internet watchdog, a 40-minute daily time use on young users was carried out     4     no nighttime browsing was allowed. These features aimed to restrict the screen time of minors, limiting their access     5     harmful contents.

With the     6     (grow) popularity of short video apps, there have been concerns about the overuse of     7     (they) and their impact on young users. A2022 report by the China Internet Network Information Center said that nearly 40% of teenage Internet users encountered “    8    (healthy) and negative information”.

Over the years, academic experts and analysts     9     (criticize)video platforms for ignoring the flaws (缺陷) in their operating systems, though industry insiders claim that a shortage of content tailored toward teenage users has posed     10     additional challenge. While urging for regulatory efforts, some experts warned that too many restrictions could cause opposite effects.

NANJING, March 20 (Xinhua) — During the holidays, many young Chinese are eager to invite their friends to visit museum exhibitions     1    appreciate the charm of traditional culture. “Exhibition-watching socialization” has     2    (gradual) emerged as a popular social activity for young people.

According to the data     3    (release) by Trip.com Group, from January to May in 2022, museums, art galleries and exhibition halls ranked fourth     4    the top 10 most popular scenic spots, and 25 percent of the museum reservations     5    (make) by people born after 1995.

Every morning, almost all the venues of Nanjing Museum are crowded with young     6    (tourist). They carefully select postcards and line up in a long queue,    7    (wait) to have them stamped with images of cultural relics collected at the museum.

“For museum cultural relics and exhibitions of museums, digital collectibles also meet     8    appetite of young people. Not only    9     it attract the attention of many youths, but also it encourages them     10    (approach) cultural relics, understand history and ignite their love for traditional Chinese culture,” said Guo Daijing, a staff member of Wuxi Museum.

Last October, one of     1     largest oil spills in southern California occurred. The spill killed fish and birds, damaged     2     (protect) areas, and covered nearby beaches with tar. (焦油)

The US Coast Guard made an effort to place floating barriers on the water to try to keep the spill from     3     (spread). To find the leak, divers explored underwater. They found a break in a 17.5-mile pipeline that delivered oil from an oil platform a few miles off the California coast. Experts said the leak might be caused by a ship’s anchor (锚), or     4     (possible) an earthquake.

After the oil spill occurred, beaches in the area were closed, and fishing     5     (ban) in a wide area along the coast. People were asked to stay away from the beaches, since the oil could be poisonous. Extra efforts were also made     6     (keep) the oil away from marshy(湿地的) areas along the coast, which were home    7     many special birds. There was no doubt that oil spills were very    8     (danger) for wildlife, so workers were quickly trying to help animals     9     had been hurt in the spill.

The spill led to calls for an end to offshore drilling. California Democratic Representative Ted Lieu said, “My view is that we need to shut down all offshore drilling because     10     is unsafe to do so.”

Chemical pesticides and artificial fertilizers have been in widespread use in farming     1     the middle of the 20th century, but scientists found that their long-term use sometimes     2    (do) harm to both the land and people’s health. In most     3    (country) , some pesticides like DDT have been prohibited because of the damage     4    (cause) to people and the environment.

    5    (solve) the problem, some farmers have switched to organic farming. They use natural waste from animals as fertilizer instead    6     artificial fertilizers. By doing so, they make the soil in their fields    7    (rich) in minerals than before. Many other methods are also used to produce rich soil. Farmers often change the kind of crop grown in each field every year. In this way, some important minerals     8    (put) back into the ground.

Some people would prefer to stop the use of man-made chemicals in agriculture    9    (complete), but organic farming can’t serve the high demand for food around the world. So scientists have to find a suitable solution    10     the problem.

World Environment Day (WED) is a day we all need to put in our     1     (diary). It happens on June 5 every year and should be one of the most important days of the holiday calendar. WED     2     (create) in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly. The environment wasn’t such a big issue back then. But it is one of the hottest topics in the world today. WED helps raise worldwide awareness of the threats to our environment.     3     people can do that day is to start changing lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint. Many environmental agencies organize events based on different themes each year. These events encourage both governments and local communities to work together     4     (handle) environmental problems.

“No conversation” or “less conversation“ seemed incompatible with businesses like hair salons and barber shops, where conversation     1     (basic) is part of the service.

However, one Tokyo salon decided to implement the ”silent cut“ service     2     it proved so popular that others quickly followed suit.

“It’s great… ! I’ve been waiting for this service for 20 years. Because chatting is so depressing, I only get     3     haircut every 3 years, ” one person wrote about the silent cut service.

“I     4     (save) because the conversation with the hairdresser is troublesome,” someone else commented. A recent survey revealed that over 70 percent of respondents preferred the silent experience, with the most common explanations     5     (be) that they found it more relaxing, as they were able to rest instead of spending what little energy they had left on hearing     6     (want) information and making small talk.

As     7     turns out, hair stylists prefer the silent cut as well. “I started chatting because I was taught in my early days     8     (talk) to customers and get information about their preferences, but focusing on topics that I didn’t like     9     (make) me feel very uncomfortable, so I decided to put their     10     (private) first, ”one hairstylist said.

A man hiking in a     1     (heavy) wooded area of northern New Jersey was killed by     2     black bear during the weekend, police said on Monday, in     3     experts called an extremely rare attack.

Darsh Patel, 22, of Edison, New Jersey, and four friends encountered the bear     4     Sunday afternoon in the Apshawa Preserve, about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of New York City, according to the West Milford Township, New Jersey, police department.

The bear     5     (begin) to follow the hikers and they separated, police said in a statement. Four of them regrouped but Patel was     6     (miss) and they contacted police, who found Patel’s body about two hours     7     (late).

“Evidence at the scene showed that Patel had been attacked by a bear,” the statement said.

A bear     8     (find) at the scene and killed, police said.

Black bears are common in New Jersey and have been seen in all of the state’s 21 counties, but     9     (attack) on humans are unusual, according to experts.

“    10     is definitely rare,” said Lawrence Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Once you start looking into supermarkets in China,    1     is hard to miss the wave of trendy urban shops aimed     2     customers who are looking for healthy food.

Chen Li and her husband have become very    3     (concern) about the safety of their food since they became parents.     4     (follow) it around as it changed locations, they went to a farmer market every week. Then they tried growing their own food.

Recently, something has changed it all: A new shop opened up across the street from the apartment building in    5     they lived. It’s called World Good Food Market.     6     (bright) lit and clean, it offers     7     unbelievable variety of organic food. Compared with the farmer market, the     8     (different) in price for shopping at World Good Food is significant: 30%~50%    9     (high).

“The quality is better,” said Anthea. “I’m a strong believer of organic food. As long as it    10     (grow) by farmers in a safe way, I’m fine with that.”

9 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks ‘with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

On January 10, Uganda reopened schools after the longest closure in the world    1     the coronavirus pandemic. For most students, it was their first time back in the classroom in nearly two years.

When the buildings first shuttered, the Ministry ofEducation broadcast lessons on TV and radio stations, and some schools handed out printed materials. But this did not last for lack of funding. So the     2     (estimate) 15 million children affected by this closure put their studies on hold.        

Uganda’s National Planning Authority in August 2021 projected that 4.5 million of them will likely not return to school. The reasons for the dropouts are manifold. The teen pregnancy rate rose significantly. And many poor children in urban and rural areas    3     (force) to start working to help support their families.，“They turned children into laborers and that was a loss, especially for a family that has relied for almost two years on child labor,” says Munir Safieldin, the UNICEF Uganda representative.

Plus, in an economy pinched by the pandemic, many families cannot currently afford the fees,     4     start at about $135 per term for high school, and other costs (including academic materials and uniforms).

Children who are able to return school have been promoted one grade level, a decision made by the Ministry of Education to guarantee spots for newly     5     (enter) students. But many families and experts are concerned. Mary Goretti Nakabugo, the executive director of Uwezo Uganda, a nonprofit organization working    6     (promote) equitable quality education, argues that even before the closure, many of Uganda’s younger students had not yet acquired basic fundamentals, such as reading and understanding a text. “This is the time for us to rethink our curriculum, our teaching and learning,     7    students who are unprepared for classes will only end up even     8     (far) behind.”

Kusemererwa Jonathan Henry, a teenager living in Kamwokya, one of the largest slums in the capital of Kampala, had just started high school and made new friends     9     the lockdown started. “We were used to the short school breaks but this was too long. At first, all I would do is sit at home and sleep;, he says. Fortunately, his dad’s financial help combined with his personal savings allowed Jonathan to open a fruit and vegetable stall. ”Before the lockdown, I never knew how to fend for     10     , but now I don’t even need to ask for money to   buy clothes.“ Still, Jonathan longed to get back to class. ”The day a date was announced for us to resume school, I washed my uniforms, bags and polished my shoes, that’s how excited I was to get back.”

Technology has started to take over the world. It may seem like a huge advancement to society, but large setbacks come equally.

We now live in an age of social media. We have never been as     1     (connect)as we are now. Everyone around us can be reached instantly. Besides, the use of technology has made all of our lives     2     (incredible)efficient. Furthermore, a majority of people have access to technology,     3     helps them express themselves on many different platforms. Lastly, technology has given people many ways     4     (entertain)themselves. Various websites offer hours upon hours entertainment for those     5     (bore)nights.

While some may see social media’s positive effects     6     relationships, others can see it as the exact opposite. It keeps people from seeing each other face to face. Meanwhile, there is nothing more frustrating than having technology not work right when it     7     (need)to. Moreover, so dependent on technology, people don’t try to explore life outside of a smart device. Also, with more and more people posting information on     8     internet, it can be very difficult to determine whether the information is credible or not. This can lead to false information being taken seriously, and     9     (change)perspectives of those who believe it.

To understand technology, one must know     10     it provides in terms of advantages and disadvantages.