Offshore production

The world’s consumption of fashion is huge. The European Union imported textiles (clothing and carpets) to the value of €83.7 billion in 2010. Prices have fallen, too, with hand-finished shirts costing less than five euros. To make clothes at these low prices, companies have to keep costs down. They use offshore production to do this. Large companies make their products in developing countries where workers are paid much less than in developed countries.

A point that should be considered in that case is that developing countries encourage developed countries to invest in them to provide jobs. Supporters of overseas production point out that increased investment has positive effects in the long term. Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman points out that the growth in manufacturing has an impact on the rest of the economy, because it reduces the number of people needing to work in agriculture and increases competition for labour. This leads to higher wages, which lead to other improvements, such as the ability to send children to school. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this foreign investment is the fact that it can have a negative impact on the economy of developed countries, because people lose their jobs when production is outsourced to other countries.

It seems that if multinationals are going to benefit from low production costs by using overseas suppliers, they should do more to improve the social situation-for example, by building schools for the children in those communities. It is also clear that multinationals should invest in communities in the developed countries where they sell their products. Furthermore, given multinationals do benefit from lower costs of production in developing countries and their workers, they need to feel obliged to protect the workers in overseas manufacturing plants.

4 . Are you a moviegoer? If, like me, you’re a fan of film, then there’s no better place to watch something than on the big screen at the cinema. You enter the dark theatre and take your seat, ready to be entertained. But while you are absorbed in some movie magic, many others are now getting their film fix at home.

Over the last few years, cinemas have seen a comeback. Customers have been attracted by comfortable seats, and lots of choice of things to watch. Multiplexes in particular can screen up to twenty films at the same time, suiting all different tastes. In addition, 3D and even 4D movies can give the audience an extra immersive experience. So, what’s not to like about a trip to the cinema?

One answer to that question is convenience. Rather than going out, it’s so much easier to stay in and watch movies on a TV screen via an online streaming service. There’s plenty of choice, and it’s relatively cheap as well. But, personally, I find there’re too many distractions, and watching at home is not such an event. I miss the cinema!

The coronavirus pandemic has put the future of cinemas under the spotlight. Some have had to close because of reduced ticket sales. In the UK, it’s brought about a surge in TV watching and online streaming. It’s reported that half of UK adults will keep and continue using their new streaming subscriptions.

This isn’t great news for cinemas. They rely on the release of a big blockbuster to bring the crowds back, but the launch of new films, such as James Bond: No Time To Die, are being delayed. Disney has released its $200m blockbuster, Mulan, online instead of in movie theatres. John Fithian, from the National Association of Theatre Owners, told Variety magazine: “This idea of waiting out the pandemic to make your movies more profitable doesn’t make sense to me. There won’t be as much of an industry left to play your movies in if you do that.”

As of June, China had about 285 million Internet users living in rural areas,     1     (account) for over 30 percent of the country’s total, according to a recent report on China’s Internet development. The number of rural Internet users in China     2     (grow) by over 30 million in the last few months.

The report said the Internet is playing a     3     (great) role than ever in the country’s poverty reduction efforts, with the public’s participation     4     recognition of relevant campaigns on the rise. It said as of June, online promotions of     5     (agriculture) products from remote areas had reached more than half of the Chinese Internet users, and that more than one third     6     netizens had bought such products via online platforms.

Meanwhile, the report shows that e-commerce livestreaming (直播) grew increasingly active in the first half of the year. China saw over 10 million livestreaming marketing     7     (activity) during this period. The report said the Internet can contribute     8     (significant) to China’s anti-poverty goal by providing jobs, social security and medical service information for     9     poor and allowing children in poverty-stricken areas     10     (access) better education.

Thirty years ago, an elderly Canadian couple     1     (undertake) a unique project with the purpose of helping Canadians have a better understanding of China     2     (base) on how the Chinese view themselves and the issues they face.

Their efforts resulted in the birth of a 1985 book, Understanding China Through Cartoons. They     3     (official) donated it to China on June 10, 2019. To promote knowledge about China among Canadians, a masterpiece named the Society for a Better Understanding of China     4     (found) in the early 1970s, and it is now noted as the Canada-China Friendship Society.

The husband said, “China is a nation,     5     has been able to maintain its cultural growth for thousands of years”. This elderly couple     6     (be) determined to gift China with it as their     7     (admire) for Chinese culture — a role dating back     8     thousands of years.

In fact, communication has been the best way     9     (promote) each other’s understanding and trust. We need     10     (many) people like the elderly Canadian couple as well as more institutions like the Canadian-China Friendship Society.

7 . In life, we always feel as if our bad circumstances will never change. However, when we meet troubles or problems in our lives, we are eager for a _________ that tells us everything will be _________ and get better.

When in this mindset(心态), I think back to a _________ I once heard about a family having dinner at a Chinese restaurant. At the end of the meal, everyone _________ their fortune cookie and read their _________ out loud. _________, the youngest child did not, she went to get another fortune cookie. This _________ several times before the mom _________ her and asked, “What are you doing?” The little child responded, “I am looking for a cookie with the _________ fortune for me.” The mom said, “There is only one thing you need to __________ and it’s not in a fortune cookie. That is where there is a will, there’s a way.”

When __________ are not going our way, we may __________ the “right fortune”. We seek the hope for our __________ so that it will be better than the present. Once the Israelis were expelled(驱逐) in a foreign country against their __________. At that time, everything was __________for them, but they didn’t lose hope; instead, they __________ to their new environment positively. Years later they returned to their homeland as they had __________.

We need to __________ action and hope and believe that nothing is __________ to a willing mind in life. It does prove that good things do come out of bad and difficult __________.

9 . There is a popular saying in the English language: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Well, that is not true. Unkind words, name-calling or even the so-called “the silent treatment” can hurt children as much as being physically hit, sometimes even more so. A recent study of middle school children showed that verbal (言语的) abuse by other children can harm, the development in the brain. The study was a project of researchers at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts. Researcher Martin Teicher and his team studied young adults, aged 18 to 25. These young men and women had not ever been treated in a cruel or violent way by their parents. The researchers asked the young people to rate their childhood exposure to verbal abuse from both parents and other children. Then the researchers performed imaging tests on the brains of the subjects.

The images showed that the people who reported suffering verbal abuse from peers in middle school had underdeveloped connections between the left and right side of the brain. The two sides of the brain are connected by a large bundle of connecting fibers called the corpus callosum. This was the area that was underdeveloped.

The middle school years are a time when these brain connections are developing. So, unkind, hurtful comments from children or adults during this period have the greatest effect. The researchers tested the mental and emotional condition of all the young people in the study. The tests showed that this same group of people had higher levels of fear, depression, anger and drug abuse than others in the study.

The researchers published their findings online on the American Journal of Psychiatry's website.

Parents cannot control what other people say to their children, but they can prepare their children.

10 . Children moving from primary to secondary school are ill-equipped to deal with the impact of social media, which is playing an increasingly important role in their lives and exposing them to significant emotional risk, according to a report by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.

The report shows that many children in Grade 7--the first year of secondary school, when almost all students will have a phone and be active on social media--feel under pressure to be constantly connected.

They worry about their online image, particularly when they start to follow celebrities on Instagram and other platforms. They are also concerned about “sharenting”--when parents post pictures of them on social media without their permission--and worry that their parents won’t listen if they ask them take pictures down.

The report, which was created with data from focus group interviews with 8-to 12-year-olds, says that though most social media sites have an official limit of 13, an estimated 75 percent of 10- to 12-year-olds have a social media account.

Some children are almost addicted to "likes", the report says. Aaron, an 11-year-old in Grade 7, told researchers, “If I got 150 likes, I’d be like, that’s pretty cool, it means they like you.” Some children described feeling inferior to those they follow on social media. Aimee, also 11, said, “You might compare yourself because you’re not very pretty compared to them.”

Anne Longfield from Children’s Commissioner for England is calling on parents and teachers to do more to prepare children for the emotional impact of social media as they get older. She wants to see the introduction of compulsory digital literacy and online resilience(适应力) lessons for students in Grades 6 and 7.

“It is also clear that social media companies are still not doing enough to stop under-13s using their platforms in the first place,” Longfield said.

“Just because a child who has learned the safety messages at primary school does not mean they are prepared for all the challenges that social media will present,” Longfield said.

It means a bigger role for schools in making sure children are prepared for emotional demands of social media. And it means social media companies need to take more responsibility,” Longfield said.