1 . A man recently helped a woman, who had been knocked down by a car in Taizhou, Jiangu province, reach a hospital. But before doing so, he took a photograph of the scene with the woman to avoid being charged with knocking her down. Several similar cases were reported across the country during the Spring Festival, leaving people with mixed feelings, says Cao Pengcheng in an article in People's Daily.

Altruism(利他主义) is part of Chinese culture, and there is no lack of good Samaritans(乐善好施者) in the country. But recently, says Cao, some good Samaritans were blackmailed by the people who they helped. It made altruism a tough issue.

Cao says that it is a good thing for people to become more business-minded.but it is one thing to do as cost-benefit analysis (分析) in business, and quite another to measure whether a person in need is worth helping. I people always make such materialistic calculation(物质计算),they will further lower social and moral (道德) standards.

Fortunately,says Cao,there are still people like the man in Taizhou who deepen our belief in altruism and kindheartedness by continuing to help others, despite knowing that the existing system and rules in the county do not offer enough protection for good Samaritans.

4 . The Internet is an amazing tool, especially for children who want to learn. But it also has dark side. Parents have to ask themselves, “When is the right time to let my child go online?”

This is a much bigger problem than it used to be. Now we live in a time when a family could have more than one computer. It is common for children to have their own computers or laptops. Some also have phones and tablets (平板电脑).

Parents do have difficulty in acting correctly. On the one hand, it would be foolish to keep children from the Internet as they can learn a lot from it. But on the other hand, parents shouldn’t let children do whatever they like on the Internet. The problem is that everybody is busy nowadays, and this is certainly true for parents. How many parents have the time to sit don with their kids when they do their homework online? Some do, but more are just not able to.

So at what age should children be allowed to use the Internet? According to a survey, the average age when parents allow their children to go online independently is about eight years old.

As a nonparent (无子女者)，I do find it hard to agree. I always believe that education is the key to success. However, I think children as young as eight may face a lot of dangers when they use the Internet without parents being around. So I think schools and parents have the responsibility to teach children not only how to use the Internet, but also how to do it safely.

5 . According to the World Food Program, one third of the food of the world is lost or wasted. It’s up to some 1.3 billion tons every year, worth about $1 trillion. Moreover, a report in 2021 Sugests that 8 to10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (排放) are associated with wasting food.

“For our parents and the older generations,‘clearing your plate’ is more about saving some food for a rainy day.”Liu Jichen, founder and CEO of Clear Plate, an anti-food wasting program, told us.

The idea for Clear Plate came to Liu after one dinner at a restaurant in late 2017. The customers who finished all the food they’d ordered would be given a card, and then they could exchange their cards for rewards. “Yet it was limited to one restaurant’s actions, so I thought, why not try it on a larger scale (规模)? And how?” Liu wondered. And then he teamed up with some of his friends,founded a startup and developed the Clear Plate applet.

“The Clear Plate team is trying to deal with the issue (问题) of food waste. After a meal, users of WeChat take photos of their clean plates, post these on WeChat, collect points, and then exchange their points for gifts or charity donations,” Liu explained.

Starting in 2018, Clear Plate has now more than 4.3 million users with about 45 million participations in anti-food wasting actions, reducing food waste by 1,700 tons and carbon emissions by 6,600 tons. Liu’s determination represents a small change of the Chinese lifestyle and more people are turning toward a healthier, greener and more low-carbon lifestyle.

7 . In many families today, both the mother and the father have jobs outside the home. This can make it difficult to take care of the children. To help, some companies are changing the work rules. These companies are trying to be more family-friendly.

What are companies doing to become family-friendly? Many companies are allowing their employees (雇员) to work flexible (灵活的) hours. With flexible hours, people can work full time, but they don’t have to work to a nine-to-five schedule. Some employees choose to come early and leave early. Some employees choose to work ten hours one day and six hours the next. Most companies say that flexible hours increase productivity. In the United States, about one-third of full-time employees have flexible work schedules.

Family-friendly companies also allow two employees to share one job. Each employee does half the job and gets half the salary. In the United States, 27% of the companies offer some kind of job sharing.

Many family-friendly companies also give paid leave to both parents when a baby is born. In many countries, employers have to give female workers time off before and after the birth of a child. In the United States, for example, female employees get 12 weeks of unpaid time off. New mothers can stay at home, but they don t get their salary. In some countries, employers have to give all workers paid leave for the birth of their child. In Finland, for example, both male and female employees get paid leave. Women get 105 days of paid leave and men get 42.

The way people work is changing. For many people, that is a good thing.

On 28 July 1976, the city’s one million people were asleep as usual. One of the most deadly earthquakes of the 20th century     1    (strike) the city. In less than one minute, the large city lay in ruins.     2     seemed as if the world were coming to an end. The number of people who were killed or badly     3     (injure) in the quake was more than 400,000. Nearly everything in the city    4     (destroy). But hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, a rescue team     5     (consist) of more than 10,000 doctors and nurses came to provide medical care. Soldiers were sent to Tangshan to dig out those     6     were trapped in the quakes. Water and food were brought into the city and     7     (shelter) were built for survivors. The city began     8     (breathe) again.

    9    the help of the government and the efforts of the city’s people, Tangshan started to revive itself and get back up on its feet. In times of disaster, people must unite and stay positive to rebuild for     10    brighter future.

9 . Farmers in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh are now growing herbs(草药) instead of traditional crops such as rice, wheat and corn. They are trying to save their farms from monkeys eating their crops.

For years, farmers have fought a losing battle with increasing number of monkeys. The animals invade farms in several northern Indian states, searching for food and destroying crops worth millions of dollars. Many have given up on farming because of the monkey problem. Officials estimate that 40 percent of the farmland in the area is unplanted.

Agriculture experts say switching to herbs will protect farmers’ crops and bring higher profits. Monkeys do not attack herbs with medicinal properties. Farmers can make more money as demand for herbsboostsfrom Indian companies making medicinal and personal care products. India's herbal product industry is worth $4 billion and growing quickly. Some farmers have already started planting herbs with help from the medicinal plants board.

Experts have listed about 100 herbs that can be grown on the empty farmland where villagers stopped growing crops. So far, nearly 4,000 farmers have switched to growing herbs in seven North Indian states. In Himachal Pradesh, the number is 300.

An expert says the most successful farmers have strong business sense and are willing to innovate. His organization also links farmers in distant villages with possible buyers to make sure they can market their crops.

Monkeys are also becoming problems in cities, including India's capital New Delhi. They are famous for stealing food and even mobile phones.

In December, experts gave lawmakers advice on dealing with monkeys often seen around parliament (议会) . The experts advised leaving the animals alone and not making eye contact. The monkey population has increased since India banned their export for biomedical research in 1978. But many in Hindu-majority India respect and feed the animals. They link the monkeys to the Hindu god Hanuman, who takes the form of a monkey.