2 . A conference was held with former technology industry leaders calling for immediate measures to protect children from smartphone addiction.

Among those major changes is Tristan Harris—a former high-level employee at Google. He just organized a group that will seek to gather and publish evidence of how digital devices and social media can harm children and young people. Harris says he believes companies like Google, Facebook and Apple have a “moral responsibility” not to create technology products that can “hijack how the mind works”.

The conference where Harris spoke was supported by Common Sense Media, a child and family activist group. The organization says research suggests that half of all teenagers feel addicted to their mobile devices, while about 60 percent of parents believe their kids are addicted.

The group also mentions a recent study of eighth-graders that found heavy users of technology were 56 percent more likely to say they are unhappy, while 27 percent more likely to be depressed. Even Facebook spoke of research last year suggesting that social media use can harm mental health when used in certain ways.

James Steyer is the founder of Common Sense. He says more than half of schools in the US are already members of the organization. The group provides teachers and parents with learning materials intended to help students develop critical thinking skills and balance their digital lives.

Some US schools, however, have tried to limit or remove technology to improve learning. One of them is in Silicon Valley, the center of the American tech industry.

The Waldorf School of the Peninsula does not use any computers or digital technology in its education programs up to the seventh grade. The school’s website says while Waldorf teachers recognize the role technology can play in the classroom, it must wait until the student reaches the right developmental age. Normally when students reach high school, they are allowed to use computers and digital tools in the classroom.

Tourism can be both good and bad. Yes, it brings in money for the local economy and creates lots of jobs for locals,     1     it may also bring some problems.

One growing problem is tourists who want to prove     2     (they) coming. Tourists have used paint, rocks, or even keys     3     (write) on the Luxor Temple in Egypt, memorial stones at the bottom of Qomolangma and many, many other places. Thousands of tourist sites are being destroyed by tourists who “love them to     4     (die)”.

Another big problem in some places has been tourists disturbing (打扰) the local people     5     (continual). The local people     6     (take) pictures without asking for their permission. For example, Chiang Mai University in Thailand has great numbers of tourists visiting their campuses, taking pictures of students, and disturbing their studies. I have three words for tourists like this: please be considerate. Have fun in a way     7     does not disturb others.

    8     number of problems from tourists is endless: walking in large groups without considering     9     (other) who need to walk by, crossing roads without thinking of local traffic laws, and many more. The only way to solve the problem of the terrible tourists is to make sure that you are not one! Be the best,     10     (kind), most polite tourist possible.

6 . For so long, failure has been pictured as something negative, something to be ashamed of and something to be kept a secret. But a Swedish psychologist, Samuel West, has decided to put our worst fears on the table. He is opening a museum - the Museum of Failure - in Helsingborg, Sweden, this June.

Instead of showing successes, as museums usually do, the Museum of Failure will display over 60 “failed” products from big-name companies such as Nokia, Apple and Coca-Cola. “I really hope you see that these mega-brands that everybody respects, they screw up too,” West told The New York Times. “I hope that makes you feel less nervous about learning something new.”

West’s opinion isn’t a new one. Albert Einstein once said, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” And this idea has been embraced by lots of companies in the US. Silicon Valley, for example, is the home of some of the world’s most creative companies, yet its slogan turns out to be, quite surprisingly, “Fail fast, fail often.”

However, there are reasons for his. “The best companies are those that encourage failure, embrace out-of-the-box thinking, and allow employers to make mistakes and see what happens,” wrote Simon Casuto of Forbes.

But some people are doubtful of this so-called “culture of failure”. They are worried that if failure becomes a “symbol of honor”, as Wired magazine put it, it may even be seen as “uncool” when someone tries to reduce the risk of failure. This may push people to care too little and try too little.

“Sometimes people hid behind failure, when they could have prevented it,” wrote Anna Isaac of The Telegraph.

So it’s important that you set apart the two kinds of failure—the kind that makes you a loser and the kind that takes you forward. The key is whether you’ve learned something from your mistakes.

“Learning is the only process that turns failure into success.” West said The Guardian. “If you don’t learn from your failures, then you’ve really failed.”

8 . Through several measures, Sunifia, a brand in outdoor clothing, is actively supporting a circular model of clothing. It encourages people to share, resell, repair, and reuse their clothes, producing less waste.

Every second, one garbage truck of clothes is sent to the landfill or is burned, according to a report by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Sunifia is taking this alarming data seriously.

A few years ago, the fashion brand opened an independent online store, which is a collection of renewed clothing where people resell their old clothes for cash or store credits and shop for second-hand goods. Now Sunifia is including a “buy used” option on their website, offering pre-loved clothes alongside their newest designs.

Other chains, for example, Macy’s, have also used the new circular economy business model. Famous traditional businesses are also becoming used clothing providers, and are changing the way pre-loved clothes are sold and viewed. Even the shoppers, who used to be doubtful, are now open to the idea of buying used quality items. As a result, it is no surprise that the total secondhand market is projected to grow to almost twice the size of fast fashion by 2029, as seen in the report by thredUP.   

Naturally, the most sustainable piece of clothing is the one that already exists. This “green” article of clothing doesn’t require using natural resources. It saves clothes from ending up in landfills, and it requires no plastic packaging.

According to a 2018 report by thredUP, buying a piece of used clothing increases its life on average by 2.2 years, which reduces its carbon, waste, and water footprint by 73 percent. So even though the development of innovative materials and processes in fashion seems promising, wearing secondhand clothes is the easiest and most immediate way to face the environmental challenges the fashion industry brings.

Action like Sunifia’s Buy Used initiative shows responsibility towards the environment and also encourages other companies to produce high-quality items that last for years. Buying second-hand clothes makes it possible to get the same great quality expected from leading brands at a more affordable price, and increases the lifetime of clothing.

10 . The Chinese are very generous(慷慨)when it comes to educating their children. Not _____   the money, parents often send their children to the _______schools or even abroad to England, the USA or Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course ______where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head start in life. The Chinese believe that the ________an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend a (an)_____amount of money on education. Even_____couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.

_______, what most parents _____to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize ______, is that today’s children _________self-respect and self-confidence(自信).

The problem is that parents are only _____ their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be ________, happy and clever.

Parents can achieve this by teaching _______ skills like cooking, sewing, and doing other housework._______ a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands ______ and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult ________ . A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job_____ . His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of self-confidence.

Some old machines such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your children to play with will make him ______ and arouse his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to _____ them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These ____ are not merely teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.