1 . Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends — 532, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.

But is it possible that Kaylee’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.

Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not Words With Friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.

Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platforms (平台).

In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger, “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.

Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual words, we will have little time for our real-world friendships.” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need someone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.

3 . A new trend called “praise groups” or “in-need-of-praise” chat groups has become popular on Chinese social media. In Chinese culture, where modesty (谦逊) is valued, openly seeking and giving praise is uncommon. These chat groups provide a platform for people to receive compliments (赞扬) and encouragement, which are often lacking in their daily lives.

To join a praise group, users can pay a fee on e-commerce sites, starting at 50 yuan for five minutes of compliments. The group members will then show the person with praises and kind words. The compliments can be designed for a friend or loved one as well. Participants have found that being praised by strangers can help lift their spirits and improve their self-confidence.

For example, Meng Zha, a student at Shanghai’s Tongji University, tried the service and found it amusing and uplifting. She received compliments on her appearance and even quotes (引用) from popular songs. Ms Meng couldn’t help but laugh at the compliments and expressed her desire to post such high-quality praises in the future.

Praise groups have appeared as a way for people in China to seek and receive compliments and encouragement that may be lacking in their daily lives. It provides a positive and uplifting experience for participants, improving a sense of happiness and self-worth.

Those who support the groups, see them as an antidote to extremely bad moods (情绪) which are often associated with things happening on the Internet. “At first, the purpose of this group is to make us learn to praise others and accept others’ praises confidently. Here we can drop everything, and use our heart to praise and support others,” one member said. But the life journey is long and there are some unexpected situations that we can only count on ourselves to face when there is no one out there to offer help.

5 . Are you carrying too much on your back at school? I’m ______lots of children of your age will say “yes”. Not only do the students in China have this problem, but children in the United States are also   ______of heavy school bags.

Doctors are starting to worry that more and more _______students are having back and neck problems ______ heavy school bags. “It’s ______for me to go upstairs with my bag because it’s so heavy,” ______Rick Hammond, an 11-year-old boy in the US. Rick is among the students whose school bags have two straps (带子) to ______them, but many other students ______ rolling backpacks(拉杆书包). The ______ is that even with rolling backpacks, getting up stairs and buses is______ a problem for children.

Well, how much is too much? Doctors ______that students carry no more than 10% to 15% of their own body weight. Scott Butch, a doctor for ______pain, said children under 4th grade should stay with 10%, but it is also ______that older children don’t go beyond 15%______their bones are still growing. “ There are other injuries caused by ______,”Butch explained.“ And it is______ for children to fall down with these large heavy bags,” he added.

Parents and teachers have come up with some new ______. They have started to tell children to only take home library books they will be ______that night. Some teachers are also using pieces of paper or ______ workbooks for students to take home. One of the best answers though(然而), as some ______themselves have suggested, is to have no homework at all!

6 . Peter, 60, loved his job as a bus driver. He had been one almost all his life, loving the little children who rode his bus daily. It made him feel much younger. His record was clean, without one accident, which made him a trustworthy driver.

However, Mr. Clark, Peter’s boss, was worried and thought that it was time for him to retire (退休). “You don’t have a choice here, Peter.” he said seriously. “We don’t want to invite any risk to the children.”

“But I have a perfect record,” reasoned Peter. “You know, for an elderly man like me, my job is the only thing that keeps me alive. I want to keep my job.”

“Would you take responsibility if something bad happened to those children?” Mr. Clark said.

Peter thought it over, and very reluctantly, he gave in to Mr. Clark’s request. Peter decided to retire a week later.

The day before his last day, Peter was dropping of the kids at his first stop when he looked out of the window and saw a lady who had passed out. He asked the kids not to leave the bus and got down to help the woman.

Just when he finished, he heard cries behind him. The children were looking out of the window and shouting. “Fire! Fire! Help!” “How could that have happened?” Peter was shaking in fear. With shaking hands, Peter dialed 911 and rushed to help the children. Covering himself with his jacket, Peter rushed into the burning car and took the children out one by one. Thankfully, the firefighters arrived soon and helped Peter, saving all students.

The next day, Peter found the whole school standing in front of his home. When Peter got close to them, Mr. Clark started clapping and everyone joined him. “You are a hero, Peter! You saved the lives of those young children.” he said. “You are the best driver. We hope you can keep the job!”

7 . Recently, the “city walk” has been gaining steam among residents and tourists around China. On social platform Xiaohongshu, data shows that the number of city walk-related topic posts has increased by 700 percent over the past three months, and the total number of interactions has increased by more than 600 percent.

A city walk is a form of urban tourism originating in the UK. Unlike traditional sightseeing, which aims to hit famous attractions and commercial center, usually by vehicles with tense schedules, city walk is about “roaming” around a city on foot, soaking up the atmosphere and finding unusual things that even a resident of the city might not have noticed before. Such walks generally avoid famous scenic spots and shopping centers, and take you to places where you can have real interactions with the local people, eat at small but authentic restaurants, and gain a deeper understanding of the history and culture of the city.

City walkers are a cast of people who possess intense curiosity. They are eager to engage with the city they are visiting or reside in their own way. By “roaming” on foot, city walkers can better feel the texture and listen to the breath of a place. They seek pleasure more through connection than consumption, which indicates a deep cultural curiosity. For example, in Chongqing, if you don’t take a walk, you can hardly experience the unique geographical charm of the mountainous city. Be it the hutong in Beijing or the Chinese parasol tree district in Shanghai; city walks allow people to see the scenery apart from the scene and uncover hidden knowledge.

The appeal of a city walk lies in the young generation’s changing attitude toward life — pursuing quality leisure time while being occupied with demanding workloads and limited time for exploration. While roaming along the road, you can entirely focus on yourself and listen to your inner voice and care for what you feel, which is a way to love yourself and benefit your mental health. Just like Oscar Wilde once said, “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”

10 . Our teenagers are lonely. A new study by Harvard’s Making Caring Common (MCC) shows just how that feeling has been common and become serious during the past year when we had to keep the social distance. One year’s online learning and life in the bedrooms rather than the classrooms or dorm (宿舍) rooms can make teenagers feel lonelier than before. Teenagers have been more likely to be influenced by loneliness than older adults.

Experiencing loneliness is certainly sad, but it is also dangerous. Researchers found that 63% of the young were suffering from bad sleep, anxiety, and poor health during the lockdown (封闭) and that nearly a quarter had started or increased some bad habits, including smoking, drinking and staying up late to deal with their feelings.

About half of the young people in the study, who said they had felt lonely, explained that over the past weeks not one person had taken more than just a few minutes to ask how they had been lately. It made them feel they had no one who really cared about them. Their parents thought they had much free time after lessons and it seemed that they only worried about whether their children could perform their schoolwork at the level they once did. They didn’t know the problem.

Sian Leah Beilock, the president of Barnard College, explains that young people depend on social media, which makes them especially weak to social media’s harm. She also suggests that fewer close friends may explain some of the feelings of loneliness. She reports that in 1986 the average American had three close friends with whom they could share important things about their lives. In 2005, that number had dropped to just two friends. And in 2020, one in five millennials (千禧一代) had no friends at all.

These levels of loneliness are heartbreaking. MCC suggests, as a nation, we first should focus on teaching the young to make meaningful connections between people and support them.