1 . At some point, something will have to be done about the stuffed toys (毛绒玩具). I haven’t counted them because, truthfully, I’m not prepared to know how many there are. Lately, our neighborhood’s message boards are filled with posts about parents trying to make space, to clear out the things their kids no longer need. The tone of some of these posts can best be described as “emergency”. “Help!” they sometimes begin. “I have to get this out of my house.”

“The proliferation (激增) of children’s toys is the outcome of a long, gradual cultural change,”says Gary Cross, a professor at Pennsylvania State University. To understand how we got here — drowning (淹没于) in all those stuffed toys and bricks — it helps to look as far back as the late 19th century. “Parents were no longer passing their jobs on to the children,” Cross says. “Instead, they connect across generations through the gifting process. From the early 20th century on, goods became the things that define relationships between family members, and the way of marking success as a family.”

Then, how can parents deal with the proliferation of children’s toys at home? Naeemah Ford Goldson, a professional organizer, is also a mom of two. In her own home, Goldson likes to include her kids in the work of sorting out their toys. They know that the items they don’t need anymore will be given to people who can use them, to families who might not be as fortunate as theirs. “Doing so helps them build those habits of letting go,” she says, “so then they don’t become adults who are too dependent on material things instead of experiences, or people, and the memories we make with people.”

Her idea made sense. She told her 5-year-old they should pick some to give to kids in their community who came from another country and had to leave their toys behind. She immediately took a pink bear from the pile.

2 . In January, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, appeared at a hearing to answer questions about how social media potentially harms children. Zuckerberg opened by saying: “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link (关联) between using social media and young people having worse mental health.”

But many social scientists would disagree with that statement. In recent years, studies have started to show a causal link between teen social media use and reduced well-being. One of the most cited studies into this link focused on Facebook.

Researchers tried to discover whether the platform’s introduction across college campuses in the mid-2000s increased symptoms (症状) related to mental health problems. The answer was a clear yes, says Alexey Makarin, a coauthor of the study. “There is still a lot to be explored,” Makarin says, “but to say there is no causal evidence that social media causes mental health issues, and I definitely object to that.”

The concern and the studies come from data showing that social media use in teens aged 13 to 17 is now very common. Two-thirds of teens report using TikTok, and some 60 percent of teens report using Instagram or Snapchat, a 2022 survey found. Another survey showed that girls, on average, spend around 3. 4 hours per day on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, compared with about 2.1 hours among boys. At the same time, more teens are showing signs of depression than ever, especially girls.

As more studies show a strong link between these phenomena, researchers are starting to move their attention to possible solutions. Why does social media use seem to bring about mental health problems? Why do those effects unevenly exist among different groups, such as girls or young adults? And can the good points of social media be teased out (梳理) from the bad points to provide more targeted guidance to teens, their caregivers and policymakers?

3 . A four-year-old dog named Kob became a hero in its neighborhood by discovering a possibly life-threatening gas leak (泄漏) in its owner’s front yard.

This dog’s actions not only _______ its surroundings, but also stressed the importance of the behavior of our furry friends.

The story began when Kob, _______ by 28-year-old Chanell Bell, started digging a large hole in the yard. At first, Bell thought this was typical dog _______, but as the hole grew larger, she became _______. Recognizing that Kob’s actions were unusual, she trusted the dog’s judgment, considering its normally well-behaved nature.

After _______ a recent gas leak in her home, Chanel _______ a gas detecting (探测) tool. She followed her sense and chose to use the tool to _______ the newly dug hole by Kob.

Finding gas coming out of the hole, Bell _______ contacted the authorities about the issue.

“If it wasn’t found, the _______ would have continued to escape into our homes,” Bell said. “We were told it could have caused ________ health effects like breathing issues, brain damage, and even ________. They told me that something as simple as ________ a light could have caused a burst!”

During the repairs, workers ________three main gas leaks in Bell’s neighborhood caused by aging ________. It took the workers over three days to repair the leaks and replace the old equipment.

Throughout the repairs, the workers________ Kob for saving the neighborhood.

4 . It’s commonly acknowledged that our lives are ruled by algorithms (算法), but have we really collectively understood how they have transformed our culture and personality?

In Filterworld: How algorithms flattened culture, Kyle Chayka argues convincingly that the rise of algorithm-driven feeds, used everywhere online from Instagram to Spotify, has led to a more uniform culture. Our tastes and desires increasingly don’t belong to us, but to algorithms that are designed to keep people engaged at all costs. If the collection of our tastes truly shapes our entire personality, then this loss is more psychologically damaging than it first appears. Aimlessly scrolling (滚屏) through Netflix or TikTok may seem harmless, but over days, months or years, we lose touch with what we like and enjoy.

Taste-making algorithms are inescapable. Chayka shows this by working through all corners of life: what we wear(TikTok), where we eat(Google Maps), music we listen to(Spotify), even who we date or marry(Tinder). This universe of algorithm-driven decisions has society-wide implications: “It extends to influence our physical spaces, our cities, and the routes we move through…flattening them in turn.” No one gets out of the Filterworld untouched.

If you’re lucky enough not to need any sort of algorithm-based system for your work, then you have the option to step back from algorithms for a while. But if your friend suggests a film recommended on X/Twitter or you feel the need to buy those shoes suddenly everyone has started wearing after social media advertisements, what are you to do? It all feels fruitless.

This Filterworld may be inescapable, but there is hope. You can start by engaging more with the media you do choose to consume. This could mean reading up about a film you watched or paying artists you like directly. Even the thoughtful act of recommending an album (专辑) to a friend is more rewarding than a random TikTok feed. As Chayka says, resistance to algorithms “requires an act of willpower, a choice to move through the world in a different way.”

6 . The Internet is a global network, which allows digital information to travel around the world. Let’s view some most popular uses of the Internet.

Information search

We search for information every day.     1    . Search engines then provide us with valuable and useful data, information and knowledge at any time, instantly upon our request.

    2    

One of the most significant and popular use of the Internet is email. Email is a common thing that a majority of people check after they have logged (登录) on to the Internet.     3    . Besides the email, today, there are many other online tools and online chat software apps for audio and video chat.

Online shopping

    4    . In the beginning, many people didn’t have trust in the e-commerce website, but that has changed over time. Now we can order anything like clothing, fashion accessories, machines, books, technology things and so on without visiting physical stores.

Education

The Internet plays an important role in effectively shaping today’s school education process. It has the availability and the quality of learning for many students. They can study what they want and whenever they feel the most productive.     5    .

We are witnessing the rise of informal education where college graduates have online access and can sharpen their skills and get faster progress in a specific field.

Socializing with my friends online is my life. The moment I wake     1     I check through all my social networking     2     (app), reading my emails and posting updates. I have 500 friends online and I live with several roommates, but I feel lonely. It seems that I have an active social life,     3     (attend) parties and playing sports, but I’m absent-minded because I     4     (strong) obsess over my phone.

Social networking     5     (be) the master of my life. Though sometimes I set deadlines    6     (tear) myself away from my phone, I fail again and again. Spending so much time socializing online. I always feel     7     (depress) and alone. As a result, I can’t finish what I should do in my real life.

It is common that at parties or at a family holiday, most members fix their eyes on their phones,     8    they think is normal rather than rude.

What is most worrying is that it is     9     (possible) to drop my phone. I need it for my studies because my teachers and classmates need to contact me. It is     10     problem that we are so close but really so far.