1 . The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was invented by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is a self-report questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The MBTI personality inventory (量表) sorts people into 16 type categories, each of which is represented by four-letter codes such as INFP and ESTJ. Every year, about 1.5 million people have enjoyed discovering their personality type by completing the MBTI. Many companies, as well as hundreds of universities, use it in hiring and training.

Nevertheless, the MBTI has received a noticeable criticism from the academic community. Some research suggests the MBTI is unreliable because the same person can get different results when retaking the test. Other studies have questioned the validity of the MBTI, which is the ability of the test to accurately link the “types” to outcomes in the real world -for example, how well people classified as a certain type will perform in a given job.

Merve Emre, a professor a Oxford University, points out that it would be more scientifically advisable to score the MBTI scales continuously to show people the degree to which they resemble the types. Even when the MBTI’s results don’t quite match your intuition (直觉) about yourself or are just wrong, they can still provide self-insight and insight into differences and similarities between people.

Scoring and interpreting the MBTI the way other personality inventories are scored and interpreted might be less fun than finding. All of the folklore (民间看法) about INFPs, ESTJs, etc. would have to be dismissed. But, in the end the MBTI is sufficiently reliable and valid enough to be useful in a number of real-world contexts.

2 . Under the background of the slow growth of its total population to 1.44 billion, China has seen a sharp rise in older adults over the past decade, solidifying the country’s rapidly aging pattern, the latest national census (人口普查) data shows. The population on the Chinese mainland increased by an average of 0.53 percent annually during the past 10 years to 1.41 billion, compared with an annual growth rate of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the 7th national census published by the National Bureau of Statistics.

“The growth of the total population has slowed down but remains at a steady pace,” Ning Jizhe, head of the bureau, said at a news conference. “Based on trends in recent years, China’s population will grow at an increasingly slow rate in the future while remaining above 1.4 billion.” The increasing elderly population has become a defining feature of the past decade.

Ning said an aging society will set the tone for China's population structure for a long time, presenting challenges and opportunities. “A graying population will pile pressure on supply of labor force and social services, as well as adding to families’ elderly care burden. But more elderly people could also motivate consumption of products and services targeting this age group, and advance the development of some technologies,” he said.

Ning added that those between the ages of 60 and 69, who are equipped with knowledge, experience and skills and are generally in good health, make up nearly 56 percent of all older adults. “Their potential to continue making contributions to society and playing a constructive role is big,” he responded to a question on the outlook for raising the retirement age and carrying out other potential measures aimed at addressing the aging trend. Some population economists also said the latest number and proportion (比例) of elderly are largely within predictions, and the aging trend will continue for a long time.

3 . In October, temperatures across China begin to drop. Do you experience a change of mood as it turns to winter？

Many people do. For about one in 20 people in the northern half of the United States. cooling temperatures and shorter, darker days may show the start of seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, a type of depression (抑郁) that typically arrives in the fall or winter. The New York Times reported.

Not every mild blue feeling in winter is SAD. SAD symptoms (症状) make it difficult for people to function. It tends to start with an increased desire for foods like French fries or ice cream, the eagerness to sleep longer hours, difficulty getting up in the morning and feeling wiped out at work, according to Males Online.

The exact cause of this disorder remains unknown. But the good news is that because SAD is tied to the changing seasons, “You can predict its start and ward it off.” Michael Terman, a professor at Columbia University. US, told The New York Times.

“There’s been a fair bit of research since about the 1980s supporting light therapy (疗法) as being effective for seasonal kinds of depression,” Rakhi Chand told The Guardian. But she also advised using this type of therapy under the guidance of a professional.

While light therapy is the first recommended treatment for SAD, getting outside regularly can offer other opportunities to get some light. “You might want to act like bears in winter, but don’t.” Norman E. Rosenthal, the doctor whose research team identified and named the disorder in the 1980s, told The New York Times. “Walking outside even 20 or 30 minutes each day could make a huge difference,” he added. Therefore, outdoor activities like skiing are highly recommended.

Also, instead of giving in to food rich in sugar, it is important to choose foods that are known to improve one’s mood such as dark chocolate and nuts, according to Egypt Today.

Too nervous to enter winter？Remember. SAD is seasonal. If winter comes, can spring be too fa behind？

4 . Hillary Clinton said, a decade ago, that "The subjugation(压迫) of women is a threat to the common security of our world." Societies that subjugate women are far more likely to be violent and unstable.

There are several possible reasons for this. In many places girls are selectively aborted(流产). This has led to abnormal sex ratios(比例), which mean millions of young men are doomed to remain single. Frustrated young men are more likely to commit violent crimes or join rebel groups.

Societies based on male bonding tend to subjugate women. Fathers choose whom their daughters will marry. Often there is a bride price -- the groom's family pay what are sometimes considerable sums to the bride's family. This encourages fathers to make their daughters marry early. Bride prices are common in half the world's countries. A fifth of the world's young women were married before the age of 18; a twentieth before 15. Child brides are more likely to drop out of school, less able to stand up to abusive husbands and less likely to raise healthy, well-educated children.

Peace talks should include women. Between 1992 and 2019, only 13% of negotiators and 6% of signatories of peace deals were female. Yet peace tends to last longer when women are at the table. This may be because they are more ready to compromise: or perhaps because a room without women implies a conflict between the men with guns without input from non-combatants(非武装人员).

More broadly, governments should mean it when they say they want to liberate half of humanity. Educate girls, many of whom have quit school to work or marry. Enforce bans on child marriage, hard though that is in remote villages. Equalize inheritance rights. Teach boys not to hit women. Introduce public pensions, which weaken the tradition where couples are expected to live with the man's parents. But policymakers who fail to consider the interests of half the population cannot hope to understand the world.

We tend to think about success in terms of wealth and accomplishments. That’s a fair measurement, but the problem is that when we addict into the     1     (victory), we tend to overlook the sacrifices required in order to get there. In fact,     2     (neglect) to account for the existing sacrifices is one reason why so many of us have a hard time sticking to     3     (health) habits and following up on goals.

Time is a factor when it comes to making sacrifices. As Warren Buffett famously     4     (say), “It’s the only thing you can’t buy. I mean, I can buy anything I want, basically, but I can’t buy time.” He’s     5     (absolute) right. Should you watch another section of your favorite Netflix show     6     give up TV for two months so you can plant that garden you always dreamed about?

Making the decision isn’t easy, but the good news is     7     we already do this naturally. A 2009 study found that people are “far    8     (little) willing to keep many choices open” when some have bigger rewards than others. If the payoffs are unknown, however, we have a harder time giving them up. That’s why doing an activity check is so important. You have to actually take the time     9     (figure) out the opportunity costs, gains of each and what to pursue over the     10    .