1 . Good afternoon. I am Sullivan. Now think about a question: What determines the way we are when we grow up? Let’s start with the TV program Seven Up. Do you still remember it? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals: nervous 14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.

There are ups and downs in their lives, but interestingly, in almost all the cases the children’s early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or taxi driver. When he grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Nicki? She says, “I would like to find out about the moon.” And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help “poor children” and ends up teaching in India.

But the program would have been far less interesting if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come that made the program so fascinating. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or by what their teachers say? Many film directors, including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives. One of my colleagues, Dr. Margaret, who has devoted herself to researches in this area and published her findings in Science, thinks that the major factors are parents, friends and the wider society.

3 . College debt is becoming as much of a problem for Americans close to retirement as it is for new graduates. There are now about 8. 7 million Americans aged over 50 who are still paying off college loans. They borrowed the money either to pay for an education for their children or themselves. Their debt is growing fast, increasing by about half since 2017 to a total of $ 370 billion — an average of $ 40, 900 per borrower. In 2019, roughly $4.9 billion was deducted (扣除) right from retirees’ Social Security income.

"Part of the blame falls on the federally backed PLUS program,” said Tara Siegel Bernard in The New York Times. "Parent PLUS loans”, which have few application requirements other than a basic credit check, have broadened access to capital for many parents. But the “loans can be unforgiving”. William and Kate Schweizer “didn’t want their two daughters to begin their adult lives burdened with college debt”. So they borrowed $ 220, 000 for their schooling. Increasingly they had trouble paying. Now their debt has ballooned to $500, 000. The consequences of defaulting (拖欠) are serious: “The government can take their wages and Social Security.”

“Unfortunately, President Biden’s $ 6 trillion budget doesn’t offer much assistance,” said Eric Levitz in NYMag.com. “During his campaign, Biden called for forgiving $ 10, 000 in federal student loan debt for every borrower among other ways to ease the college debt burden. But the chances of passing such measures through Congress are slim.”

“Don’t bankrupt yourself for your kids,” said Beth Akers in USA Today. The safer option to pay for college is “a student loan taken out in your child’s name”. A federal student loan — not a private one — can protect borrowers through income-driven repayment programs. There is also a better chance that a loan forgiveness program could materialize to help out student borrowers. And remember that “if you overextend yourself financially to make a college dream come true for your child, you are taking away your ability to be your child’s financial backstop.”

5 . Life can be challenging for teens. They must deal with schoolwork, family life and friends at the same time to fit. Feelings of sadness, frustration and irritability are common.     1     Their negative feelings don't come and go. Instead, those intense feelings can point to a disease called depression—one that may require treatment.

It's easy to think that depressed people simply feel sad or hopeless. For many teens that may be true.     2     Some kids withdraw from friends and family. Others respond with angry outbursts. Some teens may skip school or stop eating or sleeping. Teachers, parents or even a teen's close friends may find it hard to tell whether these behaviors are just part of being a teens or signs of something truly serious.

Even depressed teens may not realize they have this problem.     3     More than three million Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 experienced depression in 2019. However, a study by researchers at Harvard and Yale universities found that half of all teens with depression don't get help until they become adults. And only one in three will have been diagnosed by their doctor.

    4     "I can only work with what you give me," Dee says, the mental-health professional in Lincoln, Neb.

Dee says, peers should also seek for signs of depression. Keep an eye on your friends, she recommends. Watch for symptoms of isolation (孤立) or hopelessness.     5     Any of these behaviors could be a symptom of depression.

Overall, knowing who—and how—to help is essential for successfully treating depression in teens.

6 . The way people purchase clothes has fundamentally changed in response to the “fast fashion", the result of mass -market retailers (零售商) increasing the production of inexpensive fashion lines to meet the demands of quickly changing trends. It is not uncommon for retailers to introduce new products multiple times in a single week to stay on trend. This may seem like a good thing at first glance, but it is causing more problems than it is solving.

Workers in factories in underdeveloped areas face mistreatment, including poor working conditions, low wages and forced overtime. So before making a deal, ask retailers questions such as where products are made and how many people work there. Watch for warming signs and use your judgment if something doesn't feel right.

Another reason to rethink about the trend has something to do with the impact on our rivers, lakes and oceans. Chemical pollutants are released into waterways every time those clothes are washed. What can be done is as simple as buying from brands known for their preference for using organic materials, because they are trying not to add to the pollution.

Besides, people don't keep clothes as long as they used to, and the rate of production to keep up has resulted in tons of waste. It's easy to see at manufacturing (生产) sites the massive wastes. Even holding giant sales or rewarding customers for bringing in second-hand clothes is not enough.

Only with enough customers saying “No” to fast fashion can we work toward a better future.

7 . Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history. Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the world forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.

Why should people care? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more.

Animals are more than just beautiful and interesting. They are more than just a source of food. Every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems.

For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks(老鹰), the farmers stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice. With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice multiplied quickly.

Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger.

Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid(禁止)the killing of any animals or plants on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.

8 . If you could change your child's DNA in the future to protect them against diseases, would you? It could be possible because of technology known as CRISPR- Cas, or just CRISPR.

CRISPR involves a piece of RNA, a chemical messenger, designed to work on one part of DNA； it also uses an enzyme (If) that can take unwanted genes out and put new ones in, according to The Economist. There are other ways of editing DNA, but CRISPR will do it very simply, quickly, and exactly.

The uses of CRISPR could mean that cures are developed for everything from Alzheimer's to cancer to HIV. By allowing doctors to put just the right cancer-killing genes into a patient's immune system, the technology could help greatly.

In April scientists in China said they had tried using CRISPR to edit the genomes (基因组)of human embryos. Though the embryos would never turn into humans, this was the first time anyone had ever tried to edit DNA from human beings. With this in mind, the US' National Academy of Sciences plans to discuss questions about CRISPR s ethics(伦理问题).For example_? CRISPR doesn't work properly yet. As well as cutting the DNA it is looking for, it often cuts other DNA, too. In addition, we currently seem to have too little understanding of what DNA gives people what qualities.

There are also moral questions around playing God”. Of course, medicine already stops natural things from happening-for example, it saves people from infections. The opportunities to treat diseases make it hard to say we shouldn't keep going.

A harder question is whether it is ever right to edit human germ-line(种系)cells and make changes that are passed on to children. This is banned in 40 countries and restricted in many others. However, CRISPR means that if genes can be edited out, they can also be edited back in. It may be up to us as a society to decide when and where editing the genome is wrong.

Also, according to The Economist, gene editing may mean that parents make choices that are not obviously in the best interests of their children: “Deaf parents may prefer their children to be deaf too； parents might want to make their children more intelligent at all costs.

In the end, more research is still needed to see what we can and can't do with CRISPR. “It's still a huge mystery how we work,” Craig Mello_? a UMass Medical School biologist and Nobel Prize winner, told The Boston Globe, "We're just trying to figure out this amazingly complicated thing we call life.

9 . Leftover again? Hurray

Here’s the deal: You’re as hungry as a horse and you want a delicious meal from a fine restaurant, but you’re a little low on funds.

So what do you do? If you happen to live in Europe, the answer is as easy as pie: You pull out your smartphone or tablet, and tap Too Good To Go, Europe’s most popular app. Approximately 23,000 restaurants and food sellers post their leftover offerings on the app for half their usual cost.

Why all this incredible generosity? Unbelievably, one-third of the world’s food is thrown away, and nearly one billion people don’t have enough to eat. Besides, burning wasted food releases harmful carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change. That’s why environment-minded companies around the world are creating apps for phones, tablets, and other smart devices that connect uneaten food with people who want or need it.

After a long day at work, Anne, a 34-year-old student, pulls out her smartphone and chooses a noodle dish—pasta with mushrooms. Then she heads to a restaurant on the banks of the Spree River, where the owner packs her dinner and also offers her a scoop of free ice cream, which is a reward for bringing her own container.

Indeed, there are many programs serving the same mission around the world. In America, people are using an app called Food for All. One hour before a restaurant closes, its staff can post leftover meals to the app for up to 80 percent off menu prices. The app also allows customers to donate leftover meals to others.

In the Netherlands, 77,000 people have downloaded an app called NoFoodWasted. This program allows grocery store workers to share products that are approaching their expiration dates with customers who might need them.

Some countries are taking their commitment to reducing food waste a step further. France and the Czech Republic, for example, have laws that prohibit restaurants and grocery stores from throwing away food. Instead, workers are required to donate that food to charity.

So think about if there might be a better use for your uneaten vegetables. The planet will thank you.

10 . Children in England will no longer be able to buy energy drinks.    1    It is now asking for public suggestions as to what age the ban(禁令) should start at (16 or 18), the BBC reported An energy drink is a type of drink that contains stimulants(兴奋剂), such as caffeine .     2    The makers of these drinks say that they can give you energy when you feel tired and keep you going. They have another name:battery water.

    3    Energy drinks have sixty five percent more sugar than normal soft drinks. This may explain why children are getting fatter and fatter.     4    

In the UK, more than 2/3 of 10 to 17-year-olds buy energy drinks, according to the government. “    5    Shops in England that sell the drinks to children would pay up to 22070 pounds if they don’t follow the ban. Restaurants should also obey the government’s rules.”