2 . Imagine living in an apartment in Manhattan. When Covid-19 hits, you have nowhere to escape. Instead, you go up to the rooftop, where, to your surprise, other renters have come, too. After some awkwardness, everyone starts meeting nightly, drinks in hand, to share stories about themselves. This is the background setting of Fourteen Days, a “collaborative novel” edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston. In addition to these two, 34 authors of varied backgrounds contributed to the book. It is one of a growing number of new works, which are written together in some way.

AI services, such as ChatGPT, have started to become co-authors, too. Such models are also conversational machines, which can suggest phrases, give feedback and answer questions. “Cyborg authorship” is what MrRettberg of University of Bergen calls this. He published a book with Cyborg authorship, in which ChatGPT is tasked with generating reviews of famous works in the style of well-known authors — think Jane Austen writing about William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch.

Writing with collaborators, be they human or artificial, will only become more common. But individual authors will still dominate creatively. That is because collectively written books rarely make for great literature. Many contributions to Fourteen Days are cleverly woven together. But the book does not work quite well. Then there is authorial ego (自我价值感). Getting all 36 authors of Fourteen Days to agree on the text was a challenge, with some writers taking issue with how their story ended up being framed and referred to by other contributors later. And AI is not yet fully accepted in literary circles. Recently KudanRie, the winner of Japan’s top prize for literature, admitted she used ChatGPT to write around 5% of her science-fiction novel Tokyo Sympathy Tower. Such honesty is rare because most would never admit using AI. A new sort of “ghost writing” may be having a moment, but many writers will never want to name ChatGPT as their co-author.

6 . I came across an image recently of a distance runner with a message that told readers to persevere (坚持) at all costs. It reminded me of a conversation I had. My colleague’s teaching assistant was asking for my advice. He wanted to know when to quit something. He described how he’d been playing an online game with people for some time. It hadn’t been very fun lately, but there was always that small chance of a reward (upgraded equipment, etc).

I inquired further about his relationship with the players and his gains from the game. I then discussed the sunk cost dilemma, a concept I studied in advanced school due to its personal impact. In high school, I applied to five universities, planning to choose the cheapest one. SUU offered the best scholarship, and after paying a $100 commitment fee, I heard back from another school with an even better scholarship. Despite the new offer, I stayed committed to SUU, believing that switching schools, even if it meant acknowledging the “wasted” $ 100, would have been the wiser financial choice.

A rational (理性的) decision maker is not ruled by past investments, but weighs future outcomes. I didn’t focus on future outcomes when weighing colleges. I focused on the money I sunk into SUU. Rather than evaluating future career options, I focused on the fact that I’d already taken elementary education courses.

I’m not the only one that’s fallen prey to this. I wear clothes I dislike simply because I spent money on them (and that money won’t come back). Unhealthy relationships last because of the invested time (leading to more unhappy years). However, time, effort, or money that you’ve invested doesn’t mean you should continue. Society often stresses perseverance — never quit, never give up, don’t waste. However, only you know your right path. Walking away can be the toughest choice. You might realize a path you’re on is no longer the right one or never was.

7 . “Mom?” echoed my daughter’s voice on my phone. “I’ve messed up.” My heart sank and I started trembling. I heard a man instructing her to lie down and my 15-year-old daughter, Briana, was at a skiing competition with my husband two hours away, and I was in my car, picking up her sister Aubrey, who is 13, from dance class. Over the phone, I heard Briana crying and shouting, “Help me!’ My blood ran ice cold and my legs turned to jelly.

“You need to pay $1m if you want to see her again,” the man threatened. I didn’t have that kind of money, so agreed to give him $50,000. No part of me questioned whether this was actually real — every instinct within me was screaming out to do anything to save my daughter’s life.

Coming out of class to hear what the emergency was about, Aubrey was thrown into a panic too. One of the mothers who had been calling 911 suspected it was an AI scam which used voice clones generated by artificial intelligence, one of the latest techniques used by criminals hoping to swindle people out of money.

But I just couldn’t accept it. I wouldn’t have mistaken about my daughter’s voice. Eventually, my husband confirmed Briana’s safety, to my relief. But I was devastated to hear that the police only considered this a fake call, and wouldn’t investigate it because no one had been hurt and no money had been taken. They said there had been many reports of them recently…

Reuniting with the family, we held together, grateful for our safety. It’s said that all you need is three seconds of audio to copy a person’s voice. I’m nervous about how new technology like AI can be used to harm children. Having seen first-hand how scary these things can be, I am determined to protect my family and others from similar threats in the future.

The concept of “gap days”     1     (appear) on a variety of social media platforms recently. Unlike a gap year, a gap day means an     2     (extreme) brief period of relaxation and escape from everyday routine. After resting, people will continue to devote     3     (they) to the busy pace of normal life.

Apart from “gap days”, other similar expressions have made     4     hit on the Internet, such as “city walk”, “da zi (activity partner)” and so on. This growing trend of creating new phrases or euphemisms (委婉语) for something otherwise ordinary and common has caused     5     (heat) discussion.

Some people think that these kinds of new phrases better cater to (迎合) people’s mindsets,     6     (show) their optimism. For example, the common expression “taking a walk” is neutral (中性的). But “city walk”     7     (be) the positive version of it, meaning “to explore the city with a curious mind”.

Others disagree, however, and think that it’s simply just a kind of “sugaring up”, satisfying one’s need for showing off. For example, “city walk” is the same as “taking a walk”     8     general. But by calling it a “city walk”, people feel like they are doing something fancier than it actually is.

But no matter how we think of these phrases, they have taken root in our daily lives and have already gained wide     9     (recognize) among the younger generation. So     10     we need to do is not make them out to be bigger than they actually are.

9 . A growing number of under-35s in England are discovering the joys of going to or selling at craft (手艺) fairs and makers’ markets. A 2019 report found that 34% of those who buy hand-made items prefer markets and festival s to galleries or online purchases. The current craft revival (复苏) started through TV and the internet, but now it’s also about face-to-face sales and experiences. When product designer Ben Watson went to his first-ever craft fair in October, he didn’t have great expectations. “I thought there would be retirement-age couples hanging around but found the huge variety of attendees, most of whom engaged with makers throughout the day,” he says.

Nicky Dewar, director at the Crafts Council, says that what we consider as craft has widened, which has brought in an increase in shoppers under 35 buying craft. They also prefer to buy in markets rather than online. There’s something lovely about seeing markets pop up in so many different spaces. They’re important for emerging businesses and a big step for traders.

Sinead Koehler, founder of Crafty Fox Market, says there’s been an explosion of specialist markets all over the country. The festive market provides a platform to showcase unique handcrafted gifts and decorations. The common spread of markets doesn’t find universal approval, though. Koehler says that many craftspeople are aware of markets: “There can be a wide range of possibilities at these events. Quality can vary.”

Involved in selling and running markets since 2015, Sinead O’Connor confirms there has been an increased interest in craft, but she warns traders against selling items that are sourced rather than made by the seller at markets. “I find it encouraging that a lot of customers mentioned they liked my crafts. The feeling I get is that people really like something that can’t be bought from Amazon,” she says.

South Koreans have enjoyed their first close-up look of new baby giant pandas at a name-revealing ceremony that is also     1     early celebration of the 100 days since the twins’ birth.

What to name the twin sisters was widely discussed among netizens after they were born on July 7 in theme park Everland. The names were     2     (ultimate) decided on through two public voting     3     (procedure). One is named Rui Bao, which means wise treasure, and the other is Hui Bao or shining treasure. Half a million panda lovers helped choose their names with a handful of lucky fans     4     (invite) to the ceremony. “They are even     5     (cute) in real life than they appear on screen,” said a college student in attendance.

The baby pandas,     6     have just begun teething and crawling, are very healthy. Everland has shared videos documenting the pandas’ growth online. The twins’ birth has gained 640,000 views since it     7     (upload). “This feels like a great opportunity to call for better     8     (preserve) of pandas,” said Donghee Chung, head of the park’s zoo. Chung noted that between 40% and 50% of panda births result     9     twins.

Everland said it would monitor the twins’ health     10     (determine) when the twins are ready to be open to the public.