Short-form videos, which gained popularity on the Chinese platform Douyin, have given rise to a new trend in entertainment: ultra-short (超短) dramas.     1     (tailor) to our fast-paced lifestyles, ultra-short dramas are far more likely to attract people to try them out than traditional television series. In the past, committing     2     a show meant investing upwards of 40 minutes, but with ultra-short dramas, only a few minutes is enough for     3     taste.

Despite the initial success of ultra-short dramas, Chinese authorities     4     (tighten) regulations and intensifying monitoring on them. Currently, most of these ultra-short dramas revolve around clichéd (陈词滥调的) romantic plots, often     5     (feature) a wealthy individual getting together with a poor person. This narrative trend bears the potential     6     (shape) young minds’ perceptions of reality and their approaches to real-life challenges.

What’s equally concerning is     7     ultra-short dramas are designed to catch the viewers’ attention with bite-sized runtimes. In a world dominated by smartphones,     8     attention spans are already declining, frequent     9     (expose) to ultra-short videos can only worsen the issue.

It’s natural for us to seek entertainment. But it’s also worth pausing to consider the consequences     10     diving into ultra-short dramas.

Recently, countless articles     1     (write) telling us the Internet has made our lives more convenient. Not only can we keep track     2     the most updated information from large databases,     3     we can also download software, documents, and images whenever we need them. Just by a click of the mouse, we can have things ordered and     4     (deliver) directly to our homes without going outdoors. Plus, many social     5     (platform) are provided online where people can interact with each other conveniently.

However, with more and more people using social media nowadays, online safety has become     6     hot concern. How to stay safe online? Here are some tips for you to keep in mind: If you see or read something     7     makes you feel uncomfortable, leave the site immediately. First, don’t make comments on anything. Second, protect your privacy and don’t have your photos and other personal information posted online. Third, be polite. The more polite you are, the     8     (likely) it is you will be attacked.

In brief, the Internet has its pros and cons. We cannot be too careful when     9     (use) social networking apps. Only if we use social media     10     (proper) can we really benefit from it.

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks ‘with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

On January 10, Uganda reopened schools after the longest closure in the world    1     the coronavirus pandemic. For most students, it was their first time back in the classroom in nearly two years.

When the buildings first shuttered, the Ministry ofEducation broadcast lessons on TV and radio stations, and some schools handed out printed materials. But this did not last for lack of funding. So the     2     (estimate) 15 million children affected by this closure put their studies on hold.        

Uganda’s National Planning Authority in August 2021 projected that 4.5 million of them will likely not return to school. The reasons for the dropouts are manifold. The teen pregnancy rate rose significantly. And many poor children in urban and rural areas    3     (force) to start working to help support their families.，“They turned children into laborers and that was a loss, especially for a family that has relied for almost two years on child labor,” says Munir Safieldin, the UNICEF Uganda representative.

Plus, in an economy pinched by the pandemic, many families cannot currently afford the fees,     4     start at about $135 per term for high school, and other costs (including academic materials and uniforms).

Children who are able to return school have been promoted one grade level, a decision made by the Ministry of Education to guarantee spots for newly     5     (enter) students. But many families and experts are concerned. Mary Goretti Nakabugo, the executive director of Uwezo Uganda, a nonprofit organization working    6     (promote) equitable quality education, argues that even before the closure, many of Uganda’s younger students had not yet acquired basic fundamentals, such as reading and understanding a text. “This is the time for us to rethink our curriculum, our teaching and learning,     7    students who are unprepared for classes will only end up even     8     (far) behind.”

Kusemererwa Jonathan Henry, a teenager living in Kamwokya, one of the largest slums in the capital of Kampala, had just started high school and made new friends     9     the lockdown started. “We were used to the short school breaks but this was too long. At first, all I would do is sit at home and sleep;, he says. Fortunately, his dad’s financial help combined with his personal savings allowed Jonathan to open a fruit and vegetable stall. ”Before the lockdown, I never knew how to fend for     10     , but now I don’t even need to ask for money to   buy clothes.“ Still, Jonathan longed to get back to class. ”The day a date was announced for us to resume school, I washed my uniforms, bags and polished my shoes, that’s how excited I was to get back.”

Rising sea levels are threatening coastlines in China, for example in     1     (city) such as Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou. If sea levels rise by one meter, more than 92,000 square kilometers of China’s coast could be flooded. This could potentially force 67 million people     2     (move) away. Almost two-thirds of the ice in Asia’s glaciers (冰川) could disappear if average global temperature rises beyond 1.5℃ by the end of the century. If that happens, the impacts     3     China will be felt in multiple areas, from water availability, to agriculture, and to biodiversity.

The good news is     4     China is becoming a global leader on climate action. For example, over the last five years, China     5     (use) more solar and wind energy than any other country in the world. China is also the largest clean energy investor in the world —     6     (spend) some $130 billion in new energy in recent years.

The development of electric vehicles is particularly     7     (inspire) in China. More than 50 percent of electric vehicles in the world     8     (sell) in China every year. And China is now a world leader in the     9     (promote) of clean energy technologies.

Ecological civilization has become the cornerstone (基石) of China’s long-term development strategy, much like climate action is     10     important part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.