A growing number of Japanese have become recluses（隐居者）. Pressure from work and society is causing some to escape.

About a year ago, Mika Shibata's youngest son returned to the family home and went     1    upstairs. He has yet to emerge from his bedroom. At the age of 26, he sleeps during the day and stays awake at night. His mother feeds and shelters him, hoping he will recover from this state.

The Shibata family's pain is shared by many others in Japan. The government says there are more than 1 million hikikomori, or recluses,       2    as people who have played no part in society for at least six months. Many have barely stepped outside their homes for decades.

A handful of     3    crimes have pushed them back into public view. In Maya recluse, aged 51, killed two people, including a child, in the city of Kawasaki before committing suicide.

When the phenomenon became widely noticed over a generation ago, few understood it. Recluses were considered lazy or odd. Mental-health care was scarce and official support     4    

Parents felt responsible and were too embarrassed to look for help. But even now, occasional crimes involved recluses cause concerns that they are dangerous, says Morito Ishizaki, a recovered hikikomori who runs a magazine for sufferers.

In fact, he explains, they are rarely criminals. Many have just collapsed under pressure at school or work and have     5    to their childhood sanctuaries（避难所）.

Support groups are     6    up around the country. Tokyo is among several cities with helplines and websites that try to reach shut-ins, who range from teenage school dropouts to salarymen who have lost their jobs.

Ageing parents often come     7    help, says Ichiro of Tokyo's metropolitan government. He says they worry that after they die, their hikikomori children will not be able to survive.

More than half of Japan's recluses are now aged over 40, according to a Cabinet Office survey this year. That shocked the government, which had     8    the condition mainly affected the young.

Tamaki Saito, a psychiatrist who     9    the term hikikomori, says the government is partly to blame for turning a blind eye. Now the problem has grown. If it is not taken     10    , many more might become recluses, he says.

The climate crisis is damaging the health of fetuses (胎儿), babies and infants across the world, six new studies have found.

Scientists discovered increased heat was linked to fast weight gain in babies, which increases the risk of    1    in later life. Higher temperatures were also linked to premature birth, which can have lifelong health effects, and to increased hospital    2    of young children.

The studies,    3    in a special issue of the journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, spanned the globe from the US to Denmark, Israel and Australia.

“From the very    4    , from preconception, through early childhood into adolescence, we’re starting to see important    5    of climate hazards on health,” said Prof Gregory Wellenius, who edited the issue with Amelia Wesselink, both at the Boston University school of public health, in the US.

The link between heat and rapid    6    gain in the first year of life was found by scientists in Israel. They analysed 200,000 births and found that babies exposed to the highest 20% of night-time temperatures had a 5% higher risk of fast weight gain.

    7    , 18% of children are now overweight or obese. A possible mechanism for the rapid infant weight gain is that    8    fat is burned to maintain body temperature when the ambient temperature is higher.

Hotter temperatures also increased the number of admissions of young children to emergency departments in New York City, another new study found. The scientists looked at 2.5m admissions over eight years and found that a 7℃    9    in maximum temperature led to a 2.4% increase in admissions in under-fives. Young children lose proportionally more fluids than adults and their ability to regulate their body temperature is immature, the researchers said.

The burning of fossil fuels drives the climate crisis but also causes air pollution and a new study in Denmark assessed the impact of dirty air on 10,000 couples trying to conceive naturally. It found that increases in particle pollution of a few units during a menstrual cycle led to a decrease in conception of about 8%.

Wellenius said an important aspect of the studies was that they showed that    10    people often suffered the worst effects, for example people of colour and those on low incomes who did not have air conditioning or lived in areas with higher air pollution. “This is absolutely a health equity and justice issue,” he said.

Staying Connected Far from Home

In Chad, the refugee camp of Danamadja stands in the midst of a forest. Here, staying connected is a challenge. “Most of the young people who want to use the Internet have to walk long distances to connect to the network,” says Mahamat Djida, 25, who owns a phone-charging     1     . “People here have really weak and unstable service but they have no option, compared with those who are     2     in the world.”

In addition to helping stay in touch with families and friends, mobile phones and the Internet offer young people opportunities to cope with life in the camp. Adam Souleymane, a 16-year-old     3     boy, said, “I bought a phone and now I use the Internet to do research, especially in biology. There is no library in the camp.” He is very     4     of his new smartphone.

It is vital to advocate for improved access to     5     technologies and support for youth seeking to use them to solve the issues that affect their lives.     6     some plans made by several mobile applications can help children and young people born of     7     be more independent. They can be used for instant communication and activities that address     8     needs. These plans allow customers to access     9     content for free or at low cost when they sign up with certain service providers. As children reach adulthood and enter the world of work, connectivity will increasingly mean the difference between their ability to       10     a decent living or not. Those with access to digital technologies and the skills to make the best use of them will have the advantage over those who are unconnected and unskilled.

There is an obvious gender gap in technology. For some, the gender gap is simply a case of discrimination — boys won’t let girls join their technology clubs. For others, it’s a case of     1     —girls aren’t encouraged to study technology subjects. Still for others, it’s     2     a question of choice — girls aren’t interested in technology and don’t want to work in these industries.

All three of these reasons make some sense. Men have a different way of interacting with each other. There is more competition to establish their place on the “team”. Women tend to be more     3     and may feel uncomfortable and unappreciated working in this kind of atmosphere. Neglect is also a problem since STEM subjects are still considered boy subjects. And then there is the     4     of choice. Girls, in general, would rather study subjects and find jobs where they can work with people (medicine, business, etc.) rather than with “things” (building a bridge, writing computer code, etc.).

Regardless of the reasons for the gender gap, more and more girls are seeing it as a problem. Katy Yu, a 17-year-old student, does not believe that technology should be a(n)     5     boys’ club and she’s out to prove that girls can be tech-savvy (精通技术的), too.

The girl taught herself how to write code. She learned computer languages well enough to win a     6     in the Swift Student Challenge at Apple’s 2020 World Wide Developers Conference. She also became the only Chinese invited to     7     in a video conference call with Tim Cook.

Katy is doing more than that. She wants to help other girls overcome the barriers — real or imagined — which may     8     them from studying computer coding. This past summer, she organized a workshop to provide interested girls with free coding classes. “When more and more women are in science and technology, becoming senior talent and managers, it increases their     9     and job opportunities in these fields,” she says.

In her own way, Katy is trying to break one of the gender stereotypes (模式化形象) that hold women back. Girls, you should remember that you can be problem solvers,     10     explorers, and risk takers. If that is how you walk into every computer science classroom, stereotyped threats won’t have the power to push you out of the industry you love.

Should We Cut Our Ties to School Uniforms?

After a strict headteacher in the UK sent 80 pupils home for uniform violations (违例), the Guardian asked parents, pupils and professionals if uniforms really make a difference.

My school uniform is very important. It does improve my    1    , because it reminds me that I’m at school to learn. School uniforms are also a great tool to prevent bullying. If everyone is wearing the same clothes, it’s impossible to mock each other’s clothing. I don’t think this should    2     children’s need to express themselves, though. Uniform rules can be taken too far: I was once told I would get a detention (留堂) for I went to school with my grey bag instead of a black one.

David Hershman, a student at Stafford Grammar School

A uniform has to be seen as something that is    3    . Students should start school with no uniform. As they    4     through school, they get to start wearing it. I always think children need to be proud of their school, and a uniform is important for that. If they let the school down, they shouldn’t be allowed to wear it. In my experience, a uniform helps schools    5     authority.

Tim Francis, a former teacher

I have had the experience of teaching in both uniform and non-uniform schools. I can    6     see the benefits of students wearing a uniform. A uniform can be important for creating a sense of school identity and community. It is often a source of    7     pride for students. However, teaching students how to express themselves with confidence, rather than the length of their tie, should be the    8    .

Enayah Byramjee, an educational development director

In a perfect world, children would be    9     their individualities through their clothes at school, just as they do at home. Schools would not impress on pupils the need to wear skirts to a certain length, or to do a    10     number of buttons up on shirts. But we don’t live in a perfect world and learning to fit in is one of the things our children should be taught.

Joanna Moorhead, a mother of four

What does it take to become famous? Talent in singing, dancing or acting? Or simply good looks? These days, it seems like a pretty face, a lot of make-up and tons of money spent on marketing can make anyone a popular star. But,     1    , an honest smile and a hard-working attitude might take you quite far.

Recently, a Tibetan young man named Tamdrin, or “Ding Zhen” in Mandarin, has gained a    2     online following since a video clip featuring him went viral on the Internet. It shows him slowly walking towards the camera, with towering snow-capped mountains in the background. His suntanned skin and messy hair, together with a bright smile that gradually spreads over his face, give the young man a “wild and ruggedly handsome” appearance. Netizens see him as refreshingly different from most young male celebrities in China today. Though his rise to    3     has been very much accidental, Tamdrin has since been contacted by both the local tourism department, which has offered him a(n)    4     as a tourism ambassador(大使), and many production companies. However, when asked about his own dreams, the20-year-old said that he wanted to be a “horse-racing prince”, a(n)    5     which has been applauded by many.

Fame can be gone in no time. Every day someone on the Internet can do something that makes them     6     famous. Talent agencies across Asia are churning out(大量生产)new boy bands and girl groups as if from factory production lines. They follow the latest trends,     7     in very similar ways, and take part in the same type of variety show—all for the chance to gain fame and fortune. A few years down the line, or perhaps even only a few months later, the majority of these individuals or groups will end up forgotten.

Everyone is born     8     . We like different things, have different personalities, and pursue different dreams. That is what makes life so dynamic(有活力的) and interesting. Should Tamdrin choose to take one of those offers from the production companies and try to become a celebrity, he might just end up     9     from our memories under heavy make-up and uniform dance moves. Of course, it’s entirely possible that his fame will decline even faster if he stays home and continues to race horses. But at least then he will be able to follow his heart to do what he wants (and maybe earn some fans along the way) instead of choosing to pursue fame and, in the end, lose himself. If you were in his    10    , what would you do?