2 .

Worried about the loss of rainforests and the ozone layer? Well, neither of those is doing any worse than a large majority of the 6,000 to 7,000 languages that remain in use on Earth. One half of the survivors will almost certainly be gone by 2050, while 40% more will probably be well on their way out. In their place, almost all humans will speak a small number of languages——Mandarin, English, Spanish.

Linguists(语言学家)know what causes languages to disappear, but what's less often remarked is what happens on the way to disappearance: languages' vocabularies, grammars and expressive potential all disappear. "Say a community goes over from speaking a traditional Aboriginal(土著的)language to speaking a Creole," says Australian Nick Evans, a language experts, "you leave behind a language where there's very fine vocabulary for the landscape. All of that is gone in a Creole. As speakers become less able to express the wealth of knowledge that has filled ancestors' lives with meaning over thousands of years, it's no wonder that communities tend to become weakened."

Due to the huge losses, some linguists struggle against the situation, for example, training many documentary linguists in language-loss hotspots such as West Africa and South America.

However, not all approaches to the preservation of languages will be particularly helpful. Some linguists are boasting(自夸)of more and more complicated means of recording languages: digital recording and storage, the Internet and mobile phone technologies. But these are encouraging the quick style of recording trip: fly in, switch on digital recorder, fly home, download to hard drive, and store gathered material for future research. That's not quite what some endangered-language experts have been seeking. Michael Krauss from the University of Alaska complained openly that linguists are playing with technology research while most of their raw data is disappearing.

Who is to blame? Linguists who go out into communities to study, document and describe languages, argue that theoretical linguists, like Noam Chomsky, who draw conclusions about how languages work, have had so much influence that linguistics has largely ignored the continuing disappearance of languages.

Perhaps it is time to turn down your smart phones to stop your hearing being harmed without being noticed. The UN sounded a warning Tuesday     1     more than one billion young people are in danger of damaging their hearing through overuse of smart phones and other audio devices ,     2     (suggest) new safety standards (标准) for safe volume (音量) levels.

Young people tend to fall into risky listening habits easily. Around half of those     3     the ages of 12 and 35, or 1.1 billion people, are at risk as a result of long hours of enjoying loud sounds, including music they listen to through     4     (person) audio devices, the UN health agency said.

At present, about five percent of the global population, or some 466 million people, 34 million children included, suffer from disabling hearing loss. WHO considers a volume above 85 decibels (分贝) for eight hours or 100 decibels for 15 minutes     5     (high) unsafe levels.

The organization is calling for parental as well as automatic volume controls on audio devices     6     (prevent) dangerous use.

While some smart phones and other audio devices already offer some of these features, the UN would like to see     7     uniform standard used to help protect against disabling hearing loss.

“Think of it like driving on a highway, but without a speedometer in your car or a speed limit,” Shelly Chadha of the WHO told     8     (report) in Geneva. “    9     we've advised is that your smart phones     10     ( fit) with a speedometer, with a measurement system which tells you how much sound you're getting and tells you if you are going over the limit.”

4 . A decade ago, at the end of my first semester teaching at Wharton, a student stopped by for office hours. He sat down and burst into tears. My mind started cycling through a list of events that could make a college junior cry: his girlfriend had left him; he had been accused of cheating in exams; he forgot to turn in papers by the deadline. “I just got my first A-minus," he said, his voice shaking.

Year after year, I watch in sadness as students go all for straight A's. Some sacrifice their health; a few have even tried to charge their school after falling short. All hold the belief that top marks are a ticket to best graduate schools and high-paying job offers. I was one of them. I started college with the goal of graduating with a GPA of 4.0. It would be a reflection of my brainpower and willpower, revealing that I had the right stuff to succeed. But I was wrong.

The evidence is clear: academic excellence is not a strong predictor of career excellence. Across industries, research shows that the connection between grades and job performance is modest in the first year after college and unimportant within a handful of years. For example, a Google, once employees are two or three years out of college, their grades have no bearing on their performance. (Of course, it must be said that if you got D's, you probably didn't end up at Google.)

In a classic 1962 study, a team of psychologists tracked down America's most creative architects and compared them with their technically skilled but less original matches. One of the factors that distinguished the creative architects was a record of grades. “In college our creative architects earned about a B average," Donald MacKinnon wrote. “In work and courses which caught their interest they could turn in an A performance, but in courses that failed to strike their imagination, they were quite willing to do no work at all."

Academic grades rarely assess qualities like creativity, leadership and teamwork skills, or social, emotional and political intelligence. Yes, straight-A students master large amounts of information and reproduce it in exams. But career success is rarely about finding the right solution to a problem—it is more about finding the right problem to solve. This might explain why Steve Jobs finished high school with a 2.65 GPA, J. K. Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter with roughly a C average, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. got only one A in his four years at Morehouse.

5 . Despite being used by 1.34 billion people each year, traveling on the Tube in London can actually be quite lonely. An unwritten rule encouraging silence, mixed with classic British reserve, means that even though you’re packed into enclosed space wit hundreds of other people, the morning trip can leave you feeling somewhat lonely.

One London resident, however, is trying to change this. “You get on the Tube here and it’s completely silent and it’s strange,” says Jonathan Dunne, an American living in London, who has started a campaign of giving out badges (徽章) with the slogan “Tube Chat?” last month, encouraging travelers in London to get talking to one another.

Although Dunne says he’s received mostly positive responses, there are always exceptions.

Londoner Brian Wilson responded with a campaign of his own, handing out 500 badges with the words “Don’t even think about it” on them. “ I can’t stand the idea of having to talk to strangers on the Tube on my way to work,” he said.

Michael Robinson, a student from London, agrees. “Being on the Tube is the only peace and quiet some people get on their journeys to and from work. It doesn’t need to be spoiled by people coming up and chatting to you,” he says.

“People assume that I just walk up and talk to strangers, which I don’t, but it’s been a great way to meet people you would never have normally spoken to,” Dunne says.So if you ever end up using public transport in London, why not say hello to the person next to you? Just make sure to check for a badge first.

A growing number of young Chinese people are looking to the past for fashion suggestions. If you look     1     (close) around your city, you might spot Hanfu, the traditional clothing of the Han people. In a recently published report, more than 2 million Hanfu outfits     2     (sell) in 2018 on line. The number of buyers increased by 92 percent     3     (compare) to 2017, with the average age of buyers twenty-one.     4     has this traditional clothing become trendy? Some young people say it’s a costume for relaxation and that dressing in Hanfu is a way for them     5     (escape) the troubles of real life, while     6     like Hanfu because of the culture behind it. They regard it     7     a way to reconnect with traditions. Its wide sleeves, crossed     8     (collar) and flowing robes (长袍) bring people back to ancient times. That’s probably why some fans bring the traditional clothing abroad. Sohu reported on a Bilibili vlogger who climbed the     9     (high) mountain in Germany wearing Hanfu this summer. This vlogger received praise from tourists. “Many Chinese people are fond of Hanfu, as it helps them establish their     10     (nation) identity and belonging,” Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University, told China Daily.

7 . He has been called the“missing link”．Half­man，half­beast.He is supposed to live in the highest mountain in the world—Mount Everest. He is known as the Abominable Snowman.The_______of Snowman has been around for_______．Climbers in the 1920s reported finding marks like those of human feet high up on the side of Mount Everest.The native people said they _______this creature and called it the“Yeti，”and they said that they had_______caught Yetis on two occasions though none has ever been produced an evidence.

Over the years，the story of the Yetis has_______．In 1951，Eric Shipton took photographs of a set of tracks in the snow of Everest.Shipton believed that they were not_______the tracks of a monkey or bear and felt that the Abominable Snowman might really_______.

Further efforts have been made to find out about Yetis.But the only things people have ever found were more footprints.Most believe the footprints are nothing more than ordinary animal tracks，_______，in 1964，a Russian scientist said that the Abominable Snowman was_______and was a remaining link with the prehistoric humans.But，________，no evidence has ever________been produced.

These days，only a few people continue to take the story of the Abominable Snowman________，but if they ever________catching one，they may face a real________：Would they put it in a________or give it a room in a hotel?

The proportion of children    1    (have) access to the Internet before primary school is continuing to rise, according to a report    2     (release) on Wednesday that calls for improved Internet literacy education and more protection of minors. The report said 175 million minors     3     (use) the Internet in China last year,     4    the rate of internet access among children and teenagers reaching 93.1%.32.9% of primary school students were found     5    (begin) surfing the Internet before they started school, and the rate was increasing, meaning there is a    6    (great) need for more Internet skills education for families, better online content supervision and     7    (manage) and a targeted protection mechanism for minors. With the Internet now     8    indispensable part of daily life,     9     is important for adults to put it into perspective for minors and show them    10    to use it properly.

As schools close and millions of people across the United States work from home, the promise of companionship is prompting(促使) some to take in animals. The    1    (decide) to adopt pets flies in the face of some conventional wisdom that discourages adding a new animal     2    a household during a stressful or busy time of the year, such as the holidays. But so far the novel coronavirus    3    ( create) an almost parental leave-like situation for many people.

"There's no doubt    4    animals provide incredible comfort and companionship, especially during times of crisis- and they    5    (certain) appreciate the attention- so we encourage people     6    (continue) to adopt animals in need," said Malt Bershadker, president and chief executive of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

People are bringing home all kinds of living creatures for companionship during an unprecedented(空前的) time of social isolation(隔离), and they're sharing    7    (photo) or social media to provide a break from darker news.

Pets can also entertain younger family members at home- -Kenneth Lynch and Lauren Wakefield bought a blue-and-silver betta fish for their two young children to help develop    8    strong sense of responsibility with feeding it and    9    ( clean) the tank. This will help them "occupy some of their time in a more    10     ( health) manner" while they are home from school, Lynch said.

10 . Many parents see business ownership as a better bet for their kids' future than a graduate degree. Some parents described it as the opportunity to control their fortunes and have a chance to get wealth.    1    . In fact, setting a child up in business is surely one big test of that bond. It is probably risky: small-business failures are common, and parents risk losing their entire investment, their life savings, or more. They also risk having their relationships with young- adult children intent at this stage on independence.    2    . Jon Kelecy's father set him up recently in a franchise (加盟店). Jon, 26, loves the work and appreciates his dad's support. But he dislikes "being in his father's pocket" in spite of all the anxiety of a start-up.

Many parents choose franchises for their kids because they seem to offer marketing, branding and management support.    3    . One mother lost $250, 000 when a fast-food franchise she purchased for her son filed, Mr. Bundy says. In another case, parents lost 8350.000 on a coffee-shop business they financed for their daughter.    4    . “As a parent, the best git you can ever receive is to see your children happy and successful, and equipped to make a living," Marvin Himel says.

    5    . Some structured it as a loan and delayed repayment. Others took stock in the business, with an agreement that their child would use future earnings to buy it back. Some parents look farther ahead, hoping their children's business will support them in retirement.