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Demographic change offers some explanation — new immigrants often struggle with a new language while the native-born have ageing brains. Basic numeracy (计算能力) and literacy are oddly unfashionable compared with fashionable "soft skills", like generative AI: Overstating the importance of times-tables (乘法表) seems even more boring when talking robots promise to do all the hard work.

Yet a century of technological development has not cut demand for people who are good with numbers or words. Adults who do badly in the OECD's tests earn much less than those who top them. They are also in poorer health, less satisfied with their life, less trusting of others and more likely to feel that they have no voice in politics.

What to do? Improving lessons for children is the surest way of creating more capable grownups. England's adults have gradually improved their position in the OECD's rankings, mostly because the youngest ones are scoring better than before. The second task is to modernize outdated systems for educating adults. These give dropouts a second chance; they also serve people who change careers and help immigrants integrate.

In too many places, a craze for universities has cut back on funding and focus on the kinds of lessons that people aged 18 and above could be offered. Degrees are becoming less meaningful: the OECD has found that even some university graduates post numeracy and literacy scores that might embarass a child. Meanwhile, those adults who want to return to class without beginning with long, expensive university courses often find good alternatives are lacking. Faster actions to fix all these problems seem like a bright idea.

I was first into literature therapy because it was something that I had experienced in my own life. There is no better excitement than being placed into someone else's life and discovering your own. By reading stories, we can learn to understand our own emotions—this is the basis of literature therapy.

I was at university when I started looking into literature therapy and realized that it was an actual research-backed solution to mental illness. During that time, I was taking a European literature course and, while discussing the topic with my professor, I was pointed to the story of John Stuart Mill, who was an influential philosopher and writer of the 19th century. In his early twenties, a mental breakdown occurred to him. This state of mind left him depressed and completely incapable of work. After months of losing himself in despair (绝望), he finally managed to get out of the darkness. How did he overcome this despair? It was a passage of literature from William Wordsworth that eventually freed him from this depression.

John Stuart Mill described this experience in his autobiography: "What made Wordsworth's poems a medicine for my state of mind was that they expressed not mere outward beauty, but states of feelings and of thoughts coloured by feelings, under the excitement of beauty. They seemed to be the very culture of the feelings, which I was in quest of. From them, I seemed to find a source of inward joy, of sympathetic and imaginative pleasure, which could be shared by all human beings."

In fact, there are countless examples to be found throughout history, because human experience is universal, and few things connect us better to it than our own stories.

Turning green

Many countries are increasingly eyeing up green infrastructure due to a range of factors — from urbanization to economic development and population growth. Rather than depending on planetpolluting fossil fuels, several projects are instead looking toward harvesting energy in much cleaner ways.

The largest hydroelectric plant — the Three Gorges Dam in China — has reduced the country's reliance on coal. Some notable projects include Denmark's project to build floating wind farms, where Denmark will construct the first artificial energy island in the North Sea. Another innovative example is Morocco's Noor Solar Complex, whose unique feature is its use of concentrated solar power, meaning it stores energy in molten salt, enabling it to continue generating power even after the sun has set.

Becoming smarter

The cities, which employ advanced technology to build efficient infrastructure for optimal functionality and sustainability, are known as "smart cities".

According to the IMD's 2024 Smart City Index, Zurich ranks as the number one smart city in the world. Some of Zurich's infrastructure, which makes it rank so highly, includes its waste recycling as well as its investment in healthcare and efficient use of energy. Another example is Singapore's AI-driven traffic management system, which uses real-time data from traffic cameras and sensors across roads.

Diving deeper

By 2100, it is suggested that nearly one billion people could live in either underground or submerged cities, driven by a combination of rising sea levels, land shortages and more energyefficient living spaces. However, there are some major considerations. Not only would it be logistically (后勤上地) challenging, but construction would need to consider factors like building structures close enough to the surface for residents to be exposed to the sun.

Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace (珍珠项链) priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace,and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, "Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. After all, I'll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of chores (家务活) that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don't forget that for your birthday,Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay? " Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her.

Jenny worked on her chores (家务活) very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand-new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls. How Jenny loved those pearls! She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands (差事). The only time she didn't wear them was in the shower. Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!

Jenny had a very loving Daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story.

One night when he finished the story, he said, "Jenny, do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the little girl said.

"Well, then, give me your pearls."

"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls! " Jenny refused. "But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay? "

"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. "Good night, little one."

注意：

1. 续写的词数应为150左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1:

A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story. 

Paragraph 2:

Several days later, Jenny' father came in to read her a story as usual. 

1. 发出邀请；2. 介绍你的家乡(地理位置、历史、景点、饮食……)；3. 表达期待。

注意：词数80左右；可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Amy,

Yours,

Li Hua 

Did you grow up in one culture, your parents came from another, and you are now living in a  (total) different country? If so, then you are a third-culture kid.

The term"third-culture kid"  (use) in the 1960s for the first time by Dr. Ruth. She first came across this phenomenon (现象) while  (research) North American children living in India. In general, third-culture kids benefit from  (they) intercultural experiences and they often reach excellent academic results.

Yet many  (difficulty) may arise from this phenomenon. Third-culture kids may not be able to adapt themselves completely to their new surroundings. Also, they often find it hard  (develop)new friendship. Additionally, for a third-culture kid, it is often  (easy) to move to a new country than to return to his homeland. For example, after living in Australia for many years, Louis finally returned to the country

 he was born. He didn't know anything about current TV shows  popular movies. And he didn't share the same values  other teens of his age.

We'd always had a traditional family dinner at Thanksgiving. But one year, my sister Karen arrived home, not 1 . Standing by her was an untidy-faced guy wearing 2 jeans and a discolored shirt. Karen cheerfully explained that David was someone she'd met a few days earlier. He was going through hard times and sometimes stood outside her workplace 3 change for meals.

Though 4 , my parents had him sit down at the table. My mum started asking questions, David turned out to be a college student who 5 to cover college costs and rent. He' d 6 his apartment and was living out of his car... He answered every question and 7 thanked my parents for letting him eat with us. Finally, the 8 ended when my father said, "Bette, that's enough. Let him 9 ."

We all ate in 10 for the next couple of minutes. Then my dad asked, "David, how is your

11 ?" "Sir, there is some noise, but it's okay for now. It's  12 of you to ask." My dad continued, "Let's check it out before you leave so you are 13  on the road."

In the following years, each of us was 14 to invite someone for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a welcome new tradition for our family: the act of 15 not only food but also our blessings.

Hiking is a fun way to get some fresh air and exercise. Here are a few simple tips to make sure your next hiking trip is both safe and enjoyable.

Hike with at least one other person. Not only is hiking more fun with a friend, it is also safer.  If you decide to hike alone, make sure that you let someone know where you are going and when you plan to be back. This way, if you get lost or injured, someone will know where to look for you and when to send help.

Have plenty of water. Even if you are only going for a short hike, it is important to have lots of water on hand so that you avoid dehydration (脱水). Plan to bring one liter of water per person per hour of hiking.  So make sure to drink your water frequently, even if you are not very thirsty.

Wear correct kinds of clothing. You should wear comfortable, closed-toed shoes and thick socks. Your clothing should be comfortable and easy to move around in. Clothing that is too loose might catch on rocks or branches.

 If you have not exercised in a very long time, do not try to go on an 8-mile hike up a mountain on the hottest day of the year, Instead, you should start gradually. First, go for regular walks in your neighborhood. Next, you should try to find places to walk on steep hills or rocky soil. 

They may look like ordinary glasses but they're not. These trendy-looking glasses from researchers have a special ability and it doesn't have to do with nearsightedness. Embedded on the bottom of the frames (框) are tiny speakers and microphones that can emit silent sound waves and receive echoes back.

This ability comes in handy for detecting mouth movements, allowing the device to detect low-volume or even silent speech. That means you can whisper or mouth a command, and the glasses will pick it up like a lip reader.

"For people who cannot vocalize sound, this silent speech technology could be an excellent input for a voice synthesizer (合成器)," said a doctoral student. The tech could also be used by its wearers to give silent commands to a paired device, like a laptop or a smartphone.

It is proved that EchoSpeech could recognize 31 commands and connected data with error rates of less than 10 percent. The speakers and microphones are placed on different lenses on different sides of the face. When the speakers give off sound waves around 20 kilohertz, it travels in a path from one lens to the lips and then to the opposite lens. As the sound waves from the speakers reflect and diffract after hitting the lips,their distinct patterns are caught by microphones and used to make"echo profiles" for each phrase or command. It effectively works like a simple, mini sonar system.

"Because the data is processed locally on your smartphone instead of being uploaded to the cloud,privacy-sensitive information never leaves your control," a professor noted. Plus, audio data takes less bandwidth to transmit than videos or images, and takes less power to run as well.

Nowadays, handwriting seems to become less necessary, for young children learn to tap and touch screens before they have even learned to pick up a pencil or tie their shoelaces. Most of our written communication is done through texting (发送信息) on mobile phones or typing on a keyboard. And voice recognition software is becoming more and more advanced — making even keyboard unnecessary!

So, are handwriting skills important to your child? Actually handwriting is an exercise in eye-hand coordination (手眼协调) skills, which are connected with achievements in study. Scientists found that developing fine (精细的) visual-motor (视觉运动) skills in early childhood can predict not only writing success, but better performance in reading and math in elementary school. It was also found that kids who fail to write neatly and efficiently are often accused of being lazy. And this may affect their behavior and self-worth. Moreover, a study showed that when a group of children were asked to come up with ideas for an essay, the ones with better handwriting were more active and had quicker minds. In some ways, handwriting helps their brains' development.

The first attempts at writing can be challenging for preschool children whose necessary fine motor skills are not yet fully developed. But some skills to prepare for handwriting are simple to build at home and in preschool. Parents should provide lots of opportunities for kids to copy and draw shapes and simple pictures in early childhood before letters are introduced. Let your child copy your shapes in sand, or with chalk on a board before trying to draw shapes on their own. Encourage your child to spend less time on electronic devices and more time on activities to improve eye-hand coordination.

Let's face it — technology is certain to continue developing and more research is needed to find the best ways to teach handwriting to young children. But, there's plenty of evidence that the handwriting practice young children get can provide a jump start in developing skills needed for a healthy and successful journey in school.

George Gershwin, born in 1898, was one of America's greatest composers. He published his first song when he was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs.

Many of Gershwin's songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way — from jazz to country.

In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked,be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular.

In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style.While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics (评论家) were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It still remains one of his most famous works.

George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages.