相关试卷

In a little town, there lived a boy named Leo. Leo was a dreamer with a passion for art. He spent most of his days painting the landscapes around him, capturing the beauty of nature in his drawings. However, Leo was shy and often hesitated to share his work with others. He feared criticism and doubted his talent.

One day, the town announced an art competition, inviting artists of all ages to submit their work. The winner would have their artwork displayed in the town hall and receive a scholarship for art classes. The announcement ignited (点燃) Leo's interest. This could be his chance to show his art to the world!

Despite Leo's excitement, his fear returned. "What if I'm not good enough?" he thought. For days, he struggled with his doubts, but deep down, he knew he had to try. Encouraged by his mother, who always believed in his talent, he decided to enter the competition.

Leo spent every free moment working on his piece. He chose to paint the impressive sunset over the hills, the colors reflecting the beauty he admired in nature. As he painted, he poured his heart into the canvas (画布), feeling a sense of freedom and joy. However, as the deadline approached, his insecurities returned. "What if people laugh at my work?" he thought carefully.

On the day of submission, Leo hesitated at the door of the gallery, holding his painting tightly. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of his mother's words: "Art is about expressing yourself, not about pleasing others." Gathering his courage, he stepped inside and handed over his painting.

The following week, the town gathered for the competition's unveiling (揭幕). Leo felt a mix of excitement and fear as he watched other artists present their work. The gallery was crowded with people, and he couldn't help but admire the creativity around him.

注意： 1. 续写词数应为150个左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Finally, it was time for the winners to be announced.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the following months, Leo began to attend more local art shows.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

注意：1. 词数100左右；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear editor,

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                                 Yours sincerely,

                                                                                                  Li Hua

In a factory workshop in Huangchuan County, central China's Henan Province, skillful workers stretch pieces of dough (面团) very carefully. They press and turn the dough into thin strips, and then use wooden sticks to pull them apart gently. These strips (hang) to dry, and finally they become the famous hollow tribute noodles (空心贡面) of the area.

Liu Laiwang, representative inheritor of the noodles and boss of a local food company, says, "Making these noodles (be) my work since my childhood. They're a special cultural treasure of Henan, carrying the (wise) of many past generations. We must keep this skill alive and pass it on."

(date) back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the noodle earned its name when it was presented the emperor as a form of tribute. The noodles are made from high-quality wheat flour, sesame oil and salt, and their production involves more than ten steps. The noodles are very thin, with a hole in the middle. When (cook), they stay firm and don't get soft or (stick).

In recent years, Huangchuan has actively expanded its noodle industry, aiming to achieve both social and economic benefits. Liu's company alone operates a 5,200-square-meter standardized facility with annual production capacity of 3,000 tons. It has helped over 1,000 local families get out of poverty given jobs to nearly 2,000 workers.

China has many such special cultural treasures, more than 40 of have been put on UNESCO's important list, more than any other country in the world.

According to the International Energy Agency, rising overall demand for electricity is outstripping (超过) the world's efforts to improve efficiency and boost renewables. The fact is, economic development will inevitably require greater2 of electricity. It is increasingly clear that nuclear power plants must play an important role in this equation (制衡关系).

Nuclear power is, in many ways, the most promising source of zero-carbon electricity. Unlike solar, wind and water power, electricity from nuclear plants is3. Generators keep running when the sun is not shining, the wind is not blowing and water levels are low. Nevertheless, the industry has an uncertain and dangerous4. Take the United States as an example. There are fewer commercial reactors (商用核反应堆) in5 today in the country than there were a generation ago. This year could see three commercial reactors6. There are plans to shut down about 20 more over the coming years.

The problem is a misunderstanding of7. Humans are constantly exposed to radiation — from the sun, from the universe, from the very ground we walk on. The alarming near-meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant in 19798 exposed neighbors to about one-sixth the radiation dose they would receive from having a single X-ray.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is one of a growing number of9 who believe that cheaper, smaller reactors must play a significant part in the post-carbon energy mix. His company Terra Power has announced plans to build a next-generation nuclear reactor at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in Wyoming. The goal is to prove that nuclear power can be10 to the grid (输电网) at a competitive price and on a reasonable timeline.

I'm an optimistic supporter of renewable energy sources. I'm also a (n)11 student of the various impediments (阻碍) to the growth of these sources. I agree with Gates that the surest path to net-zero carbon emissions is one that12 every non-carbon energy source, including nuclear power. The model to have in mind is not the hulking plant like Chernobyl. Instead, let's consider the small, reliable reactors that have13 the United States' submarines and aircraft carriers. In 50-plus years of cruising, they have had no14.

Carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases are the environmental challenge of our age. Nuclear power is one tool for15 ourselves of them — while keeping the lights on.

The key players in this hidden conversation are mycorrhizal fungi. These thread-like organisms connect tree roots, forming vast networks. Research from the University of British Columbia reveals that up to 90% of land plants depend on these fungi. Through this interdependent relationship, trees exchange nutrients like carbon and nitrogen. Older "mother trees" often act as hubs, sending extra sugars to younger saplings struggling in shaded areas — a phenomenon called "forest family connections".

When under attack, trees release chemical signals. A 2023 study in Nature Ecology & Evolution demonstrates that acacia trees (金合欢树) bitten by giraffes produce ethylene (乙烯) gas. Nearby trees pick up these chemical signals from the air within minutes and increase tannin (鞣酸) production, making their leaves bitter and less tasty. Similarly, pine trees attacked by beetles send out warning signals through fungal networks, pushing neighbors to boost defensive resins (树脂).

Not all interactions are cooperative. Some plants, like the ghost orchid, hack the network to steal nutrients from nearby trees without offering anything in return. Other species, such as black walnut trees, release toxins (毒素) to restrain competitors — a strategy called "biological warfare" by ecologists.

Understanding this "social network" challenges traditional views of forests. Logging dominant mother trees can collapse entire ecosystems, much like removing servers from the Internet. Scientists now advocate for selective cutting practices that preserve fungal networks, ensuring forests' resilience (适应力) to climate change.

As author Peter Wohlleben notes in The Hidden Life of Trees, "Forests are super-organisms with intelligence we're just beginning to decode." This silent dialogue beneath our feet reminds us that nature's deepest conversations often happen without a single word.

Take home books, magazines, or movie discs whenever you want. Books stay with you for three whole weeks, giving you plenty of time to get through every chapter. You can keep the dictionary for one month. Magazines stick around for a week, perfect for quick reads. And movies? You've got five days to watch them as many times as you like. Need a little extra time? No problem — renew books up to twice, and magazines or movies once. Just call or visit the library's website, and you're set.

Life gets busy, we get it — but late fees here are kept small, so you won't stress. For each day a book is late, you will be charged 25 cents. Magazines get a fee of 15 cents per day, and movies 50 cents.

Oops, lost a book or broke a disc? We'll help you replace it, with prices that fit the item — newer books cost a bit more, but older ones are easier on the wallet. And if you find that lost book later? We'll refund (退还) your money, no questions asked.

Got sick and can't return things on time? Just let us know, and we'll stop those late fees until you're feeling better. School holidays? Extend your borrows without extra charges — just tell us before the due date.

Come visit, borrow, and lose yourself in something great — we can't wait to see you!

China is the first country in the world to raise silkworms and make silk. Before cotton wasintroduced to the Yangtze and Yellow River basins, silk was one of the main1materials for clothing and quilts in ancient China, and2 weaving was an important product for economic3 in agricultural and rural areas.

^★The Chinese legend says that the technology of4 silkworms was invented and5 by Leizu, the wife of Yellow Emperor, in the 27th century BC, which     6 the long history of Chinese sericulture. In recent years, archaeologists have7 uncarbonized, yellowish-brown silk pieces and8 well-preserved carbonized silk ribbons and threads that date back to about 4,700 years ago, at the Qianshanyang site in Wuxing, Zhejiang Province, along with silk fragments9 the bronze ware at the Yin tomb in Anyang, Henan Province.

In addition, there are10 of mulberry, silkworm, and silk in the Yin Dynasty, which demonstrates that China is the birthplace of the silk industry. The11 silkworms and sericulture techniques then12 to many countries throughout the world from China.

Sericulture is one of the great13 of the ancient Chinese. For the past thousands of years, Chinese sericulturists have14 and bred many excellent farming varieties of worms,15 a set of feeding methods, and created a variety of sericulture tools, which have all had a positive influence on the world of sericulture and silk industry.

Are leaders born or made? Many leaders throughout history—such as Gandhi, Churchill, Napoleon, and Martin Luther King—seem to have a special quality that made them powerful and persuasive. We can identify that quality as charisma, but can we explain it?

Charisma means a natural ability to attract other people and make them admire you. It is a complex mixture of social and emotional (情感的) skills. Richard Wiseman, a famous psychologist, points out that there are three key qualities of a charismatic person: They feel their own emotions strongly;they inspire strong emotions in other people; and they are unaffected by the influences of other charismatic people.

You needn' t worry if you don' t have these qualities. Wiseman says that when you come upon someone who is charismatic, you can copy his or her body language and facial expressions without realizing it. This is called mirroring, and it works partly because people' s behavior influences their emotions. He proves his point by giving the example of smiling back at someone who smiled at you. Your smiling back suggests that you accept the goodwill from the other person and hope to give it back to him.

For example, if you stand up straight and raise your chest, you are more likely to feel confident and inspire others to feel confidence in you. Another expert says that the most charismatic people are usually good listeners. They give others the impression of being focused and modest.

Charisma plays a large part in success because it is linked to self-confidence.

One successful leadership coach points out that you need to come by your skills and techniques naturally,she warns—if the personality you project is not real, you may come across as insincere.

A. This type of physical presence can be used to great effect.

B. Today there is growing evidence that charisma can be learned.

C. Charismatic persons should be active and sensitive to their surroundings.

D. It needs to be recognized that charisma is more than just being optimistic.

E. It helps to make strong personal connections and communicate effectively with others.

F. But it is worth noting that charisma can' t be a pretended ability although it can be learned.

G. He adds you' re unaware of picking up others' gestures, but you know it makes you feel good.

What exactly does it mean to know yourself? For neuroscientists, self-knowledge is the combination of two forms of information, your own self-beliefs and your perceptions of how others view you. This technical definition of self-knowledge concerns only the mechanisms involved and does not say anything about the quality of the information. In effect, if you think you're a rooster and believe others see you as one too, that counts as self-knowledge. However, I strongly question that the thinkers at Greece had a bit more in mind than this; they no doubt meant "Know thyself accurately." That is a much taller order, requiring a huge quantity of truthful information about your inner states — attitudes, beliefs, emotions, and motives. Accurate self-knowledge also means avoiding mistakes and correcting illusions, being completely honest with yourself, and predicting how you will feel and react in the future.

By this impossibly strict standard, we probably all overestimate our capacity for accurate self-knowledge. Psychological experiments have revealed that ratings of one's own self-assessments are "moderate to poor" in accuracy and are generally less sound than external evaluations. One reason is that we're likely to make cognitive (认知的) errors about what we see happening in our lives. Researchers have found that humans are easy to miss seeing our problems, mistakes, and opportunities.

Many things in our lives go unnoticed because we don't know the language for them or don't understand them. This is called hypo-cognition, a deficit of cognition. In studies exploring this phenomenon, British participants were more likely to notice cheese than Asian dumplings in their daily lives, while Chinese participants noticed the reverse. Much of our self-knowledge deficit comes from willful ignorance. Psychologists have long observed the human tendency to use motivated reasoning to reassure ourselves that our opinions are right, to ignore critical self-reflective information, and generally to maintain positive illusions and find ways to avoid facing reality-based negative emotions. So basic and necessary to our being are these traits that collectively they have been called our "psychological immune system." This characteristic rationalizing is almost certainly based in our biology.

This human capacity to maintain ignorance in the face of potentially negative self-knowledge might make you more comfortable in the short term, but it leads to many missed opportunities for greater well-being and success in the long run. Research has shown that more honest self-awareness — of both positive and negative information — improves self-development because you know what to improve. This enables better personal decision making rooted in accurate information, especially when striving toward goals.

The second unintended use of information from social networking websites is employers who check on potential employees. A New York Times article reported that many companies recruiting (招募) on college campuses use search engines and social networking websites such as MySpace, Xanga, and Facebook to conduct background checks. Although the use of MySpace or Google to investigate a student's background is somewhat upsetting to many undergraduates, the Times noted that the use of Facebook is especially shocking to students who believe that Facebook is limited to current students and recent alumni.

Company employers are not the only people interested in college students' lives. The third unintended use of social networking websites is college administrators who monitor the Internet— especially Facebook— for student misconduct. For example, a college in Boston's Back Bay expelled (除名) its Student Government Association President for joining a Facebook group highly critical of a campus police sergeant. In addition, fifteen students at a state university in North Carolina faced charges in court for underage drinking because of photos that appeared on Facebook.

Although more users of websites such as Facebook are becoming aware of the potential pitfalls (陷阱) of online identities, many regular users still fail to take three basic security precautions. First, only make your information available to a specific list of individuals whom you approve. Second, regularly search for potentially harmful information about yourself that may have been posted by mistake or by a disgruntled (不满的) former colleague. Third, never post offensive material under your name or on your page as, despite the best precautions, this material will likely make its way to the wider world. By taking these simple steps, members of the digital world can realize the many benefits of e- community without experiencing some of the damaging unintended consequences.

And look, on 3 May that year I awoke to a green so amazing as to be almost electric, as if spring were simply a matter of flipping a switch. Hills, sky, and forest revealed their purples, blues, and greens. Leaves had unfolded and daffodils were fighting their way heavenward.

Then there was the old apple tree. It sits on an undeveloped lot in my neighbourhood. It belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. The tree's dark twisted branches stretch out in unpruned abandon. Each spring it blossoms so freely that the air becomes filled with the scent of apple.

Until last year, I thought I was the only one aware of this tree. And then one day, in a bit of spring madness, I set out to remove a few disorderly branches. No sooner had I arrived under the tree than neighbours opened their windows and stepped onto their porches. These were people I barely knew and seldom spoke to, but it was as if I had come uninvited into their personal gardens.

My mobile-home neighbour was the first to speak. "You're not cutting it down, are you?" she asked anxiously. Another neighbour frowned as I cut off a branch. "Don't kill it, now," he warned. Soon, half the neighbourhood had joined me under the apple tree. It struck me that I had lived there for five years and only now was learning these people's names, what they did for a living, and how they passed the winter. It was as if the old apple tree was gathering us under its branches for the purpose of both acquaintanceship and shared wonder. I couldn't help recalling Robert Frost's words:

The trees that have it in their pent-up buds

To darken nature and be summer woods

One thaw (解冻) led to another. Just the other day, I saw one of my neighbours at the local store. He remarked how this recent winter had been especially long and complained of not having seen or spoken at length to anyone in our neighbourhood. And then, he looked at me and said, "We need to prune that apple tree again."

Registration

Registration for a campus visit is required. We recommend that you arrive 15-30 minutes before the scheduled visit time. You may cancel your registration at any time. We cannot receive you without registration.

Group Visits/Tours

Visiting parties are limited to groups of 5. For groups of 6 or more, please contact the Harvard University Visitor Center to arrange a visit.

Important information for your visit

● Please note that we require 21 days advance notice in order to secure ASL (American Sign Language) interpreters. We cannot provide interpreters for other languages at this current time. Those-requesting the use of a wheelchair must leave a current driver's license or state ID with our Visitor Center personnel (人事部门) until the chair is returned.

● Most buildings are closed to the public. Public restrooms will be available in the Elizabeth Cary Agassiz House before / after the information session, and at the end of the tour at Smith Campus Center.

● At this time, it is not possible to store luggage or other personal property during your visit. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

● Your registration and attendance have no connection with the admissions process if you decide to apply.

For further information, please click the following link: https://www.harvard.edu.com/details

注意：1、词数：150词。

2、可适当增添细节以使行文流畅。

Time Management

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Price of Winning

Fourteen-year-old Angus sits on the bench, watching his baseball team play. He's out of the game because he made a mistake. For his coach, that's unacceptable — mistakes don't win games. But for most teens, the focus on winning isn't as important. In a recent study, 90% of teenagers said they would rather play and lose than sit on the sidelines and not play at all. For them, sports are about fun, learning, and being part of a team. However, for many coaches and parents, winning is everything, and they expect perfection from young players.

Unfortunately, this pressure to win drives many kids away from organized sports early on. In competitive events, nearly every action a player makes is examined. Parents and coaches constantly shout instructions, sometimes yelling at kids for errors or missed shots. This intense environment doesn't let kids make their own choices or learn from their mistakes. Instead of enjoying the game, young players feel watched and judged every second. They lose the freedom to explore their abilities and develop naturally as athletes and individuals.

The emphasis on winning creates deeper issues, too. Many kids feel anxious because they're only praised for scoring goals or winning races, not for trying hard or improving. Over time, this focus on results can harm their self-confidence, especially if they're often benched. They start to believe they're only valuable if they perform perfectly, which can make sports feel like a burden instead of a joy.

Two months later, Angus is back playing baseball — but not on a team. He's at the park with friends, playing just for fun, and he's much happier. This raises an important question: How many potential champions will quit sports unless adults change their attitude? For young athletes to thrive, they need support and encouragement, not the pressure to always win.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On a wonderful sunny day, Lynn Fainsilber Katz visited one of her favorite beaches, known for its crystal-clear water. She parked her car and headed for the shore with everything she needed for the day: a chair, a beach umbrella, flippers (脚蹼), sunglasses and a cooler. It was a difficult balancing act.

"It was just really hard to climb over all the rocks, and I was struggling," she said.

She reached a part of the beach entrance where there was a large step down. Unsure if she could take the step safely, she paused, wondering what to do.

"As I stood there, a young, kind-of 30-something-year-old man came over to me and said, ‘Can I help you?' And I said, ‘Sure'" she recalled.

The man took some of the things she was carrying. Then he gave her his hand to walk her down the step. Fainsilber Katz felt grateful.

"As I age, I'm feeling a little bit more vulnerable (脆弱的) and not as strong and able to do the things that I want to do," she said. "Having that kind of help and support at just that right moment felt like, ‘I can continue in the life that I want to have.'"

The man's act of kindness comforted Fainsilber Katz and reminded her that when life gets hard, you don't have to do it alone.

"If you feel like there'll be somebody there who will help, then you can ... maintain the joy that you want to maintain in your life," she said. "So that's why I'm grateful to him because he helped me maintain that joy."

The genes, called SNORKEL genes, help rice grow longer stems to deal with higher water levels. Deep water rice generally produces low-yield (低产的) rice plants. But the researchers report they have succeeded in introducing the genes to rice varieties that are higher-yield.

According to the report, as water levels rise, accumulation of the plant hormone (激素) ethylene (乙烯) makes the SNORKEL genes start working, making stem growth more rapid. When the researchers introduced the genes into rice that does not normally survive in deep water, they were able to rescue the plants from drowning.

Motoyuki Ashikari, who headed the project, said his team is hoping to use the gene on long grain rice widely used in Southeast Asia to help stabilize production in flood areas where rice with the resistant gene is low in production about one-third to one-quarter that of regular rice.

"Scientifically the gene that we found is rare but clear proof of a biological ability to adapt to a difficult environment," he said. "It's a genetic strategy specifically to survive flooding."

High water levels in rice field can be a serious problem. In some areas, rains can cause water levels to rise dangerously high during the growing season and flash flooding can fully submerge plants for days or even weeks.

Rice is a main food for billions, and while productivity has increased dramatically since the 1960s, yields must be doubled to meet projected requirements by 2050. More than 30 percent of Asian and 40 percent of African rice land is either lowland field or deep water field.

Laurentius of Utrecht University said the study is significant because high-yield rice varieties cannot survive extremes of floods. "The introduction of these genes into high-yield varieties, using advanced breeding strategies, promises to improve the quality and quantity of rice." he said.

While Sharfuz Shifat was working at the Meliora LaunchPad-a student organization he co-founded-in his second year at the university, Shifat had the vision of making an efficient social media network for people to work on their ideas. "The world would be a better place if you could easily find people who have the same interests, vision and relevant skills to build something," he said. He then reached out to Carolyn Zelicof, Andrew Nyaisonga and Sandesh Paudel.

"I got a text from Sharfuz saying he was looking for a user experience designer, and I thought this project was really exciting," Zelicof said.

With their team assembled, the four co-founders were now ready to materialize their vision. CrossRoads Create currently has a landing page where you can sign up to become a user and provide feedback on the product. Site visitors are met with the logo and the motto: "Where ideas meet execution."

Minimizing cost was one of the main challenges of the development process. The two engineers, Nyaisonga and Paudel, were able to develop the platform without indirect costs while keeping the ability of a business or system to grow larger in mind. Nyaisonga explained: "There is an easier way to do something, but it might not be cheap. So, we had to choose the harder way for some things." On the design side, Zelicof, the lead user interface and user experience designer, spoke of the challenge of building a good user experience from an idea, as well as satisfying her team's expectations. Juggling schoolwork, job applications, and the app development was another curveball thrown their way. "But when you're really passionate about it, you can do it. Not everyone has to drop out of college to build a startup." Shifat said.

CrossRoads Create will be launched this week, and the founders have been busy preparing their launch strategy, promoting their product through extensive use of social media marketing campaigns, maintaining their landing page, and interacting with the Center for Startups.

B is for being extremely busy.

C is for the conscientious (勤勤恳恳的) way you do your job.

You may be all these things at the office, and more. But when it comes to getting ahead, experts say, the ABCs of business should include a P, for politics, as in office politics.

Dale Carnegie suggested as much more than 50 years ago: Hard work alone doesn't ensure career advancement. You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind the scenes. Yet, despite the obvious rewards of engaging in office politics — a better job, a raise, praise — many people are still unable or unwilling to "play the game."

"People assume that office politics involves some manipulative (工于心计的) behavior," says Deborah Comer, an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University. "But politics derives from the word ‘polite'. It can mean lobbying and forming associations. It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying to please your superior, and then expecting something in return."

In fact, today, experts define office politics as proper behavior used to pursue one's own self-interest in the workplace. In many cases, this involves some form of socializing within the office environment — not just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well.

"The first thing people are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on a consistent basis," says Neil P Lewis, a management psychologist. "But if two or three candidates are up for a promotion, each of whom has reasonably similar ability, a manager is going to promote the person he or she likes best. It's simple human nature."

Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of politics in the office. Some people, they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed. Still others associate politics with flattery (奉承), fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors.

Experts suggest altering this negative picture by recognizing the need for some self-promotion.

I wanted to get back to feeling passionate about something so I started thinking about the things I used to love. As a child, I'd always been involved in the outdoors, and I used to love hiking but all that had stopped after secondary school. I decided to volunteer with a local youth group and within a month, I'd gone camping with them. I absolutely loved it. It was like switching on a lightbulb. This was what I'd been missing.

I started taking courses in mountain skills and wilderness first aid, and by August I was working my usual job in the week, and I was a climbing club leader at weekends. I loved connecting with nature, connecting with other people.

Through all this, I learnt about the whole field of nature-based therapies (疗法). It was the perfect fit to combine my psychology background with my passion for the outdoors. I began taking courses in wild therapy, forest bathing and ecopsychology. I left my government job and in July 2020 I launched my business Nature Therapy Ireland, which is booming now.

I'd thought I'd always live in a city but last year, I moved to Tipperary to live at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by nature. If I'm feeling stressed, I can step outside in my bare feet and stand on the grass to ground myself. In Dublin, the front door felt like a barrier—I had to have my keys, my phone, my jacket before I could even go out and find a green space. My life now is leading nature connection hikes and forest bathing walks. My salary has halved for the moment but I've adjusted. I've never looked back.

Smart TV Channels a Sense of Frustration

The phenomenon of watching less or not watching TV mirrors a plunge in traditional TV sales in recent years.

"I haven't watched TV at home for almost five years." The same sentiment is a true portrayal of many Gen-Zers (Z世代，指出生在1995年至2010年之间的一代人) today. In the past entertainment options were limited, TV dominated. Nowadays, computers, mobile phones and tablets, all of offer more content, have overtaken TV in the viewing stakes (收视争夺赛).

"Watching less or not watching TV (be) the inevitable result of the diversification of entertainment for young people. The programs offered by the major TV stations is increasingly unable to meet the needs of young people, and a few minutes of advertisements are added at every turn, (make) it difficult to compete with mobile phones and tablets," says Li Dadi at Haige Business Watch, a public WeChat account (dedicate) to business analysis.

The phenomenon mirrors a plunge in traditional TV sales in recent years. A report by All View Cloud, a data analysis company, says domestic TV sales in 2020 were 44.5 million units, down 9.1 percent year-on-year, and sales revenue was 120.9 billion yuan ($19.1 billion), down 11.7 percent.

However, not watching traditional TV does not mean not using the actual set. The current development of smart TV is not just a tool for watching programs on the box. The three major video content providers, Tencent Video, iQiyi and Youku, have all launched TV applications. People also cast the content of their mobile phones onto the TV at any time. Leaning on the sofa and watching a 55-inch big screen is still much more comfortable than lying on the bed with a 6.1-inch mobile phone.

However, compared with the rapid development and profit growth of internet smart TV, complaints about a decline in service experience (come) to light.

A woman's complaint over her newly bought TV set echoed across Chinese social media recently. In her video, posted on Douyin, she says most people watching TV now are elders, and that a TV cannot be turned on two remote controls at least. After she finally turned it on, advertisements popped up and lasted for more than 10 seconds. The various charging apps, all required to be purchased to allow for viewing, made the experience worse. Without a VIP membership, there came another 70-second advertisement she could finally watch a proper TV series. "I miss the simple TV set of my childhood," she lamented.