学进去

An animated work 1． (feature) monster-like characters, or yao in Chinese, has won praise online for adopting traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics.

Yao-Chinese Folktales is 2． eight-part series inspired by various traditional Chinese literature titles and showcases a range of 3． (art) styles such as paper cutting, watercolor painting, and computer graphics. The first episode is 4． (base) on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, with many characters preparing to capture a Tang dynasty Buddhist monk.

Its plot, 5． shows one of the characters being punished after their leader was 6． (satisfy) with their work, has resonated (共鸣) with a wide audience, reminding them of dilemmas and hardships at the workplace. Yu Shui, director of the 20-minute-long episode, told The Paper that he wanted to make stories that were relevant 7． audiences.

The new series is part of the growing trend of Chinese animation turning to ancient Chinese legends and folktales for 8． (inspire). Domestically produced animated films such as Monkey King, Ne Zha and White Snake 9． (prove) to be big hits in recent years, with the latest release New Gods: Yang Jian amassing 550 million yuan in ticket sales last year.

Yao-Chinese Folktales was 10． (joint) produced by Shanghai Animated Film Studio and streaming site Bilibili. Since it aired, the first two episodes released has gathered over 10 million views and it currently has a score of 8. 7 out of 10 on rating site Douban.

Having worked at a 7-Eleven store for two years, I thought I had become successful at what our manager calls “customer relations”. I firmly believed that a _________ smile and an automatic greeting would see me through any_________ that might arise. But the other night an old woman _________ my belief that a simple response could smooth over the difficulty of dealing with all kinds of customers.

The moment she entered, the woman presented a sharp _________ to our shiny store with its bright lighting and neatly arranged shelves. Walking as if each step were _________, she slowly pushed open the glass door. She coughed dryly, and _________ noisily with each breath. On a forty-degree night, she was wearing only a faded dress, a thin sweater too _________ to button.

After _________ around the store quietly for several minutes, the old woman stopped in front of the rows of canned vegetables. As I stood close to her, ready to help, my smile became harder to _________;her red-rimmed eyes were __________ closed by an old wound and the unpleasant smell of sweat rose from clothes.

“I need some food, but I can’t pay” she muttered in reply to my bright “Can I help you?” For a second, I wanted to say, “Take the can of corn.” But the employee rules __________ into my mind: Remain polite, but do not let customers get the __________ of you. Let them know that you are in control. I responded dutifully, “I’m sorry, but I can’t __________ anything for free.”

Moments after she left, I rushed out of the door with the can of corn, but she was nowhere in __________. For the rest of my shift, the image of the woman kept coming to my mind. I was __________ to realize how weak we are to stick to our better instincts (本性) when facing a moral dilemma.

Fortunately, the days of being spread on thick baby oil and lying in the sun to get your skin yellowish-brown—or more likely burnt—are long over. Many sunscreens work by filtering (滤) the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays to keep them from reaching skin cells and causing the DNA damage that can lead to wrinkles and skin cancer. But in recent years, the safety of some of those filtering chemical ingredients, particularly oxybenzone (氧苯酮), has been in question.

A 2019 study published in JAMA found evidence that oxybenzone is absorbed into the bloodstream, leading to concerns about whether it might affect functions of our body. Oxybenzone has also been detected in breast milk for newborn babies. Because of concerns about higher intake in children, doctors from the American Academy of Pediatrics advise against sunscreen, with oxybenzone for kids.

The Environmental Working Group, an activist organization that monitors chemical safety, has called for a ban, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers sunscreens with oxybenzone safe. “It’s uncertain,” says Deborah S. Sarnoff, president of the U.S. Skin Cancer Foundation. “Just because you’re absorbing the chemical doesn’t mean it’s dangerous.” Further study is required.

But oxybenzone is a risk to coral reefs. Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands have banned the sale of sunscreens with oxybenzone. In a 2022 study published in Science, researchers found that some certain sea plants, when exposed to sunlight, turn oxybenzone into energy or something needed in a way that damages and kills corals.

Some companies have been trying to stop using oxybenzone gradually in stages, and many big brands offer oxybenzone-free options. For anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, or simply looking to avoid these chemical filters, Dr. Sarnoff recommends mineral sunscreens, which contain mostly physical barriers.

What kind of people can become scientists? When a group of researchers posed that question to 9th- and 10th-graders, almost every student gave such responses as “People who work hard” or “Anyone who seems interested in the field of science.”

Many of these same students struggled to imagine themselves as scientists, citing concerns such as “I’m not good at science” and “Even if I work hard, I will not do well.” It’s easy for them to see a scientist’s work as arising from an inborn talent.

But for high school students, learning more about some struggles of scientists can help students feel more motivated to learn science. Researchers at Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of Washington designed an intervention (干预) to change students’ beliefs that scientific achievement depends on ability rather than effort by exposing students to stories of how accomplished scientists struggled and overcame challenges in their scientific efforts.

During the study, the students read one of three types of stories about Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Michael Faraday. Intellectual (智力的) struggle stories: stories about how scientists “struggled intellectually,” such as making mistakes while addressing a scientific problem and learning from them. Life struggle stories: stories about how scientists struggled in their personal lives, such as not giving up in the face of poverty or lack of family support. Achievement stories: stories about how scientists made great discoveries, without any discussion of coexisting challenges.

Researchers found that students who heard either type of “struggle stories” improved their science performance after-intervention, compared to students in the control group. The effect was especially pronounced for lower performing students, for whom being exposed to struggling stories led to significantly better science-class performance than low-performing students who read achievement stories. In addition, students who read struggle stories reported feeling more personally connected to the scientists. By recognizing a scientist’s struggles and introducing the growth mindset he or she applied to accomplish great works, the students were able to empathize (共情) with the scientists during their own struggles.