阅读理解

AVOID PUBLIC WI-FI

    Free Wi-fi offered in public places is often poorly secured. Hackers need only ordinary tools to access mobile phones linked to the network and the information the devices store.

DON'T OVERSHARE ONLINE

    Internet users can let their guard down when chatting with strangers on social media, letting slip their names, family details, workplace addresses and job titles to their new “friends”. Some parents even share photos of their children online, forgetting to hide details that can disclose their names, schools or where they live.

AVOID ONLINE SURVEYS

    Some questionnaires try to attract people with small rewards or a chance to take part in a “lucky draw”. But to qualify, people must fill in their names, phone numbers and home addresses. Check the website where the survey is being hosted and consider whether it's reliable.

KEEP ONLINE RESUMES BRIEF

    Internet users often do not hesitate to provide detailed personal information in their online resumes, thinking it can only help probable employers to contact them. Some job site operators even require applicants to list their family members' information. China's Ministry of Public Security says people should give only the information necessary.

TRACK COPIES OF YOUR ID CARD

    Banks, telecommunications operators and other service providers often require photocopies of your identity cards to open accounts or perform other business. Dishonest employees might then try to sell them to scammers (骗子).

    One afternoon last week, I saw three tearful children from my son's school being comforted by teachers. That morning, my 11-year-old had stomach pains, retching(干呕)into a bowl. Talking to other mothers later, I heard about other children with stomachache or difficulty sleeping the night before.

What caused so much pain? Sports day. Sports day might be necessary at a highly-competitive independent school, but not at a village primary school. For the children who can fly like the wind, sports day causes no problem. For those who are overweight or just not good at sport, it is a nightmare(噩梦). Even for those who enjoy running but fall halfway down the track in front of the entire school and their parents, it can prove a disaster.

    Why do we put our children through this annual suffering? Some may say competition is character building; or it's taking part, not winning, that's important; or that it is a tradition of school life. I just felt great pity for those children in tears or in pain.

    Team games at the end of sports day produced some close races, wild enthusiasm, lots of shouting—and were fun to watch. More importantly, the children who were not so fast or quick at passing the ball were hidden a little from everyone's eyes. Some of them also had the thrill of being on the winning side.

    I wish that sports day could be abandoned and replaced with some other less-competitive event. Perhaps an afternoon of team games, with a few races for those who want them, would be less stressful for the children and a lot more fun to watch.

You should set aside some time {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.(reflect)

    There is a common belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever considered spelling unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, quite different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority(优先) it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely in writing without holding him back with spelling.

    If spelling becomes the only point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to "play safe". He will write only words within his spelling range(范围). That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.

    I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience: "This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling mistakes." It may have been a sharp criticism(批评) of the pupils technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad thing for the teacher who had omitted to read the composition, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child's deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the mistakes, but if his priority had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more hope to seek improvement.