HOT on the heels of equality

【小题1】 They lengthen the legs but shorten the steps; they give the wearer a sense of power but can also be painful to wear; they are worn by working women, but their visual appeal has nothing to do with work.

In Japan, a new social media campaign highlights the issues many women have with this footwear. 【小题2】In May, thousands of women signed an online petition(请愿书)demanding that the government ban the practice.

“【小题3】” said the movement founder Yuni Ishikawa, 32 yeas old, in an interview with the Associated Press. “It’s the view that appearances are more important for women at work than for men.”

As early as January, Ishikawa shared her frustration about the unfairness of this dress code on the Instagram social network. In her part-time job as a funeral usher(迎宾员), she was required to wear black heels between 5 and 7cm high.【小题4】. “High heels can cause bunions, blisters and strain the lower back. It’s hard to move, you can’t run and your feet hurt,” Ishikawa wrote in the petition, “【小题5】“

It’s a modest dream. Not too long ago, Japanese businessmen were expected to wear neckties, even on hot days. Then, the government encouraged companies to use less air conditioning and reduce electricity use. Men were freed from neckties. “This petition is the first step toward ‘creating a working environment free from unnecessary burdens’.” Ishikawa said.

   Every pet owner loves his pet. There is no argument here.

But when we asked our readers whether they would clone their beloved animals，the responses（反应）were split almost down the middle. Of the 228 readers who answered it，108 would clone their beloved animals，111 would not and nine weighed each side without offering an opinion.

Clearly，from readers’responses，this is an issue that reaches deeply into both the joy and eventual sadness of owning a pet. It also shows people’s widely different expectations over the developing scientific procedure.

Most of the respondents who favored the idea strongly believed it would produce at least a close copy of the original；many felt the process would actually return an exact copy. Those on the other side，however，held little hope that cloning could truly recreate a pet；many simply didn’t wish to go against the natural law of life and death.

Both sides expressed equal love for their animals. More than a few respondents owned“the dog/cat in the world”.They thought of their pets as their“best friend”，“a member of the family”，“the light of their life”.They told moving stories of pets’ heroism，intelligence and selfless devotion.

Few wonder the loss is so disturbing（令人不安的）and the cloning so attractive.“People become very close to their animals，and the loss can be just as hard to bear as when a friend or family member dies，”says Gary A. Kowalski，author of Goodbye Friend：Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet. “For me，cloning feels like an attempt to turn death away... It’s understandable. Death is always painful. It’s difficult to deal with it. It’s hard to accept.”

But would cloning reduce the blow? This question seemed to be at the heart of this problem.

Selfie

Social media and the mobile web have given rise to a strange phenomenon called the selfie. But not everyone is familiar with the term, so here’s a brief definition. 【小题1】 Everyone takes selfies, but the younger crowd seems to be especially involved in the trend. Some selfies are extreme close-ups, other show part of an arm held straight outward and a few of the great ones even feature the subject standing in front of a bathroom mirror so that they can get a full body shot of their reflection. 【小题2】 Since social media is the driving force of most selfie activity, younger kids interested in staying connected to their friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. are more active in sharing selfies on a regular basis.

Who knows what kind of psychological factors drive any specific person to take a selfies and upload it to a social networking site. 【小题3】

Here's one. Not only are young people plugged into the web at all times, but they also have more self-esteem issues—and many of these teens or college kids might upload selfies to deal with their own self-consciousness. 【小题4】 When you feel good or look good about yourself, it's far too easy to reach for you phone and document it all through one or several selfies. Kids who are connected on a social network to someone they admire may be more driven to upload attractive selfies as a way to seek attention, especially if they're too shy to do it in person.

Besides, there are people who are bored at work, bored at school, etc. So they will take selfies because they have nothing else better to do. Last but not least, social media is about being social! If that means uploading as many selfies as possible, then so be it. 【小题5】 They just do it because they like to do it, it's fun, and it’s a cool way to sort of document your own life.

Beijing was once a city of bikes，known as the Bicycle Kingdom，【小题1】cars were reserved for official business and the politically powerful. However，decades of economic 【小题2】（grow）led to a huge flowing of cars in the city. Owning one became not just a marker of reaching the middle class but also a requirement for marriage. As the economy developed，autos pushed bikes off the roads，【小题3】（create）heavy pollution and miserable traffic.

【小题4】（fortunate），now Beijing may be returning to its roots. Thanks to about 20 technology companies，brightly colored shared bikes 【小题5】（flood）into Beijing in the last two years. Many local residents welcome the shared bikes 【小题6】the flexibility and freedom they offer. They pick up the bikes and then ride and drop 【小题7】off anywhere they like，locking the back wheel，with no need 【小题8】（find）a fixed place.

Analyses in China say it is three factors that contribute to bikes' increasing rapidly: a lot of cash looking for a home, a good idea and government support. "As the city's population grew, traffic jams got 【小题9】 (bad). "Cai, the ofo spokeswoman, said, "Shared bikes could solve the' last mile' problem in 【小题10】environmentally friendly way."

As everyone knows it, people can get many information through the Internet. Meanwhile, people are also clear aware of its disadvantages, and some children don't realize they sometimes make friends with bad people online. In my opinion, people can use the Internet make friends, download useful materials and go shopping online. However, there were also many disadvantages of the Internet. If you can't use it correctly, it may be harmful for you. In junior middle school, I was once crazy about play online games and I couldn't control myself. As the result, my study results were getting from bad to worse. Besides, if you believe whichever your friends say online, you will be cheated by them some day.