【推荐1】Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food?

Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners（路边餐馆）for these reasons. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.

A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. It wasn’t a real diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late-night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs.

In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools（凳子）, and people sat down while they ate.

Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The original（最初的） menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.

Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually buildings with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, and tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.

Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today.

【推荐2】The “Take In” restaurant in Helsinki, Finland, is currently in the news for its ingenious(有独创性)service. Instead of cooking the meals in its own kitchen—which doesn’t exist—it allows customers to order various dishes from a selection of 20 other restaurants in the city.

Sponsored by American Express and Wolt, a popular food delivery app, Take In is a pop-up(突然出现的) restaurant that opened at the beginning of November 2016, and will run through May 2, this year.

As you’ve probably already guessed, the name “Take In” is a clever play on words like take-out. The whole point of ordering take-out is to avoid going to a restaurant, and if you’re going to dress up to go out, you might as well go straight to your favorite restaurant instead of ordering food from it somewhere else. But here’s the idea behind it—when you go out with a group of friends and you can’t decide where to go for dinner, because everyone wants to order something else, Take In is the perfect solution.

“We want to be a living room in the city,” a Wolt spokesperson told Monocle magazine. “We all know what it’s like you’re about to go out for dinner with a big group of friends. Everyone wants to order what they like. What are you going to do? Well, the answer in Helsinki right now is you come to Take In because you can do all of those things in the same place.”

Customers are more than welcome to stick to the selection of drinks available at the bar. But if they want to try the “take in” experience, all they have to do is use the Wolt app, just as they would from the comfort of their own homes. Once they order and pay for their meals, all they have to do is wait for someone to deliver it to the pop-up restaurant.

A．American Express and Wolt.

B．The “Take In” restaurant in Helsinki.

C．The way to order "take-out".

D．A world-wide food service.

【推荐1】Peter and Cheryl Pitzer met in 1999. After training together, they fell in love and finally married in 2011. The Pitzers have been using their professional aviation skills to help people around the world regain sight. They are both volunteers for Orbis, a non-profit organization that turns airplanes into teaching hospitals and brings eye care and ophthalmology (眼科学) training to places around the world. The organization’s Flying Eye Hospital that the Pitzers fly together is an ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft.

The Pitzers flew their first flight together with Orbis in November, a journey that took them from Dubai to Saudi Arabia and finally to Ghana, a country in West Africa. The couple stayed an extra week after landing the plane in order to be on the ground to help other Orbis volunteers treat people in need, and to train medical staff in the community. “There was a woman named Mary. When we met her on Monday she was almost completely blind and when we left she could see,” recalled Peter.

“They also did surgeries in the local hospitals with the local doctors and their equipment, and they provide continuing education afterwards,” Cheryl said of the team’s work in Ghana.“The idea is to leave the knowledge behind so that people will have access to proper eye care after the plane is gone.”

The couple say they are grateful to share an occupation that they love-one they can do together and that allows them to give back. “It's awesome to see so many people in poverty regain sight. Our work is worth it,” said Peter. “Cheryl and I have a great personal and working relationship. It's just an interesting and incredible way to give back.”

Cheryl noted the intense (紧张的) planning and coordination it takes to fly a major plane carrying a teaching hospital to remote locations. She said she and her husband have an advantage with that complex task because they “understand each other.”

【推荐2】How Disney grew its $3 billion Mickey Mouse business — by selling to adults

In March 2019, Gucci began selling a $4,500 purse in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head. Between the creature’s round black ears is a small handle embossed (凸印) with the word “Gucci.” On the brand’s website, a male model stares seriously into the camera without the slightest trace of irony (讽刺) that he is, in fact, carrying around the head of a children’s cartoon character.

It’s perhaps the most luxurious Mickey Mouse products designed for adults.     1     Maybelline created makeup sets with packaging covered in Mickey’s face. Uniqlo made dozens of graphic T-shirts with Mickey in various poses. So as not to miss out on the action, Apple launched $300 Beats headphones that paid homage to (向……致敬) the Mouse.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mickey Mouse and his friends sold $3 billion in merchandise (周边商品) in 2018, a figure that includes both adult and children’s products.

This brings up the question: Why would adults wear items decorated with the face of a smiling rodent in the first place? What accounts for the enduring appeal of this anthropomorphized (拟人化的) mouse, while other Disney characters, such as Anna from Frozen, hardly ever appear in adult products?

Mickey Mouse was big business almost as soon as he made his debut (首次亮相) in Walt Disney’s animated short Steamboat Willie (《汽船威利号》) in 1928. Within five years, Mickey was earning $1 million a year in merchandise sales. These products were largely targeted at children, including stuffed toys, trains, and nursery (托儿所) wallpaper.

Everything changed in the years after World War II.     2     For one thing, Mickey was nearly twenty years old, which meant that the first audience, who enjoyed the cartoons as children, were now in their thirties. Disney was willing to transform Mickey into a symbol of innocence in the postwar years, when people were desperate for something hopeful to cling to.

All the marketing worked. In 1947, products featuring Disney characters brought in $100 million in revenue (收益) in merchandise. In addition to kids’ products, many of the items sold were for adults, such as radios and phonographs (留声机).

    3     He made Mickey’s face and body rounder, and eyes larger, like those of a baby. Scientists have shown that adults are more drawn to childlike faces. That look is more likely to subconsciously (潜意识地) produce a greater level of attachment in the viewer.

    4     For instance, the company has done everything in its power to ensure that they do not use images of Mickey drinking and smoking.

By and large, though, the symbolism Mickey represents is the one Disney has put forth: that of innocence and positivity.     5     In World War II, people used Mickey to help cope with the horrors before them. This might also help explain why Mickey Mouse has been popular over the past few years when many people are experiencing political instability.

【推荐1】Imagine a small group of people with a shared passion for the same craft. They all have different skills and approaches, but they come together to share skills, share stories, and share in the joy of making something.

Modern maker culture is filling headlines and lab spaces all over the world. The way makers communicate with each other has changed over time. In the past, skills mainly came from personal sit-downs with members of the group. But sometimes a teacher wasn’t available, or the one available didn' t know how to do the skill others wanted to learn.

Today a teacher doesn' t even have to be in the same country or occupy the same decade as the students. Thanks to the work of people who take the time to break down and share the details of their craft, an interested individual can learn anything. Guides may range from videos to diagrams and text. Regardless of the media, maker resources are meant to be shared.

One of the features of the maker movement is the crossover between different interests. Perhaps a passion for cars and for leathercraft can result in a truly custom interior （定制的内饰）. Perhaps a love of knitting （编织）and robotics will result in a tiny ——but very mobile ——robotic furry cat.

And once you have started your creation, finding a community to share with is no longer limited to the people nearby. Modern makers have been sharing videos of their progress online for years, contributing greatly to the rapid spread of the maker movement. As different as the participants might be, they share enthusiasm, support, and a willingness to try.

Imagine making a ping-pong table together with your makers' team. One group builds the basic frame. Another group takes on the responsibility of painting. You knit the net. There is joy in just giving it a try. It will remind you of childhood creations. Whether you are an experienced programmer or just picking up a hammer for the first time, it is never a bad time to come up with an idea, try something, and share the results.

【推荐2】Automakers around the world, from Japan to Texas, are struggling with a global shortage of computer chips. Volkswagen sounded the alarm about the growing problem last month. Now more automakers are reporting problems that are trimming production plans based on their supply of semiconductors (半导体).

Semiconductors are at the heart of our phones and computers, but they're critical components for new cars, too — and not just in fancy touchscreens. "They're controlling the engine and the emissions and even in the switches for raising and lowering your windows," says Kristin Dziczek, the vice president at the Center for Automotive Research.

Last year, when auto manufacturing was suspended for the pandemic, everyone predicted a prolonged slowdown in car sales. The global semiconductor industry planned accordingly, and arranged to sell more computer chips to other buyers. But then, much to everyone's surprise, shoppers were still eager to buy new cars. As soon as they reopened, plants resumed normal production at a remarkable speed.

At the same time, demand for chips from other sectors — like consumer electronics — was also increasing. "Every school district in the country had to buy new computers," Dziczek says.

For car shoppers, this could mean some vehicle models are harder to find for the next few months. So far, the consequences have been uneven among automakers. Ford and Fiat Chrysler have entire plants on pause, while General Motors says its manufacturing operations have not been affected, and Toyota does not expect any impact to employment. The United Auto Workers, which represents factory workers at Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler plants, notes that its contracts include "unemployment and supplemental pay" for workers affected by production downtimes.

【推荐3】Some educators told us that more years of school could help students get higher scores on intelligence tests. That was a finding of a study of teenage males in some countries. Now, another research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes.

The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education. They are using the time instead for academic (学术的) subjects like math and reading. The studies included more than 55,000 children, aged 6 to 18.

Amika Singh: “According to the results of our study, we can conclude that being physically active is beneficial to academic performance. There are, first, physiological explanations, like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain. Being physically active means there are more hormones (荷尔蒙) produced like endorphins (内啡肽). And endorphins make your stress level lower and your mood improved, which means you also perform better.”

Also, students taking part in organised sports learn rules and how to follow them. This could improve their classroom behaviour and help them keep their mind on their work.

The study leaves some questions unanswered, however. Ms. Stash says it is not possible to say whether the amount or kind of activity affected the level of academic improvement. This is because of differences among the studies.

The researchers said they found only two high quality studies. They needed more high quality studies to confirm (证实) their findings. They also pointed out that “results for other parts of the world may be quite different”.

Still, the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school. MPs Singh says schools should consider that finding before they cut physical education programs. Her paper on “Physical Activity and Performance at School” is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

【推荐2】One December night, a long, long time ago, a family sat around the fireplace in their home. This family had found happiness in the worst place in all of New England. This family was never lonely. They enjoyed each other's company, and often had visitors. The family offered every traveler who stopped at their home a kindness that money could not buy.

On that December evening, someone knocked at their door. The oldest girl opened the door and found a young man standing in the dark.

The old grandmother put a chair near the fireplace for him. The oldest daughter gave him a warm, shy smile. And the baby held up its little arms to him. "This fire is just what I needed," the young man said. The wind has been blowing in my face for the last two hours.

When the father took the young man's travel bag, he said he was going to Vermont when he saw the light in the window. He decided to stop to sit and enjoy their fire and company for a while.

As the young man took his place by the fire, something like heavy footsteps was heard outside. It sounded as if someone was running down the side of the mountain, taking enormous steps. The father looked out one of the windows.

"That old mountain has thrown another stone at us again. He must have been afraid we would forget him. He sometimes shakes his head and makes us think he will come down on top of us," the father explained to the young man. "But we are old neighbors," he smiled. "And we manage to get along together pretty well. Besides, I have made a safe hiding place outside to protect us in case a slide brings the mountain down on our heads. "

As the father spoke, the mother prepared a hot meal for their guest. While he ate, he talked freely to the family, as if it were his own. This young man did not trust people easily. Yet on this evening, something made him share his deepest secret with these simple mountain people.

【推荐3】If you think about World Heritage Sites, you probably think of places connected with ancient art and culture, historical buildings and monuments. And of course, many of these are on the World Heritage List (WHL). But the WHL contains a lot of sites that are not so obvious. Let's look at a few of them.

Robben Island in South Africa

This island was used through the centuries as a prison, a hospital and a military base. But it's probably most famous as a maximum­security prison for political prisoners in the twentieth century. Nelson Mandela was one of its most famous residents. The WHL says it represents “the victory of democracy and freedom over oppression and racism”．

Borders of France and Spain

This is an area of great natural beauty and the mountains have many interesting geological formations. But it is also an area of small farms. People there still use a type of agriculture that used to be common in mountainous areas of Europe but has almost completely disappeared in modern times.

The city of Brasilia , Brazil

Brasilia is a capital city that was created from nothing in 1956. The WHL calls it “a landmark in the history of town planning”. The different areas of the city and the buildings themselves were all designed at the same time carefully. Every part of the city shows the ideas of the planner and architect．

Simien National Park , Ethiopia

Simien National Park was one of the first sites to be listed in 1978. It is one of the highest mountain areas in Africa, and the WHL calls it “one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world”. It is also important for its wildlife. The population of some rare animals is getting smaller and smaller.