【推荐1】Modeste Traore has lived his whole life near Lake Wegnia, in the Sahel area of Mali. The lake’s fish have provided him with a way to earn money to support his extended family. How-ever, because he can’t catch enough fish to feed his family, he now raises farm animals. But as temperatures rise, evaporation increases, making the body of water shrinks. Studies have linked rising temperatures on Earth’s surface to climate change.

The lake is shrinking, so are the chances of his children becoming fishermen. “If things go on like this, I don’t think our children can become fishermen like us. They will have to choose other jobs,” the 56-year-old Traore said. “During the rainy season, there is a lot of water but as soon as it’s over, there is no water left in the lake. We are fishermen. I don’t think our children will be,” he said.

Lake Wegnia is in the Sahel region of Koulikoro, around 120 kilometers north of Mali’s capital, Bamako. Some 12,000 people, including fishermen and farmers, depend on it for food, water and employment. But the lake has shrunk by 20 percent since 2017.

The UN expects temperatures there to increase 1.5 times higher than the average increase worldwide. UN officials note that the flooding and a severe lack of rainfall can cause problems in the Sahel: Food insecurity, the fight over farmland and the fast population growth can lead to conflict.

Aid group is leading the Eco-Lac Wegnia project. The group is working to improve water management and fight the effects of global warming. Moussa Savagodo is Eco-Lac Wegnia’s local representative. He says that failing to make changes quickly can mean the lake will disappear completely in less than 5 years.

People in the rural areas Wegnia and Kononi-Sirakoro have planted 56,000 trees in the past two years. And they are better controlling their water by building stone barriers to help the soil keep the rain that does fall. The progress and international official support are not enough for them, however. More and more people are turning to other agriculture.

【推荐2】Australian experts have expressed concerns that too many millennials(千禧一代) are hoping to use their social media accounts to build their careers. Their concerns follow the sudden rise in “insta-celebrities” who make money by posting sponsored(赞助的) photos online. For the lucky few who are not only talented photographers but also good-looking and business-savvy(有商业头脑的), making money off social media isn’t impossible.

Instagram is flooded with social media professionals paid to promote products and services. However, social scientist Lauren Rosewarne, from the University of Melbourne, says that in reality, there are far fewer people making money off the platforms than one may think. She said many young Australians were getting sucked in by the appeal of making money on platforms like Instagram, describing it as “totally unrealistic” and extremely difficult to do.

“Young people are hoping to be famous in numbers that were simply not there 20 years ago,” Rosewarne told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday. “There are some people who can make fortunes out of monetizing(使具有货币性质) their Instagram posts, but that is not the norm.” She said it was up to parents and schools to discourage students from seeking Insta-fame, as many believe it is a possible career choice. “There’s the warning for parents; this is not a normal or even common occurrence that you can monetize your Instagram account.”

Meanwhile Toni Eager from Australian National University said social problems could arise from spending too much time with social media. “Where do the insta-celebrities go to separate the life people see on Instagram from their actual normal life?” Eager said. “All of a sudden, people own your private life.”

【推荐1】Back in 1975, economists planned rising life expectancy (预期寿命) against countries’ wealth, and concluded that wealth itself increases longevity. It seemed self- evident: everything people need to be healthy--from food to medical care- costs money.

But it soon proved that the data didn't always fit that theory. Economic booms didn’t always mean longer lives. In addition, for reasons that weren’t clear, a given gain in gross domestic product (GDP) caused increasingly higher gains in life expectancy over time, as though it was becoming cheaper to add years of life. Moreover, in the 1980s researchers found gains in learning were associated with greater increases in life expectancy than gains in wealth were. Finally, the more educated people in any country tend to live longer than their less educated fellow citizens. But such people also tend to be wealthier, so it has been difficult to make out which factor is increasing lifespan.

Wolfgang Lutz and his colleagues have now done that by collecting average data on GDP per person，lifespan, and years of education from 174 countries, dating from 1970 to 2010. They found that, just as in 1975, wealth associated with longevity. But the association between longevity and years of schooling was closer, with a direct relationship that did not change over time, the way wealth does.

Lutz argues that because schooling happens many years before a person has attained their life expectancy, this association reflects cause: better education drives longer life. It also leads to more wealth, which is why wealth and longevity are also associated. But what is important, says Lutz, is that wealth does not seem to be longevity, as experts thought- in fact, education is driving both of them.

He thinks this is because education permanently improves a person’s cognitive abilities, allowing better planning and self-control throughout the rest of their life. This idea is supported by the fact that people who are more intelligent appear to live longer.

【推荐2】These days, young people in some English-speaking countries are speaking a strange language, especially when communicating on social media.

Look at these words chosen by The Washington Post: “David Bowie dying is totes tradge” and “When Cookie hugged Jamal it made me totes emosh.” Or this sentence: “BAE, let me know if you stay in tonight.”

What on earth do they mean? Well, “totes” is a short form of “totally.” Similarly, “tradge” means “tragic” and “emosh” means “emotional.” It seems that, for millennials (千禧一代), typing in this form is not only quick but trendy.

As you can see, much millennial slang (俚语) is formed by so-called “totesing”—the systematic abbreviation (缩写) of words. The trend might have started with “totally” becoming “totes,” but it has now spread to many other English words.

The origins of other millennial slang are more complex than “totesing.” “Bae,” for example, has been widely used by African-Americans for years. It can be an expression of closeness with one’s romantic partner or, for someone without romantic connection yet. After pop singer Pharrell used the word in his work, “bae” became mainstream.

Some people might think millennial slang lowers the value of the English language, but Melbourne University linguist Rosey Billington doesn’t agree. She says when people are able to use a language in a creative way, they show that they know the language rules well enough to use words differently. Two other linguists, Lauren Spradlin and Taylor Jones, share the same view. The two analyzed hundreds of examples of totes-speak and discovered totesing has complex roots.

It isn’t simply an adult version of baby talk, nor a clever way to minimize your word count. Rather, it is a highly organized system that relies on a speaker’s mastery of English pronunciation. It is about sounds, follows sound system of English and has strict rules.

【推荐3】The United States seems to have become extremely enthusiastic about competition. The famous Scripps National Spelling Bee—an annual spelling contest—now allows kids who last in regional competitions but whose parents agree to pay an entry fee (费用) along with their own food and accommodation to compete. And while some kids are working for what they call a spelling “career”, others are approaching chess competitions, dance competitions, cooking or other passions that previous generations developed somewhat later in life.

I’m disturbed by the phenomenon (现象), which seems to be getting worse and more intense.

My teacher always warned us that competition is a destructive quality; that the goal is never to beat anyone else. I think he’ll be cheered by author Peggy Noonan’s idea that a lot of us are running our own races, trying to rise to the occasion and beat some past and limited conception of ourselves by doing something great.

I heartily agree. Instead of paying attention to the accomplishments or possessions of others, we need to focus on our own potential, our own growth and take pleasure in our own particular set of circumstances. The battle for life is not against anyone else but against the darkness inside that tries to bring us down. I wish you only well. Your good doesn’t reduce mine. Your bad gives me no pleasure

Ms. Noonan also suggests that “you’re running your own race alongside others running theirs, and in the same direction. You’re doing something great together.” If we stop worrying about what our neighbor is earning or driving, the size of his house, the success of his marriage, the accomplishments of his children, we can sit back and enjoy our own lives. And if we all focus on what we each can achieve, regardless of anyone else, we have a chance of working as one, of actually being united.

Competition divides us. There are winners and losers. But that’s a very limited picture of reality. It may apply to spelling bees and soccer matches and even in some college classes, but life isn’t about triumphing (战胜) over someone else; it’s about triumphing over ourselves. The only acceptable competition is one where we encourage each other to be the best human being possible, and that’s the only game where “everyone is a winner”.

【推荐1】A trip to the theater, museum or art gallery could help you live longer. And the more often, the better, a new study suggests. Researchers from University College London (UCL) found that people engaged in the arts more frequently had a 31% lower risk of dying early when compared to those who didn't. Even going to the theater or museum once or twice a year was linked with a 14% lower risk.

“While other health behaviors like smoking, alcohol and exercise are undoubtedly bigger predictors of the rate of death, these leisure and pleasure activities people don't think as a health related activity do support good health and long life,” said Fancourt, an associate professor at UCL’s Research Department of Behavioral Science and Health.

How often an individual engaged in art activities, also including exhibitions, concerts and opera but not cinema, was measured at the start of the study in 2004 to 2005. The study looked at a range of economic, health and social factors to try and explain why there is a link between “arts engagement” and living longer, although as an observational study it can't establish cause. Part of the reason, the study said, comes down to social and economic differences among those who go and don't go to museums, exhibitions and art galleries. Wealth, they found, explained about 9% of the association. Cognitive(认知的) differences, social engagement and mental health also played a role.

“Things like free time and occupational status made no material difference,” said Fancourt, “but engagement in arts can reduce stress and build creativity that allows people to adapt to changing circumstances. It also helps people build social capital — accessing emotional support and information that helps people age more successfully. A greater sense of purpose could also play a role. If this (study) is added to the larger body of evidence, we are getting an increasingly rich picture on how arts can benefit health and it's not about one single outcome. It can have wide ranging benefits and support healthier lives lived longer.”

This study did not look at the effects of taking part in art-related activities but a World Health Organization review of available evidence published last year found that both receptive participation, like visiting a museum, and active participation, like singing in a choir, had health benefits.

【推荐2】Bees and butterflies are active during the daytime. They get a lot of attention for their roles as pollinators(传粉者).But moths(蛾)aren't given the prominence they deserve.

Actually, moths are seen much less often, because they're active at night. Moth bodies often seem furry. Pollen—a yellow powder in the center of most flowers, from one flower sticks to their bodies and falls off when they move to other flowers. Scientists studied insects around nine ponds on farmlands in the United Kingdom. They visited these ponds once a month from March to October.

They studied three groups of insects: moths, bees that normally work together, like honey bees, and flying insects which work alone, such as butterflies. At the ponds, the scientists caught these flying insects and died to collect pollen from their bodies. In all, the scientists checked 838 moths, 632 other insects which work alone, and 1,548 honey bees.

By studying the pollen they collected, the scientists were able to see which plants the insects had visited. The moths had pollen from 47 different kinds of plants, including seven plants that bees don't normally visit. The honey bees had pollen from 46 different kinds of plants. The other insects that work alone had visited 45 different kinds of plants. Richard Walton, who led the study, says that bees usually choose the plants with the most nectar(花蜜)and most pollen. However, moths pollinate many different plants, filling in the gaps left by the daytime pollinators.

Not only do moths pollinate plants, they also provide important food for birds and bats.

But, like many other insects, moth numbers have dropped greatly in the last 50 years, mainly because of pesticides and the loss of natural lands. Just like bees and butterflies, moths are worth protecting. "Moths are by no means less important," says Dr. Walton.