【推荐1】①When we think of humor, we generally think about entertainment - enjoying a stand-up comedy or watching a funny film. But psychologists believe humor can also help improve our mental health and promote social bonding.

②Rod Martin at the University of Western Ontario examined the relation-ship between a sense of humor and psychological wellbeing. He found individuals with a good sense of humor had higher levels of self-esteem (自尊), were more positive in the face of challenging life events, and had more self-protective ways of coping with stress

③However, this finding is only corelational. It could be that a good sense of humor fosters the positive qualities, and that high levels of self-esteem and a positive mindset may be what allows an individual to develop a good sense of humor. To prove it, researchers randomly appointed 55 adults to three courses: a humor group, a social group, and a control group. At the end of the courses, those in the humor group scored significantly higher on levels of emotional wellbeing and showed decreased levels of stress and anxiety. The researchers also tested the effects of attending parties as well as watching comedies and funny films. They found that these positive social activities also made these adults more humorous and welcome.

④Wellbeing in the workplace can also be increased by humor. Both Eric Romero and Kevin Cruthirds at the University of Texas found encouraging moments of jokes among colleagues were generally associated with increased work performance and decreased reports of stress. However, they also raise a caution: any positive result depends on the jokes in question. That the type of humor is key to its benefits clarifies why positive findings in this area are often weak or unclear. As some researchers wisely point out, the problem is that too few of them begin by defining clearly what humor is. He believes there are two types: adaptive and maladaptive (适应不良的).

⑤Adaptive humor encourages us to feel closer to others and better about ourselves, whereas maladaptive humor is self-defeating, rude and aggressive. Maladaptive humor leads only to lower self-esteem and a distance between you and your colleagues.

⑥The conclusion? Humor can definitely help you, not only with your mental wellbeing, but also with your colleague relationships - only if it's adaptive, self-enhancing and acceptable. All in all, kindness is the key.

【推荐2】Staying positive through the cold season could be the best defence(防御物) against getting sick, a new American study suggests.

In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny character were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help ward off the common cold and other illnesses.

“People with a positive emotional style may have different reactions to the virus,” explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen. “And when they do get a cold, they may experience their illness less severely.”

Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less susceptible(易受影响的) to catching a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional quality itself had the effect.

For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personal qualities, physical health and “emotional styles”. Those who tended to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy had a negative style. Afterwards, the researchers gave them something containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus that causes flu-like symptoms. Over the next six days the volunteers reported on any aches, pains, sneezes they had. Cohen and his colleagues found that happy people were less likely to develop a cold.

What’s more, when happy folks did develop a cold, their symptoms were less severe than expected. People with negative characters were not at increased risk of developing a cold based on objective measures, though they did tend to get them down about their symptoms.

“We find that it’s really positive emotions that have the big effect”, Cohen said, “not the negative ones.”

So can a bad-tempered person fight a cold by deciding to be happy?

【推荐1】Languages like Italian or Finnish can be spelled more easily because each letter of the alphabet matches to one sound. Students studying these languages can have 90 percent reading accuracy after the first year. However, students even after years of learning English are still far below Italian or Finnish students in reading accuracy.

English started as a Germanic language. It is most closely connected to German and Dutch, especially in grammar and basic vocabulary. During the Norman invasion in the 12th century, Old English was spoken but French was used in government and legal documents. And Latin was used in religious and educational activities. As a result, more French and Latin words entered the English language. The printing press invented in the late 1400s helped to establish English spelling. The English of today is how the language was written at the time. However, the spoken language started to change in the 1500s with the pronunciation of all long vowels (元音). For example, “bite” was pronounced closer to “beet” in the 1400s, before changing through the years to its current sound. The effect was that the English language had old spellings, but new sounds.

English has 26 letters in the alphabet, but over 44 individual sounds depending on the variation of spoken English. There are several sounds represented by only one letter. For example, the letter “C” can sound like an “S” as in “city”. And it also sounds like a “K” as in “cat”.

There are only 5 or 6 vowel letters in the English alphabet. They include A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. But there are 20 different ways to sound them. At the centre is the most common vowel sound of “uhhh”. It is the most relaxed and natural sound. It takes almost no effort of the tongue or throat to create the sound. Since it takes little effort, the sound “uhhh” often makes its way into pronunciations. For example, the word “please” often turns into “PUH-lease” when someone is trying to call attention. This is another reason why spelling in English is so difficult!

【推荐2】Just ask any new parent: Adding a baby to a household can also add stress to a career. Now，a new study backs that up with some astonishing numbers: After science，technology，engineering，and mathematics（STEM）professionals become parents，43%of women and 23% of men switch fields，transition（转变）to part-time work，or leave the workforce entirely.

Many researchers and parents already knew that STEM can be unwelcoming to parents，particularly mothers. But“the considerable departure was astonishing，”says Erin Cech，an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and lead author of the study，published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For both genders，“the proportions were higher than we expected. ”

The surprisingly high reduction rate for men also highlights that“parenthood in STEM is not just a mothers'issue；it's a worker issue，”Cech says. She hopes that the findings“might motivate changes，"such as more paid parental leave from both government and employers and policies that better support flexible work time without a tight routine. “We are not suggesting that people who want families should avoid STEM；that's not the solution，”she emphasizes.

By 2018，78% of new fathers were still working in STEM，the vast majority full time. For new mothers，68% were still in STEM，but only 57% worked full time. For professionals without children，on the other hand，84% of men and 76% of women were predicted to still be working in STEM full time in 2018. For the new parents across all fields，16% of women were working part-time and 15% had left the workforce，as compared with just 2% and 3%，respectively，for men. These sharp differences make clear that，even though the reduction rate for fathers is higher than expected，mothers still face particular career challenges.

【推荐1】London has a wide range of museums to entertain (娱乐) and educate covering everything from science and technology to the decorative arts and the history of warfare. South Kensington is home to a lot of world-class museums, the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, all within walking distance of each other. Entry to most museums in London is free, though special exhibitions may attract a charge.

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum exhibits an extensive range of historical natural specimens, from the tiniest of insects to dinosaurs and whales. The trip to this museum will be an unforgettable day out for the kids.

ADDRESS: Cromwell Road, Kensington, London, SW7 5BD

OPENING HOURS:

Monday-Saturday 10.00-19.00

Sunday 14.00-19.00

Closed 24-26 December

Science Museum

Science Museum shows the beauty of the science and maths that shape our everyday lives. This unmissable experience will light your curiosity, inspire your imagination and drive you to see the world around you in new and exciting ways.

ADDRESS: Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD

OPENING HOURS:

Daily 10.00-18.00

School holidays 10.00-18.30

Victoria and Albert Museum

The V&A Museum was set up in 1852 to exhibit examples of metalwork, furniture and all other forms of decorative art from all periods. It also holds an extensive collection of fine art with paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture, in order to give a complete history of art and design.

ADDRESS: Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL

OPENING HOURS:

Daily: 10.00-17.45

Friday: 10.00-22.00

【推荐2】To find an entrance to the deserted plant without being noticed, George Wilson sneaked around the fence, a bag on his back and his hands in his pockets.

However, George thought twice when a guard dog appeared. “I’m not afraid of the gatekeeper—at least I can try to persuade him. But a dog? Forget it. I’ll find another way. "While planning his special visit to the plant, the 25-year-old did some research, but still failed to locate the entrance.

George is among the thousands who are crazy about “taking adventures”, which they call urban exploration, or “urbex”. The aim is to explore structures—usually abandoned ruins or “hidden parts of the man-made environments”.

One of the most common examples of urban exploration is venturing(冒险) into abandoned structures, which usually include amusement parks, factories, power plants, missile silos, fallout shelters, hospitals, asylums, schools and houses.

Urban explorers are interested in visiting such sites, as they can discover “other parts of a city” and get to understand its history from a different angle.

George, who worked for a German company in New York for six months, said he enjoyed the contrast between the city’s two sides—modern and crowded, compared with old-fashioned and silent—and wanted to learn more about the city during his short stay.

George said that he was able to finally sneak in through another entrance, yet he was still asked to leave by a gatekeeper shortly after. But he then managed to get into a newly built residential block, climbed to the top and took a picture of the factory ruins at sunset.

“I will come back another day,” he said.

【推荐3】Some of the greatest problems we face today are the destruction (破坏)of our environment.Brown clouds, polluted water, endangered wild animals..., these problems seem so huge.

So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don’t have to drive.

But does it do any good? When I am the only one in line at the market with cloth bags, am I doing any good? Does my walking to stores make any real difference to the world?

I recently learned something about flamingos(火烈鸟)which like to get together in groups of a thousand or more Every year when the time comes for migration (迁徙), a few of them first take off from the lake. But none of the others seem to notice, so the small group returns. However, the next day they try again. This time a few more fly along with them, but most of them still pay no attention, so they return again. They try for several times. Every time a few more birds join in but ,since the thousands of others still take no notice, the great migration plan is once more stopped.

Then one day something changes. The same small group of birds once again starts flying and a small number more join in just as before, then more. Finally, they all take flight and the migration really begins. What a spectacular sight it must be--thousands of flamingos taking off into the sky at once!

A few can make a difference. Even if you’re the one to take the first step, and continue trying,others will someday take notice and together we will solve even our greatest problems.