【推荐1】I was truly delighted by the beauty that I enjoyed when I came to this country. My journey started when I was in my senior year at the University of Ottawa. As a health science major, I’d always planned on just applying to medical schools and continuing my studies in some fashion or another country.

After four years of intense studies, something just didn’t feel right. I felt a strong urge to make a change. It was 2008. I began searching for alternatives to what most university graduates see as their two options: enter the workforce, or continue studying.

But I knew I wanted something completely different. I didn’t have money to travel, but I was searching for an idea that could allow me to leave whenever I want. Despite never having left my country, I felt the urge to explore.

I spent my final few months as a student researching all of my options and soon had made up my mind that I was going to teach English in a foreign country. Quickly I was able to narrow down the options to either Japan, South Korea, or China.

Finally, I set China as my destination. The moment I set foot on this magical land, my eyes were opened, and my mind transformed. This was the beginning of a new lifestyle for me. The culture shock was real, but at the same time, it could get people back on their feet. I spent the next few years studying everything under the sun about marketing, online business creation, and sales.

Fast forward a few years, and that site has grown enough to fund my travels. Therefore, I decide I never look back, and I’m determined to start a new life on this land.

【推荐2】Google says an AI-powered system it created is helping improve traffic flow in major cities. The system, called Project Green Light, is now in use in 12 cities. The project aims to save energy and reduce air pollution, or emissions (排放量), from cars.

Google first announced the program in 2021, when it was testing the system in four areas of Britain. Since then, the company has kept increasing Project Green Light. Among cities now taking part in the program are Bangalore, Budapest, Jakarta, Manchester, Haifa, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Seattle.

In an online announcement, Google’s Yossi Matias explained the latest progress. He noted that the system is being tested in areas with serious traffic problems. Generally, this is at major crossings with heavy traffic and complex traffic lights. These areas where vehicles start and stop are known as crossroads.

The company said research has shown that at such crossroads, car emissions can be 29 times higher than on open roads. In addition, Google’s own research found that vehicles that must stop and start account for about half of those emissions.

Project Green Light uses individual (个人的) driver data from Google Maps. This data is connected with AI methods to produce models of each crossroads where the system is in place, the company says. The data from Google Maps is also used to create another model on how different traffic lights interact (相互作用).

The modeling process for crossroads considers several things. These include the structure of streets, traffic conditions, signal scheduling and how the vehicles interact with lights.

The models are used to reduce stop and start times and save more driving time, a process called optimization (最优化). Google says one goal is to improve several crossroads at the same time to create “waves of green lights” for vehicles on the road.

【推荐3】As the World Cup approaches in Qatar, “made in China” are having increasing presence in this biggest football bonanza across the globe, with Chinese brands betting on amounting sponsorship to enhance their international influence.

Wanda Group, Hisense Group, Vivo and dairy company Mengniu are four official Chinese sponsors of FIFA, while Wanda has become one of FIFA’s seven corporate partners, along with Coca-Cola, Adidas, Hyundai-Kia, Qatar Airways, Qatar Energy and VISA.

Apart from big companies, manufacturers from Yiwu in Zhejiang Province, China’s small commodity hub, are also witnessing their growing influence during the world-renowned sports event. From footballs, national flags and trophy (奖杯) ornaments to horns and whistles, over 60 percent of souvenirs are produced in Yiwu for this year’s World Cup. “In terms of the global industrial supply chain, ‘made in Yiwu’ has already become a worldwide commercial symbol originating from China, which indicates ‘reliance’ and ‘trust’ ”, said Song Xiangqing, an economist and the vice-president of the Commerce Economy Association of China.

Lusail, Qatar’s biggest stadium to hold the World Cup final, was built by China Railway Construction Corp International, costing a total of 770 million.

CCTV news reported that Chinese companies mainly from Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces have also provided more than 10,000 container houses for the World Cup, used as accommodation for tourists and football fans.

“The World Cup sponsorship by a large number of Chinese companies is a demonstration of China’s economic power, and makes the globe feel the power of Chinese brands,” Song said.

According to Deloitte’s report, football generates an annual output of more than 500 billion across the world. For example, in 2016, Hisense spent 100 million to become an official sponsor of the World Cup in Russia. Sales volume of Hisense TV surged nearly three times after the game kicked off, reaching a record high.

“However, sponsoring sports events should not be dismissed simply as marketing stunts (噱头),” Song said, “as overseas markets have complex social systems and ethnic cultures, Chinese brands need to consolidate the foundation first, and build up themselves in product, service and platform.”

【推荐2】The actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among 50 wealthy people, charged Tuesday in what Department of Justice officials called the largest college cheating scam (骗局) it has ever accused. The FBI alleged that parents spent up to $6.5 million to guarantee their children’s admission to elite universities by inflating entrance-exam scores and bribing college officials.

It’s the extreme, illegal version of what parents often do, attempting to bend the college-admissions system to their will to ensure their children’s privilege, convinced that a college name will lead to “success.” Parents believe that an elite school will make their kids happy or give them an edge in life. But the misleading focus on a “roadmap to success” not only isn’t a guarantee of either result — it’s also terrible for kids.

At a time when one in five college students reports having had suicidal thoughts over the past year, we must hammer home to families the message that tunnel-visioning toward selective schools is not only misguided, but dangerous. Instead of focusing on a college “search” to find the schools that will best fit a student, too many families are focusing on college “prep,” molding the student to fit a school. This practice tells teenagers they aren’t good enough unless they get a certain acceptance letter, a harmful message that lingers long after the application process. And for what? Students aren’t automatically happier at name-brand schools.

Yet so many families continue to have name-brand fever. Parents want the name of the college to reflect all the effort and hard work that they and their children put into the high-school years, and they want the name of their college to make up for the lack of sleep and other sacrifices they made along the way. But names don’t necessarily reflect substance. Names are empty. Yet not to mention the destruction of one’s childhood. As an Illinois high-school senior told me, “many students view their young life as “a conveyor belt,” making monotonous scheduled stops at high school, college, graduate school, a job, more jobs, some promotions, and then you die.”

Parents might tell themselves that they’re pushing so hard for the sake of their children. But whether they’re bribing officials, or donating buildings, the children are the ones who suffer.

【推荐3】Schoolchildren across the United Kingdom will learn how to fend off loneliness. In January, British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed the first “minister of loneliness”. This week, her administration released an 84-page plan detailing the actions it will take to prevent loneliness. Starting in primary school, students will have lessons in “relationships education”.

The Brigham Young University psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad, one of the foremost scholars on loneliness in the United States, warns that the U.S.has a significant loneliness problem of its own and that schools desperately need to follow the U.K.’s lead and include preventive measures into their lessons.

Indeed, according to a recent report by the health-care company Cigna, nearly half of adults in the U.S. reported feeling alone. Marriage rates and religious-participation rates are also dropping and both are risk factors for social isolation and loneliness. The prevalence (普遍) of loneliness seems to be especially acute among young adults. One study found that Americans aged 21 to 30 reported feeling lonely twice as many days as adults aged 50 to 70. Studies suggest loneliness results in a variety of health issues, such as decreased immunity to viral infections, poor sleep, and cardiovascular (心血管的) issues．

The ideal school curriculum (课程) for teaching loneliness prevention would target social isolation as well as the cognitive processes that make people feel lonely. “Recognizing that it’s something that we need to take seriously for our health is a primary and critical step,” Holt- Lunstad says. She advocates for a sort of “social education” that would be put into existing health-education curriculum to teach students how to build and maintain friendships and relationships.