【推荐1】Radio newsreaders and television hosts at Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE are mostly up in arms at being told to pronounce words according to the Queen’s English.

A report in The Irish Sun newspaper says that RTE’s workers have been given an A-Z style guide of words which instructs them on how to pronounce certain words in an effort to make sure they are clearly understood. The A-Z comes with videos containing lessons of how to “properly” pronounce the “problem” words. An official at RTE told the Irish Sun that producers gave the guide to keep up standards. “The guide is there for anyone who needs it.” he said, “RTE often get letters from the public over how certain words were mispronounced. The word ‘issue’ is a big one at the moment, people don’t like how it’s pronounced. There is an expectation that as the national broadcaster we are correct.”

However, Irish linguistics expert Professor Raymond Hickey, who took the side of most of the radio newsreaders and TV hosts, called the RTE’s actions “internalized colonialism (内化殖民主义)”. He expressed his disbelief that Irish speakers were being asked to use words with an English accent. He said: “The basic problem is RTE expects its workers to speak as if they were English. Why? We have our own form of English, which is different but fully reasonable and accepted worldwide.” Professor Hickey specially talked of some examples of the words Irish hosts are being asked to pronounce with a British English accent. He said: “The Irish don’t pronounce the TH [in ‘birthday’] as a fricative, but as a stop with no breath…. The same is true of ‘news’ — the Irish pronunciation is and always has been ‘nooze’.”

【推荐2】“Tear them apart ! ”“Kill the fool! Murder the referee(裁判)!”

These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the time they are made, they may seem innocent enough. But let’s not kid ourselves. They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed. Volumes have been written about the way words affect us. It has been shown that words having certain connotation(涵义)may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term “opponent” as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete(删除) it from sports terrors.

The dictionary meaning of the term “opponent” is “enemy”; “one who opposes your interests. ” Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may be the most important, and every action, no matter how rude, may be considered acceptable. I remember an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player’s request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough. The player started to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then shouted, “Are they wet enough now?”

In the heat of battle players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences(后果) that such a move might have on anyone in their way. I have also seen a player reacting to his opponent’s intentional and illegal blocking by deliberately(故意地) hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which goes against normal behavior.

Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated(提升)the game to the level where it belongs, thereby setting an example to the rest of the sporting world. Replacing the term ”opponent“ with ”associate“ could be an ideal way to start.

The dictionary meaning of the term “associate“ is” colleague, “friend”, “companion”. Think about it! You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term “associate“” rather than ”opponent".

【推荐1】Parents have a new tool in the battle over screen time, with an Australian app asking kids to solve one math or English problem before they can unlock their phones.

Sydney entrepreneurs Issac and Ann Elnekave turned their bright idea into an app called 1 Question and tried it on their 16-year-old daughter Alyssa.

“At first I wasn’t sure about it,” Alyssa said. “I didn’t want my friends to blame me if their parents made them get it. But once I started using it, I realized it doesn’t take that long to answer a question and it’s actually pretty cool.”

“Research has shown almost half of children aged between 6 and 16 either have a mobile phone or have access to one. The majority play games or use apps like YouTube for an average of about five hours a day. The 1 Question app creates micro learning moments,” Mrs. Elnekave said. “We created a solution that makes a balance between screen time and study.”

Parents can download the $2.99 a month app onto their child’s phone, select their grade and curriculum subjects, then monitor each time their child correctly answers a question to open a game or app such as YouTube.

“We designed the user experience to be really simple, but underneath the hood is our incredibly intelligent AI engine,” Mr. Elnekave said. “As your child learns, so does the AI, which works out each child’s areas of strength and weakness and creates a customized path for their learning.”

The app has a base of 12,000 questions developed by teachers using the Australian, British and American curriculums designed for primary school children.

【推荐2】These days, it’s not unusual to see middle-aged men collecting Star Wars action figures, office workers wearing Hello Kitty accessories, or celebrities like David Beckham playing with Lego bricks. It’s becoming more and more common to see adult taking an interest in toys, comic books and the activities that are traditionally associated with children. This phenomenon has given rise to a new word: kidult.

What lies behind the phenomenon? One is about adults’ nostalgia (怀旧之情)for the carefree days of childhood, and this is especially true with today’s fast-paced, stressful lifestyles. Another is about a societal change in recent decades where people are starting families later. As a result, they have more time and money to spend on themselves. Some adults could only window-shop for their dream toys when they were kids, but now they can afford that radio controlled car or high-priced doll they have always wanted.

Businesses have been quick to exploit the kidult trend, and the number of toy stores that target adults has risen. Companies are repackaging products from past decades and also bringing out new ones for adults. Lego, for example, has brought out an architectural series featuring landmarks from around the world.

Society traditionally disapproves of adults who refuse to put aside childhood interests, viewing the refusal as a sign of social immaturity and irresponsibility. Those who agree with this view sometimes claim that kidults are suffering from the pop-psychology concept known as Peter Pan Syndrome, an anomaly (异常)that people remain emotionally at the level of teenagers. On a grander scale, these kidult opponents argue that such delayed adulthood causes couples to marry later and have fewer children. This in turn can lead to shrinking national economies，for there needs to be a generational replenishment(补充)of the workforce.

From the standpoint of kidults, though, this phenomenon is seen as nothing but harmless fun. Kidults insist that having youthful interests keeps them young, happy and creative, and their refusal to conform to society’s acceptable tastes shows independent thinking. Besides, they argue that being part of the social trend of delayed adulthood is not purely a personal choice. The real causes include expensive housing, increased educational requirements for employment and poor ork opportunities.

Whether the kidult phenomenon will continue to grow or prove to be a passing trend is anyone’s guess. As the debate about it continues, remember that there is nothing wrong with being young at heart.