【推荐1】Smartphone technology can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it sends us unlimited amounts of information. On the other hand, this immediate access to information may become an addiction. And it may make some people feel lonely and anxious.

These findings, published in NeuroRegulation, are from a 2018 study led by health education professors Erik Peper and Richard Harvey for San Francisco State University. Peper explains the smartphone addiction forms connections in the brain that are similar to drug addiction. And these connections form slowly over time. Also, addiction to social media may affect our emotional (情感的) state.

Peper and Harvey do not blame (指责) users for their technology addiction. They blame the “technology industry’s desire to increase company income”. As Peper writes, “More eyeballs, more clicks, more money.” The researchers warn that workers in the technology industry know how to manipulate our brains and turn us into addicts.

But the researchers also suggest ways to fight back. They say that we can train our brains to be less addicted to our phones and computers. Erik Peper suggests turning off push notifications (通知) on our phones. Our devices often share unimportant information as if our lives depended on it. Our brains see the notices the same way, And that is a problem. So, just turn them off.

The researchers also suggest taking control of when and where you answer a text or email. You do not need to answer them all. And you certainly don’t need to answer them as soon as you get them. They also suggest not spending too much time on social media. Schedule periods of the day to focus on important tasks.

【推荐2】Next time you go shopping, keep in mind that there may be hidden cameras analyzing your habits. According to a 2015 survey of 150 managers from Computer Services Corporation, a quarter of British shops use facial recognition software to collect data on shopper behavior.

With concerns that face-recognition cameras“ are kind of invasive(冒犯的)”, British analysis firm Hoxton Analytics has come up with a new way of measuring footfall (客流)—by filming people's shoes. The technology can collect a large amount of personal information. "We have cameras at 50 cm off the ground and they point down so they are less invasive than facial recognition," Duncan Mann, Hoxton's officer said.

As modern cities get fuller—70 percent of the population will live in urban areas by 2050—cameras and other technologies are taking over public spaces and collecting our data. Their purpose is to keep people safe, provide efficient services and prevent disasters and crimes.

But some are not happy with the cameras as far as their privacy(隐私) is concerned. "Very few of us have any real concept of what data smart cities are gathering," said Renate

Samson.

We begin giving away data as soon as we wake up. When we enter the transport system, we are giving away even more details about ourselves through smart cards, mobile phones or credit cards.

Nick Millman, director at a consulting firm thinks statistics are the key to the privacy concern. He used the example of Google Maps, which is to monitor the flow of traffic in Stockholm. He explained, "It is basically adding privacy controls to statistics so that you only see the data you need to know about". In this case, Google gets enough data to improve traffic but not so much that it shows individual journey patterns.

【推荐3】The Internet has got into all the fields of our life. We can study and work on it. We can find a job on it. We can communicate on it. We can treat friends on it. We can buy and sell on it. We can do almost everything on the Internet, and almost anywhere, anytime.

However, although the Internet provides services for us, it is silently getting our privacy(隐私) to some degree. The services on most websites require our personal information. If we want to enjoy these services, we have to provide much of our information, including our names, sex, addresses, telephone numbers and sometimes bank accounts(帐户). Because weak network sometimes is unsafe, our information might be open, stolen or sold. Even sometimes it will be used freely by others.

Considering the above mentioned, you must pay attention to the safety when using the Internet. First, when you need Internet service, you should always look through those big legal(合法的) websites. Second, if the service requires important personal information, you should think twice before you type it in. Third, store your own important card key(密钥卡) and don’t tell others easily.

a. Surf the safe Web.

b. Think over and over before typing it in.

c. Don’t chat with friends on line.

d. Don’t use your key easily.

【推荐1】Several studies in recent years have suggested that ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft can worsen traffic problems in cities, which continue to have high rates of private vehicle ownership.

Recently, a new study has found that ride-sharing services result in much more pollution than other kinds of private and public transportation. Ride-sharing trips also draw passengers away from more environment-friendly methods of travel, like public transportation, walking or biking, the study found.

The new study, carried out by the not-for-profit group Union of Concerned Scientists, represents an attempt to center on how ride-sharing services affect pollution. The research examined the effects of ride-sharing services on seven of America’s largest cities.

Overall, the researchers reported that ride-sharing trips now “result in an estimated 69 percent more climate pollution on average than the trips they displace.” The study notes that the same passengers could have chosen to travel by bus, train, bike, scooter or on foot.

One of the big reasons they give for this result is that ride-sharing vehicles are often driven with no passengers in the car. This happens when drivers are either waiting for rider requests, are on the way to pick up passengers or are driving in between pickups. This situation, known as “deadheading”, takes up about 42 percent of all ride-sharing driving activity, the study found. The researchers said that deadheading results in about 50 percent more carbon dioxide than one person driving in a private vehicle. Both Uber and Lyft do offer a choice of a “pooled” ride, which involves drivers picking up additional riders during the same trip.

The study urges services like Uber and Lyft to work to increase the number of pooled rides. It also urges the two companies to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road and to improve connections to public transportation centers.

Both Uber and Lyft have said in the past that most studies on the subject overstate the effects of their services on pollution. They have noted that the majority of vehicles on the road belong to private individuals or companies. Uber told Reuters news agency in a statement it had no comment on the latest report. But the company said it aims to be part of the solution to address climate change by working directly with cities. The statement added that Uber would continue to promote pooled trips and other means of transportation.

【推荐3】Do you speak a dialect (方言) in daily life? While many Chinese people speak Mandarin, some local dialects are in danger of disappearing. To save them, the Chinese government started the Chinese Language Resources Protection Project a few years ago.

This project looks at how people talk in 1,712 places. Their languages include 103 dialects that are almost gone. It has helped China to build the largest language resource library in the world. There’s an online library where people can learn dialects from over 5.6 million audio clips (音频) and over 5 million videos.

Why is it important to protect the dialect culture? According to British linguist Harold Palmer, dialects are a key to store local cultures. Language faithfully shows the history, the beliefs and the biases (偏见) of an area, he said.

Scholar Zhang Hongming talked about his concerns of the disappearing of dialeets, “For about over 10 years, in the Wu dialect areas such as Shanghai and Suzhou, children aged 6 to 15 can understand but hardly speak the dialect. Meanwhile, young people above 15 years old sometimes speak it, but not very well. If this keeps happening, the dialect might disappear,” he said.

So how did China make this big library? “A big national effort has been put into the project to make it happen,” said Cao Zhiyun, chief expert on the project. Over five years, more than 350 universities and research groups joined in, along with over 4,500 experts and more than 6,000 dialect speakers.

The project is now entering into its second part. This includes creating digital tools like apps and mobile dictionaries to help people lean dialects.

【推荐2】Sure, it’s good to get along well with your teacher because it makes the time you spend in the classroom more pleasant.

And yes, it’s good to get along well with your teacher because, in general, it’s smart to learn how to get along well with the different types of people you’ll meet throughout your life.

In fact, kids who get along well with their teachers not only learn more, but they’re more comfortable with asking questions and getting extra help. This makes it easier for them to understand new materials and makes them do their best on tests. When you have this kind of relationship with a teacher, he or she can be someone to turn to with problems, such as problems with learning or school issues (问题).

Here is a question：What if you don’t get along with your teachers? In fact, teachers want to get along well with you and enjoy seeing you learn. But teachers and students sometimes have personality clashes (个性冲突), which can happen between any two people. If you show your teacher that you want to make the situation better, he or she will probably do everything possible to make that happen. By dealing with a problem like this, you learn something about how to get along with people who are different from you.

However if a certain teacher isn’t your favorite, you can still have a successful relationship with him or her especially if you fulfill (履行) your basic responsibilities as a student.

Here are some of those responsibilities (责任)：

Attend class ready to learn.

Be prepared for class with the right stationery, books, and completed assignments (作业).

Listen when your teacher is talking.

Do your best, whether it’s a classroom assignment, homework, or a test.