【推荐2】Since Henry Ford turned it into a mass­market product a century ago, the car has delivered many benefits. It has promoted economic growth, increased social mobility and given people a lot of fun. But the car has also brought many problems. It pollutes the air, creates traffic jams and kills people. An astonishing 1.24 million people die, and as many as 50 million are hurt, in road accidents each year.

Drivers and passengers waste around 90 billion hours in traffic jams each year. In some car­choked cities as much as a third of the petrol used is burned by people looking for a space to park.

Fortunately, a new technology promises to make motoring safer, less polluting and less tendency to hold­ups. “Connected cars” — which may eventually develop into driverless cars but for the foreseeable future will still have a human at the wheel — can communicate wirelessly with each other and with traffic management systems, avoid walkers and other vehicles and find open parking spots.

Some parts of the transformation are already in place. Many new cars are already being fitted with equipment that lets them keep their distance and stay in a motorway automatically at a range of speeds. Soon, all new cars in Europe will have to be able to warn the emergency services if their on­board sensors (传感器) discover a crash. Singapore has led the way with using variable tolls (道路通行费) to smooth traffic flows during rush hours; Britain is pioneering “smart motorways”， whose speed limits vary constantly to achieve a_similar_effect. These new inventions could create a much more highly effective system in which cars and their drivers are constantly warned of dangers and showed the ways. Traffic always flows at the proper speed and vehicles can travel closer together, yet with less risk of crashing.

In the past, more people driving meant more roads, more jams, more death and more pollution. In future, the connected car could offer mankind the pleasures of the road with rather less of the pain.

【推荐1】Do you ever dream about climbing Mount Everest, which is 8,848 meters high? If so, you’re not alone. Every year, thousands of people try to climb the world’s highest mountains or walk across deserts. Let’s take a look at some of the 21st century’s greatest adventurers (冒险家).

Ed Stafford

Ed Stafford from the UK is the first person to walk along the Amazon River from the mountains of Peru to the mouth of the river in Brazil. There are many dangerous animals in the rainforest, but he was only bitten by ants and mosquitoes. On his trip, Ed had to find fruit and nuts or catch fish each morning. He used a radio to ask the people of the rainforest for food and help. Many people came to meet him and guide him through the rainforest. While he walked, Ed wrote a blog to tell the world about climate change and destruction (破坏) of the rainforest.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

Gerinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria is one of the world’s greatest climbers and has climbed all the world’s mountains over 8,000 metres. It’s very difficult to climb in the cold weather and storms, but Gerlinde loves it. Now she spends her time climbing and helping a charity for poor children in Nepal.

Meagan Mcgrath

Some adventurers are always looking for a new challenge. Meagan Mcgrath from Canada has climbed mountains, ridden a bike across Canada and run races in the desert to raise money for the disabled.

Erik Weihenmayer

Erik Weihenmayer from the United States has climbed mountains and ridden a bike through deserts. Amazingly, Erik is blind and he wants other blind people to have active lives too. He has taken groups of young blind people climbing in Nepal.

【推荐3】After four silent years, the 27-year-old British singer Adele Adkins has finally introduced herself to the world again with Hello, the opening song from her third album 25, which came out on Nov. 20, 2015.

Although Adele is a very successful singer now, music wasn’t always what she saw herself doing. At age 10, when she saw her grandmother’s pain over the death of Adele’s grandfather, she pictured herself as a heart surgeon.

“I wanted to fix people’s hearts,” she told the UK music website i-D, remembering the childhood interest she’d had in biology classes until she found out that her real talent was for singing.

Adele didn’t go to medical school, but many would agree that she still has healing(治愈)powers. “Her songs find the kind of memory every listener holds somewhere in their heart. This kind of feeling is what people have always liked in Adele,” said The Telegraph. “She writes a pop diary, sharing the simple secrets of her heart.”

Most successful pop stars make albums at a fast pace, but not Adele. After her second album 21 won the 2012 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, she made it clear with her label that she would spend “four or five years” making her next album. She told Vogue magazine, “I won’t come out with new music until it’s better than 21.”

Instead of seeking fame, Adele remained silent and moved to the countryside. In her free time, she loved to watch TV series Teen Mom, American Horror Story, and The Walking Dead.

Living life as normally as possible is important to the singer’s art. “Nobody wants to listen to a record from someone who’s not living in the real world,” Adele told i-D. “So I live a low-key life for my fans.”