【推荐3】Can you really find out where someone is from based on how they queue (排队)?And why — across the world — do some queues seem to take forever, while others, even of the same waiting time, seem to go relatively quickly?

Richard Larson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and a world expert on queues, as well as various social scientists, believes how you queue does, in fact, often give away your origin. In the United States, how people queue even depends on which city they are from. “One of my findings is that you can tell a lot about the social culture of citizens by watching their micro behavior in queues. People in Boston, New York and Washington D. C. all queue in different ways,”he says. “In Washington, people queue at a random point in a sidewalk. These are government workers who know that the bus stops at this place at 4:05, so they queue up dutifully — first come first serve. I have never seen any such behavior in New York or Boston.”

No matter how “good” the queuers are, though, scientists agree that for the queue to function, it needs to be fair. As long as people are served in the order they are lined up, queue anger can be avoided.

This is the idea behind the winding queue behind ropes or barriers where, when you reach the front, you are directed to the next available server. It’s no faster than having individual lines all the way through. But it does mean that no one arriving after you will get served before you.

The final moments of the queue are also important. Research by INSEAD business school professor Ziv Carmon and Princeton University psychology professor Daniel Kahneman found that if our wait ends on a happy note — for instance, if the queue speeds up at the end — we will view that experience more positively, even if for most of the time we were very uncomfortable, quietly cursing (骂) the person in front.

【推荐1】Many people dream of becoming a programmer for a leading tech company, as such work can secure a high salary that is envied by many. However, it may also mean having routinely to accept overtime work.

Recently, a programmer created a project called “996.ICU” on github.com, the well-known code-sharing website. The project criticized the “996 work schedule” where employees work from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week, with the prospect of ending up in an intensive care unit (ICU).

The work schedule is common among Chinese tech companies. On the website, many programmers working for China’s tech companies shared evidence showing that their companies asked them to work the long hours. Among them were major names like e-commerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com, as well as telecoms equipment manufacturer Huawei.

Several bosses of tech companies have defended “996” as a kind of work culture. Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said it’s “a huge blessing” for young workers to work “996”. “If you don’t do ‘996’ when you’re young, when will you?” Ma said, according to a post on Alibaba’s WeChat account. “If you don’t invest more time and energy than others, how will you achieve the success you want?”

However, People’s Daily said that those who questioned “996” should not be labeled. “Valuing hard work does not equal forcing employees to work overtime,” commented the newspaper. “One should not attach the moral labels of ‘slackers’ or ‘not willing to strive’ to employees who are against ‘996’.”

Meanwhile, Cui Zhendong, a lawyer with the Yiqian Law Firm, said that it is illegal for a company to introduce a compulsory “996” work schedule for employees, since the Labor Law clearly states that the working hours of an employee should not exceed an average of eight hours daily, or 44 hours a week. Employers may extend working hours after consultation with an employee, but shall not exceed three hours a day or 36 hours a month.

A senior developer with the e-commerce giant Alibaba, who asked not to be named to protect his career, said employers seldom say the schedule is compulsory, but failure to follow the rules could lead to low performance scores and layoffs. “Refusal to overwork can also lead to losing your annual bonus, which is a lot of money,” he said.

“When resorting to the legal system for protection, there is a price to pay: time, money and the risk of losing your job, therefore they turn to cyberspace,” Jiang Ying, a professor of law said.

To better protect workers from harsh treatment, Jiang suggested that the systems for appealing to the court of law should be beefed up.

【推荐2】U. S. film director Spike lee had been awarded the 20th annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for his brilliance and unwavering   courage in using film to challenge traditional thinking.

The film-maker behind hits such as Malcolm X and Inside Man would receive approximately $ 300,000. “I hadn't even heard of it,” Lee said, of the prize. “It was a phone call that came completely out of the blue. It was one of the best phone calls I've ever had,” the 56-year-old man added.

The late actress Lillian Gish, who died in 1993, required that the prize be given every year to a manor a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life.

Previous recipients include some famous people from different fields—Frank Gehry, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller and Robert Redford. Chosen from a shortlist of 30 people in the arts, Lee would be presented with the honour on 30 October, 2013 at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

“Would you believe that two of the most important films that impacted me while I was studying at NYU starred Miss Lillian Gish?” Lee said in a statement, citing The Birth of a Nation and 'The Night of the Hunter. “Isn't it funny sometimes how life works?”

Lee made his debut with She's Gotta Have It in 1986 , closely followed by the groundbreaking Do the Right 'Thing in 1989, which landed Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Film and Best Director. In 2013, he raised $ 1.25 million on the fan funding website Kickstarter towards his next movie project. Lee's latest film, BlacKkKlansman, starring John David and Adam Driver, was released in the U. S. Washington on August 10, 2018.

【推荐1】On a cold February evening, while her mother slept peacefully, a kid slipped out of her home and into the darkened streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dressed only in a T-shirt, socks and a diaper (尿布), the 3-year-old girl wandered around the abandoned parking lots of the city’s southwest side all by herself. She was cold and almost certainly afraid, but most of all, she was not safe. Thankfully, the right person saw her out alone and knew something wasn’t right.

Gabe Botello was delivering pizzas for Villa Pizza when he saw the unattended child at around 3: 00 am. He caught sight of her in the McConnell parking lot, but by the time he’d dropped off the food to his clients and retraced his steps, she had disappeared into the night.

A father of three kids himself, Gabe refused to go back to work until he located the little girl. He started pulling into empty parking lots to search for her. He finally spotted her curling up (蜷缩) between two walls at a factory across the street.

The concerned father jumped out of his car, pulled off his coat and wrapped her up to keep her warm. He put her into his car and gave her some water while he called 911.

The police arrived and were able to locate the kid’s home, where they discovered her mother was sound asleep and thought her daughter was, too. Gabe didn’t judge the child’s mother, and he hoped no one else would, either. He said, “As a parent, I know that children are quick and don’t always listen when they are told what’s best for them.”

Gabe not only did the right thing by finding the child and calling the police, but his level-headed and compassionate response to her mother warms our heart. It truly does take a village sometimes to take good care of a child, and we’re so glad this experienced dad was there when a child needed him most:

【推荐2】My grandmother could communicate to us only in Mandarin. A few phrase in Mandarin are particularly vivid to me. Mamahuhu is the most striking of all, which means “so-so” .

Mamahuhu became a family joke for me and my siblings. At first we found the concept funny and the sound of it, too. Sometimes my brother and I sang the string of vowels, hosting the “hu” like owls before bursting into laughter. But as we grew older, we realized mamahuhu also described our family.

My parents and my grandmother could be precise when it mattered. For example, my mother is a re i red plant physiologist. Her research led to multiple patents related to improving plant growth and food safety. But when she helped me on an elementary-school project, she used steamed rice instead of a glue stick. My paper crown fell apart in class. The mamahuhu attitude sometimes embarrassed me, But it also taught me not to get hung up on mainstream ideals of perfection.

Out of a sense of pride, my siblings and I transformed mamahuhu from an ordinary adjective into an ethos(精神特质). It’s the philosophy behind my brother’s repairs around the house or on vehicle: “So-so, good enough,” he told me. “Because most of the time, that’s all that’s needed.” Growing up, I talked about mamahuhu only at home. But lately, as elements of Chinese culture have spread throughout the world, I realize my family isn’t alone in our affection for the term. Various accounts on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram use the word in their names; it’s also an entry in the Urban Dictionary.

It’s our family practice to make do, and as the pandemic set in, the philosophy helped us survive. With this clear-eyed worldview, my 10-year-olds don’t rely on tradition or precedence (优先权)as their only guide. Last summer our family considered visiting Hawaii, and again for spring break earlier this year, but we’ve repeatedly postponed the vacation because of the pandemic. In the end, we settled for a road trip to Southern California to see their grandparents and baby cousin. I asked the boys if they were excited. “This trip is mamahuhu,” one joked. Everyone laughed.