【推荐1】Recently I read Nineteen Eighty- Four, a novel by George Orwell set in a state where even the language people use is controlled. Adjectives are forbidden and instead they use phrases such as “ungood”, “plus good” and “double-plus good” to express emotions. As I first read this, I thought how impossible it would be in our society to have such vocabulary. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised in its own way it’s already happening. I send messages to my friends and alongside each is the emoji. I often use the emojis to emphasise something or to keep the tone from being too serious because they convey my emotions much better than I ever could using just words. And I wonder, with our excessive use of emojis, are we losing the beauty and diversity of our vocabulary?

English has large vocabulary, which is widely used in the world, but who’s to say what it’ll be like in the future? Perhaps we will have a shorter language, using abbreviations (缩写词) like LOL (laugh out loud) or BRB (be right back) instead of saying the full phrases. So does this mean our vocabulary will shrink? Is it the start of an exciting new era? Will people look back on us in the future and say this is where it all began — the new language? Or is this a classic case of the older generations’ saying, “Things weren’t like that when I was younger. We didn’t use emojis to show our emotions”?

Yet when you look back, the power of image has always been there. Even in the prehistoric era they used imagery to communicate, and what’s even more incredible is that we are able to analyse those drawings and understand the meaning of them thousands of years later. Pictures have the ability to transcend time and language. Images, be it cave paintings or emojis, allow us to convey a message that’s not restrictive but rather universal.

【推荐2】A student is learning to speak British English.He wonders（想知道）: Can I communicate with Americans?Can they understand me?Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

Certainly!there are some differences between British and American English.'There are a few differences in grammar.For example,speakers of British English say "in hospital" and "Have you a pen?" Americans say "in the hospital!" and "Do you have a pen?".Pronunciation is sometimes different.Americans usually sound theirs in words like "bird" and "hurt".Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words.There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary.For example,"colour" and "honour" are British,"color" and honor" are American.

These differences in grammar,pronunciation,spelling and vocabulary are not important,however.For the most part,British and American English are the same language.

【推荐3】A study of more than five million books, both fiction and non-fiction, has found a marked decline in the use of emotional words over time. The researchers form the University of Bristol used Google Ngram Viewer, an online database for finding the frequency of terms in scanned books, to look for more than 600 particular words identified as representing anger, dislike, fear, joy, sadness and surprise.

They found that almost all of the categories showed a drop in these “mood words” over time. Only in the category of fear was there an increase in usage.

“It is a steady and continuous decline,” said Dr Alberto Acerbi. He assumed that the result might be explained by a change in the position occupied by literature, in a crowded media landscape. “One thing could be that in parallel to books the 20th century saw the start of other media. Maybe these media—movies, radio, drama—had more emotional content than books.”

Although both joy and sadness followed the general downwards trend, the research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that they also exhibited another interesting behavior: the ratio (比率) between the two varied greatly, apparently mirroring historical events. During the Roaring Twenties the joy-to-sadness ratio reached its highest point that would not occur again until before the recent financial crash. Then, in 1941, the ratio plunged at the height of World War II.

Nevertheless, the researchers held a reserved opinion about their claim that their result reflected wider social trends. In the paper, they even argue that the opposite could be true. “It has been suggested, for example, that it was the suppression (压抑) of desire in ordinary Elizabethan English life that increased demand for writing ‘filled with romance’… perhaps,” they conclude, “songs and books may not reflect the real population any more than catwalk models reflect the average body.”

【推荐1】The Healthy Habits Survey (调查) shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.

1.How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?

·Finding：A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day.

·Step：Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery-operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day.

2.How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday?

·Finding：Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30%wash their hands only 4 times a day-half of the number doctors recommend.

·Step：We touch our faces around 3,000 times a day-often inviting germs (病菌) to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes.Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot running water and soap for 20 seconds.

3. How often do you think about fighting germs?

·Finding：Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should.

·Step：Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge (海绵) that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds.

【推荐3】The biggest television drama has been the story of how people watch it. Ten years ago nearly nine out of ten American households subscribed to cable (有线电视) or satellite TV. Today little more than half do. The collapse of pay-TV, with the advance in online streaming, has shifted the television industry, forcing studios to rethink their business model. The pace of tearing up the contracts is only increasing. But not everywhere. Europeans are signing up for cable and satellite TV in greater numbers than ever.

Why has American media’s trend missed Europe? One reason is the price. America’s cable industry looks more competitive: the largest telecommunications company has only a quarter of the market. But it is highly regionalised, so most homes have few options. The result is an average monthly cable bill of nearly 100. British homes pay less than half the price.

Also, American cable is running out of shows as studios move their best ones to their own streaming platforms. In Europe, where some streaming platforms have yet to be launched, pay-TV firms keep the rights to many of the most popular titles. Britons seeking the third season of Succession, for instance, must go to the satellite TV, since there’s no other choice.

The last reason is that American streaming platforms have partnered with pay-TV firms in Europe rather than competing with them. In the race for subscribers, the quickest way for streaming platforms to expand in Europe is to join forces with satellite and cable companies. They are the ones with access to consumers and the ability to handle local marketing and ad sales.

Will the trend eventually cross the Atlantic? As long as studios continue to license local companies to broadcast their programs, consumers will have every reason to stick with pay-TV. In the long run, though, studios would rather bring viewers onto their own platforms. And the condition could be different.