【推荐1】Innovations are not always welcome. In 1589 William Lee made his way to the English court, hoping to be granted a patent for his invention, a knitting machine. Queen Elizabeth I turned him down: "Consider what the invention could do to my poor subjects," she commanded. "It would assuredly bring ruin to them by robbing them of employment."

The fears of Good Queen Bess have echoed down the centuries—from the Luddites, who destroyed textile machinery in the early 19th century, to John F. Kennedy, who warned of the dangers of automation during his presidential campaign of 1960. In the 21st century the concerns have switched to robots and artificial intelligence (AI); 30% of American workers believe their jobs are likely to be replaced by robots and computers in their lifetime

In the past the relationship between machine and human labor has been driven by two factors: the substituting effect, which caused people to lose jobs, and the complementing effect, which allowed employees to do their work more productively. Mr. Susskind worries that, in the future, the substituting effect will take over. Advances in Al have been so rapid that machines will eventually be better than people at most activities, he says, and so will be the "default（默认）choice" for performing them. A few highly paid humans will still be employed, but the rest will either struggle to find work or fall into the "precariat", stuck in jobs that are not just poorly paid but also unstable and stressful.

This depressing view of the impact of technology is plausible（貌似有理的）. But so is a more optimistic outlook, as the economist Roger Bootle showed in his book. Mr. Bootle argued that Al and robotics would improve productivity and economic growth, and release people from performing the most lengthy tasks. As for employment, there will always be demand for services with the human touch. Perhaps, the truth is that it is impossible to be sure whether the latest advances will in the end have mainly good or bad economic effects.

【推荐3】Saving the environment is a hot topic right now, and most companies are thinking of ways to “go green”, that is, to reduce pollution and save electricity.     1    

How do you reduce energy use in your home？How do you make your home eco-friendly?     2     “Green” houses look similar to the houses we live in today, with a few noticeable differences. They have solar panels on the roofs or have some kind of wind power to produce their own electricity. On sunny or windy days when the house is not used, power is produced and stored in batteries (电池) for later use at night, while extra power is fed back into the power grid to make money. Imagine getting paid by the power company instead of paying the company.     3    

One of the main reasons that we use so much power in our homes is to heat or cool them. “Green” houses are very well insulated (隔热的), keeping the temperature inside fixed.     4     Obviously, the appliances (家用电器) used inside our houses must also be “green” to limit the energy they use and the waste heat they send out.

    5     This way, they can reduce the burden (负担) on the environment for raw materials (原材料). You can paint your next house whatever color you like, but make sure it is “green”.

【推荐1】Edward Wilson is America’s, if not the world’s, leading naturalist. In The Future of Life, he takes us on a tour of the world’s natural resources. How are they used? What has been lost? What remains and is it able to continue with the present speed of use? Wilson also points out the need to understand fully the biodiversity (生物多样性) of our earth.

Wilson begins with an open letter to the pioneer in environment protection, Henry David Thoreau. He compares today’s Walden Pond with that of Thoreau’s day. Wilson will use such comparisons for the rest of the book. The problem is clear: man has done great damage to his home over the years. Can the earth, with human help, be made to return to biodiversity levels that will be able to support us in the future?

Biodiversity, Wilson argues, is the key to settling many problems the earth faces today. Even our agricultural crops can gain advantages from it. A mere hundred species (物种) are the basis of our food supply, of which but twenty carry the load. Wilson suggests changing this situation by looking into ten thousand species that could be made use of, which will be a way to reduce the clearing of the natural homes of plants and animals to enlarge farming areas.

At the end of the book, Wilson discusses the importance of human values in considering the environment. If you are to continue to live on the earth, you may as well read and act on the ideas in this book.

【推荐1】In the last century, a series of missions have been carried out to explore the moon-Earth’s only natural satellite. Among them, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission was pioneering as it succeeded in landing the first humans on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Several decades later, NASA announced its Artemis program. Named after the Greek goddess of the moon and twin sister of Apollo, the Artemis program will send humans to the moon by the year 2024. And this time, the moon will welcome its first female astronaut.

Up until now, only 12 people, all male, have ever walked on the moon. “No woman has ever walked on the lunar surface.” Bettina Inclan, NASA communications director said in a statement. But the Artemis program will change this.

Women, of course, have been involved in space projects and made valuable contributions. In 1963, astronaut Valentina Tereshkova from the Soviet Union became the first woman to travel into space.

However, the progress toward women’s access to space flight programs has been slow. Women have been held back by various requirements and security concerns. For example, astronauts had to be test pilots with a certain amount of experience. This was a problem as the they were all males at the time.

In 1962, NASA wrote to a little girl who wanted to be an astronaut. The letter said, “We have no present plans to employ women on spaceflights because of the degree of scientific and flight training, and the physical characteristics, which are required.”

Women have indeed made progress in this particular area, and have advantages over their male colleagues. Women tend to be smaller, which means they use less oxygen and take up less space in small spacecrafts. Also, women usually have greater communication skills that make them better-suited to long spaceflights.

Despite challenges, women have shown that they have the ability to join that great group of men who have gone to the moon. And this will truly be a remarkable moment in history.

【推荐3】The theatre in Shakespeare’s time was much different than it is today. Authors wrote plays for the masses, especially those who couldn’t read or write.

The theatre changed a lot during Shakespeare’s lifetime. The authorities didn’t like it and didn’t allow acting in the city itself. They thought it had a bad influence on people and kept them from going to church. Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, loved acting and helped the theatre become popular.

The theatre in Shakespeare’s time was full of life. People did not sit all the time and it was not quiet during the performance. The audience could walk around, eat and drink during the play.

Theatres were open arenas or playhouses that had room for up to three thousand people. There was almost no scenery because the dialogue was the most important part of the play. Colourful and well-designed costumes were very important and told the people about the status of a character. Women never performed in plays, so young boys played female characters. The performances took place in the afternoon because it was too dark at night.

There was no stage crew as there is today. Actors had to do everything themselves — from making costumes to setting the stage. Plays were organized by acting companies. They performed about 6 different plays each week because they needed money to survive. They had almost no time to rehearse (排练).

The companies in Shakespeare’s time had a rank system. The companies belonged to shareholders and managers. They were responsible for everything and got most of the money when the company was successful. Sometimes they even owned their own buildings. Actors worked for the managers and after some time became a permanent member of the company. Apprentices (学徒) were young boys and were allowed to act in unimportant roles. They also played female characters in plays.