【推荐1】In a natural disaster — a hurricane, flood, volcanic eruption, or other catastrophes (灾难) — minutes and even seconds of warning can make the difference between life and death. Because of this, scientists are working to use the latest technological advances to predict when and where disasters will happen. They are also studying how to analyse and communicate this information in the best way once it is obtained.

On September 29,1998. Hurricane Georges made landfall (登陆) Biloxi, Mississippi, after damaging several islands of the Caribbean badly with rains and winds up to 160 km per hour. Few people lost their lives along the Gulf Coast of the United States.

This was a very different outcome (结果) from 1900, when a powerful Gulf Coast hurricane had made an unexpected direct hit on Galveston, Texas, killing at least 6,000 people.

Vastly improved hurricane warnings explain the different circumstances (状况) at either end of the 20th century — residents of Galveston had no advance warning that a storm was approaching, while residents of Biloxi had been warned days in advance, allowing for safety precautions (预防措施).

While people in Biloxi were thankful for the advance warning, some residents of New Orleans, Louisiana were less satisfied. A day before Hurricane Georges made landfall, forecasters were predicting that the hurricane had a good chance of striking New Orleans. Because much of New Orleans lies below sea level, the city is at risk from flooding. Emergency management officials must begin evacuations (疏散) well before a storm strikes.

But evacuation costs money: Businesses close, tourists leave, and citizens take precautionary measures. The mayor of New Orleans estimated that his city’s preparation for Georges cost more than 50 million. After Georges missed New Orleans, some residents questioned the value of the hurricane forecasts in the face of such high costs.

The different views on the early warnings for Hurricane Georges show some of the complexities related to predicting disasters. Disaster prediction is a process of providing scientific information to the government officials and other decision makers who must respond to those predictions.

【推荐2】Do you get nervous thinking about geometry, equations (方程式) or a coming math test? If your answer is “yes”, you are far from alone. Math anxiety has become a common psychological (心理的) condition among students around the world. Students in countries with higher levels of math anxiety tend to achieve lower math grades, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Feb. 15.

Math anxiety—a negative emotional reaction to the core subject—causes fear, physical suffering and behavior problems among young pupils, according to a University of Cambridge study. In ordinary life, many people experience some degree of discomfort when meeting with a math problem, ranging from mild tension to strong fear.

Some people also experience physical symptoms such as sweaty palms or a racing heart. They may then try to avoid every situation involving numbers, meaning they are held back from pursuing careers related to this subject, such as science, technology or engineering, according to The Guardian.

Reassurance (慰藉) comes from the fact that those with math anxiety aren’t destined (注定的) to be bad at math. “If a child has math anxiety, don’t assume that they’re not good at math. They may have had a really bad experience with math and there are ways to improve math achievement,” Daniel Ansari, the senior author of the study told The London Free Press. “Students with math anxiety are not cognitively (认知地) disadvantaged.”

Also, there are ways to manage your stress related to math. If you’re feeling stressed before a math exam, it may help to spend a few minutes exploring those feelings before the exam begins. “It’s about making sure you’re interpreting your feelings correctly,” Sian Beilock, a cognitive scientist in the US told the BBC. “Just because you have a fast heartbeat and sweaty palms, that does not necessarily mean you will fail.”

A little math anxiety could be taken as a positive challenge to overcome. Just like many people get stage fright before delivering a speech, this nervous energy can help to motivate, according to Ian Lyons, a psychologist at Georgetown University in the US.

【推荐3】I began cycling in 2004 when I was a poor student. It was dangerous, sure, but cycling is the fastest, cheapest point-to-point form of transport in Melbourne. I own a car now, but that’s just for transporting the baby or groceries.

I hate driving. So it’s been quite encouraging watching the growth in cyclist numbers over the past decade. It is estimated that 10,000-plus cyclists enter the CBD (Central Business District) each day, taking pressure off public transport. But as more people take to cycling as a mode of transport, the number of cyclists seriously injured or killed keeps climbing. And that is a sign that our infrastructure (基础设施) is still not good enough.

Melbourne was once a dream for cyclists-flat, long, wide roads, with plenty of paths along rivers. Now, cycling can be deadly, with roads dominated by cars. I have a friend who broke her back and was lucky to escape paralysis, and others with broken bones. In my time riding, I’ve been forced off the road by a truck, cut off by four-wheel drives, and told to get off the road.

These things don’t exactly happen to trams and buses, those other slow coaches on Melbourne’s roads. No—drivers reserve a particular savagery (残暴行为) for cyclists. And that’s a sign of exactly one thing: inadequate infrastructure.

We shouldn’t need to be taught how to coexist in the same narrow space. Drivers and cyclists should be kept apart. The present debate over how to minimize “dooring” is a distraction.

Dooring is not a legal problem. You cannot legislate (制定法律) it away. Designing bike paths so riders are channelled between moving cars and parked cars is deadly. All it takes is one daydreaming driver to fling open the door and you are gone. That’s what happened to the young university student James Cross.

This year, there are to be new anti-dooring lanes (车道) built on Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, where Cross died in 2010. But these lanes are not safe. Cyclists must still pass between two rows of cars.

【推荐2】Which is more important when an architect designs a building: beauty or function?

At the start of the twentieth century, Louis Sullivan, one of the creators of modern architecture said that “form follows function.” Functionalism is used to describe the idea behind architecture which primarily focuses on the purpose of a building. However, many people disagree with this and feel that beauty is a more important factor （因素）in architectural design. In the modern world, it seems that most architects combine both ideas: aiming to create buildings which are both functional and beautiful.

The reason for creating a building in the first place is clearly very important. For example, when building an airport terminal, you need to think of the needs of passengers as well as planes. Passengers want to get to their plane as quickly as they can, and planes need to be parked in a more efficient way. As such, many airport terminals have a circular shape with satellite areas. Residential homes need to have enough space for a family, art galleries need wall space to show pictures, and factories need to manufacture goods as efficiently as possible.

Beauty, however, is also important when it comes to the construction of a building. Living or working in an ugly place creates a depressing and uninspiring environment. On the contrary, an attractive building can make people feel happier and increase their motivation to work. There is also a wider responsibility to society which architects have to consider. Beautiful, well-constructed buildings are a symbol of a civilized society, and reflect well on the business or reputation of the owner.

In theory, there seems to be no reason why architecture cannot be both functional and beautiful. Yet in practice, this can cause problems. The Guggenheim Museum in New York, was supposed to combine beauty with function. Many consider the museum's white spiral ramp (螺旋坡道) beautiful, but there have been complaints that it is impractical, as it is difficult to stand back to view the art. Also, the ramp is so narrow that it can become overcrowded. It seems that even a celebrated design has problems with functionality.       

If architects focus only on function, buildings may be cold, ugly and uninteresting. On the other hand, if they focus only on making it look beautiful, the building may be completely impractical. Therefore, combining these two ideas is necessary to create the perfect piece of architecture.

【推荐3】Disneyland’s opening day, July 17, 1955, was a terrible experience. Rides broke down. Restaurants ran out of food and drink and drinking fountains were in short supply... All in front of a national audience of 90 million, then the largest live broadcast in television history on a day that would be known in Disney history as Black Sunday.

But Disney’s story actually started two decades earlier with what Walt Disney called “Daddy’s Day”. On Saturdays in the 1930s and 1940s, Disney would take his two daughters to ride the Griffith Park merry-go-round, which they’d enjoy while he sat on a bench dreaming of ways for families to have fun together. Disney disliked the amusement parks they often visited, seeing them as dirty, unimaginative places run by rude employees.

He thought he could do better. In 1939 he asked two animators (动画片制作者) at his movie studio to work on a plan for an amusement park. By 1952 the idea had expanded into a $1.5 million amusement park proposal that he presented to Burbank. The City Council, which feared such a project would create a carnival (嘉年华) atmosphere, rejected the proposal. Disney counted the rejection as fortunate setback. By now, his dream for a theme park had gone beyond the space available in Burbank. He searched locations throughout Southern California. A 160-acre orange garden, 22 miles south of Los Angeles, was soon selected.

The ABC television network offered $5 million in loans and investments if Disney agreed to produce and host a one-hour weekly show called "Disneyland". The deal amounted to months of free advertising for the park and allowed Disney to introduce TV audiences, particularly kids, to the park.

Disneyland opened then. The 5,000 expected guests increased to 28, 154, thanks to fake tickets. After the madness of opening day, Disney and his new park were criticized in the press. The media predicted a quick and early end. But the public didn’t listen. Visitors arrived in large groups, and within weeks Disneyland was a success.

Over sixty years later, Disneyland’s popularity continues to grow, with total overall attendance topping 700 million and showing no signs of slowing down.