【推荐1】Body language is important for communication in every language. If you really want to be fluentand communicate effectively with English speakers, you will need to understand what types of body language they use.

What Exactly is Body Language?

Body language is the movement of facial features or body parts, which intentionally(有意地)or unintentionally express thoughts and attitudes. Here are three key types:

Facial expressions: A smile,a slight frown or a straight face are all different expressions that add another layer (层)of meaning to what you are saying.Eye contact is an especially significantpart of body language that you need to pay attention to while speaking English or listening to someone else.

Hand gestures:When you talk,do you move your hands around or do you keep them at yourside?Folded arms,hands on hips or hands in pockets can create different messages even if you are saying the same words.

Body position:The position of your body also means a lot.Leaning forward while somebody is speaking or how far you stand apart from your audience----it all matters.

How to Practice English Body Language

While learning how to speak English takes a lot of work,from mastering grammar to perfecting pronunciation, body language requires the same attention and investment(投入). What makes it even more challenging is that body language varies from culture to culture. For example, did you know that in Bulgaria, people nod their heads up and down to mean“no”?

Therefore,you need to learn body language from real native English speakers. But how can you practice if you are not currently living with English speakers or in an English-speaking region?

【推荐2】Did you know that the custom of turning our clocks an hour ahead during the year first originated in World War I? By making the days “longer” , the goal was for households to conserve electricity and other forms of energy like fuel. Recently, the US Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act. The bill must also go through the House of Representatives before it can be signed by the President. If passed, Daylight SavingTime(DST) could become the permanent system of the time.

Although the specific dates of the time change differ, many countries around the world observe a biannual system of the time. From mid-March to November in the US, most states practice DST by turning the time forward by an hour from the Standard Time(ST), the local time observed in an area.

Though the original purpose of DST was to encourage the conservation of energy, multiple studies suggest that the time shift has not made a significant impact on saving energy costs. While less money is spent on electricity, costs are still likely to rise with the usage of devices such as air conditioners and computers. Research conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has shown that DST time changes lead to a greater risk of car crashes.

According to researchers, ST is much more closely related to the body’s circadian rhythm(昼夜节律) which regulates our organs as well as our sleep-wake cycle. By permanently living in DST, children would have to get up and be in school long before the sun rises—which could be 9 am in Seattle and other western states!

Proponents argue that because DST maximizes daylight, it encourages safety by lowering crime rates and reducing seasonal depression. DST provides more waking time to enjoy with families and friends, or even to get more work done.

The bill is certainly a hot topic of discussion, but one thing is for sure: everyone is in favor of getting rid of the biannual time switch.

【推荐1】We’ve long considered confusion that occurs when we don’t understand something as a shortcoming.

You’re probably OK. In fact, according to a new study, it isn’t so much about being confused, but how we respond to that feeling matters. The study suggests some people make confusion work for them—making them learn more about something they don’t originally understand. Others, on the other hand, react to confusion by turning away from the subject completely. It all comes down to how people respond to the feelings of uncertainty and puzzlement.

“We have been investigating links between emotions and learning for almost a decade, and find that confusion can be beneficial to learning if appropriately regulated because it can cause learners to process the material more deeply in order to clear their confusion,” explains lead author Sidney D’Mello.

To test their theory, researchers invited some people to learn sessions that involved a complex idea. Then they intentionally increased the confusion. Interestingly, people who had reported higher rates of confusion were also better able to grasp the subject—and identify the scientific contradictions. Essentially, they had a positive reaction to confusion, using it as a motivation to wrap their heads around a subject. For them, confusion was a chance to learn something new.

They proved what scientist Nick Hobson describes as a high degree of openness. “Openness is associated with the experience of interest, absorption and wonderment,” he says. “Individuals higher in openness are fascinated by complex situations. It is characterized by a greater tolerance of uncertainty.”

However, D’Mello cautions against deliberately sowing confusion in the context of learning. People already struggling to understand a concept—especially one that they’re under pressure to understand—may not benefit from the added confusion. Instead, confusion may work best for people who are actually looking for a challenge and don’t face consequences of taking a chance to learn something new. Those would be the intellectual risk-takers who are encouraged, rather than discouraged by the feelings of confusion.

【推荐3】An Irish designer is growing unique mushroom hives (蜂箱) in order to protect her island’s local black bees. For years, Ireland imported a large group of bees from places with tropical climates and warmer weather. Bees find it challenging to survive in Irish climate but other generic factors like loss of habitat and increase in the usage of pesticides have also led to a decline in the bee population. Further, the imported new species mated (交配) with local bees to produce their young that stormed the hives of the black bees and still could not get adjusted to the weather.

Econooc is a type of hive designed by Niamh Damery, an Irish designer, to save Ireland’s native black bees. This hive is among the world’s finest 20 and has been considered for the James Dyson Design Award for Sustainability. The designer not only aims to protect the bees but also intends to have people participate in its conservation.

The mushroom hives are cultivated from mycelium pores (由菌丝孔培育而成) with by-products like straw or wood shavings used as substrate (底座). Mycelium, situated underground, provides support to the fruiting body. These mushrooms are coming out as a probable design tool. GNN reported that mushrooms could be used to build things like canoes, bricks, and coffins. To create the beehive, mycelium and the substrate concoction (混合物) is stuffed into a mold (模具) in the shape of the actual hive. It is then heated in the oven to secure the shape.

Econooc copies a hive and is placed in the hollow of a local tree. This is the natural habitat of the black Irish bees, where they build their shelter, store food and protect their young ones. Recycled plastic is used to make a landing pad so that owners can watch the activities of the bees. The hive is secured on the tree with the help of old car seatbelts to fasten it. Every aspect of the project is based on sustainability.