【推荐1】There are few clear rules in the UK saying drivers should not park on the pavement (人行道). But Scotland, a country of Britain, is planning a complete ban on pavement paking. And, earlier this year, the UK government admitted it was considering changing the law for the other parts of Britain.

Joe Irvin of Living Streets (the UK charity for everyday walking) says there is “no excuse” for the disagreement and has called on the UK government to act the same way.

“Pavement parking is really thoughtless—and if you think about people with wheelchairs, pushchairs, or sight impairment (受损), they have to go out on to the road,” says Mr Irvin.

Steve Hynd, from Bristol, said his father, who uses a wheelchair, had recently ended up in hospital after a parked car had blocked his path.

“My dad’s experience was near his care home,” he says. “He was trying to wheel himself back inside and a car had parked up on the pavement. He tried to get around it and fell out of his wheelchair.”

“He went to hospital. He’d hurt his head and got a black eye where his glasses had gone in.”

Groups such as the AA and RAC admit “some streets” should not allow pavement parking if it causes problems to emergency vehicles (紧急车辆) — but they do not believe in a complete ban across the country.

AA president Edmund King says, “We would be concerned if there was a total ban. It is clearly possible in some areas to park on the pavement while still allowing room for pushchairs or people in wheelchairs to pass.”

Hugh Bladon of the Alliance of British Drivers argues a complete ban would cause serious problems as some streets were so narrow.

The simple way to deal with the problems, Mr Bladon believes, is that all drivers must leave at least one metre between their car and the inside of the pavement to allow people with pushchairs and so on to pass by.

【推荐2】Before going back to work one afternoon, Policeman Li took a big bite out of the red apple on his desk. He had no time to eat his lunch that day. He was busy dealing with a traffic accident report.

It seemed that a man named Wang Jie had run a red light, running into another person’s car. But he said that the light had been green when he drove across the crossing.

Li decided to question Wang Jie again. Maybe he could get some more information about the accident. This time Wang Jie still insisted that the light was green when he drove across the crossing. Li had no reason to doubt what Wang Jie said. He told Wang Jie that he was free to go.

“Thank you so much, Policeman Li. By the way, that green apple on your desk looks delicious! I hope you enjoy it!” Wang Jie said with a smile.

Li stopped for a moment. “Wait. Sit back down. I think we need to talk some more.”

When Wang Jie described Li’s red apple as being green, Li realized that Wang Jie must have run a red light.

【推荐3】When you buy a cup of coffee, you have probably noticed the three different size options: small, medium and large. The medium-sized serving often costs almost as much as the large one.     1     have you ever chosen the biggest and most expensive option?

If so, you have been driven by a cognitive bias(认知偏误) known as the “decoy effect(诱饵效应)”.     2     It pushes you to pay more money than you would have otherwise chosen to. Consider another example.

Imagine you are choosing flights from the following options:

■Flight A costs $400 with a stopover of 60 minutes.

■Flight B costs $330 with a stopover of 150 minutes.

■Flight C costs $435 with a stopover of 60 minutes

The researchers found that most people would choose Flight A. It is cheaper than Flight C. Compared with Flight B it has a shorter waiting time—even though it is considerably more expensive.

Now look at a different set of flights:

■Flight A costs $400 with a stopover of 60 minutes

■Flight B costs $330 with a stopover of 150 minutes

■Flight C costs $330 with a stopover of 195 minutes.

In this case, most people’s preference was Flight B.

In each case, Flight C (the decoy) was designed. to appear similar to, but slightly less attractive than, one of the other options (the target).     3     Experiments have found the use of a well-designed decoy can shift opinion between the other two options by as much as 40 percent —showing how easily our decisions can be swayed by the way they are designed.

The decoy effect was first investigated as a potential marketing strategy to influence consumer choices. However, by learning about it, you may become less likely to be affected by this unconscious influence.     4    

If you are discussing travel pans with friends, for instance, and have not decided yet where to go, you might present two alternative arrangements at your city of choice, but one with a slightly more expensive hotel. Even if your friends might have otherwise selected a different location, the comparison might just tempt them to opt for your preferred option.

    5     Ask yourself whether you are really choosing the option you need or want, or whether you are being distracted by an intentionally unappealing alternative. Like an expert snipe(狙击手) trained to avoid false targets, you may find that your judgement suddenly becomes a lot more accurate.

【推荐1】The St. Louis soldier, Todd Nicely joined the navy in 2007, and was severely injured—lost his arms and legs and his life was almost taken away while serving abroad in 2010.

“I didn’t want to put my guys through anything that I wouldn’t want to do, so a lot of the times I was in the front,” he told the news while remembering the incident that changed his life. Over the past decade, Nicely has learned to adjust to the world with amputated arms and legs, a way of life that recently became a bit easier thanks to the addition of a service dog.

CHAMP Assistance Dogs in St. Louis, Missouri, gifted Nicely with a service dog named Hugo this season. The non-profit’s task focuses on connecting service dogs to people with disabilities who need them. Hugo is trained to assist Nicely with his day-to-day tasks, small gestures that add up to significant changes for the man.

“Nearly 12 years later, Hugo is pam of the family. Having him here to pick things up that I drop is kind of a blessing. It makes my quality of life a lot better,” Nicely told KMOV News 4.

This improved quality of life is what CHAMP works hard to provide for soldiers and other individuals who benefit from the support of a service dog. “Hugo is making a difference in Todd’s life. It is a wonderful feeling for all of us, and we are on top of the world in seeing someone become more independent because a dog is there to help them,” Pam Budke, CHAMP Assistance Dogs’ director, shared with KMOV News 4.

Nicely hopes that Hugo helps other soldiers by showing them it’s important to seek assistance when you need help. “You are supposed to be this tough man. Now, all of a sudden, you’re asking for help. It’s like, ‘am I weak?’ ‘No’,” Nicely said. “It doesn’t make you weak. It actually makes you stronger to ask for help,” he added.

【推荐3】At the time of writing this, more than 600 people have gone to space. The first person to do it was the Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin, in 1961. Most of the people that have achieved the dream of flying to outer space have been astronauts that form part of space agencies such as NASA although a few have gone as part of space tourism trips.

But space exploration can be a risky profession. We have all heard about unfortunate accidents like that of the Apollo 1 training crew or the Space Shuttle Challenger. To date, there have been 188 accidents related to space flights. Fortunately, the number of accidents has greatly been reduced since the 1980s as space agencies have gotten better at conducting safety protocols (协议).

With all those incidents, it is natural to wonder if at some point any astronauts have been lost in space. Are there any dead bodies in space? The short answer is no. There are no dead bodies in space. Most of the spaceflight-related accidents have happened on land or before reaching the line that we consider space. This limit is called the Kármán line and is 100 kilometres (62 miles) above sea level.

There have been a few cases of spacecraft that have been “lost in space”. For example, the Apollo 10 released the descent (下降) module while they were orbiting the Moon. The module did not have any astronauts inside and was “lost” although it was released in such a way that it would go into orbit around the Sun. The module was located in 2019 using a telescope. As for other types of accidents, there have been, cases of satellites that have collided (碰撞) or been hit by something. But those are unmanned and they usually fall into Earth and are disintegrated from the heat as they enter the atmosphere.

In short, there are no human bodies lost in space. Most spaceflight-related accidents that involved people have happened while still on Earth.