【推荐1】As today’s high schoolers are facing too much homework, sports teams and clubs and high-rising college costs, many people are rethinking the idea of high schoolers working. Are there still benefits of having a job in high school? The answer is yes.

When I was 14 years old, my mother suggested that I get a job in order to pay for college. Happy with my sporadic (零星的) babysitting work, I told my mother that, no matter what job I got, I’d never be able to cover college costs on a high school worker’s pay.

My mother smiled and told me that there were plenty of other reasons why I should get a job beyond just the paycheck (工资支票). So I found myself applying for and finally accepting a job as a swim instructor and lifeguard at my town’s public pool. I ended up working part-time at the pool through all four years of high school.

Not everything about the job was marvelous, and there were times I hated jumping in the pool on cold mornings and trying to talk kids into following my instructions, but overall, as my mother said, I got many benefits from the job beyond just the paycheck.

At my job, I made lots of new friends, more than I had made in high school. I also learnt lots of skills including CPR (心肺复苏法) training and office experience. I was also able to use my work experience to stand out from other job applicants in college and get a paid research job as a freshman in college.

For many high school students, there are many benefits of having a job. Not only will high school jobs give you a way to make some money, meet new people, and develop some skills, you can also use your teenage jobs to get yourself a better job in college.

【推荐2】If job seekers knew companies were using artificial intelligence to fill vacant positions, would it stop them from applying for the job?

The answer, according to a recent study, is yes sometimes. The researchers found that in certain instances, like the screening of applications, study participants usually accepted some degree of automation. But in other instances, like interviews, the study suggests, automation could discourage job seekers from applying for a position.

Companies faced with recent labor shortages are increasingly turning to AI as a way to facilitate and speed up the hiring process. AI can be used in such tasks as screening job applicants for basic qualifications, checking for professional certificates and licenses, evaluating video statements, interviewing candidates and conducting competence assessments.

Participants who saw a job posting stating that AI was used to both screen applicants and conduct interviews expected the hiring process to be more consistent in its judgments than those who saw postings with less AI involvement.

On the other hand, participants who were told the hiring would be fully automated tended to believe more than others that they had less voice in the final outcome. Overall, the study results suggest this concern tends to outweigh the appreciation of AI’s lack of prejudice at the interviewing stage.

“A hybrid approach where companies use AI in some tasks but not others may be a way to get the best of both worlds,” says Jenny Wesche, a co-author of the study and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Free University of Berlin. Participants may have been more open to automation earlier in the hiring process because they had little expectation of direct interaction at that stage and could see some benefits from using AI — such as less-prejudiced decisions and the avoidance of problems like nepotism (裙带关系), she says. But during the later stages, she suggests, applicants expect personal interaction, to give them an opportunity to sell themselves and to learn more about the company.

“AI is not essentially good or bad,” Dr. Wesche says. “It just very much depends on the context it’s used.”

【推荐1】I enjoyed English, biology, and chemistry at school, but which one should I choose to study at university? I did not know the answer until one evening when I sat down at computer to do some research on great women of China.

By chance I came across an article about a doctor called Lin Qiaozhi, a specialist in women’s diseases. She lived from 1901 to 1983. It seemed that she had been very busy in her chosen career, travelling abroad to study as well as writing books and articles. One of them caught my eye. It was a small book explaining how to cut the death rate from having and caring for babies. She gave some simple rules to follow for keeping babies clean, healthy and free from sickness. Why did she write that? Who were the women that Lin Qiaozhi thought needed this advice? I looked carefully at the text and realized that it was intended for women in the countryside. Perhaps if they had an emergency, they could not reach a doctor.

Suddenly it hit me how difficult it was for a women to get medical training at that time. That was a generation when girls’ education was always placed second to boys. Was she so much cleverer than anyone else? Further reading made me realize that it was hard work and determination as well as her gentle nature that got her into medical school. What made her succeed later on was the kindness and consideration she showed to all her patients. There was story after story of how Lin Qiaozhi, tired after a day’s work, went late to deliver a baby for a poor family who could not pay her.

By this time I was very excited. Why not study at a medical college like Lin Qiaozhi and carry on her good work?

【推荐2】Well, it isn’t a long story, but I wonder if you will really understand.

I used to be crazy about hunting. There’s a thrill in hunting, an excitement that comes over you when a deer crashes out of the bush. After hunting, you also feel great to show off with the boys.

It was like that the last time I was in the woods. I went up into the hills alone, heading for a well-used deer trail. Sure enough there were fresh tracks in the snow. Then I saw him. A deer, a big beautiful deer! Surely I couldn’t miss! I waited for him to realize I was there and run away. But he fooled me completely. He came towards me! He was curious, I suppose, or maybe he was stupid—how else can you explain it?

He must have known about men and guns. But he came closer, putting one foot before the other, slowly and purposefully. His big eyes never moved from my face. Well, that deer walked right up to me. Then he stopped and looked at me!

What happened next is hard to believe, but it’s true. And it all seemed quite natural. Just as when a friendly puppy comes near you, I reached up and scratched his head, right between the horns. And he liked to be scratched. That big, wild, beautiful deer bent his head like a young horse. In fact, he practically asked for more. I scratched his head and his nose poked at my shoulder. He didn’t even tremble. Well, he finally went his way, down the hill and up the deer trail. Shoot him? Not me. You wouldn’t have either, not after that. I just watched him go.

There’s very little more to tell. I picked up my thermos, and started walking back. I was about halfway back when I heard two shots, followed by a dull slam a few seconds later. Those two shoots usually mean a kill. I had forgotten there were other hunters that day.

Those hunters would never know they could have scratched his head…

【推荐3】One morning a deer rushed into a courtyard where a little boy was playing. The deer hooked the boy's clothing with its antlers(角).This scared the little boy so much that he let out a loud cry which brought his mother running out to see what was happening. She came out just in time and saw the deer running off towards the mountains with her little boy.

The mother was so afraid !She ran after the deer as fast as she could and   not too far away. she found her son sitting on the grass safely. Seeing his mother. the little boy laughed and reached out his arms to her. His mother held him tight. She was so happy that she cried.

She hurried back with her dear son. When she got home, she was amazed at what she saw. The huge tree behind her house had fallen down while she was out running after the deer. The whole house was destroyed under the tree's great weight.

Then the mother remembered the day about a year before when a deer fleeing from a hurt had run into her house. She felt sorry for the frightened deer, so she covered it with some cloth and let it return to the forest.

The deer seemed to understand that she had saved its life. When leaving, it kept bowing its head to her as if it were thanking her for her kindness.

She never imagined that the deer could remember her help. It somehow knew the tree were going to fall and kill her and her son, so it came back to save them.

When the mother remembered all this, she said, “Saving the life of another is the same saving the life of your own.”

【推荐1】I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, sobbing. Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart.

Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “M Thanks.”

Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

【推荐2】It was the first time for my husband Paul and me to look after the puppy (小狗)Louie to spend the night while our teenage daughter Rochelle was on vacation for two weeks. Louie searched the entire house for his “mommy”. Then, that disappointed but determined puppy developed a plan.

While Paul and I were watching TV, we heard loud noises. Something heavy was being dragged down the stairs. I looked around and saw this six-month-old puppy painfully dragging his large, hard-sided carrier (行李袋) down the stairs. The next moment he dragged his blanket, bowl, bone, ball and sweater one by one downstairs. The project took most of the evening hut Louie showed no sign of tiredness at all.

After packing all the items into the carrier, he attempted to jump inside. Once inside, he got the zipper (拉链）between his teeth and, with all his strength, he pulled the zipper closed. Then he lay down and went to sleep in it throughout the night. The message was very clear. He wanted to go to see his “mommy”. He had seen her pack her suitcase and go away for her vacation. He must do the same so he could find her. When I unzipped his carrier in the morning. Louie was excited, but his “mommy” was nowhere to be seen.

The puppy surprised us with new actions every day. His favorite activity was going for a car ride. The possibility of stopping at McDonald's was his consideration. But one day, my husband didn't Stop at MacDonald's. He left Louie in the car with the window slightly open while he went to buy medicine. Louie managed to jump out of the window. He walked two blocks and found Paul, walking around him as if saying, “Can we go to have fried chicken now?”

Louie is an old gray-haired clog now, but he is still up to his old. and new tricks.

【推荐3】My beautiful new watch had run eighteen months without losing or gaining. But at last, one night, I forgot to wind it up and it stopped running. The next day I stepped into the jeweler’s to set it by the exact time, and the head of the shop started to set it for me. Then he said, “She is four minutes slow — regulator wants pushing up.” I tried to stop him — tried to make him understand that the watch kept perfect time. But no; he calmly and cruelly did the shameful deed.

My watch began to gain. It gained faster and faster day by day. Finally, I took it to the watchmaker to be regulated. He forced the watch open, and then said it wanted cleaning and oiling, besides regulating. After this, my watch slowed down to an unbearable degree. I began to miss trains and my dinner.

At last, I took this instrument to another watchmaker. He said the kingbolt was broken. To tell the truth, I had no conception what the kingbolt was. He repaired it, but what the watch gained in one way it lost in another. It would run awhile and then stop awhile, and so on.

So, I went with a heavy heart to one more watchmaker. While I waited and looked around, I presently recognized in this watchmaker an old acquaintance — a steamboat engineer of older days, and not a good engineer, either.

“She makes too much steam and…” he said.

I gave him a heavy blow on the head and ran away.

My uncle William used to say that a good watch was a good watch until the repairers got a chance to look at it. And he used to wonder what became of all the unsuccessful repairmen, and shoemakers, and engineers, and blacksmiths, and governors, and school-principals; but nobody could ever tell him.