【推荐2】In various restaurants worldwide, there’s a new sight-child-sized robots. These robots can welcome guests, show them to their tables, deliver food and drinks, and even transport dirty dishes back to the kitchen. Some believe these robot waiters could be a solution to today’s worker shortages in the restaurant industry, with tens of thousands of them now in use.

But other people think that robots can’t replace human workers. Robot waiters can’t take orders, and they struggle with steps, limiting their abilities.

Despite these disadvantages, their use is growing. For example, in Madison Heights, Michigan, Li Zhai faced difficulty finding enough workers for his restaurant, Noodle Topia. To address this, he purchased robots from Pudu Robotics. These robots have been a success, with one leading diners to their seats, another delivering food, and a third transporting dirty dishes.

Zhai found that using these robots reduced his need for employees. Three robots now do the work of what used to require five or six people. In terms of cost, a robot costs around $15 000, while a human can cost $5,000 to $6,000 per month. These robots also have a surprising benefit-they free up human servers to spend more time with customers, resulting in increased tips, Additionally, diners often share videos of the robots on social media, attracting more visitors to the restaurant.

However, not all restaurants have had the same success. For instance, Chili’s (奇利斯餐厅)introduced robot servers in 2020, expanding the test to 61U.S. restaurants before suddenly stopping the program. The robots were criticized (批评) for their slow movement and getting in the way of human servers. A survey showed that 58% of guests believed the robots didn’t improve their overall dining experience.

【推荐3】In China, in order to ease the pressure on parents’ wallets, education is free until children reach the age of about 15. So why is it that more than half of a typical family’s spending goes on education? The answer is cramming classes: a financial burden so great that it is often said to discourage couples from having children at all. Now officials are doing their part. It appears to relieve the pressure on people’s wallets.

But parents are not sure whether it will work. As many of them see it, cramming is not optional. Exams for entry to senior high schools are fiercely competitive. Then comes the dreaded Gaokao: the university-entrance exam on which a child’s future depends. No wonder the industry’s growth has been rapid. One firm, Zuoyebang (“help with homework”) says it offers live-streaming classes to more than 170m active users each month.

But officials are worried about its social impact. The birth rate is the lowest in decades and China is ageing fast. They also say that school children are overstressed. Urban pupils attend cramming classes for more than 10 hours a week, according to Deloitte, an accountancy firm.

While as the People’s Daily, an official newspaper, reported this month, the market for such services is in “endless chaos”. It listed problems ranging from misleading advertising to high prices and the use of unqualified teachers.

Government’s new regulations of clamping down on cram schools sent shivers through the industry. New Oriental, one of China’s biggest cramming companies, saw its share price on the New York Stock Exchange drop below $8, from a high of more than $19 in February. On June 9th the education ministry said a new government department would be set up to oversee such businesses, including both online courses and lessons in the classroom. There is also a widespread speculation, including in state media, that the new rules will impose limits on when firms can offer classes. They may, for example, prohibit classes after a certain time in the evening, during the summer holidays or at weekends.

Some analysts think the government may have another motive. Many of the companies belong to China’s tech giants, including Alibaba and Tencent, which have already attracted government’s attention for dominating markets and expanding into finance and other areas. Targeting the cramming business could be another way of breaking their wings. Parents wonder whether they will benefit. Some are concerned that the new rules will leave them with no choice but to use private tutors, which could prove even more costly.

【推荐1】He may be approaching his 90th birthday, but Sir David Attenborough has no desire to slow down. Fresh from an appearance at the Paris climate change summit, he fronts a new series David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef (大堡礁).

“There was a book by Saville-Kent called The Great Barrier Reef with fascinating hand-drawn illustrations which always fascinated me as a child. It was as if born from pure imagination. I thought no such place on earth can surely exist.” he said.

Nearly sixty years after his first visit, Attenborough dives 1000 feet below the surface off the Queensland coast to explore the world’s largest living organism like never before.

“It was the first place I was lucky enough to scuba (水肺) dive and I was, entering those waters, welcomed by magic. It was 1957 and I was shocked by remarkable beauty and life.”

The dive also gives Attenborough the chance to properly examine the effects of climate change and how the rising temperatures and acidity of the seas is causing harm to the reef.

“You can see where the sea grass is going and you know that if it continues on like that for the next decade or so, the coral (珊瑚) won’t be able to tolerate it. You can show experimentally that they’re incapable of living in these higher temperatures and the acidity will be such that they won’t be able to form coral limestone (灰岩) anymore,” he explains.

Attenborough admits that though he is incredibly enthusiastic about spreading awareness of climate change he was unwilling to be referred to as an authority on the subject. “I have a view, but it’s a second-hand view. I haven’t done the chemistry,” he said.

The truth is, he is well respected and beloved. When he talks about something as serious as climate change we are willing to pay attention.

【推荐2】Bartek Ostalowski lost both his arms in a terrible aceident in 2006, but that wasn’t enough to kill his dream of one day becoming a professional race-car driver. Finding himself armless at just 20 years old and faced with the difficult task of learning to drive a car on a race circuit (赛车道) must have been quite the shock for Bartek, but he gathered the courage and the drive to push on. In three years, he became a master of driving a race-car with his feet. Today, Bartek Ostalowski is the world’s only professional sport driver who drives using his feet.

In order to deal with his physical limitations, Bartek transformed (改装) his race car according to his needs, adding a new engine, and stronger transmission (变速器). The ambitious Polish driver uses his right foot to control the pedals, while moving on with his left one. The race car is controlled with the shoulder.

“After my accident, I was looking for a solution. I asked myself if I wanted to race again what would I need to do?” Bartek told the reporter of Business Insider. “I heard about someone in Poland who, like me, had no arms, but he drove a car on a daily basis with no problem. After meeting him, my dream and passion for motor sports were alive and strong, and I made the decision to return to racing one day.”

In 2019, Ostalowski finished in ninth place out of 50 drivers in the Polish Drift Championship, one of the most competitive championship series in all of Europe, and the year before that, he won the international Czech Drift Series, beating dozens of other professional sports drivers.

“Of course, I encourage other people with disabilities to get involved in motor sports. It’s a beautiful passion and I think a great form of recovery too. So make your dreams come true,” the Polish driver said.

【推荐3】Not long ago, a 72-year-old Italian woman started her long walk from Venice to Beijing. She wanted to follow the path of Marco Polo, a famous trader and traveler, along the Silk Road.

The woman is Vienna Cammarata. She loves traveling around the world on foot. She has been a crazy walker for more than 30 years. After visiting many places, Cammarata got a new idea a few years ago—following the footsteps of famous people. In 2017, Cammarata made a trip by walking along the path described in a book of Goethe, a famous German poet, and walked through Germany, Austria and Italy.

However, after taking so many trips, Cammarata did not stop. Instead, she decided to challenge herself again. In April, 2022, she left Venice, the birthplace of Marco Polo, and planned to walk through 15 countries to arrive in Beijing in 2025.

Along the whole journey, Cammarata has to face many difficulties, for example, the bad weather. However, she has made up her mind to meet her goal. Besides her backpack, she takes a camera with her to record what she sees and experiences on the way. Also, she takes a phone with a health app. Her doctor can check on her health through it from far away.

Cammarata hopes to be hosted by people she meets along the way. She wants to talk with them and learn the stories of the countries. “I love history and culture, and I walk in order to see and tell, but above all to listen,” said Cammarata.