【推荐3】The printed book is back.

Recent studies have shown students keep more information in memory when they read a hard-copy book compared to reading on a digital device. One school in Australia responded to these findings by abandoning its e-readers. The students noted that “the ease of navigation” was superior when using a traditional book.

I love the way we now judge printed books using the language of the digital world. E-books may come with “a set of navigational tools,” but it turns out that the best navigational devices are your forefinger and thumb. To think, all this time, those devices have just been sitting there, hanging at the ends of your arms.

Can a traditional book offer all the features of an e-book? Alas, no. It lacks a “progress bar” indicating what percentage of the book has been read. Luckily, a “hack (劈具)” is available: Turn your book so that it can be viewed from the side or top. It will naturally form two halves joined in the middle (“the spine”) (书脊). If the left-hand chunk is thicker than the right-hand one, you are more than halfway through.

Fans of the e-book point out that digital text is easy to annotate (作注解). Some devices even feature a little image of a pencil to guide the reader through the process. Traditional-book users have a similar system called a “pencil”. With it, favored passages can be underlined and, if it’s a history book, pretentious comments can be written in the margin. Thus annotated, such books can be left around for others to pursue, convincing family members, or prospective lovers, of your intellectual judgment and insight.

Educational fads come and go, so maybe the shift back to traditional books won’t last. But for the moment, I find myself standing at attention, tightening my textbook-built shoulders and saluting their glorious return.

【推荐1】Poets,songwriters and left—wing politicians hate the idea,but for decades,opinion—poll evidence has been clear: money buys happiness and the richer you are,the more likely you are to express satisfaction with your life.Until now,a survey of 43 countries published on October 30th by the Pew Research Centre shows that people in emerging markets are within a whisker of(一步之遥)expressing the same level of satisfaction as people in rich countries.It is in line with the standard view of happiness and income seen so far.

According to the survey,in 2007,57%of respondents in rich countries regarded themselves as happy;in emerging markets the share was 33%; in poor countries only 16%—a classic expression of the standard view. But in 2017, 54% of rich—country respondents counted themselves as happy,whereas in emerging markets the percentage jumped to 51%.

The sharp increase happened thanks to huge improvements in countries such as Indonesia (+35)and Pakistan(+22).In 12 of the 24 emerging markets,half or more people rate their life satisfaction in the top of the ladder.

This is not to say the link between income and satisfaction has been snapped. Poor countries still lag behind:only a quarter of the people there count themselves as happy—half the level of the other two groups.There is also a clear link between happiness and income growth.China's GDP rose at an annual average rate of 10% in 2007—2017 and its happiness level rose 26 points.

Within countries,richer people express more satisfaction than their poorer neighbors.The study divided respondents into categories with higher and lower incomes and fewer and more household goods.In every country in every group, richer folk with more goods expressed higher levels of happiness.So at a personal level,money does buy happiness.And if you ask people about different aspects of their lives—health,family life,religion,standard of living—it turns out that satisfaction with living standards still has the biggest influence on happiness.

【推荐3】In a country known for high-tech ambitions and giant state-owned firms, the plight of street hawkers may seem insignificant. But in China these days, people like Shui Jin, an old lady riding a wooden cart filled with fruit, are in the spotlight.

Faced with rising unemployment, officials have concluded that pavement stands can help solve the economy’s problems. Shui Jin, who used to face the danger of heavy fines, may sell her fruit with more confidence as she slowly makes her way through the narrow lanes of Suzhou. Her family needs the money. Both her daughters-in-law recently lost their jobs, among the tens of millions in China hurt by the coronavirus outbreak.

The government’s support for street hawkers is something of an about-turn. For years Municipal authorities pushed out hawkers, trying to tidy up the colourful chaos that once characterized China’s cities. In the name of “civilizing” urban life, they wanted to see dumplings, plastic toys and T-shirts bought inside shopping malls, not sold from the back of carts. But on June 1st Li Keqiang, the prime minister, signalled a change. Stopping by a snack stand in the city of Yantai, he declared that street hawkers and small shops were vital to the economy. “Only when the people are in good shape can the nation be in good shape,” he said.

Mr. Li’s compliment has produced a feeling of excitement about the revival of China’s “street- stand economy”. At least 27 provinces and cities have announced that they will create markets for hawkers or, in some cases, let them move their things being sold onto the pavement in front of their shops. The shining example is Chengdu, a busy and noisy city in Sichuan province in the south-west, where businesses started setting up street stands in March. The local government there claims that more than 10000 jobs have been created in the process.