【推荐1】As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.

Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long-hours work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.

Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny (保姆) . Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o'clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.

Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales, “I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some getting used to , but it’s been worth it . We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”

Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”

【推荐3】When enjoying children's birthdays or a long-expected family holiday,you may usually want to keep those important moments in mind with a photograph.But if you’re one of those people who can’t stop snapping photos at an important event,be aware--you could end up forgetting it all in a flash.

Experts have warned that the addiction to recording every moment of our lives could be having an adverse effect on our memories.

Maryanne Garry,a New Zealand psychology professor,has been studying how the frequent taking of photos might change childhood memories.I think the problem is that people are forgetting to experience the moment,she says.Parents at the park taking one photo after another of their children,for example,are actually paying less attention to what is happening around them.The picture only captures a small part of the total experience.And because parents remember less about these important events,they become less effective in their role as the key people who help children learn how to talk about their experiences.As a result,children's own childhood memories are reduced.

The idea that we are experiencing less as we record more got psychologist Linda Henkel’s thinking.She wanted to explore how photographs shape our memories.

Henkel,who researches human memory at Fairfield University in Connecticut,did an experiment by sending groups of students to the university’s art museum.The students observed some objects and photographed others. Then,back at the laboratory,they were given a memory test.Henkel found what she called a “photo-taking effect”.The students remembered fewer of the objects that they had taken photos of,and they remembered fewer details about those objects.She says her students’ memories were worse because they were relying on the camera to remember the details for them.

“As soon as you hit ‘click’ on that camera,it’s as if you’ve decreased your memory.” she says.