【推荐2】Classic literature includes older works that have survived the test of time.     1     Some well-known examples of classic literature include The Odyssey by Homer, Inferno by Dante, and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Whether you’re a student or just an eager reader hoping to dig into classic literature, you may be wondering where to begin.

    2     You can find descriptions or summaries of classic works of literature online, or read the back cover of the book to gain a basic idea of what the story is about. Knowing a bit about the plot, characters, and setting may make it easier for you to follow and understand the writing when you begin reading.

Learn about a book’s historical period.    3     It can help you to read that book. By researching the historical events that are described in the book or otherwise influenced its writing, you can come away with a better understanding of that novel.

Try reading and learning with a group. Some readers learn better while working within a group. Joining a book club or enrolling in a literature class at your local community college can give you the opportunity to discuss a novel with other readers and gain valuable insight from a teacher.    4    

Make comments in the margins of the text. If you’re trying to gain a better understanding of a difficult text, underlining passages may not be enough. Instead, try making comments in the margins to fully engage with the text.

    5     Telling something about something you have learned is a good way to help you understand better yourself. If you have a friend who also has an interest in classic literature, then you might consider telling him or her about the text.

【推荐2】Leisure is the prize, right? We work hard, so we want to play hard; we look forward to our time off, believing that the more leisure time we have, the better life will be.

However, research shows that both having and deciding how to spend leisure time can be very stressful. Some people feel enormous pressure to make the best use of their free time with the best choices. But this pressure to maximize our fun might impede the enjoyment of leisure itself.

Two-thousand years ago, concepts of work and leisure were associated with slavery(奴隶制)and freedom, respectively. In Ancient Greece, most of work was done by slaves, while wealthier parts of society pursued other activities. Leisure was an active state of mind. Good leisure meant playing sports, learning music theory, debating with qualified partners, doing philosophy, etc. Leisure was not easy, but it was supposed to be satisfying.

A shift occurred when the Romans started viewing leisure as a way of getting back energy in preparation for more work. By the 1800s, the kind of leisure that showed social class had shifted too; the wealthy led extremely free lives. A popular example is Walter Benjamin’s description of the fashion, around 1893, to walk through streets with a turtle (乌龟)on a chain.

Today we’re seeing yet another change: a lack of leisure time now operates as a powerful social class symbol. On Twitter, celebrities complain about having no life and being in desperate need of a vacation. In the workplace, being part of the long-hours working culture is still seen by many as an honour.

Some people really struggle to enjoy time off. People from America support the belief that leisure is wasteful. Only 14% of Americans take two weeks’ vacation in a row, a finding in keeping with the overwork culture. The same study reports that as of 2017, 54% of American workers didn’t use up their vacation time, leaving 662 million days reserved for leisure unused.

【推荐3】Do Trees Talk to Each Other?

Did you know that trees can communicate with each other? Suramme Simard, a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia, has conducted research into the cooperative and social behavior of trees.

Growing up in the forests of Canada, Simard observed how logging (伐木) companies would cut down diverse forests and replace them with a single tree species. Loggers believed that by removing competition, the newly planted trees would thrive, as they would receive more space, water, and sunlight. However, Simard noticed these trees were actually more likely to suffer disease and environmental stress. As she investigated this question, Simard realized that tree communication was the answer to this.

Trees communicate through underground networks of helper fungi (真菌). The fungi connect with tree roots, forming links, which can connect trees of different kinds across a forest. The fungi transport water and nutrients to the trees. In return, trees provide fungi carbon-based sugars. The fungi not only allow for tree-fungi cooperation but also for communication. Trees can transport carbon, water, nutrients (营养), chemical warning signs, and hormones. This system allows them to balance resources and warn neighboring trees of danger. Trees are also connected through the “mother” trees, which are the oldest and largest trees. Through this connection, young trees can get the resource and information network.

These findings have many effects, including the way we structure our own societies and ecological practices. Mother trees are key for providing the information, medicinal, and resource capacity to future generations of trees. Also Simard believes that with climate change stressing out plants and threatening the survival of species, humans may need to step in to help — perhaps even by moving some species to cooler climates as the world warms.

While Simard wholeheartedly believes in the cooperative nature of trees, other scientists argue that competition is still the main reason why these trees end up sharing resources. The fungi that transport resources might actually be sending nutrients to resource-poor trees because they can demand more carbon-based sugars in return from plants on the edge of survival.

Regardless of whether cooperation or competition drives tree behavior, stronger evidence of forest communication and networks is an exciting discovery with much to learn!