【推荐1】There was a time when a trip to the supermarket in theUnited States often ended with a seemingly simple question from the cashier: “Paper or plastic?” Well, which type of bag would you choose?

While all types of bags have some influence on the environment, it has long been supposed that paper bags are kinder. They are made from a renewable source, break down easily, burn without giving off thick smoke and can be recycled. However, the producing process behind paper bags uses more energy than that of plastic ones. How can this be true?

Studies show that paper bag production requires four times as much energy as plastic bag production. And the amount of water used to make paper bags is twenty times higher. Besides, the influence on forests is very serious. It takes about fourteen million trees to produce ten billion paper bags, which happens to be the number of bags used in the United States yearly.In terms of recycling, the idea that paper bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic ones can be quickly discarded. Research shows it requires about 98% less energy to recycle plastic than it does to recycle paper.

Even though paper bags might be more harmful than plastic ones, plastic still seems to be considered by governments as the more harmful of the two. In Ireland, for example, a tax has been introduced to discourage the use of plastic bags. People have to pay 22 cents for every plastic bag, and as a result, their use has dropped quickly.

There’s no doubt that it makes more sense to reuse these bags. However, we don’t seem to be doing that at present. Cloth bags are a better choice, but still, their production also has a bad influence on the environment. So what to do? How should I we answer the question of “Paper or plastic?” It seems that we first need to ask ourselves one more general question: “What can I do to help the environment?”

【推荐1】It is natural that young people are often uncomfortable(不自在) when they are with their parents. They say that their parents don’t understand them. They often think that their parents are out of touch with modern ways; that they are too serious and too strict with their children; and that they seldom give their children a free hand.

It is true that parents often find it difficult to win their children’s trust and they tend to forget how they themselves felt when young. They show that they have grown up and they can face any difficult situation. Older people worry more easily. Most of them plan things ahead, at least in the back of their minds, and do not like their plans to be upset(扰乱) by something unexpected.

When you want your parents to let you do something, you will have better success if you ask before you really start doing it.

Young people often make their parents angry with their choices in clothes, in entertainment and in music. But they do not mean to cause any trouble; it is just that they feel cut off from the older people’s world, into which they have not yet been accepted. That’s why young people want to make a new culture(文化) of their own. And if their parents do not like their music or entertainment or clothes or their way of speech, this will make the young people extremely happy.

Sometimes you are so proud of yourself that you do not want your parents to say “yes” to what you do. All you want is to be left alone and do what you like. It is natural enough, after being a child for so many years, when you were completely under your parents’ control.

If you plan to control your life, you’d better win your parents over and try to get them to understand you. If your parents see that you have a high sense of responsibility(责任), they will certainly give you the right to do what you want to do.

【推荐3】China is one of the first countries to breed a medical culture. In comparison with Western methods, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adopts a vastly different approach. For thousands of years, Chinese people have accumulated rich experience in fighting all sorts of diseases, therefore forming a unique medical theory under the guidance of ancient Chinese philosophies.

The core behind TCM is that the human body's life is the consequence of the balance between yin and yang. Yang functions to safeguard us against outer harm, and yin is the inner base to store and provide energy. When the balance between the two aspects is disturbed, people fall ill.

One of the traditional techniques of TCM, acupuncture (针刺疗法), means insertion of needles into superficial structures of the body — usually at acupoints (穴位) —to restore the yin-yang balance. It is often accompanied by moxibustion (灸法), which involves burning the mugwort on or near the skin at an acupoint.

The first known text that clearly talks about something like acupuncture and moxibustion as it is practiced today is Yellow Emperor5s Inner Canon. It is the earliest and most important written work of TCM and is considered the most representative medical text in China.

Acupuncture and moxibustion have aroused the interest of international medical science circles. And TCM is gradually gaining worldwide recognition. The WHO issued a document in 2002 that appealed to more than 180 countries to adopt TCM as an alternative in their medical policies. In 2010, acupuncture and moxibustion of traditional Chinese medicine were added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. Presently, TCM has been back in the news for its effectiveness in improving the cure rate of the COVID-19 since its outbreak in January 2020.

【推荐1】Have you ever dreamed of meeting top scientists in person? If so, what would you want to ask them? For Tan Fanglin, a 15-year-old girl from No.2 High School of East China Normal University in Shanghai, her dream of meeting top scientists has already come true.

In October, she attended the World Laureates Forum(论坛)for a second time. Tan was by far the youngest participant among the scientists invited to be at the meeting of the world's sharpest minds. Her discovery about the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence(菲波那契数列)and Bézout numbers has won her many prizes in youth innovation competitions. This finding has been praised by the famous Canadian mathematician, Professor Rankin. According to Guangming Daily, Rankin has been studying the same theme for five years but with no conclusions.

From a very young age, Tan has always been fascinated by mathematics. This is largely because of the influence of her father, who teaches mathematics in University. But she had not participated in any Mathematics Olympiad exams before. According to Xu Jun, Tan's head teacher from her middle and high school, she doesn't take after-school classes or too many extra exercises either. Her mastering of Further Mathematics and her good grades in school are thanks to the right study method.

Attending this forum enabled Tan to get more inspiration from top scientists. She asked Professor Miesenbock, the 2019 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize winner, what he considered were the best personal qualities for conducting scientific research. Miesenbock encouraged her not to lose her passion and love for what she does. He stressed that people all knew that even Thomas Edison went through hundreds of unsuccessful attempts before finally inventing the light bulb. Tan has met many barriers in her research and often feels upset. The words made Tan feel inspired. "I will keep my curiosity and interests in mathematics and overcome any obstacles(障碍)in my research," she told Chinese Business View.

【推荐2】When I grow up

In kindergarten, my class was asked to draw pictures, showing what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our drawings were expected to display our dream occupations. I remember pictures of ballerinas dancing, firefighters putting out a blaze, and astronauts leaping across the moon.

My picture showed a figure with brown hair holding a box of orange juice beside a counter. Underneath was my handwriting: “When I grow up, I want to work at Market Basket because it would be fun to swipe (刷) orange juice across the scanner.” Out of everything, my five-year-old self wished to work at the local grocery store.

When we are young, questions of what we want to be when we grow up are common. Yet we are not expected to respond with an answer that is likely to come true. However, when we become teens, we are asked the very same questions twice as often. The difference is, now we are supposed to answer with confidence.

Teens are expected to know exactly what we want to be and how we are going to achieve that goal. However, not all of us can be so sure. Even though I am in high school, I cannot answer with certainty. But I don’t consider that a bad thing. How am I supposed to know what I will want to spend my time doing at age 40?

When I think about the future, I definitely don’t see myself working at Market Basket, but in reality, if that was what would make me happy, I would do it. So, the next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I will simply say “happy”.

Happiness is a destination for everyone. We may want to walk different paths in life, but we all want to be happy wherever we end up. Choose your path, but don’t worry too much about choosing wisely. Make a mistake or two and try new things. But always remember, if you’re not happy, you’re not at the end of your journey yet.

【推荐3】Let’s suppose you have, oh, $40,000 to spare, and you’re out shopping for a shiny new car. You’ve never really cared about cars that much before, with perhaps hate for the car commercials you see every seven seconds during a televised sporting event. But now, you can afford one. So when someone mentions a certain kind of car—one that you’ve never heard of before—you’re interested.

Suddenly, the car is everywhere. It’s parked in front of your house. Your boss’s husband has one. You see two of them next to you in traffic on your way home from work. The car is even popping up in those commercials during the baseball game. So what exactly is happening here? Does this car suddenly come to take control of the cultural consciousness (意识)? Or is your consciousness playing tricks on you?

Welcome to the Baader-meinhof phenomenon (现象), otherwise known as the frequency illusion (频率幻觉). This phenomenon occurs when the thing you’ve just noticed, experienced or been told about suddenly appears constantly, It gives you the fleeing that pretty much everyone is talking about the subject, or that it is always surrounding you. And you’re not crazy, you are totally seeing it more. But the thing is: of course, that’s because you’re noticing it more.

A couple of things happen when the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon Kicks in. Your brain seems to be excited by the fact that you’ve learned something new and selective attention occurs. Your brain subconsciously thinks, “Hey, that’s amazing! I’m going to look for that thing without actually thinking about it.” So now that you’re looking for it, you find it. To make it all the more powerful,, confirmation bias (确认偏误) occurs after you see it even once or twice. In other words, you start agreeing with yourself that, yep, you’re certainly seeing it more.

Now if you’ve done a search for Baader-Meinhof, you might be a little confused, because the phenomenon wasn’t named after the person that researched it, or anything sensible like that. Instead, it was named after a West German terrorist group, active in the 1970s. The St. Paul Pioneer Press online commenting board was the surprising source of the name. In 1994, a commentator called the frequency illusion “the Baader-meinhof phenomenon” after accidentally hearing two references to Baader-meinmof within 24 hours The- phenomenon has nothing to do with the group, in other words. But don’t be surprised if the name starts popping up everywhere you turn.

【推荐1】It is easier to negotiate（谈判）first salary requirement because once you are insider, the organizational constraints influence wage increases. One thing, however, is certain: your chances of getting the raise you feel you deserve are less if you don't at least ask for it. Men tend to ask for more, and they get more, and this holds true with other resources, not just pay increases. Consider Beth's story.

I did not get what I wanted when I did not ask for it. We had cubicle（小隔间）offices and window offices. I sat in the cubicles with several male colleagues. One by one they were moved into window offices, while I remained in the cubicles, several males who were hired after me also went to offices. One in particular told me he was next in line for an office and that it had been part of his negotiations for the job. I guess they thought me content to stay in the cubicles since I did not voice my opinion either way.

It would be nice we all received automatic pay increases equal to our merit（价值）, but "nice" isn't a quality shared by most organizations. If you feel you deserve a good raise in pay, you'll probably have to ask for it.

Performance is your best bargaining chip （筹码） when you are seeking a raise. You must be able to prove that you deserve a raise. Timing is also a good bargaining chip. If you can give your boss something he or she needs（a new client or a sizable contract, for example）just before merit pay decisions are being made, you are more likely to get the raise you want.

Use information as a bargaining chip coo. Find out what you are worth on the open market. What will someone else pay for your services?

Go into the negotiations prepared to place your chips on the table at the appropriate time and prepared to use communication style to guide the direction of the interaction

【推荐2】Like bootcut jeans or farm fresh produce,television is proving its staying power regardless of trends. It seems to be just like a home cooked meal,never to be replaced,thanks to the wide application of big data.

Americans are still watching an average of five hours of TV each day and over 50%of homes have a television subscription service like Netflix or Hulu.This is due to the fact that television programming has undergone a renaissance(复兴),with cinema-quality programs on broadcast,new ways of delivery-Netflix or Hulu and other over-the-top(OTT)providers and now the promise of data-driven insights for advertisers. Data is the key to television's profitability.Advertisers have access to more audience information than ever,while networks and content providers use data,in addition to instinct(本能)to guide programming decisions.The abundance of data available to content providers,marketers and advertisers makes it possible to process,analyse and transform big data into profitable,useful insights.

For those 50% of homes with a subscription service,OTT TV is using data to make decisions not just about programming,but to guide viewers to the right content.The most famous example of data-driven content is Netflix's House of Cards,a popular TV series in America,designed to be a hit based on platform data like user viewing habits,ratings and preferences.But the content provider uses data to guide all of its decisions,ranging from title images to homepage layouts.

Netflix receives data from millions of set top boxes and online accounts,and then processes data using real time technology like Spark.These data have led to clearly-seen results,like a 20%-30%increase in programs'viewship numbers.

【推荐3】The new year is the moment when people vow to improve their fitness. They join gyms, swear off alcohol and adopt healthier diets. These resolutions usually do not last beyond January.

But some employers try to help their workers stick to their goals by offering “wellness” programmes. One of the longest- running examples began in 1979 at Johnson & Johnson (j&j), an American health-care company.The plan promotes weight loss, smoking quitting and efforts to reduce blood pressure.

The firm claims it reduced medical costs by $400 an employee per year, and resulted in fewer workers suffering from heart disease or high blood pressure. Yet an examination of the data by Martin Cherniack of the University of Connecticut found that in 2005-08, a sharp jump in alcohol use, depression and stress among j&j employees occurred .This coincided with a period when the firm had a target of lifting productivity by 9% a year. So the employees may have been fitter, but it is possible that workplace pressure to produce more meant greater stress.

All this suggests that employee well-being is a rather more complex topic than can be tackled(应对) by a programme devoted to exercise and healthy living. A study by Rand Europe, a research institute, found that obvious bad habits such as smoking and high alcohol use were in fact not associated with lower productivity, while obese workers were no more likely to take time off than anyone else. The biggest productivity problems were associated with lack of sleep, financial concerns and mental-health issues-factors that may well be directly linked to work-related stress.

It seems reasonable for companies to expect some level of economies return on any wellness programme that they provide. But the trade-off should not be too blatant. Making employees fitter so you can work them a lot harder seems rather like drilling your infantry(野战军) on a course before sending them to face the machine guns. A better impact on morale (and thus productivity) might occur if workers felt that their managers had a genuine interest in their welfare.