【推荐1】Social networking isn’t only for the under 40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.

“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus,” said Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report.

Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent said they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. “They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them,” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults are also on Facebook to stay connected, not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. “Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and older say they do not use the Internet,” according to the report.

The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter older adults are aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.

Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over 50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news. Only one percent said they followed blogs.

【推荐2】As Shanghai prepared to introduce mandatory (强制的) garbage sorting on July I, games and toys that examined fun ways to spread information about the garbage sorting were to encourage younger people to take action.

A 15-second video of a game went on Chinese social media. In the video, players wearing VR (虚拟) headsets saw four different types of trash can in front of them, and had to throw different types of garbage into the right buckets (桶) to get points. Although it was not the only VR game in the place, visitors lined up around the booth to explore it because of the garbage-sorting theme.

“As a Shanghai, I am in great need of this game. Maybe I won't need to check how to categorize (分类) each piece of garbage on my phone while going through all my garbage every day if I play this game more often,” said Zhou Zhou, a young Shanghai. But some social media users in Shanghai have complained (抱怨) about the difficulty of sorting different types of garbage.

Wu Xia, founder and CEO of VitrellaCore, the company that created the game, said the idea was to provide an interesting way of learning about garbage sorting. “It’s simple and easy to understand. People can practice sorting garbage without actually going through their trash, and it is a more fruitful method than using paper materials when training volunteers,” Wu said.

【推荐3】Apps such as WeChat and TikTok have gained popularity in recent years.    1    Also TikTok is already a household name globally,maybe one of the Chinese brands to truly be recognized universally.

WeChat is particularly relied upon as a secure part of the structure of our technologically advancing societies.    2    Moreover,a court in Haidian allows litigants(诉讼当事人）to communicate with their lawyers through WeChat video connections.

Many features of WeChat alongside its well-thought-out design has meant that the app has dominated its competitors domestically,especially during the disorderly origin years of 2012-13,when it was gaining traction.

The ability to move through web pages without tags and save articles alongside other offline content within the app simplified the online experience.    3     This is a fantastic application designed to combine the comprehensive nature of the web experience with the simplistic convenience of mobile apps.

    4     An example is that,instead of a loading white screen,users,when opening a PWA app such as WeChat,will simply at first see the content that had been previously browsing,allowing them to pick up where they left off, much like reading a book.

The intuitive(直观的）design is what makes WeChat not just an app in communicating with friends and family.     5     You can also order a taxi through it. All of these extra features boil down to the one single universal strength of detail in design and multiple app service integration.

【推荐2】The US teenager Thomas Cheatham had planned to study Latin during his time at Hebron High School in Texas. However, when he learned that the school district was going to offer a Mandarin (普通话) class, he quickly changed his mind.

“I thought Mandarin would be more beneficial than Latin,” said Cheatham, who is now in his second year of studying the language. He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read social media posts from his Chinese-speaking friends.

While it is a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be important for his career. “Chinese is a good language to know, especially with China becoming a growing power,” he said.

Many experts agree that proficiency in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy. “People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing,” said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. “We’re seeing it in all parts of the country.”

Abbott estimates that as many as 100, 000 students are now studying Mandarin throughout the US, in public and private schools. She said the US government had designated (指定) Mandarin as a “critical needs” language and provided professional development programs for teachers. “Our government wants to increase our language competency for national security (安全) and economic competitiveness,” Abbott said.

At the same time, the Chinese government is spreading knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes established in many US states. For example, the Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas has been the home of a Confucius Institute for 10 years. It sponsors (赞助) Confucius Classrooms at 21 local public and private schools, where tens of thousands of students are learning Mandarin.

【推荐1】Stained glass artists create different designs by making cuts on the glass to “score” it and then breaking off the pattern that they want to use in the finished product. The most difficult cut in stained glass is called an inside cut. Basically, it’s a curved line where you throw away the part inside of the curve. The problem with inside cuts is that the edges of the curve tend to break off when the pieces of scored glass are broken apart.

As the artist talked about inside cuts, he said, “The glass will break into pieces if you try to cut too much off at once. The best way to do an inside cut is to slice off smaller curves piece-by-piece. In fact, it’s not just the best way lo do it, but it’s the only way to do it.”

How many times do you try to make a big change and cut the entire piece at once? We convince ourselves that we can do this all the time. We’ll commit to transforming our diet overnight or we get inspired to launch a business in a weekend or we finally get motivated to work out and push ourselves to the edge of burning out.

Why not approach your goals and dreams like a stained glass artist? Starting by slicing a shallow curve and breaking a small piece off, you cut a slightly deeper curve and break that off until you have your full inside cut. By slowly cutting deeper and deeper curves, you prevent the glass from breaking as it change shape.

Of course, change isn’t easy — no mailer how you do it. Slow gains are boring, but if we keep making small improvements, then pretty soon we will end up with a beautiful masterpiece on our hands instead of a bunch of broken pieces.

【推荐2】American and British people both speak English of course. But sometimes it does not seem like the same language. In fact, there are some important differences between British English and American English.

First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don't say each words separately. They say several words together. Americans may say “I dunno” instead of “I don’t know”. Or they may say “Whaddya say?” instead of “What did you say?”. However, the British are more careful in their speech. They usually say all the words and keep them separate.

Sound is not only the difference between British English and American English.Words sometimes have different meanings too. Some American words are never used in England. The same thing is true of some British words in America. For example, the vocabulary for cars and driving is very different. Americans drive trucks,   but in England people drive lorries.

Many expressions are also different in the two countries. In England, if you are going to telephone your friends, you " phone them up". In America, you "give them a call". When you are saying goodbye in England you might say "Cheerio!" In America you might say " See you later. "

There 're also some differences in grammar. For example, Americans usually use the helping verb "do" when they ask a question. They say "Do you have a storybook?" But the British often leave out the helping verb. They say " Have you a storybook?"

All these differences can be confusing if you are learning English. But most languages are like this. Languages change over time. When people live in separate places, the languages change in different ways.This is what has happened to English. It can also happen to other languages, such as French. Many people in Canada speak French, but their French is very different from the French of France.

【推荐3】What's on

Kids Show 2 (Djembe)

Samajam

When: Aug 23 and 24, 7:30 pm

Where: Zhejiang People's Great Hall, Hangzhou

Canadian performance troupe (剧团)Samajam has introduced a show for families, creating musical happenings with the help of their audience .

Everyone in the audience receives a " music bag" which contains drumsticks, tambourines, a musical tube and a djembe. Kids and the entire family learn and play with the instruments, as they are led by performers on stage. Djembe is an African drum, a representative instrument of the Manding culture in West Africa.

Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery

When: Sept 4-9, 7:30 pm

Where: National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

Baskerville: A Sherlock Homes Mystery is a play by playwright Ken Ludwig from the United States. The play is a humorous adaption of Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles featuring more than 40 characters played by five actors.

According to Ludwig, the version of Shylock Holmes and Doctor Watson in his mind is imprinted in his innermost world. The detectives are younger, more energetic and similar to those in the original works. In addition to roles, the scenes and stage effects were developed on that basis.

2047 Apologue

When: Sept 13 and 14, 7:30 pm

Where: National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

Director Zhang Yimou continues to explore the relationship between man and machine in the "third season" of his concept stage show, 2047 Apologue.

In his new production, Zhang continued his idea from the original 2047 Apologue by dealing with the theme of the relationship between human beings and technology. The show aims to mirror reality, commenting on how science and technology are such a huge part of life in the 21st century.

Igor Krol — Lllimination

When: Aug 18, 7pm

Where: The Pearl, Shanghai

A cool breeze from a northern land, a rising star on the Baltic Sea horizon. This summer, for the first time, Igor Krol from St Petersburg, is coming to China.

Krol is a musical actor and singer, the laureate (获奖者) of several international vocal competitions in Russia and has played the main roles in musicals such as Tanz der Vampire, Aladdin and the Count of Monte-Cristo.

Krol's solo concert Lllumination is a luxurious music experience, with elements of classical musical, pop and rock.

【推荐1】Do not merely think that you are going to become great; think that you are great now. Do not think that you will begin to act in a great way at some future time; begin now. Do not think that you will act in a great way when you reach a different environment; act in a great way where you are now. Do not think that you will begin to act in a great way when you begin to deal with great things; begin to deal in a great way with small things.

Do not think that you will begin to be great when you get among more intelligent people, or among people who understand you better; begin now to deal in a great way with the people around you.

If you are not in an environment where there is opportunity for your best powers and talents you can move in due time; but meanwhile you can be great where you are. Many great people were as great when they were common as when they became great; as common people they did common things in a great way, and that made them great.

You are not made great by the location in which you happen to be nor by the things with which you may surround yourself. You are not made great by what you receive from others, and you can never show greatness so long as you depend on others. You will show greatness only when you begin to stand alone. Dismiss all thought of reliance on externals ternals, whether things, books, or people. As someone said, “Shakespeare will never be made the study of Shakespeare. Shakespeare will be made by the thinking of Shakespearean thoughts.”

Never mind how the people around you, including those of your own household may treat you. That has nothing at all to do with your being great; that is, it cannot get in your way of being great. People may look down on you and be unthankful and unkind in their attitude toward you; does that prevent you from being great in your manner and attitude toward them？

【推荐2】Protected areas around the world are protected from invasive species(入侵物种). However, most of them are still vulnerable(易受伤害的) to invasion, according to research conducted by scientists from China and the UK.

The study, led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the journal Nature Communications. It showed how the majority of protected areas are no more than 10 kilometers away from an area with the presence of invasive species. Tim Blackburn, a co-author of the study and a professor from University College London, said that introducing invasive species is among the worst damage that humans can inflict to the natural environment.

Invasive alien species or IAS can harm an ecosystem by competing with or killing native species and destroying habitats, among many impacts. Aliens are species that are not naturally occurring in particular area and are introduced through humans. Invasion by such species is considered as among the five worst direct drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide. Aliens establish populations at more new areas at an ever-increasing pace.

The researchers discovered that lower than ten percent of protected areas have the 894 surveyed invasive species within them, which suggests that, in general, protected areas are effectively shielded against invasion. However, all of them are still at risk from IAS, because at least one alien species was found within 100 kilometers of 99% of the surveyed protected areas' boundaries.

The research team also discovered that protected regions that contain more invasive animal species experience a more significant influence or presence of humans, otherwise known as the human footprint index. This is caused by factors like large human populations and transport links.

In addition, protected areas that have been established more recently and are more extensive have a more significant number of IAS. The older protected areas are usually in more remote locations, which provide them with better protection from human impacts.

Dr. Li who is a famous biologist said that for now, the majority of protected areas are free from IAS. Still, it may not be true for long. He adds that those areas which are easily accessible to many people count as the most highly vulnerable.

【推荐3】With the official closing of Beijing Nanyuan Airport on Sept 25 and the moving of its civil aviation(民用航空) to the newly opened Beijing Daxing International Airport, the capital is prepared for the day China becomes the world’s largest aviation market.

China United Airlines KN5830 was the last plane to land at Beijing Nanyuan Airport. Its arrival at 22:10, Sept 25 marked the official end to the civil aviation passenger transport history of China’s oldest airport.

Beijing Nanyuan Airport was the starting point for China’s aviation industry. It was launched in 1910 near the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was used for military aviation(军用航空), and as a test and training center. In 1913, China’s first aviation school was built at Nanyuan airport, which trained more than 150 pilots for the country within 15 years. After the founding of New China, Beijing Nanyuan Airport also witnessed several historical moments. In 1949, the first squadron to fly over the Tian’anmen Square for review during the founding ceremony of New China, took off from Beijing Nanyuan Airport.

On Wednesday, its civil aviation function was completely terminated and transferred to Beijing Daxing International Airport where it came into operation on the same day. Having witnessed the birth and development of China’s aviation industry, the 109-year-old airport will now enjoy a new life as an aviation museum.

The official operation of Beijing Daxing International Airport indicates that the country’s aviation industry has opened a new chapter(篇章) in its development. The huge international aviation hub, which will be a comprehensive transportation hub that supports the construction of Xiongan New Area and the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, is expected to achieve 45 million passenger throughput by 2021 and 72 million passenger by 2025 and it will become an air traffic hub for international travel to and from China together with Beijing Capital Airport as the country becomes the world’s largest civil aviation market, which is predicted to happen around the mid-2020s.