【推荐1】Competition in the workplace can be a good thing for a number of different reasons. On the other hand, competition can also have some disadvantages, though. Some industries tend to be more competitive in the workplace than others. For instance, those in the sales field will typically be more competitive with co-workers than individuals in other fields, such as information technology. Nevertheless, a little competition in even the least competitive industries can be positive.

Competition in the workplace can create an environment where employees push each other to exceed their normal limits, which can result in increased production, both at an individual level and among the entire workforce as a whole. As individual production numbers increase, so do those of the entire team of workers who seek to outdo one another. Competition can be rewarded with bonuses or various types of rewards.

Workplace competition can also inspire a commitment to self-improvement. While financial motivations and bonuses are always a plus to get the competition going, those who see the bigger picture may take the competition as an opportunity to better themselves in the process of winning the competition. Self-improvement may include actions like changing work habits to be more organized, using visualization and goal setting to achieve goals and simply performing higher quality work.

Not all competition in the workplace necessarily has to take place at the individual level. Competition can bring about a sense of teamwork in the workplace when workers are placed in groups and asked to compete with one another, which can have a number of positive results that come from workers cooperating with each other. For example, workers can learn the value of communication and helping someone else, both of which have an influence on other areas of work like customer service.

【推荐2】Many college students complain about dormitory (宿舍) life: a sweltering room without air-conditioning in summer and a dormitory gate which is closed at 11 pm. But they may miss their dormitories after graduation, when they have to spend as much as a third of their income renting a shabby room.

The rising prices of daily necessities, including food, water, gas and electricity, are also making graduates save every penny to make ends meet. Faced with the high cost of living, college graduates need to make every penny work when they budget（预算） their income.

When it comes to renting, try to spend no more than one third of your income on it．Better still, only spend a quarter, according to Hao Qian, a career consultant. Hao also reminds graduates to set aside about one fifth of their income for social activities. “People have spent more on their social lives because of changes in forms of entertainment,” said Hao, “For example, new friends may want to meet you at a quiet club instead of at a noisy house.”

In spite of the high cost of living, many college graduates still, try to stay in big cities. They usually work in industries such as finance, public relations and IT, which depend on a booming（繁荣的） city economy and technology．

Hao advises such graduates to reduce their expenditure on shopping as much as possible. “If you are not in jobs such as PR and sales which require you to dress well, you don't need to spend much on clothes and accessories（服装配饰）, said Hao, “Spend less than one eighth of your monthly income on shopping.”

【推荐2】Few laws are so effective that you can see results just days after they take effect. But in the nine days since the federal cigarette tax more than doubled--- to $1.01 per pack---smokers have jammed telephone “quit lines” across the country seeking to kick the habit.

This is not a surprise to public health advocates. They’ve studied the effect of state tax increase for years, finding that smokers, especially teens, are price sensitive. Nor is it a shock to the industry, which fiercely fights every tax increase.

The only wonder is that so many states insist on closing their ears to the message. Tobacco taxes improve public health, they raise money and most particularly, they deter people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when nearly all smokers are addicted. Yet the rate of taxation varies widely. In Manhattan, for instance, which has the highest tax in the nation, a pack of Marlboro Light King cost $10.06 at one drugstore Wednesday. In Charleston, S, C, where the 7-cent-a-pack tax is the lowest in the nation, the price is $4.78.

The influence is obvious.

In New York, high school smoking hit a new low in the latest surveys---13.8%, far below the nation average. By comparison, 26% of high school students smoke in Kentucky. Other low-tax states have similarly depressing teen-smoking records.

Hal Rogers, representatives from Kentucky, like those who are against high tobacco taxes, argues that the burden of the tax falls on low-income Americans “who choose to smoke”.

That’s true. But there is more reason in keeping future generations of low—income workers from getting hooked in the first place. As for today’s adults, if the new tax drives them to quit, they will have more to spend on their families, cut their risk of cancer and heart disease and feel better.

【推荐3】This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt , proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles(自主驾驶车辆）.They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.

The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.

Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property(财产）damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.

“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.

Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability(法律责任）issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.

An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduced earlier this year, insists that a human “ be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.

But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars”, people expect driverless cars.” Merat says “You know — no driver.”

Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without operation.

Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.

That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.