I’m sorry to know that you have problems in English. It’s difficult not to make mistakes when you are studying a foreign language. I make silly mistakes in Chinese all the time. My grammar and pronunciation (语法和发音) are not very good, even though (尽管) I learn the language for some time.

And sometimes people make mistakes because they are not careful. I’m sure you sometimes make mistakes in Chinese, even though it is your mother language. This happens to everyone. So how do you stop making so many mistakes? One of the most important things is to check (检查) your work. After you finish writing something, read it again to make sure it is right. If you are not sure about something, like a grammar rule, take some time to think about it and try to get it right. You may not catch every mistake, but by reading it again, you can catch some obvious (明显的) ones.

A bat and a ball cost $1. 10 in total. The bat costs $1. 00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

If you answered 10 cents, you are not alone -most people give the same answer (the correct answer is 5 cents). It’s an example of how we often depend on intuitive responses(直觉反应)-answers we feel are true. People give answers that “pop into their mind,” says cognitive scientist Steven Sloman. We don’t spend much time “reflecting and checking whether the answer…is right or wrong.”

The bat and ball question helps explain why we often believe in fake(虚假的) news. It is part of human nature to believe, says Sloman. But “the trick with fake news is to know to verify”—in other words, to stop and check what you know.

In one experiment, Sloman and a colleague invented a discovery called helium rain. They told a group of volunteers about it, but they did not fully explain what it was. They then asked the volunteers to rate(评等级) their own understanding of helium rain. Most volunteers rated themselves 1 out of 7, meaning they didn’t understand it.

The researchers then told another group of volunteers about the discovery. This time, they said the scientists could fully explain how it works. The volunteers gave an average answer of 2. The scientists’ confidence gave the volunteers an increased sense of their own understanding of it, Sloman says.

According to Sloman, studies show that knowledge spreads like a contagion(接触传染). This idea can be seen in many fields, including politics(政治). “If everyone around you is saying they understand why a politician is dishonest,” Sloman Bays, “then you are going to start thinking that you understand, too.”

So, in a world where misleading information is common, is there a way to protect ourselves? “I don’t think it’s possible to train persons to check everything that they encounter(遇到),” Sloman admitted. “It is just too human to believe what you are told.”

However, training people to care about fact-checking is important, he argued, especially in online communities. Think of the headlines and stories that are shared on your social media feed every day. Probably these fit in with your own worldview-but perhaps not all of them are true.

“We should check things and not just take them at face value,” Sloman said, “Make sure if it is true before you believe.”

【推荐3】What do you think of doing chores? Boring even silly, right? According to a new study, however, housework can be quite helpful to kids.

The scientists made an online survey about kids’chores to collect data（资料） in mid-2020. 207 children aged 5 to 13 took part in it. They came from 15 different countries across Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania（大洋洲）. The results show that girls have a higher participation rate（参与率） in 32 of all 42 chores than boys. For example, only 49.5% of boys but 70.1% of girls make their own bed. Age also makes a difference. Making oneself a hot meal is a job for 53.3% of children. But only 8% of five-to seven-year-old kids do it, rising to 59.29% of those aged 11 to 13. Since the scientists did the study during COVID-19, 37% of children did more chores than usual.

The scientists also studied the children’s executive functioning（执行功能）. They found that those kids often doing chores could better pay attention. Understand different opinions, and remember things. When they did several things at the same time, they also had excellent performance. Those children were better at managing their behaviors and feelings as well.

So doing chores can improve children’s executive functioning. One worker said, “Chores have to do with better working memory, organizing, planning and self-control. Usually, these skills begin to develop in early childhood and continue to develop into late teenage years and early adult years.”

Delays（延迟）in executive functioning development can lead to difficulties in the ability to self-control, plan and solve problems as adults. They may also have an influence on reading performance and math abilities, as well as other school performance and math abilities, as well as other school performance in later childhood. Parents may let kids do their chores they should do to help develop their executive functioning abilities.

【推荐3】Have you heard the grey water? Grey water is used water that comes from our houses, such as dishwater, bath and shower water, but does not contain(包含) toilet water. Today, clean water has decreased in many areas of the country. As a result, it has become important to save water by using grey water.