4 . Anyone with a phone has probably dropped it in water or been caught in a rainstorm. And many seem to think that putting a wet phone in uncooked rice will save it. However, the technology company said it is a bad idea because tiny pieces of rice can get into the phone and cause damage.

So what should you do instead? If the phone is dropped in water, dry it with a clean cloth, even a shirt will do. Turn the phone off if you can. Remove (移除) the SIM card and cover. Take away the battery (电池), if possible. And let everything dry at room temperature, perhaps with a fan running. Since you cannot take an iPhone apart, Apple says to tap the phone against your hand with the phone facing down so water can get out.

Samsung, the biggest maker of Android phones, suggests using a cotton ball to get water out. Apple, however, advises against putting one inside iPhone. Both Apple and Samsung say to leave the phone out in an open area to dry. More importantly, do not use a hair dryer or put the phone in a fridge.

If your phone is dropped in seawater or a drink, Samsung advises to keep it in clean water for a few minutes. Doing that will remove any salt that could hurt the phone.

The phone makers say it is hard to know when phones are completely dry. But it will probably take a few days. Samsung says it is still a good idea to bring the phone in for service even if you can turn it back on again.

5 .

Spending time alone in nature can be pretty good for health, but nature can also bring us closer to others. Heading for a walk through a local park can give you a chance to talk in a way that’s easier than facing each other over a table in a cafe. You can enjoy both the advantages of being outdoors while also spending good time with others together.

“It’s easy to connect with people when you’re walking in nature, because you don’t have to give them eye communication—you can walk side by side and talk about what you’re seeing.” explains Dr. Tara Quinn-Cirillo, who runs a walk-and-talk group in her town and has seen the difference it makes, “Walking together takes away the stress of feeling we have to talk. Conversation goes on more naturally. It can also have a good influence on how you connect with other people—how you’re able to hear them, to reply, and to listen.”

Nature offers us chances to try something new and make memories together with our family and friends. I think about this autumn, how my husband and I got up in the dark, cold early morning to join a group at a wetlands centre to watch thousands of pink-footed geese (鹅). It was a magical moment, and one that was so valuable to us as a couple. And how about bringing friends together for a picnic? And why not invite someone around to help you plant flowers one afternoon?

Nature also gives us the chance to connect meaningfully with people we may not know. Dr. Tara points out that joining in a community project can be a way to help deal with loneliness and meet new people. It can be useful to think back to your values around nature, here: do what you want to help save a local forest, or volunteer at a community garden?

7 . ①People who have dogs love to talk about dogs. If you have a dog or if you are friends with a dog owner, you are probably heard many interesting facts and stories about these four-leggged friends of ours. You may have heard someone say that dogs are color-blind. But is this true? Do you know anything about this fact?

②________ Just like us, dogs have retinas (视网膜). The retina is an important light-sensing structure. Dogs also have cone cells (视锥细胞) and rod cells (视杆细胞) in their retinas. The cone cells allow dogs to perceive (感知) color and see things in detail, while the rod cells help them see things in the dark and notice movement.

③Most humans have three kinds of con e cells: blue, red and green. They allow us to tell the difference between different colors. But dogs have only two kinds of con e cells. One kind is blue, and the other lies somewhere between red and green. Therefore dogs are unable to tell orange, red and green. They can only see things in yellow, blue, grey, brown, white and black. In other words, the vision (视力) of dogs is similar to that of a red-green color-blind man. Although they have fewer kinds of cone cells, dogs have more rod cells than humans. This allows them to see more clearly in the dark and notice movement more exactly than us. While a camper is spending a night outdoors with his dog, for example, the dog may suddenly stand up and stare into the darkness. This can be a little worrying for campers who are alone. The dog, however, may have simply seen a small mouse moving across the grass in the distance that we might never be able to see.

④The next time someone mentions that dogs are color-blind, you can remind them, “They’re red-green color-blind, to be exact.” While it may be true that our lovely animal friends see fewer colors, they can still see better than us in many other ways!

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8 . International Storytelling Week started on 30 January. Across the world, activities and events are held where people share stories.

The International Literacy Trust plans the week every year to tell people how important stories are. Stories teach people to understand others and share their feelings. They also encourage children to imagine future and learn about other worlds. Then, how to tell stories better?

Classrooms and communities (社区) around the world did a lot. Elderly people of a care home filmed themselves reading stories. Their video is expected to be played to children, so “no child goes to bed without a story”. National libraries held children’s storytelling competitions. A famous writer Wendy Shearer shared her top advice on storytelling on the Tiktok.

To help people become better storytellers, the International Literacy Trust has lots of ideas for activities. You could tell a story with a friend, talking about a journey or a family joke. Or try the game “Luckily, unluckily” with a group of people. The first person begins their sentence with “Luckily…”, and creates the first sentence of a story. The next person continues the story but starts, “Unluckily…”. This repeats as everyone in the group tells a sentence. The final story often has a surprising ending. The activity encourages people to think actively and become humorous.

During International Storytelling Week, the Week Junior Book Awards is also going on. It goes to books that inspire young people. The winners will be announced in October.

10 .

Modern workers can set an alarm clock to wake them up in the morning. But British workers during the Industrial Age used a different method for rising each morning. From the 19th century to the 20th century, a human alarm clock known as a “Knocker-up” would go down the streets and wake paying customers in time for work. They may use a stick to tap (轻敲) on windows or a pea shooter (豌豆枪) to shoot the windows with dried peas.

During that time, people worked in factories at unusual hours. They could have used alarm clocks, which had been invented by the mid-19th century, but people thought they were expensive.

Knocker-ups became common around the UK. Many of them were older and woke people up for many years. They were very professional and often wouldn’t leave people’s houses until they were sure their customers were awake.

Mary Anne Smith was a quite popular knocker-up around London’s East End in the 1930s. Every morning except Sunday she would rise at three to “Knock up” local workers—using a pea shooter with the light but clear sound.

Although this method of waking people up went on in some parts of the UK until the 1970s, it slowly disappeared as alarm clocks and electricity became popular and cheaper. But anyway, the alarm clocks and morning music of the smart phones cannot match the soft, special tap of Mary Smith’s pea shooter.