2 . Is there a link between social media and depression? Do Facebook and Instagram have a negative impact on your mental health? It’s complicated.

Sometimes, looking through Instagram just makes you feel bad. You try not to envy your friends, but they always seem to be traveling somewhere cool, eating something fancy, or looking cute in perfect just-rolled-out-of-bed hair. On the other hand, there are times when you laugh at funny memes (表情包), catch up with old friends, and feel happy to belong to fun social media communities. Clearly, social media isn’t all bad.

People are increasingly suspecting that there’re potential problems of social media. Things like cyberbullying (网上欺凌) , screen addiction, and being exposed to endless filtered images (美颜) that make it impossible not to make comparisons between yourself and others often make the news. In July, a big study came out in the journal JAMA titled “Association of Screen Time and Depression in Adolescence.” This big headline seems to confirm what a lot of people have been saying — screen time is horrible for young people.

The study followed over 3,800 adolescents over four years as part of a drug and alcohol prevention program. Part of what the investigators measured was the teens’ amount of screen time, including time spent on social media, as well as their levels of depression symptoms. One of their main findings was that higher amounts of social media use were associated with higher levels of depression. That was true both when the researches compared between people and compared each person against their own mental health over time.

Case closed? Not so fast. Before we end the debate once and for all, let’s take a closer look at this and other studies. Let’s ask ourselves: what exactly is the relationship between social media use and depression? It turns out there are several warnings.

3 . In many ways, Gitanjali Rao is an ordinary 11-year-old, lively and chatty, yet her scientific spirit makes a huge difference. Last month, she _________ the top prize at the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her invention.

What _________ Gitanjali’s work was that her city faced a water emergency with too much lead (铅) in its water. “The idea didn’t _________ to me until I saw my parents try to do water tests. The test strips may show inaccurate results, which weren’t very _________. ” she recalled.

She then searched for suitable materials with continued efforts and _________ found that carbon nanotube (纳米管) sensors can be used to sense chemicals. Gitanjali _________ to build a small blue housing using the 3-D printer at her school with computer chips and a battery inside. A free app, which Gitanjali designed under _________ from her computer science teacher, sends the data to a linked phone through a(n)_________ device.

The process of designing her project wasn’t always _________ , though. Kathleen Shafer, a scientist paired with Gitanjali as her teacher in summer, __________ along the way. In the award ceremony, Gitanjali also __________ her success to her parents’ constant support and __________ to try “crazy ideas”. Gitanjali received $25, 000 to further develop her program along with the great __________ of winning the contest. According to Shafer, who __________ Gitanjali, “she shows a lot of motivation to solve __________ issues through science”.

5 . As a boy, John Kerr wanted to be a fireman or a park ranger (护林员). Looking back on that childhood fantasy, he says, “I think it was calling me.”

Instead, he spent four decades at WGBH in Boston, one of public broadcasting’s flagship stations. He retired in 2005 at the age of 65 without any particular post-career goal in mind. After several idle weeks, he decided to drive his camper to visit family in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In route, he casually stopped at the Yellowstone Park Foundation, which raises funds for Yellowstone, America’s first national park. As it happens, the foundation was hiring people to educate park guests on wolves. Kerr signed on. After working there for several weeks, at the urging of his daughter, Kerr applied to the Student Conservation Association for an internship (实习).

To say that Kerr stood out in the intern crowd is a massive understatement. Most interns were college and even high school students. But, in a sense, he had been ready for this since his youth. His outdoor adventures with his grandfather had given him a love of nature, and, as an adult, he had helped out at the local fire department on medical calls.

He also had something else. There are 31 million Americans between the ages of 44 and 70. Some retired and looking for a third act, some looking for a more satisfying career, searching for something where they feel as if they’re making a contribution, doing something to make their neighborhood, their country, their world just a little bit better. Kerr also had that deep urge to do something more.

From his internship, he moved up to ranger, educating park visitors, making for safe encounters between guests and animals, and responding to medical emergencies. He treasures his stewardship (管理) of what he describes as one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and revels in moments when he treats a visitor to an up-close look at one of the park’s wolves or bears through his telescope, an occasion that can move visitors to tears.

“These are rich and all-too-rare moments,” recalls Kerr, “I never forget them.”

6 . At The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1, we celebrate creativity, openness, and generosity. We hold many events—both onsite and online—where diverse cultural, artistic, social, and political positions are welcome, to share the most thought-provoking modern and contemporary art, and hope you will enjoy them.

Talking Together About Collaboration (合作)

Monday, June 19, 11:30 a.m.

The Museum of Modern Art

Free with Museum admission

The ongoing Talking Together conversation series provides an opportunity to think deeply about a broad but timely theme. Understanding that art provides connections to each other and the world around us, we will consider this month’ s theme, “collaboration,” through selected works in the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends.

This session is led by Paula Stuttman.

Drawing Is a Way of Thinking

Monday, June 19, 1:30 p.m.

The Museum of Modern Art

Free with Museum admission

The act of drawing allows us to understand an artwork through mark making (微迹创作). Join us in this ongoing series as we explore artworks through drawing and conversation. This week we draw from a selected work in the exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends.

This session is led by Paula Stuttman.

Sunset Viewings

Monday, June 19, 8:15 p.m.

MoMA PS1

One of artist James Turrell’s celebrated Skyscapes, Meeting is a site-specific installation (现代雕塑装置) that invites viewers to look upwards toward a clear view of the sky. The installation features a multicolored lighting program synchronized (同步) to sunrise and sunset.

When the sunset lighting program falls outside of regular museum hours, MoMA PS1 is hosting special after-hours viewings on Monday evenings. These events have limited capacity and require an advance ticket.

Postwar Art Wore Red

Thursday, June 29, 11:30 a.m.

The Museum of Modern Art

Free with Museum admission

Join us for a lively discussion about the work of artists featured in the exhibition Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction, which shines a spotlight on the impressive but still relatively under-recognized achievements of women artists after the end of World War II. This session is led by Tamara Kostianovsky.

7 . It was Fiona Garcia’s father that got her to love reading. As a teacher, he read to his two children every night. When Fiona, now 56, ________ an elementary school teacher, she wanted her students to fall in love with reading just as she had. But early on, she ________ that some kids had ________ access to books, so she decided to give kids books. In 2017, she ________ 900 used children’s books over three days.

“Anybody could do that,” she said. “I wanted to do something that’s going to stretch my faith, my work attitude, my everything.” She set a new ________ for herself: Give one million books to children. It sounds like an ________ number, but Fiona ________ on Facebook: “Don’t complain in the bleachers (看台) if you aren’t willing to work hard out on the field.”

She got to work, first by ________ her friends to donate books or money to buy books. Before long. as news of Fiona’s ________ spread, strangers started ________ bundles of books on her front porch (门廊). When the books come in, Fiona ________ gives them to local ________ — free of charge.

In the four years she’s been doing all this, the Book Lady, as Fiona has come to be known, has donated more than 78,000 books — only 922,000 more to reach her goal! And she’s not slowing down. It’s too ________ for kids with few choices.

“Reading can take you ________,” she told BBC. “You can travel in time and space. If you can ________, you can learn almost anything.”

10 . In the live-streaming (直播) channel of Yang Weiyun, no singing or dancing is performed nor are products sold. Yang teaches pinyin, reading and writing, something that has been most familiar to her for the past 50 years. The difference is her students are mostly adults.

The 73-year-old comes from Huainan city of Anhui province and is an experienced educator. She had been a Chinese teacher in an elementary school for 50 years. In retirement, Yang also wanted to do something meaningful. The rise of short video platforms gave her the idea of continuing her education attempt through live-streaming online. The retiree opened her live-streaming account in May 2021 and offered free pinyin courses designed for kindergarten pupils about to attend primary schools. However, she gradually learned among her viewers there are a lot of illiterate (文盲) adults.

Yang said she found many illiterate adults develop a sense of lack of confidence. They are afraid to go to new places, worried that they couldn’t teach their children or read their boss’s instructions. So, she added targeted content to meet their needs. “Many illiterate adults didn’t have the chance to go to school when they were young. They are the ones in urgent need of becoming literate. I wanted to give them a new starting point,” Yang said.

According to the seventh national census (人口普查) carried out last year, there are 38 million illiterate adults in China. Yang’s live-streaming channel offers an easy and private way for those who want to overcome adult illiteracy.

Yang said students learning through her live-streaming channel each have their own demands. So she always prepares her classes carefully after concluding a live-streaming session. She has tried her best to figure out what ways the students can learn and remember better, and her biggest wish now is to see these students graduate from her classes.