1 . It is often said that you can’t have too many friends. But it seems that there is a natural limit to the number of people we stay in touch with. A study found that when we make new friends, by starting a new job or going to university, we downgrade or even drop old ones. And while the friends may change, the number stays almost the same.

Oxford University researcher Felix Reed-Tsochas asked 24 students in the final months of school to list all their friends and relatives and say how close to them they were. The pupils filled in the questionnaire (问卷) twice more after starting work or going to university. They were also given free mobile phones and agreed that researchers could use their bills to work out who they called, when and for how long.

Putting the two pieces of information together showed, unsurprisingly, that most people have a small circle of close friends, who they spend most of their time talking to. This inner circle is surrounded by group after group of ever more distant friends. As the volunteers’ lives changed, this overall pattern, including the number of best friends, remained almost the same, meaning that some close friends from childhood were dropped or downgraded as new friendships were built.

Dr Reed-Tsochas said, “Maybe my best friend is no longer the same person but the amount of time I allocate (分配) to my best friend is still the same.” He added that this finding suggests that even with the coming of modern technology we are only capable of forming a limited number of true friendships.

Chester University researcher Dr Sam Roberts said, “Our results are likely to reflect limitations in the ability of humans to keep emotionally close relationships both because of limited time and because the emotional capital (情绪资本) that individuals can allocate between family members and friends is limited.”

4 . Food acts as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and play a significant role in a family or culture’s celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between rural and urban areas within one country.

Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition has its roots in the custom of sharing bread.

   Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies success in the New Year for the person who receives it.

Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and mooncakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.

Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.

5 . Many years ago,I came across an old friend of mine. He had devoted his life to acting but had never been quite successful. In his middle age, he seemed defeated and sad.

I thought of his dogged(顽强的) perseverance.Was it smart or foolish? What could he have achieved? Had he quit his dream of acting and moved on? Our culture does not look kindly upon quitting. Failure is perfectly acceptable as long as it eventually results in success.

Persistence pays off when it is rewarded with success, but it does not reward every person. For every J.K.Rowling, there are thousands of aspiring writers who will never get published. For every Olympic athlete, there are innumerable(无数的) others who trained every day of their lives and never made the cut. 

We all agree that doing the same things and expecting a different result is unwise. So why do we believe that persevering through failure after failure is a good idea? We consider quitting in the face of failure to be weak. We believe that perseverance is the key to success. Perseverance is only one part of success. You need talent or skill, as well as passion and drive. Luck and timing are also the key to any great success.

Our society believes that anything is possible, as long as you “believe”. But not everyone can make it. Quitting when you’re not ahead is sometimes the smartest thing to do. Obviously, if you enjoy a pursuit, regardless of its outcome, you should continue. If you knew your novel would never be published, would you want to write? If you could never be a champion swimmer, would you still train? Sometimes, it is wise to put your energy into something else.

Failure is not always the path to success. Sometimes, failure is the door to something new.

7 . When I first met George, I was in my early 30s. My children were just entering school life, enabling me to escape from endless housework. At 65, George had recently retired and was seeking a rewarding hobby for his golden years. We met at a local painting class. Thus began a friendship that was to last for 25 years — until the day he died.

George was an energetic man who lived life to the full. He loved his family and his friends. As the only male in a painting class full of women, George looked after every woman with the same attention. George took to painting with an inspiring level of passion, even changing the spare bedroom of his home into a studio. George housed many of painting items in a tool box — a red metal tool box. For about six years George and I studied together until the completion of the course.

One day, he rang me and I went to visit him. He was very ill. “Betty!” he said, “I’ve always been hoping to leave my box to you. I’m afraid I can’t paint anymore, and you have the best talent and are most likely to use it.” With tears in my eyes, I accepted the gift with the proviso (附带条件) that he could take it back at any time. He never did. He died two days later.

I still use much of his equipment today. As I paint, I often remember George, his big personality, generosity and unfailing encouragement. The most treasured item is the red tool box, still in good shape. The original shop sticker is still firmly in place although the price has worn off. But that’s all right because to my mind some things, like friendship, are beyond price.

8 . Natural silence — the kind when you hear nothing but the sound of nature around you — is becoming increasingly scarce. The rumblings of man-made noise can be heard even in the remote corners of national parks and deep in the Arctic Ocean.

This is having a troubling effect. In humans, noise pollution has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, mental health problems and cognitive impairment in children. In wildlife, it’s disrupting navigation, mating rituals, communication and can cause hearing loss. “We’re losing the ability to listen to nature without noise pollution,” says sound recordist Matt Mikkelsen. He’s part of the non-profit organization Quiet Parks International, which aims to identify and preserve the planet’s last quiet places.

Recently, this took him to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. No cars, motor boats, electricity or telephone lines are allowed in the 1-million-acre area, making it a strong candidate for Quiet Park status. But listening back to the recording, Mikkelsen can hear the low hum of a commercial jet flying far away.

Quiet Parks hasn’t yet decided if Boundary Waters meets its criteria — it’s one of 260 potential sites around the world that the organization is currently exploring. The team will analyze the sound recordings from each location and consider them alongside other data.

In recent years, the world has been getting louder, with cities and towns expanding and an increasing number of beeping cars, whooshing airplanes and cargo ships with blasting horns. But during the pandemic, there has been momentary respite. In 2020, global air travel was down by 60% and road transport decreased by almost half. Scientists in Europe found that noise caused by humans fell by up to 50% after lockdowns were imposed.

“People relished the silence,” says Mikkelsen. “There were no airplanes in the sky and cars weren’t on the street. It was a miraculous thing to be able to hear the world, all of a sudden, free from noise pollution,” he says. Since the start of the pandemic, Quiet Parks says it has experienced a huge surge in interest for quiet places. “I hope that we can take that desire for a world with less noise forward,” says Mikkelsen, “and appreciate the spots we have, where we can go and not experience noise pollution.”

9 . Do astronauts get space sick when they travel from Earth to the International Space Station(ISS)? Yes, astronauts can get space sick travelling to the ISS. It is less likely to travel in the cramped (拥挤的) Russian Soyuz space- craft used to transport astronauts there now than the old space shuttle that was used until 2011. The ability to move in the space shuttle increased the chance of space sickness happening.

As you probably know, gravity is lower inside the ISS. The low gravity in space allows astronauts to float around, but it can help cause space sickness.

Recent experiments show that space sickness is related to our inner ear. Two separate parts of the inner ear respond to sudden changes in direction. If you shake or move your head very quickly, you can get dizzy. However, this passes very quickly. This normal response is upset under low gravity: your inner ear thinks you are constantly moving. It takes some time to adapt to the new condition of weightlessness. It is made worse if you move your head while your body is still adapting. This is why previous astronauts travelling in the larger space shuttle were more likely to suffer from space sickness than the current astronauts travelling in the cramped Soyuz spacecraft. The astronauts were less likely to move their heads around very much in a narrow space.

Space sickness was not talked about in the early space missions (任务). The original Mercury Spacecraft and Gemini Spacecraft were, like the current Soyuz, cramped. The astronauts were less likely to get sick, so space sickness no longer became a concern of NASA.

In 1983 the first detailed study was carried out aboard a space shuttle flight by astronaut-doctor Norm Thagard. His later studies were hampered by the astronauts. None of them wanted to admit to being space sick. They were worried that Mission Control might remove them from space walking opportunities, or even worse, that they might not get included on later space missions.