Three Hours a Week: Play Time’s over for China’s Young Video Gamers
China has forbidden under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours a week, a stringent(严苛的)social intervention that it said was needed to pull the plug on a growing addiction to
The new rules,
The restrictions, which apply to any devices including phones, are a body blow to a global gaming industry that caters to tens of millions of young players in the world’s most profitable market.
They limit under - 18s to
The rules from the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) regulator coincide with a broader clampdown(压制)by Beijing
The campaign
Gaming companies will be barred from providing services to minors in any form outside the stipulated(规定)hours and
The new rules swiftly became one of the most discussed topics on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter. Some users expressed support for the measures
“This is so fierce that I’m utterly speechless,” said one comment that received over 700 likes.
The NPPA regulator told Xinhua it
Video Games Foster Creativity?
Video games that foster creative freedom can increase creativity under certain conditions, according to new research from Iowa State University. The experimental study compared the effect f playing Mine-craft(《我的世界》-一款游戏), with or without instruction, to watching a TV show or playing a race video game. Those
“It’s not just that Mine-craft can help induce creativity. There seems to be something about choosing to do it that also matters,” said Douglas Gentile, a professor of psychology.
After 40 minutes of play or watching TV, the 352 participants completed several creativity tasks.
Gentile says there’s no clear explanation for this finding. In the paper published by Creativity Research Journal, he, Jorge Blanco-Herrera, lead author and former master’s student in psychology: and Jeffrey Rokkum, former Ph. D. student in psychology, outlined possible reasons why the instructed Mine-craft group scored lower. Blanco-Herrera says the instructions may have changed subjects’ motivation for play.
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Video games can have both harmful and beneficial effects. Gentile’s previous research has shown the amount, content and context and video games
Most video games encourage players to practice some level of creativity. For example, players may create a character and story for role-playing games or be rewarded for creative strategies in competitive games. The researchers say even first-person shooter games
“The research is starting to tell a more interesting, nuanced picture. Our results are similar to other gaming research
假设你是明启中学高三学生王林,最近读到了如下新闻:有一名小学生通过代他人写作业赚取了一万多元。你对此新闻颇有感触,写一篇日记表达你的想法;
1. 你认为这件事反应了什么问题;
2. 你认为应该怎么解决这个问题。
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4 . Devotees of Stump-town Coffee, a high-end roastery with fewer than 10 total locations in four select cities, pride themselves on avoiding mainstream coffee chains. What they are probably unaware of, however, as they sip their mochas and cold brews, is that their favorite spot of individuality may soon be just another chain in the Phoenix airport. What they might suspect even less is that they will have a different shopping experience in the coffee shop.
Stump-town, the iconic small-scale brand, was recently acquired by Peet’s, a chain with a couple hundred locations. Peet’s has been in the news for taking over Intelligentsia, another well-loved and self-consciously indie coffee brand. Stump-town’s sale to Peet’s exemplifies an economic phenomenon not limited to the world of craft coffee. Stump-town joins the ranks of a number of popular brands that went from independent to corporate - then Italian San Pellegrino, now owned by the Swiss giant Nestle (along with its main competitor Perrier), the originally Quaker-owned chocolate-bar maker, Cad-bury, acquired by the U. S. corporation formerly known as Kraft, and The Body Shop, the cosmetics brand synonymous with ethical sourcing, bought by the French behemoth L’Oreal, to name a few.
Stump-town’s story is typical of an innovative young venture becoming a victim of its own success. Founded in 1999 by Duane Sorenson in his native Oregon, it turned into a national phenomenon and was at the forefront of the small-scale retailers that positioned coffee - making, and coffee-drinking, as a kind of art form. Stump-town’s business model rested on providing an intensely personal experience. Coffee-drinkers were treated with top-notch beans and unique brews crafted in Stump-town’s “coffee labs,” But these personal touches don’t fit well in the assembly lines of large-scale operations.
The arithmetic of the “bigger is better” paradigm(范例), or what economist call “economies of scale,” is simple enough. The larger the machine, the more lattes it can spew out. Most of all, scale translates into standardization: the conversion of an unpredictable creative process into a precise and highly economical algorithm(算法)of production. All of this means more profits.
But, based on studies of human behavior in places ranging from blood banks to daycare centers, academics now recognize that the calculus is more complex: People act more responsibly in the context of personal relationships that are meaningful to them than in strictly commercial deals, Loyal customers don’t mind going that extra mile to get the perfect cup of coffee.
Smaller institutions have much to offer - not just sentimentally, but also in terms of pure economics. The idea goes back to the 20th century British economist E. F. Schumacher’s declaration that “Small is beautiful,” a notion fashionable again in the era of institutions “too big to fail.” Since the logic of scale is more attuned to quantity than quality, workers (whose wages are usually driven down), consumers (who enjoy lower prices, but usually get a worse product) and the landscape of the economy (which shows signs of marked decreases in diversity) all suffer from growth that is too rapid. Size is the traditional measurement of a company’s success, but when stability is pursued as passionately as profit, less may truly be more.
1. Which of the following statements about Stump-town Coffee is NOT true?A.The brand of Stump-town used to highlight individuality. |
B.The loyal consumers of Stump-town are aware of its intention for business expansion. |
C.It was Stump-town’s own success that drew the attention of a large-scale corporation. |
D.Stump-town’s acquisition case reflects a worldwide trend of independent brands going corporate. |
A.It means bigger companies ensure a better relationship between the brand and its consumers. |
B.It means economic returns increase with the rise of the cost. |
C.It means standardized scale is the working model for big companies. |
D.It means the precisely calculated process of mass production is the profitable model. |
A.Blood banks offered valid proof for the idea “The bigger, the better.” |
B.Loyalty of the customers is the central issue in the success of smaller businesses. |
C.Smaller businesses make people feel emotional attachment, but they will ultimately fail because of their size. |
D.Smaller companies stand a chance to succeed if they can ensure stability. |
A.How Badly Hurting Are Those Acquisition Cases? |
B.Should Every Business Scale Up? |
C.How Long Will Uniformity Go in Globalization? |
D.Will Stump-town Coffee Regain Its Identity? |
The problem of robocalls has gotten so bad that many people now refuse to pick up calls from numbers they don’t know. By next year, half of the calls we receive will be scams (欺诈). We are finally waking up to the severity of the problem
That’s
These developments are likely to make our current problems with robocalls much worse. The reason that robocalls are a headache has less to do with amount than precision. A decade of data breaches (数据侵入) of personal information
We need to deal with the insecure nature of our telecom networks. Phone carriers and consumers need to work together to find ways of determining and communicating what is real. That might mean either developing a uniform way to mark videos and images, showing when and who they were made by, or abandoning phone calls altogether and moving towards data-based communications — using apps like FaceTime or WhatsApp,
Credibility is hard to earn but easy to lose, and the problem is only going to get harder from here on out.
A. public B. inadequate C. lowered D. released E. disappointment F. casting G. possibility H. objective I. desperately J. balance K. compared |
Why Aren’t Women Happier?
Why aren’t women happier these days?
That’s the question raised by a thought-provoking study, The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,
The research, by University of Pennsylvania economists Stevenson and Wolfers, and made
One theory for the decline in happiness is that expectations for workplace and general advancement were raised too high by the women’s movement and women might feel
The researchers acknowledge that’s a
“If the women’s movement raised women’s expectations faster than society was able to meet them,” the paper says, “they would be more likely to experience
Readers, why do you think women are unhappier than in the past? Do you think that if expectations for “having it all” were
Many procedures are available for obtaining data about a language.
Many factors must be considered when selecting informants—
Today, researchers often tape-record informants. This enables the linguist’s claims about the language
An audio tape recording does not solve all the linguist’s problems, however. Speech is often ambiguous or unclear. Where possible, therefore, the recording has to be supplemented by the observer’s
8 . Female penguins get stranded
Every year, thousands of Magellanic penguins (麦哲伦企鹅) get stranded along the coast of South America, but,
Magellanic penguins finish breeding in Patagonia in February, and, during the
Writing in the journal Current Biology, researchers in Japan and Argentina report how they
Previously it was unknown whether male and female’s took different paths or not. “Although some
The results from the study offer a clearer picture.
The authors offer a number of reasons why males and females may head to different areas— including to avoid
While researchers are still trying to understand why penguins end up stranded, Yamamoto and colleague’s suggest those that end up further north may have used more energy swimming or catching
“
While the findings may not help prevent strandings, Yamamoto said it could help with
A.desperately | B.puzzlingly | C.obviously | D.undoubtedly |
A.combination | B.frustration | C.conflict | D.imbalance |
A.following | B.previous | C.starting | D.finished |
A.dismissed | B.withdrawn | C.airlifted | D.extended |
A.attached | B.equipped | C.lifted | D.injected |
A.evaluations | B.assumptions | C.descriptions | D.conclusions |
A.deep-rooted | B.ice-covered | C.storm-stricken | D.female-biased |
A.Because | B.While | C.After | D.When |
A.legally | B.physically | C.typically | D.simply |
A.searching | B.competing | C.asking | D.defending |
A.widths | B.levels | C.depths | D.rates |
A.lighter | B.heavier | C.rougher | D.smoother |
A.fixed | B.scared | C.deposited | D.scattered |
A.After all | B.In addition | C.However | D.For example |
A.perseverance | B.conversation | C.conservation | D.reservation |
A. suffering B. intensive C. demanding D. adopting E. inactive F. adapting G. available H. guarantee I. distinctive J. discouraging K. distinct |
Health and diet
In recent cars, many Asian countries have noticed a worrying new problem: obesity, which is also very serious in China. More than a third of Chinese adults are overweight. Even more worrying is the level of obesity among Chinese children. It is estimated that the number of children in China
There are many reasons for this situation. The simplest explanation is that food is now
Increasing obesity is worrying for many reasons. The condition can lead to serious health problems, including increased risk of heart disease and even diabetes. Dealing with their health problems seems really costly and
The government in China is taking action to deal with obesity, however. In many primary and middle schools, young students are receiving low calorie lunches with more vegetables and less meat and fat. Also, parents are
It is not
10 . Age has its privileges (特权) in America, and one of the most important of them is the senior citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age — in some cases as low as 55 — is automatically entitled to a dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life. Eligibility (资格) is determined not by one’s need but by the date on one’s birth certificate. Practically unheard of a generation ago, the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses — as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent (有支付能力的). Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly” and “needy” are synonymous. Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them aren’t.
It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant (刺激物) in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.
Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involve a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Supported by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job — thereby reducing employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers.
Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become an economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don’t need them. It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people can’t take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against — discrimination by age.
1. We learn from the first paragraph that ______.A.offering senior citizens discounts has become routine commercial practice |
B.senior citizen discounts have enabled many old people to live a comfortable life |
C.giving senior citizens discounts has boosted the market for the elderly |
D.senior citizens have to show their birth certificates to get a discount |
A.tax | B.expense | C.profits | D.expansion |
A.Businesses, having made a lot of profits, should do something for society in return. |
B.Old people are entitled to special treatment for the contribution they made to society. |
C.The elderly, being financially underprivileged, need humane help from society. |
D.Senior citizen discounts can make up for the inadequacy of the Social Security system. |
A.Senior citizens should fight hard against age discrimination. |
B.The elderly are selfish and taking senior discounts for granted. |
C.Priority should be given to the economic needs of senior citizens. |
D.Senior citizen discounts may well be it type of age discrimination. |