2 . Vincent Willem van Gogh is a great Dutch painter. In 2017 one of his paintings was sold for $81 million. 2021 seemed to be Vincent Willem van Gogh’s year. There were at least five different exhibits in nearly 40 U. S. cities regarding his works. It’s very surprising to know he sold only a few paintings in his lifetime, for only little profit (利润). How did this now-famous painter fail to escape attention after his death? It was probably thanks to a woman.

Six months after Van Gogh died, his beloved brother Theo passed away, who had expected to make his brother’s works well-known. Fortunately, Theo’s wife Johanna van Gogh-Bonge, as an English teacher at two different girls’ schools before her marriage, was left with their son and a sizable art collection. She decided to help Tneo’s wishes come true. “During her lifetime, she devoted herself to making people know more about Vincent’s art,” says Luijten, the author of Johanna’s lifetime story.

Johanna tried all her best to improve Van Gogh’s name. To do this, she chose some of his works to sell and encouraged writers and art critics to write about his paintings though she was refused many times. Johanna didn’t lose heart. She lent some pieces to well-known museums and organized countless exhibitions. “One of Johanna’s major achievements was the organization of an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in 1905, where she collected no less than 484 of Van Gogh’s works. A Van Gogh exhibition of this size would never again be matched,” Luijten explains. Another particular move happened in 1914 when Johanna published Van Gogh’s letters. Theo had kept hundreds of letters. “This was of great importance, as following the publication of the letters, the appreciation of Van Gogh as an artist increased further,” says Luijten.

“There’s little doubt that although Van Gogh was great, he wouldn’t be remembered to the level seen today without the influence of Johanna.” said Luijten.

6 . Parents have a new tool in the battle over screen time, with an Australian app asking kids to solve one math or English problem before they can unlock their phones.

Sydney entrepreneurs Issac and Ann Elnekave turned their bright idea into an app called 1 Question and tried it on their 16-year-old daughter Alyssa.

“At first I wasn’t sure about it,” Alyssa said. “I didn’t want my friends to blame me if their parents made them get it. But once I started using it, I realized it doesn’t take that long to answer a question and it’s actually pretty cool.”

“Research has shown almost half of children aged between 6 and 16 either have a mobile phone or have access to one. The majority play games or use apps like YouTube for an average of about five hours a day. The 1 Question app creates micro learning moments,” Mrs. Elnekave said. “We created a solution that makes a balance between screen time and study.”

Parents can download the $2.99 a month app onto their child’s phone, select their grade and curriculum subjects, then monitor each time their child correctly answers a question to open a game or app such as YouTube.

“We designed the user experience to be really simple, but underneath the hood is our incredibly intelligent AI engine,” Mr. Elnekave said. “As your child learns, so does the AI, which works out each child’s areas of strength and weakness and creates a customized path for their learning.”

The app has a base of 12,000 questions developed by teachers using the Australian, British and American curriculums designed for primary school children.

7 . Do you need to throw your smartphone away to live your best life? Not necessarily, according to researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum who suggest that we could all benefit from cutting down on screen time – just only a little bit time.

On average, we spend more than three hours a day looking at our smartphone screens. Between social media, news feeds, endless video games, and an app for pretty much everything else, there’s always something to draw our attention. In recent years, researchers have found connections between smartphones and many modern problems ranging from increasing anxiety cases to neck pain. So here comes the question: Are people all really better off changing back to landlines (座机)?

“The smartphone is both a benefit and a danger,” says study leader Dr. Julia Brailovskaia, whose team set out to answer that question by gathering together 619 volunteers, hoping to know how much the smartphone is good for us. For a week, two hundred people put their smartphones completely aside; 226 reduced the amount of time they used the device (装置) by one hour a day; 193 people didn’t change anything in their behavior.

Researchers interviewed each person about both their lifestyle habits and well-being (健康) four months later after the experimental week ended. “We found that both completely giving up the smartphone and reducing its daily use by one hour had positive effects on the well-being of the participants (参与者),” as Brailovskaia studies and reports the upshots. Especially, changing their smartphone habits for just one week appeared to produce lasting outcomes among volunteers. Even four months afterward, participants who were told to avoid using their smartphones totally were using their phones for an average of 38 minutes less per day.

Meanwhile, the “one hour less” group were using their phones as much as 45 minutes less per day after four months. This group also showed improved life satisfaction, more exercise, and less depression (抑郁). “It’s not necessary to completely give up the smartphone to feel better,” Brailovskaia concludes.

8 . Renee William and her friend were happy on the way to a football game. But in all of the _______, they accidentally headed out without their tickets! They had to go back. By the time they arrived at the stadium, it was almost time for kick-off (开球). Then they got more _______ news.

As it turned out, the stadium had restrictions (限制) on the _______ of bags allowed to enter. And Renee’s handbag was too large. She was about to _______ when a couple suggested Renee have a nearby homeless man _______ it.

That sounded unbelievable, but no _______ than throwing away a good handbag. She decided to put her _______ in the stranger. So, she gave the homeless man five dollars and asked if he would _______ keep an eye on her handbag until she finished watching the game.

Renee admitted (承认) her expectation of ever _______ the homeless man again was ________. When she came out, ________, there he was. The man had spent three hours staying in place with her handbag, just as he ________.

Renee had not ________ the homeless man to keep his word. Through this experience, Renee learnt a valuable lesson: you can’t really ________ what’s inside a book just by looking at the ________!

9 . It’s easy to talk yourself out of exercising. Even when you have the best intentions to work out, excuses are so easy to find – “I’m too tired”, “I’m busy” or “The weather is bad”. Don’t worry!     1    

※ Take baby steps.

You’ll never try to run 10 miles just in a single day, right? When you do too much too soon, you’ll end up injured and disappointed. Take it easy as you get started. Maybe you only run a quarter of a mile during your first week.     2    

※    3    

Your workout should be just as much a habit as brushing your teeth or eating breakfast. When it’s part of your routine (日常), you won’t even have to think about it. In a few months, fitness can be regular in your day.

※ Keep it real.

You’re not going to shake off 30 pounds in a week.     4     For example, If you work too late to get to a gym, keep a set of weights at home. If you can’t do 30 minutes at once, break it up into 10 or 15 minutes’ sections. Gradually, you should increase your workout schedule from 2 to 3 days a week, or exercise for 15 more minutes each time.

※Celebrate.

    5     So even a pound of weight loss or a pound of muscle gain is the reason to reward (奖励) yourself. Go out with friends or buy a pair of jeans.