3 . Pupils are receiving laughter therapy (疗法) to fight against post-COVID gloom (疫后忧郁). The £15,000-a-year Brighton Girls school hopes that the hour-long classes will ease anxiety and other effects of lockdown son children.

A report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists has said that almost 200, 000 young people have been referred to mental (精神的) health services in the past three months, almost double the level before the pandemic(大流行病). The government is to give £517 million to strengthen mental health support to help pupils.

Emma Jennings, a laughter therapist, who runs the classes, said: “Children have been separated and no amount of online contact makes up for that.” Her lessons begin with children talking about feeling any nerves or anxiety before they are instructed to laugh “in the style of a James Bond villain (剧中反面人物)”.

Jennings then leads the girls through deep breathing exercises before “playful and silly games” where they are told to point at themselves and laugh while making eye contact. “Eye contact is really important as it has some effect on the brain so you smile because others are smiling and you laugh because others are,” Jennings said. “That is why tiny babies are able to smile at you when you smile at them.” She added: “We end the class by laughing for no reason while sitting in a circle. You just-listen to the sounds of other people’s laughter, which brings more laughter.”

Rosie McColl, the head teacher of Brighton Girls, said: “We thought it would be great to introduce a fun class, which young girls can walk away from having physically felt a drop in stress levels. Children laugh on average 400 times a day while adults manage just 15, which explains why adults are a lot more stressed generally.”

“I’d like to make sure our pupils are laughing as much as possible. We are also introducing the classes for our teachers and parents too.”

4 . As the autumn colors fade over time, cold days are well underway. The Start of Winter or “Lidong” (立冬), the 19th solar term (节气) in China, begins this year on Nov. 7 and ends on Nov. 21.

    1     For the northern hemisphere, biting winds blow from the north, crops harvested in autumn have been stored up, and creatures begin to rest and hibernate (冬眠) for the coming winter.

    2     in the first phase of Lidong, water begins to freeze. Ice often encrusts lakes in just one night in northern China, which reminds people of the coming cold winter. The second phase of Lidong brings frozen ground. The thin ice is easily broken if stepped on. The ice covers and protects crops and farmlands from pests and discases.     3     As migratory birds move south and resident birds store their food in the nest, the sky often seems lonely without its winged friends.

On the day of Lidong, people would treat themselves with feasts, as a reward for their hard work during the busy months. Some brave swimming enthusiasts take a dive in cold rivers to celebrate the Beginning of Winter, and of course, to exercise their bodies.

    4     For people in southern China, high-caloric food such as beef, chicken, mutton, and fish is their favorites during the days of Lidong, and can provide enough energy and fat to help them see the winter out.

Though for the northern hemisphere, the days are getting colder and nights longer, the year will soon pass by.     5    

5 . Here are some hostels (旅社) that will help you save money when you’re traveling in Toronto, Canada.

HI Hostel Toronto really gets what travelers need. The hostel is in a central location close to everything you need (shopping, restaurants, subway and more). It’s very easy to meet people here because there is a bar that hosts live music. The beds are super comfortable so you can have a good sleep. Free breakfast is included.

Beds from $45 every night.

Two Peas Pod Hostel runs a store and a café. They have a super rooftop (屋顶) (you can see the CN Tower from it) and a mini movie theater. Their beds are super cool and comfortable. They have lockers underneath them so you can keep all your things safe. It’s almost like staying in a modern hotel but with the fun of a hostel. Enjoy a great stay with free breakfast.

Beds from $59 every night.

This is your standard backpacker hostel. They have a bar and a café. There’s no free breakfast but the money you save makes up for that. It’s located near the subway so you can easily get around the city. It’s a good choice for travelers to meet people.

Beds from $37 every night.

This is the most affordable hostel with free breakfast in the city. It’s not as central as the other hostels but that also makes one of its advantages: it is far from noise. The hostel is not the most modern but it has a welcoming, homey feel.

Beds from $26 every night.

6 . There’s a continuing controversy over whether electric vehicles should produce sounds to let the blind and other pedestrians know they’re on the scene. Some think those sounds should be standardized—like the “beep, beep, beep” of heavy machinery backing up, so you’ll think “something heavy is coming this way” when you hear it — and some think any sound will do.       

This is a serious subject. Plug-in hybrid cars (电混动力车) and battery electric vehicles are super-quiet, and a study at the University of California, Riverside concludes that people listening to recordings on headphones can hear a regular gas car coming from 28 feet away, but a hybrid in battery mode only when it’s 7 feet away.

In response, the European Union has put new rules into play: all new electric vehicle models must have a sound-producing device, which sounds like a traditional engine. Starting in 2021, all new electric vehicles of any model will need the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System or AVAS. That sound will come into play when the car is traveling backwards or when it’s traveling at less than 12 miles an hour — speeds at which cars are more likely to be mixing with pedestrians.     

That’s a nice start, say representatives for the blind, but more is needed. “We’re calling on the government to take this announcement further by requiring AVAS on all existing electric and hybrid vehicles and ensuring drivers have them switched on,” John Welsman, guide dog owner and Guide Dogs staff member, said in a statement.

Drivers in most cases have the ability to shut off the device when needed. My guess is that they will eventually be standardized so your mind will automatically register “electric car” when you hear it. And that’s probably a good thing to reduce the mayhem (混乱) on the roads.

7 . Even in this age of smartphones, Wakamiya Masako feels older people in rapidly aging Japan are kept out of the tech loop. They are _________ with modern technology.

Wakamiya Masako, who is in her 80s, wanted to do something about this. _________ many older people, she’s been using computers for years. But she noticed that a lot of her older friends and neighbours had a hard time learning to use smartphones. It _________ to her that part of the problem could be that there aren’t any games and apps _________ at their age group. She says games are a good way to make people comfortable with using new technologies. So she decided to see if it was possible to create a gaming app for _________. She first turned to an expert for help and spoke to the president of an app company. But he _________ she create the app herself and that he would help her. Wakamiya _________ the challenge and struggled for six months to create the game.

In 2017, at the age of 82, she _________ Hinadan. The game _________ Japan’s Hinamatsuri festival, a celebration of Girls’ Day. On the Hinadan app, which __________ its name from a kind of multi-leveled __________ for displaying traditional Japanese dolls, users must move dolls into __________ positions based on the dolls’ roles the emperor and the empress, court ladies and court musicians with instruments. The puzzle-like game has now been released in five __________.

Wakamiya is now famous at home and abroad for being one of the oldest app __________ in the world. She has been praised by Japanese leaders and global technology executives for __________ age barriers. Today she frequently gives talks to encourage older people to overcome their discomfort with technology.