1 . Aging is often mentioned in relation to smart homes. Technology can help older people stay independent and safe, and avoid the difficult transition to institutional care. Cox Communications display their new smart home in which every device is “smart”. A strong internet connection is central to their product, and the company also provides a network for other service providers.

The smart home is not only controlled far away, this home—called Home Life—also features direct connections to family members and health professionals. For example, a person can perform their physiotherapy (物理疗法) far away from home with online live guidance from a physiotherapist. Or, their relatives who live in another state can pop in and out through their smartphone or tablet, so loved ones are always there if required.

This super smart home also includes a smart pill container, a smart pot to water your plants, and motion sensors for indoors and outdoors which are useful for fall detection, as well as an automatic barcode scanner (条码扫描仪) that is attached to the home’s trash can so that the packaging gets scanned when it is thrown and the consumed items are added to the user’s shopping list.

In a modern smart home, many activities that are important to independent living can be monitored, and assistance is provided on an as needed basis. If something is out of place for example, a person has a fall or doesn’t take their medicine—family can be informed immediately. However, the person living in the smart home maintains his or her autonomy (自主权) and sense of independence.

4 . Berlitz Live Online Group Language Classes

Learn a language online with Berlitz

Small group live online classes are the perfect option if you want to build conversational skills and confidence while socializing with other students. They are convenient, cost-effective, and interactive. You’ll learn using the proven Berlitz Method and have time to practice your skills with your teacher and your classmates.

Why choose Small group live online language classes?

It can immerse (沉浸) yourself in your new language, because lessons are delivered in your new language to create the experience of using your new language abroad. You can also have real, interactive conversations. Groups are small, meaning you’ll always get to practice your conversation skills with your teacher and your classmates. And you can manage your learning with MyBerlitz, your student portal (人口). This is where you can easily book classes, contact your teachers, and study.

The Berlitz Student Portal makes learning easier

When you learn with Berlitz, you have easy access to your course schedule. You can see upcoming lessons, schedule future lessons and start your lessons all from the same place. Your focus should be on the actual lessons and that is what the Berlitz Student Portal lets you do.

How learning with Berlitz works

Classes are held by real-time video calls with your teacher. You’ll log (登录) in to your live online classes by your MyBerlitz portal with the click of a button. Your friendly Berlitz teacher will welcome you, establish the goals for the lesson, and start your learning.

All live online classes use our proven Berlitz Method. This means your teacher will deliver your classes in your target language and have you use your new skills right away. Every lesson includes interactive tasks that allow you to actively use your new language through role-plays, discussions, and debates.

5 . To attract more applicants, many schools now offer extra benefits to be enjoyed by all their students.

Michigan Technological University in Houghton

Taking advantage of the cold winter weather, Michigan Technological University sets itself apart with its ski resort (胜地), Mont Ripley, which is accessible (可使用的) and free for all students. Instead of hitting the campus gym, you’ll be able to get your exercise outside.

University of Missouri in Columbia

At the University of Missouri, you can enjoy one of the best campus recreational centers in the country. It features an “indoor beach” complete with a waterfall and a lazy river, as well as a full-service spa.

New York University, Manhattan

If you’re a fan of museums, NYU is the perfect university for you. Not only will you be located in the heart of a city featuring some of the best museums in the world, but the university will provide you with free admission to many of them. These include the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum and the Frick Collection.

Seton Hall University, South Orange

If you’re stressing out about the extra cost of technology when you start college, Seton Hall has something great to offer you: All incoming freshmen are given free computers through the university’s Mobile Computing Program. Then, after two years, they receive new, updated computers designed to carry them through graduation and beyond.

High Point University in High Point

If you see yourself quickly tiring of dining-hall food, the university has a great option: a private steakhouse for students. It’s a first-class restaurant, called 1924 PRIME.

Students are allowed one five-course meal each week, which would normally amount to about $50. The campus also offers free ice cream from a campus ice-cream truck, a free movie theater and a big store.

6 . The wish to capture the wonder of nature on a smartphone or camera is understandable. People like the beauty of nature and also want to share with their followers, friends and family, but our relationship with the outdoors should not be centered around social media. The “do it for the ‘gram’” thought needs to be reconsidered.

Social media has undoubtedly helped attract more visitors to wild places. There are both good and bad sides that come with an increased visitation to these sites. Visiting nature and observing wildlife can help people feel more connected to wild plants and animals. These experiences may encourage more protection of natural spaces. Yet increased traffic to these sites has also caused them harm. Spaces that are ill-equipped to deal with too many visits experience environmental degradation, which in turn can endanger those who take photos by putting them in dangerous situations. Search and rescue cases have increased by 38% in the last few years in LA County, some of which were connected to adventurers trying to capture photos for their social media. Deadly falls in the outdoors can and should be avoided with less photographing for social media.

Recently, one highly visited natural site stopped photography-only tours. Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona, will no longer be allowing visits that are centered around cameras. Handheld phones will still be allowed, but large tripods(三角架) and monopods(独脚架) will not be. This is a great first step that should be brought to other natural settings, especially in places that have already been completely photographed by professionals.

It is necessary to free ourselves from technology every once and a while. The unhealthy attachment to photography and social media feeds has created problems for humans and nature, and should be replaced with practicing mindfulness while in the outdoors.

8 . Columbia high school girls’ soccer team had lost every game in the season until a new ______stepped in two years ago.

Stuart Henley, a former soccer player and now a truck driver, ______the team and started training hard in February 2020. He ______the progress of the girls to team-building activities to help them bond on and off the field. He focused on the basics of football like passing, ______, and movement to try and bring the girls up to a good standard. His ______: coaches could give them guidelines, but girls ______what they felt they needed to work on.

Obviously, the girls were onto something big in the new season. They ______the skills they had learned and teamwork into their ______, which led them to an ______run of eight games, until they were sadly beaten 3-2 by Wyrley Pumas Team. Although this means they have been _____ the league title, the team have still exceeded (超出) expectation by earning the ______to the county’s top division.

“Whatever brings you down will ______make you stronger, especially for girls.” Captain Chelsea said, “Stuart has really ______our girls the philosophy of playing soccer. We’re going into next season full of confidence and ready to compete against tougher ______, but for now we’re still very much enjoying our ______.”

9 . You may never know why. The email will arrive and reasons offered for your rejection might be the real ones—or not. Bosses have always spied on their employees, then judged them. Now the rise of the online self means the employer’s eye can travel still farther.

Even before the pandemic, research found that 28% of large companies had turned down applicants after carrying out such checks. And it is becoming more popular: Reed Screening, a large agency, was asked to run over a third more social-media checks in December 2021 than a year earlier. This month the government gave the practice approval when the Department for Education said schools and colleges “should consider carrying out an online search as part of their due diligence (尽职调查)”.

The way screening works is simple: Any “problematic” behaviours will be marked with a red flag. There are laws governing such online screening. David Erdos, head of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law, says that companies are supposed to warn candidates before screening their social media and tell them that they have the right to hold back permission. Some companies follow these rules, but others may not. As for the right to refuse, it is hardly practicable. “Who on earth is…going to be that person who says: ‘Hang on a minute, I’m not happy about that?’” asks Mr Erdos. “That itself is likely to be a red flag.”

All agree that the spread of online screening is alarming, as it is so unforgiving. People may be unable ever to be free of their online past, says Mr Erdos. As indeed some footballers, recently punished for comments made almost a decade ago when they were but teenagers, have found to their cost.

Those within the industry think laws should be tightened, with punishment for illegal act. In the meantime, being very careful is advisable. In talks to university students, Mr Erdos warns them what companies will do to their social media when they apply for jobs. They are “universally terrified”, he says. And rightly.