For thousands of years, Chinese people have valued the large family with three, four, or even five generations living under the same roof. That's what we call an extended family. Now it is changing. Compared to extended families. nuclear families which involve only two generations living together are becoming the trend. Apart from family size, these families are also featured by reduced dependence on the last generation. Young people are able to make decisions on their own and children are less likely to be brought up by their grandparents.
The reason for the tendency of nuclear families can be reflected as follows. It's a time when young people think highly of individual freedom. Young people like to have personal space that won't be disturbed by the old generations. In this way, they are more likely to avoid conflicts caused by different living habits from their parents.
It's also a time when social welfare institutions are highly advanced for old people to lead a comfortable life . Senior citizens can live together in some nursing homes and be taken good care of by specialized nursing workers, which may base young people's heavy burden of attending their aging parents.
However, the problem concerning attending to children turns up as the number of nuclear families increases. Young people are busy with their work and spend less time with their children. As a result, lacking enough care both from their parents and grandparents during their growth, children may develop mental illnesses like loneliness and depression. Many young people, therefore, hire babysitters to look after and keep company with their children, which adds a financial burden to them.
Facing the problem above, young people can seek help from old generations, communities and government. Old generations are welcomed to take care of their grandchildren, especially when young people are asked to work overtime. Communities ought to organize some volunteers to look after unattended kids. And government can set up special loads for young people to relieve their financial problem. With the joint efforts, nuclear families are expected to fit in well with the development of the society.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Picture this: you’re out to dinner with a friend who you know makes a lot more money than you do. When you open the menu, your heart sinks. There’s not a dish in sight that is less than $35, and even a soup is going to run you $18. You probably vow (发誓) to stick to dollar pizza slices the rest of the month to balance out this dinner. However, this time, what if you just turned to your friend, closed the menu, and said, “Sorry, I have to be honest. I can’t afford this. Let’s go somewhere else?” That’s the idea behind “loud budgeting”, a trend that could not only relieve you of the financial burden, but help you deal with these sorts of stressful situations both mentally and emotionally.
The term was first introduced by TikTok (抖音) comedian Lukas Battle. Battle explained his concept in an interview: simply put, loud budgeting is being honest about what you do and don’t want to spend money on.
It’s not just a TikTok thing though. Even those in the financial services industry are on board with the trend. Nikolina Cuca, a financial advisor, says that she’s seen social media add pressure to her clients, causing them to spend beyond their means on luxury items. “There should be no shame about trying to match your spending to your means. This trend helps young people moderate spending by normalizing the idea of living within budgets.”
Beyond just saving money, loud budgeting is also bringing people closer. Honest money talks lead to greater respect among friends and family. By openly discussing money goals, people are creating stronger bonds based on mutual understanding for each other’s financial situations.
As more people adopt this approach, it is likely to stay a big part of how we handle money in the future.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Wise Way to Make Families Rules
All groups, of whatever size or nature, need standard operating procedures. Without them, groups may very well fall into confusion, chaos and conflict. The functions that rules can serve are indispensable. When it comes to parenting, making rules can make a big difference in our family as well. Actually, the issue is not whether our families need rules. We do need them. The real issue is how to motivate all family members to comply with (遵守) them.
At some time in our lives we all have felt unmotivated to comply with some rule or policy that we had no voice in making. Denied the opportunity to participate in establishing a rule, most people feel imposed upon and resentful of the new rule. But when people actively participate in setting a rule or making a decision that will affect them, they are more highly motivated to comply with it. We call this the Principle of Participation, and it has proven its effectiveness in families as well.
When children are given the opportunity to participate in setting rules or making decisions that will affect them, several good things happen. Children feel better about themselves — having more self-esteem (自尊心) and self-confidence. Such a good effect is due to their feeling that they have gained more “fate control” over their own lives. They also feel they are equal members of the family with an equal voice in making decisions and establishing rules — they’re part of a team, not second-class citizens. This means that families that function collaboratively and democratically will have closer and warmer relationships than those in which the adults act as bosses or authorities expecting the children to obey the rules made for them.
Another important reason for encouraging the full participation of family members in decision making is that it often produces higher-quality solutions to problems. Two heads (or three, or four) are better than one. Shared decisions will be based not only on the knowledge and experience of the adults but also on those of the children. The admonition (告诫) that father knows best should be challenged now.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Light the Cities of the Future
A previously unlit cycle path in the Netherlands has recently drawn our attention. It has been resurfaced with a material that consists of thousands of shining stones in order to create a well-lit route. The Van Gogh Path, so called after the artist who lived in the town of Nuenen in 1883, combines the traditional with the contemporary in a gesture that acknowledge ledges Van Gingh’ masterpiece The Starry Night, but also shows the way ahead for city lighting. The Van Gogh Path is not a single case; it is not difficult to foresee a time when natural materials could help light the cities of the future.
Why should we care about city lighting? What’s wrong with current electrical city lighting anyway? Well, the problem that it causes is two-fold. First, of course, electrical lighting in most cities comes from non-renewable resources. According to the International Energy Agency, almost 20% of global electricity is consumed for lighting, which is responsible for high levels of carbon emissions. But there’s also the belief that electrical light itself is a form of pollution by destroying our view of the night sky.
From the above reasons, then, it seems wise to investigate other approaches. The city of Glasgow is attempting to use intelligent street lighting to monitor how citizens interact with the urban landscape and minimize electrical consumption and thus emissions. This “Smart City approach” is seen by many as the way of the future, but some designers aren’t convinced. They are pioneering the altogether more original approach of using materials from the natural world in order to replace electrical light entirely. They believe that this new “technology” can one day completely replace microchips and digital systems as we find better ways of making use of the light-producing mechanisms (制) that already exist in the natural world.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Blue Light From Digital Device
More devices like the iPhone, iPad and Kindle produce a blue light that causes our sleep to be restless and disturbed, according to a new study.
The study was led by Dr Paul Gringras, a sleep disorder specialist at a children's hospital in London. Together with her colleagues, Gringras found that manufacturers have started making bigger, brighter, bluer screens in an effort to increase the efficiency of our screens during daytime.But, as an unwanted byproduct, this light is affecting our sleep and productivity.
The study said that this type of light is likely to cause the most disturbance to sleep, as it most effectively overpowers melatonin (褪黑素). a hormone①that reminds us to sleep every night. Besides, using our devices before bedtime could even affect our performance during the day, because exposure to this blue light changes our body's natural rhythms.
“The development of light-producing devices means that for many people, a 'book at bedtime'is now often an‘e-book’,” Gringras pointed out.“Reading a traditional paper book by the light of your bedside lamp doesn't affect your sleep, because bulbs produce a yellow-red light. In comparison, the same book read in electronic arrangement will provide a very different light signal with biological effects.”
The researchers called on all device manufacturers to adjust screen lighting for the sake of the users’sleep quality and overall health.“All hardware devices should have an automatic “bedtime mode”that shifts blue and green light production to yellow and red as well as reduces backlight/light intensity,” Gringras said.
“And, we hope that as technology improves, more and more people will realize that‘brighter’will not always be equal to‘better’,”the researchers concluded.
① hormone: a chemical in your body that stimulates certain organs of your body
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I love charity shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations. They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’ s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than £110million a year, funding medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________If you’re anxious about your exams, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Every year, many young people sit exams and whether they love or hate them, most of them will face some anxiety in the lead up to the big day. It might seem like a stressful time when the pressure is on to pass that all-important test but take a deep breath and absorb some good advice from people who’ve been through the same experience as you.
Eating the right food can feed your brain and keep you alert. Nutritional therapist Kerry Torrens recommends making breakfast the most important meal of the day. She recommends eating energy-giving oats and eggs, which contain a nutrient called choline—thought to help cognitive performance and improve memory. And don’t forget to drink lots of water to keep you hydrated — some research even suggests students who take water into the exam hall may even improve their grades.
One thing I know I always need is a good night’s sleep to help me work and think better the next day and that’s what’s recommended for anyone preparing for their exams. If you get good sleep your memory is better and that means you can remember the information you have revised. And it’s good to get relaxed before bedtime too — no watching TV or chatting on social media!
There comes a point when your brain can’t absorb any more information so you’ll also need to know when to stop. Lisa Artis from the Sleep Council says sitting on your bed when you’re cramming (死记硬背) is not a good idea because then you associate that place with stress. Revising for exams can also sometimes seem endless, so it’s good to take breaks and reward yourself with a small treat, like a cake or a quick run around the block.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Why Socks Help You Sleep Better
If you’re one of those people who has trouble falling asleep, listen up. You might fall asleep 15 minutes earlier and wake up far less during the night if you put on a pair of socks at bedtime.
To understand why you first need to grasp the relationship between core body temperature and sleep. During daylight hours, the human body hums along at an average temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). But at night, your core body temperature dips as much as 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) over the course of six or seven hours of sleep.
This gradual decrease in core body temperature, as it turns out, is a key part of the complicated neurobiological (神经生物学) dance of falling asleep and staying asleep. And the faster you can lower the core body temperature, the faster you will fall asleep. Researchers have show that warming the feet before going to sleep using a warm feet bath or by wearing socks promotes vasodilation (血管扩张), which in turn lowers the body’s core temperature faster than going to sleep with cold, bare feet.
Scientists suppose that socked feet have a neurological effect as well. Inside the brain’s “thermostat (恒湿器)” is a type of neuron called a warm-sensitive neuron (WSN) that increases its firing rate when there’s a temperature difference between the body’s core temperature and extremities like the feet. Research has shown that WSN firing rates go way up on the beginning or slow wave or deep sleep and gradually decrease prior to waking up. So WSNs may play a role in generating the sensation of sleepiness that helps us fall asleep and stay asleep. And if that is the case, warming up the feet before bed time gives WSNs an extra power.
In a small study, researchers found that wearing a pair of special sleeping socks not only sped up the beginning of sleep, but increased overall sleep time by an average of 30 minutes and cut nighttime waking periods in half.
If you are worried about becoming too warm while wearing socks in bed, look for ones made of natural breathable fibers.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Problem With Fast Fashion
There’s nothing quite like new clothes, is there? The UK certainly loves them. According to a report by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), the UK consumes five times more clothes today than it did in the 1980s. That’s more than any other nation in Europe and amounts to around
26.7 kg per person.This results in 235 million garments being dumped into landfills - victims of fast fashion.
Fast fashion is defined as “an accelerated fashion business model ”involving “increased numbers of new fashion collections every year,” “quick turnarounds(周转期)”and “lower prices,” according to the EAC. Globalization means that clothing is made in countries where labour is cheaper. These savings are passed on to consumers, who then consider the clothes they own disposable - easily replaceable with something more trendy. And that creates problems.
First, there’re the environmental costs. Manufacturing any kind of textile costs resources. For example, synthetic fibres, which are made from plastic, have a larger carbon footprint than natural ones. Natural fibres, although more carbon-efficient, still require more water to grow. And further resources are used as the cloth is dyed, made into clothing and transported to retail for sale. Secondly, the fast-fashion industry is under pressure to put the latest trending items on shelves faster, which can lead to workers being exploited and forced to labour in poor working conditions. In countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Philippines, workers are paid wages that are insufficient to live on. One worker in Ethiopia told the BBC that they had to deal with intolerable conditions, such as withheld overtime payments, verbal abuse, and unsanitary toilets.
So what can be done in the UK to reduce clothing waste? The EAC has recommended eighteen improvements to the UK government, from increasing tax on purchases to fund recycling centres to introducing more sewing lessons in schools, encouraging a make do and mend attitude when things become worn out.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Sounds of Relaxation
In a fast-paced world, where stress and mental fatigue seem commonplace, we're constantly looking for new ways to unwind. Some people take a hot bath, watch a film, go for a run, or listen to slower tempo music to help them relax. But what about the chirrups (小鸟唧唧叫) and whistles of birdsong or other nature sounds? Could they also help people to let go of the tensions of modern life?
According to a study by King's College London in 2022, seeing or hearing birds could help to boost the mental wellbeing of people. Taking a trip to a place rich in birdlife like parks, forests and canals and encountering birds chirping and warbling to each other in the trees could even help to treat some mental health conditions. And it's not just birds that could have a therapeutic effect on our moods. Another study commissioned by the National Trust compared the effects of woodland sounds with voiced meditation apps. The study found listening to birdsong as well as other woodland sounds like leaves crunching underfoot or the gentle trickle of a stream boosted feelings of relaxation 30% more than an app. Other sounds which may help to chill people out are waves lapping on the shore, gentle breezes, and light rainfall.
However, not all of us live in rural surroundings, and depending on where we live, a trip to the countryside to see birds may not be an option. But could the nature sounds that originate there still help you? According to research by California Polytechnic State University, even a recording of the sounds of birds had a profound effect on people's mood, while other studies saw people listening to soundscapes (声景) of the coast and forests with similar outcomes to their wellbeing.
So, wherever you live, you can access the wonderful sounds of birds and nature, be it during a stroll through a wood or via some headphones. And maybe listening to the chirps, trills, warbles and whistles of some birds could help you to relax after a long, hard day.
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