4 . A third of Britons are overweight, states a report published in January by the Royal College of Physicians, the result of an 18-month study. About five percent of children weigh too much, and are likely to stay that way for life; in the mid-twenties-age-long group the proportion (比例) of the middle-aged population half are overweight.

Fat people risk severe health problems, says the report, including high blood pressure, breathlessness and various forms of heart disease. Smoking is particularly risky for overweight people.

The safest way to lose weight is to eat cereals, bread, fruit and vegetables, and cut down on fatty meals, butter and sweet foods. Fad (目前流行的) diets so far more than good; slimming machines that vibrate muscles have not been proved useful; saunas merely remove a little body water, and health farms, says the report ,serve as expensive holidays.

Exercise is most important to health, the report emphasizes; though it doesn’t necessarily reduce weight; it keeps the correct proportion of body muscle. And it isn’t only for the young ; from middle age a minimum of 20 minutes of gentle physical jerks should be practiced three times a week.

The report advocates several public health measures to fight the common existence of overweight in this country. They include an increase of tax on alcohol to reduce its increasing, and dangerously fattening, consumption; and the provision of more sports facilities by local authorities. Britain’s doctors, the report concludes, must learn to be more sympathetic and specific in their advice to the overweight, encouraging a change in eating habits on a long-term basis and taking into account the many-often-complex-reasons why fat people are fat.

5 . Laurie Santos, the psychology professor behind Yale University’s most popular course, recently launched a free six-week class aimed at teenagers, called “The Science of Well-Being for Teens”. It was developed to address rising rates of anxiety and depression and suicide (自杀) rates for kids between 9th and 12th grades, Santos says.

In the first lesson, she mentions one of the course’s pre-recorded lectures: Our brains lie to us about what makes us happy. “For adults, this may mean pursuing money or success at work, and for teens this might mean focusing on the perfect grades and getting into the best colleges,” Santos says. “The problem isn’t that we’re not putting work into feeling better—it’s that we’re doing the wrong things, prioritizing the wrong behaviors.”

Instead of focusing on reaching a financial milestone or perfect grades, aim to program your brain with thoughts and behaviors that make you feel better, Santos recommends. Regularly connecting with friends, taking care of your health and learning how to accept negative emotions all contribute more significantly to your well-being than having the right job, car or relationships, she adds in a course lecture.

The timing of the teen-specific course, which already has at least 17,000 members, is good, More than a third of teens self-report experiencing poor mental health, and nearly half feel constant sadness or hopelessness during the pandemic, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey that surveyed participants through mid-2021. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, those numbers had already increased by 40% from 2009 to 2019, the CDC noted. The agency’s survey also found that 20% of teens had seriously considered and 9% had attempted suicide.

Santos says she wants to help change those numbers by making the science of happiness accessible. “Happiness isn’t just about enjoying our day-to-day lives,” she adds. “It helps you land jobs and live longer, contributing to your success when you’re not really chasing it.”

6 . What life style trends (趋势) will be hot in 2022? The 2022 Trend Report posted on a photo-sharing website has given its answer. Most of the information and answers were collected from Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2009). Checkout some of them below.

8 . What country does English belong to? The answer seems obvious: Britain. But there are about 18 million or 40% of people in the European Union speaking English— much more than the combine population of those core English-speaking countries, such as Britain, Canada and Australia.

To make things more complex, the number of English-speakers born outside the tradition English-speaking countries grows every day and it is becoming not just a useful second language, but native one there. Already it is easy to find children in northern Europe who speak as though they come from America because they have been watching Hollywood films and TV programs, along with music gaming and social media.

Today, many learners still aim for an American or British standard. Textbooks instruct India English-speakers to avoid Indianisms such as “What is your good name?” for “What is your first name?”, or “I am working here for years.” instead of “I have been working here for years.” A guide to avoiding Europeanisms has long existed in European Union institutions to keep German-speakers from using “actual” to mean “current”, as it does in their language.

Given enough time, new generations of foreign language speakers contribute not just words but their own grammar to the language they learn. “I am working here for years.” is a mistake today, but it is not hard to imagine it becoming standard in the future in India. If this disturbs you, remember that this text is written in a language that was a mixture of French, Latin and others until it became an unrecognizably different tongue.

No language has ever reached more speakers than English. It is hard to predict how they will change it, but it is easy to rule out the possibility that they will not change it at all. But you can take comfort in the fact that such changes usually happen too slowly to affect comprehension in a single lifetime.

9 . As some cities start driving beggars from their major streets, some of the smarter ones have found a safer, more comfortable place to carry on — the Internet.

These “web beggars” go online with sad stories, and send out emails asking for money, according to a recent Beijing News report.

The paper published one example from a reader who had received it.

It said, “I’m from Chengdu. Dad died when I was a kid and Mum is seriously ill. My girlfriend has just dumped (丢下) me. I am so depressed that I cannot leave home. Would you please help me with 10 yuan for a meal?” The sender left the name Li Dan and a bank account number.

A reporter later contacted Li Dan through QQ, a Chinese Internet chat service. He said that he was 21 and had recently dropped out of college.

“I started begging by the Internet last December, just for fun,” he said. “But when I got the first 10 yuan in January, I decided to become a full-time web beggar.”

Li said he knew about 10 other web beggars in Chengdu. They all stayed at home to write emails and could probably send over 1,000 per day. They would exchange experience and thoughts over QQ or beggar websites.

The story got some reaction from the public. Some saw it as a fresh idea but others suspected (怀疑) that it was just another form of cheating.

In related news, Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, began to ban begging in eight of its major districts on Monday, according to the local media.

That caused a heated discussion about whether it violated (侵犯) beggars’ rights.

Most people supported the policy, repeating the old line that most beggars were not real beggars and that they annoyed people constantly, according to a newspaper poll (计票).

10 . I was hiking with Sam and Kyle to show them a cliff where they could feel the sea spray on their faces. I knew the area could be dangerous, but I was not worried for I had hiked there many times.

We sat in the sun and watched the waves throw themselves against the rock. Then I crept (爬) up to the edge, Kyle right behind me. I found a seat-shaped place and sat down with much contentment. When Kyle came near, I gave him my place. He settled in and I moved a few feet over where the smooth rock had no holds.

Suddenly, a monstrous wave came. I felt myself starting to slide. The water washed me off the cliff and forced me under. I screamed for help. I swam hard for the shore. I was not a strong swimmer but I tried rimming for shore anyway, battling the warm water the best I could. Soon, I realized the sea had swept me farther out.

“Sam!” I yelled. “Kyle, help me and send a helicopter!” After about thirty minutes, I saw a helicopter. I could see Sam and Kyle looking anxiously from it. My eyes lit up and my heart missed a beat. The helicopter buzzed overhead, and then kept on going. I floated on my back to make myself more visible, my body pale in contrast to the darker ocean. When the helicopter came by again, I moved my arms and legs desperately to attract their attention. Again, the helicopter disappeared. Helpless, I stared in disbelief as they missed seeing me twice in a row. Deciding that I needed to save my energy, I continued floating on my back and closed my eyes.

Gradually, a noise grew louder. I soon realized a helicopter was overhead. The crew had seen me, but it might be too late. Waves of exhaustion overwhelmed me. My leg muscles tightened uncontrollably. “This is it,” I thought, as I gave up to the weight that was pulling me down.

Then, I felt a strong arm wrap across my chest and turned to see a rescue diver. He asked me if I was alright. The next thing I knew was that I was in the air. The waves that had just been big enough to kill me suddenly seemed small.