2 . Gossip is the sharing of personal information about someone else who is not present. All of us have probably caught ourselves, from time to time, allowing ourselves to enjoy the pleasure of gossiping more than we would like to admit. Someone says the words, “Don’t tell this to anyone.”     1     We all know that we shouldn’t talk behind someone’s back, but gossip is so common.

Gossip has some characteristics (特点). First, gossip is an activity that is done with other people.     2     Second, the information shared is always about someone who is not present in the conversation, or about someone whom we believe to be absent. Third, when we gossip, we not only share facts, but also make some judgments about the person.

Researchers studied volunteers, including women and men, to find out some facts about gossip. They found that most gossip was neutral (不偏袒的).     3     Most of this gossip was about people they knew of. Negative gossip was twice as common as positive gossip. Over three-fourths of the gossip was simply discussing someone else.

    4     Outgoing people gossip more than quiet people. People who are wealthier and well-educated gossip more than people who have less money and education.     5     On average, people spent about 52 minutes a day gossiping. The study showed that gossip is everywhere.

4 . A Virginia family whose home was destroyed by a fire last week recently received the gift of some old-fashioned Christmas cheer from “Santa Claus” (圣诞老人).

In the spirit of Christmas, the Ferrum Volunteer Fire Department delivered presents to the family who lost their home and belongings in a house fire on Thursday.

“It was a working structure fire and unfortunately the family lost everything. We as volunteers knew that we couldn’t let this mom and her three kids go through Christmas without anything,” the fire station wrote on Facebook. “Yes, they’re OK but it’s Christmas, right?”

The fire station officials delivered Christmas gifts to the mother and her three children the following day at the local church shelter they were staying at, and in photos posted on the site, the children appeared joyful.

“We brought gifts and more gifts! The kids were overjoyed and very grateful.” the station said on its post.

“They were very happy to see all the gifts and the fire trucks that we brought the gifts in,” the department told USA TODAY. The kids received Barbies, Pokémon, artworks, remote control cars, blankets, clothes and shoes. The mother also received a gift card.

The Facebook post was flooded with what seemed to be comments from community members touched by the generosity. “The best Christmas gifts are the ones you give! Thank you all for your wonderful service and your big hearts!” one user commented.

“So thankful they are alright! We are truly blessed to live in such a giving and helping community, and our fire department and rescue teams are amazing! Great job! So proud!” another user wrote.

5 . Have you ever heard people say that laziness is the mother of poverty? Laziness is a sin (罪), everyone knows that. We have probably all had lectures pointing out that laziness is immoral, that it is wasteful, and that lazy people will never amount to anything in life. But is it often the case?

In fact, laziness is often caused by more complex reasons than simple wish to avoid work. Some people who appear to be lazy are suffering from much more serious problems. They may be so distrustful of their fellow workers that they are unable to join in any group task for fear of ridicule (嘲笑) or having their idea stolen. These people who seem lazy may be paralyzed by a fear of failure that prevents fruitful work. Or other sorts of fantasies may prevent work; some people are so busy planning, sometimes planning great deals or fantastic achievements that they are unable to deal with whatever “lesser” work is on hand. Still other people are not avoiding work; strictly speaking, they are merely procrastinating — rescheduling their day.

Laziness can actually be helpful. Like procrastinators (拖延者), some people may look lazy when they are really thinking, planning, contemplating (沉思), researching. We should all remember that great scientific discoveries occurred by chance. Sitting “lazily” under the tree, Newton wasn’t working in the orchard (果园) when the apple hit him and he devised the theory of gravity. All of us would like to have someone “lazy” build the car, particularly if that “laziness” was caused by the worker’s taking time to check each step of his work and to do his job right. And sometimes, being “lazy” — that is, taking time off for a rest — is good for the overworked students or executives. Taking a rest can be particularly helpful to the “lazy” athlete who is trying too hard or the “lazy” doctor who’s simply working himself overtime too many evenings at the clinic. So be careful when you’re tempted to call someone lazy. That person may be thinking, resting, or planning his or her next work. See for yourself!

6 . Jennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter (过失杀人罪) due to their failure to prevent their son Ethan from carrying out a deadly school shooting in Michigan, US. They were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison on April 9, reported The New York Times. The sentence for them marks the first instance in the US where parents have been held legally accountable for their child’s involvement in a mass shooting.

Prosecutors (检察官) argued that the couple ignored clear signs of their son’s mental health issues and emphasized that they purchased the gun he used in the 2021 attack. Ethan, who was only 15 when he killed four students in the shooting, was sentenced to life. “Opportunity knocked over and over again, louder and louder, and it was ignored,” Judge Cheryl Matthews told the court.

Instances of extreme and violent crimes committed by minors consistently stir shock and controversy globally. Such issues urge widespread societal reflection, leading nations to consider revising laws to lower the age of criminal responsibility. While most countries and regions have maintained a standard minimum age of criminal responsibility at 12 or 14 years for an extended period, there are exceptions. For example, Japan lowered the age from 16 to 14 in 2000, according to Xinhua.

In 2010, Denmark lowered its minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 years old. However, researchers found that this change did not reduce crime rates among 14-year-olds. Instead, the punitive measures (惩罚措施) had negative effects. These young individuals often fell behind their peers academically, especially on high school graduation exams, and the rate of reoffenders increased. Consequently, Denmark reversed this policy two years later, restoring the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 15 years old, The Paper reported.

Denmark’s experience showed that the law doesn’t always stop people from committing crimes again. Furthermore, preventing young people from committing crimes poses a complex challenge.

In Germany, imprisonment is considered a last resort, with a focus on educational, rehabilitative (善后的) and disciplinary measures, as noted in a 2018 paper published in the Justice Evaluation Journal. According to the paper, youth imprisonment is applied in only 2 percent of all cases. Additionally, some prisons offer vocational programs for young inmates, including woodworking, metalworking, and farming. Meanwhile, most of these teenage offenders are placed in community programs where social workers help educate and guide them toward a normal life.

7 . Some of the most successful people have done their best work in coffee shops. Pablo Picasso, JK Rowling, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Bob Dylan ---whether they’re painters, writers, philosophers, or singer-songwriters, people across nations and centuries have tapped into their creativity working away at a table in a café.

There are many ways coffee shops stimulate our creativity in a way offices and homes don’t. Research shows that the stimuli in these places make them effective environments for work; the combination of noise, visual variety and casualness can give us just the right amount of distraction to help us be at our sharpest and most creative.

Some of us put on our noise-cancelling headphones as soon as we sit down to work in a public setting. But background noise can benefit our creative thinking. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research showed that a low-to-moderate level of background noise in a place like a cafeteria can actually increase our creative output. Another study from 2019 had similar findings: the right amount of noise benefits our senses. And while that right level of noise is different for everyone, audio (听觉的) stimuli in the background also help us improve decision-making. So, the jazz music, light conversation and noises from coffee bar workers aren’t vexatious —they could help you come up with your next masterwork.

Also, one thing that can make working from home and the office dull is the unexciting visual environment. “Visual stimulation has an effect on peoples creative thinking process. Coffee shops generally have visual stimuli,” says Sunkee Lee, whose research suggests that visual variety “helps you to think outside the box”. Korydon Smith, who co-wrote a recent article on the benefits of working in coffee shops, says, “People come and go. The daylight changes. The colours of food vary. These activities inspire our brains to work a bit differently than at home”.

And while the typical coffee shop user might be a lone worker, experts say these café settings can also benefit work groups who are brainstorming. “There is an implied formality when gathering on office-based or digital meeting platforms. By contrast, there is an air of informality when meeting up at a bar or café. Agendas are not required to meet someone for coffee, but are inbuilt in a scheduled meeting, virtual or otherwise, which can kill creativity,” says Smith.

8 . Pity the poor traffic policeman. He’s the last guy you want to see when you’re speeding down the highway. But according to a major research by scientists in Canada and California, that policeman just might be saving your life or the life of someone else.

The researchers have found that a traffic ticket reduces a driver’s chance of being involved in a disastrous accident greatly. The effect doesn’t last long, however. Within months, the lead foot is back on the pedal and the risk of killing yourself or someone else is back up to where it was before that policeman stared you in the eye and wrote out that expensive ticket. It is back to business as usual for most motorists.

Traffic tickets save thousands of lives every year. Yet traffic laws are applied infrequently, almost as if by whim (心血来潮), partly because people just don’t like traffic policemen, and there are lots of other things for the government to spend money on than applying highway safety laws.

Researches looked at the month prior to a disastrous accident, and the number of traffic convictions (定罪), and then the same month in the year before. They found there were fewer tickets in the month before a disastrous accident than there were a year before, which suggests there’s a protective effect of having a ticket.

The scientists also turned up some surprising results. “Most of the crashes did not involve alcohol,” they reported. “The relative risk reduction associated with traffic convictions was remarkably consistent among women and men, regardless of age, prior driving record, and other personal data. Men, however, were involved in far more disastrous accidents than women and the most accident-prone (有倾向的) age was between 30 and 50.”

They also pointed out that most crashes could have been prevented by a small difference in driver behavior. So the next time you see that policeman in your rear-view mirror, give him or her a broad smile.

9 . You might have heard of the expression “a guilty pleasure”—maybe it’s the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don’t really need.     1     . Perhaps we don’t feel we deserved it, or we don’t think it was a responsible way to spend our money. But should we feel like this? Do we really have to feel guilty about treating ourselves?

Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation.    2     . It may be that as well as lifting your mood, when you buy a treat, you might just be looking after yourself.

Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don’t have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing.    3     , while self-nurturing is taking responsible decisions to satisfy our needs and take care of ourselves in ways that don’t have a significant impact.

    4    . So, many universities publish guides with advice for coping with exam stress. Reflecting the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurture, they recommend rewarding yourself for your efforts, doing things that you enjoy and are good at so that you can feel accomplishment.    5     . Thus, perhaps, as long as we make responsible decisions, we shouldn’t feel guilty about our guilty pleasures.