1 . Anxious thinker. Loner. Wallflower. These are some negative comments for “introvert” (内向者), showing a common mind-set in America. Actually they just interact differently; they do well when given time alone to think and prefer close conversations.

American society is ruled by the “Extrovert Ideal (外向理想型)”: successful people take risks and always voice their opinion, whether or not they know what they’re doing. The problem is that people value this ideal so much that they often ignore meaningful opinions from the quieter introverts. Isn’t there something problematic about having to get our thoughts out before we finish thinking about them?

Over-stressing the Extrovert Ideal can lead to unwise decisions. In one case, several introverts, who tend to be more careful and think more, pointed out warning signals before the economic downturn of 2008. But the decision makers — often the bold, risk-taking types —ignored their opinion. People say introverts often overthink every decision. Yes, maybe we think before we speak. But is that really so bad?

Of course, social skills are important for everyone. But the misunderstanding about how introverts work creates a cultural bias (偏见). Required class participation at school often leads to students shouting out whatever thoughts come to their mind, too pressured by their participation grade to take the time and think of a meaningful response. During the Covid-19quarantine, some of my classes started using Parlay, a website that allows for discussions through anonymous (匿名的) written comments. I saw that many of my classes were able to have deeper conversations this way, freed from the pressures of having to speak up on the spot. So encouraging a balanced variety of learning methods can reduce the existing bias.

Society seems to think only the loud and outgoing ones can make a difference. But Rosa Parks was known for being “soft spoken” and “timid.” Gandhi said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” So please, give us introverts a chance to change the world in our own quiet way!

2 . Despite common concerns that the social is competitive, cooperation (合作) among strangers has gradually increased in the U.S. since the 1950s, according to the research published by the American Psychological Association.

“We were surprised by our findings that Americans became more cooperative over the last six decades because many people believe U.S. society is becoming less socially connected and less trusting,” said lead researcher Yu Kou, PhD, a professor of social psychology at Beijing Normal University.

The researchers analyzed 511 studies conducted in the United States between 1956 and 2017 with a total of more than 63,000 participants(参与者). Those studies included lab experiments measuring cooperation among strangers. The study found a small, gradual increase in cooperation across the 61-year period, which the researchers said may be linked to great changes in U.S. society. The increase in cooperation was related with increases in social wealth, income inequality and the number of people living alone.

Increased cooperation has been linked with market competitiveness and economic growth in former research. As more people live in cities and on their own, they may be forced to cooperate with strangers, said study co-author Paul Van Lange, PhD. He said, “U.S. society may have become more self-centered, but people have not.”

The researchers note that former studies have found that levels of cooperation do not differ by sex or race in the U.S. However, the studies were conducted in lab settings primarily with only college students as participants, so the findings may not be representative (代表性的) of real-life situations or of U.S. society as a whole.

3 . LOS ANGELES ( AP ) — Hollywood’s response to climate change includes donations, protests and other social activities, but it’s apparently missing out on an approach close to home. Only 2.8% of screen fiction refers to climate change-related words, according to a new study of 37.453 film and TV scripts from 2016 to 2020. A blueprint for ways to turn that around was released Tuesday.

“ Good Energy: A Playbook for Screenwriting in the Age of Climate Change ” was created with feedback from more than 100 film and TV writers, said Anna Jane Joyner, editor-in-chief of the playbook and founder of Good Energy, a nonprofit consulting company. “ A big barrier that we encountered was that writers were associating climate stories with disaster stories, ” she said in an interview. “ The main purpose of the playbook is to expand that menu of possibilities … to a larger range of how it would be showing up in our real life. ”

Dorothy Fortenberry, a TV writer and playwright, said the industry needs to broaden its view of who it writes about, not just what. “ Climate change is something that right now is affecting people who aren’t necessarily the people that Hollywood tends to write stories about. It’s affecting farmers in Bangladesh, farmers in Peru, farmers in Kentucky, ” Fortenberry said. “ If we told stories about different kinds of people, there would be opportunities to smoothly integrate climate in. ”

The entertainment industry’s failure to use its storytelling powers more effectively on the issue seems unsurprising to Joyner, who’s been working on climate-change communications in various sectors and communities for 15 years. For the first decade, it felt like “ screaming into the empty space ” because of the lack of response, Joyner said. But there is evidence of increasing concern among Americans regarding climate change, including those who are in Hollywood. “ We’ve all gone through a kind of awakening, ” she said. There are a number of documentaries and news programs about climate change, she said, expressing optimism that fiction creators will make steady progress.

4 . Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, public health and government officials have put social distancing rules in place and advised people to stay at home as much as possible. Many schools around the world started online learning.

Do teenagers have it easy being home all the time? Not necessarily. They can’t connect with teachers and friends in person and do outdoor activities. They are even concerned about the deadly disease. These have caused a rise in anxiety among young people.

In a study of about 1,500 teens last spring, 70% kids said that they were struggling with anxiety and 45% had felt more stressed than usual. Poncin, a professor of clinical child psychiatry (精神病学), said that it’s difficult to show exactly what is causing the increased stress. Some factors focus on our communities and families, while others are individual (个别的). “There are many stress factors that teens are worried about, like their parents losing jobs, family members getting sick, parents not being home, not talking with friends, and more,” Poncin said. “Teens need to learn how to be together and how to talk and be with people.”

Thinking about something over and over also builds stress. To help ease (缓解) their worries, teens can bike, walk the dog or even pick up a new hobby.

In my home state of North Carolina, Roy Goode, head of the local educational agency, is especially concerned about students who don’t have the resources they need to learn at home. “Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders,” he said. “We need to make sure they all have a chance to succeed so we can overcome any challenge that comes our way.”

7 . Are you a tea drinker? If so, you’re not alone. Every day around the world millions of cups of this popular brew (酿造) are drunk.     1     But it’s thought that the tea trend really started during the Tang Dynasty in the 8th Century, when it became China's national drink. Now, Turkey, the Republic of Ireland and the UK are believed to be the biggest tea-drinking nations, per capita(人均).

    2     It can be sipped or glugged (大口喝). It can be poured from pots, brewed in the cup using tea bags – and it’s this latter process that is causing concern. Research last year found some expensive tea bags might be leaving billions of micro-plastics in the cup. Scientists from McGill University in Montreal found that some ‘plastic’ tea bags poured high levels of micro-plastics into water.     3    

Most tea bags are made from paper, with a small amount of plastic used to seal (封) them shut – made from oil.     4     . Unilever, the owners of the tea brand PG Tips, said their tea bags are made with a small amount of plastic – used to seal them – and that they are suitable for recycling. And the brand Yorkshire Tea said their bags do contain 25% polypropylene, but they were “actively developing plant-based and biodegradable (生物可降解的) alternatives”.

Tea bag producers might be doing their bit to reduce plastic pollution. Meanwhile, the consumers’ efforts count.       5       Or it could be a good time to switch your favourite beverage to coffee.