2 . Some pals and I were in the midst of a pinball competition at a bar the other night when the machine kept breaking down. We called over a very busy employee who’s responsible for helping keep the place running. He put everything aside to fix our problematic pinball machine twice.    1    A couple of the guys immediately objected, saying the employee was just doing the job he was paid to do. I insisted and got the group to agree to the plan, although somewhat reluctantly.   

My pinball wizard didn’t stretch out his hand, but how many times have we run across those payment screens that suggest a 20% tip for being handed a sandwich we ordered?    2    There is data to back up the trend: 66% of American adults have a negative view of tipping, and 32% say they’re sick of those payment-screen hints, according to a recent Bankrate survey.   

    3    I admit there are times I suspect the tipping thing has gone too far - say, when I’m at a self-checkout line and there’s still request to leave something extra. But I’m generally willing to err on the side of caution: If someone is expecting a tip, I’ll assume they have financial reasons to do so.     4    

Plus, tipping is good karma (因果报应). It’s always worth it to tip in unexpected situations- ones that don’t necessarily involve a hint on a payment screen.       5    He was so grateful for the $10 tip that later that night, he rewarded our group with well more than $10 in free tokens (代金券) for future play.   

So next time, there must be no arguments with my friends when times come to tip.

3 . We all know that men and women have their differences. But do they really think differently?     1     In my opinion, men and women still behave in the same way that they were designed to centuries ago. We have different interests, different ways of speaking, of showing how we feel, and of coping with stressful situations.

    2     This can have a negative effect on our relationships. We often become angry or frustrated with the opposite sex because we expect them to behave and communicate like we do. So why does a man behave as he does? Evidence suggests that men were programmed with the instinct to hunt silently for animals. They had to be able to focus their attention on one thing.     3     And also why he’s so good at reading maps and giving directions.

Women, on the other hand, are usually very good at doing several jobs at once.     4     In the past, women often worked in groups, which required a lot of communication, so they’re generally more talkative and sensitive to other people’s feelings.

Men and women seem to think differently too. Women usually score higher in writing tests. Men are seven times more likely to score in the top 5% in scientific exams. They’re often talented at problem-solving and making quick decisions.     5    

4 .     1     We need them to be our guides on the twisting, sometimes difficult road we call life to shows just how far we can go, to help us know just how high we can climb.

And we need heroes today more than ever. Our modern society is terribly confused about the difference between a hero and a celebrity (名人). And the difference is significant. A celebrity is all about fame-temporary, superficial fame, usually for qualities that are easy to see: a pretty face, a great dance move.     2     —qualities beneath the surface that aren’t visible until they prompt action. Qualities like courage, hope, compassion (同情), and perseverance (毅力).

Heroes, real heroes, are all around us. They truly hold our world together, through their unselfish devotion to helping others, supporting families, teaching children, protecting the environment.     3     They just want to help. In so many ways, these unsung heroes steer the boat in which all of us sail.

Yet, young people hear a lot more about celebrities than about heroes.     4     The underlying message they get from all this is that their self-worth comes from what they buy-which drink, which shoes, which cell phone-not who they are down inside. Young people’s sense of their own potential for heroic qualities-their own power to make a positive difference in the world is lost.

Truth is, there is a potential hero, a future difference maker, in every young person. Each of them, from whatever background, is a large amount of untapped (未开发的) energy-a positive force who can do something to steer that communal boat that carries us all.     5    

5 . Like it or love it, social media is a major part of life. Teens spend more than half of their waking hours online. They use some of that time to post pictures and create profiles on social media accounts.     1    

Clicking on a thumbs-up or a heart icon is an easy way to stay in touch.     2     Some social media sites use those likes to determine how many people eventually see a post. One with many likes is more likely to be seen-and to get even more likes.

What’s more, viewing posts with a lot of likes activates the reward system in our brain.     3     For example, posts related to alcohol may encourage teens to drink. That means that what you like online has the power to influence not just what others like, but even what they do.

    4     And not always in a good way. For example, in one 2011 study, teens doing a driving task in a lab took more risks when their friends were around. Researchers also looked at the teens’ brains during this task. They saw activity in a part of the brain that’s involved in rewards, which suggests the teens were changing their behavior to try to get social approval.

Joining social media can give people a sense of being in the know. But posts may exaggerate (夸大) how well our friends and others are feeling, making them appear much happier than we are.     5    

8 . The United States is a vast country where there are four different time zones. In addition, many parts of the country observe daylight saving time (DST) as well. In areas that adopt DST, the clock is moved one hour forward for the summer. Thus, the local time varies across different areas of the country.     1     It has been changed many times over the years.

For decades, both the Eastern Time Zone and Central Time Zone have existed within the state. Many areas in the state have switched back and forth between Eastern Time and Central Time. Furthermore, until very recently, policy concerning DST differed from one place to another.     2     In 2006, however, the entire state started to observe DST.

Some have argued that the time system in Indiana harms local businesses working with companies outside of Indiana. For example，a company in Indiana once scheduled a phone conference with companies in other states.     3     This was because those who missed the conference did not know in which time zone the company was located.

    4     Local businesses may benefit from being in the Eastern Time Zone where the financial center of the entire country, Wall Street in New York City, is located. Meanwhile, this may not be convenient for residents in the western parts of Indiana who commute (通勤) to major cities in the Central Time Zone, like Chicago, just across the state border.

The controversy over time in Indiana was partly resolved in 2006.     5     However, there is still disagreement about having two different time zones in the state. This debate may continue as long as people living in different parts of the state have different needs.

9 . Electric vehicles(EVs) are widely considered a strong weapon in efforts against global warming. But are they like what people believe? The Radiant Energy Group(REG) stated effects of EVs vary with countries. In some nations, EVs lead to the release of more carbon gases than gasoline cars. The group reckoned gas emissions(排放) caused by a gasoline vehicle and from charging an EV. Countries where charging an EV is cleaner than driving a gasoline-powered car use a lot of nuclear or solar power.

Sales of electric cars are rising the fastest in Europe. Data from REG suggests EVs in Poland actually create more carbon emissions because their electrical systems depend so much on coal. In other European countries, however, EVs result in fewer emissions. The countries with the biggest carbon gas reduction use much clean power. The first was Switzerland at 100 percent carbon reductions over gasoline vehicles.

Germany and Spain create lots of electricity from the sun and wind. But the sun and wind don’t add to a country’s electrical system equally throughout the day. For this reason, carbon emissions saved by driving an EV aren’t fixed. Charging in the afternoon, when there’s more sun and wind, saves 16 to 18 percent more carbon than at night when electrical systems are more likely to be using gas or coal.

The gap in emissions between electric and gasoline-powered vehicles has narrowed in recent years. In Europe, carmakers have been required to meet EU CO₂ emissions of performance standards. They’ve made their gasoline engines more fuel-efficient. As a result, carbon emissions of new gasoline-powered cars in Europe have fallen an average of 25 percent in the past years. But EV sales in Europe are backed by government spending and rules against new gasoline engine cars after 2035. Major automakers have set targets to sell mainly EVs in Europe in the coming years.

10 . Over the past decades, experts have done a considerable amount of research to explore different ways to encourage children’s learning. Especially, there has been a common focus on how physical activity, separated from the learning activities, can improve children’s learning. However, there has been less of a focus aimed the potential of integrating physical activity into the learning activities.

The main purpose of the Basket Mathematics study conducted at five Danish primary and elementary schools by researchers from the University of Copenhagen therefore was to develop a learning activity that integrates basketball and mathematics and examine how it might affect children’s motivation for mathematics.

756 children from 40 different classes at Copenhagen area schools participated in the project, where about half of them－once a week for six weeks－had Basketball Mathematics during gym class, while the other half played basketball without mathematics.

“During classes with Basketball Mathematics, the children had to collect numbers and perform calculations associated with various basketball exercises. An example could be counting how many times they could sink a basket from three meters away vs at a one-meter distance, and adding up the numbers. Both the math and basketball elements could be adjusted to suit the children’s levels, as well as being adjusted for whether it was addition, multiplication or some other operations that needed to be practiced,” explains Linn Damsgaard, a leading researcher.

The results showed that children’s motivation for math integrated with basketball was 16% higher compared to classroom math learning. Children also experienced a 14% increase in self-determination compared with classroom teaching. Meanwhile Basketball Mathematics improved their math confidence.

“We are planning to do research to examine whether the Basketball Mathematics model can strengthen performance in mathematics. Once we have the final results, we hope that they will inspire school teachers and principals to prioritize more physical activity and movement in such subjects. Eventually, we hope to succeed in putting these tools into school system and teacher education,” says Associate Professor Jacob Wienecke.