Have you heard the     1     phrase / phase “Six Degrees of Separation”? It is the idea that we all know everyone else in the world through about six people. I recently signed up to a     2     bimonthly / biweekly newsletter that is emailed on the first and last Friday of every month. It has lots of interesting articles on famous experiments.

In the latest newsletter, they decided to try to recreate the experiment that originally proved the theory of how we all have this large     3     network / netting of people. They emailed a     4     random / ransom group of people and asked them to participate. This small     5     simple / sample of people were then sent a     6     protective / package to pass on to a stranger by sending it to someone they knew. They sent it along to someone who then sent it to a person he or she knew, starting a     7     chain / chase.

In the next issue, the newsletter will     8     release / return the results. I can’t wait to see if the theory is proved!

Recently, a radio show highlighted an interesting story about the power of community spirit. It was about a small town in America called Roseto. In the 1950s, heart attacks were an     1     in the USA, but researchers found Roseto had much lower rates of heart attacks than other places in the country. The town was very safe and had a very low     2     rate.

When they looked deeper into the reasons for this, they found that Roseto was a very     3     community.     4     typically consisted of three generations living together and the people visited each other     5    , respected elderly people and organised lots of community events.

Unfortunately, over the years, the community changed as the younger generation rejected traditional     6     and moved to outskirts of the town. As a     7    , health problems and crime increased. The link between health, happiness and community is really clear through this story.

The Use of Apps

In the survey among our classmates, all students use software applications (called apps     1    ). They typically use apps on smartphones or     2    .

Students agree that apps can help them take part in a whole range of activities. They usually use apps to search for learning resources, find popular restaurants,     3     taxis,     4     to certain places, and order food.

Educational apps are the type of apps most frequently used arming our classmate. They allow them to beam at their own pace anywhere. They can choose online teachers and subjects according to their     5     . Also, they can share     6     with other users of the same app.

Nearly one third of the students have tried apps with     7     like VR, AH and MR. They believe that new technologies can be used to help people     8     . What students dislike is that in order to use apps these days, they are often required to     9     an account and     10     personal information. They worry about the safety of this.

In a recent interview, Mayor Janine Fraser spoke about the influence of the media. She said the increase in Internet news and     1     microchanneling /microblogging sites gives us a variety of opinions and views.

According to Mayor Fraser, “I was sent an email recently from a citizen who was     2     witness/witnessing to a police officer breaking the law. The policerman threatened this person with a fine for speeding. The person used his /her mobile phone to secretly record and     3     upload/download this conversation to a news site. Thanks to this, we had evidence to punish this policeman. Another great example was a local worker who used a blog to     4     outline /output how the     5     component/corporation he worked for was illegally polluting the environment.” On the negative side, she did mention that the ability for     6     advertising /advertisements companies to monitor people through website usage and comments is a cause for concern.

“The Internet is an     7     interactive/interactively tool that works in both ways. People should be aware that when they use the Internet they are     8     broadcaster/broadcasting their preferences to lots of different companies. We need to be cautious and protect ourselves. ”

Back in my days, the     1     subjective/objective of education was reading, writing and mathematics and after that nothing else mattered. Schools were not expected to     2     distribute /contribute to the development of young people as     3     well-rounded/well-being individuals. It was seen as the     4     responsibility/responsible of the family to provide     5     overall/moral education and teach their children to have good character. Besides, it was believed that just by following the law, people would become good     6     citizens/audiences.

Nowadays, the     7     definition/demonstration of education is understood in much broader terms. It is clear now that the true     8     principal/priority of education is to develop the whole person rather than just provide information to learn. Certainly, reading, writing and maths are still     9     care/core subjects but there are other important skills and abilities to acquire, such as     10     autonomous/automatic learning and initiative, judgement and     11     integration /integrity, creativity and     12     critical/civil thinking. Likewise, activities outside of the classroom can help develop children’s personalities and characters. We now also know that parents and other family members can     13     stimulate/accumulate their children’s interest in learning and have an important role to play.