2 . This past July was the hottest recorded month in human history. Heat waves brake temperature records worldwide. It’s more than just a matter of sweaty discomfort. As climate change worsens, access to artificially cooled spaces is rapidly becoming a health necessity.

Yet standard air-conditioning systems leave us trapped in a negative feedback cycle: the hotter it is, the more people use the air condition er and the more energy is consumed as a result. Cooling is the fastest-growing single source of energy use in buildings, according to the International Energy Agency. Breaking the cycle requires new innovations that will help bring cooler air to more people with less environmental impact.

Standard air-conditioning systems cool and dehumidify (除湿) through a relatively inefficient mechanism: in order to condense (冷凝) water out of the air, they overcool that air past the point of comfort. Many new designs therefore separate the dehumidification and cooling processes, which avoids the need to overcool. For example, some new air conditioner designs pull water from the air with desiccant (干燥剂) materials. The dried air can then be cooled to a more reasonable temperature. Massachusetts-based start-up Transaera claims that the system it is developing could use 35 percent less energy than the average standard air-conditioning unit.

However, the gains in efficiency might not help us get rid of the impact of air-conditioning. “It won’t work to simply replace every existing air conditioner with a better model and call it a day,” says Nicole Miranda, an engineer at the University of Oxford. “Instead, a truly coder future will have to employ other strategies. It’s critical to bring greenery and water bodies into cities to take advantage of natural airflow.”

“Cooling is a challenge involving many aspects,” says Sneha Sachar, an expert at the nonprofit organization ClimateWorks. “There isn’t one strategy or one answer. We need a combination of better buildings and cities, better technologies and a better understanding that the true cost of air-conditioning extends beyond electric bills.”

3 . When social media filled with images makes you question your appearance, opinions or ability, for it’s so easy for people to get caught in a whirlwind (旋流) of comparison, remember to look up and out and appreciate there’s a world of beauty in difference.     1    

Dare not to compare.

No matter how many followers, comments, likes or views you have, if you get trapped in a competitive mindset, it can turn into a bottomless pit (无底洞) . That’s because there’ll always be someone gaining more positive responses. Think of fun times and kind things with families and friends, which are important and won’t fade from screen.     2    

Be authentic (真实的).

Even if it seems the rest of the world isn’t showing their true selves, you can be different.     3     Share your real, kind voice with the rest of the world, just as you do at home and with friends, and you might just inspire others to do the same.

    4    

Give your time and attention to people doing inspiring things, spreading uplifting messages and sharing unique and beautiful ideas. Be selective. If someone’s posts make you feel bad about yourself, click unfollow or hide.

Take time out.

For those times when social media makes you unhappy or full of self-doubt, pause and step away, even if it’s only for a short time.    5     For example, writing in a diary, drawing in a sketchbook or painting a picture will give your mind a different focus.

7 . For centuries, artists usually give people an impression: they are the “Starving Artists”, struggling to make ends meet. Henri Murger proved that. He was born the son of a doorman in France. Living in Paris, he was surrounded by creative geniuses and dreamed of joining them, but he grew upset with his failure to earn money.

In 1847, Murger published a book. It’s a collection of stories about poverty, which launched the concept of the “Starving Artists” into the public’s understanding as the model for a creative life. To this day, it endures as the model for what we imagine when we think of the word “artist”.

Today, what we forget is that the story of the “Starving Artist” is a myth. In fact, it is really just an imaginary story. Due to the power of this myth in Murger’s book, many of us just want to become lawyers instead of writers, bankers instead of poets, and doctors instead of painters. Nobody wants to struggle ultimately. Thus, we just keep our passion a hobby instead of a career.

In the early Renaissance, artists did not have reputations for being diligent workers. They were considered manual laborers, receiving small amounts of money for their work. Michelangelo Buonarroti, however, changed all that. He was not only a master sculptor but also the most affluent artist of his time. After him, every artist began to see a “new pattern of doing things”, in the words of Bill Wallace, professor of art history at Washington University. Michelangelo established the idea that an artist could become a new figure in society and have a higher social status, and also that he could become financially successful.

Michelangelo did not need to starve for his creations, and neither do you. When we hear the tales and warnings about what it means to be an artist, we must understand an important truth—you don’t have to starve and you might as well make a living from your creative talents.

8 . Be it sugar or social media, the response in our brain is the same: It produces a “feel-good” chemical called dopamine. It first brings about pleasure, but it doesn’t last very long. It is then followed by pain so that we have to search for the pleasurable things again.

“This cycle of pleasure and pain made sense in the time of early humans when we had to constantly search for our basic needs-food, water, shelter,” says Dr. Anna Lembke, a Stanford Medical School researcher. “But our brains weren’t adjusted to put out the ‘fire of dopamine’ caused by pleasurable things that are so easily available in modern life.”

In addition, when we’re repeatedly exposed to pleasure-producing things, we’re not able to take joy in the same rewards. Instead, we need stronger and stronger stimulus (刺激) just to feel good. Otherwise, the cycle will lead us to anxiety, depression and many other problems.

“This is a universal problem—not one limited to those struggling with the disease of addiction. If we want to stay mentally healthy, we must rethink how to break the cycle in a dopamine-overloaded world,” says Lembke.

Her suggestions for the addicts?

Take a 30-day break from anything that we rely on for pleasure. This doesn’t mean going cold turkey forever. But this first month is key to breaking the pleasure-pain cycle and it’s a lot easier to cut out an addictive behavior entirely at first. Then re-introduce the pleasurable things little by little, like just a few bites of ice cream at a time or just one hour online a night.

Another strategy is to create physical distance between us and our addiction. That could mean just removing the addictive thing from our personal space. For someone who’s addicted to video games, that could mean a separate laptop for work and one for play.

“In a time of abundance, we have to strike a pleasure-pain balance, which means intentionally avoiding pleasure and seeking the kind of purposeful pain that keeps us healthy, such as exercise,” Lembke says. “By doing so, we will reset reward pathways and eventually be a lot happier. It’s not easy, but it’s well worth doing in the long term.”

9 . Babies appear to know how to help those in need, according to researchers who studied signs of altruism in almost 100 children.

Researchers who wanted to see whether children would give up their food to a stranger without encouragement found the kids did just that — even when they were hungry.

The scientists recruited 96 19-month-old children. During the experiments, a child and a researcher sat across from each other. In the control group of the first set of experiments, researchers threw a piece of fruit onto a plate where they couldn’t reach, but the child could. They then waited. In contrast, researchers in the test group pretended to drop the fruit on the plate, then tried and failed to reach it. This signaled to the child that the adult wanted the food.

Among the control group, only 4 percent of the children gave the piece of fruit to the researchers, compared with 58 percent, or over half, in the test group.

Next, the team explored if children would still be generous when it was at a cost to themselves. The first set of experiments was repeated with a separate group of kids before their lunchtime, when they were likely to be hungry. Similarly, 37 percent of the test group handed over their fruit, compared with none in the control group.

The experiments were repeated four times. Researchers got similar results each time. Babies with siblings (兄弟姐妹) and babies from Latino or Asian families shared more of the fruit, the team also found.

Carter Morgan, lead professor of the study, said, “We often think of babies as selfish. But here we find that they are willing to help others even when it comes at some ‘cost’ to the self.”

Addressing why children with siblings or from certain cultural backgrounds were more likely to share their fruit, Morgan said, “We believe this partly reflects what social psychologists call ‘ interdependence’, which stresses on the importance of interpersonal connections and adjusting to others. These social experiences that shape attitudes towards sharing appear to have an effect very early in life.”

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China’s youth are developing into a generation capable of shouldering the     1     (responsible) of national rejuvenation (复兴), said a recent white paper.

The white paper,     2     (title) “Youth of China in the New Era”, was published by the State Council Information Office on April 21. The document records the achievements and    3     (reflect) on the spirit of the country’s youth.

    4     the country developing rapidly, more than 25 million young people,     5     future prospects are supported by a solid foundation (基础), have escaped poverty. Young people in China now have more equal access to education, more diverse career options and more development opportunities. They grow and prosper in a     6     (good) legal environment, with more favorable policies and more     7     (rely) social security, said the white paper.

“In the new era, China’s youth have shown their grit (勇气) at critical moments,” noted the white paper. Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke, young people     8     (risk) their lives to combat (对抗)     9     deadly disease. As China opens its door     10     (wide) to the outside world, the country’s young people are gaining a greater understanding of international exchanges and cooperation.