1 . There is something to be said for being a generalist, even if you are a specialist. Knowing a little about a lot of things that interest you can add to the richness of a whole, well-lived life.

Society pushes us to specialize, to become experts. This requires commitment to a particular occupation, branch of study or research. The drawback to being specialists is we often come to know more and more about less and less. There is a great deal of pressure to master one’s field. You may pursue training, degrees, or increasing levels of responsibility at work. Then you discover the pressure of having to keep up.

Some people seem willing to work around the clock in their narrow specialty. But such commitment can also weaken a sense of freedom. These specialists could work at the office until ten each night, then look back and realize they would have loved to have gone home and enjoyed the sweetness of their family and friends, or traveled to exciting places, meeting interesting people. Mastering one thing to the exclusion of others can hold back your true spirit.

Generalists on the other hand, know a lot about a wide range of subjects and view the whole with all its connections. They are people of ability, talent, and enthusiasm who can bring their broad perspective into specific fields of expertise. The doctor who is also a poet and philosopher is a superior doctor, one who can give so much more to his patients than just good medical skills.

Things are connected. Let your expertise in one field fuel your passions in all related areas. Some of your interests may not appear to be connected but, once you explore their depths, you discover that they are. My editor Toni, who is also a writer, has edited several history books. She has decided to study Chinese history. Fascinated by the structural beauty of the Forbidden City as a painter, she is equally interested to learn more about Chinese philosophy. “I don’t know where it will lead, but I’m excited I’m on this pursuit.”

These expansions into new worlds help us by giving us new perspectives. We begin to see the interconnectedness of one thing to another in all aspects of our life, of ourselves and the universe. Develop broad, general knowledge and experience. The universe is all yours to explore and enjoy.

3 . Taking photographs at a birthday or a wedding has become as natural as blowing out candles or cutting the cake. But our obsession (痴迷) with recording every detail of our happiest moments could be damaging our ability to remember them, according to a new research. A study has shown that taking pictures rather than concentrating fully on the events in front of us prevents memories taking hold.

Dr. Linda Henkel, from Fairfield University, Connecticut, described it as the “photo-taking impairment effect”. She said: “People so often pull out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point where they are missing what is happening right in front of them. When people rely on technology to remember for them—counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves—it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences.”

Dr. Henkel and her team carried out an experiment in a museum, to learn if taking pictures of the exhibits was hindering(阻碍)the ability of visitors to remember what they had seen.

A group of university students were led on a tour at the Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield University and were asked to either photograph or remember objects on display. The next day their memory was tested. The results showed that people were less accurate in recognizing the objects they had photographed than those they had only looked at. It was found that their memory for the details of the objects they had photographed was poorer.

Henkel’s lab is currently investigating whether the content of a photo, such as whether you are in it, affects later memory. She is also researching whether actively choosing what to photograph might influence what we remember.

Previous research suggests that reviewing photos we have taken does help us remember the objects, but only if we take the time.

“Research has suggested that the sheer volume and lack of organization of digital photos for personal memories discourages many people from accessing and recalling them. In order to remember, we have access and interact with the photos, rather than just collect them,” said Dr. Henkel.

4 . Perhaps you’ve heard the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” It’s a phrase that’s often used to warn people — especially children — not to ask too many questions.     1     In fact, research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school. Curiosity can also lead us to make unexpected discoveries, bring excitement into our lives, and open up new possibilities.     2     For example, one day in 1831, Michael Faraday was playing around with a coil and a magnet when he suddenly saw how he could produce an electrical current. At first, it wasn’t clear what use this would have, but it actually made electricity available for use in technology, and so changed the world.

    3     On one level, this is because technology has become so advanced that many of us are unable to think too deeply about how exactly things work anymore. While it may be possible for a curious teenager to take a toaster apart and get some sense of how it works, how much do you understand about what happens when you type a website address into a browser? Where does your grasp of technology end and the magic begin for you?

In addition to this, there’s the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly.     4     Then we feel we know enough about a person not to need to engage further with them.

The final — and perhaps most worrying — way in which technology stops us from asking more has to do with algorithms, the processes followed by computers. As we increasingly get our news via social media, the big data find out what we like and push more of the same back to us.     5     Perhaps the real key to developing curiosity in the 21st century, then, is to rely less on the tech tools of our age.

With the rapid development of third-party mobile payment tools,     1    increasing number of consumers across China are using cashless payment methods.

Transactions(交易)    2    (involve) third-party mobile payments rose by 39. 1 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared     3     the previous quarter to 74 trillion yuan. Although China has the most third-party payment accounts in the world, it is not the first country     4    (seek) a cashless society. Developed states like Sweden, Denmark and Singapore are also witnessing that increase.

However, the rapid development of cashless payments does not mean there are no challenges and criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema Fresh Store,     5     customers can shop, dine and order goods for delivery from their mobile phones via Alipay,     6    (come) into the spotlight recently. Media reports say that consumers can’t purchase goods with cash there, which would be considered     7    (legal).

Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third-party mobile payment tools, have also launched     8    (campaign) to encourage more merchants and customers to use cashless payment methods, which has caused concerns over     9     cash will soon disappear.

However, experts believe that a cashless society does not mean that cash will     10    (complete) disappear. As the economy grows, the circulation of cash is still very huge. In the long term, various payment methods will be used by consumers, and merchants should respect consumers’ payment habits.

8 . What would you think if someone suggested pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? It would be ridiculous, right? But when it comes to devastation (毁灭) of the natural world, we aren’t so easily shocked. But we should be...or we’ll be in a lot of trouble.

Nature is shrinking by the day. Ancient forests are destroyed. Wetlands are becoming dry. Woodland is disappearing. And all in the name of progress. This is bad in itself, but it’s devastating for biodiversity.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and other living things which are all inter-connected. The ecological services provided by biodiversity are vital to everyday life. The air we breathe is a product of photosynthesis (光合作用) by green plants. In fact, all life on earth exists thanks to the benefit of biodiversity. More than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species. And 30 percent of medicines are developed from plants and animals. Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve all living things.

The loss of biodiversity could be devastating. “It is wrong to think that biodiversity can be reduced indefinitely without threatening humans,” said Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson, known as “the father of biodiversity”. He warned, “we are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will be unavoidable.”

But what can we do? The problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague. People might care about giant pandas, but it is much harder to excite them about the fate of tiny sea creatures which are being boiled to death in the cooling systems of power stations along coastlines. The Guardian newspaper is trying to help. It has started the Biodiversity 100 campaign to try to convince governments around the world to take action to deal with the widespread concerns about biodiversity. This includes persuading the UK government to create a series of marine reserves to reverse the decline in sea-life caused by industrial fishing, banning the fishing sharks by the Japanese fishermen and stopping the killing of dingoes in Australia, among many other things.

There is a lot to do. And we’d better get a move on if we don’t want to end up with a planet that can’t support life!