4 . The effects of advertising often work in tricky (狡猾的) ways. Many people don’t even realize they are being marketed to when they change their behaviour after encountering advertisements. Since advertising is a powerful psychological tool, an entire field of study, which is devoted to unlocking how advertising influences consumers’ behaviour, has been developed.

Another effect of advertising is educating consumers about specific products or services. This can be part of the persuasion written in an ad. In an advertisement, a company can influence possible buyers by showing how the product works and how it can solve the problems they face or at least ease those problems. For example, a dog owner who previously thought there was no solution to his dog’s anxiety can learn through a dog vest (背心) ad that there actually is a solution, and that solution is the gentle pressure provided by the vest. Advertisements generally use similar language. Many advertisements are designed to make the viewers take immediate action. Words and phrases often used in such ads include “Buy now!” “Get started!” and “Try now!”. Specifically, the part of an ad that pushes for immediate action is called “call to action”, which is important to any ad because it drives the viewers or listeners to take action. Besides, companies usually use persuasive language in the rest of the advertisement. This can be a recommendation from a previous buyer, a chart showing the product’s benefits, or a list of the product’s benefits.

Advertising is part of marketing. Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably (可以互换地), they aren’t the same thing. Marketing is the broad process of researching consumers’ needs, collecting and evaluating data related to those needs and developing various strategies for attracting consumers. Advertising, on the other hand, strictly refers to the process of attracting potential customers to make a sale.

6 . Bill Gates’ body might live in the present, but his brain lives in the future. He has made a career out of predicting what will happen in matters of computing, public health and the environment. He correctly predicted the rise of smartphones and social media, and his latest predictions could come true, too. Here’s what Gates predicts for the future of our world.

In his Annual Letter 2015, Gates made the prediction that Africa’s agriculture industry would increase productivity by 50% by 2030. Now the continent buys about $50 billion worth of food from other countries each year, although 70% of people in Africa are farmers. “In the next 15 years, however, creations in farming will solve the food problem in Africa,” Gates wrote. “The world has already developed crops that are more productive; with all the technologies, African farmers could possibly double their harvests. ”

By 2035, there could be almost no poor countries. In his Annual Letter 2014, Gates bravely predicted that continued levels of foreign help could mean there would be almost no more poor countries by 2035. “Almost all countries will be what we now call lower­-middle income or richer,” Gates explained. “Countries will learn from their most   productive neighbors and benefit from things like better seeds and the digital revolution. ”

By 2030, the world will discover a clean­ energy breakthrough to power our world. One of Gates’ more hopeful   predictions which came in 2016 said that wind, solar, or some other renewable resources would power most of the world within 15 years. “The difficulty we face is big, perhaps bigger than many people imagine,” he wrote in his letter. “But so is   the chance to make things better.” Many of the poor countries he visited had no running water or electricity. At night this meant they couldn’t light or power their homes, and keep businesses open. “If the world can find a type of cheap, clean energy, it will do more than prevent climate change,” he wrote. “It will change the lives of millions of the poorest families.”

10 . The key to a happy life has nothing to do with getting ahead at work, making money, or traveling the world. Instead, living your best life and creating meaning are all about one thing: relationships.

A study of adult development has been running at Harvard since 1938, and is now on its second generation of participants — the children of the original study’s subjects. Over decades, the research team have collected data about their lives, including their physical and mental health, marital status and quality, career happiness, and more.

They found the most important factor in how happy and healthy these men were over time was their relationships. In other words, finding happiness in life is all about the people you love.

The research doesn’t only include romantic relationships and marriage. Quality, close relationships are important whether they are in the context of romantic relationships or closeness between friends or family members. The kind of relationship you have is less important than how close you feel with them.

However, the study only included men, and there’re important gender differences in how people experience relationships. Some research suggests that men may benefit more from marriage. But they tend to have a harder time keeping friendships; as men get older, they are more likely to say they have nobody to discuss important subjects with. So it’s possible that having close relationships throughout their lives might affect men differently from women.

However, the findings line up with empirical (以试验为依据的) research on the effects of loneliness. People who are socially isolated have a greater likelihood of strokes (中风), heart attacks, and higher blood pressure, not to mention mental health issues.

Unfortunately for the youngest generation, recent surveys found that young Americans are lonelier than older generations. That will likely have a big impact on how healthy and happy people feel throughout their lives.