1 . Binge-watching (刷剧) is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in a row. With developments in the speed and connectivity of the Internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows stream (流播) directly to their television at their convenience.

This behavior is nothing new. In fact, binge-watching has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes, many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like” suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode.

However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back (一集接一集地), almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and 25% have neglected their household chores (家务活). Next we’ll be missing work!

Bingeing has other connections — binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said, “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist (抗拒) watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?

The countless number of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning, then it becomes a problem. So, what’s the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”

5 . It is a general belief among academics that the humanities(人文学科) are in crisis. According to Harvard historian James Hankins, part of the problem is the dominance of “critical” reading over “primary” reading. Primary reading takes a text at face value and simply tries to understand what the author intended to say. Critical reading assumes an author’s statements can never be taken at face value. Instead, they must be “seen through” to expose the text’s real meaning, which is determined in line with this or that fashionable theory.

Mr. Hankins says primary reading “must be recovered” for higher education in the humanities to be effective. I would go further. Primary reading isn’t important only for the humanities, but for education more generally. The restoration of primary reading could be a crucial weapon in fighting the “idle talk” that troubles American society.

Idle talk was philosopher Martin Heidegger’s term for inauthentic discourse(话语). It involves adopting and circulating others’ opinions about something without ever personally engaging that thing for yourself. People engaged in idle talk speak in line with expectations for their particular role. They hold and express the opinions a person in their role is expected to hold.

Idle talk can be harmless. Each year my mother forms strong opinions about which films should win Academy Awards without seeing any of them, after reading articles by critics she favors. But idle talk can also be dangerous. Consider journalism. The norm nowadays is for one reporter to break a story, followed by dozens or hundreds of journalists recycling that content. They may add a little spin of their own but rarely look into the issue for themselves—even when this would require but a few clicks. Some journalists even just search social media for the story of the day and rewrite it in their own words.

It could be argued that social media has contributed to the popularization of idle talk. Authentic discourse requires time, effort and good-faith engagement, but social media tends to encourage the opposite. Social media raises this voice, pushing it into user feeds 24/7. We hear about everything, and we can’t hear about anything without also being told what opinion we should have about it. Opinions before facts; know what to think about something before actually looking into it for yourself. And really, why even bother with that?

Primary reading isn’t only something the humanities need. Our entire culture needs its value to be recognized and restored.

6 . Lonely? You’re hardly alone. Since COVID-19 struck, people of all ages have struggled with this. But even before the pandemic, loneliness was becoming a growing problem for teens — especially girls. That’s the finding of a new study. And that appears throughout industrial nations across the globe. The study linked rising loneliness to greater use of smartphones and the Internet over the same years.

Jean Twenge, a psychologist, took part in the study. Her team has found that since 2012, US teens have been spending less time together face-to-face.

The new study pulled its data from a survey. Some 1 million 15- and 16-year-old students from 37 countries took part in this survey in 2000, 2003, 2012, 2015 and 2018. Its questions mostly dealt with education. But they also included six statements about loneliness, such as “I feel awkward and out of place in my school”. Students could strongly disagree, disagree, agree or strongly agree with each statement.

“Smartphones can help keep us connected with friends,” says Twenge. “But they can also make people feel excluded (排斥).” Girls, especially, may feel this way. One reason may be that they like to post more photos and selfies (自拍照) than boys. Studies have shown that if those images don’t get a lot of “likes”, it can affect a teen’s mental health.

And there’s “phubbing”, a combination of “phone” and “snubbing (冷落)”. It’s that moment at which a friend or family member takes out a phone and keeps looking at it, paying no attention to everybody else, including you. Phubbing is one way technology can affect you, even when you’re not the one using it.

If technology causes loneliness, should we stop using it? “No, not at all,” argues Twenge. “Everybody of all ages is trying to figure out how we can best use technology and stay mentally healthy.” Her advice is to “use your smartphone for what it’s good for. Then put it away.” That includes putting it away overnight — ideally in another room.

9 . Tourism can be both good and bad. Yes, it brings in money for the local economy and creates jobs for locals, but it may also bring some problems.

One growing problem is tourists who want to prove that they have visited a destination. Tourists have used paint, rocks, or even keys to write on the Luxor Temple in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, Stonehenge in the UK, memorial stones at the bottom of Qomolangma, and many, many other places. Thousands of tourist site s are being destroyed by tourists who “love them to death”. I have three words for people like this: please stop it. If you want to leave a mark on the world, do it by changing someone’s life with kindness and love. Pass kindness along to future generations, not destruction.

Another big problem in some places has been tourists disturbing the local people and life. Some tourists wander around and take pictures of local people without asking for their permission. For example, Chiang Mai University in Thailand and Yonsei University in South Korea have great numbers of tourists visiting their campuses and walking through their libraries and other public areas, taking pictures of students, and disturbing their studies. Another example is Sanlitun, a neighbourhood in Beijing, China. Some tourists love to party there late into the night, making it difficult for locals to sleep. I have three words for tourists like this please be considerate. Have fun in a way that does not disturb others.

The number of problems from tourists is endless: walking in large groups without considering others who need to walk by, crossing roads without thinking of local traffic laws, and many more. The only way to solve the problem of the terrible tourist is to make sure that you are not one! Be the best, kindest, most polite tourist possible, Remember, whenever you step outside your country’s borders, you are representing your country to the rest of the world.

10 . Every year around August, millions of teens take their parents to stores to buy new clothes for the start of the school year. Not every parent can afford this, and some teens are forced to go to school in the same clothes they wore last year. The obvious differences in clothes cause differences among students. There is a simple solution to this problem; school uniforms (校服).

I know from personal experience and surveys that wearing uniforms creates a sense of equality among peers (同龄人).

From sixth grade until I graduated from senior high school, I attended a school that required students to wear uniforms. The uniform was very simple: dark brown shoes, green-brown pants, and a white shirt. The uniform left little room for any kind of self-expression, especially through clothes.

However, I learned how to stand out by expressing myself through my personality, art, and sports. I did not know I could draw until the sixth grade. I also would never have learned of my musical abilities if it hadn’t been for my desire to find ways to express myself. Uniforms taught me that I was myself, except what I wore.

Uniforms also contribute to a much safer learning environment. I remember a particular event that happened in my junior high school. A man ran away from prison and wanted to hide in the gym of our school. Luckily, cameras all over the school quickly found the stranger before any danger could ever happen as he was out of place. School officials kept the man locked inside our gym until the police came to take him back to prison.

Uniforms help provide a better educational experience for all students no matter what race, culture, or economic class (经济阶层). In closing, wearing uniforms is good for both schools and students.