4 . This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles. They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.

The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.

Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.

“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.

Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability (责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.

An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduced earlier this year, insists that a human “be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.

But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars,” Merat says. “You know — no driver.”

Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without human operation.

Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.

That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.

6 . A hospitality college in Bali, Indonesia, has begun accepting coconuts (椰子) as tuition payment as students face economic hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

When students at the Venus One Tourism Academy pay their fees with coconuts, the college will use them to harvest virgin coconut oil, UPI reported.

Alternatively, students can pay using leaves from moringa (辣木) and gotu kola plants (积雪草), which can be converted into herbal soap and sold to raise money for the academy, Food & Wine added.

The program has been running since March, after the college received a permit to allow it to operate on this basis, according to The Bali Sun.

Venus One Tourism Academy’s director, Wayan Pasek Adi Putra, told local news outlet Balipuspa News: “Initially, the tuition payment scheme was paid in installments three times, with the first installment at 50%, the second 20%, and the third 30%. Because of this Covid pandemic, we have adapted a flexible policy. We produce virgin coconut oil, so students can pay their tuition by bringing coconuts.”

He added: “We have to educate them to optimize the natural resources in their surroundings. When the pandemic is over, they will enter the world of hospitality with different skills.”

Bali is a major international tourist destination but in August, the Balinese government closed the island to non-Indonesian visitors until 2021, BBC News reported.

7 . Think of London and you will probably remember the bright red double－decker buses. Think of Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok, and the noisy tuk－tuks may come to mind. Think of San Francisco and you might see the city’s cable cars.

Imagining what these cities would look like without those is difficult. They are symbols of these cities that make them different. However, these city symbols are not always so well loved by their city leaders. City leaders want what is best for their city, which often means the most modern transport.

In Bangkok, city leaders have banned (禁止) tuk－tuks because they consider them noisy and polluting. However, the ban has largely been unsuccessful as it has not changed Thai people’s love for the cheap tuk－tuks over taxis.

In London the city’s first ever mayor (市长) removed the red double－decker buses, which he thought were old fashioned.His plan worked, but Londoners were unhappy to lose the nice old buses they believed represented the best of their city. They made their unhappiness felt when the mayor came up for re－election. Most Londoners voted for his competitor, who promised to bring the bus back.

As for San Francisco, several cable cars are still in use but mainly as tourist attractions. They are too slow to be used for anything other than scenic trips.

City transport symbols may have a place in their city people’s hearts, but it seems they are increasingly out of step with the modern world. As Londoners have proved, their continued life depends on people’s willingness to fight for their survival.

Tiger Parents Do No Good to Kids’ Development

Digging through kids’ school bags, looking up all the assignments, sitting beside them going through each item, and finally     1     (have) all the homework checked with a name signed is a daily routine for most Chinese parents, as     2     (require) by teachers. A demanding task especially after a long day’s work at office, isn’t it?    3     (luck), some parents in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, have been liberated. A local primary school has recently announced that parents will no longer have to sign their names on their kids’ homework, as students should be responsible     4     their own assignments.

Making mistakes is     5     essential part of the process of understanding. Who cares how much you     6     (score) in your homework after you have settled down in life and found your directions? The     7     (able) to realize one’s mistakes and learn from them is what matters, which is also the main purpose of education.Why not give students a chance     8     (find) out and correct their mistakes themselves?

It is by no means parents’ duty to go through the kids’ assignments.     9     parents are supposed to do is to create a friendly studying environment for kids, and teach them to be an independent learner. After all, independent learning is much     10     (important) than high scores.

10 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

“Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication,” says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”

In a 2021 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; he other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral(外围的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.”

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.