日常生活类 知识点题库

    I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood. You may think people in such an attractive and exciting, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.

    Many intelligent people still consider happiness equal to fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.

    Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.

    I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful people have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that brings “happiness”. But in memoir after memoir, famous people expose the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun — depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and extreme loneliness.

    Ask an unmarried man why he refuses to get married even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he's honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

    Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they want. Couples with babies are lucky to get a whole night's sleep or a three-day vacation. I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.

    The way people stick to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever achieving real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness, then pain must be equal to unhappiness. As a result, they fear the pain unavoidably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment and self-improvement.

    But, in fact, the opposite is true. More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain. The very efforts are the source of true happiness. Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to.

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    Every May it happens.I drop to my knees,just outside the back door,raise my arms to the sky and shout,"That's it!I give up!Take my flower beds,you killer weeds!Blackberry vines（藤蔓）,this land is yours!Vines,climb up and kill my trees one by one!I'm done!”

    Then I get up,lie down on the swing,and close my eyes.I'm sure I can hear the weeds growing and the vines creeping in（悄悄爬进）.I swear they are all laughing at me,too.They don't even have the manners to wait until I leave there.

    There is no denying that gardens are battle zones in the spring.I blame it on those April and May rains.Once the heat moves in,I can control what gets watered and survives,but those early showers even out（平均分配）the battlefield.

    Garden tools alone make it clear that gardening isn't an easy thing.My old cart seems to have the personality of a tank,and I'm pretty sure my spade is second cousin to a dagger.

    By late June,both sides are worn down.I've given some of the yard over to the weeds—you just can't win them all.That's a battle for next year.There is no clear victory for me,but I've stood my ground for yet another season.

    I look around and can't recognize where I am. It seems familiar but distant. I see my friends gather by a stage where music is playing and I run over. As I begin running towards them, they become further and further away. I keep calling them, but no one hears me. I start hearing a distant alarm-like sound and I am transported away. I woke up in a daze sitting in my bed.

    “Oh, it was only a dream,” I said to myself. I have always had vivid and intense dreams. It feels like I haven't even slept because I have been living out my dreams during my sleep.

    Today, dreaming is being studied even more than ever. Some say that dreams are how your receptors make sense of random thoughts while you sleep. Some say that you can't dream of a face you have never seen before, so everyone you see in your dreams you have at least laid eyes on at one time or another.

    Other people think dreams are ways of expressing stress or internal feelings you may be experiencing. A lot of people say that they have dreams about being chased.

    A common interpretation of the “being chased” dream is that you are feeling threatened. Some dream interpretation websites say you should try to reflect on what or who is chasing you to get a better idea of what is making you feel this way.

    Another dream that is often experienced is flying. This dream has a much more positive interpretation, which is that you are feeling free or have broken out of a bad situation such as a relationship turned sour or a job you hate.

Unfortunately, you may forget half of your dream within five minutes of waking up and within 10 minutes, you usually forget 90 percent of it.

    Dreamologists, people who devote time to the study and interpretation of dreams, suggest if you want to try to remember and study your dreams you should keep a journal beside your bed and write down what you dreamt as soon as you wake up so you can reflect on it later.

AFTER AMAZON ECHO MISFIRE, WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR OWN PRIVACY

    Revelations that an Amazon Echo smart speaker accidentally sent a family's private conversation to an acquaintance highlights some unexpected privacy risks of new voice-enabled technologies. There's no way to totally avoid these sorts of privacy risks except unplugging them entirely, but you can minimize the unpleasant privacy surprises with these tips:

    KILL THE MIC: Most smart speakers have a physical button to disable the microphone, so a private conversation can't be recorded to begin with. You can hit that when you're having sensitive conversations. It doesn't make sense to keep the mic disabled throughout the day, though.

    LIMIT THE MIC: Disabling the microphone isn't practical on a smartphone, but you can limit what apps have access to it. Go to the settings and turn off mic access to all but essential apps such as voice recorders or video conferencing.

    ABOUT THAT CAMERA: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously puts a piece of tape over his laptop's camera to prevent spying if anyone were to hack his device. Buy yourself a roll. Or use bandages. If you have a home-security camera that's connected to the Internet, turn the camera to the wall when you're home.

    BLOCK THE SIGNALS: For smartphones and other gadgets you carry with you, a "Faraday bag" can help prevent unwanted spying. The good ones will block cellular and other signals, meaning privacy-compromising information such as your location won't leak out either. However, your phone won't get any calls while it's in the bag.

    Of course, the safest approach is not to buy a new gadget in the first place. That might not be practical these days, but do you really need a smart speaker or a television set that's connected to the Internet?

    When friends come to visit us in the evening, they spend their time telling us that they are in a hurry and looking at their watches. It isn't that our friends are all very busy. It is just that we haven't got a TV set. People think that we are very strange. “But what do you do in the evenings?” they are always asking. The answer is simple. Both my wife and I have hobbies. We certainly don't spend our evenings staring at（盯着）the walls. My wife enjoys cooking and painting and often attends evening classes in foreign languages. This is particularly useful as we always go abroad for our holidays. I collect stamps and I am always busy with my collection. Both of us enjoy listening to music and playing chess together.

Sometimes there are power cuts and we have no electricity in the house. This does not worry us. We just light candles and carry on with what we were doing before. Our friends are lost —no televisions! So they don't know what to do. On such evenings our house is very full as they all come to us. They all have a good time. Instead of sitting in silence in front of the television, everybody talks and plays games. Yes, life is possible without television!

    Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.

    My father is famous in our family for saying “Take the extra minute to do it right”. I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule.  When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment，whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫)onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.

    I don't only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It's equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you“ or “I forgive you”. When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday，I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn't be here. But then I thought about the fact that he's 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn't give up an opportunity to see him.  I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.

    I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “ if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm buying myself peace of mind and that's the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.

    Do you intend to study at an American university? It takes a long time to get accepted at most American schools, perhaps as much as a year. That's why you should start choosing a school as soon as possible. It's a good idea to apply to several different institutions, so that you'll have a better chance of acceptance at one. You should start looking for information now, because the more information you have about each college, the better choice you can make.

    There are two good ways to get information you need. One is a general reference (参考) book, called Guide to American Colleges and Universities. The other good source of information is the catalogue (目录) published by each school.

    You can study the general guide in almost any American library. This book has many useful statistics, such as the number of students, the average test scores for people accepted to the school, the number of books in the library, and the number of teachers. You can also find the address of each school in this book.

    Although the general guidebook has helpful information, some of the facts may be out-of-date. For example, many schools raise their tuition every year. Since you'll need to know what your education will cost, out-of-date information will not be good enough. Also, schools sometimes change their requirements for entrance. To be sure that you are getting present information, write to the university and ask for its catalogue. The catalogue has more detailed information. For example, the catalogue can tell you if there is a special foreign student advisor, what kind of courses are offered, and what kind of housing is available. Some universities have dormitories, but at others you have to find your own place to live.

    With all of this information, you should be able to pick out several good schools.

    March 3 marks World Hearing Day. This year's theme is “Check your hearing!” Many experts and health organizations, including those who pay attention to the hearing-impaired (听力障碍), are working to help people realize the importance of protecting their hearing and avoid hearing loss.

    When we talk about music, what kind of feelings does it bring? Excitement… and relaxation. But what if the music lasts for hours?

    We interviewed a group of musicians based in Beijing during the weekend. They all said that hours of exposure to loud music can cause discomfort. One added that band members like to play at maximum volume (音量) and forget the harm that loud music can cause. The same thing not only occurs to musicians. It's also not rare for daily users since listening to loud music on loud sound equipment has become a part of modem life. According to the WHO, the practice has put more than a billion people around the world, aged 12-35, at risk of losing their hearing.

    We also interviewed some headphone users in the street, and most of them said that they are not heavy users but admitted they use headphones for hours on the subway and in the office or home. It's easy for these people to gradually increase the volume without awareness, especially in a noisy environment. Often, headphone users fail to realize they're listening to audio at unsafe levels until serious hearing problems suddenly occur.

    There are many reasons for hearing loss, including loud acoustic (听觉的) sources, drug abuse, and diseases. Experts suggest frequent medical checks and prevention measures.

    Whether congenital (先天的) or acquired, loss of hearing is usually irreversible. “Once the hearing loss occurs, it's already too late to be changed back to what it was before,” said Yang Shiming, expert of the Chinese PLA General Hospital. “Early prevention, early identification and early treatment. If everyone could do these things, hearing loss and its harm could be kept to a minimum,” Yang said. Of course, this applies to every one of us.

    Adopting (领养) a new pet should be an exciting and rewarding experience. But just as all families are different, so are all pets. Learn what to consider before you find your new furry family member.

    All pets require their owner's time, so Theisen, an expert in pet care, says how much time you can give to the pet is the top thing to consider. "If you adopt a 4-year-old cat, she's not going to need the same amount of care as a 9-week-old dog". says Theisen.

    Like dating and finding the perfect partner, you want a pet that shares your interests and activity levels, particularly if you're looking for dogs. "Consider activity levels in the family," says Theisen. "If you're a couch potato, or in other words, a homebody, look for a pet that matches that activity level."

    Some dogs, like Dalmatians and Terriers, can be loud and noisy and demand a more active lifestyle and room to be outside; they might not fit as well in close living situations as more sedentary pets. The Humane Society of the United States encourages potential owners to research books and websites and talk to other pet owners when considering adopting a new pet.

    Theisen says that potential owners should go beyond the first impression of loveliness and watch how the animals interact with them. "There are dogs that will jump to the gate to meet you," says Theisen. "And there are dogs that sit there with their sad doggy eyes — you know they're not going to be high-energy dogs".

    Some exotic pets, like tortoises and parrots, are likely to live longer than dogs and cats — and even their human owners. They can also grow to be much larger than they were when they first came to live with their owners. Owners should make sure that their living situations should be continually updated and also prepare for the animal's future.

    You're enjoying a quiet evening at home when suddenly your neighbor's dog starts barking(吠叫)and doesn't stop. Sure, dogs need to bark every now and then, but if the barking is getting in the way of your daily life, you need to do something.

    Before you take action, make records of when the dog is disturbing. Record the dates and times when the barking appears to find out the features of the barking. Check them carefully and get your facts straight. You might notice the barking only happens when the owners are at work, or during thunderstorms.

    After two to three weeks, visit your neighbors with the facts, your neighbors might not even realize the barking is a problem, for the worst noise may happen when they are gone.

    Explain the times when the barking gets bad, then suggest a way to solve the problem. Ask if the dog can stay inside during storm, or suggest a dog training class. Be open to compromise(妥协)because the owners might have other ideas about how to deal with the noise.

    Befriending the dog could help. Have your neighbors introduce you to their dog. If they become more comfortable in your presence, they're less likely to bark when they see you or when they are in the backyard. You might even be able to use commands such as "quiet" once the dog trusts you.

    Avoid gossiping(流言輩语)with other neighbors about the dog. "That's when things escalate." After all, most people will want to solve the problem.

    Emergencies can happen anytime, so being prepared for a home first aid kit(成套工具) is important for your family. Having a proper one in your home is an easy but necessary part of good emergency preparation.

    Pick a good container

    One good choice is a large translucent plastic container, which makes it easy to see the materials inside. Lunchboxes are also another good choice. Basically, if it's big enough, and at least somewhat water resistant, it can make a good container. Regardless of your container choice, it should be easy to recognize, so write “FIRST AID” on it with a marker.

    Teach your family about the kit

    For younger children who shouldn't use the items in the kit, teach them where it's located, so they could show a visitor, relative or babysitter. For older children and adults, instruct them on how to use the items in it. Use a first aid instruction booklet, like those available from the American Red Cross for guidance and place a booklet in the kit for reference.

    Keep your kit up–to–date

    No one wants to fetch a first aid kit and find the bandage box empty or the pain relievers expired (过期了的). Keep track of supply amounts and expiration dates regularly.

    Create a checklist in the kit

    Record every item on a sheet of paper and keep it in the kit. Besides, record the amounts of the items and expiration dates next to the listed items on the checklist that you include in your kit. In this way, anyone who wants to reach the kit can immediately know what it includes and doesn't include. Also, they can be clear whether the items can be used.

    The bad health effects of sleep loss during the week can't be repaid by longer weekend sleep, according to a new study.

    Researchers have long known that sleep deprivation (剥夺) can cause weight gain and increase other health risks. But for those who force themselves out of bed every weekday after too few hours of shut-eye, they hope turning off the alarm on Saturday and Sunday will repay the weekly sleep debt and remove any ill effects.

    The research, published in Current Biology, crushes those hopes. Despite complete freedom to sleep during a weekend recovery period, people in a sleep lab who were limited to five hours of sleep on weekdays gained nearly three pounds over two weeks and experienced disorders that would increase their risk for diabetes over the long term. While weekend recovery sleep had some benefits after a single week of sleep loss, those gains were wiped out when people fell right back into their same sleep-deprived schedule the next Monday.

    "If there are benefits of catch-up sleep, they're gone when you go back to your daily schedule. It's very short-lived," said Kenneth Wright, director of the sleep and chronobiology lab at the University of Colorado at boulder. "These health effects are long-term. It's kind of like smoking once was—people would smoke and wouldn't see an immediate effect on their health, but people will say now that smoking is not a healthy lifestyle choice. I think sleep is in the early stage of where smoking used to be."

    Wright said that the study suggests people should put sleep in the first place—cutting out the "sleep stealers" such as watching television shows or spending time on their phones. Even when people don't have a choice about losing sleep because of child-care responsibilities or job schedules, they should think about getting sleep in the same way they would get a healthy diet or exercise.

    Supermarket packaging often contains common English words that are oddly confusing. Here's what you need to know to safeguard your health.

    Imitation

    A food that simulates another food but isn't made of the same stuff is an imitation, right? Not quite. It should be labeled imitation only if it has a lower amount of protein or some other essential nutrient than the food it's copying.

    Free

    Packages bearing the words fat-, sugar-, or sodium-free may still contain trace amounts of those substances. The FDA evaluates these terms according to a typical portionsize known as an RACC(reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion). An RACC of eggnog, for example, is a half cup, and for croutons, it's 7 g. To be labeled free of calories, a food should have fewer than 5 calories per RACC; to qualify as fat- or sugarfree, less than 0.5 g per RACC; and to be labeled sodium-free, fewer than 5 mg per RACC.

    Reduced/Less

    Don't be fooled: Just because a product claims to have reduced fat or to contain less sugar doesn't mean it's low in the stuff you should avoid in excess(过量). Such terms just mean the amount is lower than usual; the food might not meet the standard for low at all. These phrases indicate a relational claim compared with a reference food. The reduced substance(for example, total fat, sugar, etc.) should be at least 25 percent less per RACC than the amount in an appropriate reference food.

    A book is so much more than mere ink and paper. So insist French booksellers, who for nearly four decades successfully persuade the government to keep the forces of the free market at bay. A law passed in 1981 bans the sale of any book at anything other than the price decided by its publisher. Authorities are cracking down on those trying to sell the latest Thomas Piketty or J.K Rowling at a discount.

    The fixed-price rule is meant to keep customers loyal to their local bookshop and out of the control of supermarkets and corporations. But the arrival of e-commerce and e-readers has promoted questions worthy of their own tomes(大部头著作). Can you fix the price of a book if it is part of an all-you-can-read subscription service? Are audio-books books at all? And what of authors who self-publish?

    Changes have been made to preserve the principle of "one book, one price". In 2011, the rule began to apply to digital tomes. Free delivery by online sellers was prohibited because it implied a subsidy(补贴) on the delivered books (encouraging online sellers to charge only €0.01 for postage). But a new challenge to the policy is proving more difficult to deal with.

    Used books are exempted from the pricing rule. Third-party sellers on Amazon are accused of using this as a way to apply forbidden discounts: selling brand-new books as "second hand" to make them cheaper. So fans can purchase a copy of the latest Michel Houellebecq novel Serotonine for 11.71 pounds on Amazon, roughly half of its original price. Its seller claims it is in "perfectly new" condition.

    Amazon claims its practices are legal. But books sellers are upset, and their political allies with them. "This is a major concern," said Franck Riester, the culture minister, at a bookseller's conference this week. He says new laws may be needed.

    Defenders of the fixed-price principle (which has spread to other parts of Europe) say it helps keep independent bookshops alive. Others are not so sure. Books are expensive in France — an odd way to encourage people to buy more.

    One of the most popular comments I have heard about time is that we need to balance our time in order to live a more balanced life. We often feel that if we are focused and devoted, happy and positive, loving and generous, healthy and energetic, then we will be balanced people. And if the pie chart of our daily life has just the right ratios(比率) of work, life, family, health, and service, then our time will be balanced.

    The problem with trying hard for balance is that most people's understanding of this state is so different from what balance actually is! Balance is not about walking around with a bunch of positive qualities; it's about walking on the tight rope between the poles within us and the circumstances outside of us. Strictly speaking, in order to achieve true balance, we should accept we may have some shortcomings. We should accept and love the most challenging parts of life because they offer gifts for full, real living.

    Even though we measure time in a linear(线状的) way, time is and will always be asymmetrical(不均匀的). One moment is not like another, just like each day is different and each tide that rolls in is different from the previous one. This is why it is impossible to balance our time through a pie chart in a time management book. Exploring asymmetrical time allows us to move in line with an unbalanced time and thus regain our relative balance. If we stop measuring ourselves against the standards of linear time, we can accept ourselves more fully. New possibilities arise as we accept the uncertainty.

Life will probably be very different in 2050. First of all, it seems that TV channels will have vanished by 2050. Instead, people will choose a programme from a "menu" and a computer will send the programme directly to the television. By 2050, music, films, programmes, newspapers and books will come to us in the similar way.

In many places, agriculture is developing quickly and people are growing fruit and vegetables for export. This uses a lot of water. Therefore, there could be serious shortages of water. Some scientists predict that water could be the cause of wars if we don't act now.

In the future, cars will run on new, clean fuels (燃料) and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won't be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Also, by 2050, space planes will fly people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.

Some big companies now prefer to use robots that do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and work 24 hours a day. They are also easy to control. And they never argue with people. They can be easily used in a variety of places—factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.

Scientists will have discovered how to control genes (基因). Scientists have already produced clones (克隆) of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look and how they behave. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively (被动地). We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it's not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor (谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn't show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That's what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping (打上标记) it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be restated as a fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

There you are in your favorite clothing store. You don't really need to buy anything, but everything is so cheap and stylish! Before you know it, you leave the store with bags and bags of new clothes.

On the surface, this doesn't seem so bad. However, there are a lot of hidden costs behind the cheap price tags (标牌). To put it plainly, the fashion industry is terrible for the planet. Not only does it use up a lot of resources, but it also heavily pollutes the environment with chemicals, microplastics and unwanted waste.

Fashion is one of the least sustainable industries on the planet, commented Michael Stanley-Jones. "We've all become our own waste managers, hoarding fashion waste in our houses,” he noted.

It doesn't just take up space in our cupboards, though. It also ends up in landfills(垃圾场), too. But, thankfully, the fashion trend tides are changing. People are increasingly examining their own consumption and what changes they can make to become sustainable, Jane Fellner, founder and CEO of sustainable fashion seller Loopster, told the Guardian.

In particular, with its typically lower prices and rare fashion finds, shopping secondhand  has become an increasingly popular and eco-friendly option. According to online reseller ThredUp, the secondhand market is predicted to reach $80 billion by 2029. And, although fast fashion will continue to grow 20 percent over the next 10 years, secondhand fashion is expected to grow an unbelievable 185 percent in that same amount of time. Fellner continued: "Secondhand has become more socially acceptable. Thrifting ( 节约) is now massive on TikTok.”

The only true sustainable way to shop is to not shop at all, unless you're buying clothes that already exist.

Later this month, the city center of London will be car-free for the day. More than 12 miles of roads in the capital will be closed off from vehicles. Though the car-free day is largely symbolic, the government expects people can walk or ride bikes more often instead of driving cars after the activity.

Besides London, there are other cities around the world doing the same thing. Oslo, Paris and Montreal have experimented with a variety of ways to ban cars. Barcelona has created some superblocks as part of a plan to limit vehicles in 70 percent of the city's streets. Leaders in some US cities are also exploring plans to extremely cut down on cars and promote walking, bikes and other forms of travel.

Some people point out cars block city streets while producing harmful chemicals into the air, creating noise pollution and endangering people around them. Cars take up a huge amount of room that could be used to create more enjoyable living space for people. So, limiting the number of drivers on the road is also seen as a major step in fighting climate change.

However, others say the plans of car-free areas are unrealistic, considering the large amount of money spent on the basic systems and services and public transportation that would be required to make them successful. Some argue they would unfairly benefit rich people who have enough money to live in city centers while making travel more difficult for less affluent people in the suburbs.

Most of the early success stories of car-free areas have taken place in dense (密集的) European cities that were designed before cars existed, which leads to a question -- whether the idea would work in modem cities that were built to provide space for cars. Therefore, large-scale changes that would make car-free city living possible would likely take years to take place. And at each step, public sentiment (情绪) and political will must be behind the movement.

The term "social distancing" has been at the center of public conversation for a while. But it's not "social" distance we are trying to promote. It's physical separation. In fact, preserving social ties— even at a distance— is essential for both mental and physical health. The results of an analytic review done in 2019 indicate that a lack of social support is on apar with (与……不相上下) smoking cigarettes as a risk factor for health.

Given this fact, how might we best stay connected to others while maintaining physical distance? Would we be better off e-mailing a friend? Making a phone call? Setting up a video chat? In our study, Nick Epley and I tested whether the media through which people interact affects their sense of connection— and how expectations about certain technologies impact the communication media they choose to use.

In our experiment, we asked participants to reconnect with someone they hadn't interacted with recently, either through e-mail or over the phone. Participants first made predictions about what it would be like to get in touch if they reached out in these two ways. They generally believed that they'd feel more connected when interacting via the phone than over e-mail. But they also predicted that talking on the phone would be more uncomfortable than sending an e-mail. Although these participants believed that talking encouraged stronger bonds, most of them said they'd rather send an e-mail than call the person up. Fears about awkwardness, it seems, push individuals toward text-based methods for communicating.

In the next part of the experiment, we had participants actually reconnect using one randomly determined mode of communication and then followed up with them after they had done so. We found that people do form meaningfully stronger bonds when interacting over the phone than over e-mail. Importantly, though, there was no difference in the amount of discomfort when reconnecting on the phone.

The next time you think about how best to connect, consider calling or setting up a video chat. Feelings of social connection are preferably facilitated by voice rather than a keyboard.