The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that one in every 12 kids is living in homes where no one has worked for at least a year. That may be due to unemployment or issues such as sickness or disability that mean they can't work, and aren't required to. This is known as being in a "long term workless" family.
The issues faced by children in workless families have very bad influence on their development and education, limiting their future employment prospects, and reducing their opportunities to succeed throughout their lives.
Not only does worklessness reduce family income, it can also damage families' health and stability, and thus destroy children's development. This is because many workless families are held back by disadvantages such as debt, drug and alcohol dependency, and by homelessness. Suffering from the family problems, many children face a greater and greater possibility of repeating the poor outcomes of their parents. Government research has shown that children in workless families are almost twice as likely not to reach the expected level at all stages of their education. For example, three-quarters of children from families where no one works failed to reach the expected level at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), compared to around half of children in lower-income working families.
So attention should be paid to children in out-of-work homes. Having working parents means a child is more likely to do better at school, to have better health, education and development, and also means they are less likely to fall into crime.
But for some families, worklessness, or not employment, is the norm. They just choose not to work. These families often face huge barriers to getting on with their lives but they take the opportunities offered by the society. Parents' ability to work is frustrated by issues like low skills or poor mental or physical health, or drug and alcohol dependency, leaving children without the stability they need.
We all want to help workless families with complex problems so that their children can take advantage of the opportunities in Britain. We all want parents to have the chance to go out to earn a living and to enjoy the pleasure of work, so that their children can benefit from the good examples of working parents. In doing so, we should know the need to understand the complex issues that some families face and to develop a new approach to deal with poverty. Because the root causes are not financial. It is about helping families overcome the problems they face so that they can go as far as their talents and hard work will take them. We shouldn't retreat from acting to deal with disadvantages, because we know the costs of inaction to individuals, communities and society.
Going to university is supposed to be a mind-broadening experience. That statement is probably made in comparison to training for work straight after school. But is it actually true? Jessika Golle of the University of Tubingen, in Germany reports in Psychological Science this week that those who have been to university indeed seem to leave with broader and more curious minds than those who have spent their immediate post-school years in vocational (职业的) training for work. However, it was not the case that university broadened minds. Rather, vocational training for work seemed to have narrowed them. The result is not quite what might be expected.
Dr. Golle came to this conclusion after she and a team of colleagues studied the early careers of 2,095 German youngsters. The team used two standardized tests to assess their volunteers' personality traits (特点) including openness, conscientiousness (认真) and so on, and attitudes such as realistic, investigative and enterprising twice, once towards the end of each volunteer's time at high school, and then again six years later. Of the original group, 382 had to make a choice between the academic and vocational routes, and it was on these that the researchers focused. University beckoned for 212 of them. The remaining 170 chose vocational training and a job.
When it came to the second round of tests, Dr. Golle found that the personalities of both groups had not changed significantly. As for changes in altitude, again, none were noticeable in the university group. However, those who had chosen the vocational route showed marked drops in interest in tasks that are investigative and enterprising in nature. And that might restrict their choice of careers.
The changes in attitude that the researchers recorded were more worrying. Vocational training has always been what Germany prides itself on. If Dr Golle is correct, and changes in attitude brought about by the very training are narrowing people's choices that is indeed a matter worthy of serious consideration.
When we buy something new, we get rid of what's old. That cycle of consumption has made electronics waste the world's fastest-growing solid-waste stream, which is expected to grow as the world upgrades to 5G.
While promising faster speeds and other benefits, 5G will result in a dramatic increase in e-waste. That's good business for ERI, which charges customers to collect their electronics and to securely wipe their data. But less than a quarter of U. S. electronic waste is recycled, the rest ending up as rubbish, posing environmental risks.
Part of the problem concerns regulation (法规). In states without laws banning electronics from the regular trash, electronics often end up in garbage and recycling bins. Even when e-waste rules exist, it's left to consumers to handle their old devices properly. But recycling them can be a pain. Rather than drop a used phone in a bin, lots of people have to take their electronics to a store, which may pay them for it or charge them to get rid of it. Many consumers simply throw their devices into the trash or throw them in a drawer.
One solution is to make electronics last as long as they once did. Yet, technology companies are speeding the pace of being deserted. "It's a strategy by producers to force us into shorter upgrade cycles," said Kyle Wiens, the founder of iFixit, which publishes do-it-yourself repair guides.
Some environmental groups say big companies like Apple and Samsung should pick up the cost of recycling the devices they sell. Lawmakers have passed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which require producers to establish and fund systems to recycle or collect abandoned products.
Some companies are increasing their recycling efforts on their own. For instance, Apple in 2018 introduced Daisy, a smartphone-recycling robot that can take apart 200 iPhones every hour. But that's a drop in the bucket compared with the 50 million tons of e-waste generated globally last year.
China dropped its decades-long, one-child policy several years ago to allow each family to have two children. This change has put 270 million married women of childbearing age in the position of choosing between family and work. The employers also face big challenges as more female workers will have two maternity leaves (产假)for a total of seven to eight months.
In a survey published by classified advertising website Ganji.com，career women who might be considering having a second child were asked what kinds of pressure they might expect. More than 76 percent of the women who were questioned mentioned concerns about the financial burden of raising two children, while more than 71 percent said it would be difficult to balance career and family. In addition, nearly 56 percent said that having a second child would definitely have a negative effect on their career.
Another survey conducted by Chongging-based human resources website job. cg. qq. com found that over 70 percent of job seekers believe that having a second child would make females less popular in the job market, although two-thirds of the employers said the policy will make no difference in their employment of staff.
Feng Lijuan, a senior expert on human resources at 51 job. com, a leading Chinese job finding platform, said she would not say "there is prejudice against career women.". Feng said Chinese women shoulder more family responsibility." It is not only about maternity leave; a female employee might only fully get back to work after three to five years after having her first child."
Wang Yixin, a senior employment adviser, said the positive side is that more companies are trying to attract more talents by providing support to career women. "Different from before, it is not only employers choosing employees. Many talents, including professional career women, also chose employers." said Wang. "According to our survey, many large companies are very open to their employees'choice of having a second child."
①Financial burden of raising two children
②Fewer opportunities to get a pay rise
③Negative effects on their career
④Difficulty in balancing career and family
The next time your friends roll their eyes when you're snapping a selfie (自拍照）or taking a photo of your dessert, tell them that photographing everyday things can actually make people happier.
In a study of more than 2,000 people, researchers found that people who took photos of their experiences, whether they were walking through a museum or going on a city bus tour, had a better time overall compared with those who didn't.
During each of the study's nine experiments, people were asked to either take photos or give up photography during an everyday activity, such as eating a meal. In nearly every experiment, the group that took photos showed higher levels of enjoyment.
The finding might not sound terribly surprising. After all, Facebook members upload about 2 billion photos daily, and Instagram users upload about 80 million photos every day. But some people argue that taking photographs can distract themselves from enjoying an experience while it's happening.
The new research shows that it isn't the case and that photography does increase a person's enjoyment, because it increases his or her engagement in the activity. For example, in one experiment, people toured a museum while wearing glasses that tracked their eye movements. The group that took photos spent more time looking at the artifacts than those who didn't. However, photos are sometimes a drag. For instance, if the camera is difficult to carry, it might not bring enjoyment to a person. And in some cases, photography can make situations unpleasant. For example, when people in the study took a virtual safari (游猎) and watched some lions attacking a water buffalo, the people who took photos of the bloody event were reported to have a lower enjoyment of the activity than those who didn't, the researchers said.
Claire Lomas, who broke her back in horse-riding accident, has raised over ￡575,000 for charity through a number of events, and became the first person to complete a marathon in her ReWalk Suit—a robotic exoskeleton that enables her to walk.
In her latest challenge, Lomas continued throughout the day and night without sleep to walk the race in Portsmouth with the aid of the suit and pair of crutches.
She was met with cheers and applause as she crossed the line, having posted regular updates on Twitter as she battled wind and rain.
Lomas said the fact that this was her first long-distance race without stopping meant "it was a little bit unknown" whether she could finish, and added that she was "really grateful to everyone that supported me... I had a few tears."
At the halfway stage, Lomas remained in high spirits and posted video of herself singing Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer. And she showed the exhausting effects of the race with a mile to go when she tweeted: "Help me get to the last mile as I'm so tired."
Her effort has so far raised more than ￡4,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. After collecting her award, she said, "My accident was 10 years ago in May. When I think back to that first year or two I would have loved for someone to tell me what the future had in store—back then, everything felt so bleak with so many dark days. I forced myself to take small opportunities and they have led on to bigger things. It has taken a lot of small little steps to get here."
London's newest skyscraper (摩天大楼)is called the Shard and it cost about 430 million pounds to build. At a height of almost 310 metres, it is the tallest building in Europe. The Shard has completely changed the appearance of London. However, not everyone thinks that it is a change for the better.
The Shard was designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. When he began designing the Shard for London, Piano wanted a very tall building that looked like a spire (尖顶)• He wanted the glass surfaces to reflect the sky and the city. The sides of the building aren't regular. So the building has an unusual shape. It looks like a very thin，sharp piece of broken glass. And that is how the building got the name: the Shard. Piano says that the spire shape of the Shard is part of a great London tradition. The shape reminds him of the spires of the churches of London or the tall masts (桅杆) of the ships that were once on the river Thames.
The Shard has 87 floors. At the top, there is an observatory. At the moment the building is empty, but eventually there will be a five-star hotel. There will also be top quality restaurants, apartments and offices.
Before building work began, a lot of people didn't want the Shard though the plans were approved. Now they are still unhappy about the Shard. Some critics say that such a tall skyscraper might be good in a city like New York, but not in London. They say that the best thing about the Shard is its spire shape. But that is the only thing. There is no decoration, only flat surfaces. The Egyptians did that 4,500 years ago. They also think the Shard is too big for London. It destroys the beauty of the city.
Other critics don't like what the Shard seems to represent. They say that the Shard shows how London is becoming more unequal. Only very rich people can afford to buy the expensive private apartments and stay in the hotel. But the people who live near the Shard are among the poorest in London. So the Shard seems a symbol of the division in society between the very rich and the poor.
The Shard now dominates the London skyline. It is not certain, however, that ordinary London citizens will ever accept it as a valuable addition to the city.
Great work is work that makes a difference in people's lives, writes David Sturt, Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Institute, in his book Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. Sturt insists, however, that great work is not just for surgeons or special-needs educators or the founders of organizations trying to eliminate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The central theme of Great Work, according to Sturt, is that anyone can make a difference in any job. It's not the nature of the job, but what you do with the job that counts. As proof, Sturt tells the story of a remarkable hospital cleaner named Moses.
In a building filled with doctors and nurses doing great life-saving work, Moses the cleaner makes a difference. Whenever he enters a room, especially a room with a sick child, he engages both patients and parents with his optimism and calm, introducing himself to the child and, Sturt writes, speaking "little comments about light and sunshine and making things clean." He comments on any progress he sees day by day ("you're sitting up today, that's good.") Moses is no doctor and doesn't pretend to be, but he has witnessed hundreds of sick children recovering from painful surgery, and parents take comfort from his encouraging words. For Matt and Mindi, whose son McKay was born with only half of a heart, Moses became a close friend. As Sturt explains, "Moses took his innate (与生俱来的) talents (his sensitivity) and his practical wisdom (from years of hospital experience) and combined them into a powerful form of patient and family support that changed the critical-care experience for Mindi, Matt and little McKay."
How do people like Moses do great work when so many people just work? That was the central question raised by Sturt and his team at the O.C. Tanner Institute, a consulting company specialized in employee recognition and rewards system.
O.C. Tanner launched an exhaustive Great Work study that included surveys to 200 senior executives, a further set of surveys to 1,000 managers and employees working on projects, an in-depth qualitative study of 1.7 million accounts of award-winning work (in the form of nominations (提名) for awards from corporations around the world), and one-on-one interviews with 200 difference makers. The results of the study revealed that those who do great work refuse to be defeated by the constraints of their jobs and are especially able to reframe their jobs: they don't view their jobs as a list of tasks and responsibilities but see their jobs as opportunities to make a difference. No matter, as Moses so ably exemplifies (例证), what that job may be.
Having lived in California until 1970, my family has felt a number of earthquakes. We have been fortunate, however, to have suffered no bodily harm or property damage.
There is a website that lists all California earthquakes recorded from 1769 to the present. The site lists the dates and times as well as the magnitude(震级) and the exact location of any quake that measured more than 6. 0. There are only a few quakes that stand out in my memory and，luckily，none is shown in the website. So, my personal experience with earthquakes might be considered insignificant.
There are three earthquakes that are difficult to forget. The first one was in 1955 and our oldest daughter was walking with me in our backyard in Redwood City in California. As the shaking became stronger I held her to me with one arm as I held on to one of our fruit trees with the other. All three of us (my daughter, I and the tree) shook for two or three minutes that to us felt like hours.
The second one was in 1963. Our entire family was visiting Disneyland in Southern California. The earth started to shake just as we were beginning to walk from our hotel toward the famous landmark.
My third experience with an earthquake was a lonely one in California. It was in my sixties and I was alone in an old church. As the building started to shake, I quickly headed for the door to go outside. I remember I said a little prayer—something like, "Help me get out of here in time, Dear Heavenly Father". Minutes later, I was safe outside.
Art and science may seem like opposite things. One means the creative flow of ideas, and the other means cold, hard data—some people believe. In fact, the two have much in common. Now, a study finds art can help students remember better what they learned in science class.
Mariale Hardiman, an education specialist at Johns Hopkins University, noticed that students who used art in the classroom listened more carefully. They might ask more questions. They might volunteer more ideas. What's more, students seemed to remember more of what they had been taught when their science lessons had involved (涉及) art. To prove that, Hardiman teamed up with some researchers and six local schools.
In the experiment, the researchers worked with teachers in 16 fifth-grade classrooms. They provided traditional science lessons and art-focused ones. In a traditional science class, for example, students might read aloud from a book. In the art-focused one, they might sing the information instead.
The team randomly assigned (随机分配) each of the 350 students to either a traditional science classroom or an art-focused one. Students then learned science using that way for the whole unit—about three weeks. When they changed to a new topic, they also changed to the other type of class. This way, each student had both an art-focused class and a traditional one. Every unit was taught in both ways, to different groups of students. This enabled the researchers to see how students did in both types of classes.
The team found that students who started off in traditional classes performed better after they moved into an art-focused class. But those who started in an art-focused class did well even when they went back to a traditional science class. These students appeared to use some of the art techniques（技巧）after going back to a traditional class. Classroom teachers reported that many students continued to sing the songs that they learned after finishing the unit. "The more we hear something, the more we retain it," Hardiman says. "It suggests that the arts may help students apply creative ways of learning on their own. "
While we know that language first appeared among Homo sapiens (智人) somewhere thousands of years ago, the secret to how language evolved is still unknown, and mainstream theories fall into two distinctly different camps.
One widely held theory is that language came about as an evolutionary adaptation. That was where the idea of natural selection came into play, which was the belief that the specific physical features of a population made that population more likely to survive its environment, like the turtle (海龟) and its shell. On one hand, humans needed to communicate with each other in order to hunt，farm and defend themselves successfully from the surrounding severe environment. Being able to communicate by using language gave the human species a distinct survival advantage. On the other hand, language was needed for social interaction, according to those who subscribed to the adaptation theory.
In their paper "Natural Language and Natural Selection," researchers Steven Pinker and Paul Bloom theorized that a series of calls or gestures evolved over time into combinations, giving us complex communication, or language. As things became more complicated around them, humans needed a more complex system to convey information to one another. Early man saw a group of deer he wanted to hunt. He made a sound to his hunting partner that means "deer are nearby." One day, a storm came in and the hunter noticed that thunder scared the deer away. As a result, the hunter went hungry until the storm passed. Over time, the same hunter also learned to recognize the warning signs for bad weather-dark skies and increased wind. Early man realized that when the sky darkened and the wind picked up, he needed to tell his hunting partner to speed up the pursuit of the deer. Therefore, he came up with a series of sounds that refer to both the deer and the bad weather. That series of sounds was the beginning of an evolutionary adaptation that eventually became language.
As humans learned more about how to best survive, they developed a need to convey these survival methods to their population. To be brief, that's the adaptation theory.
Edgar Snow was the American journalist who, risking his life, made it to the northern part of Shaanxi Province to interview Mao Zedong.
As a young boy, Snow, who might have been influenced by Mark Twain's works, was very interested in travel and adventure. After reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Life on the Mississippi, 17-year-old Snow then drove a T-type tourist car with several of his young playmates, heading for California, 3,000 kilometers away from his home state, Missouri.
Three months later, when he had spent all his five dollars, he had to climb onto slow-going trains. With the rumbling (隆隆作响) of the train, he enjoyed more than half of America's splendid views. On February 15, 1928, Snow decided to board Thunder, a ship leaving for the Far East, without informing his family, setting out to realize his dream of touring the world.
In 1958 or 30 years later, Snow explained his thought more clearly in his book Become a Journey: "I was 22 that year and made some money then, which was enough for me to be on a one-year adventurous tour of the world if I was to be thrifty (节约的). "
Clearly this young man's Far East travel was without any great dream at first. It was only his travel experiences, especially his visit to the northern part of Shaanxi Province years ago that determined his lifetime cause, thus closely connecting his life with China.
Have you ever listened to the sound of a raindrop? You might call the small sounds earth songs. Is it possible to catch earth songs, to put them into words?
Long ago, poets in Japan listened, watched, and did catch the beauty of the earth's songs. They did this with the tiniest poems in the world, called haiku. A haiku is a poem that is just three lines and seventeen syllables long. And the poets who wrote them watched and listened, not only with their eyes and ears, but also with their hearts!
In their haiku, the early Japanese poets caught the colors, sounds, and beauties of the seasons of the year. They sang of their islands' beauties. Their miniature poems were not meant to fully describe a scene or to explain it but rather were a flash impression.
The old poets are not the only writers of haiku. Today Japanese farmers, shopkeepers, grandparents, and students write it, and because of its strong appeal, haiku is written in many other countries throughout the world.
Interestingly enough, Japanese poetry has had a long and colorful history. In the pre-haiku period in the early eighth century, Japanese poets wrote katauta, poems in a question-and-answer form, using two people. Each three-line verse(诗节) contained about seventeen syllables that could be delivered easily in one breath—just as one would naturally ask or answer a question. This has remained the basic pattern for traditional Japanese poetry throughout the centuries.
Another form that appeared was the tanka, which contained five lines and thirty-one syllables(5-7-5-7-7), written by either one or two persons. From that evolved(发展) the renga, which contained more than one verse, or link. Written by three or more people, it could have as many as 100 links! The first verse of the renga introduced a subject. It had three lines and was called the hokku, or starting verse. Renga parties became a great pleasure.
Around 1450, haikai with no renga became popular. This style of linked verse contained puns(双关) and was humorous and amusing. The opening three lines were still called a hokku, and from haikai and hokku the term haiku evolved.
At work, Morgan Philpott cares for sick children. In his off-hours, the Australian nurse turns his attention to an equally unprotected group unwell koala. "They really run the risk of becoming extinct inside our lifetime," Philpott said at an animal hospital on Sydney's outskirts while helping treat a rescued koala affected with a disease (疾病).
Disease among the koalas, bushfires, drought, cutting down of forest, and loss of urban habitat are some of the many destructive forces that continue to threaten their survival. These forces, a government report warned in June, could make Australia's symbolic animal extinct in New South Wales-the nation's most populous state — by 2050.
The country's worst summer of bushfires in a generation destroyed more than 11.2 million hectares, nearly half the area of the United Kingdom, putting the gray, tree-hugging animals into the center of national conservation (保护)and a hot political issue. In New South Wales, at least 5,000 koalas were killed in the fires that burned 80 percent of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and 24 percent of koala habitat on public land, the government's June report said.
New state laws have sought to limit the ability of farmers to clear land considered important for koala habitat, setting off a political debate between urban conservationists and people in the bush who wanted to manage their land. The rate of tree-clearing and loss of habitats are behind all of the other factors that threaten them in those developed areas which include dog attacks and vehicle accidents," said Kellie Leigh, head of Science for Wildlife, a nonprofit conservation organization.
There were smiling children all the way. Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway, wave to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang. Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favourite relatives. This is the simple village people of Malaysia. I was moved.
I had always travelled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train. I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread. I looked about the train. There was not one familiar face. I sighed and sat down to read my Economics.
It was not long before the train was across the causeway and in Malaysia. Johor Bahru was just another city like the city of Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past. As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green. Then the first village came into sight. Immediately I came alive; I decided to wave back.
From then on my journey became interesting. I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life. Then everything came alive. The mountains seemed to speak to me. Even the trees were smiling. I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.
The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry. I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3:00 p. m. Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth. I looked at the people all around me. They all looked beautiful. When my uncle arrived with a smile, I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug. I had never done this before. He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile. We walked arm in arm to his car.
I looked forward to the return journey.
It's school time again! You're probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer is over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared (害怕的) on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and even a new school. Luckily, these new worries only stay for a little while. Let's find out more about going to a new school.
Most teachers kick off the new school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the things you'll be doing that year. Some teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class, too. When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules and school rules so you'll know what's allowed and what's not. Please pay close attention.
You might already know a lot of people in your class on the first day, but it's a great day to make new friends, so try to say hello to kids you know and new ones that you don't. Make the first move and you'll be glad you did, and so will your new friends!
Seeing old friends can make the first day an exciting one. You can make the day special by wearing clothes that you really like. Maybe you got a great T-shirt on one of your vacations, or a pair of shoes. It also can make you feel good to be prepared and have all the things you need, such as pencils, folders, and whatever else you'll be needing. But make sure that you pack (打包) them the night before in case you don't have time in the morning.
Life for almost anyone is increasingly influenced by screens. Not only are screens themselves cheap to make, but they also make things cheaper. Any place that can fit a screen in can cut costs. And any activity that can happen on a screen becomes cheaper. The physical experience of learning, living and dying is becoming smooth glass. All of this has led to a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming a luxury good (奢侈品).
"What we are seeing now is the luxury of human engagement, " Milton Pedraza, the chief of the Luxury Institute, said. Expected spending on experiences such as enjoyable travel and dining is outpacing spending on goods, according to his company's research, and he sees it as a direct response to the rapid increase of screens.
Screens exposure starts young. And children who spent more than two hours a day looking at a screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests, according to early results of a landmark study supported by the National Institutes of Health. The study focuses on brain development of more than 11, 000 children. Most disturbingly, the study is finding that the brains of children who spend much time on screens are different. For some kids, their cerebral cortex (大脑皮层) would become thinner before expected time. In adults, one study found an association between screen time and depression.
There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing separation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a vital gap.
For normal people, running away from the screen becomes impossible. It's not a luxury, and it's easy to get. It is normal for more people to need the network constantly. In addition, it has become an important part of social interaction.
An Irish designer is hoping to save her island's bees by creating special hives (蜂箱) grown from mushrooms. In the world Top20 for the James Dyson Award, the hive, called Econooc, has been designed specifically by Niamh Damery to save the Irish black bee, as well as getting more people involved in environmental protection. Decreasing bee populations in Ireland are the result of habitat loss or pesticide (杀虫剂)use as is common elsewhere.
Econooc simulates(模仿) the hollow (洞) of a tree where black bees tend to build their hives in order to shelter themselves, their food, and their young from the rain. A landing pad through which owners can watch bee activity in and out of the hive is made from recycled plastic, while the belts that tie it to the tree are old car seat belts, making it almost totally recycled.
Damery also worked to create a calendar, which will be included in every hive and each month educates the owner on the different plants growing in that period that require Irish black bees for pollination (授粉), as well as what exactly is happening inside the hive during that season.
In addition, once the month is finished, the owner can tear the calendar's bottom part off, which is filled with wildflower seeds, and place it under an inch of soil in their garden to further aid in the efforts to save black bees and other Irish pollinators.
Damery was inspired by her father and grandfather, who both kept bees. She said: "I hope Econooc will encourage more people to think about nature and solutions we can find to ensure the survival of bees in the future. "
One afternoon, after finishing shopping in a supermarket, my family and I went to the checkout. I suddenly thought we didn't need any of the junk, and we abandoned all of those, saving $300.
That got me thinking about all our pointless expenses in life. With a promise that we'd stop if it was killing us, I convinced the family to take the leap into frugality (节俭). The rules were that we would buy nothing for 30 days except absolutely essentials.
Our adventure began with a great start. By 9 a.m., my wife, Ruth, had already made cakes from old strawberries and picked flowers I didn't even know we had in the garden. I cleared the car by hand for the first time for years. I read and returned the neighbor's newspaper before he woke up. Total spending on the first day: $0.
As days turned into weeks, we became so proficient at living frugally. We started riding our bikes to save gas. My child's finger painting was recycled as gift wrap for the homemade presents. We started to use an Internet application like Skype for free phone calls and ask neighbors with gardens for extra vegetables and herbs.
In the end, we saved more than $2000 by not spending for a month. When we began, I imagined we would rush out the moment we were done and buy a lot of things in the supermarket, then maybe hit the mall or go to the movies.
How many phone numbers can you remember by heart? It's probably fewer than you would like. Actually, you are not alone. Out of more than 1,000 Americans who were surveyed, more than half said that they couldn't recall the phone numbers of their friends and neighbors. In their eyes, there is no point in filling their heads with phone numbers if they are all stored in smart phones that are with them almost all the time.
In fact, most people are suffering from a sort of digital amnesia(健忘). more than 90% of those surveyed agreed that they used the Internet as an online of their brains. Rote memorization(死记硬背) was once an important part of modern education, but we just need a click or slide now. That's making us worse at remembering things.
Researchers found that when people expected to use the information online, they were less likely to remember actual facts, but more likely to remember how to find them. As a result, we are already becoming ones with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems that remember less by knowing information than by knowing where the information can be found.
However, some believe it isn't necessarily a bad thing--maybe it gives them more chances to think through things. We certainly acquire more knowledge now than ever, even if it isn't all stored in our brains.
Even so, I still believe that there are more risks to this new world of memory beyond losing our ability to recall some information such as who the 15th President was. That kind of information may always be a click away, but the important things are personal ones, like the way your parents smiled at your wedding. It's harder to recall or find online. If you're relying on yourself to keep track of those memories, they will be much more meaningful.
