However depressed you may be feeling now, if you look back, there certainly will have been events that made you happy—maybe the time you bought your first bicycle or you were awarded a scholarship. When good things happen, we feel excited, proud and happy.
But the problem is, happiness doesn't usually last. The excitement of that first bicycle purchase wears off, and the pride in the scholarship gives way to the stress of performing (well) on the next exam.
Psychologists call this phenomenon hedonic adaptation (享乐适应症)—that is, good something makes us feel, most of the time we drift back to we started. An often (quote) example is that lottery winners are no happier than non-winners eighteen months after their win.
But don't despair. It is possible to make happiness last. Psychologists have found two anti-adaptation tools that are effective in sustaining happiness: variety and appreciation.
Variety is, as we all know, the spice of life. But it's also a useful weapon adaptation. Positive changes that (experience) in a variety of ways are more likely to lead to lasting happiness. For example, you will feel happier about your volunteer work you are able to cope with new tasks every week. The second tool, appreciation, is in many ways the opposite of adaptation. It's about focusing on something, instead of letting it fade into the background. It is only when you appreciate something an enduring feeling of happiness will follow.
Human beings spend a lot of time figuring out what makes them happy, but not enough time (try) to hang on to the happiness they already have. This is like focusing all your energy on making more money, without giving any thought to what you will do with the money. The key to happiness is to not only look for new opportunities but also to make the most of the ones you've been given.
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A. coupled B. currently C. head D. depressing E. product F. target G. suggest H. capability I. score J potentially K. tricky |
Want to figure out if someone is a psychopath (精神变态者)? Ask them what their favourite song is. A New York University study last year found that people who loved Eminem's Lose Yourself and Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? were more likely to highly on the psychopathy scale than people who were into Dire Straits.
Over the past few years, Spotify has been enhancing its data analytic in an attempt to help marketers consumers with adverts tailored to the mood they're in. They infer this from the sort of music you're listening to, with where and when you're listening to it, along with third-party data that might be available.
Now, to be clear, there's nothing particularly about what Spotify is doing with your data. I certainly don't think that they are working with shadowy consulting firms to serve you ads promoting a culture war while you're listening to the songs that you might be in a casually racist mood. Nevertheless, I find it that our personal private moments with music are increasingly being turned into data points and sold to advertisers.
You can see where this could go, can't you? As ad targeting gets ever more complicated, marketers will have the ability to target our emotions in exploitative ways. According to one study, titled Misery Is Not Miserly, you are more likely to spend more on a if you're feeling sad. You can imagine some companies might take advantage of that. And on that note, I'm feeling a little down about all this. I'll off to treat myself to something expensive.
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
The constant working engine that drives the majority of human action is, undoubtedly, the fragrant dream of individualism. And while the presence of its scent is 1 throughout the world entirely, its value is worshipped (敬奉) to such an extent in a land no other than that of America.
As the framework of its history, America holds individuality as the ever-popular green light, the essence of which becomes the symbol of hope for, well, almost everything. In fact, in America's current social status, individuality has become something of a birthright, and a 2 applied upon the face of the media, where it was 3 valued as the American dream. There is no denying the popularity of this idol in American society, and little hope for 4 it.
However, 5 most pride themselves in their individualistic state, perhaps humans, when stripped (剥) to their core (核心), are everything but.
It is no new discovery that people are the sum of their experiences. The overwhelming majority of human experiences involve other humans, along with the 6and relationships between them. It is a 7 occurrence when a life is built upon events without this stimulus. Indeed, interaction is the core of experience. Therefore, in order that humans are the sum of their experiences, they must be the sum of the people that they meet, just as well.
As an Americanized teen, I found the discovery that not only my self-entitled individualism was8, but that I, as a being, was a product, increasingly unsettling to accept. Questions 9 me such as “If I am bits and pieces of everyone I have met — my family, my teachers, all of my friends, and even strangers — then what is left that is just me? What part of me is just me? How much of myself is the combining of different parts of different people? Is such a 10between myself and others even possible?”
Such are inquiries that will continue to be thought about, as I have come to accept that they will remain a 11. Therefore, with the allowance of these questions, the response must be a 12 in the definition of “oneself”. The previously mentioned questions no longer concern me, as I have put a stop to the idea that the “real” me is some lost isolated island on top of an ocean of influence.
I realized that my personality cannot depend on a(n) 13 between influence and individualism, as such is a line that cannot be distinct. 14, I must be a person whose calmness is a beautifully hazy mixture, and a steady question. Thus, it is the commonly unnoticed durable mystery that is the frustration of those who can 15 the lie of individualism. Hopefully, they will come into acceptance.
Charity Cycling UK recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of dooring after discovering that many people don't know what it is. Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens the door into another road user—typically cyclist—without looking for other road users.
Cycling UK chief executive Paul Tuohy told Gloucestershire Live: “Some people seem to see car dooring as a bit of a joke, but it's not and can have serious consequences. Cycling UK wants to see great awareness made about the dangers of opening your car door carelessly, and people to be encouraged to look before they open.”
The charity says 2,009 of the 3,000 injuries were sustained by cyclists, resulting in five fatalities but says this might not be the full extent of the danger.
Cycling UK says not all car dooring incidents will be attended by police, so the charity has written to transport minister Jesse Norman calling for a public awareness campaign urging all car occupants, not just drivers, to look before opening vehicle doors. One of the ways the charity suggests is the “Dutch reach”, where people leaving a vehicle reach over and use the non-door side hand to open the door.
Cycling UK also suggests harsher laws and advice on safer road positioning for people who cycle.
Mr. Tuohy said: “In the Netherlands they are known for practicing a method, known sometimes as the 'Dutch reach', which we think could be successfully encouraged in the UK.”
“Cycling UK has written to the Department for Transport asking them to look into this, and highlight the dangers of 'car dooring' through a public awareness THINK style campaign.”
If you're really concerned about opening a door into the path of a cyclist coming behind you, consider using what's known as the “Dutch reach” to open the door. That will naturally turn you in your seat and give you a much better view of what's coming up alongside in the car.
Confucius Institute
The Confucius Institute at the University of Minnesota offers several short classes on Chinese language and culture.
Class Fees
The cost of classes is $225 ($170 for Chinese Rehab)
Class Calendar
The Confucius Institute follows the University of Minnesota semester schedule. The Confucius Institute classes start a few weeks after the start of the University semester and last for ten class sessions. Classes are not held on University holidays.
The upcoming class sessions will be:
Spring 2018: February 1- April 7
Summer 2018: June 13- August 25
Tentative class calendar:
The schedule may change due to teacher availability.
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY |
| Beginning I, Section A 6:00 ~ 7:30 p.m. | Beginning I, Section B 6:00 ~ 7:30 p.m. | Beginning II 6:00 ~ 7:30 p.m. | Intermediate II 6:00 ~ 7:00 p.m. |
| Chinese Rehab 6:30 ~ 7:00 p.m. | Intermediate I 6:00 ~ 7:30 p.m. | Beginning III 6:00 ~ 7:30 p.m. | Intermediate III 6:00 ~ 7:30 p.m. |
Class Cancellations
Any class not meeting minimum enrollment by four business days before the class start date will be cancelled and you will be contacted. If we must cancel a class due to insufficient enrollment or any other circumstance beyond our control, we will offer a full refund or issue credit towards another class.
Contact Information
The Confucius Institute is located within the University International Center on the east bank of the Twin Cities campus. The University International Center is located in the Keeler Apartment building. Enter at the corner of 17th Avenue S.E. and 4th Street through the doors located near the “University International Center” sign.
Office hours
The office is generally open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 4: 30 p.m.
The office is closed daily from12:.00 noon until 1: 00 p. m. and is closed on all University holidays.
Office Address
160 University International Center, 331-17th Ave. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: 612625-5080
Fax: 612-625-5158
Email: confucius@umn.edu
Parallel worlds exist and interact with our world, say physicists.
Quantum mechanics (量子力学), though firmly tested, is so weird and anti-intuitive that physicist Richard Feynman once remarked, “I think I can safely say nobody understands quantum mechanics.” Attempts to explain some of the bizarre (奇异的) consequences of quantum theory have led to some mind-bending ideas, such as the Copenhagen interpretation and the many-worlds interpretation.
Now there's a new theory on the block, called the “many interacting worlds” hypothesis (假设) (MIW), and the idea is just as profound as it sounds. The theory suggests not only parallel worlds exist, but that they interact with our world on the quantum level and are thus detectable. Though still speculative (推测的), the theory may help to finally explain some of the bizarre consequences inherent in quantum mechanics.
The theory is a spinoff of the many-worlds interpretation in quantum mechanics—an assumption that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each representing an actual, though parallel, world. One problem with the many-worlds interpretation, however, has been that it is fundamentally untestable, since observations can only be made in our world. Happenings in these proposed “parallel” worlds can thus only be imagined.
MIW, however, says otherwise. It suggests that parallel worlds can interact on the quantum level, and in fact that they do.
“The idea of parallel universes in quantum mechanics has been around since 1957,” explained Howard Wiseman, a physicist at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and one of the physicists to come up with MIW. “In the well-known 'Many-Worlds Interpretation', each universe branches into a bunch of new universes every time a quantum measurement is made. All possibilities are therefore realized — in some universes the dinosaur-killing asteroid (小行星) missed Earth. In others, Australia was colonized by the Portuguese.”
“But critics question the reality of these other universes, since they do not influence our universe at all,” he added. “On this score, our 'Many Interacting Worlds' approach is completely different, as its name implies.”
Wiseman and colleagues have proposed that there exists “a universal force of repulsion between 'nearby'(i.e. similar) worlds, which tends to make them more dissimilar.” Quantum effects can be explained by factoring in this force, they propose.
When asked about whether their theory might imply that humans could someday interact with other worlds, Wiseman said: “It's not part of our theory. But the idea of human interactions with other universes is no longer pure fantasy.”
What might your life look like if you made different choices? Maybe one day you'll be able to look into one of these alternative worlds and find out.
Shanghai Hengyuanxiang Drama Development Company and Netherlander Worldwide Entertainment signed a deal last November that would see Shimmer (《犹太人在上海》) become the first Chinese musical to have an open-ended run on Broadway in 2019.
Directed by Xu Jun, Shimmer is a musical in both English and Chinese. Shimmer, which tells a story about Jews who fled to Shanghai to escape Nazi persecution (迫害) during World War II, was first shown at the Shanghai Culture Square in 2015. The musical's scheduled open-ended run in 2019 will be one of the events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. With this play being shown on Broadway, the ties between Chinese people and Americans will be firmly strengthened. And through this drama, the audience can feel the charm of Chinese culture.
To deal with the problem, many production companies in Shanghai have pointed out that they should keep striving for improvement by creating more Chinese musicals and by creating more audiences. Currently, those who watch Western musicals in China are limited to a small group — people who have received a university education or have had overseas working experiences, white-collar and even gold-collar workers. There are only a handful of people who understand foreign languages and you have to find a way to motivate the public and get them into the theater.
There has been a handful of successful musical stories in Shanghai. The Chinese editions of Broadway musicals Cats and Mamma Mia, both of which had hundreds of shows across China, are among the top box office hits.
A. What do you think we can do to prevent Chinese musicals from declining in popularity?
B. At that time, the musical was chosen as the opening show for the 17th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.
C. The box office is expected to be twice higher than that of last year, reaching $1 million in total.
D. The small audience size hasn't discouraged local artists from producing outstanding works.
E. The deal is a milestone for Shimmer in its goal to further spread its influence to the world.
F. Despite the huge success of Shimmer, the team is facing a limited market.
Gossip
“Did you hear what happened to Adam Last Friday?” Lindsey whispers to Tori.
With her eyes shining, Tori brags, “You bet I did, Sean told me two days ago.”
Lindsey and Tori aren't very different from most students here at Linton High School, including me. Many of our conversations are gossip and I have noticed the effects of gossip.
An important negative effect of gossip is that it can hurt the person being talked about. Usually, gossip spreads information about a topic—breakups, trouble at home—that a person would rather keep secret. The more embarrassing the secret is, the juicier the gossip it makes. Probably the worst type of gossip is the absolute lie. People often think of gossipers as harmless, but cruel lies can cause pain.
If we know that gossip can be harmful, then why do so many of us do it? The answer lies in another effect of gossip: the satisfaction it gives us. Sharing the latest rumor can make a person feel important because he or she knows something that others don't. Similarly, hearing the latest rumor can make a person feel like part of the “in group”. In other words, gossip is satisfying because it gives people a sense of belonging or even superiority.
Gossip also can have a third effect: it strengthens unwritten rules about how people should act. Professor David Wilson explains that gossip is important in policing behaviors in a group. For instance, if everybody you hang around with is laughing at what John wore or what Jane said, then you can bet that wearing or saying something similar will get you the same kind of negative attention. The do's and don'ts conveyed through gossip will never show up in any student handbook.
The effects of gossip vary depending on the situation. The next time you feel the urge to spread the latest news, think about why you want to gossip and what effects your “juicy story” might have.
目前中国的移动支付(mobile payment)非常盛行，越来越多的年轻人选择使用移动支付，有的人认为移动支付给人们带来了便利，而有些人认为这种方式存在安全隐患。请你谈谈对这一现象的看法。内容包括:
1）简要描述你或你身边的人在日常生活中使用移动支付的现象。
2）通过与传统方式的比较，谈谈移动支付给人们带来的利与弊。
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