Stepinac has become one of the first high schools in the country to drop all textbooks and replace them with a "digital library". When students started classes on Monday, they were zipping to an app on their tablets or laptops and bad instant access to all 40 texts in the Stepinac curriculum (课程).
Dennis Lauro, director of an information center which provides technical support to public schools in New York, said neither he nor his colleagues were aware of a similar digital effort in a public school setting. "This is the wave of the future." Lauro said. "I'm not surprised that a private school would beat the public schools to it. They have the ability to just do it. There is so much politics involved in public schools, when it comes to a move like that, needing approval from boards and committees."
For Tom Collins, Stepinac's president, the commitment to digital source material was not so difficult a decision. In the past, students' families had to spend up to $ 700 a year on textbooks. This year — after the one-time purchase of a tablet or laptop — families only need to pay $ 150. Using the digital library is almost as easy as opening a new book. A student can instantly lap into a digital book and open a map of Egypt or a speech by President John F. Kennedy. A teacher can show a page from a digital book on a whiteboard at the front of the class or send students a link to a particular math problem with notes added in.
The first few weeks may bring some challenges. Stepinac officials expect some parental discomfort over dropping concrete books. They recognize there may be technical faults at first. And they will have to encourage students to leave space-eating photos and music off their tablets — and to keep their tablets charged.
Do you like to show off your expensive items? You could find yourself without friends! Scientists prove that expensive status symbols make you look less socially attractive.
Items such as a fancy car and a Rolex watch are often thought to increase our social standing(地位) and often come with a high price tag(标签).According to the latest research, however, it has the opposite effect and people would prefer to be friends with someone who places less value on material objects.
"Often we think that status symbols will make us look more socially attractive to others," says Stephen Garcia, the study's leading author from the University of Michigan. He adds, "However, our research suggests that these status signals actually make us look less socially attractive.
The researchers conducted six studies which assessed how people presented themselves and how people viewed strangers. People who chose to wear higher status items tended to get a negative response, but people wanted to be friends with people who preferred lower status symbols.
The study took the role of the luxury(奢侈) item to see if it was possible that the expensive item itself played a part in people's reactions. The definition of a status symbol changed based on a person's socioeconomic status, but the same effect of keeping off potential friends was seen regardless of social position.
"At a social level, we may be wasting billions of dollars on expensive status symbols that finally keep others from wanting to associate with us, "says Kimberlee Weaver Livnat at the University of Haifa. She says, "And to the extent that close friendships are important to well-being, and we may be unintentionally hurting ourselves."
However, Patricia Chen of the National University of Singapore said this does not necessarily mean status symbols are a bad thing. She says, "Our findings right now only apply to the formation of new friendships. Status symbols may be beneficial at other times and in other settings, such as when trying to establish new business contacts."
Doing business nowadays without a cellphone? Living a very private life? I can't imagine it anymore.
Journalist Chris Stokel-Walker explained it very well: For the average working person, there's no greater feeling than powering down your computer and kissing goodbye to your work emails for the day. If we're lucky enough to disconnect from the job on evenings and weekends, we're overjoyed to leave work emails and the stress that comes with it in the office.
But experts say we're increasingly failing to do so, instead bringing the burden home with us and dealing with emails during our free time. Unsurprisingly, this routine has some serious consequences.
Working abnormal or long hours has long been linked with depression(抑郁症), anxiety and even heart disease. In addition, the importance of weekend recovery has also been linked with weekly job performance and personal initiative(主动性). And further research showed psychological detachment(脱离) during off-work time reduced emotional exhaustion caused by high job demands and helped people stay engaged.
So, if we know all this, it begs the question: Why are we still letting work bother our precious weekend? According to Cary Cooper, professor of Organizational School, the recent trend even spills into the way we access our work communications and projects.
Today, says Cooper, work emails are just a tap of a smartphone away. "You don't carry your laptop around when you're out to dinner, but you do carry your mobile phone," he says. "The smartphone does not make up for what is lost." So delete your work email account from your inbox(收件箱), and leave the worries until Monday.
In a world surrounded by bad news, it may feel like an unhappy place sometimes.
If you make even one person smile today, you can help make this world a better place. Here is list of ideas to help you.
In this day and age where everything is sent via the Internet, it's a shock to receive a letter through the post. Putting pen to paper and writing a few words to a friend can be an easy way to make a positive impact.
Requiring some time and research to find the perfect project, volunteering is one of the nicest things you can do. Whether you volunteer at your local youth group or take dogs from shelters for a walk, the simple fact that you are giving up your time to help someone else is incredible. There are so many opportunities.
Tell someone "I love you". It can be anyone. Perhaps you can tell a friend that you appreciate all they are to you, or remind your mum that it's her birthday. Sometimes, in our busy lives we forget to take a moment to tell people what they mean to us.
Whether you're creative or not, taking time to make something for someone else shows how much you appreciate them. Even if you think you're not creative, the recipient will feel lucky to get such a unique gift that you put your precious time into. Some ideas could include a card, painting, drawing, song, poem or cake!
A. However, you can make a difference.
B. It's a surprise to send a handwritten letter.
C. And you don't even have to say "I love you"
D. So you are sure to find one that is right for you.
E. And it doesn't necessarily have to take up all your life.
F. Making something for a special person is always unique.
G. Even a postcard with a couple of sentences could really make someone's day.
In 2009 a group of parents in an English town started sharing worries about their children's money management skills. Shopping was done online; the children 1 saw their parents handling cash. They were2online, too. Money had become intangible(无形的). How, then, were children to learn its 3?
The answer they 4 was GoHenry, an app now available in Britain. It is designed to help young people learn good 5 habits through real-world money management. Parents signed up with their own bank account(账户) and paid a monthly 6 of $2.99 for each child aged six or over. Adults and children 7 separate versions. At the end of last year, 379, 000 children had active accounts.
Parents can schedule pocket money and 8 tasks. When those tasks are marked as 9, the child is paid some money back as a reward. Parents can see what child has 10 and where. And children choose 11 to use the card: in shops, online or at ATMs.
Children get debit cards(借记卡) with their name. They can 12 their spending and set savings targets. They can decide to 13 for someone's birthday or set a goal at 12 to 14 $2,000 to buy a car at age 18. The app tells them how much to save each week to meet their 15.
Some GoHenry customers are rich parents who 16 that their children will grow up financially careless. Others regard the 17 as an investment in their child's future. Some say that they have been 18 and want their children to avoid that mistake when they grow up; others say that the app is cost-effective because their children19to how to use money. Even though young people no longer touch and hold 20, they can still be taught to handle it well.
When people hear the word "rat," they may think of dirty animals spread disease. And if you are an English learner, you may also connect the word "rat" with bad (express). For examples, calling someone a "rat" is a big insult and "rat race" describes joyless, hurried ways of living. So rats generally are not beloved animals either in life or the English language. However, the rat trainers at the nonprofit organization, APOPO, see the animals very (differ). They consider the rats lifesavers.
Based in Tanzania, APOPO trains pouched rats (find) landmines(地雷). And the rats their extraordinary sense of smell are very good at the job. APOPO calls their animal team HeroRats. "Everybody should know that these rats, they're not stupid. They're not terrible animals. They're really (intelligence) and they can be trained to do some amazing things." says American Ellie Cutright, an APOPO trainer from Charleston, South Carolina. APOPO estimates that worldwide there are 110 million hidden explosives (leave) by the war. These explosives are still "live," or able to explode. Experts say such landmines kill or wound 5000 people a year. APOPO says its rats (discover) more than 107,000 landmines and unexploded explosives so far, (make) life safer for almost a million people.
假如你是李华，最近在英语阅读理解学习上遇到了困难，英语老师说只有扩大词汇量才能做好阅读理解，但你在记忆单词方面有困难，所以现在你向常常给予你帮助的已经回国的外教Mark写信求助，希望他能提供一些记忆单词的建议。
注意：⑴词数：80词左右；
⑵可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
There are times when nothing seems to be working in our favor. We may use complaining as a coping mechanism (办法) when we are truly unhappy. However, there are many times when we don't try our best and just want things to work our way. We may try to cover our faults by complaining about the unfairness of it all. These are expressive complaints where the complainer just wants to let out his/her anger or frustration, with no real intention of solving the problem. The complainer expects pity and recognition from the listeners although the results often disappoint him/her.
Sometimes, we use complaints as a conversation starter. Conversations that start with a complaint often have a domino effect(多米诺效应). It may cause the listener to include his/her complaints in the conversation as well, which makes you think that you are not the only one facing problems. However, your good feeling won't last long as long as you are always focusing on the negative.
When complaining becomes a habit, you complain to anyone that comes around. Negativity that comes from complaining kills creativity and innovation (创新). Habitual complainers are less likely to come up with new ideas, as they are busy finding faults and discourage others from trying new things by making them feel that they won't work. When you spend time with people who constantly complain, you are likely to view things in a negative light. This will make things worse. This can affect the way you perceive your own situation, and even the people around you.
Though expressing your feelings may momentarily(片刻地) improve your state of mind, it could sometimes have a bad effect on the listener's state of mind. A recent study has shown that at social gatherings while people who are unhappy may join you when you play the victim at the beginning, the majority would start avoiding you because of your negativity.
