Kristin went to a dance party on Saturday in her sleepwear. The clothes didn't matter, because she never left her living room. The party took place entirely on a social app — Instagram.
A few minutes before, she'd been sitting on her couch reading the news, feeling like she was about to cry. Then she got a message pushed to her phone: Ryan Heffington, the two-time Grammy proposed choreographer (编舞者)，was streaming a dance class on Instagram Live. "The numbness I was feeling just went away," she says. "I'm just gonna do it." As Kristin danced, she saw comments and hearts pop up on the live stream. Almost 2,700 people were dancing virtually alongside her. "Wow, people are really connecting," she says. Now, moving alone in her apartment with only her phone to keep her company, she felt almost optimistic.
Heffington is part of a wave of dance teachers moving their classes online as the COVID-19 continues to spread. There is a rise in social media offerings as people look to their phones to give them a sense of community and help them stay active during the crisis. Heffington, however, is well suited to lead the digital dance era. His philosophy is that anyone can dance—and anywhere, apparently. To Heffington, this is proof that the crisis is an opportunity for people to come together. "This is what social media was designed for." he says, "It's separated us in some aspects, but at this point in time, it's kind of all we have, and it's so beautiful"
From her living room, Kristin agrees. She's figured out how to project her phone onto her TV, and pushed back her couch to have more space to dance. "Ryan's next classes are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week, and I'm going to all of them," she says. "Why not? I'm going to dance my way through this crisis."
Anxiety sweat. Horsehair. Wet grass and soil after a rain. Gunpowder. Perfume (香水) containing rosemary and bitter orange. A touch of leather.
This might have been what Napoleon's withdrawal from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 smelled like. At least, these are some of the elements that Caro Verbeek, an art historian and olfactory (嗅觉的) researcher, tried to combine when she was reconstructing the smell. "Wars are extremely smelly," Dr. Verbeek said. "Soldiers don't write about their injuries as much as they write about the terrible sounds and smells. So we know more about them. We also know that it had rained the night before the battle, that anxiety sweat smells different from normal sweat, and that there were thousands of horses on the field." These were some details Dr. Verbeek relied on during the reconstruction, which is part of a project called "In Search of Lost Scents (气味)."The scent is offered in the Rijks museum as part of tours—on pieces of paper or in a necklace with tiny pumps—alongside Jan Willem Pieneman's 1824 painting of the scene.
Dr. Verbeek approaches past smells by attempting to recreate versions of them, as she did with the Battle of Waterloo, making a perfume of sorts that might be associated with historical events, people and works of art. Bringing smell into a museum context can be one way to make art more accessible. Marie Clapot, associate museum educator, has worked over the last few years to bring smell into the museum. "It's not just about, Oh, it's nice to smell something.' It's one way you can make an art object accessible. It is also a way, she said, to bring a number of people into the conversation about art who might not be moved by traditional art history.
Why do people seek out information about an ex's new relationships, read negative Internet comments and do other things that will obviously be painful? Because humans are born with the need to resolve uncertainty, according to a recent study in Psychological Science. The new research reveals that the need to know is so strong that people will seek to avoid their curiosity even when it is clear the answer will hurt.
In a series of four experiments, the students were tested on their willingness to expose themselves to disgusting stimuli (刺激物)in an effort to satisfy curiosity. For one trial, each participant was shown a pile of pens, half of which would deliver an electric shock when clicked. Twenty-seven students were informed of the exact pens; another 27 were told only that some were electrified. When left alone in the room, the students who did not know which ones would shock them clicked more pens and brought more shocks than the students who knew what would happen. The following experiments copied this effect with other stimuli, such as the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard and photographs of disgusting insects.
The drive to discover is deeply-rooted in humans, just like the basic drive for food, says Christopher Hsee of the University of Chicago, a co-author of the paper. Curiosity is often considered a good instinct (本能)——it can lead to new scientific advances, for instance—but sometimes such inquiry can backfire. "The insight that curiosity can drive you to do self-destructive things is a profound one," says George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and phychology at Carnegie Mellon University who has pioneered the scientific study of curiosity.
Morbid (病态的) curiosity is possible to resist, however. In a final experiment, participants who were encouraged to predict how they would feel after viewing an unpleasant picture were less likely to choose to see such an image. These results suggest that imagining the outcome of following through on one's curiosity ahead of time can help determine whether it is worth the risk. "Thinking about long-term consequences is key to reducing the possible negative effects of curiosity," Hsee says. In other words, don't read online comments.
Habits for a healthy lifestyle
As teenagers grow up, they become more independent and start making their own decisions. However, during this period, it can be easy for some of them to form bad habits, such as tobacco or alcohol abuse. To prevent harmful habits like these from dominating teenagers, life is essential. .
We are what we repeatedly do. In many ways, our lifestyle is the sum of choices we have made. According to modem psychology, we must first learn about the "habit cycle": Firstly, there is a "cue"(触发因素), an action, event, or situation that acts as a signal to do something. Secondly, there is a "routine ", the regular action you take in response to the cue. Thirdly, there is the "reward", the good thing or feeling we get from the routine. For example, when feeling unhappy (cue), we eat lots of unhealthy snacks (routine), which makes us feel happy (reward). Gradually, the bad habit of relying on unhealthy snacks is formed.
To reach a positive change in our bad habits is also possible. We can do this by combining the information from our habit cycles with our own positive ideas. Aside from changing bad habits, we can also use the habit cycle to create good habits. For example, when we come to an escalator (cue), our normal routine is to ride it, but we could change this routine into something more positive by taking the stairs instead.
Many of us try to change bad habits quickly, and if we are not successful straight away, we often become pessimistic and give up. To reach the goal of change, a person must show some discipline and repeatedly take many small steps. After all, it is not easy to break bad habits.
A. However, there exists some "magic pill" that will help you.
B. However, we can change if we understand how habits work.
C. The reward makes us much more likely to continue the cycle.
D. We must refer to all sorts of information about different snacks.
E. We must first examine our bad habit cycles and then try to improve them.
F. They must learn to recognize bad habits early and make appropriate changes.
G. In fact, the most successful way to change is not suddenly, but over a period of time.
The Uncommon Professional
Another long and tiring day! I went to the dark end of the shelves, pressed my forehead against the wall and buried myself in a few moments of quiet 1 . Was this the way it would be for the rest of my life? Here I was, two years out of school, working at yet another 2 low-pay, dead-end job.
There were several new guys on the job the next morning—temporary3 . One of them, wearing a 4 with his name "Jim" sewn on the pocket, caught my eye. The company didn't issue uniforms — in fact, the company didn't care what you wore 5 you showed up.
I 6 him all that day and the rest of the days he worked with us. Jim was 7 late or early. He worked at a steady, 8 pace. He was friendly to everyone he worked with, but 9 talked while he was working.
He was the kind of worker managers 10 . And the other workers liked him too. He didn't gossip or 11 or argue. He just did the job with more personal dignity than I had believed, 12 the work was low-level and dull.
He was a professional. Labour might be 13 : he wasn't. He was just admirable!
Months later, Jim left, but the 14 he made on me didn't. I worked just the way Jim had done. To my great surprise, the managers noticed my new devotion and 15 me. A few years later, I promoted myself to a 16 job in a different company. And so it went. 17 many companies and many years later, I started a 18of my own.
Whatever success I've had has been the result of hard work and good luck, but I think the biggest part of my 19 was the lesson I learned from Jim so long ago. 20 does not come from the kind of work you do; it comes from the way you do the work.
Poetry probably had its origins m (tradition) folk music tens of thousands of years ago. In that era, there were no TVs films, and writing had not been invented, so people would sit around the fire at night and sing songs (entertain) themselves. These songs reflected themes from the people's daily lives, such as hunting animals and sowing crops. Since nothing (write) down, over the years different versions of these songs developed, and each area would have its own respective rhythm. In addition this, people would recite stories of past (hero). As these stories were often quite long, they often had rhyme and rhythm to help people remember them more (easy). These were no longer the works of amateurs (sit) around a fire, but works of true poets cared about their art and sometimes made living from it.
Many of us might not give a second thought to dropping a small piece of litter. After all, if it is so small, it cannot possibly be that harmful, can it? In today's world, the answer is certainly "Yes it can!" With the growing use of plastic bags and the rising number of smokers, there is more litter being produced than ever before.
Although cigarette butts are small, they are bad for the environment. Worldwide, about 4.3 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year. As well as spoiling the beauty of the environment, they contain poisonous chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they affect water quality and endanger plants and animals. Cigarette butts can take up to 25 years to break down, and the poisonous chemicals add up to a large amount with so many littered. So, if people want to smoke, they should cope with the butts properly in a rubbish bin.
Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is dangerous to the environment. They are easily blown by wind and float in water, so they can travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches, and oceans, killing many birds, mammals, fish, and sea animals each year worldwide. They can last for hundreds of years in the environment. We should not let plastic bags become litter. We should use fewer plastic bags, and reuse and recycle what we have already used. One way to reduce the use of plastic bags is to charge for them. Shops used to give plastic bags for free. But in some countries, including China, customers are now charged for each bag. Some shops also have a "bag — for — life" scheme. They sell stronger bags that can be reused, and they replace them for free if the bags ever break.
Waste is a big problem for the environment, so we need to do something. Not littering at all or cleaning up "small waste" saves money spent on getting rid of litter properly. However, it would be better not to smoke or use plastic bags at all.
