What is technology doing to language? Many assume the answer is simple: ruining it. Kids can no longer write except in textspeak. Grammar is going to the dogs. The ability to compose thoughts longer than a post is disappearing. Language experts tend to resist it, noting that there is little proof that speech is really degenerating, nor is formal writing falling apart. A study by Cambridge Assessment found almost no evidence for textspeak in students' writing.
Fortunately, the story of language and the Internet has attracted more serious analysts, too. Now Gretchen McCulloch, a journalist of the generation that grew up with the Internet, joins them with a new book, Because Internet, which focuses on what can be learned about language from the Internet. Biologists grow bacteria in a Petri dish partly because they are born and reproduce so quickly that studies over many generations can be done in a reasonably short period. Studying language online is a bit like that: trends appear and disappear, platforms rise and fall, and these let linguists observe changes that would otherwise take too much time.
For example, why do languages change? A thousand years ago, early English and Icelandic were closely related. English has since developed hugely, and Icelandic far less. Linguists have studied the relative effects of strong and weak ties(friends, family) in such patterns, concluding that small communities would host more stable languages. The Internet combines strong and weak ties—and sure enough, drives more language change.
In the end, Ms McCulloch's book is about the birth of a new medium rather than a new language. Mass reading has now been joined by mass writing: frequent, errorfilled and quickfading. Little surprise that Internet users have created tools to give their writing the gesture, playfulness and even meaninglessness of chat. Mistaking it for the downfall of "real" writing is a category error. Anything that helps people enjoy each other's company can only be a good thing.
Although it has been shown in recent years that plants can see, hear and smell, they are still usually thought of as silent. But now, for the first time, they have been recorded making ultrasonic (超声的) cries when stressed, which researchers say could open up a new field of precision agriculture where farmers listen for water-starved crops.
Itzhak Khait and his colleagues at Tel Aviv University in Israel found that tomato and tobacco plants made cries at frequencies humans cannot hear when stressed by not having enough water or when their stem is cut.
Microphones placed 10 centimetres from the plants picked up sounds in the ultrasonic range of 20 to 100 kilohertz, which the team says insects and some mammals would be able to hear and respond to from as far as 5 metres away. A moth may decide against laying eggs on a plant that sounds water-stressed, the researchers suggest. Plants could even hear that other plants are short of water and react accordingly, they speculate (推断).
On average, drought-stressed tomato plants made 35 sounds an hour, while tobacco plants made 11. When plant stems were cut, tomato plants made an average of 25 sounds in the following hour, and tobacco plants 15. Unstressed plants produced fewer than one sound per hour, on average.
Enabling farmers to listen for water-stressed plants could "open a new direction in the field of precision agriculture", the researchers suggest. They add that such an ability will be increasingly important as climate change exposes more areas to drought.
"The suggestion that the sounds that drought-stressed plants make could be used in precision agriculture seems feasible (可行的) if it is not too costly to set up the recording in a field situation," says Anne Visscher at the royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK.
She warns that the results can't yet be broadened out to other stresses, such as salt or temperature, because these may not cause sounds. Besides, there have been no experiments to show whether moths or any other animal can hear and respond to the sounds the plants make, so that idea is still based on guesses for now, she says.
You are the original teachers of our students,and your attitudes towards education are going to influence your kids. So let' s help each other and do the best for kids with five important steps:
First,Stop making excuses for your kids Everyone makes mistakes, especially kids. That is the heart of learning. So, when your kids are late, or they don't finish their homework, avoid covering for them. Let them learn.
Second, If kids had a choice of what to eat they' d probably pick ice cream that is not nutritious. The same is true of doing homework一it' s usually not as much fun as diving into video games. So how do kids manage to turn homework in on time? The answer is good parenting.
Third,cut the distractions .
Video games are the bane (烦恼之源) of every teacher's existence.TVs, iPads, and the smartphone--all of these compete against developmental activities; like socialization, outdoor exercise, and reading books. .
Fourth,model good habits at home .
Kids learn from parents first and they learn from parents most. If you never pick up a book, and watch TV at every meal, your kids will do the same. But if you read before bed, and put the screens down,your kids will follow your lead.
Fifth,Work with their teachers, not against them . We are not in education because we expect to become millionaires; we're here because we care about kids and our society. Supporting your children is the highest of our priorities (优先处理的事).
A. Help teachers out by cutting them out of your kids' daily activities
B. Make sure they' re doing their work
C. Thus, what you do, your kids will do
D. Be on our side
E. As such, the quality of our days is dependent on your leadership at home
F. It might be uncomfortable for a moment, but those are valuable experiences for your children
G. Education is built on being able to make mistakes and then face the consequences of them
New genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive human-made climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out. A study, 1 in the latest edition of Ecology and Evolution, reveals the 2 age of some Amazonian tree species — more than 8 million years — and 3 shows that they have survived previous periods as warm as many of the global warming imagined periods 4 for the year 2100.
The authors write that, having survived warm periods in the past, the trees will 5 survive future warming, provided there are no other major environmental changes. 6 extreme droughts and forest fires will impact Amazonia as temperatures 7, the trees will stand the direct impact of higher temperatures. The authors 8 that as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions to minimize the risk of drought and fire, conservation policy should remain 9 on preventing deforestation (采伐森林) for agriculture and mining.
The study disagrees with other recent researches which predicted tree species' extinctions 10 relatively small increases in global average air temperatures.
Study co-author Dr Simon Lewis (UCL Geography) said the 11 were good news for Amazon tree species, but warned that drought and over-exploitation of the forest remained major 12 to the Amazon's future.
Dr Lewis said: "The past cannot be compared directly with the future. While tree species seem likely to 13 higher air temperatures than today, the Amazon forest is being transformed for agriculture and 14, and what remains is being degraded (使恶化) by logging (伐木), and increasingly split up by fields and roads.
"Species will not move as freely in today's Amazon as they did in previous warm periods, when there was no human 15. Similarly, today's climate change is extremely fast, making comparisons with slower changes in the past 16. "
"With a clearer 17 of the relative risks to the Amazon forest, we 18 that direct human impacts — such as forest clearances for agriculture or mining — should remain a key point of conservation policy. We also need more aggressive 19 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to make minimum the risk of drought and fire impacts and 20 the future of most Amazon tree species. "
Known as the "father of hybrid rice"，Yuan Longping is one of China's （famous） scientists，who considers himself a farmer his fame and influence. （tackle）the crisis of food （short），he attended Southwest Agricultural College and made up his mind to study agriculture. Then as a researcher，he was devoted to finding approach to boosting yields without expanding the area of land. （overcome）enormous difficulties，he developed the first hybrid rice in the world that could be used for farming in 1974，which made possible for farmers to expand their output （great）. Not only has his innovation helped to feed China，but it （alleviate） hunger in other countries depending on rice like India and Vietnam. Given his great contribution，he has received numerous awards both in China and abroad. In spite of being wealthy，he cares little for celebrity or money and makes large donations to support agricultural research. Old he is，he is still working hard to fulfill his dream.
For many years I have been feeling pity for orphans(孤儿). They lack the love of their parents and need the love and help of others. So I am doing what I can to help them. I visited them many times to experience their daily life.
Three years ago I even lived with the orphans on the street. These kids would mostly beg through the day to buy some food for themselves or eat the food given to them by the people passing by. One unusual incident happened during my second week of staying with them on the sidewalk.
I sat with them and shared the meal I had bought for them from a nearby restaurant. They sat with me in a circle and happily started eating. Suddenly one of them, a twelve-year-old boy, caught my hand, looked at me and removed my watch, and I continued eating the meal without turning around to see where the little boy ran with my watch.
After about forty-five minutes he showed up and sat beside me again. I just looked at him and smiled without saying anything about the watch. The little boy took a small packet from his pocket, opened it, had a bite of the bread and offered the same bread to me. I took it and ate it willingly. As soon as I finished eating the bread, a smile appeared on his face. Slowly he put his hand in his pocket and returned my watch. I smiled at him and wore my watch once again. The little boy later on told me that I passed the test.
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I was a little surprised and asked him what test I passed.
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Then I asked him why he gave me food to eat.
