Cut, copy and paste (粘贴), these three commands (命令) are often used in computers and phones, and they started with one man: Larry Tesler.
Tesler became a student at Standford University in 1961, when he was just 16 years old. He started working for Xerox, a company best known for its photocopies (复印机), in 1973. He then moved to Apple in1980. At that time, computers were not "user-friendly". Every program worked differently. Tesler's work, which included developing cut, copy and paste, made computers easier to use for common people.
Cut, copy and paste were based on (基于) the old way of editing (编辑). People would actually cut printed paper with scissors and glue pieces of text in other places on the page. The commands were first built into Apple's Lisa computer in 1983 and are now used in all the computers.
Tesler left Apple in 1997 and later worked for Amazon, Yahoo and other companies that deal with technology. He died in 2020 at the age of 74, but his work lives on in the computers we use every day.
Language students often think they have memory (记忆) problems. They worry because they can't remember words. In fact, the problem usually isn't with their memory. The problem is with how they study. In my opinion, using a right way is the most important.
To remember words better, you need to understand how memory works. There are two kinds of memory:short-term and long-term. When you see, hear or read something, it goes first into short-term memory. But short-term memory lasts for only a few seconds, that means we will forget things soon in short-term memory. You will only remember something longer if it goes into long-term memory. Your long-term memory is like a very big library with many books. And like a library, it's organized. When you put away a book or memory, you can't just leave it anywhere. You have to choose a place where you can find it again.
How can you do this with vocabulary (词汇)? The answer is to work with the word and think about the word in new ways. You can do this by writing new sentences with the word in it. Even better, you can invent a little story about the word, with people or places that you know. Another way is to make a picture in your mind with the word. For example, if the word is "height", you can think of the tallest person you know and try to guess his or her height. All of these activities are good ways to think about words. They make the meaning of words stronger in your long-term memory.
And they give a way to find a word when you need it.
This is my idea about how to improve ways to remember words, and I hope it can help you.
Many scientists find that colors can change people's feelings. It's very interesting. Some colors can make people feel relaxed (放松的), and some colors can make people feel nervous (紧张的). Now, this kind of knowledge is being used in many places. For example, school walls are always painted green because green makes students feel relaxed. It is also good for the students' eyes. Some books are also green or light blue for the same reason. Restaurant owners not only have to know how to make food, but also have to know how to make money. Here are some things they've learned from scientific studies. The color red makes people hungry. Many fast food restaurants have red furniture or walls. Soft colors like pink and light blue make people feel relaxed, so they spend more time eating. Loud music may be nice at first, but it soon makes people want to leave. Hard seats also make customers want to eat quickly and leave. Many restaurants, especially fast food restaurants, use this knowledge to make customers eat faster.
WeRun (微信运动) is an app in WeChat. It lets users see their daily step counts. One of its most popular things is a leaderboard (排行榜) among friends that lets users see how their results compared with others.
As a growing number of people use WeRun, we wondered what we can learn about a person just from knowing their step counts. Here we take a closer look:
Fewer than 50 steps: Anyone who takes fewer than 50 steps in one day may be ill or sad. Or maybe he or she is just too lazy to get out of the bed!
50—500 steps: It's easy to have a few hundred steps. Even going shopping on foot will be enough.
500—8,000 steps: Most students and workers will take between 500 and 8,000 steps a day. These step counts are often in the middle of the leaderboard. But your parents will always give your step counts a thumbs-up (It's their job to care about you!).
8,000—30,000 steps: Salespeople and members of film workers are likely to take these many steps a day, as they are always on the move.
More than 30,000 steps: Mostly, these step counts can be on the top of the leaderboard. They're couriers, porters, cleaners and so on. They're the people who help us live easy and comfortable lives and keep our environment nice and clean.
To some degree, a person's WeRun data (数据) shows his or her character and personal life. But even when actions speak louder than words, we still shouldn't jump to conclusions (结论).
① People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. In the English language, there are many meanings using the word "mouth". But some of them are not so nice.
② For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest (抗议) and say "Do not bad mouth me". Another situation is that you thought someone said something bad about you, and you ask him. He might say, "Do not put words in my mouth!" Sometimes, people tell the person something they didn't mean to tell. The speaker might say, "I really put my foot in my mouth this time." In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
③ Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend is going to say. When this happens, the friend might say. "You take the words right out of my mouth!"
④ Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person "was born with a silver spoon (银匙) in his mouth." This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.
Last year, students from Miller Mount School made a survey about "How do people spend their free time?" Here are the results.
hours for people of different ages
who surf the Internet in a week
different days people go to the library(%)
different programs people like