Our Favourite Tech Gifts of 2019
When it comes time for the holiday shopping season, we're extra choosy about the countless technology products that we will buy and give to friends and family. Here's what impressed editors, reporters and producers the most in 2019.
Lumos Matrix helmet
I recently bought a Lumos Matrix helmet(头盔)($229)with built-in lights to make riding my bike at night a lot safer and less stressful. It's a regular pain point for bikers like me to make sure careless drivers see you, especially when it's dark. This does help.
-Matt Mcfarland, Writer
Goodreads app
Although this isn't a gift, the free Goodreads app is a game changer. At the beginning of 2019, I promised myself I'd read at least one new book every month. I set a goal of 12 books on Goodreads and use it to track my progress, keep a list of books I'm interested in and check out what friends and others on the app were recommending. I read 35 books this year! (That's up from five books last year.) Goodreads feels like one of the rare feel-good social networks.
-Kaya Yurieff, Tech Reporter
Ember coffee cup
I drink my coffee slowly, so it has routinely cooled by the time I get halfway through it. For my birthday, my mum bought me a cup (﹩99), which keeps my coffee warm until I finish it without reheating. I can also set the temperature I want. It makes my mornings so much easier.
-Millie Dent, Intern
To raise money for restaurant workers who had to stay at home during COVID, two brothers, Aiden and Louis Ardine, decided to walk 3,200 miles across America to raise money.
Having just arrived on the sands of the Pacific Ocean, Aiden and Louis Ardine have now completed their five-month walk which started on the Asbury Park boardwalk in New Jersey. They hoped to raise $30,000 for some charities (慈善组织) that were helping restaurant workers waiting for lockdown (隔离) to end, but ended up making $70,000 — which they gave way to the COCO Fund and the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation.
"This would not have been possible without the help of a huge community of people, whether people were donating or helping us guide our way across the United States." said Aiden Ardine. "This was surely an adventure full of hope, and it proved people are born good and want to help their neighbors."
Just like cross-country trips in this nation, their journey was characterized by amazing views, long roads, and helpful strangers: like a man who passed them in the extreme heat of summertime Iowa, before doubling back and giving them a cold Gatorade; or a Nevada campground manager who left them stay for free.
In Utah they had what the naturalist John Muir would have described as an "interview" with a black bear, when rounding a corner in the path, they found themselves within a few feet of it.
When they reached San Francisco, their supporters were waiting for them on the beach. Afterwards they flew home along with their mom who had been there to meet them. After their adventurous stay away from home, we can only imagine she was really feeling proud of her sons.
If your children's Christmas wish lists are hard to distinguish, pity their teachers who have been struggling with confusing schoolwork ever since schools reopened.
"Younger kids failed to learn letter patterns and formations while older kids lose speed and clearness without regular practice during the shutdown of schools," says Sheilagh Blyth, an occupational therapist (治疗专家) who studies handwriting.
Of course, it's a symptom of a wider problem. As Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education ), indicated yesterday, handwriting puts an added burden on parents — it's long been an aspect of children's school books that they analyse at home.
"This is a big problem for my almost 10-year-old ", says one mother. " When they sent two year's worth of his books back together, the degradation (退化) was severe and it hasn't recovered".
Another mother worries that her younger son has fallen behind compared with his older brother." His handwriting is definitely not where I think it should be," she says.
Blyth warns handwriting needs to be practiced regularly and that students need to practise the letter formation and joined-up writing to write well in exams." Learning handwriting doesn't just happen as there are increasingly fewer day-to-day opportunities to write with a pen or pencil, " says Gill Budgell, an educational consultant who wrote Penpals for Handwriting meant for three to 11-year-olds.
The Write Dance programme is an approach to teaching handwriting that is based on physical movement. Diana Strauss, who runs the programme in the UK with Nicole Barrons, says," Whole body movement relaxes the shoulders and the arms and has a positive effect on physical tasks, which handwriting is. "
Diana is seeing more interest from schools in accessing the Write Dance Programme, which was developed in the 1960s by Ragnhild Oussoren, a Dutch graphologist (笔迹学家). " We've been busy doing live training sessions, particularly with schools in Wales, " she adds. Perhaps there is hope for Father Christmas and those gift wish list after all.
Jason, a straight-A student from the University of Pennsylvania, uses the term "pseudo-working" to describe how many of us study. The pseudo-worker looks and feels like someone who is working hard — he or she spends a long time in the library and is not afraid to push on late into the night — but, because of a lack of focus and concentration, he or she's doesn't actually accomplish much.
This phenomenon can be seen on most college campuses. For example, at Dartmouth there was a section of the main library that was open twenty-four hours a day, and the students I used to see there late at night crowded in groups, drinking coffee, were definitely pseudo-working. The roommate who flips through her chemistry notes on the couch while watching TV is pseudo-working.
By placing themselves in distracting environments and insisting on working long hours, these students are damaging their brain's ability to think clearly and efficiently accomplish the task at hand. In the end they get half the results with twice the effort.
The bigger problem here is that most students don't even realize that they're pseudo-working. To them pseudo-working is work — it's how they've always done it, and it's how all of their friends do it. It never crosses their mind that there might be a better way. Straight-A students, on the other hand, know all about pseudo- working. They fear it. It not only wastes time, but it's also mentally tiring.
In fact, the most important skill in becoming a straight-A student is the ability to get work done quickly and with a minimum of wasted effort. Some cognitive science research concludes that about fifty minutes is the optimal learning period to maximize the material integrated per time unit. So how do these students achieve this goal? To understand their secret to success, consider the following simple formula (公式): work accomplished = time spent × intensity of focus
Pseudo-working features a very low intensity of focus. Therefore, to accomplish something by pseudo- working, you need to spend a lot of time. The straight-A approach on the other hand, increases intensity in order to use less time.
How to Remove Negative Thoughts
Do you seem to wake up on the wrong side of the bed every day? Don't be discouraged.Learn to catch these thoughts and then replace them with positive exercises.
Recognize your negative thoughts
Write down a sentence or two describing the negative thoughts. Take a little time to reflect on these thoughts. Ask yourself how strongly you believe these thoughts about yourself and how you feel.
Test the truth of the thought
Make two columns under the negative thought: one to list evidence for your negative thought; the other for evidence against your negative thought.Analyze your thoughts to see if they have any basis in truth, instead of accepting them without question.
Extreme words like "terrible" and "disaster" shouldn't apply to minor unhappiness. Replace these words with encouraging thoughts or praise. When you find yourself using one of those words, replace it in your thoughts with a less extreme word. For example "terrible" can become "unfortunate" or "not as good as I had hoped".
Surround yourself with positive social support
It's helpful for us to talk to others about our problems and issues. Research has shown social support actually better enables us to deal with our problems on our own. Therefore, the next time you find yourself blue or stressed, turn to someone close to you who understands your situation.
A. Pay attention to your vocabulary.
B. This process helps you look at your thoughts objectively.
C. In fact, about 80% of the thoughts people have are negative
D. It becomes a problem when we think these thoughts are true.
E. Changing your negative thoughts takes time and commitment.
F. If you have trouble finding out your negative thoughts, keep a diary.
G. Then, you should feel better able to cope with negative feelings and stress.
I had always been warmly praised for my shooting ability when I was in high school. But when I went to Ohio State, I discovered that everyone on the team was1in his hometown.
To win a starting job on the team, I had figured I would have to2the coach with my shooting ability. But it3that the team was already full of attacking players and what it needed was someone to4on defence (防御). Unwillingly, I decided to take that role, but didn't expect the5was to make all the difference to me later.
One day, when we were6for a game against the Bucks, I was called out by the coach, Milwaukee, who gave me the7to guard our court. Though feeling a bit8, I accepted. Throughout the game, I continued playing the role.
Then, near the end of the game, in a (an)9to widen the gap, Milwaukee gave me a precious10. He asked me to organize an attack. Driving up the middle of the court, I11the ball. It was a12three-point play and minutes later the championship was ours.
Standing there in that circle of cheering audience, I came to13the importance of teamwork, Just as Milwaukee said, "14teams often have one or two players who stand out; good teams have five who work together. It is amazing what can be achieved when no one cares who gets the15."
Tai Chi is often described as "mediation in motion". There is(grow) evidence that this mind- body practice which originated in China as a marital art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems.
far Chi is slow and gentle and doesn't leave you breathless, it deals with the key components of(fit) —muscle strength, flexibility and balance. Tai Chi improves balance and, according to some studies,(reduce) falls. Proprioception (本体感受) 一 the ability(sense) the position of one's body in space—declines with age. Tai Chi helps train this sense and also(dramatic) improves muscle strength and flexibility, which makeseasier to recover from a stumble (绊倒). Fear of falling can make you more likely to fall. Some studies have found that Tai Chi training helps relieve that fear.
Tai Chi is very safe, and no fancy equipment(need), so it's easy to get started. Don't be(frighten) by the names. Names like Yang, Wu, and Cheng are given to different branches of Tai Chi, in honor of people who designed the sets of movements called forms. In some forms, you learn a, series of movements, while others more focus on breathing and meditation. Finding an approachmatches your interests and needs is the key.
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hesitate, expect, injury , ensure , regard, admit, adapt |
