ShynessIf you suffer from shyness, you are not alone, for shyness is universal phenomenon. It is not surprising that social scientists are exploring its environmental causes. The first environmental cause of shyness may be a child,s home and family life. Today,s children are growing up in smaller and smaller families, with fewer and fewer relatives living nearby. Growing up in homes in which both parents work full time, children may not have the socializing experience of frequent visits by neighbors and friends. Because of their lack of social skills, they may begin to feel shy when they start school.A second environment cause of shyness in an individual may be one,s culture. In a large study conducted in Japan,57 percent of participants rated themselves as shy. Researchers Lynne Henderson and Philip Zimbardo say, “One explanation is that in Japan, an individual,s performance success is credited externally to parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and others, while failure is entirely blamed on the person.” Therefore, Japanese learn not to take risks in public and rely instead on group-shared decisions.Technology may also play a role. In the United States, the number of young people who report being shy has risen from 40 percent to 50 percent in recent years. Due to our huge advances in technology, watching television, playing video games, and surfing the Web have replaced recreational activities that involve social interaction for many young people. Adults, too, are becoming more isolated as a result of technology. Face-to-face interactions with bank clerks, gas station attendants, and shop assistants are no longer necessary because people can use machines to do their banking, fill their gas tanks, and order goods. In short, they become shy.It appears that most people have experienced shyness at some time in their lives. Therefore, if you are shy, you have lots of company.答案：Shyness is common and it has environmental causes, including home and family life, culture and technology. Firstly, with smaller families and working parents, children lack social interactions. Secondly, blaming failure on individuals causes people in some culture to be shy in public. Finally, with the development of technology, people have fewer opportunities to socialize in person. (56 words)Learning by Rote in the Digital AgeRote learning has become seen as an outdated method of teaching. The dictionary defines learning ‘ by rote, as:‘from memory, without thought of the meaning; in a mechanical way’.The decline of rote learning has been quickened by technology. No one needs to memorize friends phone numbers or email addresses because such data is conveniently stored and accessible electronically. And why remember when and where World War Two broke out when you can find the answer on the internet in about 6 seconds? But now there are voices fora need to return to rote learning.In fact, memorizing key data is essential to learning any skill. Doctoring requires knowledge of medicine and lawyering requires knowledge of cases and laws. Of course, being able to recall things will not further your understanding of those things, but without memorizing these foundation elements, you cannot progress to a deeper understanding of a subject.While theinternet and computers have weakened the need for us to remember things, it may well be that mobile learning can help bring this style of learning back to life by making it more convenient and more fun.Drilling yourself ---with flashcards or by repetition --- is usually hard and boring work, which is why most people need their multiplication tables to be drilled into them by teachers or parents. Rote learning without a willing third party can be a battle of discipline and motivation. But mobile learning can make those flashcards and drills more appropriate to individual study; our digital devices can challenge and inform us at the same time and also keep us motivated, whether through game-like structures or recording our progress.Once you,ve acquired the essentials of a subject by rote learning, youwill find it easier to go deeper in the application of knowledge which is important.答案：Rote learning means mechanical memorization. Although technology makes it less needed, its value is being rediscovered. Rote learning helps people acquire basic knowledge, laying a foundation for further understanding. In fact, technology makes mobile learning possible, which motivates learning in rote learning and makes memorization more interesting and individualized.To Laugh Is HumanMost of us don,t know why we laugh at some jokes and not at others. Scientists know that we are able to laugh at birth. Babies begin to laugh at three to four months of age, well before they produce their first words. What scientists are interested in is why we laugh.Scientists believe humans laugh with others primarily because it makes us feel connected with one another, which in turn gives us a sense of trust and comfort. To scientists, laughter is an unconscious reaction; consequently, when we laugh, others can be certain that it is an honest reaction, and honesty is key when building and maintaining friendships.Since laughter is seen as a social signal that we send to others, it can also help explain why it is so infectious. Studies have proven that when people see or hear something funny, they are 20 times more likely to laugh when they are with others than when they are alone. Wanting to be accepted by others is part of human nature. And mirroring other people,s laughte r is a way to signal to others that you feel the way they do, which makes us feel more connected with one another.Humans have not always laughed just so they can feel closer to others, however. Scientists point out that this social function of laughter was born out of an even more fundamental human need. Laughter, they believe, came about because it contributed to our very survival as a species. Scientists assume that sharing laughter ensured our ancestors a higher survival rate because it led to greater cooperation between individuals. Humans learned quickly that greater cooperation led to survival, and the brain in turn realized that laughing with others increased out chances of finding people to cooperate, hunt, eat, live, and eventually, survive with.答案：Scientists think humans are born with the ability to laugh, but why do we laugh? We laugh to feel closer to one another. Laughter helps us to be recognized so we laugh more in groups than when alone. Laughter also evolved from a more basic need to survive as it promoted cooperation, enabling humans to survive better. (59w) Laughter is unconscious, infectious and basic. It brings us a trustworthy, comfortable and honest feeling, thus better maintaining friendships. Chances are that we laugh more with others around, contributing to prompting recognition and feeling more connected with one another. Scientists assure that laughter resulted in greater cooperation between individuals in ancient times, as better cooperation leads to survival. (58w)Becoming an Attractive EmployeeThe 2008 financial crisis created an unstable job market. Fast-forward to the present, and the economy has not fully recovered. Thus, it's of vital importance for job seekers to carefully strategize their approach to job application. And it's especially important for those new to the work force. They should look at making themselves as attractive as possible to employers.For young people, information technology skills will play an increasing role in the future. As the generation to have grown up in the Information Age, they are quite confident when it comes to showing off their interests and skills in this field. This makes them a natural fit for companies seeking expertise^业技能）in technology, marketing and networking. They should emphasize these skills when applying for jobs that require the ability to multitask.Another attractive quality is experience. It's important that an applicant,s resume list any activities that involved teamwork and goal -driven responsibilities. Membership in a sports or social club and participation as a volunteer are good examples of this. These activities involve goal management and planning along with the ability to focus while competing on a team. When hiring committees see this, they see a candidate who is capable of working in a variety of environments.Finally an attractive quality when job-hunting is a great attitude toward a potential job. Young job seekers are known to be overconfident because they have been praised for everything they have done. But they must realize that the employment market is about how an employee will be a good fit for a company, not the other way around.In fact, in an interview, an important question to ask is: "What would be expected of me as an employee? " In today's tough job market, young job seekers need to provide a potential employer with good reasons to hire them.答案：How can young people attract their future employers? First, they need to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in information technology. Second, they should include in their resumes the experiences that reflect they are cooperative and goal-oriented. Finally, they need to adopt a proper attitude, that is, taking future employers, expectations into consideration.Where Are the Bees?Bees are essential to the production of food we eat. Bees make honey, but they also pollinat(给... 授粉)large areas of crops, such as strawberries, apples and onions. About a third of the food we eat is a result of pollination of the bees. Unfortunately, bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate.In 2006, bee keepers started reporting about something called Colony Collapse Disaster (CCD). The main sign of CCD is the loss of adult honey bees from a hive. In October of 2006, some beekeepers reported that they had lost between 30 and 90 percent of their hives.There were many theories for the disappearance of the bees. But the most convincing one has to do with pesticides and lifestyles of bees today. Nowadays, beekeepers get most of their income not from producing honey but from renting bees to pollinate plants. This means that the life of the typical bee now consists of traveling all around the country to pollinate crops as the seasons change. That means a lot of traveling on trucks, which is very stressful to bees. It is not unusual for up to 30% of the hive to die during transport due to stress. In addition, bees that spend most of their time locked up on trucks are not exposed to what they usually live on. Instead, they live on a sweet liquid from corn, usually polluted with pesticides.The exact reason for the disappearance of bees is not sure, but losing bees is very costly to the economy. The bee pollination services are worth over $8 billion a year. With no bees, pollination will have to be done by hand, which would have effects on the quality of food and increased food prices. We hear a lot about big environmental disasters almost every day. But one of the biggest may just be the loss of that tiny flying insect.答案：Bees are necessary for people because one third of the food we eat is pollinated by bees. But bees are disappearing because of too much pressure ob beehives in trucks or being killed by pesticides, which may influence the quality of food and increased food prices, and cause great losses to economic development.It's undeniable: Being among the first to try out a new piece of technology is cool. There's the excitement of doing what has never been done before—the feeling that you're living in the future. And when you're the sole member of your social circle with the latest hot gadget, people stare in fascination. They ask you questions. They see you as the holder of powerful, secret knowledge—for a little while, until the next big thing comes along. People tend to underestimate the costs of this temporary coolness, which they pay in more ways than one. Don't fall into the early adopter trap. Don't join the first wave of consumers who invest in the latest media-hyped hardware; instead, wait and see.To put it frankly, early adoption is a bad investment. First, the earliest versions of devices are not only expensive, they are also the most expensive that those devices will ever be. Companies are presumably attempting to recover the cost of production as fast as they can, and they know that there are serious tech -lovers who will pay a great deal to be first. Once the revenues from early adopters' purchases are safely in their hands, they can cut the price and shift to the next marketing phase: selling the product to everyone else. This is why the cost of the original iPhone dropped about U. S. $200 only eight months after its release. Plus, electronics hardly ever become more expensive because intense competition in the industry puts downward pressure on prices over time. Prices of gadgets will fall shortly after release, and they will likely keep falling. Many new TV models drop significantly in price as little as ten days after hitting the market. Further, electronics rapidly depreciate because they become obsolete废弃的）so quickly. This means that early adopters pay the maximum price for an item that does not hold onto its value. The resale price of a cell phone or laptop can drop by fifty percent within just a few months.Speaking of becoming obsolete, those who are first to leap into a new technology risk wasting money and time on something that will never catch on. Another good reason to resist the early-adoption temptation is that the first version of a product typically has defects that cost a lot in time and frustration. Such problems are so common with new technology that early adopters are basically unpaid beta testers and troubleshooters. Unless this sounds to you like a fun way to spend your time, don,t be among the first users. If you wait to learn what the problems are with a new electronic gadget, you can look forward to a smoother experience—or choose a less troublesome product.答案：Don,t be the first users of the new electronic equipment. The reasons are as following: firstly, the earliest versions of devices are not only expensive. Secondly, electronics will be out of date rapidly. Thirdly, the first version of a product are with some defects generally. Therefore, don,t be the first to try out the new products.。
