Phone-surfing Results in More Purchases

    Leaving your mobile phone at home when you go shopping could prevent mindless overspending, a new study suggests. Research from the University of Bath discovered that when people are distracted by their mobiles during a trip to the supermarket their shopping bills rise by an average of 41 per cent. Attention-weakening devices also encourage shoppers to wander along more shelves, they come across more products.

    In one study, 294 people aged between 18 and 73 at four Swedish supermarkets wore eye-tracking glasses throughout a shopping trip to measure where they went and they looked at. Their receipts were then used (assess) their spending. Those using a mobile phone spent on average £33.73 compared to an average of £23.91 for those who did not.

    A second study of 117 shoppers found those with mobile phones spent longer in the store, (give) more attention to shelves. They also spent an average of £36. This study found shoppers using a mobile phone spent on average £36.16 on 20.85 items, compared to £25.59 on 13.22 products.

    Dr Carl-Philip Ahlbom, of the University of Bath's School of Management said: "Business owners have tended to worry that mobiles distract shoppers from spending money, we were amazed to find completely the reverse effect." The findings were very clear - the more time you spend on your phone, the more money you'll part .

    "So if you're trying to budget, (leave) your phone in your pocket. It's not the phone that causes more purchases, but its impact on our focus." Researchers believe people spend more because using a phone distracts people from their (plan) lists.

    Have you ever looked at someone else's life with envy, just enough envy that you wish for a moment or two (or longer) that you could be them? Are there moments when, if the opportunity to be them were on , you might be tempted by it?

    Would we really want this? And what might we learn about ourselves or how we see our lives if we considered it? To be sure, there are here. If you had someone else's life, who would raise your children or love your spouse or take care of your parents in their old age?

    In fact, if you were someone else your own children would not have come into existence in the first place. That's not a happy thought. To this, perhaps the best way to cast this is in terms of a trade: If you had their life then they would have yours, and live it exactly as you would have. Your responsibilities would be , so there would be nothing to feel guilty about.

    If we think of it this way, then the question of wanting to be someone else is a question of what we might call experience: Is there anybody else whose experience of life you would prefer, everything else would be equal? One concern about wanting someone else's experience is that my desire to be someone else is grounded in values and desires that I have, and so I have to be me in order to want to be him. However, it's not clear that that presents any real obstacle to such a desire. The fact is that there would be at least enough overlap (重叠)with them that they are exemplifying my values and desires but have a better experience than I do. So I can still prefer to be them.

    I think that, on reflection, most of us would not want to with another person, no matter how successful or tempting their lives seem. To see why, though, we'll need to our angle of vision. We will have to look at our own experiences rather than at theirs, or perhaps look at our experiences first. What would I be willing to give up to be another? My relationships with everyone — children, spouse, friends —and my whole history. I wouldn't have it. My loss would be that of the whole of my own experience.

    It has been one of the deadliest climbing seasons on Everest, with at least 10 deaths. And at least some seem to have been 1.

    The problem hasn't beenavalanches(雪崩), blizzards or high winds. Experienced climbers and industry leaders 2 too many people on the mountain, in general, and too many inexperienced climbers, in particular.

    Fly-by-night adventure companies are taking up untrained climbers who pose a risk to everyone on the mountain. And the Nepalese government, 3 for every climbing dollar it can get, has issued more permits than Everest can safely 4, some experienced mountaineers say.

    Add to that Everest's unmatched 5 to a growing body of thrill-seekers the world over. And the fact that Nepal, one of Asians poorest nations and the site of most Everest climbs, has a long record of bad regulations and mismanagement.

    To reach the peak, climbers 6 every pound of equipment they can and take with them just enough cans of compressed oxygen to make it to the top and back down. It is hard to think straight at that altitude(海拔).

    According to the climbers, some of the deaths this year were caused by people getting held up in the long lines on the last 1,000 feet or so of the climb, unable to get up and down fast enough to 7 their oxygen supply. Others were simply not fit enough to be on the mountain 8.

    Nepal has no 9 rules about who can climb Everest, and experienced climbers say that is a direct reason for 10. "You have to reach certain standards to do the Ironman," said Alan Arnett, a remarkable Everest climber. "But you don't have to 11 to climb the highest mountain in the world? What's wrong with this picture?"

    The last time 10 or more people died on Everest was in 2015, during an avalanche. By some measures, the Everest machine has only gotten more out of 12. Last year, experienced climbers, insurance companies and news organizations 13 a far-reaching scheme by guides, helicopter companies and hospitals to trick millions of dollars from insurance companies byevacuating(疏散) climbers with 14 signs of altitude sickness.

    Despite all the problems, this year the Nepali government issued a record number of permits, 381, as part of a bigger 15 to commercialize the mountain. Climbers say the permit numbers have been going up steadily each year and that this year the traffic jams were heavier than ever.

    A family in Edinburgh has discovered that an old chess piece they kept in a drawer for 55 years is a long-lost part of a medieval(中世纪 )chess set. The piece was bought by their grandfather for £5 from an antique dealer in Edinburgh in 1964. It is estimated that it could now sell for £ 1 million at auction(拍卖). It is one of five missing pieces from the Lewis Chessmen, a set of medieval chess pieces that were found in a sand hill on the Isle of Lewis, off Scotland's west coast, in 1831.

    The piece is 8.8 centimeters tall and made from walrus ivory, a rare material in those days. It is warder, which is a prison guard, with a helmet, shield and sword. This piece would be the same as a rook(车), or castle in a modern chess set.

    The family, who don't want to make their name public, explained how their grandfather was unaware of the piece's importance when he bought it in 1964. After he died, it was looked after by his daughter, who believed that it had magical qualities. They finally realized how important the piece was when it was examined by Alexander Kader, an expert at Sotheby's auction house in London.

    The Lewis Chessmen are famous all over the world. The set is split between the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, and the British Museum in London, attracting lots of visitors. They are thought to have been made in Trondheim, Norway, between AD 1150 and 1200, and were probably buried on Lewis for safekeeping on their way to being sold in Ireland. Nobody really knows for sure why they were buried there or how they were discovered.

    The piece will go on display in Edinburgh and then London before its auction on 2 July. It is expected to either be bought by, or loaned to, a museum. Kader says there are still four missing pieces out there, "However, it might take another 150 years for one to show up."

    Gardeners may be able to cut down on the amount of weeds(杂草)killer they use by dealing with invaders at specific times of the day, such as dawn, a new study suggests.

    Researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered that the 24-hour rhythms of plants leave them more defenseless to herbicides(除草剂) at different points in their daily 24 hour cycle.

    They believe the findings could help farmers by reducing crop loss and improving harvests. And gardeners could benefit from knowing which weeds respond better at certain times of the day. In recent years, pesticides and herbicides have been implicated in the decline of important pollinating insects, such as bees.

    Dr Antony Dodd, senior author of the new study, said: "The research suggests that, in future, we might be able to improve the use of some chemicals that are used in agriculture by taking advantage of the biological clock in plants."

    Just like humans, plants have evolved to take advantage of cycles of night and day, with certain biological processes turning on at different times of the day.

    Scientists have discovered that many drugs work much better in humans if they are given at specific hours. Aspirin, for example, has doubled the impact on thinning the blood if taken at night as opposed to in the morning. The process is known as 'chronotherapy' and researchers wanted to find out if the same concept could be applied to plants.

    Many gardeners already know that plants drink in more water in the morning because their pores(气孔) are open to take advantage of early morning dew and water vapour. At the break of the day, plants are also not busy producing food throughphotosynthesis(光合作用). The open pores could also be the reasons that chemicals are more effective at dawn and also at dusk.

    The air is also likely to be stiller at dawn and dusk, meaning that pesticides or herbicides are less likely to be blown away to places where they are not wanted. Pesticide labels often warn against spraying on windy days in case they endanger people or animals. Many insects are active early in the morning and around dusk, also making very early morning and early evening effective times for insecticide.

    Commenting on the study, Dr. Trevor Dines, Botanical Specialist at the conservation charity Plantlife, said: "This is fascinating research which will be of great interest to many gardeners like me. If anything used to think the opposite was true - that applying herbicides and pesticides late in the day would be better as they'd remain in Vet contact' with the plant for longer in the cool of the night and therefore be taken up or absorbed more effectively. This research knocks that assumption on its head"

    Every Little Bit Counts?

    One of the weapons in the fight against poverty is microcredit also called microlending. Microcredit is the practice of giving very small, short-term loans to poor people. The loans help the borrowers start or upgrade small businesses. Microcredit organizations assume that poor people can lift themselves out of poverty if they only have access to standard financial services.

    Grameen Bank, started as a project in 1976, is a pioneer of microcredit. Borrowers often have no steady job no other property, and no one to co-sign on the loan - common requirements for getting a loan elsewhere. Grameen Bank promotes credit as a human right, and with a 98% repayment rate, it seems to have helped its borrowers improve their lives and made a profit through interest in the meantime.

    Successes like Grameen Bank and others caused governments and NGOs to rush to fund microcredit operations. How wonderful to imagine that the cure for poverty could be profitable! However, recent studies question how effective microcredit really is. Critics say that poor people with enoughentrepreneurial(创业的) drive to get a loan would have succeeded anyway. Those without the drive don't end up in better circumstances after paying back loans，which aren't always used for businesses. And though microcredit is described as a way to empower women, some say the loans aren't causing any measurable improvement in women's lives.

    The ideas behind microcredit are uplifting: that all humans are filled with potentials and that one small bit of assistance can help a whole family live better. Time and close study will tell if microcredit is really the miracle it appears to be.

A. They also say that without a basic education, poor borrowers aren't equipped to manage the businesses they create.

B. In general, the loans are 100 USD or less, usually paid back within six months.

C. Borrowers need to provide the credit history, which the lenders will use as the criteria when evaluating a loan.

D. They may, however, ignore systematic causes of large-scale poverty.

E. Most microcredit agencies are struggling as the vast majority of loans are not paid back.

F. It has given out more than eight billion dollars in loans to people who could never borrow money otherwise.

    Even without 'assigned' seating, it is a little surprising how many people always choose the same seat in a classroom or auditorium. Or the same table in a restaurant. After close observation, psychologists believe they have figured out the reason for this behavior.

    In one such study, Marco Costa, a psychologist at the University of Bologna in Italy selected two lecture halls for a sample of 47 and 31 students. Costa purposefully chose rooms where there were more seats than students so that they had more freedom to choose where to sit. He set up hidden cameras to record how the students chose their seats over a period of four weeks. As suspected, most students picked the same scat over and over. But why?

    Costa calls this habit "territoriality(领域感).M The word often makes us think of gangs protecting their territory or wolf packs(群) fighting off other packs to control a certain area. In other words, territoriality usually suggests aggression and defense. However, Costa as well as another psychologist, Professor Robert Gifford of the University of Victoria, believes that this seat-choosing behavior is designed to keep the peace. "Most of the time, most people claim a space and others quietly agree to it," Gifford explained.

    The phenomenon of classroom seating selection perhaps shows an even deeper truth. Life can be messy and unpredictable. The reason students go to school is to study. Going to class and knowing where you will sit is just one less thing to distract a student from this greater purpose. In short, sitting in the same place sets students up for a psychologically more comfortable learning environment and makes it easier for them to concentrate on the lecture at hand.

最近，在一本英文旅游杂志上刊登了国际空间站(TSS-- International Space Station)将在2020年对游客开放的信息（见下表)。如果有可能（具备足够的时间和金钱)，你是否会去争取成为第一批游客。请谈谈你的理由。

Information About the Trip to ISS

Number of visitors 2 every year

Length of stay 30 days (at most)

Cost $ 27000 per night (stay)

$ 40 million (transport)