Water covers 70% of the Earth, but only 3% of it is clean and suitable for human consumption. Even if you live in an area with enough rainfall, using water requires energy to process, pump, heat, re-pump, and reprocess it.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Save water from your taps.

    Turn the tap off while you are brushing your teeth, shaving, washing your hands, doing dishes, and so on.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Get wet, and then turn off the water while you soap up. Turn it back on for long enough to wash away the soap.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Take a timer, clock, or stopwatch into the bathroom with you and challenge yourself to cut down your showering time. You could even play music while in the shower and challenge yourself to cut down the number of songs it takes you.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Use wastewater from the bath, washing machines or dish washing on the garden.

    If possible, connect a pipe to the outlet on your machine to send the water outside onto your garden. When hand-washing dishes, rinse (冲洗) the dishes into a container, and empty the container into your garden.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Either pour it directly into the bowl, or use it to refill the toilet tank when you flush.

A. If you're not sure whether wastewater is suitable for plants, you can use it to flush (冲) your toilet.

B. Not all toilets will be able to flush effectively with a reduced amount of water.

C. Turn the tap off when you shower, too.

D. Replace your clothes washing machine with a high-efficiency washer.

E. Shave outside the shower, or turn off the shower while you shave.

F. Take shorter showers.

G. Fortunately, there are ways to save water for everyone.

    Adding math talk to story time at home is a winning factor for children's math achievement, according to a new research from a university. The study from psychologists Sian Beilock and Susan Levine shows a marked increase in math achievement among children whose families used Bedtime Math, an iPad app that delivers engaging math story problems for parents and children to solve together.

    Even children who used the app with their parents as little as once a week saw gains in math achievement by the end of the school year. The app's effect was especially strong for children whose parents tend to be anxious or uncomfortable with math.

    Previous research from this group has demonstrated the importance of adults' attitudes about math for children's math success. For example, a recent study found that math-anxious parents who help their children with math homework actually weaken their children's math achievement.

    The new findings demonstrate that structured, positive interactions around math at home can cut the link between parents' uneasiness about math and children's low math achievement.

    "Many Americans experience high levels of anxiety when they have to solve a math problem, with a majority of adults feeling at least some worries about math," said Beilock, professor in Psychology and author of Choke, a book about stress and performance. "These math-anxious parents are probably less likely to talk about math at home, which affects how competent their children are in math. Bedtime Math encourages a dialogue between parents and kids about math, and offers a way to engage in high-quality math interactions in a low-effort, high-impact way."

    Study participants included 587 first-grade students and their parents. Families were given an iPad installed with a version of the Bedtime Math app, with which parents and their children read stories and answer questions involving math, including topics like counting, shapes and problem-solving. A control group received a reading app that had similar stories without the math content and questions related to reading comprehension instead. Children's math achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. Parents completed a questionnaire about their nervousness with math.

    The more times parents and children in the math group used the app, the higher children's achievement on a math assessment at the end of the school year. Indeed, children who frequently used the math app with their parents outperformed similar students in the reading group by almost three months in math achievement at year's end.

A Guide to the University

    Food

    The TWU Cafeteria is open 7am to 8pm. It serves snacks(小吃), drinks, ice cream bars and meals. You can pay with cash or you ID cards. You can add meal money to your ID cards at the Front Desk. Even if you do not buy your food in the cafeteria, you can use the tables to eat your lunch, to have meetings and to study.

    If you are on campus in the evening or late at night, you can buy snacks, fast food, and drinks in the Lower Café located in the bottom level of the Gouglas Centre. This area is often used for entertainment such as concerts, games or TV watching.

    Relaxation

    The Globe, located in the bottom level of McMillan Hall, is available(可获得的) for relaxing, studying, cooking, and eating. Monthly activities are held here for all international students. Hours are 10 am to 10 pm, closed on Sundays.

    Health

    Located on the top floor of Douglas Hall, the Wellness Centre is committed to physical, mental and social health. A doctor or a nurse is available if you have health questions or need immediate medical help or personal advice. The cost of this is included in your medical insurance. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 pm.

    Academic Support

    All students have access to (接近，可以使用) the Writing Centre on the upper floor of Douglas Hall. Here, qualified volunteers will work with you on written work, grammar, vocabulary, and other academic skills. You can sign up for an appointment on the sign-up sheet outside the door: two 30–minute appointments per week maximum. This service is free.

    Transportation

    The TWU Express is a shuttle(班车) service. The shuttle transports students between campus and the shopping centre, leaving from the Mattson Centre. Operation hours are between 9 am and 3 pm, Saturdays only. Round trip fare is $1.

    About three decades ago, China was known as the "Bicycle Kingdom". But later on, bikes were replaced by their fuel-powered competitors.

    But recent months have seen a recovery of the humble bike across China, with an increasing number of people choosing cycling instead of driving to schools, to workplaces or to do sightseeing. The introduction of bike-sharing schemes, pioneered by start-ups like Ofo and Mobike, has brought the trend to a new level.

    People can unlock the shared bikes by simply using their smartphone. The bikes are equipped with GPS and can be left anywhere in public for the next user. They're popular among many Chinese people as they provide an effective solution to the "last mile" problem, which refers to the final leg of a person's journey.

    " In places where the subway doesn't extend, where it's difficult to change from one kind of transport to another, it's so easy to get where you want to go with Mobike," Hu Hong,29,told AFP. She pedals(骑车)to her Shanghai real-estate job.

    However, the schemes have also led to problems such as illegal parking, vandalism(故意毁坏) and theft. Last month, two nurses in Beijing were placed under administrative punishment for five days for putting locks on two shared bikes. And in December, a man who stole a shared bike was sentenced to a 3-month detention(拘留),and fined 1 ,000 yuan by the Shanghai Minhang People's Court.

    " Bike-sharing is a greener method of transportation and provides a user-friendly experience,"said Liu Xiaoming, vice-minister of transport.

    " But it's a combination of online and offline business. Operators are usually strong in online services, but lack offline business experience, which causes problems."

    Now, Chinese service operators are trying to solve the problems. For example, a bike- sharing company called Mobike sets a 100-point credit score for each user, with points taken in the case of bad behavior. Once a score drops below 80, bike rental is increased to 100 yuan per 30 minutes, up from 0.5 - 1 yuan.

    A bright yellow “M” tells you that it's a McDonald's restaurant; we also associate the cheerful theme tune “I'm Lovin' It” with the famous US fast food.

A brand's music has a similar effect on its customers as its logo. “It appeals directly to the heart, where consumers' decisions are really made,” wrote Marketing Week.

This is probably why companies from around the world have recently focused more on building a “sonic (声音的) identity”.

    An example is the software company Tencent QQ. Since 2014, this Chinese company has been trying to trademark (申请商标权) its “Di-Di-Di-Di-Di-Di” notification sound. The trademark was finally approved on Nov 15, which means that Tencent's “Di-Di-Di-Di-Di-Di” notification sound is now protected by law and can only be used by QQ.

    Sound and music can also help tell stories. In Game of Thrones (《权力的游戏》) there are so many characters that it is difficult to memorize them all. So, they wrote melodies (旋律) specific to each family. The result is that characters do not only look familiar, but sound familiar too.

    “I think a huge reason why sound inspires action is that, on an unconscious level, we are always listening,” Lauren Nagel, executive creative director at Pandora Media, told GeoMarketing. “You can close your eyes, but you can't shut your ears.”

    The blooming of social media and interactive smartphone-based apps has proved that e-marketing is an unchangeable trend. In the case of China, the latest battlefield is beauty camera apps, which have become an overnight hit in the West.

    ⒈MeituPic

    Developed by the Xiamen-based Meitu Inc MeituPic is the company's flagship beauty camera app and was the first to become a big hit among Western users. The app has drawn some 456 million users, who use it to post more than 6 billion photos every month.

    In addition to MeituPic, Meitu Inc has developed a series of beauty camera apps such as Beauty Plus, Poster Labs and Meipai, each specializing in facial feature improvement, video editing and many other features.

    ⒉Pitu

    Tian Tian Pi Tu, is a beauty app developed by China's Internet giant Tencent. Similar to other photo-editing apps, Pitu offers a number of beautifying filters, blemish(瑕疵) removing tools and virtual makeup choices for users to choose from.

    Launched in 2014, Pitu has accumulated 106 million monthly active users (MAUs). While the number is not as impressive as that of Meitu's apps, some argue that the user base of Tencent's gaming products and chat applications, such as QQ and WeChat, gives Pitu great potential for further growth. According to Chinese app watchers, Pitu's target audience is younger and more individualized than that of MeituPic. 80 percent of Pitu's users are younger than 25, giving the app more room to try out more new features.

    ⒊FaceU

    In contrast with most other beauty apps, FaceU, focuses more on the social feature, encouraging users to video chat with friends and even strangers while playing with its fun stickers (贴纸) — and the strategy is undoubtedly working. Launched in 2016, the app, which mainly targets female users between 15 and 35, has twice made it onto the Apple store's Chart for top apps.