The latest Chinese “god song”(an Internet term to describe pop songs that spread virally through the Internet(像病毒一样传播开来) is still making debates(争论) between those who view it as a milestone for Chinese pop music going global and those who regard it as a bad image of China.

    Last week, Little Apple, written and performed by the Chopsticks Brothers, won the AMA International Song Award and the duo performed the song at the 2014 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Another Chinese pop singer, Zhang Jie, won the International Artist Award.

    But while fans of these singers are thinking highly of the awards(奖) and the performance by the Chopsticks Brothers at the AMA celebration, there are others who are less excited. They have questioned the value of the awards and what effect it will have on Chinese culture's “going abroad”, saying it may leave foreign audiences with a poor impression(印象) of Chinese pop music, and even Chinese culture.

    The Little Apple phenomenon, both home and abroad, can be more easily understood and judged if we look at it from a business view rather than a cultural view. The professional promoters behind the duo have developed a clear strategy(策略) to promote the duo and their works, not just this particular song. Little Apple was originally released(发行) to promote the duo's film Old Boys: The Way of the Dragon.

    From the very beginning a marketing strategy was used to promote(提升) the song, which immediately went viral on the Internet due to its repetitive rhythm(重复的韵律)，easy-to-remember lyrics(歌词), simple and funny dance and, most importantly, grass roots (草根) nature. The video accumulated(积攒) more than 1 billion bits on China's major video websites.

    Although the song was generally disliked by music professionals who criticized(批评) it as “musical junk food”, Little Apple's popularity nationally paved the way(为…铺平道路) for promoting the duo internationally.

    Dear Student of Star Middle School:

    As your student council president, I am writing to ask for your support to start the Count-Your-Steps walking program. Mr. Stewart Thomas, a parent of two students at Star Middle School, firstly came up with the idea. Mr. Thomas is a fan of walking and wants to encourage others to appreciate the activity. He shared his idea with our principal, Ms. Howser, who immediately agreed that we should try it.

    Ms. Howser contacted the other middle schools in the district, and all the teachers eagerly adopted the program. Now a team of Count-Your-Steps organizers made up of representatives from the middle schools, has established the program's goal: to increase awareness of the benefits of walking. Organizers want middle school students to accept this challenge and make walking one of their daily activities.

    The program has clear guidelines. Interested participants must only commit to recording the number of steps taken daily. Ms. Earley, the assistant principal, will give each of us a log for recording our steps and a pedometer, which is a small, digital tool used to count the steps of the person wearing it. All participants need to do each day is to wear the pedometer, walk as much as possible, and then record the number of steps in our logs. Clearly, the process is simple and convenient.

    While the benefits of walking are multiple, this challenge offers all who participate the opportunity to work together, achieve success, and make positive changes. Remember that the other schools in the district are signed up for the Count-Your-Steps too, and each one will try to take more steps than our school. I hope many will agree to this challenge and show everyone the Star Middle School Cougar Spirit.

    Please take into careful consideration this valuable and well-planned program, and then sign up today! In the words of Mr. Thomas, “Together we can enjoy the advantages of walking.”

    Sincerely,

    Cora Jeffries

    “We haven't found anything that we can't recycle!”

    Cigarette ends are everywhere—littering our streets and beaches—and for decades they've been thought of as“unrecyclable”. But a New Jerseybased company, called TerraCycle, has taken on the challenge, and has come up with a way to recycle millions of cigarette ends and turn them into industrial plastic products. Its aim is to recycle things that people normally consider impossible to reuse.

    Obviously it would be even better for the environment if everyone just stopped smoking, but the statistics show that although there has been an increase in anti-smoking ads and messaging, between 2000 and 2014, global sales of cigarettes increased by 8 percent, and a whole lot of those cigarette ends are ending up as trash. Since most of our litter eventually ends up in waterways, cigarette ends can surely pollute the surrounding environment. “It only takes a single cigarette end to pollute a liter of water, ” TerraCycle founder, Tom Szaky, said. “Animals can also mistake littered cigarette ends for food.”

    So how do you go about turning all those poisonous ends into something useful? TerraCycle does this by first breaking them down into separate parts. They mix the remaining materials, such as the tobacco and the paper, with other kinds of rubbish; and use it on non-agricultural land, such as golf courses. The filters (过滤嘴) are a little harder. To recycle these, TerraCycle first makes them clean and cuts them into small pieces, and then combines them with other recycled materials, making them into liquid for industrial plastic products.

    They're now also expanding their recycling offerings to the rest of the 80 percent of household waste that currently can't be recycled, such as chocolate packaging, pens, and mobile phones. The goal is to use the latest research to find a way to stop so much waste ending up in landfill (垃圾填埋), and then get companies to provide money for the process. And so far, it's working.

    “We haven't found anything that we can't recycle,”communications director of Terra Cycle, Albe Zakes, said. “But with the amount and variety of packaging and litter in the world, we are always looking for new waste streams to address.”

    Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new “species” of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name — phubbers（低头族）.

    Recently, a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie（自拍照）in front of a car accident site, and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction of the world.

    Although the ending sounds overstated, the damage phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. “Constantly bending your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck,” Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying. “the neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching.” Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.

    But that's not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.

    It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight.

    Work started this week on next season's flu vaccine (疫苗), with experts working off forecasts about which types of the flu virus will be making the rounds. But don't expect any improvements. Flu experts are already admitting that most vaccines will give at best basic protection, because they're based on old-fashioned technology. It's not a new problem, but one that the slow-moving world of drug and vaccine production seems helpless to improve upon.

    Every flu vaccine is a cocktail, aimed at either three or four of the most common flu types. Flu vaccines must be recreated every year because flu viruses develop constantly in a process called antigenic drift. In February, global flu experts gather to trade notes on what viruses are circulating in different countries and to come to an agreement on which types the next vaccines should be made to target.

    In recent years, flu vaccines have been based on H1N1, H3N2 and either one or two types of influenza B virus. Each of these has a "reference" type, which is used to make seed virus. Producers add the seed types to eggs and incubate (孵) them as the virus grows. Then they purify the virus, and either weaken it or kill it to make a vaccine.

    Using eggs is a tricky (=difficult) and unpredictable process. Sometimes the virus doesn't grow well in eggs, which can mean less vaccine than expected. The result is a flu vaccine that doesn't offer much protection. "As long as we have eggs we are going to have this problem," said Scott Hensley, a flu virus expert, "The only solution is not to depend on eggs."

    Flu is a major killer. The 2017-2018 season has been a severe one, hitting the entire U. S. with widespread influenza infection (感染) at once for weeks on end, and killing 97 children so far. Against this threat, even a less satisfying flu vaccine will definitely help. "Even when you have these mismatches it will not prevent infection but likely prevent disease severity," said Hensley.

    When Warren Buffett, the most successful investor, was asked about the secret to his wealth and success, he revealed that he read every day, 500 pages, to be precise. Unfortunately, if you're already working 9‒5, you might not have the time to read at all, let alone an entire book a day. But what if you could get the benefits of reading without sacrificing all of your free time? You can! With the Blinkist app, you get the key learning in minutes, not hours or days. Our experts transform these books into quick, easy-to-understand insights. Start with the 5 most-read books.

    ⒈Thirteen Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do

    by Amy Morin             12 min reading time             147k reads

    Do you struggle to get over your failures? Getting over these can have a profound influence on your everyday life. Morin shares how her most successful patients overcame these difficulties.

    ⒉How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

    by Dale Carnegie           19 min reading time            238k reads

    Ever wondered why you can't stop worrying about something? By defining the source of your stress, you can get over it once and for all. Carnegie came up with a formula that helps you handle any overthinking situation.

    ⒊How Will You Measure Your Life?

    by Clayton M. Christensen       13 min reading time        137k reads

    Are you making the right trade-offs (权衡) in life? While career achievements can be satisfying, neglecting your family and friends can be bad in the long-run — in ways you can't even imagine.

    ⒋Finding Your Element

    by Ken Robinson               13 min reading time        62.4k reads

    Everyone has a passion. If you don't know what yours is, it just means you haven't discovered it yet. Find out how you can break free of society's strict rules and find your calling in life.

    ⒌Emotional Intelligence

    by Daniel Goleman             16 min reading time        318k reads

    Did you know if your pulse rate rises above 100 bpm, you're deemed too emotional to think rationally? You probably let feelings cloud your judgment more often than you know. Goleman explains how you can avoid letting your emotions rule you and make better decisions in life.