The Swedish Academy's mid-October announcement regarding literature seldom fails to cause second-guessing.

    Bob Dylan was awarded the big prize this morning, and my social media has been alive with indignation ever since. The Nobel did not go to those excellent novelists but to a songwriter. Some of those same people are still protesting that last year it was warded to Svetlana Alexievich, a “journalist”. They have decided, for whatever reasons, that song lyrics(歌词) are not literature.

    And people are upset because Bob Dylan is the voice of some generation other than theirs, because he works in a popular style, because he does not work in this minute's popular style, because he appeared on a car commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, because his songwriting skills dropped off — he was famous long ago, after all.

    You may not think of Dylan as a poet, but Dylan created a climate in which lyrics were taken seriously. And Dylan accomplished something that few novelists or poets or for that matter songwriters have managed to do in our time: he changed the time he lived. Through words, with music, he affected the opinions and ambitions of hundreds of millions of people all over the world. The Nobel Prize in Literature cannot ever be all things to all people, and while this year's award failed to accomplish various possible objectives, it was not in any way misapplied.

    Plants are helpful to human: they provide us with wood and other products, they give us shade, and they help to prevent drought and floods.

    Sadly, in many parts of the world man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.

    Several thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire but, without its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the country found itself faced by floods and starvation.

    Even if a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for it to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with, and he can earn money by making charcoal(木炭) or selling wood to the townsman. He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after trees. So unless the government has a good system of control, or can educate the people, the forests will slowly disappear.

    This does not only mean that the villagers? Sons and grandsons have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. For where there are trees their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in and also hold the soil, thus preventing it being washed away easily, but where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor. The rain falls on hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich topsoil, in which crops grow so well. When all the topsoil is gone, nothing remains but a worthless desert.

    An earthquake is one of the most common natural disasters. It may cause great damage.  So it is wise to learn some simple safety tips to protect yourself or your family members.

    Fragile items, like those made of glass should usually be placed on a lower surface, near the ground instead of placing them on cupboards higher up. Never place them near your bed, sofas and other furniture where you would be sitting or lying down. When there is a strong movement, these pieces will fall on the floor directly and not on you.

    There is a strong chance of short circuits（短路）and fire breakouts during an earthquake. Make sure you turn off electrical connections and gas immediately when an earthquake happens.

    During an earthquake, lie beneath an object that is not easily damaged. Do not go near objects that could directly fall on you. Never use the elevator to go down. Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries happen when people inside buildings try to go out. Use the staircases at all times.

    If you are outdoors, do not take shelter under a tree, streetlights, electric poles or tall buildings. If you are driving, stop your car and stay in a safe place. Do not park your car under a tree or any tall object.

    If trapped in debris (瓦砾堆), cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing. Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can find you. Use a whistle (哨子) if one is available. Never shout for help. Shouting can cause you to breathe in dangerous amounts of dust. Do not light a match because you may burn yourself. Do not move about or kick up dust.

    The legal age for drinking alcohol（酒精饮料） in the US is twenty-one. Underage drinking is not only a crime but also a common part of college social life. This week in our Foreign Student Series, we look at alcohol policies at American colleges and universities.

    The United States has more than 17 million students in higher education. Each year, 1,700 of them aged 18 to 24 die from alcohol-related road crashes and other injuries. 600,000 more are injured because of alcohol. And almost 700,000 are attacked by another student who has been drinking.

    Now, many schools have begun to strengthen（加强）their rules and college officials are trying to prevent too much drinking. Some researchers have found that students who think heavy drinking is normal often think that other students really drink much.

    At the University of Oklahoma, new policies came into effect after a nineteen-year-old student died from drinking too much at a party. Now alcohol is banned（禁止） from all university housing. Student organizations can serve alcohol at events but only on Friday and Saturday nights. And they must provide for transportation to and from off-campus parties. Other new requirements include an alcohol educational program that first-year students take online.

    The policies govern behavior on campus and off. With the first violation（违规）, students pay

75 dollars and their parents are told. They must also take an alcohol education class. They have to pay double if the behavior happens again. Those who violate a third time will have to be driven home for at least one term. The president of Oklahoma says the aim is not just to punish but to change the behavior and the culture at the university.

In a time when a dangerous number of people are overweight, many people seem to have forgotten the most important way to keep healthy and slim—exercise. And as a new study carried out on mice in the lab has shown, exercise done early in life can reward you in your adult years.

    A team of researchers at the University of California studied the effects of early exercise on adult physical activity, body mass and eating. They found that early-age exercise in mice has positive effects on adult levels of voluntary exercise in addition to reducing body mass.

    "These results may have an effect on the importance of regular physical education in elementary and middle schools," said Theodore Garland, a professor of biology, who led the research project. "If kids exercise regularly through their school years, then they may be more likely to exercise as adults, which could have far-reaching positive effects on human health and well-being."

    Although the positive effects of early-life exercise lasted for only one week, it is important to note that one week in the life of a mouse is the same as about nine months for humans. "Our results suggest that any positive effects of early-life exercise on adult exercise will need to be kept up if they are to be long-lasting."

    His team of researchers found, too, that all mice that had access to early exercise were lighter in weight than non-exercised mice.

    Garland explained that, in general, exercise will stimulate appetite sooner or later. However, it is possible that certain types of exercise, done for certain periods of time or at certain light levels, might not stimulate appetite much, if at all, at least in some individuals.

    "If we could understand what sorts of exercise these might be, then we might be able to tailor exercise recommendations in a way that would bring the benefits of exercise without increase in appetite, leading to a better chance of weight loss," he said.

This morning, I saw the shocking headline: "Passenger Dies When Car Crashes in Driverless Mode". In the article, various people said that the public should oppose the idea of developing driverless cars. They said that some advances in technology were unnecessary and could even be dangerous. Hence, we should cease accepting technology just because it is new. The newspaper reported that the car company had already apologised for the accident, but the families of the deceased（死者）said it was not enough. Nevertheless, the company still claimed that most people would be travelling in driverless cars one day soon.

On the one hand, there are many different groups of people around the world who live happily in the absence of new technology. Probably the most well known are the Amish（亚米希人）,a group of Christians living in rural America. They do not own or drive cars, watch TV, or use the Internet. They have lived mainly as farmers since the 18th century, and they will probably be living the same way in the distant future. They advocate a simple life with an emphasis on hard work, family, and community. They think that is better than caring about luxuries or following the lives of the rich and famous. It could even be argued that the Amish's quality of life is better since they live in and appreciate the natural environment rather than living in large, polluted cities.

On the other hand, new technology has provided people everywhere with many benefits over the years. For example, the latest weather-tracking computer programmes give people lots of warnings about potential natural disasters, which saves many lives. Moreover, the Internet has made it possible for friends and family to keep in touch easily even if they are on opposite sides of the world. It has also made finding opportunities in life much easier, as it allows people to make larger networks of friends through using social media.

Personally, I have benefited quite a lot from technological advances. I found my career as an AI designer through a social media network. My health monitor, which I wear all the time, has also helped me get into the best shape of my life. Of course, when new technology changes the way we live, it can be a scary prospect.

Nevertheless, I will always look on the positive side of change and accept it rather than resist it.