The aggressive spread of market economics and communication technologies~often under the control of Western multinational companies—brings new challenges to local cultures and values in non-Western societies. Sometimes it seems as if a tidal wave of the worst Western culture is creeping across the globe like a giant strawberry milkshake spill oat and over the planet, with a flavor that is distinctly sweet, sickly and apparently homogeneous (同质的).

    For some, especially the young, change may mean escape from oppressive traditions. It may also bring new opportunities for cultures to be combined in creative ways. However, there is genuine cause for concern about the rate at which cultures are being worn away in such a globalized world.

    Perhaps by far the most important far-reaching effect of cultural globalization is the commercialization of culture, which has a disturbing impact on local people's existing values. They are increasingly bombarded with new images, new music, new clothes and new values. The familiar and old are to be abandoned. While there was cultural change long before globalization, there is a danger that much will be lost simply because it is not valued by global markets. In West Africa for example, traditional values have been overtaken by Coca-Cola culture which the local people don't yet have the values to deal with successfully.

    Another common aspect of the globalized culture is that it pursues (追求) the same “one size fits all" American ideal. The result of this cultural process of homogenization is that a large section of the world's population dreams of living like Cosby & Co. or like the characters in any other stereotype American soap opera. In addition, the dream of living a better life causes thousands of people to move to already overcrowded cities whose population has boomed by millions within the last decades. The majority of these new immigrants end up in slums leading to poverty, pollution and misery.

    Such gradual aggression against people's existing values and cultures has a destructive impact on their sense of who they are, what they want and what they respect. It attacks spiritual values and faith traditions. The accumulative (累积的)effect in non-Western societies is a crisis of cultural confidence, combined with the increased economic uncertainty and crime which global integration (一体化)may bring. This creates real problems for social stability» whether it is at the level of nation, community or family.

    In conclusion, cultural globalization，or worldwide McDonaldization, destroys diversity and displaces the opportunity to sustain decent life through a mixture of many different cultures. It is more a consequence of power concentration in the global media and manufacturing companies than the people's own wish to abandon their cultural identity and diversity,

    2017 was an influential year for artificial intelligence (人工智能), not just in terms of the advancement of the technology itself, but also for the development of our understanding of AI's impact on our society.

    When we talk about AI, often we focus on the belief that it is going to take away certain types of jobs. However, we often ignore the fact that this technology will also slowly spread into most of our lives.

    Thanks to the development of AI, we are on the highway of IA, (human) intelligence augmentation (增强). Despite the great steps we've made in AI development and will continue to make in 2018, we are still years away from AI fully replacing human jobs. However, we are much closer to seeing the impact of AI spread into almost every job and the growth in human intelligence.

    Take a doctor for example: AI will soon be able to detect and diagnose common diseases more quickly and accurately than humans. Now, doctors can spend more of their time explaining the possible diagnoses, communicating with patients and developing unique, reliable treatment plans that are most effective for each specific patient.

    However, AI is so powerful and its adoption will only accelerate as it begins to help our work and allow us to focus on the parts of our job that are most important. But part of why AI is so attractive is also why it's so dangerous. That is, that same power allows AI that are making incorrect decisions to do so with greater speed and impact than humans have ever had.

    This is why, as AI becomes more useful in 2018, it will also become more closely examined. 2018 will be the year when companies purchasing AI products don't just ask about the power of AI—they will make sure that it is tested carefully in advance, minimizing their potential unexpected impact.

How to get siblings (兄弟姐妹) to get along

    One of the greatest gifts of parenthood is seeing your children form a relationship with each other that is independent of you. By giving hem someone else to play with, you can free up some time for yourself. Here are four techniques you can use to help your children appreciate each other while they're young.

    ⒈{#blank#}1{#/blank#} The No.1 thing parents can do to help their kids stay on good terms with each other is not to compare them with each other. Never say “Your sister never. . ”or “Why can't you do what your brother does?”{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒉Try out of the way. Try not to get too involved in your kids' arguments. Learning cooperation and problem-solving is an important skill in life{#blank#}3{#/blank#}And don't blame the older one for not “knowing better,” That puts pressure on the older child and leads to unhappiness.

    ⒊Activities and opportunities. Have your kids go to their siblings' games and activities{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    “My kids go to each other's activities, and take part in activities together,” says Patricia Walters-Fischer, mother of two. Not only do her children go, but they also offer support, encouraging each other before a big game or performance and offering comfort when things don't go well.

    ⒋Vacations. Don't ignore the value of a family vacation for bringing siblings together. When kids are away from their friends and forced to spend time together, they often enjoy each other{#blank#}5{#/blank#}In fact, a weekend camping trip offers some of the best opportunities for working together, having fun and experiencing something new.

A. Never shout at them.

B. Don't compare.

C. It doesn't need to be anything extremely great.

D. That only serves to fuel the competition.

E. Give them a project, and they will learn how to work together.

F. They may need help solving a conflict, but try not to take sides.

G. Get them involved in one another's lives, so they can have a better appreciation of who their sibling is.

    Scientists today are making greater effort to study ocean currents (洋流) . Most do it using satellites and other high-tech equipment. However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way -- by studying movements of random floating garbage. A scientist with many years' experience, he started this type of research in the early 1990s when he heard about hundreds of athletic shoes washing up on the shores of the northwest coast of the United States. There were so many shoes that people were setting up swap meets to try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.

    Ebbesmeyer found out in his researches that the shoes — about 60,000 in total — fell into the ocean in a shipping accident. He phoned the shoe company and asked if they wanted the shoes back. As expected, the company told him that they didn't. Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment. If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents.

    The Pacific Northwest is one of the world's best areas for beachcombing(海滩搜寻) because winds and currents join here, and as a result, there is a group of serious beachcombers in the area. Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed. In a year he collected reliable information on 1, 600 shoes. With this data, he and a colleague were able to test and improve a computer program designed to model ocean currents, and publish the findings of their study.

    As the result of his work, Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean. He has even started an association of beachcombers and ocean experts, with 500 subscribers from West Africa to New Zealand. They have recorded all lost objects ranging from potatoes to golf gloves.

    The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named "DriveLAB" in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to discover where the key stress points are.

    Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older people, leading to them becoming more isolated (隔绝) and inactive.

    Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.

    These include custom-made navigation (导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Phil Blythe explains: "For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country, driving is important for preserving their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.

    "But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is that people stop driving before they really need to."

    Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains:" The DriveLAB is helping us to understand what the key stress points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to address these problems.

    "For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined. We're looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of preventing that.

    "We hope that our work will help with technological solutions (解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel."

You have an important test tomorrow. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}But you're still worried. You need to relax. What can help? Maybe a quiet walk? A cup of tea? A little yoga? Psychologists have another idea: Sit down and write! Write about your stress.

Why does writing help? There are two reasons. First, your memory works like the memory in a computer. You need to delete (删除) some documents to make room for other documents.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So they need a lot of room in their brains for memory. They need to delete their "documents" of stress. Writing helps them by moving the stress out of the brain and putting it on paper. The second reason is writing helps you to focus. People write about their stress. As a result, they feel less worried. Then they can focus better on other things.

Psychologists are studying the connection between stress and writing. They do experiments with students. They put students into two groups.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}The other group sits quietly. Then all the students take a test. What are the results? The students in the writing group do better than the other group of students.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Some people don't sleep well. Writing at night will help them sleep better. Some athletes get stressed about winning or losing. They can't focus on playing well. Writing before a game can help them play better. People in job interviews get stressed, too. Writing before an interview can help them relax.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Try this experiment: Go to class ten minutes early, and write about your stress. You can write in English or your own language. Then take the test. Maybe the psychologists are right. Maybe writing will help you, too.

A. Do you get stressed about tests?

B. Writing can help other people, too.

C. Writing can help you perform well in an exam.

D. Students need to remember a lot of information.

E. One group writes about their stress for ten minutes.

F. Do you feel relaxed after writing about your stress?

G. You study very hard and you're doing well in the class.