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(身份) bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie 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.

    Michelin inspectors, the super secret spies of the restaurant industry, are the anonymous (匿名的) keepers of the famous Michelin star rating. They've been writing anonymous reports of restaurants for over 100 years.

    “We say it's a little like the CIA,” said inspector “M” with a laugh. She asked that her identity not be revealed. “My whole life is staying under the radar, staying away from cameras, using fake names, trying to steal in and out of restaurants quietly.”

    Along with their boss, Jean Luc Naret, the director of the Michelin Guide, about 90 inspectors around the world decide which restaurants will win the cooking equivalent (等价物) of an Oscar, the Nobel Prize and Megamillions jackpot (百万彩票) all at once. The Michelin Guide covers 23 countries, and out of the 45,000 rated restaurants, less than 100 have the top rating — only nine American restaurants carry three stars.

    If the name “Michelin” brings the tires on your car to mind, you're not too far off. The Michelin rating began in France in 1900 as a marketing trick. The Michelin brothers thought their customers would bum more rubber if given a list of hotels and restaurants to explore.

    Inspector “M” admitted being an inspector leads to a lonely dining life. “Most of the time we dine alone,” she said. “It gives us the ability to really focus on the food and the atmosphere and capture the entire experience.” To cover their tracks, “M” said sometimes two inspectors will dine together and write two separate papers. It's better than saying “table for one”, right?

    “When you're really, really into food and very crazy about food, everything else that's going on around you isn't so important,” she said.

    My motivation for starting our family tradition of reading in the car was purely selfish: I could not bear listening to A Sesame Street Christmas for another 10 hours. My three children had been addicted to this cassette（磁带）on our previous summer road trips.

    As I began to prepare for our next 500-mile car trip, I came across a book—Jim Trelease's—The Read Aloud Handbook. This could be the answer to my problem. I thought. So I put Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach into my bag. When I began to read aloud the tale of the boy who escapes the bad guys by hiding inside a giant peach, my three kids argued and fought with each other in their seats. But after several lines, they were attracted into the rhythm of the words and began to listen.

    We soon learned that the simple pleasure of listening to a well-written book makes the long miles pas more quickly. Sometimes reading became the most interesting part of the trip. I read Wilson Rawls's Summer of the Monkeys as we spent two days driving to the beach. We arrived just behind the power crews restoring（恢复）electricity after a tropical storm. The rain continued most of the week, and the beach was covered with oil washed up by the storm. When we returned home, I asked my son what he liked about the trip. He answered without hesitation “The book you read in the car.”

    Road trips still offer challenges, even though my children now are teenagers. But we continue to read as we roll across the country. And I'm beginning to see that reading aloud has done more than help pass the time. For at least a little while, we are not shut in our own electronic worlds. And maybe we've started something that will pass on to the next generation.

    Unbelievable Stories of Animals Acting Just Like Humans

    Horses are picky eaters

    Horses have an even better sense of smell than humans do. When horses raise their noses and open their nostrils (鼻孔) , their nervous system allows them to sense smells we can't sense. This might explain why they refuse dirty water and carefully mover around meadows, eating only the tastiest grasses, experts say.

    Whale says thanks

    In 2011, a whale expert spotted a humpback whale trapped in a fishing net and spent an hour freeing it. Afterward, in an hour-long display of thanks, the whale swam near their boat and leaped into the air about 40 times.

    Pandas like to be naughty

    Is there anything more lovely than a baby panda, except maybe a human baby? In fact, baby pandas sometimes behave like human babies. They sleep in the same positions and value their thumbs. Pandas are shy by nature for its shy behaviors such as covering its face with a paw of ducking its head when confronted by a stranger.

    A cat honors its owner

    Paper towels, and a plastic cup are just a few of the gifts that Toldo, a devoted three-year-old gray-and-white cat, has placed on his former owner Iozzelli Renzo's grave every day since the man died in September 2011. Renzo adopted Toldo from a shelter when the cat was three months old, and the two formed an inseparable bond. After Renzo passed away. Toldo followed the coffin to the cemetery, and now “stands guard” at the grave for hours at a time.

    Whatsonstage.com is the UK's biggest and best online guide to the performing arts including theatre, opera, classical music, dance and so on.

    The Lion King

    Musical: The stage adaptation of the Disney film taken from an original African story. A young lion grows up and learns that taking over the pride requires wisdom and maturity(成熟).

    Place: Lyceum Theatre, Wellington Street, London

    Telephone: 0870 243 9000

    Date: Friday, 18 Nov. 2015

    Ticket price: ￡37.5

    Oliver

    Musical: Dickens' story of a boy in a London workhouse and his adventures on the way to discovering his family. The songs include Food glorious food, You've got to pick a pocket or two, Who will buy this wonderful morning, I am reviewing the situation and Consider yourself at home.

    Place: Theatre Royal, Catherine Street, London

    Telephone: 020 7494 5061

    Date: Thursday, 17 Nov. 2015

    Ticket price: ￡25,but now save 20%

    Jersey Boys

    Musical: It tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four seasons: the blue-collar kids from New Jersey formed a singing group and became famous. The musical features many of the group's popular songs such as Big girls don't cry, Oh, what a night and Can't take my eyes off you.

    Place: Prince Edward Theatre, Old Compton Street, London

Telephone: 0870 850 9191 —

    Date: Saturday, 19 Nov. 2015

    Ticket price: ￡22.5

    Alls Well That Ends Well

    Play: A romantic story. Helena, daughter of a poor physician, loves Bertram, son of a Countess(女伯爵).

    Place: Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Park Street, London

    Telephone: 020 7401 9919

    Date: Sunday, 20 Nov, 2015

    Ticket price: ￡40.5

    A recent study finds that the dirt on the ground is likely to worsen climate change. Researchers have shown that warmer temperatures are heating the soil, which is causing microbes (微生物) to become more active and release more of the soil's carbon into the atmosphere. These soil changes can potentially contribute to even higher temperatures.

    Scientists studied device readings, soil measurements, plant growth details and satellite observations from around the world. Their work is the most complete study on the subject.

    They found a sharp increase in carbon released into the atmosphere by bacteria and fungi (真菌) in soil from 1990 to 2014. Researchers explain that the carbon comes from the dead plants and leaves the microbes eat. As temperatures rise, the microbes eat more. And the more they eat, the more carbon can be made into carbon dioxide and released into the atmosphere.

    This uncontrolled cycle speeds up and intensifies climate change. Overall, soil releases about nine times more carbon than human activities. But that is part of a natural cycle: the amount of carbon released into the air is about equal to the carbon oceans and plants take in.

    However, carbon released from fossil fuel causes an imbalance. Burning coal, oil and natural gas puts more carbon into the atmosphere than nature can take in. The additional carbon heats the air and soil. And as the air and soil get hotter, the earth will release more carbon than it has been holding.

    If something isn't done, we are really in trouble. Proper soil conservation can help keep more carbon in soil. Conservation methods include avoiding turning the soil, covering off-season crops and leaving crop deposits on the ground.