There is plenty of complaints about how social media-texting in particular—may be harming children's social and intellectual development. But a new study suggests that constant instant messaging (IM'ing) and texting among teens may also provide benefits, particularly for those who are introverted (内向的).

British researchers studied instant messages exchanged by 231 teens, aged 14 to 18. All of the participants were “regular” or “extensive” IM'ers. In the U. S., two thirds of teens use instant messaging services regularly, with a full third messaging at least once every day.

The researchers analyzed 150 conversations in the study, and reported the results in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. In 100 of these chats, the study participant began IM'ing while in a negative emotional state such as sadness, distress or anger. The rest were conversations begun when the participant was feeling good or neutral. After the chat, participants reported about a 20% reduction in their distress—not enough to completely eliminate it, but enough to leave them feeling better than they had before reaching out.

“Our findings suggest that IM'ing between distressed adolescents and their peers may provide emotional relief and consequently contribute to their well-being,” the authors write, noting that prior research has shown that people assigned to talk to a stranger either in real life or online improved their mood in both settings, but even more with IM. And people who talk with their real-life friends online also report feeling closer to them than those who just communicate face-to-face, implying a strengthening of their bond.

    Why would digital communication do better than human contact? The reasons are complex, but may have something to do with the fact that users can control expression of sadness and other emotions via IM without exposing emotional elements like tears that some may consider as embarrassing or sources of discomfort. Studies also show that the anonymity (匿名) of writing on a device blankets the users in a sense of safety that may cause people to feel more comfortable in sharing and discussing their deepest and most authentic feelings. The research has shown that expressive writing itself can vent the stress and provide a sense of relief—and doing so, knowing that your words are reaching a sympathetic friend, may provide even more comfort and potentially be therapeutic(治愈的). Researchers also found that introverted participants reported more relief from IM conversations when they were distressed than extroverts did. Susan Cain, author of Quiet wrote recently for TIME: Introverts are often overfilled with thoughts and care deeply for their friends, family and colleagues. But even the most socially skilled introverts sometimes long for a free pass from socializing or talking on the phone. This is what the Internet offers: the chance to connect—but in measured doses and from behind a screen.

    An interesting study posted on Facebook recently shows how men and women develop new interests as they mature(成熟).

    While women tend to take exercise seriously from the age of 34, men will wait until their 45th birthdays before working hard to get in shape. The average woman spends more time talking about sports, politics, career and money as she gets older.

Women's interest in books reaches its peak(顶峰) at the age of 22, while that of men does so when they are in their 50s.

    Men start to change their focus from the workplace to other things after age 30, while women do not do so until eight years later. Both, however, care most about fashion at age 16.

    The research used anonymous(匿名的) data donated by thousands of Facebook users, recording the statuses, 'likes' and 'interests' they had posted on their profiles.

It found the average woman talks about television most at 44, while men peak much younger, at age 31.

    Men are also most likely to see a film in a cinema at age 31, while women go out to see films most when they are only 19.

    Men are most interested in travel at 29, women at 27, while women talk most about food and drink at 35, and men at 38.

    And if you are middle aged, a safe topic for any audience is the weather, which is a key interest for many as they approach 60.

    Stephen Wolfram, the British scientist who carried out the research, says, “It's almost shocking how much this tells us about the changes of people's typical interests.

    “People talk less about video games as they get older, and more about politics.”

Maths and Music

    An excellent way to kill a conversation is to say you are a mathematician. Tell others you are also a musician, however, and they will be hooked. Although there are obvious similarities between mathematical and musical activity, there is no direct evidence for the kind of magical connection many people seem to believe in.

    I'm partly referring here to the "Mozart effect", where children who have been played Mozart compositions are supposedly more intelligent, including at maths, than other children. It is not hard to see why such a theory would be popular: we would all like to become better at maths without putting in any effort. But the conclusions of the experiment that expressed the belief in the Mozart effect were much more modest. If you want your brain to work better, you clearly have to put in hard work. As for learning to play the piano, it also takes effort.

    Surely a connection is quite reasonable. Both maths and music deal with abstract structures, so if you become good at one, then it is likely that you become good at something more general that helps you with the other. If this is correct, it would show a connection between mathematical and musical ability. It would be more like the connection between abilities at football and tennis. To become better at one, you need to improve your fitness and coordination (协调). That makes you better at sport and probably helps with the other.

    Abstract structures don't exist only in maths and music. If you learn a language then you need to understand its abstract structures like grammar. Yet we don't hear people asking about a connection between mathematical and linguistic (语言的) ability. Maybe this is because grammar feels mathematical, so it wouldn't be surprising that mathematicians were better at learning grammar. Music, however, is strongly tied up with feelings and can be enjoyed even by people who know little about it. As such, it seems different from maths, so there wouldn't be any connection between the two.

    Let's see how we solve problems of the "A is to B as C is to D" kind. These appear in intelligence tests but they are also central to both music and maths. Consider the opening of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (小夜曲). The second phrase is a clear answer to the first. The listener thinks: "The first phrase goes upward and uses the notes of a G major chord (和弦); what would be the corresponding phrase that goes downward and uses the notes of a D7?" Music is full of puzzles like this. If you are good at them, expectations will constantly be set up in your mind. The best moments surprise you by being unexpected, but we need the expectations in the first place.

    Nowadays, parents worry a lot because their children spend hours and hours in front of the TV screen. Because this doesn't happen to only one specific family, many experts warn us that there can be some serious effects of children watching violence on television.

    Children who become addicted(上瘾的) to TV sit down and turn on the TV as soon as they get home. Although they have lots of homework, they become absorbed in TV programs.

    Since they spend tons of time watching TV, they have less time to enjoy real life activities such as playing with friends, playing outdoor sports, or enjoying other kinds of entertainment.

    There are too many violent scenes on TV. Some experts say there are 25 acts of violence per hour on TV. In addition, there are many experiments by psychologists which show how TV violence influences children. Finally, people worry that children tend to imitate what they watch on TV and may start to behave more violently.

    What should be done? First of all, the government should regulate TV violence. It should also encourage people to invent and develop new technology which can block violent scenes from the programs children watch. For example, with a rating system(分级制度) and the V-chip, unfit scenes of violence and sex can be blocked out. Second, parents should monitor what their children watch. At the same time, they should make their children interested in real life activities. Then when the children start to spend more time playing with friends or reading books, parents can stop their monitoring.

    It is a fact that there is more violence on TV today than there was ten years ago. Moreover, violent incidents occur more frequently in real life. It's time to realize how harmful watching TV violence is, and it's time to keep our children from watching violence.

    In order to learn a foreign language well, four things are necessary. First, we must understand the language when we hear it spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, with confidence and without hesitation(犹豫). Thirdly, we must do much reading. Finally, we must be able to write it. We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar.

    There are no shortcuts to success in language learning. A good memory is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book. It is not much learning by heart long lists of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on. We must learn by using the language.

    If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language. We must "learn through use." Practice is important. We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever we can.

    ①An increasing number of young people tend to rent clothes recently. Clothing rental is a hot new industry and retailers are entering this in hopes of attracting newly conscientious shoppers. This past summer alone, Urban Outfitters, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, American Eagle, and Banana Republic have all announced rental services—a sure sign of changing times.

    ②But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it, and if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline explored into this question and she concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.

    ③Take shipping, for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented—receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint(碳足迹)of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.

    ④She writes, "An item ordered online and then returned can emit(排放)20 kilograms of carbon each way, and up to 50 kilograms for rush shipping. By comparison, the carbon impact of a pair of jeans purchased in physical stores and washed and worn at home is 33.4 kilograms, according to a 2015 study by Levi's."

    ⑤Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most rental services, this usually means dry-cleaning, a high-impact and polluting process. 70 percent of US dry cleaners used perchloroethylene, a carcinogenic(致癌的)air pollutant, which can produce harmful waste and air pollution .

    ⑥Le Tote is the only service that uses 'wet cleaning' for 80 percent of its items and strives to avoid dry cleaning unless absolutely necessary.

    ⑦Lastly, Cline fears that rental services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called ‘share-washing' that makes people engage in more wasteful behaviors precisely because a product or service is shared and thus is perceived as more eco-friendly.

    ⑧Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and pitching them in the trash after a few wears, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us complacent(自鸣得意的). There's an even better step --and that's wearing what is already in the closet.