What does it mean to say that we live in a world of persuasion? It means that we live among competing interests. Your roommate's need to study for an exam may take priority (优先) over pizza. Your instructor may have good reasons not to change your grade.

    In such a world, persuasion is the art of getting others to give fair and favorable consideration to our points of view. When we persuade, we want to influence how others believe and behave. We may not always prevail — other points of view may be more persuasive, depending on the listener, the situ­ation, and the merit of the case. But when we practice the art of persuasion, we try to ensure that our position receives the attention it deserves.

    Some people, however, object to the very idea of persuasion. They may regard it as an unwelcome interruption into their lives. Just the opposite, we believe that persuasion is unavoidable — to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be ethical (合乎道义的) or unethical, selfless or selfish, inspiring or degrad­ing. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or get our vulnerability(脆弱之处). Ethical persuasion, however, calls on sound reasoning and is sensitive to the feelings and needs of listeners. Such persuasion can help us apply the wisdom of the past to the decisions we now must make. Therefore, the most basic part of edu­cation is learning to resist the one kind of persuasion and to encourage and practice the other.

    Beyond its personal importance to us, persuasion is necessary to society. The right to persuade and be persuaded is the bedrock of the American political system, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution (美国宪法).

    When you sit down, you pick it out. When you are in your car, you reach for it．When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it．

    Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modern life, the cell phone．And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their desire to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships．

    With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, its air of complexity, the cell phone  connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away．In just the past  couple of years, the cell phone has challenged individuals, employers, phone makers and  counselors（顾问）in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined．

    The costs are becoming even more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill．Dr．Chris  Knippers, a counselor at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of  cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality．

    Sounds extreme, but we've all witnessed the evidence: the person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him．

    Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?

    Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell-phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation．He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with．Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says．

    If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread．Consider that in 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use．Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them．They far outnumber wired phones in the United States．

    What's your favorite online magazine for kids? Here are four that are worth a look and a read.

    National Geographic Kids

    Parents, students, and teachers can take the help of this quality resource to learn about people, places, science, space, history, nature, and various fun activities. The magazine aims for the age group of 8-14. Interactive content includes videos, games, photos, blogs, etc. This is one online magazine that parents and teachers will always choose without hesitation (犹豫).

    TIME For Kids

    TIME magazine for adults might be too serious. The version for kids isn't but it does go deep with a lot of educational content and teaching resources that are helpfully arranged around grades. The weekly classroom news magazine covers world news and aims to develop the reading and analyzing (分析) habit in kids.

    Weekly Reader

    An offline and online magazine for elementary school students features a lot of educational tools for teachers and students alike. All of its magazines are arranged around grades from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. Lots of the tools are interactive and based around nicely designed stories that make learning fun. Some sections are open to only subscribers (注册人) though.

Highlights

    Highlights, com brings out magazines for kids of ages 2-12. The publication group's purpose is to help children become their best selves. The homepage also gives you further websites to explore like Puzzlemaniakids.com and Highlightskids.com. Play free online puzzles, solve riddles, go creative with fun activities, and even learn a little about nature and science at these two sites. For instance, you can go into a story adventure or create your own stories at The Timbertoes.

    The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.

    Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, "It's a little damp (潮湿的) outside." Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, "She isn't exactly friendly." Understatement is often used in unpleasant situation or to make another person look silly. Understatement plays an important part in British humor.

    Another key to understanding British humor is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly and unpleasant things that happen to our everyday life when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about their accents, the way they dress and the way they behave. What's more, the British love to watch comedies (喜剧) about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedies series Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.

    Mr. Bean is the character created by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990. Mr. Bean doesn't talk often, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people have become familiar with the British sense of humor.

Dear Mr. Whitacre,

I fell in love with a "flying Dutchman"…literally. In the summer of 2011, I moved to the Netherlands not knowing anyone except my husband, not knowing how to speak the language, and leaving behind my friends, family, and everything I knew that represented me. But as they say, "Love is blind."

In the beginning, I spent many months "alone in my head." My mother-in-law didn't speak English (or Italian). This, however, didn't stop her from trying to communicate with me. At first, sounds of vague meanings coupled with hand gestures was our way of having a conversation.

It wasn't until I discovered she was a choral (合唱的) director for a women's group in the community that we then began communicating on a whole different level. From my early days in school, I was always part of a school choir for over a decade.

We shared a love of music! Dien (my mother-in-law's name) taught me many beautiful Dutch songs. I sang in her choir throughout the years that followed. And then by chance, I came across a TED-Talk featuring you, Mr. Whitacre discussing your music and the virtual (虚拟合唱团) choir. Within minutes, I researched when the next project would start and to my surprise, it was Virtual Choir4" Fly To Paradise." I couldn't wait to tell my mother-in-law!

The next 2 weeks we spent practicing our parts and perfecting our video submissions. It was pure joy for us. Something we shared a love for, encouraging each other, spending hours together, and making a permanent bond as a mother and daughter-in-law.

Music has always been a part of my life. Its significance is greater than anything most people are aware of. Our participation in your virtual choir is one I will never forget. And it goes without saying, I am grateful for you, your music, and its ability to connect us all.

At just 18 years old, Khalifa Aminu from Kano, Nigeria, has proved himself as an amazing inventor, with his sensory glasses designed to help the visually impaired (视障人士).

The glasses are fitted with infrared sensors (红外传感器) that can "see" obstacles in the user's path, warning them about possible dangers without the need for traditional walking sticks or guide dogs. In their current form, the glasses let out a beeping sound when an object is nearby, helping users move past it safely. Aminu is now working on making the glasses even more effective, particularly in low-light and nighttime conditions.

Aminu's journey into the world of invention began in childhood. He started small, building a canoe (独木舟) as his first project, and quickly realized that his creations could be used to solve real-world problems in his community. This love for invention has led him to create various innovations such as a radio station, a bomb detector and an automatic water sprayer for farmers.

As for how Aminu came up with the idea of his latest creation, Aminu explained, "I grew up in an area where there are visually impaired people, and I understand what they're going through. This is why I began the process for a technology-based solution for them."

The glasses have received positive feedback from testing. In a recent trial, a blind man was highly impressed by their effectiveness. "He suggested several improvements, like a wireless switch, smaller parts, and lenses for better usability," Aminu explained. "These suggestions will be carried out in future versions, but the challenge remains the lack of materials and resources for further development."

Luckily, in June, Aminu's invention caught the attention of Nigeria's National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, suggesting a bright future for him in further innovation and mass production. "My ultimate dream is to build a global company that continues to develop innovative technological solutions not only for Nigeria but for the world," said Aminu.