Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, testing 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 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.

    I had been in the city for some time and was coming home. I missed my boat and decided to travel on an old ship. I knew that it would not be a comfortable journey but I had no time to wait for another boat.

    Hardly had we left the port when I saw the dog Gulliver, the captain's favourite dog, for the first time. What a big dog it was! I had never seen one that could frighten me so much!

    On the third day the ship caught fire. Nobody tried to put it out. The ship began sinking and all the men rushed to the life-boats. I saw no chance of getting away in a boat. Suddenly I remembered there was a life-raft on the ship. I had no time to lose, so I immediately rushed towards the raft and pushed it overboard.

    In jumping down onto the raft I hurt myself badly and was unconscious for some time. When I came to, I found there was no sign of a life-boat. Every man who had been on board the ship must have gone down with her. I was the only one who was saved.

    The I saw Gulliver was coming fast towards the raft. He struggled a long time before he managed to get onto it. I wanted to push him back into the water but did not dare to move. The dog shook himself, went to the other end of the raft and lay down. I didn't dare to sleep that night. I must watch him. In the moonlight I could see his eyes were open. He was watching, too.

    When it comes to bringing up children, everybody agrees that it is not an easy task. Every parent watches eagerly the child's acquisition (学会) of each new skill — the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting (吸引人的) to hurry the child beyond his natural learning speed, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to learn something too early. A young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning chances, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.

    Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are strict with the time of coming home at night or being on time for meals. In general, the controls show the needs of the parents and values (价值观) of society as much as the children's own happiness.

    When it comes to the development of moral standards (道德标准) in the growing child, consistency (前后一致性) is very important in parental teaching. To say "No" to a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality (道德). Also, parents should realize that "example is better than precept". If they are not sincere and do not practice what they preach (说教), their children may grow confused and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent cheated.

    A sudden realization of a big difference between their parents' principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.

    Every year, 1.5 million kids around the world die as a result of not getting vaccines (疫苗). This is partly because transporting and storing medicines can be a huge challenge in some countries.

    Anurudh Ganesan, 17, knows this firsthand. When he was a baby in India, his grandparents carried him 10 miles to a health clinic in a remote village to receive a vaccine. But by the time they arrived, the vaccines were no longer usable because they had been overheated.

    Vaccines, Anurudh later learned, must be kept cool to stay effective. But refrigerating them requires electricity or ice – precious resources that many developing countries lack.

    Although Anurudh eventually received the vaccine he needed, his experience as a baby and the sad reality that so many other children aren't as lucky motivated him to take action. The high school student invented Vaxxwagon, a portable vaccine-carrying device that generates its own power to keep lifesaving medicines cool as they're delivered to remote areas around the world.

    Anurudh first got his idea for Vaxxwagon in 2014. He read several textbooks to learn everything he could about refrigeration, and then he did research online to learn more about vaccines. Rather than relying on electricity or ice, Anurudh figured out a way to use wheels to power a refrigeration system for about eight hours. The entire rechargeable cooling system can be pulled to areas in need of vaccines by a bicycle, a car, or an animal. Eventually, Anurudh took his design to professors at Johns Hopkins University for advice. Not only did they confirm Vaxxwagon could work, but they offered him funding to help build it.

    Anurudh was rewarded with the 2015 Google Science Fair LEGO Education Builder Award for his invention. Anurudh says his final goal is to start selling Vaxxwagon to relief organizations, so it can be used to help people around the world.

Anurudh, who plans to pursue engineering degree in college, says, “Don't give up on your ideas. But always try to help others with your projects. That's the point of engineering – to help people.”

    Chris Mazdzer won a silver medal in a men's luge (无舵雪橇) singles event at 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, South Korea — equaling the best finish ever for any member of the US Olympic luge team. In the luge, competitors lie flat, feet first, on a small sled (雪橇). They can travel around an icy track at speeds up to 140 kilometers an hour. The riders control the sled's speed by changing the position of their feet or by moving their shoulders.

    So why did the US luge team win a medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics? Most credit must go to Chris Mazdzer himself. The American said his win was a product of 16 years of preparation and intense training. But another reason for Mazdzer's success could have been the 3-D printing technology, which his team used to make its equipment.

    The term 3-D is short for three dimensional, meaning an object with length, width and height. In 3-D printing, 3-D models are first created as files, or documents, on a computer. The printer then uses a substance (物质) like plastic or metal to create physical objects. The process involves making one layer of material at a time until the objects reach full form.

    The US luge team worked with an American company called Stratasys on the designing and manufacturing process for the sleds. First, the company made a scan, or image, of the body of every member of the luge team. Then, 3-D printing technology was used to create tools for making molds (模子) in the shape of Olympians on top of a sled. The process of designing and tooling sled parts is highly complex and can take several weeks. Officials from the US luge team say 3-D printing can greatly simplify the process, speeding up the production of parts.

    Jon Owen, says the use of 3-D printing has made the team more competitive. It helps the team “continuously adjust designs and run the sleds on the track much faster than traditional processes,” he said. He added that the technology also provides a way to perfectly fit each rider to the sled, while cutting production time and costs.

    In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments In the U. S. A, the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.

    The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.

    Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and star housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is, however, the danger that when business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts, there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries,the government controls the installment plan by fixing the amount of the down payment and installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.