To most people, noise pollution is a jet flying over their head. For one Spanish woman, it is a neighbor playing the piano. The woman has taken her neighbor to court. Now she wants to send her neighbor to prison for over seven years on the charges of psychological damage and noise pollution.

    In a country known for its noisiness, the case has raised eyebrows. Neighbors often complain  about street noise in Spain, but people seeking prison time for someone practicing the piano is unheard of. At the trial, Sonia Bosom says she has been suffering noise pollution up to now due to the practice sessions of Laia Martin, who lives below her. Martin, 27, didn't admit that she played at home that often, saying she took regular classes in other towns and mostly practiced at home on the weekends.

    On the first day of the trial, the newspaper reported that Bosom told the court she now hated pianos so much that she couldn't even stand seeing them in a film. Bosom says years of hearing Constant playing has caused her “psychological injury”. Medical reports show she has suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia (失眠), anxiety, and panic attacks.

    She says tests by local authorities have found that the sound levels made by the piano are up to 10 decibels （分贝）higher than the limit. City authorities have asked the family several times to either stop the piano playing or soundproof (隔音) the room. The family told the court that they carried out soundproofing work twice but the complaints continued.

    The court hasn't made a final decision. A spokeswoman says the trial will end before May.

    The average（平均的）American child spends three to five hours a day watching TV. In 1961, the average child began to watch television at age three; however, today it is nine months. Yet, most parents think that television has bad influence on their children. For example, in the early 1970s, my parents believed that my bad eyesight was the result of sitting too close to the screen, and they therefore made my stay at least six feet from it. Today, most people have no such worry, but many new ridiculous (荒谬的) sayings have appeared:

      *TV makes kids stupid. Many children watch more educational programs when they are pre-schoolers. When they grow up, they can read more books and have much better ideas to solve difficult problems than other children.

     *TV makes kids violent. The real story is not so simple. Hundreds of studies show that watching violence on TV makes children more aggressive (好斗的). But a study of over 5,000 children also finds that some positive programs make children kinder. The problem is that kids are increasingly watching shows with violence instead of those suitable for their age.

      *Sitting around watching TV makes kids overweight. An experiment finds that when children watch less television, they do lose extra weight; however, reducing their television time does not make them more active. The real problem lies in snacking (吃零食). A widespread habit for kids, and junk-food advertisements.

      *TV helps kids get to sleep. The opposite is true. The more television children watch, the more likely they are to have irregular sleep and nap (小睡) patterns. Allowing kids to watch television is part of the problem, not the solution.

    Most people would say the sea is blue and green. But the people who live near the coast of Zhejiang may say it is red. It is not people who caused the colour change, but very small living thing in the sea. They are algae(藻类)and protozoa(原生动物). They come in many different colours; red, yellow or brown. Red is the easiest of those to see so when this happens people call it a “red tide.”

    Red tides only happen when conditions in the sea are right. In the past few years, factories and people have been putting more chemicals into the sea. These chemicals help algae and protozoa to grow very quickly. The temperature of the sea is also important. Red tides usually happen at 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Red tides often happen in dry, warm areas where there is little wind. Living things grow easily in these places. Sometimes fishermen help red tides by mistake. They put small sea animals into the water for food to help fish grow.

    Those living things do more than change the colour of the water-they also put poison and mucus(黏液)into the sea. This is had for fish. The poison is bad for their brains. And too much mucus in the sea fills up fish's gills(鳃) so they can't breathe. Lots of dead fish and other sea animals are now washed up on Chinese beaches.

    Red tides can be bad for people too. We shouldn't eat fish from red-tide waters. The algae gets inside of fish and it smells bad. It can make your eyes water. If people eat fish with too much algae inside they could die.

    Fishermen in Zhejiang are having a hard time right now. Because of the red tide, they are selling 30% less fresh seafood than usual.

    In China red tides usually happen in May and June around places like Fujian Guangdong and Hong Kong.

    Many other countries sometimes also have red tides. But it seems that we have few ways to stop red tides. They can last as long as 16 months.

    Kids seem to spend endless hours on smartphones, computers and tablets these days. The best thing parents can do to prevent it is to encourage youngsters to spend more time outdoors in the sunlight.

    There has been a massive rise around the globe in short-sightedness—or myopia as it's officially known—over recent decades. Myopia or short-sightedness is becoming more common. Lack of natural light seems to be the key issue. “The main factor seems to be a lack of exposure to direct sunlight, because children who study a lot and who use computers or smartphones or tablet computers a lot have less opportunity to run around outside and are less exposed to sunshine and because of that children seem to be at more risk of developing shortsightedness.”

    Professor Hammond says, “It may be there's no coincidence that in East Asian countries, the most myopic ones all relate may to be the that maths league tables(排名表). These kids are being pushed with very intensive education from a very young age and spend a lot of time indoors studying close up. Therefore the concern is that all close work—like playing with the iPhone—carries the potential that it could make them more shortsighted.”

    The best thing to do, say the experts, is to get children playing outside as much as possible. “In a perfect world, probably on average across the week and the weekend, two hours a day outdoors is protective of becoming short-sighted in children. Healthy diet is really also important—in terms of getting oily fish, green vegetables, green leafy vegetables as much as possible.

    “What we need to look at is ways of modifying the impact that these activities have on their visual development.” Professor Hammond said, “There are eye drops and other treatments to slow myopia progression. But in terms of preventing myopia itself, there isn't any data out there at the moment in terms of the question, 'Could the drops we use slow progression or stop myopia developing at all? ' ”

    A 60-year-old homeless woman named Smokie has been sleeping outside in the dirt a few doors down from a man named Elvis Summers.

    Most mornings, she stops by Elvis's Los Angeles apartment and asks if he has any recyclable materials for her. Through these conversations, they struck up a friendship.

    One morning, Elvis saw a news article about man in Oakland who has been making tiny houses out of deserted materials. He was inspired to put off paying a few bills so he could buy the wood and hardware to make Smokie a brand new shelter. It took him five days to build it, and now, for the first time in ten years, Smokie has a place to hang the sign “Home Sweet Home”.

    “I had nowhere to really build it, so I just built it in the street outside of my apartment,” Elvis told Good News Network. “The local LAPD police have been super cool, and have told me they support it—as long as we move it to a different spot every 72 hours.”

    He made this pretty time-lapse(延时的) video showing how he did it. The materials, including two locks on the front door and strong wheels for moving it around, cost him about $500.

    “I've met so many homeless people, good people,” Elvis said in an email, “Since I built Smokie's , I've had several people asking me to make them a tiny home and it's turned into much more than just the one house I wanted to build.”

Although he runs an online retail store that sells EDM clothes, he has decided to launch an ambitious project to fund more shelters. He plants to get lighter and cheaper materials—without sacrificing the strength of the house—for the next round. Rick Sassen, a branch manager, kindly donated the roof shingles and cedar supporting Smokie's house, final items Elvis couldn't afford on his own. Sassen has promised to work out a deal on future building materials for the same cause.

Take one step closer to the lights on Broadway－build essential theater skills and start carving out your own creative professional path

Immersing themselves in the amazing, unparalleled New York theater scene, students will explore and analyze the craft, including creating an original piece and meeting professionals in the field. Throughout the term, students will use both classroom work and site visits around the downtown to examine and complete the creative process of taking an initial idea to production, gaining technical expertise (专业知识) and fluency in theater.

Students will also explore different areas of professional skill development, including playwriting structure and techniques, acting methods that help bring a play to life, scene structure. The course is open to all students－from those who are curious about the field but have no prior experience to those who already have one (or more!) plays, waiting to be developed.

Course Highlights

● Complete a hands-on experience in playwriting, acting and production, learning about the real processes the industry uses to create theater productions.

● Brainstorm, develop a concept, write and workshop a draft of a short play or scene, and bring it to stage with input and feedback from instructors and peers.

● Get a close-up view of the often-opaque (不透明的) business of theater, focusing on impacts to the profession brought about by social movements and current events.

Tuition*

● Residential Program (Students live in dorm-like facilities in the center of the city): $6,845

● Day Program (Students commute to class every day and do not receive accommodation and board): $5,560

(We encourage graduating seniors to apply before June 21, 2024 for a $425 discount on tuition.)

Term Date: July 21－Aug 2, 2024

Application Deadline: Friday, July 12, 2024

Contact Admission: info@nytedu.com

*We believe financial circumstances should not prevent someone from joining our program. Explore financial aid and scholarships.Learn More