READING SECTION

What is Depression? Depression is a type of medical illness for which a person experiences sadness and loses interest in the activities they once enjoyed. Depression can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function properly. What are the Symptoms of Depression? How to know whether a person is depressed or not? Here are some common symptoms of depression that might help you to identify a depressed person- Loss of interest in daily activities: You do not feel like doing anything; you no longer find interest in your former hobbies or pastimes. You have lost your ability to feel joy and pleasure. Feeling helpless and losing hope: A feeling that nothing will ever get better and there is nothing you can do to improve your situation. Changes in appetite or weight loss: Significant weight loss or weight gain due to eating less or too much. Change in sleep cycle: You either suffer from insomnia or oversleeping. Anger issues: Feeling agitated, restless, or even violent. Your tolerance level is low, and everything and everyone gets on your nerves. Loss of energy: Feeling fatigued and physically drained. You feel exhausted all the time. Self-loathing. Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You cannot forgive yourself and harshly criticise yourself for your mistakes. Concentration problems: You have trouble focusing or remembering things. Unexplained aches and pains: Increased physical complaints such as headaches, back pain and stomach pain. Thoughts of suicide: You cannot accept yourself and often think of taking your own life.

African_Slavery_in_the_Americas One of the most tragic parts of the history of North and South America is the period of African slavery. For hundreds of years, many people were taken from Africa, by force, to work in the fields of many different countries in North and South America. When Europeans first came to the Americas, some of them realized that they might make money by growing crops and selling them in Europe. However, in order to make money, they would need a cheap source of labor. Few Europeans would come to the Americas to work for low wages, so instead, the landowners looked for slaves. In the areas of the great farms, or plantations, there were few Indians, so they used another source of slaves: Africa. The plantation owners usually obtained slaves by buying them from local kings in western Africa. This led to many wars between rival kings within Africa, who tried to capture each other's people in order to sell them as slaves. A few kings tried to avoid the slave trade, but this was very difficult. During a period of several hundred years, from the 1500s to the 1800s, about 12 million people were taken from western Africa to the Americas. Many more people died as slaves before leaving Africa, and many more died on the ships that took them to the Americas. This was because the conditions on the ships were extremely unhealthy: the ships were far too crowded, and there was little food and water. When the African slaves arrived in the Americas, the plantation owners made them work on farms that produced goods such as cotton and sugar. In many places, the work was very hard, and many of the slaves died from overwork. They were then replaced by other slaves who arrived from Africa. However, many slaves survived despite the brutal conditions. In some places, the African slaves were able to revolt against the plantation owners. However, this was difficult because the slaves who had recently arrived spoke many different languages. Some slaves escaped into wilderness areas and were able to remain free from the plantation owners. As time went by, many people in Europe and in the Americas realized that slavery was wrong. By the 1830s, slavery had been ended, or abolished, in islands owned by the British, and in parts of the United States. In the southern United States, slavery was ended in the 1860s, during the Civil War. In some countries, such as Brazil and Cuba, slavery only ended in the 1880s. Today, many millions of people in North and South America are the descendants of slaves who were brought from Africa. The effects of slavery have lasted for many generations, and there was much racial prejudice against African people even when slavery ended. However, some have achieved success despite these disadvantages. Today, the people of African background in North and South America are a very important part of the population in many countries.

📚 The "Silly Boy" 📚 A new teacher, upon entering the classroom, noticed that one boy was being teased and called "Silly Boy." During the break, he asked the students why they called him that. “He really is silly, Mr. Teacher. If you give him a larger five-cent coin and a smaller ten-cent coin, he always picks the five because he thinks it's bigger. Look, watch this...” A student pulled out two coins and offered them to the boy. As usual, he chose the five-cent coin. The teacher, puzzled, asked: "Why did you choose the five-cent coin and not the ten?" "Look, it's bigger, Mr. Teacher!" After school, the teacher approached the boy. "Don't you understand that five cents is only bigger in size, but ten cents can buy more?" "Of course, I understand, Mr. Teacher." "So why do you keep choosing the five?" "Because if I pick the ten, they'll stop giving me money!"

Joined-Up Thinking: Do We Need Cursive Handwriting? When e-readers came along, people said it was the end of real books — just as CDs seemed to have ended the need for vinyl records. But here we are, living in a time when both real books and vinyl records are alive and well. So just because we create a new, more advanced way to do something, it doesn't mean we have to abandon the old way. Then what about cursive handwriting? It's a question many teachers have been asking for decades as electronic devices have become more and more common both in the world of work and in the classroom. In the US, about half of the states have made the teaching of cursive mandatory. It's still taught in a number of European countries, while others have a greater focus on typing. So what's the right approach? Some recent studies have found that writing in cursive helps the brain learn and remember better than typing. This may help younger children with their reading skills. It's also good for fine motor skills — those that allow us to make small movements with our hands and wrists. However, some teachers say children will hardly ever need to write by hand as they get older, and if they do, then printing — rather than fully cursive writing — will be enough. Time is also a big problem for schools, which say they just don't have enough time in the day — teaching cursive has become a luxury when there is so much else to do. But after giving up on it for years, many places — like the US state of California and the Canadian province of Ontario — are now finding time for cursive again, even if it's not used as much as it once was. After all, school isn't only about learning things we'll use in future — it's about training our brains and exposing them to new experiences.

🔸If I were a Giant If I were a giant, I wouldn't be able to fit in my house. I'd have to live in a building that had a high ceiling, but I'd probably have a hard time getting through the door. I'd have to make my own clothes, but where would I get a giant needle and thread to sew with? I couldn't ride in a car or a plane. I suppose I would just have to take giant steps to get from place to place. I would have to be very careful not to step on anybody or anything. When I talked, people would cover their ears. My voice would sound very loud to them. I wouldn't find shoes to cover my feet. I wouldn't find a knife and fork to eat my dinner with. I might have to use a rake as a fork. My dinner would be huge. What would I cook my dinner in? I certainly wouldn't find an oven big enough to put my dinner in. If I sneezed, it would be like a hurricane. If I fell down, it would be like an earthquake. I wouldn't have any friends because everyone would be too tiny for me to talk to. I think that being a giant would be very lonely. I couldn't have just one apple. I would have to have a lot of apples to fill me up. I would have to drink gallons and gallons of water to quench my thirst. I could never relax under a tree. I would be taller than all the trees. I don't think that being a giant would be fun. I won't ever make a wish to be a giant. I would rather be my height. I'm very happy the way I am.

Walk Slowly But Never Backward ON THE FIRST day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film photography students into two groups. Everyone on the left side of the classroom, he explained, would be in the “quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos submitted by each student. One hundred photos would rate an A, ninety photos a B, eighty photos a C, and so on. Meanwhile, everyone on the right side of the room would be in the “quality” group. They would be graded only on the excellence of their work. They would only need to produce one photo during the semester, but to get an A, it had to be a nearly perfect image. At the end of the term, he was surprised to find that all the best photos were produced by the quantity group. During the semester, these students were busy taking photos, experimenting with composition and lighting, testing out various methods in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes. In the process of creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality group sat around speculating about perfection. In the end, they had little to show for their efforts other than unverified theories and one mediocre photo. 1 fn1 It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good.” 2 I refer to this as the difference between being in motion and taking action. The two ideas sound similar, but they’re not the same. When you’re in motion, you’re planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don’t produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome. If I outline twenty ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually sit down and write an article, that’s action. If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that’s motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that’s action. Sometimes motion is useful, but it will never produce an outcome by itself. It doesn’t matter how many times you go talk to the personal trainer, that motion will never get you in shape. Only the action of working out will get the result you’re looking to achieve. If motion doesn’t lead to results, why do we do it? Sometimes we do it because we actually need to plan or learn more. But more often than not, we do it because motion allows us to feel like we’re making progress without running the risk of failure. Most of us are experts at avoiding criticism. It doesn’t feel good to fail or to be judged publicly, so we tend to avoid situations where that might happen. And that’s the biggest reason why you slip into motion rather than taking action: you want to delay failure. It’s easy to be in motion and convince yourself that you’re still making progress. You think, “I’ve got conversations going with four potential clients right now. This is good. We’re moving in the right direction.” Or, “I brainstormed some ideas for that book I want to write. This is coming together.” Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing. If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to practice it. This is the first takeaway of the 3rd Law: you just need to get your reps in.

Cookies and Why You Shouldn't Always Accept Them "Do you want to accept cookies?" It's a question we get asked a lot online. Internet cookies, in the words of Microsoft, "are bits of data that are sent to and from your browser to identify you." They're small text files that are put in a folder on your computer every time you visit a website. They can be useful. If you're on a shopping site, cookies keep things in your shopping cart — without them, the cart would empty every time you clicked on a different link. They also help personalize a site based on how you've used it before — like your location preferences. And cookies let you stay logged into a site even when you've left it. But there are different types of cookies. Some cookies keep data about how often you've visited a website, how long you spent there and what you did while you were there. These cookies are used by the website to learn about how people are using it. And experts will say it's best not to accept "third-party cookies." These are created by advertisers, and they can track your internet use across different sites. That's why you might see ads for music lessons on Facebook after searching "how to play guitar" on Google. You can often choose to accept only "necessary" cookies on a website — though this may also mean you don't get some of the cookies that help with personalization. You may also choose to customize your cookie settings, which will let you choose which types of cookies you'd like to accept. If you don't want to do this every time, many internet browsers already block third-party cookies, or can be asked to do so. And if you're really worried, of course you can just delete all your cookies anytime you like!

The guardian China China building twice as much wind and solar power as rest of world – report Country on track reach 1,200GW of installed wind and solar capacity by end of 2024 – six years ahead of Beijing’s target Thu 11 Jul 2024 05.00 BST The amount of wind and solar power under construction in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined, a report has found. Research published on Thursday by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an NGO, found that China has 180 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar power under construction and 15GW of wind power. That brings the total of wind and solar power under construction to 339GW, well ahead of the 40GW under construction in the US. The researchers only looked at solar farms with a capacity of 20MW or more, which feed directly into the grid. That means that the total volume of solar power in China could be much higher, as small scale solar farms account for about 40% of China’s solar capacity. The findings underscore China’s leading position in global renewable energy production at a time when the US is increasingly worried about Chinese overcapacity and dumping, particularly in the solar industry. Almost two-thirds of global wind and solar projects under construction are in China China has experienced a boom in renewables in recent years, encouraged by strong government support. Xi Jinping, China’s president, has stressed the need for “new quality productive forces”, a slogan which signifies a desire to pivot China’s economy towards technology and innovation. Xi has said that “new quality productive forces” includes strengthening green manufacturing. Between March 2023 and March 2024, China installed more solar than it had in the previous three years combined, and more than the rest of the world combined for 2023, the GEM analysts found. China is on track to reach 1,200GW of installed wind and solar capacity by the end of 2024, six years ahead of the government’s target. “The unabated wave of construction guarantees that China will continue leading in wind and solar installation in the near future, far ahead of the rest of the world,” the report said. However, analysts have cautioned that still more renewable capacity will be needed if China is to meet its target of reducing the carbon intensity of the economy by 18%, which is an important factor in reducing emissions. Carbon intensity refers to how many grams of CO2 are released to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity.

The IT Expert Who Became a Goose Farmer Jobs experts will tell you it's never too late to change careers. If you want an example, how about the story of Feng Yuan, whose post about his big career change went viral last year. Writing on LinkedIn, Yuan explained that he had been fired by Microsoft after 22 years working as a software engineer with the company. He then changed his job title on the site to "Goose farmer." Years of coding don't usually prepare people for life on the farm. But Yuan said he was pleased he'd made the change, and he was proud of his work at Microsoft. He said he'd be able to spend more time with his wife and his geese and chickens. Yuan, who lives in Washington state according to his social media profiles, said in a later post that his small farm is "not really for profit," and he and his wife could be called "hobby farmers." He shares pictures and videos online of his animals and the fruits and vegetables he and his wife grow. And Yuan has had a lot of support for his career change on social media. On LinkedIn, one user wrote that he was "Living the dream." Of course, Yuan isn't the only person to have made a big change in career. In fact, the changes brought by the coronavirus pandemic encouraged many people to move in new directions. Workers have been looking for careers that make them happier, and give them more time for themselves. It's been called "The Great Reshuffle." However, some people feel that making a big career change is too risky and that it's something they can't afford to do — until those geese start laying golden eggs!

Daily Multivitamins Won't Help You Live Longer If multivitamin supplements are a daily part of your diet, you may be disappointed by the latest research from the US. Many people take multivitamin supplements to stay healthy or to improve their health. In the US, nearly a third of adults take multivitamin supplements, according to a 2023 study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, a new study has found that taking multivitamin supplements every day doesn't actually help people live any longer. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute in the US looked at data from three big health studies. These studies followed over 390,000 generally healthy participants for around 25 years. Using the data from these studies, the researchers were able to compare people who took daily multivitamins with those who didn't, and see if there were any significant differences in their health. They found that people who took daily multivitamins were no more likely to live longer than people who didn't take them. In fact, there was even a 4% higher risk of an early death among people who took multivitamins every day! Health experts have long warned that, for most people, taking daily multivitamins won't bring any real health benefits. However, the latest research is particularly significant because the data was taken from such a large group of people over such a long time. Health experts say that some people with health problems or special diets may benefit from taking multivitamins or individual vitamins, and people should certainly take vitamin supplements if their doctor recommends them. However, for most people, a healthy diet should be enough to get all the vitamins and minerals they need. This means eating a good mix of fruit, vegetables, grains, fish and healthy fats like olive oil.

Ahmed: (excitedly) Zaynab, guess what? My new startup just got funded! Zaynab: (raising an eyebrow) Ahmed, you never cease to amaze me. You really eat your words when you said it would fail. Congratulations! Ahmed: Thanks, Zaynab! But you know what they say, "The ball is in your court." What's new with your business? Zaynab: Well, Ahmed, I've been working hard to expand my company. I want to be made of money someday! ?? Ahmed: (grinning) You're ambitious, my friend! But remember, don't let success get to your head. Stay grounded and keep a deep pocket for rainy days. Zaynab: Wise words, Ahmed. Speaking of wisdom, have you heard about the new marketing strategy? It's all about storytelling. Ahmed: Oh, I'm all ears! You know I have eyes like a hawk when it comes to business trends. Zaynab: Well, Ahmed, sometimes I get nervous during presentations. Last week, I had a major slip of the tongue while pitching to investors. I accidentally called our product "rotten apples" instead of "golden opportunities." Ahmed: (laughing) That's hilarious! But hey, even the best of us make mistakes. You're still the jack of all trades in my book. Zaynab: Thanks, Ahmed. And speaking of apples, don't you think that new employee, Sam, is a rotten apple? Always late and never takes responsibility. Ahmed: True, but let's not judge too quickly. Maybe Sam just needs a gentle reminder to hold their horses. We were all newbies once. Zaynab: You're right, Ahmed. Patience is key. By the way, when's our next business meetup? Ahmed: Let's schedule it soon. Until then, keep your eyes open, your pockets deep, and your words sweet!

Whispers of the Sky Once upon a time, in a small village nestled between green hills and clear streams in Japan, there lived a little girl named Sakura. Sakura had a heart full of dreams and a smile that could brighten the darkest day. She loved playing in the fields and drawing pictures of the flowers and birds she saw. One sunny afternoon, Sakura decided to join the village children in a game of hide-and-seek. Everyone was excited, but Sakura was nervous. She had never played this game with so many kids before. As she tried to find a good hiding spot, she overheard some older kids whispering and laughing. "Look at her," one of them said. "She won't be any good. She's too slow." The words stung Sakura like a bee. She felt a lump in her throat and her eyes began to water. Even though she tried her best to hide, the words kept echoing in her mind. "Too slow," "not good enough." She didn't enjoy the game at all and went home feeling sad. That evening, Sakura's grandmother, who was wise and kind, noticed her sadness. She sat next to Sakura and gently asked, "What's wrong, dear?" Sakura told her everything about the game and the harsh words. Her grandmother listened carefully and then said, "Words have power, Sakura. They can hurt us deeply, but they can also lift us up. Let's try something different." The next day, Sakura's grandmother took her to the village square. She had a bag full of colorful balloons and a marker. She handed a balloon and the marker to Sakura and said, "Write a kind word on this balloon." Sakura thought for a moment and wrote "Kind" on the balloon. Her grandmother smiled and said, "Now, let it go." As the balloon floated into the sky, Sakura felt a little lighter. They continued this with other balloons, writing words like "Brave," "Strong," and "Loved." With each balloon that soared into the air, Sakura's heart felt a bit more healed. The village children gathered around, curious about the balloons. Sakura's grandmother explained, "Just as harsh words can hurt, kind words can heal and lift us up. Let's fill the sky with kindness." Inspired, the children began writing kind words on balloons and letting them go. The sky above the village was soon dotted with colorful balloons, each carrying a message of hope and kindness. Sakura felt a warmth in her heart as she saw the smiles on everyone's faces. From that day on, the village children were more careful with their words. They realized how much power their words had and chose to use them for good. Sakura, too, grew more confident and happy, knowing that she was surrounded by kind and supportive friends. And so, the village learned a valuable lesson: words can hurt, but they can also heal. By choosing kindness, they made their world a brighter, happier place for everyone.

When you picture mountain climbers scaling Mount Everest, what probably comes to mind are teams of climbers with Sherpa guides leading them to the summit, equipped with oxygen masks, supplies and tents. And in most cases you'd be right, as 97 per cent of climbers use oxygen to ascend to Everest's summit at 8,850 metres above sea level. The thin air at high altitudes makes most people breathless at 3,500 metres, and the vast majority of climbers use oxygen past 7,000 metres. A typical climbing group will have 8–15 people in it, with an almost equal number of guides, and they'll spend weeks to get to the top after reaching Base Camp. But ultra-distance and mountain runner Kilian Jornet Burgada ascended the mountain in May 2017 alone, without an oxygen mask or fixed ropes for climbing. Oh, and he did it in 26 hours. With food poisoning. And then, five days later, he did it again, this time in only 17 hours. Born in 1987, Kilian has been training for Everest his whole life. And that really does mean his whole life, as he grew up 2,000 metres above sea level in the Pyrenees in the ski resort of Lles de Cerdanya in Catalonia, north-eastern Spain. While other children his age were learning to walk, Kilian was on skis. At one and a half years old he did a five-hour hike with his mother, entirely under his own steam. He left his peers even further behind when he climbed his first mountain and competed in his first cross-country ski race at age three. By age seven, he had scaled a 4,000er and, at ten, he did a 42-day crossing of the Pyrenees. He was 13 when he says he started to take it 'seriously' and trained with the Ski Mountaineering Technical Centre (CTEMC) in Catalonia, entering competitions and working with a coach. At 18, he took over his own ski-mountaineering and trail-running training, with a schedule that only allows a couple of weeks of rest a year. He does as many as 1,140 hours of endurance training a year, plus strength training and technical workouts as well as specific training in the week before a race. For his record-breaking ascent and descent of the Matterhorn, he prepared by climbing the mountain ten times until he knew every detail of it, even including where the sun would be shining at every part of the day. Sleeping only seven hours a night, Kilian Jornet seems almost superhuman. His resting heartbeat is extremely low at 33 beats per minute, compared with the average man's 60 per minute or an athlete's 40 per minute. He breathes more efficiently than average people too, taking in more oxygen per breath, and he has a much faster recovery time after exercise as his body quickly breaks down lactic acid – the acid in muscles that causes pain after exercise. All this is thanks to his childhood in the mountains and to genetics, but it is his mental strength that sets him apart. He often sets himself challenges to see how long he can endure difficult conditions in order to truly understand what his body and mind can cope with. For example, he almost gave himself kidney failure after only drinking 3.5 litres of water on a 100km run in temperatures of around 40°C. It would take a book to list all the races and awards he's won and the mountains he's climbed. And even here, Kilian’s achievements exceed the average person as, somehow, he finds time to record his career on his blog and has written three books, Run or Die, The Invisible Border and Summits of My Life.

In the 1950s, Central American commercial banana growers were facing the death of their most lucrative product, the Gros Michel banana, known as Big Mike. And now it’s happening again to Big Mike’s successor – the Cavendish. With its easily transported, thick-skinned and sweet-tasting fruit, the Gros Michel banana plant dominated the plantations of Central America. United Fruit, the main grower and exporter in South America at the time, mass-produced its bananas in the most efficient way possible: it cloned shoots from the stems of plants instead of growing plants from seeds, and cultivated them in densely packed fields. Unfortunately, these conditions are also perfect for the spread of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, which attacks the plant’s roots and prevents it from transporting water to the stem and leaves. The TR-1 strain of the fungus was resistant to crop sprays and travelled around on boots or the tyres of trucks, slowly infecting plantations across the region. In an attempt to escape the fungus, farmers abandoned infected fields, flooded them and then replanted crops somewhere else, often cutting down rainforest to do so. Their efforts failed. So, instead, they searched for a variety of banana that the fungus didn’t affect. They found the Cavendish, as it was called, in the greenhouse of a British duke. It wasn’t as well suited to shipping as the Gros Michel, but its bananas tasted good enough to keep consumers happy. Most importantly, TR-1 didn’t seem to affect it. In a few years, United Fruit had saved itself from bankruptcy by filling its plantations with thousands of the new plants, copying the same monoculture growing conditions Gros Michel had thrived in. While the operation was a huge success for the Latin American industry, the Cavendish banana itself is far from safe. In 2014, South East Asia, another major banana producer, exported four million tons of Cavendish bananas. But, in 2015, its exports had dropped by 46 per cent thanks to a combination of another strain of the fungus, TR-4, and bad weather. Growing practices in South East Asia haven’t helped matters. Growers can’t always afford the expensive lab-based methods to clone plants from shoots without spreading the disease. Also, they often aren’t strict enough about cleaning farm equipment and quarantining infected fields. As a result, the fungus has spread to Australia, the Middle East and Mozambique – and Latin America, heavily dependent on its monoculture Cavendish crops, could easily be next. Racing against the inevitable, scientists are working on solving the problem by genetically modifying the Cavendish with genes from TR-4-resistant banana species. Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology have successfully grown two kinds of modified plant which have remained resistant for three years so far. But some experts think this is just a sophisticated version of the same temporary solution the original Cavendish provided. If the new bananas are planted in the same monocultures as the Cavendish and the Gros Michel before it, the risk is that another strain of the disease may rise up to threaten the modified plants too.

Much of today's business is conducted across international borders, and while the majority of the global business community might share the use of English as a common language, the nuances and expectations of business communication might differ greatly from culture to culture. A lack of understanding of the cultural norms and practices of our business acquaintances can result in unfair judgements, misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication. Here are three basic areas of differences in the business etiquette around the world that could help stand you in good stead when you next find yourself working with someone from a different culture. Addressing someone When discussing this topic in a training course, a German trainee and a British trainee got into a hot debate about whether it was appropriate for someone with a doctorate to use the corresponding title on their business card. The British trainee maintained that anyone who wasn't a medical doctor expecting to be addressed as 'Dr' was disgustingly pompous and full of themselves. The German trainee, however, argued that the hard work and years of education put into earning that PhD should give them full rights to expect to be addressed as 'Dr'. This stark difference in opinion over something that could be conceived as minor and thus easily overlooked goes to show that we often attach meaning to even the most mundane practices. When things that we are used to are done differently, it could spark the strongest reactions in us. While many Continental Europeans and Latin Americans prefer to be addressed with a title, for example Mr or Ms and their surname when meeting someone in a business context for the first time, Americans, and increasingly the British, now tend to prefer using their first names. The best thing to do is to listen and observe how your conversation partner addresses you and, if you are still unsure, do not be afraid to ask them how they would like to be addressed. Smiling A so-called 'smile of respect' is seen as insincere and often regarded with suspicion in Russia. A famous Russian proverb even states that 'laughing without reason is a sign of idiocy'. Yet in countries like the United States, Australia and Britain, smiling is often interpreted as a sign of openness, friendship and respect, and is frequently used to break the ice. In a piece of research done on smiles across cultures, the researchers found that smiling individuals were considered more intelligent than non-smiling people in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, China and Malaysia. However, in countries like Russia, Japan, South Korea and Iran, pictures of smiling faces were rated as less intelligent than the non-smiling ones. Meanwhile, in countries like India, Argentina and the Maldives, smiling was associated with dishonesty. Eye contact An American or British person might be looking their client in the eye to show that they are paying full attention to what is being said, but if that client is from Japan or Korea, they might find the direct eye contact awkward or even disrespectful. In parts of South America and Africa, prolonged eye contact could also be seen as challenging authority. In the Middle East, eye contact across genders is considered inappropriate, although eye contact within a gender could signify honesty and truthfulness. Having an increased awareness of the possible differences in expectations and behaviour can help us avoid cases of miscommunication, but it is vital that we also remember that cultural stereotypes can be detrimental to building good business relationships. Although national cultures could play a part in shaping the way we behave and think, we are also largely influenced by the region we come from, the communities we associate with, our age and gender, our corporate culture and our individual experiences of the world. The knowledge of the potential differences should therefore be something we keep at the back of our minds, rather than something that we use to pigeonhole the individuals of an entire nation.

Four positive books about the world Factfulness – Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund In Factfulness, Professor Hans Rosling, along with two collaborators, asks simple questions about the world. Questions like 'How many girls finish school?' and 'What percentage of the world's population is poor?' It turns out the majority of us get the answers to these questions completely wrong. Why does this happen? Factfulness sets out to explain why, showing that there are several instincts humans have that distort our perspective. For example, most people divide the world into US and THEM. In addition, we often believe that things are getting worse. And we are consuming large amounts of media that use a sales model based on making us afraid. But according to the authors, the world isn't as bad as we think. Yes, there are real concerns. But we should adopt a mindset of factfulness – only carrying opinions that are supported by strong facts. This book is not concerned with the underlying reasons for poverty or progress, or what should be done about these issues. It focuses on our instinctive biases, offering practical advice to help us see the good as well as the bad in the world. Enlightenment Now – Steven Pinker Are things getting worse every day? Is progress an impossible goal? In Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker looks at the big picture of human progress and finds good news. We are living longer, healthier, freer and happier lives. Pinker asks us to stop paying so much attention to negative headlines and news that declares the end of the world. Instead, he shows us some carefully selected data. In 75 surprising graphs, we see that safety, peace, knowledge and health are getting better all over the world. When the evidence does not support his argument, however, he dismisses it. Economic inequality, he claims, is not really a problem, because it is not actually that important for human well-being. One cannot help wondering how many people actually living in poverty would agree. The real problem, Pinker argues, is that the Enlightenment values of reason and science are under attack. When commentators and demagogues appeal to people's tribalism, fatalism and distrust, then we are in danger of causing irreparable damage to important institutions like democracy and world co-operation. The Rational Optimist – Matt Ridley For more than two hundred years the pessimists have been winning the public debate. They tell us that things are getting worse. But in fact, life is getting better. Income, food availability and lifespan are rising; disease, violence and child mortality are falling. These trends are happening all around the world. Africa is slowly coming out of poverty, just as Asia did before. The internet, mobile phones and worldwide trade are making the lives of millions of people much better. Best-selling author Matt Ridley doesn't only explain how things are getting better; he gives us reasons why as well. He shows us how human culture evolves in a positive direction thanks to the exchange of ideas and specialisation. This bold book looks at the entirety of human history – from the Stone Age to the 21st century – and changes the notion that it's all going downhill. The glass really is half-full. The Great Surge – Steven Radelet The majority of people believe that developing countries are in a terrible situation: suffering from incredible poverty, governed by dictators and with little hope for any meaningful change. But, surprisingly, this is far from the truth. The reality is that a great transformation is occurring. Over the past 20 years, more than 700 million people have increased their income and come out of poverty. Additionally, six million fewer children die every year from disease, millions more girls are in school and millions of people have access to clean water. This is happening across developing countries around the world. The end of the Cold War, the development of new technologies and brave new leadership have helped to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people in poor countries. The Great Surge describes how all of this is happening and, more importantly, it shows us how we can accelerate the process.

Your manager stops you and says she needs to have a word about your performance in the recent project. You worry about it all weekend, wondering what you might have done wrong. When you step into her office on Monday morning she begins by praising you for the good work you've done on the project, and you wonder if this is the obligatory praise that starts off the typical 'feedback sandwich'. You know how the feedback sandwich goes: say something nice, say what you really want to say, say something nice again. In an attempt to inject some positivity into their feedback, many managers rely on sandwiching negative feedback between two positive comments. However, when feedback becomes such a routine, employees can start to perceive positive feedback as simply a form of sugarcoating the negatives, thus diminishing its value. Instead, positive feedback should not simply be seen as something to cushion the negative, but should be delivered so as to reinforce and encourage good performance. Below are three tips to help you make positive feedback count. 1. Don't always follow positive feedback with negative feedback When positive and negative feedback always appear to go hand in hand, the positives can become devalued and ignored. Ensure there are times when positive feedback is given for its own sake and resist the temptation to offer constructive criticism. 2. Cultivate a 'growth mindset' Psychologist and 'growth mindset' proponent Carol Dweck spoke of the plasticity of the brain and our ability to develop skills and talents that we might not have been good at to start with. Many of us tend to focus our praise on the end result and seemingly innate talents, e.g. 'You really have an eye for details' or 'You have a real talent for organising events'. However, research suggests that by focusing on the process of how things are done – praising effort, experimentation and problem-solving strategies – we can encourage the development of new skills and the continued honing of talents. 3. Create a culture of offering positive feedback Make giving positive feedback part of your team/department/company culture. Don't just wait for special moments like appraisals to give feedback. Offer informal positive feedback when making small talk or when walking down a corridor. Feedback doesn't have to only come from the higher ranks either. Encourage peer feedback among team members and colleagues and actively ask them for positive comments on each other's performances on tasks. It might take time to counter the effects of an environment where there is a cynical view of positive feedback, but in the long run, by embracing positive feedback, you can not only enhance working performance but also enrich the quality of life in the workplace.

Five horror film clichés Since almost the beginning of cinema, we have had scary films. Of all the genres that exist, horror is perhaps one of the most conventional. Many horror films rely on specific plot devices, also called tropes, to make their audience frightened. When a trope is used too much, it can become a cliché. But when used well, it can really make us jump out of our skin. Here are some of the most used, and perhaps abused, clichés in horror films. 1. No matter what kind of house it is, the basement is a scary place in horror films. That's usually where something is hiding or where the evil psychopath has hidden their tools. Basements are always dark and often damp. You can only reach them by a narrow staircase. And basements are always creepy, even when there isn't anything down there. 2. In older horror films, when protagonists were in desperation, it was difficult or impossible for them to call for help or call the police. Mobile phones have made that situation a bit less believable now. What's the solution to maintain suspense? No phone coverage! If you're a hero in a horror film, it's almost certain that at a key moment, just when you absolutely need to call for help, you will not have any coverage at all. Or your phone battery will die just as you are making the call. Or both. 3. Horror films love uninhabited places. This could be an abandoned hospital, a scary empty house or a ghost town. There's something about lonely, empty places. What was it like when people lived there? Why did they leave? Maybe it's also that they are so quiet, which can be very scary too. Of course, abandoned places are also handy for horror film directors in that it's more believable that you will have no phone coverage there either (see above). 4. The hero has been driving for hours. It's night-time and it's beginning to rain. Suddenly he sees a person on the side of the road. Maybe the company will keep him awake? In horror films, giving anybody a ride is asking for trouble. The hero always does it, and it always ends badly. 5. This horror film cliché was especially popular with horror films of the late 20th century. It starts with a group of teenagers all enjoying themselves, and it ends with everyone dead except one girl. At the beginning the girl is usually innocent, shy and not particularly strong. By the end, she has become the toughest and most resourceful person in the world. The last girl almost always wins in the end.

A Thanks to the field of linguistics we know much about the development of the 5,000 plus languages in existence today. We can describe their grammar and pronunciation and see how their spoken and written forms have changed over time. For example, we understand the origins of the Indo-European group of languages, which includes Norwegian, Hindi and English, and can trace them back to tribes in eastern Europe in about 3000 BC. So, we have mapped out a great deal of the history of language, but there are still areas we know little about. Experts are beginning to look to the field of evolutionary biology to find out how the human species developed to be able to use language. So far, there are far more questions and half-theories than answers. B We know that human language is far more complex than that of even our nearest and most intelligent relatives like chimpanzees. We can express complex thoughts, convey subtle emotions and communicate about abstract concepts such as past and future. And we do this following a set of structural rules, known as grammar. Do only humans use an innate system of rules to govern the order of words? Perhaps not, as some research may suggest dolphins share this capability because they are able to recognise when these rules are broken. C If we want to know where our capability for complex language came from, we need to look at how our brains are different from other animals. This relates to more than just brain size; it is important what other things our brains can do and when and why they evolved that way. And for this there are very few physical clues; artefacts left by our ancestors don't tell us what speech they were capable of making. One thing we can see in the remains of early humans, however, is the development of the mouth, throat and tongue. By about 100,000 years ago, humans had evolved the ability to create complex sounds. Before that, evolutionary biologists can only guess whether or not early humans communicated using more basic sounds. D Another question is, what is it about human brains that allowed language to evolve in a way that it did not in other primates? At some point, our brains became able to make our mouths produce vowel and consonant sounds, and we developed the capacity to invent words to name things around us. These were the basic ingredients for complex language. The next change would have been to put those words into sentences, similar to the 'protolanguage' children use when they first learn to speak. No one knows if the next step – adding grammar to signal past, present and future, for example, or plurals and relative clauses – required a further development in the human brain or was simply a response to our increasingly civilised way of living together. Between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, though, we start to see the evidence of early human civilisation, through cave paintings for example; no one knows the connection between this and language. Brains didn't suddenly get bigger, yet humans did become more complex and more intelligent. Was it using language that caused their brains to develop? Or did their more complex brains start producing language? E More questions lie in looking at the influence of genetics on brain and language development. Are there genes that mutated and gave us language ability? Researchers have found a gene mutation that occurred between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, which seems to have a connection with speaking and how our brains control our mouths and face. Monkeys have a similar gene, but it did not undergo this mutation. It's too early to say how much influence genes have on language, but one day the answers might be found in our DNA.

A new study published in the journal Science shows definitive evidence of organic matter on the surface of Mars. The data was collected by NASA's nuclear-powered rover Curiosity. It confirms earlier findings that the Red Planet once contained carbon-based compounds. These compounds – also called organic molecules – are essential ingredients for life as scientists understand it. The organic molecules were found in Mars's Gale Crater, a large area that may have been a watery lake over three billion years ago. The rover encountered traces of the molecule in rocks extracted from the area. The rocks also contain sulfur, which scientists speculate helped preserve the organics even when the rocks were exposed to the harsh radiation on the surface of the planet. Scientists are quick to state that the presence of these organic molecules is not sufficient evidence for ancient life on Mars, as the molecules could have been formed by non-living processes. But it's still one of the most astonishing discoveries, which could lead to future revelations. Especially when one considers the other startling find that Curiosity uncovered around five years ago. The rover analyses the air around it periodically, and in 2014 it found the air contained another of the most basic organic molecules and a key ingredient of natural gas: methane. One of the characteristics of methane is that it only survives a few hundred years. This means that something, somewhere on Mars, is replenishing the supply. According to NASA, Mars emits thousands of tons of methane at a time. The level of methane rises and falls at seasonal intervals in the year, almost as if the planet is breathing it. NASA suspects the methane comes from deep under the surface of the planet. The variations in temperature on the surface of Mars cause the molecule to flow upwards at higher or lower levels. For example, in the Martian winter the gas could get trapped in underground icy crystals. These crystals, called clathrates, melt in the summer and release the gas. However, the source of the methane is still a complete mystery. The world of astrobiology considers both of these studies as historical milestones. According to this information, Mars is not a dead planet. On the contrary, it is quite active and may be changing and becoming more habitable. Of course, this means further research is necessary. Scientists say they need to send new equipment to Mars, equipment that can measure the air and soil with more precision. There are already missions underway. The European Space Agency's ExoMars ship lands in 2020 and will be able to drill into the ground on Mars to analyse what it finds. Additionally, NASA is sending another Mars Rover in the same year to collect samples of Martian soil and return them to Earth. The possibility of life on Mars has fascinated humans for generations. It has been the subject of endless science-fiction novels and films. Are we alone in the universe or have there been other life forms within our Solar System? If the current missions to the Red Planet continue, it looks as if we may discover the answer very soon.

From: Jo Backhouse To: Karl Anderson Date: 17 October Subject: Support for Judy Dear Karl, I received a call from Judy a couple of days ago to discuss some of the issues that she was having and I thought I'd give you a heads-up on what was said, seeing that you are Judy's project team leader. Judy really enjoys working with you and the team and finds the project very interesting, but I think she's feeling a bit lost and struggling to see the big picture. It seems that she's been given a fair amount of autonomy to carry out the tasks that you've given her, and of course this level of delegation is not uncommon in your branch. But I believe in her Tokyo office, she is used to a bit more managerial direction and guidance and so is finding this international project quite daunting. When I asked her about meeting her deadlines, she mentioned that due to the recent changes to the project timeline, her goalposts have been moved, and she doesn't seem to really understand why this has happened. Bearing in mind that she's also facing simultaneous deadlines from her department in Tokyo, we can presume that she might be feeling a bit stretched. Looking ahead, I was wondering if we could make it easier for Judy by offering her more direction when setting her tasks, at least until she learns the ropes and gets used to working unsupervised. I think she'd also appreciate you giving her a clearer idea on how her role in the team fits into the overview of things. Do you think you could maybe outline the group and individual targets at your next team meeting and that way, everyone not only gets a reminder of the end goal, but each team member, including Judy, might have a more holistic view of the whole project? I was also thinking it might help to touch base with her every so often to make sure that she's up to date with any changes to the overall plan of attack. In the meantime, I'll write to her manager in the Tokyo office and see how aware they are of the deadlines you've given her, and if they could in some way review her responsibilities and co-ordinate her tasks so that she doesn't constantly feel pulled in both directions. Judy is an extremely conscientious worker and is eager to contribute positively to the team. Personally, I think she is someone with high potential and will be an asset to our international projects if properly mentored. I'm keen to know your thoughts on the matter and am open to any suggestions on how we could better support Judy so that she has a more smooth-sailing experience on the team. Best regards, Jo Backhouse Head of Department International Projects

A – Rufus Loredo Westwend is a changing town. People come to Westwend to build a better and more prosperous future for themselves and their family. As your representative I pledge to: fight to improve public schooling for our children work to ensure that Westwend is connected more effectively: both its transport and digital connections listen to each and every citizen's problems and help them overcome them. Westwend needs someone who represents all of our communities and not only the wealthy, who puts people before politics and who keeps their promises. Let me be that person. B – Lona Williams My goal is to restore full services at our local hospital and create free parking for visitors. I pledge to provide better care for the elderly and the most vulnerable in our town. I will create jobs in Westwend by reducing taxes and red tape. Together we will help families overcome the high cost of living by tackling job insecurity and extending free childcare for working parents. I will fight for our services and to keep our streets safe. I will support our rural communities and local businesses. My priority is people. My priority is you. C – Jamar Repaci My first goal is to press for a minimum wage of £10 by next year, and ban zero-hours contracts, which contribute greatly to job insecurity. I will join the fight to scrap highly prohibitive university tuition fees. A good education and a good job should be available to all the citizens of Westwend. Our planet is in a moment of crisis, and Westwend can play its part. I am committed to investment in renewable energy and will provide tax credits to small businesses that engage in green practices. I will also fight to protect the wildlands around Westwend. I will fight for fairness in government. I will work to protect our planet. D – Cliff Slater I pledge to be a full-time, unsponsored representative for the communities of Westwend. I will give you straight answers to your questions, without using jargon or meaningless statistics. I will maintain a full-time office and hold regular open-door sessions with the people of Westwend. I promise to promote Westwend as a beacon for business and tourism. I will seek to reduce the unnecessary restrictions government places on people and companies. I will campaign for a more simple and transparent tax system for all. The time of empty promises is over. Let's bring change to our town. Change for the better.

Many of the major supermarket chains have come under fire with accusations of various unethical acts over the past decade. They've wasted tonnes of food, they've underpaid their suppliers and they've contributed to excessive plastic waste in their packaging, which has had its impact on our environment. But supermarkets and grocers are starting to sit up and take notice. In response to growing consumer backlash against the huge amounts of plastic waste generated by plastic packaging, some of the largest UK supermarkets have signed up to a pact promising to transform packaging and cut plastic wastage. In a pledge to reuse, recycle or compost all plastic wastage by 2025, supermarkets are now beginning to take some responsibility for the part they play in contributing to the damage to our environment, with one major supermarket announcing their plan to eliminate all plastic packaging in their own-brand products by 2023. In response to criticisms over food waste, some supermarkets are donating some of their food surplus. However, charities estimate that they are only accessing two per cent of supermarkets' total food surplus, so this hardly seems to be solving the problem. Some say that supermarkets are simply not doing enough. Most supermarkets operate under a veil of secrecy when asked for exact figures of food wastage, and without more transparency it is hard to come up with a systematic approach to avoiding waste and to redistributing surplus food. Some smaller companies are now taking matters into their own hands and offering consumers a greener, more environmentally friendly option. Shops like Berlin's Original Unverpakt and London's Bulk Market are plastic-free shops that have opened in recent years, encouraging customers to use their own containers or compostable bags. Online grocer Farmdrop eliminates the need for large warehouses and the risk of huge food surplus by delivering fresh produce from local farmers to its customers on a daily basis via electric cars, offering farmers the lion's share of the retail price. There is no doubt that we still have a long way to go in reducing food waste and plastic waste. But perhaps the major supermarkets might take inspiration from these smaller grocers and gradually move towards a more sustainable future for us all.

If your view of the world comes from watching the news and reading newspapers, you could be forgiven for lying awake at night worrying about the future. Apparently, rising violence and population rates mean humans are both killing each other in ever larger numbers and being born at rates the world's resources can't sustain. To make matters worse, all the wealth is concentrated on a handful of people in the world's richest countries. People in low-income countries live in poverty while the West gets richer. Depressing, isn't it? But do the statistics support our negative world view or is the world actually improving? Let's take global population first. It's around 7 billion now, in line with figures predicted by the UN in 1958. By the year 2100, the same experts predict it will be around 11 billion. But did you know that 11 billion is probably as high as that number will get? The rate of increase will slow down in the second half of this century thanks to falling birth rates today. Falling birth rates? Yes, that's right. In the last two centuries, improvements in technology and health meant fewer children died young, fuelling rapid population growth. These large families produced even more children who survived into adulthood and had their own children. But with the wider availability of contraception in the 1960s, the global average number of babies per woman has declined from six babies per woman to as low as two. The biggest factor in child mortality is poverty. And while it's still true that only 20 per cent of the world takes about 74 per cent of the world's income, 60 per cent of the world now falls into a middle-income group, with 11.6 per cent – the smallest amount of people in history – still living in conditions of extreme poverty. If the majority of the world's people have money, international aid could realistically achieve the UN target of eradicating poverty by 2030. As poverty goes down, life expectancy goes up, birth rates go down because parents can expect their existing children to survive, and the global population stabilises. As for news stories that make us think the world is an increasingly violent place, there is cause for some optimism too. Between the end of World War II and 1990, there were 30 wars that killed more than 100,000 people. Today there are still civil wars, but countries are mostly co-existing more peacefully than in the past. However, terrorism has shot up in the last few years and, since World War II, wars have killed many more civilians than soldiers. Even for civilians, though, the statistics are not all bad. Although deaths are nine times more likely to be a result of violent crime than political conflict, the global murder rate fell slightly, from 8 per 100,000 people in 2000 to about 5.3 in 2015. Of course, none of this means the world is perfect, and whether you personally are affected by war and poverty is often down to the lottery of where you're born. Also, we still face huge problems of our own making, particularly environmental ones like global warming, and wealth and natural resources need to be distributed more fairly. But not all the news is bad news, whatever the TV and newspapers might say.

Sam squinted against the sun at the distant dust trail raked up by the car on its way up to the Big House. The horses kicked and flicked their tails at flies, not caring about their owner's first visit in ten months. Sam waited. Mr Carter didn't come out here unless he had to, which was just fine by Sam. The more he kept out of his boss's way, the longer he'd have a job. Carter came by later while Sam was chopping wood. Carter lifted his hat as if he were waiting for an appointment with the town priest, and then removed it completely as if he were talking to his mother. He pulled out a pile of paper from his back pocket and held it out. 'Don't pick up your mail often, do you?' Sam took it without a glance and dropped the envelopes onto the bench. 'Never,' he replied and waited for Carter to say why he was here. The fact it was Carter's house was no explanation and they both knew it. Carter twisted his hat round and round, licking his lips and clearing his throat. 'Nice work fixing those fences,' he said finally. 'I'll be back to the beginning soon,' Sam said. It wasn't a complaint. A fence that took a year to repair meant another year's work to the man who did it well. 'Don't you ever want to take a holiday?' 'And go where?' A holiday meant being back out in the real world, a place even people like Carter travelled to escape from. Sam's escape was his reality and he wasn't going back. Mr Carter wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. The damp patches on his shirt drew together like shapes in an atlas. His skin was already turning ruddy in the June sun. Otherwise he had the indoor tan of a man that made money while other people did the work. 'I've brought my son with me on this trip. He's had some trouble at school.' Mr Carter's eyes flicked up, blinked rapidly and then shifted back to the hat occupying his hands. 'Not much trouble out here for a young boy.' He attempted a laugh but it came out like a dog's bark. The two men looked towards the northern end of the property. It stretched as far as the eye could see. Even the fences were barely visible from where they stood. However bored and rebellious a teenage boy might get, it wasn't possible to escape on foot. Sam looked at the biggest of the horses, kicking at the ground with its heavy hooves. Could the boy ride? he wondered. There was a whole load of trouble a good rider could get into out here, miles away from anyone. But maybe there was even more trouble for someone who knew nothing about horses and wanted to get away from his father.

A In 2010, the planetary defence team at NASA had identified and logged 90 per cent of the asteroids near Earth measuring 1km wide. These 'near-Earth objects', or NEOs, are the size of mountains and include anything within 50 million kilometres of Earth's orbit. With an estimated 50 left to log, NASA says none of the 887 it knows about are a significant danger to the planet. B Now NASA is working towards logging some of the smaller asteroids, those measuring 140 metres wide or more. Of the 25,000 estimated asteroids of this size, so far about 8,000 have been logged, leaving 17,000 unaccounted for. Considering that a 19-metre asteroid that exploded above the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013 injured 1,200 people, these middle-sized asteroids would be a serious danger if they enter Earth's orbit. C Whether NASA can find the remaining middle-sized NEOs depends on getting the money to build NEOCam, a 0.5-metre space telescope which would use infrared light to locate asteroids. If it did get the money, it could probably achieve its goal in ten years. Once logged, the planetary defence team would still need to work out how to defend the planet against being hit by the truly worrying asteroids – the PHAs. D 'Potentially Hazardous Asteroids' are rocks close enough to pass within 7.5 million kilometres of Earth's orbit. NASA has created a map of 1,400 PHAs, none of which are expected to be a threat in the next one hundred years. With technology already available, NASA can track these objects and make predictions about possible impact, at which point two defence solutions could be launched. E The first is DART – the Double Asteroid Redirection Test. Plans are scheduled to test DART on the moon of an asteroid called Didymos. 'Didymoon' is 150 metres wide, orbiting its 800-metre mother, and hopefully the impact of DART will knock it out of its orbit enough for Earth-based telescopes to pick up. F Another suggested defence against a PHA on course to hit Earth is to blow it up using a nuclear weapon. It may sound like a plot from a film, and it was the subject of the 1998 film Armageddon, but the Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response (HAMMER) is a genuine NASA proposal. The eight-ton rockets would be fired at an approaching asteroid with the hope of bumping it off course. If the asteroid was too close to Earth for this plan to work, the rockets would carry nuclear bombs to blow it up instead.

Gabriela worked for a multinational company as a successful project manager in Brazil and was transferred to manage a team in Sweden. She was excited about her new role but soon realised that managing her new team would be a challenge. Despite their friendliness, Gabriela didn't feel respected as a leader. Her new staff would question her proposals openly in meetings, and when she gave them instructions on how to carry out a task, they would often go about it in their own way without checking with her. When she announced her decisions on the project, they would continue giving their opinions as if it was still up for discussion. After weeks of frustration, Gabriela emailed her Swedish manager about the issues she was facing with her team. Her manager simply asked her if she felt her team was still performing, and what she thought would help her better collaborate with her team members. Gabriela found her manager vague and didn't feel as if he was managing the situation satisfactorily. What Gabriela was experiencing was a cultural clash in expectations. She was used to a more hierarchical framework where the team leader and manager took control and gave specific instructions on how things were to be done. This more directive management style worked well for her and her team in Brazil but did not transfer well to her new team in Sweden, who were more used to a flatter hierarchy where decision making was more democratic. When Gabriela took the issue to her Swedish manager, rather than stepping in with directions about what to do, her manager took on the role of coach and focused on getting her to come up with her own solutions instead. Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede uses the concept of 'power distance' to describe how power is distributed and how hierarchy is perceived in different cultures. In her previous work environment, Gabriela was used to a high power distance culture where power and authority are respected and everyone has their rightful place. In such a culture, leaders make the big decisions and are not often challenged. Her Swedish team, however, were used to working in a low power distance culture where subordinates often work together with their bosses to find solutions and make decisions. Here, leaders act as coaches or mentors who encourage independent thought and expect to be challenged. When Gabriela became aware of the cultural differences between her and her team, she took the initiative to have an open conversation with them about their feelings about her leadership. Pleased to be asked for their thoughts, Gabriela's team openly expressed that they were not used to being told what to do. They enjoyed having more room for initiative and creative freedom. When she told her team exactly what she needed them to do, they felt that she didn't trust them to do their job well. They realised that Gabriela was taking it personally when they tried to challenge or make changes to her decisions, and were able to explain that it was how they'd always worked. With a better understanding of the underlying reasons behind each other's behaviour, Gabriela and her team were able to adapt their way of working. Gabriela was then able to make adjustments to her management style so as to better fit the expectations of her team and more effectively motivate her team to achieve their goals.

Millennials in the workplace Background Millennials (those born between the early 1980s and the early 1990s) make up a huge part of our workforce but they seem to lack loyalty to the companies and the leaders they work for. Multinational companies are noticing larger turnover rates of millennials as employee retention rates fall. This report looks at the findings of two large-scale surveys on the mindset of the millennial generation and explores how organisations can strive to address these needs, increase employee engagement and encourage retention. Research In a global survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), more than 40,000 millennial (born between 1983 and 1993) and non-millennial responses were collected on the topics of workplace culture, communication and working styles, pay structure, career development, work–life balance, etc. In a separate global survey conducted by Deloitte, more than 10,000 millennials participated in a study about their perceptions of the threats and opportunities in the complex world of work. Key findings Millennials are as committed to their work as their more senior colleagues. Millennials value interesting work and a good work–life balance. They do not believe that excessive work demands are worth sacrifices in their personal lives. Millennials want flexibility in their working hours and are willing to give up pay increases and promotions for a flexible working schedule. They believe that success should be measured by productivity and not by the number of hours they are seen in an office. Millennials want to feel supported and appreciated by their company and their superiors. Millennials want more opportunities to develop their skills. These include technological skills, teamwork and interpersonal skills. Millennials believe that businesses and business leaders should contribute to the improvement of society and they are more likely to be loyal to a company with strong ethics. Recommendations Organisations and managers wanting to retain millennials should consider: monitoring their workload and satisfaction levels with their work–life balance creating a flexible work culture where employees have more control over their working hours and their work location providing meaningful work and interesting opportunities offering help and support in continuing professional development changing the organisation's goals from being mainly about profit-making to motives that address social concerns and solve wider societal problems.

Critics of the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens have called the film unoriginal and predictable because the story so closely mirrors the very first Star Wars film in 1977. But, in fact, both films follow a structure that pre-dates all Hollywood films, that of the 'hero myth'. That's because director George Lucas based Star Wars on the ideas in Joseph Campbell's 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Later editions of Campbell's book even featured Star Wars' hero Luke Skywalker on the front cover. In his book, Campbell analyses myths from all over the world to describe the 'monomyth' – a pattern that you can see in myths from every culture. In short, a hero sets off from home on a journey, where he overcomes obstacles and defeats enemies to return with a prize. It's a tale that has been told for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks with The Odyssey to JK Rowling's Harry Potter books. George Lucas was one of the early film directors to directly base his story on the 17 stages of the hero's journey. Typically the hero starts the story living an ordinary life, but something happens that calls them to an adventure that changes everything. At the beginning of Star Wars, Luke lives an ordinary life with his aunt and uncle, repairing robots. When he finds Princess Leia's message to Obi-Wan Kenobi inside the robot R2D2, it is 'the call to adventure' that starts the hero on his journey. According to Campbell, the hero at first refuses the call to adventure, but a mentor appears who helps them and they decide to 'cross the threshold' and travel into the 'special world' where the adventure happens. The next stage consists of passing tests, fighting enemies and meeting friends as the hero prepares to face their biggest challenge. For Luke the mentor is, of course, Obi-Wan, the friends are Han Solo and the robots R2D2 and C3PO and the enemy is Darth Vader inside the special world of the Death Star. Next, the hero overcomes obstacles on the way to facing their greatest challenge. There often comes a moment when they face death or loss and that experience gives them the strength to finally defeat the enemy. Luke loses his mentor when he sees Darth Vader kill Obi-Wan, which helps him find the strength he needs later on. When heroes succeed, they return from the special world, changed by their experiences forever. Luke's change comes when he remembers Obi-Wan saying, 'Use the force', and he uses it to help him aim his laser into the heart of the Death Star. Luke takes his first steps to becoming a Jedi, and the hero myth restarts in The Return of the Jedi, except this time his mentor is Yoda.

Social media, magazines and shop windows bombard people daily with things to buy, and British consumers are buying more clothes and shoes than ever before. Online shopping means it is easy for customers to buy without thinking, while major brands offer such cheap clothes that they can be treated like disposable items – worn two or three times and then thrown away. In Britain, the average person spends more than £1,000 on new clothes a year, which is around four per cent of their income. That might not sound like much, but that figure hides two far more worrying trends for society and for the environment. First, a lot of that consumer spending is via credit cards. British people currently owe approximately £670 per adult to credit card companies. That's 66 per cent of the average wardrobe budget. Also, not only are people spending money they don't have, they're using it to buy things they don't need. Britain throws away 300,000 tons of clothing a year, most of which goes into landfill sites. People might not realise they are part of the disposable clothing problem because they donate their unwanted clothes to charities. But charity shops can't sell all those unwanted clothes. 'Fast fashion' goes out of fashion as quickly as it came in and is often too poor quality to recycle; people don't want to buy it second-hand. Huge quantities end up being thrown away, and a lot of clothes that charities can't sell are sent abroad, causing even more economic and environmental problems. However, a different trend is springing up in opposition to consumerism – the 'buy nothing' trend. The idea originated in Canada in the early 1990s and then moved to the US, where it became a rejection of the overspending and overconsumption of Black Friday and Cyber Monday during Thanksgiving weekend. On Buy Nothing Day people organise various types of protests and cut up their credit cards. Throughout the year, Buy Nothing groups organise the exchange and repair of items they already own. The trend has now reached influencers on social media who usually share posts of clothing and make-up that they recommend for people to buy. Some YouTube stars now encourage their viewers not to buy anything at all for periods as long as a year. Two friends in Canada spent a year working towards buying only food. For the first three months they learned how to live without buying electrical goods, clothes or things for the house. For the next stage, they gave up services, for example haircuts, eating out at restaurants or buying petrol for their cars. In one year, they'd saved $55,000. The changes they made meant two fewer cars on the roads, a reduction in plastic and paper packaging and a positive impact on the environment from all the energy saved. If everyone followed a similar plan, the results would be impressive. But even if you can't manage a full year without going shopping, you can participate in the anti-consumerist movement by refusing to buy things you don't need. Buy Nothing groups send a clear message to companies that people are no longer willing to accept the environmental and human cost of overconsumption.

If we look around us at the things we have purchased at some point in our lives, we would no doubt notice that not everything we own is being put to good use: the thick woollen coat which we thought looked trendy despite the fact that we live in a tropical country, the smartphone that got put away when we bought ourselves the newest model, the car that only gets used at the weekends, or even the guest room in our house that somehow got turned into a storeroom. Those underutilised items may seem useless to some, but could be an asset to others. With the advent of the internet, online communities have figured out a way to generate profit from the sharing of those underused assets. Using websites and social media groups that facilitate the buying and selling of second-hand goods, it is now easier than ever for peer-to-peer sharing activities to take place. And this is known as the sharing economy. These democratised online platforms are providing a chance for people to make a quick buck or two. To give an example, busy parents previously might not have bothered with setting up a stall at the local market or car boot sale to sell their children's old equipment, but with online marketplaces, parents are now able to sell on those hardly worn baby clothes that their children have outgrown and the expensive pushchairs and baby equipment they have invested in, so as to put some cash back into their pockets. Businesses have also caught on to the profitability of the sharing economy and are seeking to gain from making use of those underutilised resources. A business model that has rapidly risen in popularity sees companies providing an online platform that puts customers in contact with those who can provide a particular product or service. Companies like Airbnb act as a middleman for people to cash in on their unused rooms and houses and let them out as lucrative accommodation. Another example is Uber, which encourages people to use their own personal cars as taxis to make some extra cash in their free time. This move towards a sharing economy is not without criticisms. Unlike businesses, unregulated individuals do not have to follow certain regulations and this can lead to poorer and inconsistent quality of goods and services and a higher risk of fraud. Nevertheless, in the consumerist society we live in today, the increased opportunities to sell on our unwanted and underused goods can lead to a lesser impact on our environment.

Some of the biggest and most expensive transportation projects in the world have involved building bridges. Bridges are crucial links that carry cars, trucks and trains across bodies of water, mountain gorges or other roads. As a result, they are one of the most important aspects of civil engineering and are subject to intense scrutiny, especially when they collapse. Bridge collapses can be tragic events, leading to loss of life and serious property damage. That's why bridge engineers, designers and builders must always take their jobs very seriously. The best way for them to prevent these accidents is to understand why bridges collapse in the first place. Understanding bridge collapses can lead to major changes in the design, construction and safety of future building projects. The following are main reasons why bridges fall. Fire Historically, more bridges were made of wood and were much more susceptible to fire. This was particularly true of old-fashioned train bridges, where the spark created by the steel wheels and steel tracks could sometimes cause a bridge to catch fire and burn to the ground. During construction A large number of bridge accidents occur during the construction of the bridge itself. These accidents are often due to an error made by the engineers, such as a miscalculation. The bridge collapses under its own weight, and this can be deadly for the workers on it at the time. Earthquakes Earthquakes damage all structures, including bridges. Luckily, this kind of collapse is relatively infrequent, especially with modern bridges. Engineers have learned to design bridges in earthquake zones on areas that are much more resistant to movement. By defect Some bridge collapses are mysteries, and engineers only realise why after they conduct a complete investigation. In some cases, this could happen because inferior-quality material was used in the construction, or because of a defect in a key piece of the bridge. In other cases, the bridge was designed only to support a certain amount of weight and no more. Boat or train crash Both of these kinds of accidents are extremely rare, but boats and trains can cause a bridge to collapse for different reasons. With trains, it's the velocity of the impact that can bring a bridge down. With boats, it's the very large mass they have that can bring about the collapse, even if they are moving very slowly when it occurs. The best way to avoid bridge failures is to plan for them. Modern technologies that can detect structural weakness, safer working environments and better designs can all help to reduce these terrible accidents.

Ronan I work in a fairly traditional office environment doing a typical nine-to-five job. I like my job, but it's annoying that my commute to work takes an hour and a half each way and most of my work could really be done online from home. But my boss doesn't seem to trust that we will get any work done if left to our own devices, and everyone in the company has to clock in and out every day. It's frustrating that they feel the need to monitor what we do so closely instead of judging us based on our task performance, like most companies do these days. Jo I used to do a typical five-day week, but after I came out of my parental leave, I decided that I wanted to spend more time with my children before they start school. After negotiating with my boss, we decided to cut my working week down to a three-day work week. This of course meant a significant cut in my pay too, as I'm paid on a pro-rata basis. I've since noticed, though, that my workload hasn't decreased in the slightest! I'm now doing five days' worth of work in three days, but getting paid much less for it! I find myself having to take work home just so that I can meet the deadlines. It's wearing me out trying to juggle work with looking after my children and my family, but I don’t dare to bring this up with my boss because I think he feels as if he's made a huge concession letting me come in only three days a week. Marcus I work for a global IT company, but because their headquarters is in the States, I do all my work online from home. That means that I don't waste time commuting or making idle chit-chat with colleagues. I work on a project basis, and this flexibility is very valuable to me because it means that I can easily take some time off when my children need me to go to their school performances or if I need to schedule an appointment with the dentist. The downside is that without clear office hours, I tend to work well into the evening, sometimes skipping dinner to finish a task. It can also get quite lonely working on my own, and I sometimes miss sharing ideas with colleagues. Lily I'm a freelancer and work for myself. This is great because I am in control of what I do and how I spend my time. At first, I was working from home, but I found it really hard to concentrate. There were just too many distractions around: housework that needed doing, another cup of tea, my family members wanting my attention for various things. So I started to go to a nearby café to work, but the Wi-Fi connection wasn't ideal and I found myself drinking too much coffee. In the end, I decided to rent a desk in a co-working space with five other freelancers like myself. I liked getting dressed to go to work in the morning and being able to focus in an office environment. The other freelancers do similar kinds of web-based work to me and so it's nice to have workmates to bounce ideas off as well.

Today's grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media, but the different generations' online habits couldn't be more different. In the UK the over-55s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site's second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55–64 and 2.9 million over-65s. Sheila, aged 59, says, 'I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It's a much better way to see what they're doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. That's how we did it when I was a child, but I think I'm lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.' Ironically, Sheila's grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 in the UK are leaving the site – only 2.2 million users are under 17 – but they're not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. 'It's my alarm clock so I have to,' she says. 'I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.' Unlike her grandmother's generation, Chloe's age group is spending so much time on their phones at home that they are missing out on spending time with their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn't heard from in forty years. 'We use Facebook to arrange to meet all over the country,' she says. 'It's changed my social life completely.' Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early adopters of the smartphone. Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or laptop constantly. 'I was always connected and I felt like I was always working,' he says. 'How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was always in front of a screen myself?' So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages. 'I'm not completely cut off from the world in case of emergencies, but the important thing is I'm setting a better example to my kids and spending more quality time with them.' Is it only a matter of time until the generation above and below Peter catches up with the new trend for a less digital life?

The Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (pronounced /ˌtɑːdʒ mə'hɑːl/) is a famous mausoleum next to the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. A mausoleum is a building where people bury the dead. The name Taj Mahal means 'the crown of palaces'. 1. The most famous part of the Taj Mahal is the large white dome in the centre. It is 35 metres high and is surrounded by four smaller domes. The rooms inside the building are decorated with beautiful archways and precious stones in the walls. The buildings are surrounded by gardens with pathways, pools, fountains and green gardens. 2. The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and finished in 1653. It was built with materials from all over India and Asia, but the main material is white marble. Historians believe that the materials were transported by over 1,000 elephants for the construction. 3. The emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a burial place for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. According to legend, he wanted to build another Taj Mahal in black on the other side of the river, but this never happened. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, many parts of the Taj Mahal were damaged by British soldiers, who took some of the precious stones from its walls. Over the years, the Taj Mahal has suffered from environmental damage, and there have been many government attempts to conserve its beauty. 4. The Taj Mahal is one of India's most famous landmarks. There are millions of visitors to the mausoleum every year. The Taj Mahal is almost always included in lists of famous buildings to visit and is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 5. Encyclopedia Britannica article on the Taj Mahal: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Taj-Mahal UNESCO Profile of the Taj Mahal: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/252

Every time you're online, you are bombarded by pictures, articles, links and videos trying to tell their story. Unfortunately, not all of these stories are true. Sometimes they want you to click on another story or advertisement at their own site, other times they want to upset people for political reasons. These days it's so easy to share information. These stories circulate quickly, and the result is … fake news. There is a range of fake news: from crazy stories which people easily recognise to more subtle types of misinformation. Experts in media studies and online psychology have been examining the fake news phenomenon. Read these tips, and don't get fooled! 1. Check the source Look at the website where the story comes from. Does it look real? Is the text well written? Are there a variety of other stories or is it just one story? Fake news websites often use addresses that sound like real newspapers, but don't have many real stories about other topics. If you aren't sure, click on the 'About' page and look for a clear description of the organisation. 2. Watch out for fake photos Many fake news stories use images that are Photoshopped or taken from an unrelated site. Sometimes, if you just look closely at an image, you can see if it has been changed. Or use a tool like Google Reverse Image search. It will show you if the same image has been used in other contexts. 3. Check the story is in other places Look to see if the story you are reading is on other news sites that you know and trust. If you do find it on many other sites, then it probably isn't fake (although there are some exceptions), as many big news organisations try to check their sources before they publish a story. 4. Look for other signs There are other techniques that fake news uses. These include using ALL CAPS and lots of ads that pop up when you click on a link. Also, think about how the story makes you feel. If the news story makes you angry, it's probably designed to make you angry. If you know these things about online news, and can apply them in your everyday life, then you have the control over what to read, what to believe and most importantly what to share. If you find a news story that you know is fake, the most important advice is: don't share it!

The Fearless Five and the Great Cucumber Caper Zahir, Qaysar, Zina, Ali, and Salema were an eclectic bunch, united by their shared odyssey through the labyrinth of the English language. Their ultimate goal, beyond mere linguistic conquest, was to harness the power of words to carve a viable path through life - to, as Zina succinctly put it, "earn a living." Miss Patel, their steadfast guide, was a woman of remarkable patience and even more remarkable caffeine consumption. One particularly sun-drenched morning, Miss Patel introduced a vocabulary list that promised to be as challenging as it was expansive. "Fearless," she proclaimed, the word hanging in the air like a dare. "Without fear," she elaborated for emphasis. Qaysar, ever the dramatic, immediately volunteered, "I am fearless!" His declaration was followed by a comical tumble, a testament to the often-discrepant relationship between bravado and balance. The class erupted in laughter, a contagious wave of mirth that even Miss Patel found difficult to resist. Zina, the voice of practicality, interjected, "While fearlessness might suit superheroes, I'm more interested in 'edge'. A sharp edge can give your CV that extra push in a competitive job market." Her words resonated with the class, a stark reminder of the harsh realities beyond the classroom. Ali, the philosopher of the group, took a moment to ponder. "Edge is like a double-edged sword," he mused. "It can propel you forward, but it can also lead to a fall. Much like greed and envy, it can erode your livelihood if not handled carefully." Salema, the group's calming influence, offered a different perspective. "Perhaps patience is the most valuable asset. Learning a new language is a marathon, not a sprint. We must cultivate our patience, lest frustration escalate into frenzy." Miss Patel, attempting to steer the conversation back on track, suggested a sentence-building exercise. Zahir, ever confident, volunteered first, "I am fearless cucumber. I will not be afraid of salad." The class howled with laughter once more, a testament to Zahir's unique brand of humor. Zina, ever the strategist, suggested a shift in focus. "Perhaps we should concentrate on more practical words like 'abate'. Reducing our reliance on instant noodles is a more immediate concern than conquering abstract concepts." Qaysar, still nursing his bruised ego from the earlier fall, muttered something about the ruthlessness of the job market. Miss Patel, recognizing the need for a simpler approach, suggested, "How about, 'I am hungry'?" The class nodded in unanimous agreement. After all, even the most fearless among them couldn't ignore the growls emanating from their stomachs. And so, the linguistic adventure continued, one word, one step at a time.

The Lost Puppy Once upon a time in a small village, there was a little girl named Lily. She had always wanted a puppy, and on her seventh birthday, her parents surprised her with a fluffy, brown puppy named Max. Lily and Max quickly became best friends, spending every day together. One sunny afternoon, while playing in the garden, Lily threw a ball for Max to fetch. Max ran after it with excitement, but when Lily turned around to look for him, Max was gone. She searched the entire garden, but Max was nowhere to be found. Worried and scared, Lily ran inside to tell her parents. They immediately started searching the neighborhood, calling out Max’s name. As the sun began to set, they still hadn't found him. Lily felt heartbroken and was afraid she might never see her beloved puppy again. The next morning, Lily woke up early and decided to search for Max on her own. She walked through the village, asking everyone if they had seen her puppy. Finally, an old woman at the end of the street said she had seen a small, brown puppy playing by the river. Lily rushed to the river and, to her great relief, found Max happily splashing in the water. Overjoyed, she called out to him, and Max ran to her, wagging his tail. Lily hugged him tightly, tears of happiness in her eyes. From that day on, Lily never let Max out of her sight. They continued to play together every day, but Lily made sure Max stayed close. She was so thankful to have found her best friend again, and Max was just as happy to be back with her.

🪞 World is a Mirror..!!🪞 Once there was a museum in which there was a room which was made of mirrors. Its wall, roof and even floor was made of mirrors. One day care taker of that museum forgot to lock the back door of museum which lead directly to that mirror room. A dog was roaming near that museum and by mistake entered that room. When dog was in middle of room and saw its own reflection and thought of it as that a whole pack of dogs were surrounding him from all sides. Seeing this dog got scared and started to bark at reflections. Dog could see all the reflections barking at him in same way and because of mirror’s dog echo back after hitting at mirrors and got magnified. Frightened by it dog started to bark frantically. Next morning, when museum guard entered the hall, there he found lifeless body of dog. There was no one to harm that dog but yet it died fighting its own reflections. Moral: Everything around us is reflection of our own thoughts, feelings and actions. World acts like a a big mirror. So always try to be positive and good to others.

The World's Largest Bird: Fun Facts About Ostriches Who do you think would win in a race: a rhino or an ostrich? The answer is the ostrich! What about a race against a tiger? That's right — probably still the ostrich. The world's largest bird may not be able to fly, but it can run at up to 70 kilometers per hour, making it one of the world's fastest animals. Here are some more interesting facts about them! They have large bodies — and large eggs An ostrich can grow up to 2.75 meters tall and weigh more than 150 kilograms. It may be no surprise, then, that ostrich eggs are the largest eggs in the world. An ostrich egg is about 15 centimeters long and weighs about 1.4 kilograms. The eggs are so strong that if a person were to stand on one, it wouldn't break! Ostriches have very big eyes, too — bigger than their own brains, in fact! They deliver a strong kick Never make an ostrich angry — it has a strong kick, and it's not afraid to use it! An ostrich kick is strong enough to kill many different animals, including lions. Ostriches also have long, sharp claws on their two-toed feet, which they use against other animals. Their heads aren't in the sand If you're told not to "bury your head in the sand," it means you shouldn't hide from a bad situation. This comes from the idea that ostriches bury their heads in the sand to hide from danger — but they don't actually do this! They do make holes to put their eggs in, however. So if you see an ostrich with its head in the sand, it's probably checking on its eggs!