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Things were looking rosy for Alexi McCammond. Black, female and 27, she was named editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue . But a newsroom rebellion ended her tenure before it began. A group of employees wrote a letter protesting against her appointment because of several tweets she had written ten years earlier. In them she reported Googling how to avoid waking up with “swollen, Asian eyes”. She complained about her poor marks in chemistry: “thanks a lot stupid Asian teaching assistant”. Two days later she took to Twitter again-to say that she had agreed to renounce the Teen Vogue job.
Why do tweets undo people? The answer may lie in their hybrid nature. In form, the language of social media is written-but in style, it is far more like speech. Twitter's character limit encourages short bursts that resemble talking, and are then threaded together in quasi-conversations. People write them as they speak, using sentence fragments, slang, non-standard spellings and so on. Research shows that the language of tweets closely mimics oral chatter. Besides, Twitter rewards the same qualities that are prized in speech: spontaneity, personality and wit.
In aiming for these, people often miss the mark, one reason the platform hosts so much recklessness, attention-seeking and off-target humour. Yet though tweets may be appraised like speech, they are punished like writing. Posts may seem to disappear in an endlessly flowing river, but unless they are deleted they live on indefinitely. A public figure's stupid tweets are more likely than most to be screen-captured by others, so that even deletion won't help.
How will society adjust to this new speech-text hybrid? One theory is that only the most conformist or risk-averse will succeed in a sort of woke dystopia; the rest will be vulnerable to the discovery of an embarrassing tweet in an ever-growing back catalogue.
A second possible outcome is safety in numbers. So many people will be deemed to have transgressed that skeletons in closets come to be regarded as inevitable. In this scenario, society accepts that more or less everyone has said regrettable things, and that, at least in some cases, tweeting them was merely a dangerous category mistake.
Alas, that consensus seems a long way off. Hence the third possibility: that people will learn to keep their risky jokes offline, understanding that even if they feel like colloquial remarks, offensive comments written in black and white can be recalled and judged that way. This would make Twitter a lot duller. Spontaneity is its appeal.
Human speech has been around for at least tens of thousands of years, writing for about five millennia. Twitter had its 15th birthday on last month. It may be wisest to err on the side of boring until norms settle down.
[A] She used to be the youngest editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue .
[B] Her tenure of office was cut short because of the rebellion.
[C] She quitted due to her inappropriate comments on twitter.
[D] She has held a strong hatred for Asians since childhood.
[A] It's seen by social media as written language.
[B] Its language style is closer to spoken language.
[C] It is much more humorous than other articles.
[D] It is a short form of instant communication.
[A] Because improper statements will be blamed afterwards.
[B] Because their language is too strange to understand.
[C] Because their content can be retained indefinitely.
[D] Because the public figures are more vulnerable to attack.
[A] get rid of aimless chatter
[B] accept its spontaneous style
[C] avoid words that may cause trouble
[D] follow standards of written language
[A] describes the phenomenon in detail and analyze the causes
[B] gives an account of the complicated process of its forming
[C] cites a relevant case and discusses its possible influence
[D] presents its possible solutions and makes a suggestion
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic's arrival in America, the American consumer was like a diner at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The choices were endless and prices were reasonable, store shelves were stocked with goods from around the globe and credit was plentiful at rock-bottom rates. But then the dishes started disappearing from the table and the diners were left with few choices and a tab that was growing by the day.
Today, supply chains are healing and people are able to go out to eat and entertain themselves. But prices have risen sharply and consumers no longer want those outdoor firepits and golf carts. A massive shift in consumption patterns away from long-lived goods to services is underway and with it, some moderation in inflation is occurring. But whether it will be enough and happen in an orderly fashion, or lead the economy into a recession is the looming question for the rest of the year.
The data clearly shows the shift that is taking place. Last week's consumer spending data showed that Americans are shifting their purchases away from goods to services. Spending on air travel increased 3.4%, adjusted for inflation, in May from April. While the increase is not unexpected given the overall pickup in travel and leisure activity, which further drives home the point that consumers are willing to spend on something they feel is worthwhile.
Likewise, data from audience data firm GWI shows that while 59% of consumers report being concerned about the cost of food, which along with energy is one of the two main drivers of current inflation, they are not spending less on groceries. Rather, they are buying more store brand items or purchasing larger-sized items to save money.
Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, says that while spending remains relatively strong among higher-income consumers, those who can afford to splurge “are spending those dollars dining out, going on vacation and taking in other experiential services, not buying more goods.” It's a shift that should help drive inflation lower over time, as services prices tend to be less sticky than those for goods, especially high-ticket items like automobiles. “Previously we experienced a recovery, as the goods side of the economy boomed while the services side languished,” Adams adds. “That's reversing now. The parts of the economy that went on a bender last year, supported by a flood of stimulus cash and distortions in consumer preferences, are suffering through a hangover now as those temporary drivers of demand disappear.”
That may explain why consumers are finding themselves in such a miserable mood. The latest Forbes Advisor-Ipsos consumer confidence survey released last week found that overall confidence fell to 46.9 out of 100. Also, a drop was reported among those earning less than $50,000 annually.
[A] the decreased credit line
[B] the limited goods supply
[C] unpaid household bills
[D] soaring commodity prices
[A] the gradual easing of inflation
[B] the slow recovery of economy
[C] people's willingness to buy services
[D] people's desire for going on a journey
[A] are adjusting their grocery budgets
[B] have changed their consumption habits
[C] are keeping an eye on the energy prices
[D] have lowered their requirements on quality
[A] may boom in no time
[B] is inevitably depressed
[C] has achieved a reversal
[D] will temporarily recover
[A] From Goods to Services: An Inflation-easing Shift
[B] The Era of “All-you-can-eat Buffet” Has Ended
[C] Probing into the Inflation Moderating Factors
[D] What Is Undermining Consumer Confidence?
Apple Inc. is studying ways to make AirPods into a health device, including for enhancing hearing, reading body temperature and monitoring posture, according to The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the plans.
The plans further demonstrate Apple's ambition to add health and wellness features to devices beyond the Apple Watch, where most of the company's health functions exist today. It isn't clear if Apple is developing specific new hearing aid features for AirPods or wants to market the earbuds' existing hearing-improvement features as hearing aids. AirPods Pro, Apple's higher-end earbuds, already offer features to improve hearing, including “conversation boost,” launched last week, that increases the volume and clarity of people in front of the wearer.
Offering AirPods as hearing aids could significantly expand their reach. Millions of people suffer from hearing loss, including many whose impairment is less severe and choose not to treat it, experts say. About 28 million Americans suffer from mild hearing loss, yet only 5% use a hearing aid, estimates the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins. Another 12 million suffer from moderate hearing loss, though only 37% of this group use a hearing aid.
Dr. Nicholas Reed, an audiologist at Johns Hopkins, said the prospect of Apple offering future AirPods as an over-the-counter hearing aid would be a potential game-changer. He said that Apple's ubiquitous earbuds can break the old-age stigma associated with traditional hearing aids, which often prevents people from wearing them, and would cost far less than traditional hearing aids.
AirPods may not be suited for some sufferers of hearing loss because they don't yet have all-day battery life. Also, Apple has been beaten to the hearing-aid market by consumer electronics rival Bose, which sells an FDA-cleared hearing aid that consumers can customize themselves. The array of sensors in the devices, including microphones, an amplifier and a sophisticated processor, means AirPods Pro already contain much of the technology necessary to help sufferers of mild or moderate hearing loss, experts say.
The market for hearing aids is dominated by a handful of companies, and hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars. Cheaper “personal sound amplification products” are available in stores, but their quality is inconsistent, experts say. AirPods can't be marketed as hearing aids today because of federal regulations that date back decades to when many hearing aids were unsafe or ineffective. Those restrictions require the devices to be sold through licensed hearing specialists who tune the hearing aids to the wearer.
The FDA is working to complete safety and effectiveness rules as required by a 2017 law for a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids that consumers can tune themselves. The rules are expected to permit companies like Apple, Bose and Samsung to market cheaper hearing aids.
[A] update the health features of Apple Watch
[B] develop new hearing-aid features for AirPods
[C] sell its earbuds as hearing aids
[D] strengthen the wellness function of its products
[A] some hearing loss has not been properly treated
[B] most people do not have access to hearing therapy
[C] hearing impairment is most common among people
[D] people do not pay enough attention to hearing health
[A] help people with hearing problems play games
[B] allow more people to get access to hearing aids
[C] change the rules of the industry completely
[D] reduce the cost of traditional hearing aids
[A] unsafe
[B] various
[C] overpriced
[D] ineffective
[A] Industry barriers.
[B] Market competition.
[C] Technical deficiency.
[D] Regulatory restrictions.
When Naomi Fisher took her eight-year-old son to the country park in Birmingham where she had spent much of her childhood exploring with her friends, he asked why he was not allowed to go off by himself. “I couldn't even give a good reason why not. It just isn't done any more, nobody lets their kids do that,” said Fisher. “I had some conversations and it seemed my generation had all experienced that kind of play from seven or eight years old and yet it had virtually disappeared now.”
Fisher's experience is not uncommon. The British Children's Play Survey, published last week, found that children typically are not allowed to play outside on their own until two years older than their parents' generation were. Soon after, with the help of her friend and former primary school teacher, Lisa Walke, they set up Roam, a first-of-its-kind charity, running sessions to help support parents and children with safe, unsupervised play outside.
At each session, families come together at a park in Birmingham and up to 15 children, all under the age of 12, are given some ground rules-they must stay in groups of at least three at all times, for instance-before being allowed to roam alone for up to two hours.
Volunteers keep an eye on them and count numbers regularly, but do not interfere. Roam also runs sessions with more supervision for younger children and those with additional needs. “A lot of our families have said they are much more comfortable with unsupervised play now and they've seen that their children's capabilities are much better than they thought,” said Fisher.
They also found that when the adults step back, the older children take more responsibility, helping to form strong bonds between children of different ages. “It was a unique opportunity for them to get away from me, and my reminders about being careful, all of the things I think a lot of modern parents fall into the habit of doing.”
When Roam surveyed parents, it found that although road danger and safety fears were a key reason behind why many did not let their children play alone, so too was fear of judgment. “The overriding reason was that not many children do it, and parents felt their child would stand out and their parenting would be judged,” said Fisher. But she has noticed a growing public consciousness around the need for independent play. Demand for the charity's services is skyrocketing-its last set of sessions was fully booked in eight minutes.
Their first sessions may be hard, but the more normal it becomes for children to play like this, the safer communities become, because children learn to look out for one another in a way that they don't if parents are helicoptering around them.
[A] parents are worried about the community safety
[B] children should be free from parents' supervision
[C] children need chances to play outside on their own
[D] the society calls for less intervention in children's play
[A] the parents' warning against potential risks
[B] the volunteers' company and management
[C] the charity's special care for the children
[D] the children's compliance with the rules
[A] children's learning to take care of one another
[B] children's developing social identity
[C] eliminating criticism of some parents
[D] helping children learn the rules of society
[A] the opposition of the public
[B] parents' worry about criticism
[C] children's inadequate ability
[D] the worsening of community security
[A] approaching
[B] supervising
[C] concerning about
[D] interfering with