News #2

The Guardian News

           Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker is a book recently reviewed by Rachel Cooke. The book touches on the subject of the nature of sleep and effects of sleep deprivation. It seems that those effects are profound.  They range from Alzheimer’s disease to different types of cancer. It also affects our psyche. And, in a big way. Through lack of sleep we become more stressed, more anxious, more depressed, not to mention more hungry.

                It’s surprising that facts obvious to anybody are so gravely disregarded by doctors, employers, teachers and every single one of us  in turn. Sleep should be a prescribed medicine, yet nobody treats it seriously. I will never use lack a sleep as an excuse for not doing my homework just like no teacher would accept it. Still I will try Walker’s method for a week: I will set an alarm to go to bed.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/24/why-lack-of-sleep-health-worst-enemy-matthew-walker-why-we-sleep

Flash Fiction

Decisions, decisions

The ring was missing and she was worried indeed. She might pay for it with another black eye or a broken rib. This one was definitely not going to end with only some offensive comment. He won’t just call her a stupid cow and say he regrets proposing.

The carriage door slid open. “I was wondering if you lost something,” said a handsome stranger. “Yes, an engagement ring. Did you find it?” She looked at him hopefully. “Indeed, I have. I’m only sorry not to have given it to you first.”

Who lived happily ever after? 

News #1

The Times News

In the article AI can struggle to detect sarcasm the author discusses different aspects of understanding sarcasm. He writes about new software that has been developed in order to do it and various problems arising from this task. One of the ways to detect sarcasm is listen carefully to the tone of voice: then it is easy to spot the difference between “Yes, please wake me up at 8am again” and “Yes, please wake me up at 3am again”.

However in my opinion it’s not all so simple. I can easily understand the difference between waking someone at 8am and 3am but other sentences used in the article as examples are not so easy to comprehend. In order to spot sarcasm you need to share a person’s cultural and historical background. I believe that for AI with a huge database at its disposal it should be easier. 

Source: 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/ai-can-struggle-to-detect-sarcasm-vprkpdfxl

Flash Fiction

Politics

 The time of new presidential election were coming. There were just a few days until the voting day. And there were two strong opponent parties that were going head-to-head. Both of them had a very dedicated adherent which were blindly following their words and promises. Backers of party A were arguing with backers of party Ball time. Some fanatics of one side were ready to fight for their leader. They were even ready to kill or die for him. The nation were totally divided.

Leaders of those parties were candidates who ran for President. They were everywhere. You could see them in the front pages of Newspapers or TV Shows. It’s curious but they were always talking about one thing: their opponent. Why people shouldn’t vote for him. When they were having a common discussions the only thing they were doing was insulting and criticizing each other. But when the show was ended and cameras were off, they talked friendly and made future plans of going out for a drink after the election.

Global News 27 May

Few days ago a big match of famous Chinese board game called “Go” was held. The event was so unique because of the players that took part in it- the No.1 ranking player Ke Jie and an artificial-intelligence program designed by Google called Alpha Go. The match ended with computer victory. Ke Jie admitted that  there was a huge gap between their abilities and said that machine was much better than he.

 The developers of Alpha Go announced that their program will no longer be  use to play against humans. They also believed that machine might has a possibilities to find cures for diseases, reduce energy consumption and solve a lot of other problems that people can’t.

In my opinion this is great that something like Alpha Go exists. It seems to be a good invention not only for humans but also for environment- it may improves many aspects of our life and reinstates peace in nature. I only hope that nobody would try to use it in bad way.

Words:

-defeat= to win against someone in a fight, war, or competition

Alpha Go defeated world Go champion Ke Jie.

-consumption= the amount used/ the act of using

It’s possible that Alpha Go will reduce energy consumption.  

- high-profile= attracting a lot of attention and interest (e.g. from the public/newspapers/television)

He played three high-profile matches.

Global News 6 April

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they are the only true religion helping people. But, the Ministry of Justice has a different point of view and wants to list them as extremists. This will result in a total ban on any religious celebration, habits and customs for Jehovah’s Witnesses. They will not even be allowed to meet in their Halls of Prayer. Many people remember Stalinist times when the same happened to all religions: there was a complete ban on worship.

I think that this action is not going to have any positive results: both for the country and for the people. It will probably provoke demonstrations and riots. Some people may die but it won’t kill a religion which is likely to go underground. In my opinion everyone should respect other’s differences of opinion and beliefs.

Words:

-worship= practice of showing respect for God, like saying prayers and singing

They all gathered in a Hall to worship.

-law-obedient= someone who respect law

We are very law-obedient people and don’t commit crimes.

-remote= far away

His spent a year in this remote village.

Global News 31 March

A group of teenagers from the Omsk region in Siberia have constructed their own bar. They would go there playing truant from school in order to spend time in a less stressful way. The construction materials have been scavenged from the local area but the pub looked very impressive. It even had wallpapers on the walls. They were drinking hard liquor, smoking tobacco and gambling. Everything ended when the police found out about the place.

Although, drinking, smoking and gambling are not worth promoting, I’m still impressed with initiative, hard work and creativity. In future they might be very successful businessmen. I hope that adults who handle this case will not concentrate on negativity but also see how industrious those young people were.

 

Words:

-errant= behaving wrongly

Errant children have been sent to the juvie institution.

-scavenge=to remove dirt or rubbish from an area (also by eating)

The pigeons are scavengers.

-get your hands on= get hold of

It is unclear how they got their hands on vodka and cigarettes.