What is it about walking, in particular, that makes it so amenable to thinking and writing? The answer begins with changes to our chemistry. When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention.【G1】_______________

The way we move our bodies further changes the nature of our thoughts, and vice versa.【G2】_____________Likewise, when drivers hear loud, fast music, they unconsciously step a bit harder on the gas pedal. Walking at our own pace creates an unadulterated feedback loop between the rhythm of our bodies and our mental state that we cannot experience as easily when we’re jogging at the gym, steering a car, biking, or during any other kind of locomotion.

Where we walk matters as well. In a study led by Marc Berman of the University of South Carolina, students who ambled through an arboretum improved their performance on a memory test more than students who walked along city streets. A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete.【G3】_____________In contrast, walking past a pond in a park allows our mind to drift casually from one sensory experience to another, from wrinkling water to rustling reeds.

Still, urban and pastoral walks respectively offer unique advantages for the mind.【G4】______________Virginia Woolf, an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century, relished the creative energy of London’s streets, describing it in her diary as “being on the highest crest of the biggest wave, right in the centre and swim of things.” But she also depended on her walks through England’s South Downs to have space to spread her mind out in. And, in her youth, she often travelled to Cornwall for the summer, where she loved to spend her afternoons in solitary trampling through the countryside.

There, it becomes apparent that writing and walking are extremely similar feats, equal parts physical and mental.【G5】________________Likewise, writing forces the brain to review its own landscape, plot a course through that mental terrain, and transcribe the resulting trail of thoughts by guiding the hands. Walking organizes the world around us; writing organizes our thoughts.

[A] Psychologists have learned that attention is a limited resource that continually drains throughout the day, for example, crowded intersection—rife with pedestrians, cars, and billboards—bats our attention around.

[B] Psychologists who specialize in exercise music have quantified what many of us already know: listening to songs with high tempos motivates us to run faster, and the swifter we move, the quicker we prefer our music.

[C] A walk through a city provides more immediate stimulation—a greater variety of sensations for the mind to play with. But, if we are already at the brink of overstimulation, we can turn to nature in-stead.

[D] When we stroll, the pace of our feet naturally vacillates with our moods and the cadence of our inner speech; at the same time, we can actively change the pace of our thoughts by deliberately walking more briskly or by slowing down.

[E] When we choose a path through a city or forest, our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward, and translate that plan into a series of footsteps.

[F] Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messages between them.

[G] Because we don’t have to devote much conscious effort to the act of walking, our attention is free to wander—to overlay the world before us with a parade of images from the mind’s theatre.

The French are justly proud of their revolutionary tradition.【G1】_____________Say what you will about the outcomes, but the origins were quite glorious: defiant, courageous, bloody, romantic uprisings against all that was fixed and immovable and oppressive: kings, czars, churches, oligarchies, tyrannies of every kind.

And now, in a new act of revolutionary creativity, the French are at it again. Millions of young people and trade unionists, joined by some underclass opportunists looking for a good night out, have taken to the streets again. To rise up against what?【G2】________________

That’s a very long way from liberty, equality, fraternity. The spirit of this revolution is embodied most perfectly in the slogan: “Against Precariousness (being unsettled or in doubt or dependent on chance, uncertainty).” The precariousness of being subject to being fired. The precariousness of the un-tenured life, even if the work is boring and the boss no longer wants you. And ultimately, the precariousness of life itself, any weakening of the government guarantee of safety, conformity, regularity. This is something very new. And it is not just a long way from the ideals of 1789. It is the very antithesis. It represents an escape from freedom, a demand for an arbitrary powerful state in whose bosom you can settle for life.

【G3】_____________________

The unemployment rate in France is 10%. For young people under 26 it is 23%, and almost 1 in 10 kids who leave high school don’t have a job five years after their graduation. Much of that unemployment are those of the alienated immigrant underclass, who are less educated, less acculturated and less likely ever to be hired than the mostly native student rioters. And these young rioters want to keep things just that way—to rely not just on their advantages of class, education and ethnicity but also on an absolute guarantee from the state that their very first job will be for life, with no one to challenge them for it.

Ironically, the better imitation of the spirit of 1789 came from precisely those immigrant challengers kept locked away in France’s satellite suburbs. It is those poor ambitious huddled masses who late last year lit up the country for three weeks with nights of burning cars.【G4】_________Those immigrant riots, which had an equal touch of the existential anarchy of the student revolution of 1968, were, if anything, a revolt for precariousness—for risk, danger, upheaval.

Against precariousness?【G5】___________Free markets correlate not just with prosperity and wealth but also with dynamism. The classic example is China today, an economic and social Wild West with entire classes, regions, families and individuals rising and falling. By contrast, in France not a single enterprise founded in the past 40 years has managed to break into the ranks of the nation’s 25 biggest companies.

Precariousness is an essential element in the life of the entrepreneur, a French word now more associated with the much despised Anglo-Saxon “liberalism” and capitalism. But these days the best examples of the entrepreneurial spirit are hardly Anglo-Saxon: India, Korea, Chile, all rising and growing, even as France and much of Europe decline.

[A] Nor are the current riots about equality. On the contrary. Their effect would be to enforce inequality.

[B] Those underclass riots were politically immature, but they did represent the fury of people desperate to escape the marginality imposed on them by their ethnicity and the rigidity of the French bureaucratic state.

[C] The energy and vitality of a society can almost be measured by its precariousness.

[D] In massive protest against a law that would allow employers to fire an employee less than 26 years old in the first two years of his contract.

[E] After all, 1789 resulted in 1848 and 1871, and indeed inspired just about every revolution for a century, up to and including the Russian Revolution of 1917.

[F] Yes, the old should be protected from precariousness because they are exhausted; the sick, because they are too weak.

[G] That is perhaps to be expected in a country where 76% of 15-to-30-year-olds say they aspire to civil service jobs from which it’s almost impossible to be fired.

[A] Update your budget

[B] Submit a change of address form

[C] Book a cleaning service beforehand

[D] Schedule a walk-through with the landlord

[E] Pack up all your things before the walk-through

[F] Set up cable and electricity in advance

[G] Document everything

5 Smart Must-Do’s Before Moving Out of Your Apartment

Moving is always stressful, and the last thing you want to worry about during the big change is your finances. According to the American Moving & Storage Association, the average cost of an intrastate move is $1,170, and this extra expense might take its toll on your budget for the year. Now that you’ve found your new home or apartment, you’ll need to wrap up some loose ends and make sure you’re keeping an eye on spending and last-minute expenses.

Whether you want to ensure you get your security deposit back or just want a smooth transition to your new place, here are five smart things you need to do before moving out of your apartment.

【G1】______________________________________________

Some landlords will book this as soon as you give your notice while others will wait for the tenant to set it up. It allows your landlord to assess the condition of your apartment before you leave and sign off on anything that needs to be replaced. Documenting findings in writing will protect you from having to pay extra expenses when you move out.

【G2】____________________________________________________

It can take 12 to 24 hours—or more—for a technician to set up such service in your new place, and even more time to actually start service. If you want to have service the day you move in, make sure to schedule this visit a few days prior so you don’t have to worry about it. You may need to pay a prorated fee for those extra days but will have peace of mind that you have what you need to get settled in.

【G3】______________________________________________

This is one of those moving checklist items that are easy to forget, so take care of it as soon as you know when your move-in date will be. You can do this online through the United States Postal Service website and get a confirmation via email and regular mail when it is complete. This will ensure all your mail is going to the correct mailbox so you don’t miss any important bills and letters.

【G4】______________________________________________

Make sure you have made a note of any problem areas in the apartment, broken appliances or other items that need to be fixed (and have been reported to the landlord but have yet to be addressed). Take photos so you have proof of the condition of these items and keep a file of any correspondence you have had with the landlord about fixing these things before you leave. You should not be responsible for the cost of repairs as long as you have already reported everything according to your lease terms.

【G5】______________________________________________

Your monthly expenses may be changing significantly if you are moving into a bigger place, a new neighborhood or even across the state. Take some time to adjust your financial plan with your new rental fees or mortgage costs, taxes, changes in utility bills and any other new expenses you are assuming with the new home. Doing this now can help you better prepare for those upcoming bills and give you a fair idea of what your recurring expenses are going to look like for the next year or more.

[A] Westworid challenges us to consider the difference between being human and being a robot. From the beginning of this new serialisation on HBO we are confronted with scenes of graphic human-on-robot violence. But the robots in Westworid have more than just human-like physical bodies, they display emotion including extreme pain; they see and recognise each other’s suffering; they bleed and even die. What makes this acceptable, at least within West/world’s narrative, is that they are just extremely life-like human simulations; while their behaviour is realistically automated, there is “nobody home”.

[B] For a sci-fi fan, fascinated by the nature of human intelligence and the possibility of building life-like robots, it’s always interesting to find a new angle on these questions. As a re-imagining of the original 1970s science fiction film set in a cowboy-themed, hyper-real adult theme park populated by robots that look and act like people, Westworid does not disappoint.

[C] But against these voices are other distinguished experts trying to quell the panic. For Noam Chomsky, the intellectual godfather of modern AI, all talk of matching human intelligence in the foreseeable future remains fiction, not science. One of the world’s best-known roboticists, Rodney Brooks has called on us to relax: AI is just a tool, not a threat.

[D] But from the start, this notion that a machine of such complexity is still merely a machine is undermined by constant reminders that they are also so much like us. The disturbing message, echoing that of previous sci-fi classics, such as Blade Runner and AI, is that machines could one day be so close to human as to be indistinguishable—not just in intellect and appearance, but also in moral terms.

[E] Virtually, we are far from being able to replicate human intelligence in robot form. Our current systems are too simple, probably by several orders of magnitude. Building human-level AI is extremely hard; as Brooks says, we are just at the beginning of a very long road. But I see the path along which we are developing AI as one of symbiosis, in which we can use robots to benefit society and exploit advances in artificial intelligence to boost our own biological intelligence.

[F] At the same time, by presenting an alternate view of the human condition through the technological mirror of life-like robots, Westworid causes us to reflect that we are perhaps also just sophisticated machines, albeit of a biological kind—an idea that has been forcefully argued by the philosopher Daniel Dennett. The unfortunate robots in Westworid have, at least initially, no insight into their existential plight. They enter into each new day programmed with enthusiasm and hope, oblivious to its pre-scripted violence and tragedy. We may pity these automatons for their fate—but how closely does this blinkered ignorance and belief in convenient fictions resemble our own human predicament?

[G] Westworid arrives at a time when people are already worried about the real-world impact of advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. Physicist Stephen Hawking and technologist Elon Musk are among the powerful and respected voices to have expressed concern about allowing the AI genie to escape the bottle. WestworlaVs contribution to the expanding canon of science fiction dystopias will do nothing to quell such fears. Channelling Shakespeare’s King Lear, a malfunctioning robot warns us in chilling terms: “I shall have such revenges on you both. The things I will do, what they are, yet I know not. But they will be the terrors of the Earth.”

【G1】→A→【G2】→【G3】→G→【G4】→【G5】

[A] Another sensible reform would be to allow cases to come to court only after an attempt to settle them outside it—the current emphasis in family-law disputes too. That would offer a cheap and quick way of resolving those arguments that arose out of mistakes, where a prompt apology or a correction matters much more than damages. It would also make life easier for humble claimants with genuine grievances but without access to expensive lawyers. And it might make English law less appealing to those who use it to intimidate anyone investigating their guilty secrets.

[B] Media organisations have an interest in changing English libel law (they regularly spend large amounts of money defending itself, usually successfully, in libel actions). It is therefore important to note that there are arguments on both sides. Defamation can ruin lives; it is right that the law should offer redress to the wronged. Being a foreigner should not disqualify someone from defending a reputation in England; in some cases, English courts may be the only hope for the righteous.

[C] But foreigners who mind about free speech do not like English libel laws. Several American states have now passed laws entitling victims of “libel tourism” to counter-sue their persecutors for harassment. Big American news organisations have spent millions defending themselves against libel suits brought in London. Some are threatening to stop selling in Britain, and to block access to their websites from British internet users. Their concern has pricked the House of Commons media committee to look at whether the “expensive” law needs changing.

[D] Libel law in England is not just expensive and wide-ranging; it also one of the most claimant-friendly systems in the world. That is because the law requires the defendant to prove that what he said is true, fair or legally privileged; it does not offer the strong free-speech defense that America’s first amendment provides. This heavy burden of proof, coupled with high costs, chills debate and ties down investigation into everything from consumer affairs to genocide.

[E] But England’s libel law has become a playground for lawyers, fighting on behalf of the powerful. That needs to change. A good initial reform would be to rule that libel cases may be heard in English courts only when the material concerned has been deliberately published in England. That would stop the most absurd instances of libel tourism. Other sensible ideas under discussion include capping damages and strengthening the existing public-interest and fair-comment defenses—in effect shifting the burden of proof.

[F] What is certain is that the legal costs of defending a libel action will be considerable, often running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. The loser almost always has to pay the costs of the winner, plus any damages awarded to the claimant. In effect, fighting libel cases is an expensive game of chicken, which newspapers are often reluctant to enter into, even when they believe they have a strong case.

[G] One kind of foreigner loves English libel law. Anyone anywhere in the world who can prove that someone in England has bought, read or downloaded potentially defamatory material about them can start a court case. In 2007 Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian tycoon, went to a London court to sue a Ukraine-based website about an article published only in Ukrainian—though read in Britain—and won.

【G1】→【G2】→【G3】→【G4】→E→【G5】