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Private wealth in Asia overtook that in western Europe in 2014, and is set to overtake North America by 2016, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The strong performance of equity and bond markets contributed to a $17.5 trillion increase in private wealth worldwide last year, to a total of $164 trillion. Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) provided over 60% of the increase. Across the region, private wealth grew by 29% in 2014 to reach $47.3 trillion; in North America and Europe it grew by 5.6% and 6.6% respectively. China will account for 70% of Asia’s wealth accumulation between now and 2019, BCG reckons. By 2021 it will overtake America as the

world’s wealthiest nation.

8. Common Words in Conversations That Make People Sound Less Confident

One way confidence is judged is by an individual’s behavior, especially verbal behavior. That’s according to Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Professor Tannen has been researching the influence of linguistic style on conversations and human relationships since 1974. She has also studied how ways of speaking learned in childhood affect judgments of competence and confidence in the workplace for several years.

How we speak, she says, determines who gets heard, who gets credit, and what gets done. Tannen gives the following example: one publishing company executive said, “I’m hiring a new manager. I’m going to put him in charge of my marketing division,” as if he owned the corporation. In stark contrast, women were saying “we” when referring to work they alone had done. One woman explained that it would sound too

self-promoting to claim credit in an obvious way by saying, “I did this.” Yet she expected—sometimes vainly—that others would know it was her work and would give her the credit.

You might think that your way of speaking is natural, but the words you use and how you use them can determine how your confidence is judged. While there is no such thing as right or wrong words—results vary depending on the context—some common words we use in conversation really just put us at a disadvantage because they are weak and make us seem less confident.

1. “Um” and “Ah”

Many people throw in an “um” whenever they are temporarily lost for words. But there is a reason you won’t hear

these crutch words, as they are known in public speaking, in news bulletins and TV shows. “Um”s and “Ah”s make people seem not only less confident, but also dumb. If you are guilty of this habit, stop it. Instead, take a brief pause when you are temporarily lost for words.

2. “Like” and “You know”

Some other people can’t go three sentences without appending a “like” to th e beginning of a sentence. This is not a good if you want people to take what you say seriously. “Like” and “You

know” are close cousins to crutch words. They make you look silly and incompetent when overused.

3. “Just”

Saying things like, “Just wanted to ask a question” or “Just checking in” weakens your statements and waters down your requests. You seem less sure of yourself and less confident than you probably are. Drop the extra word and speak like a boss. Talk like you know what you want.

4. “Kind Of”

The words “kind of” or “sort of” used in conversations make you come across as vague and ambiguous. You look like you have no idea what’s going on or are afraid of committing. Unless you want people to think you are timid or clueless of what’s going on, do n’t misuse these words.

5. “Hopefully”

If you are always saying “hopefully” to everything in conversation or that you’ll hopefully get something done, you’re actually telling people that you don’t have control over situations.

This can backfire on you because it can communicate that you are weak, powerless or even unreliable.

6. “Actually”

“Actually” has become the new “basically” or “literally.” People use it even where it doesn’t stylistically make sense. For example, the phrase “but actually” is terribly misused. This particular usage is often unnecessary (fluff) and can make you seem uninformed and pitiful.

7. “Sorry”

99% of the times people use the word “sorry” in conversations where no apology is necessary. Saying things like, “Sorry, can you come visi t me?” or “Sorry, can I take you out?” can be misinterpreted to mean you’re not confident. Drop the “sorry” and say what you mean confidently. If you want to apologize for something, say sorry like you really mean it.

8. F-bomb

Dropping the occasional f-bomb (curse words) can add emphasis to what you are saying. But, often curse words are unnecessary

and plain offensive. They suggest you are insecure about what is being discussed or are simply a rude and brutish individual. Cut curse words from your conversations.

Possible solution for glitches in conversation

Admittedly, getting rid of these communication glitches is not easy. The mistakes creep into your conversations before you realize it. However, a technique you can use to curb these errors (suggested by improvement thinkers like Tim Ferriss and Tony Robbins, and also bloggers like Scott H. Young) is to keep a rubber band around your wrist. Every time you make a communication blunder (say, using um’s and ah’s), switch the rubber band onto your opposite wrist. If you can go seven days with the band staying on the same wrist, you’re making progress.

Judge nothing you will feel happy, forgive everything you will be happier, love all you will be the happiest.

互联网女皇”一幅图预言纸媒未来

I t’s always fun when Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers analyst Mary Meeker comes out with her annual “State of the Internet” slide deck. There often isn’t all that much that is shocking or surprising about her conclusions, but the slideshow condenses and aggregates information about the state of affairs in tech and media in a very useful way. For example, she has one chart that likely strikes terror (or at least should strike terror) into the heart of print publishers everywhere. 美国最大风投公司凯鹏华盈（KPCB）的分析师玛丽?米克尔每年都会发布年度报告《互联网趋势报告》，内容都颇为有趣。报告中的观点倒不见得多么出人意表，也没有太大轰动性，但当中浓缩整合了科技业与传媒业的现状，读来得益匪浅。例如，她今年的报告中有一幅图表，就有可能让全球纸媒坐立不安。

The chart shows the percentage of time that U.S. adults spend on various forms of media—print, radio, television, etc.—compared to the amount of advertising spending that is devoted to that medium. And when it comes to print, the slide shows a yawning gap between the amount of attention devoted to that medium and the amount of advertising money that gets spent on it: a gap of 14 percentage points, in fact.

图表以百分比形式显示了美国成年人花在纸媒、广播、电视等不同媒体上的时间分布，以及相应媒体获得的广告投放，并将二者进行了对比。在纸媒行业，这张图表显示出一个巨大的鸿沟：其受关注度比其获得的广告投放实际上要低14个百分点。

As Josh Benton points out at the Nieman Journalism Lab, this slide shows up every year in Meeker’s presentation. The latest version is actually s omewhat better in terms of the gap between attention and spending: in the 2011 version, print got 25% of the spending and just 7% of the attention, for a gap of 18 percentage points. Now the gap has shrunk, but it continues to be larger than any other media with the exception of mobile, which is a relatively new category (and its gap is in the other direction).

哈佛大学尼曼新闻实验室主管乔舒亚?本顿指出，米克尔每年的报告中都包含这一对比图。事实上，就受关注度和广告投放之间的悬殊来说，今年的情况有所好转：2011

年同类对比显示，纸媒获得了25%的广告投放，但只有7%的受关注度，相差18

个百分点。虽然差距有所缩小，但纸媒的这一数据鸿沟仍比其他媒体都要大——移动媒体例外，作为一种相对较新的媒体类别，它的差值也很大，但和纸媒背道而驰：其受关注度远超广告投放量。

Just because print gets a smaller amount of attention do esn’t necessarily mean that the proportion of ad spending should be identical,of course. There are plenty of complicating factors—including the fact that many print-based media outlets offer deals to brands that tie sales of online ads to the print version. Print is also arguably better for some forms of “brand building” advertising, or at least a number of advertising agencies and brands continue to believe this.

当然，不能仅仅因为纸媒的受关注度在减少，就认定其广告投放必然下滑。其中牵涉许多复杂的因素，比如许多以纸媒业务为主的媒体集团都与品牌达成协议，将平面与线上广告打包出售。再者也可以说，纸媒更适合某些以“打造品牌”为目标的广告，至少许多广告代理商和品牌方仍然认同这个观点。

But that said, the likelihood of that gap remaining where it is seems vanishingly small. And as media theorist Clay Shirky has argued, there could even be a second “cliff” coming for advertising sales, in which print reach drops below a certain point and ad agencies and brands suddenly decide it is no longer worth it. If nothing else, media entities should remember that corre ctions don’t always happen in nice smooth curves.

即便如此，纸媒的受关注度与广告投放量之间的巨大差距也几乎难以为继。媒体理论家克莱?舍基认为，纸媒广告可能遭遇第二次“断崖式下跌”。届时，纸媒的广告到达率将跌破某一值点，广告公司和品牌会认定纸媒不再具有投放价值。即使退一万步，媒体也应该铭记，纠偏的过程不可能总是一帆风顺。

上图：

Twenty years ago, the Fortune 500 underwent a major relaunch. The original list, which was first published in 1955, only included industrial companies. In the middle of the 20th century, after all, the most important companies made things. The rest were relegated to the Fortune Service 500.

20年前，《财富》美国500强榜单（Fortune 500）经历了一次重大调整。这份榜单最早诞生于1955年，起初只包含工业公司。毕竟在20世纪中期，最重要的公司都是从事生产制造的。而其余公司则被列入了《财富》“美国服务企业500强排行榜”（Fortune Service 500）。

In 1995, Fortune’s editors decided to combine the two lists. And while industrial giants like General Motors

1995年，《财富》编辑决定整合这两份榜单。尽管通用汽车等传统工业巨头仍在榜上名列前茅，但当年排名第4的沃尔玛等新上榜成员也证明：出售产品或服务的公司重要性并不比制造公司低。

Of course, at any given point in time, the most valuable companies on the Fortune 500 can differ significantly from the companies bringing in the most revenue. A

measurement like market capitalization tells us more about what the market believes will be the future of American industry, rather than its present. Studying the most valuable companies on the Fortune 500 since it was reorganized 20 years ago offers a telling portrait of recent American economic history.

当然，无论在任何时候，美国500强中市值最高的公司和收入最高的公司都有很大差别。市值更多体现的是市场对美国产业的未来（而不是当下状况）的看法。研究美国500强榜单调整后这20年来市值最高的公司，可以让我们窥得美国近年来经济史的一角。

The most valuable company on the Fortune 500 20 years ago, General Electric , was a holdover from America’s conglomerate and industrial era. The company’s value was buoyed by the many acquisitions legendary Chairman and CEO Jack Welch made throughout his tenure, like NBC and Honeywell. But soon, Microsoft overtook GE, making clear the overwhelming influence that personal computers had over the U.S. economy. GE briefly reclaimed the top spot following the

dot-com crash.

20年前，《财富》美国500强中市值最高的公司是通用电气，这是美国多元化大公司和工业时代留存下来的巨头。在富有传奇色彩的董事长兼CEO杰克·韦尔奇任内，通用电气进行了多次收购，将美国全国广播公司和霍尼韦尔等纳入麾下，使得公司市值水涨船高。但很快，微软就赶超了通用电气，展现出个人电脑对美国经济的惊人影响力。而在互联网泡沫破灭之后，通用电气一度短暂地重返榜首。

But the oil boom of the last decade, fueled by dwindling supplies and huge growth in emerging markets, pushed Exxon Mobil into the top spot. The oil and gas giant stayed at the top of the heap for seven years, until Apple surged ahead to claim the title it still holds today. We still live in a world dominated by smartphones, apps, and other digital entertainment, all areas that Apple has firmly planted flags.

紧接着，过去十年，受石油供应减少、新兴市场飞速发展的推动，“石油热潮”将埃克森美孚推上了市值最高公司的宝座。这家油气巨头占据榜首达七年之久，随后被苹果赶超，后者开始占据这一王座直至今天。我们目前仍然生活在一个被智能手机、App和其他数字娱乐所主导的世界，而所有这些领域，苹果都牢牢地掌控着大权。

TO BE DELETE:

John Clion’s dismissive asscessment of David Camerion’s fixed EU migration proved the issue not being battle for prime minister. Yesterday, the incoming president said the rules surround people could not be changed. But the edmit lee said the EU was desperate to bring Britain in and it is a very good chance to negotiate. Responding to AA’s remark, Bsaid the proposal would be brought forward before Charismas, and deserved an get the fair hearing,. At today’s summit, EU leaders was trying to agree the target to cut green house gases by 40% by 2030, the prime minister also expect to raise the issue of expenditure, and the parliament asked for budget of 143 billion ero next year, six billion more than EU member’s earlier summit, the final deal would be hammered out next month, the government sourece said euo was too high and unrealistic

Jc J dismissive assessment of David Cameron’s promise to fix EU MIGRATION PROVD THE issue will be an uphill battle for the prime minister. Yesterday, the incoming commission president said rules around the free movement of people could not be change.

Jean-Claude Jun cker’s dismissive assessment of David Cameron’s promise to fix EU migration proved the issue will be an uphill battle for the prime minister. Yesterday, the incoming Commission president said rules around the free movement of people could not be changed.

But the Conservative MP Edward Leigh said he thought the EU is desperate to keep Britain in, and there was a very good chance EU migration could be renegotiated. Responding to Mr Juncker’s remarks, a Downing

Street source said proposals would be brought forward before Christmas and deserved and would get a fair hearing.

but the EL SAID THAT he thought the EU IS DESPERATE to keep Britain in, and there was a very good chance EU migration could be renegociated. Responding to Mj’s REMARKS , a downing street source said proposals would be brought forward before Christmas and deserved and would get a fair hearinG.

At today’s summit, EU leaders will try and agree a target of cutting greenhouse gases by 40% by 2030. The prime minister is also expected to raise the issue of EU expenditure.

At TODAY’S SUMMIT, EU LEADERS WILL TRY AND AGREE A TARGET OF CUTTIG GREEN HOUSE GASES BY 4%BU 2030, THE PRIME MINISTER IS ALSO EXPECTED TO RAISE THE ISSUE OF eu EXPENDITURE.

This week, the European Parliament asked for a budget of 146bn euros next year, 6bn more than EU leaders agreed at an earlier summit. The final deal will be hammered out next month, but the government sources said the MEPs' bid was too high and unrealistic.

THE WEEK, THE EUROPEAN PALIAMENT ASKED FOR A BUDGET OF 146 EUROS NEXT YEAR, 6bn more than EU leaders AGREED AT AN EARLIER SUMMIT. THE FINLA DEAL WILL BE HAMMERED OUT NEXT MONTH, BUT THE GOERNMENT SOURCES SAID THE meps’ bid was too high and UNRELAISTIC.

What Are You Waiting For？

拖延症：你在磨蹭什么？

The Ninth Edition of The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word “procrastination” as to “defer action.” It further illuminates the semantic origins of the word as deriving from the Latin “crastinus”, meaning “tomorrow.” In other words, to defer taking timely action until tomorrow, or the day after, or next week, or just some later time.

第九版《简明牛津辞典》将“procrastination（拖延症）”定义为“延迟行动”，并进一步解释其语义词根来源于拉丁语“crastinus”，意为“明天”，即把应该及时采取的行动推迟到明天、后天、下周或者是之后的某一时刻。

Procrastination, we are taught from an early age, is a bad thing, and a habit to be steadfastly avoided. In school, it can lead to missing deadlines and lower marks, or worse. At work, it will make our boss and colleagues unhappy and could lose us a customer or promotion. At home, we’ll be scolded for such things as not tidying up on time.

按我们小时候接受的教育，拖延症是不好的，我们要坚决避免养成这个坏习惯。在学校里，拖延症会导致错过各种最后期限，成绩低下，甚至更糟的情况。上班后，拖延症会让老板和同事不爽，让我们丢掉客户或者晋升的机会。即使在家里，拖延症也会让我们受尽没有按时收拾房间之类的数落。

Despite all this teaching and the clearly negative consequences of procrastinating, we do it every day. The mind is a wonderful source of excuses and rationalizations which grease the wheels of our in-built Procrastinator App, producing lots of

reasons why we just can’t get to this or that project right at this moment. Some of those reasons are even valid.

尽管受了这么多教育，拖延症的恶果也再明显不过，但我们还是每天都会“犯病”。我们的头脑盛产各种借口和合理原因，润滑着我们内置的“拖延症App”，编织出无数不能即刻推进某个项目的理由，而且其中某些理由甚至还不无道理。Procrastination doesn’t only derive from laziness. After all, we’re busy. And it seems like we’re a lot busier than we used to be. The earth may not be spinning any faster, but our lifestyles and pace of work are, for better or for worse.

拖延症不仅源于懒惰。毕竟，我们都很忙，而且程度似乎较以往更甚。地球的自转也许并没有加快，但我们的生活方式和工作节奏的确都变得更加紧凑了，不管是好是坏吧。

The same dictionary defines “deadline” firstly as “a time limit for the completion of an activity”. It also gives a more historic definition of “deadline” in the context of prisons as: “a line beyond which prisoners were not allowed to go.” Presumably, the concept of the “deadline” in the prisons of yore was that if a prisoner crossed the “deadline”, that prisoner was going to be a dead one in a hurry.

对“deadline（最后期限）”一词，该《辞典》的基本释义是“完成某一活动的时间限制”，同时也给出了在监狱背景下的历史释义，即“犯人不能越过的线”。据推测，早期监狱里的“deadline”是犯人一旦越过该线，就会立刻被处死。

Having spent my career in editing and media, I’ve had a lifetime of living with deadlines. I’ve missed a fair share. I only just discovered the historic meaning of “deadline” in the prison context today. It’s a relief tha t the death penalty is not assigned to those who miss deadlines in the media context. I would not relish delivering or receiving that penalty.

我从事编辑和媒体工作多年，一辈子都在和deadline打交道，也错过了不少deadline。直到今天，我才发现这个词原本在监狱背景下的含义。幸好在媒体业，即使误了交稿期也不至于要处死。我可不想当这种审判官或是自己被判死刑。

I can just imagine a scene like this:

想象一下这样的场景：

Me: “Sorry, Rupert, this story was due yesterday.”

我：“很遗憾，鲁伯特，这篇稿子昨天就该交。”

Employee: “But Tom, I was busy with…”

雇员：“可是汤姆，昨天我很忙……”

Me: “Too bad!” BOOM. “So long, Rupert.” Another procrastinator bites the dust.我：“太差劲了！永别了，鲁伯特。”砰的一声，又一个拖延症患者倒地身亡。There are a range of important priorities for self-improvement in our careers and lifestyles, but few are more important than improving our time management skills. It’s a constant, ongoing challenge, but making progress pays great dividends in work and personal relationships, managing stress, and self-esteem.

在工作和生活中，我们有很多完善自我的当务之急，但都没有提高时间管理水平来得重要。这是一个永恒的、不间断的挑战，一旦加以完善，必然会给工作表现、个人关系、压力管理和个人评价带来极大的回报。

If you want to surprise a customer with great service — an internal one, such as a colleague, or an external one — then deliver a job or task ahead of the time it was promised or expected. If you make a habit of doing this, you will build a reputation for excellent service that will enhance your relationships and earn respect in a lasting way.

如果你想用杰出的服务给客户（既可以是内部的同事，也可以是外部的客人）带来惊喜，那就在承诺或预期的期限前完成工作吧。如果将此化作常态，你就会树立优质服务的口碑，改善人际关系，并赢得长久的尊重。

Managing your time more carefully requires clear thinking, focus, planning, and flexibility. Above all it depends on prioritizing, and revisiting those priorities as circumstances change. But it’s not rocket science.

更精细地管理你的时间，需要清晰的思路、着眼点、规划和灵活性。最重要的是，一切取决于优先度，以及伴随情况变化要适时作出调整，但这并不难。

Give it a try. Progress in this area might just be a life-saver!

不妨尝试一下。这项技能说不定还能救你一命呢！

Within academia, there's a raging de bate about…

在学术界，关于….的争论一直都很激烈

It can be argued that

Thanks to the advancement of technology and economy tied to education, an increasing number of educational approaches have been developed. Facing such a great deal of progressive teaching methods, nowadays traditional education mode became suspicious. Examination, a traditional teaching method, is suffering from criticism as some people believe that it has negative effects on students; however, people hold divergent views regarding this issue. Examinations have downsides and function imperfectly. Understandably, sitting an exam is not an impeccable way for teachers to examine students’ performance, and for learners to acquire and apply knowledge effectively. Apart from enormous pressure brought by taking exams, it may confront students with the feeling of failure. If, for instance, a student does not perform well in exams, the poor result, which could not reflect his other abilities such as creativity, but only memory, would depress him, thus misleading him.Furthermore, concentrating too much on examination, students tend to memorize concepts only and would risk learning nothing of much use in addressing problems in this real world.

Conceding that exams are the most effective methods to check up the extent to which students memorize the new knowledge, many people, nonetheless,argue that exams benefit students. Before using new ideas and concepts to deal with problems in the real world, a student ought to memorize the new knowledge so that he can get a framework first. Only with the conceptual frameworks already in position, would he be better able to utilize what he has learnt. Meanwhile, examinations enable teachers to examine students’ memorization of new ideas and concepts, and to help students enhance their weak parts of memorization.

Since examinations are only tools that help students to form the knowledge frameworks, I am convinced that learners should take appropriate exams along with practice.