It started with a wild claim: On February 10, the pull of gravity on Earth would change, allowing a broom(扫帚) to stay balanced when you stood it upright. Within hours, people all over social media were taking the broomstick challenge. On TikTok alone,videos of it have been viewed tens of millions of times.

But the challenge turned out to be based on a hoax(恶作剧). Brooms can really stand upright on any day of the year.

The broomstick challenge is pretty harmless, but experts say it’s just one example of a more serious problem on social media: misinformation. Every day, countless bits of misinformation are shared on social media.

Often people spread hoaxes for fun or to get likes or shares. But other times, misinformation is about important topics that people are passionate about, like the environment or politics. Experts say false information is most effective in stirring up people's emotions---whether it arouses laughter, sadness, or anger.

“If a post or picture or video makes viewers feel very strongly, they are more likely to share it,” says Sienra Filucci of Common Sense Media, an organization that aims to help kids spot false information online. “And the more a video or post has been liked or shared, the more likely others are to believe it--- and to share it without checking the facts.”

You may not realize it, but you can play a part in keeping bad information from spreading out of control. Experts say the best way to do that is to be more skeptical about what you see online.

“If something seems really strange or really funny or too good to be true, your first step should be to evaluate it," explains Filucci.

Use reliable(可靠的) sources, such as trusted news websites or .gov sites, to confirm what you’re seeing.Then if you still can’t tell if something is true, follow Filucci’s simple advice: Don't share it.

Twenty-five years ago, most young Britons wanted a career in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.

According to a survey by Tesco Mobile, a UK company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger (写博客的人), or “vlogger (视频博主)”．The survey, carried out among 1,002 people, found that as many as 40 percent of them put vloggers as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers.

This change is undoubtedly as a result of the Internet and social media.They have made it so much easier to reach the audience of the world, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.

In the past, the biggest stars were trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become a star. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting (交流) with their fans about everyday life.

However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they fail to notice the fact that only those who are successful earn fame (名声) and fortune. For every success there are hundreds of others who never get off the starting line. There are the dreams that come true and the dreams that remain dreams forever.

Although being vloggers is popular, some young people choose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the Internet to share their hobbies.Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club.It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races.His job allows him to express his enthusiasm, and is always a learning experience.And that’s enough for him．

Would you like your water running from the tap or coming out of the river in the remote village? For supporters of the new drinking trend known as "raw water" , the latter choice is as clear as a Poland Spring.

According to a New York Times article published recently, a growing number of American experts are turning off their taps and switching to untreated water from natural sources, whose prices rise up to $36. 99 for 2.5-gallon jug.

Why? Isn't raw water just water - only less regulated ? According to the Times, part of the movement's success may come from that very "off the grid(滤网)" appeal: Raw water passes through no federal pipes and contains no additives, ensuring every bottle remains as mineral-rich as Mother Nature intended.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature sometimes intends to give you an unpleasant kind of disease instead. Without an exact knowledge of where your water comes from, it's hard to say what's in it and who handles it on its journey from spring to bottle - this is why water gets filtered (过 滤)in the first place，Hill, chief of the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch in Atlanta， said, and why the Environmental Protection Agency enforces strict quality guidelines on public water providers.

According to the WHO, polluted drinking water is one of the most dangerous preventable health risks the world faces. For this reason, the authority recommends that all backcountry water ( sourced from a spring or otherwise) should be properly filtered or boiled before being drunk.