【推荐1】Coffee is an important part of Italian culture and since arriving here over six months ago, I have drunk a lot of it!

Of course, coffee is also very popular in the UK but coffee culture in Italy is a completely different story. In Italy, when you order a coffee in a café or bar, you are served with a tiny, bitter espresso. This is “normal coffee” for Italians and they are not so interested in the huge coffees that we drink in the UK. If you want more than one sip(小口)of coffee in Italy, lungo is a good choice. It is espresso with a little more water added, but still served in a small cup. In addition, while takeaway coffee is quite popular among Brits, it is not very common at all in Italy. Generally, Italians prefer to drink their tiny coffees while standing at the bar and, for many, this short break is an important part of their day.

Usually, breakfast in a bar in Italy includes a coffee and a pastry(酥皮糕点). I have been spoiled for choice with lovely cafés in the Italian town I’m living in. These cafés sell different kinds of mouth-watering pastries — either plain(无馅料的)or filled with cream, chocolate, etc. — as well as delicious coffee. Cappuccinos are very popular at breakfast time and, for me, a creamy cappuccino and a pastry with chocolate is the perfect way to start the day.

Finally, I have found that coffee in Italy is so much cheaper than coffee in the UK. Normally, an espresso or a macchiato (an espresso with a drop of milk) costs around a euro and a cappuccino about1.50!They are small, of course, but this means that in Italy it is possible to go out for coffee every day without breaking the bank.

【推荐2】For all of human history, eating meat has meant killing animals.     1     They produce meat by growing cells obtained from an animal’s body.

Lab-grown meat, also called “cell–cultivated” or “cultured” meat, is made by feeding a mix of nutrients to animal cells in steel tanks in labs. The idea is to create an alternative to agriculturally raised meat. And unlike other meat substitutes which are made from plant proteins and other ingredients, lab-grown meat is real meat.     2    

Recently, the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has given two companies approval to sell lab–grown chicken.     3     It’s aimed at eliminating (消除) harm to animals, and reducing the environmental impacts of grazing(放牧) and growing feed for animals.

“Everything we know about how meat can be made is going to change. But don’t expect to see cultivated meat in grocery stores just yet,” said Uma Vaieti, CEO of UPSIDE Foods.     4     That’s because it cannot yet be produced on the scale of traditional meat.

“To make cultivated meat, we need much more energy,” said Bruce Friedrich, president and founder of the Good Food Institute. However, those high energy needs will be offset(补偿)by the reduction in land and water use and other benefits. It’s thought that cultured meat will be probably produced on a large scale.     5    

【推荐3】Have you ever felt so tired after staying up for a night that even coffee doesn't give you the energy that you need? You may have an energy drink, but the benefits of drinking one are heavily outweighed by the risks.

In the past years, more and more studies have found the deadly effects of energy drinks on our bodies. The sugar, caffeine and energy supplements (补充)in energy drinks make up a deadly mixture of ingredients that can affect your heart function and send you to the hospital!

A study by the University of Bonn, Germany found that frequent consumption of energy drinks can greatly change the way our heart functions. The study went on to say that consuming energy drinks often causes significantly increased heart contractions in adults, which has the potential of putting you at risk for irregular heartbeats.

It is possible that many people are unconscious of the alarming side effects of energy drinks because of the way they are labelled. Most energy drinks contain between 80 milligrams to over 350 milligrams of caffeine, sugar and energy supplements. When an energy drink is marketed as a diet supplement, it may be distributed without a "nutrition facts" label, which would show the harmful supplements that are in the drink. However, even if energy drinks are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, they don’t have to show the number of supplements.

Energy drinks may be widely available but they aren't the healthiest or safest choice for your body. To stay naturally energized, get organized and stay on top of your work so that you aren't having to stay up all night to complete assigned tasks. If you'd like a natural energy boost, you could make time for a short workout, which will give you all of the energy you need!

【推荐1】Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids. According to a new survey(调查) by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.

How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age. Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal(理想的). But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.

“More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities(机会) to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone,” says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical. Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers’ bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.

Because sleepiness is such a problem for teenagers, some school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am. Students, parents and teachers are pleased with the results.

【推荐3】Anyone who has messy children, lazy partners or naughty flat mates will be impressed by the resourcefulness (足智多谋) of Katrina Neathey, the co-owner of a cleaning company in West Sussex. She has made her three teenagers sign an agreement to help keep the house tidy. Any infraction of the agreement, for example, littering up their bedroom with magazines and drinks, or failing to put their dirty plates in the dishwasher, will come with a 5 pounds' fine or removal of their phones.

It is one way of setting up a cleaning rota (轮班表) that people might stick to. “Cleaning is teamwork,” says Lynsey Crombie, also known as the Queen of Clean. She suggests getting everyone in the household together to find out what people like doing. “In our family, my husband is better at mowing the lawn. I love cleaning rooms. Someone else might like folding the towels. You let everybody do what they're good at, or enjoy, so there's more chance they'll actually do it.”

Crombie is not a fan of fines. For her children, she takes away their phones or turns off the Wi-Fi. For other adults who aren't joining in, she suggests keeping asking them to take action.

If you aren't sure what is required to keep the dirt at bay, there are many checklists online that you can print out to share the daily, weekly and monthly tasks. You can stick it on the fridge, and then everyone knows where they stand.   If it's not working, have another chat, such as “What do you dislike?” “How can we improve it?” Ironig out problems is all about communication.

【推荐2】It’s natural for parents to praise their children, but offering this praise could actually backfire, according to New Science.

In the study, researchers at Michigan State University looked at 123 children who were about 7. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset” (believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded.

Based on the data they collected, the researchers concluded that children with a growth mindset were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake, and in turn were more likely to improve their performance by paying closer attention to the task after making an error.

While previous research has shown that people with a fixed mindset didn’t want to admit they had made a mistake, this study found that children with a fixed mindset were able to- “bounce back” after making an error, but only if they gave their full attention to the mistakes. “The main implication(暗示) here is that we should pay close attention to our mistakes and use them as opportunities to learn.” study author Hans Schroder told Science Daily.

For parents, the lessons are clear-if a child hands you an A+ test, don’t say “You’re so smart!”

Instead, say “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.

Second, focus on using errors to work together and learn. Many teachers and parents avoid addressing children’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. You’ll get it next time...”,without giving them the opportunity to figure out what went wrong. Dr. Schroder says, “Instead, it’s better to reassure(安慰) children that mistakes happen, and to pay attention and work to figure out where and how they made the mistakes.”