【推荐2】Parrots live extremely long partly due to their relatively large brains, an international team of researchers has discovered. Simeon Smeele, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, led the study, the results of which were published in March in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

When it comes to lifespan (寿命), birds truly stand out. Lifespan tends to increase with an   animal’s body size, roughly speaking. Thus, the bigger the animal, the longer they live. But a bird tends to live much longer than a comparably-sized mammal (哺乳动物). One theory is that birds’ ability to fly means they are less at risk from the animals that kill them, which reduces their risk of being eaten, decreases stress, and frees up bodily resources for growth.

And among birds, parrots are the aging champions. The confirmed longest living bird was Cookie, a Major Mitchell’s cockatoo (a species of parrot), who lived at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois for all but one of his 83 years. Though cockatoos often weigh around a pound, they usually live for four decades. Most of the other 398 parrot species also live longer than other birds of similar size.

What sets parrots apart? In the new research, Smeele and his colleagues gathered data on over 130,000 individual parrots held in more than 1,000 zoos, representing 217 species. Through this data, they created reliable estimates of the average lifespan for each species. They next searched for a link between each species’ lifespan and its relative brain size and found a clear, positive correspondence. Parrot species with larger brains relative to their body size lived longer than species with smaller brains.

“This supports the idea that in general larger brains make species more flexible and allow them to live longer,” Smeele said in a statement. “For example, if they run out of their favorite food, they could learn to find something new and thus survive.” He added, “All parrots have relatively large brain sizes compared to most other birds.”

Researchers have previously shown that, when trained, some parrots can recognize and understand objects, colors, and shapes, and even speak with an impressive vocabulary. They can even match five-year-old humans on basic tests of intelligence.

【推荐3】Health officials in the United States reported last week on what they believe could be a medical first.

Officials said doctors performed what could be the first double lung transplant on a person whose lungs were severely damaged from vaping（吸电子烟）. The operation reportedly saved the life of a teenager from the state of Michigan.

The young man was admitted in early September to a Detroit-area hospital with what appeared to be pneumonia （肺炎）, a common lung infection. The teen was later sent to Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. On October 3, he was transported to Henry Ford Hospital, where the transplant was performed 12 days later.

Hassan Nemch, a surgical doctor at Henry Ford Hospital, told The Associated Press that the damage done to the teenager's lungs from vaping could not be undone. He warned parents to think about that and to tell their children to do so as well.

A statement written by the teen's family said, "We asked Henry Ford doctors to share that the horrific life-threatening effects of vaping are very real".

More than 2, 000 Americans who vape have gotten sick since March. Many of them are teenagers and young adults. At least 40 people have died.

Recently, the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a discovery into what might be causing people who vape to become sick. They identified the chemical compound vitamin E acetate（醋酸盐）as "a very strong culprit".

Researchers found the chemical compound in fluid taken from the lungs of 29 patients. In other studies, Vitamin E acetate was found in liquid from electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices.

Dr. Lisa is a lung specialist and medical director of Henry Ford's Lung Transplant Program. She told The AP, "Vaping-related injuries are all too common these days. Our adolescents are faced with a crisis. "Hassan Nemeh added, "We hope sharing this patient's story prevents anyone else from experiencing a vaping injury that would require a transplant. "

【推荐2】There are many international organizations which work to save and protect endangered species (物种) and natural environment. If you would like more information about any of the organizations listed below, you can write to the addresses given.

【推荐3】April 22nd every year marks the start of Earth Day，a day that is celebrated every year to raise awareness(意识) about our home planet and how we can save it from being damaged.    1    ．

Green­up your home

This is one of the most common things that people do whenever Earth Day rolls around，that is，turn off their lights.    2    ．Conserve(节约)energy by turning off all power or electricity points whenever they are not in use, which we should do every day. In addition，take out all the plugs from plug points even after turning them off.

    3    

Cars，being the greatest source of air pollution，can be left at home this weekend.    4    ．Other greener choices are carpooling（拼车），riding a bike or you can also walk if you want a healthier choice and if your workplace is not that far away from your home.

Be a little dirty

No，we don't mean it‘that way’，we simply mean to say，don't take a bath. Yes，conservation of water is super essential. A day or two without a bath won't harm you，but it will certainly do a lot of good for our planet. A daily shower isn't a matter of health；it's a matter of comfort.    5    ．

The future of our planet is in your hands!

【推荐1】Think back to when you were in a classroom, maybe a maths classroom, and the teacher set a difficult problem. Which of the two following answers is closer to the way you reacted?

A: Oh no, this is too hard for me. I’m not even going to seriously try and work it out.

B: Ah, this is quite tricky but I like to push myself. Even if I don’t get the answer right, maybe I’ll learn something if I try.

Early in her career, the psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University gave a group of ten-year-olds problems that were a little too hard for them. One group reacted positively, said they loved challenge and understood that their abilities could be developed. She says they had a “growth mindset”and are focused on what they can achieve in the future. But another group of children felt that their intelligence was being judged and they had failed. They had a “fixed mindset” and were unable to imagine improving. Some of these children said they might cheat in the future; others looked for someone who had done worse than them to increase their self-confidence.

Professor Dweck believes that there is a problem in education at the moment. For years, children have been praised for their intelligence or talent, but this makes them vulnerable to failure. They become performance-oriented (i.e. interested in the result), wanting to please by getting high grades, but they are not necessarily interested in learning for its own sake. The solution, according to Dweck, is to praise the process that children are involved in: making an effort, using learning strategies and improving. This way they will become mastery-oriented (i.e. interested in getting better at something) and will achieve more. She says that effort over time is the key to outstanding achievement.

Psychologists have been testing these theories. Students were taught that if they left their comfort zone and learned something new and difficult, the neurons (神经元) in their brains would form stronger connections, making them more intelligent. These students made faster progress than a control group. In another study, underperforming school children on a Native American reservation (保护区) were using growth mindset techniques for a year. The results were extremely successful. They came top in regional tests, beating children from much more advanced backgrounds. These children had felt that making an effort was a sign of stupidity in the past, but they came to see it as the key to learning.

So, back to our original question. If you answered B, well done-you already have a growth mindset. If A, don’t worry; everyone is able of becoming mastery-oriented with a little effort and self-awareness.

【推荐2】Who do you count as your friends? From our BFF to a workmate, it’s good to have someone to chew the fat with or offer comfort and support. But the recent lockdown we have endured has made of us question our friendships. We’ve fallen out of touch with friends and acquaintances. But do we actually have to restart every relationship we once had? It might be time to take stock and think about who you kept in touch with, who you missed talking to, and who you didn’t. In short, maybe it’s time to reset your list of real mates.

There’s no obligation to stay friends. Bryan Lufkin says, “While people have known for years that friendships are unquestionably good for your health, experts say it’s only natural for acquaintances and even friends to fall by the wayside as time goes on.”

Of course, it can be hard to choose who’s in your friendship circle. This is what Suzanne Degges-White, professor of counselling at Northern Illinois University, calls our “friendscape”. She says. “In life, as we go through certain stages and ages, our attention shifts, and we want to be around people who are like us.”

So, changing friends is normal, but we still need those special pals who have known us long term. These are friendships we invest time in. These are your inner circle of friends—your “shoulders to cry on”—and you have to see them at least once a week to keep them in that circle. The friends that do drift are mostly “friendships of convenience”. But the advice for maintaining a good friendship is to share how you feel with someone you trust—this can help strengthen your friendship as well as giving you both a chance to support each other.