【推荐2】Every year, groups of tourists travel to central US states like Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska for their summer vacation.     1     They’re going to chase storms.

Once an activity only for scientists and adventurous types, storm chasing has now become an increasingly popular pastime for people from all over the world.     2     Storm chasers analyze weather reports and maps to locate an incoming storm before driving hundreds of miles toward it to witness a tornado in action.

The people going on these tours vary from curious first-time chasers looking for something different to storm chasing “addicts” like Nicholas Lee, a weather forecaster from the UK.     3     Now he saves up his vacation days to go storm chasing for three weeks every summer in the center of the US. It is the place well known for producing massive storms.

    4     Since then the activity has continued to grow in popularity. Considering its potential dangers, it possesses, it is obviously not for everybody. And yet, more and more people are coming out doing the storm-chasing tours.

The real dangers of storm chasing are not just being swept up by a tornado. When a large tornado is predicted for the day, a number of storm chasers will drive to that high-risk area, causing serious traffic jams, which makes it harder to access the perfect spot to witness a tornado. The escape routes will be too congested as well.     5     Take the tornado that touched down near El Reno, Oklahoma in 2013. More than 150 people were injured, and 20 killed in it, including Tim Samaras, an experienced storm chaser plus his son and another partner.

Despite the increasing interest in storm chasing, it is still a very non-mainstream hobby.

【推荐3】When Benjamin Cherkasky was in eighth grade, he quit the swim team. It wasn't because he lacked the passion; he just couldn't accept failures in matches. "I'm not Michael Phelps. Why am I even on the team?" he said. "My perfectionism prompted very high expectations, and that caused real suffering," he said.

Cherkasky is not alone in feeling that perfectionism can cause anxiety. So many millennials (千禧一代）suffer from the problems of being a perfectionist that psychologists are issuing warnings and schools are emphasizing the need to accept failure.

Jessica Pryor, a leading psychologist, said every generation is a sponge (海绵）for the messages it receives. "Millennials, more than any other generation in American society, are receiving clear messages about achieving," she said. "But there's an absence of the message that trying your hardest is still OK."

In college, Cherkasky found himself surrounded by so many intelligent people that he felt he should have been achieving a higher level than he was. "It makes you feel kind of crazy." he said. This type of thinking can lead people to putting in less effort, which as they fall behind, can create more anxiety. "It makes people feel kind of isolated." And that Cherkasky added, "can cause students to distance themselves from their school".

The American Psychological Association also found out that recent generations of college students have reported higher levels of perfectionism than earlier generations.

Researchers noted that social media adds pressure, along with the drive to earn money and achieve career goals. Perfectionists often create even higher goals, which can lead to a higher risk of failure.

【推荐1】Allan Pease has been known internationally as “Mr. Body Language” since his book on the subject became a multi-million best-seller all over the world.

Allan started his sales career at age10 selling rubber sponges(橡胶海绵) door to door after school to earn pocket money. He began writing and developing his own techniques of selling at age 18. By 21, he was the youngest person ever to sell over $1,000,000 of life insurance(保险) in his first sales year and at 24 achieved membership in “International Top 20” for multi-million dollar sales- the youngest ever to do it. At 29 he was a manager and partner in Australia’s largest Life Insurance Brokerage and was responsible for $103,000,000 of   insurance sales in one year before becoming a full-time speaker.

For over 30 years Allan has taught others how to succeed. He teaches skills and techniques in a humorous way that people never forget. His addresses, books and videos are sought by business managers, Prime Ministers, TN presenters and stars. He has written six best-selling books and has appeared on TV and radio throughout the world including a TV and video series on body language which has been seen by over 100 million people.

In his classes, he teaches others to read between the lines of what others say and develop an understanding through “Body Language” signals. Dr. Blair Stone, from Macquarie University, said “Allan Pease is hilarious. He makes his class very humorous. Plus I never realized that I can laugh so much while learning so much, and his address was consistent (符合的) with the high standards as a university expects.”

【推荐2】Ecology is a complicated thing. c Given the facts that elephant damage often kills trees and bush fires often kill trees, a combination of the two will make things worse. However, as research shows just published in Biotropica, by Benjamin Wigley of Nelson Mandela University, if a tree has already been damaged, fire can actually help to make things better.

Since 1954，the Kruger National Park has been the site of experiments. Dr Wigley carried out these experiments by looking at trees in three different zones. In one of these zones, the vegetation (植被) was burned every year. In the second it was burned every other year. The third zone, by contrast, was actively protected from fire. To keep things consistent, he only looked at the fate of a single tree species, the marula (玛鲁拉树), whose bark is often eaten by elephants. In July 2016, he and his colleagues identified 20 marulas in every zone and used a hammer and a knife to remove a 5 cm circular section of bark from each of them.

To their surprise, damaged trees in the annual burnt zone regrew 98% of their lost bark during the two years of the study. Those living in the second burnt zone regrew 92% of it. But those in the zone where fires were banned regrew only 72%.

The researchers also found something else around the trees' wounds: ants. Ten of the 20 trees in the fire-banned zone developed ant colonies in their wounds. The ants were known to damage tissue healing. By contrast, only five trees in the second zone and three in the annual zone developed ants' nests in their wounds.

It looks, therefore, as if bush fires are burning trees'。wounds to kill the ants. Though such fires are surely harmful to healthy trees, it seems, in an example of two negatives making a positive, as if they are actually helpful to sick ones.