【推荐2】The World’s Most Beautiful Places

Dense, lush and otherworldly, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of the last habitats of the mountain gorilla. Several hundred call this UNESCO-protected national park home, with the chance for visitors to trek to and meet habituated groups. Its biodiversity extends far beyond its most famous inhabitants, however, almost 350 bird species and around 220 butterfly species can be found within its 331-square-kilometer expanse.

Thanks to its relative inaccessibility in the heart of Kenya, Samburu is a shelter for some of Africa’s most attractive wildlife. The grassland and acacia(金合欢树)-dotted landscapes of its national reserve are home to the endangered reticulated (网状的) giraffe and Grevy’s zebra, as well as the pioneering Elephant Watch Camp.

At 4,167 meters(13,671 feet),Mount Toubkal lays claim to the title of “the roof of North Africa.”The path to its summit zigzags across empty valleys, past holy lands and up steep snowfields before emerging onto a ridge that falls away to give climbers matchless views across the Atlas Mountains.

China’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan Province is known for its towering sandstone pillars.

Best explored on foot, its back trails make for an easy way to escape the crowds and find the best views. As the mists descend, it’s easy to see why this area has long been an inspiration for traditional Chinese paintings.

【推荐2】A new study, published this week in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, reveals that non-human animals' tears are not so different from our own. The chemical similarities are so great, in fact, that the composition of other species' tears—and how they're adapted to their environments-may provide insights into better treatments for human eye disease.

Previously, scientists had studied closely only the tears of a handful of mammals, including humans, dogs, horses, camels, and monkeys. In the new study, Brazilian veterinarians analyzed the tears of reptiles and birds for the first time , focusing on seven species.

Tears, which are released from tear tubes, form a film over the eye that's composed of three ingredients: mucus, waler, and oil. The mucus coats the eyes surface and helps to attach the film to the eye, the water is a natural salty solution containing crucial proteins and minerals, and the oil prevents the eye from drying out.

Humans are the only known species to produce emotional tears; the expression "crocodile tears," which refers to a person's phony display of emotion, comes from the mysterious tendency of crocodiles to release tears as they eat.

But tears play key roles beyond weeping, notes Lionel Sebbag at Iowa State University, who was not involved in the new research. They help with vision by lubricating and clearing the eye. They also protect the eye against infection and provide nutrition to the cornea, the eye's clear outer layer, which lacks blood tubes, he says.

Learning how reptiles and birds' use tears may also inspire new medications for conditions such as dry eye, which occurs when tear tubes don't produce enough oil. The disease, common in cats, dogs, and people, can sometimes lead to blindness.

【推荐3】Before going outside in the morning, many of us check a window thermometer (温度计) for the temperature. This helps us decide what to wear.     1    . We want our food to be a certain coldness in the refrigerator. We want it a certain hotness in the oven. If we don’t feel well, we use a thermometer to see if we have a fever. We keep our rooms a certain warmth in the winter and a certain coolness in the summer.

Not all the thermometers use the same system to measure temperature. We use a system called the Fahrenheit scale. But most other countries use the Centigrade scale.

Both systems use the freezing and boiling points of water as their guide.    2     .

The most common kind of thermometer is made with mercury (水银) inside a clear glass tube. As mercury (or any other liquid ) becomes hot, it expands. As it gets colder, it contracts (收缩). That is why on hot days the mercury line is high in the glass tube.    3    .

First. Take a clear glass juice bottle that has a cap ; fill the bottle with coloured water. Tap a hole in the center of the cap using a hammer and thick nail. Put the cap on the jar. Then stick a plastic straw through the nail hole.

    4    .

Finally. Place a white card on the outside of the bottle and behind the straw. Now you can see the water lever easily.

    5    .

As the temperature goes down, the water will contract, and the lever in the straw will come down. Perhaps you will want to keep a record of the water lever in the straw each morning for a week.

A．We use and depend on thermometers to measure the temperature of many other things in our daily lives.

B．Thermometers measure temperature, by using materials that change in the same way when they are heated or cooled.

C．Now that you know this rule you can make a thermometer of your own that will work.

D．The water will rise in the straw. As the temperature of the air goes up, the water will expand and rise even higher.

E．They label these in different ways. On the Fahrenheit scale water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. On the Celsius scale water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees.

F．Take wax (you may use an old candle if you have one) and melt some of it right where the straw is struck into the cap to seal (把……粘住) them together.

G．People use thermometers which are made by themselves when travelling around the world.

【推荐1】The first time I went to France, I was shocked by the cultural differences in daily routines and manners. Born and brought up in Britain, I used to believe that we share the same cultural manners with our European neighbour. But how wrong I was!

The most challenging difference for me was the food and eating time. After one month of living here, I still got strange looks as I ate my homemade sandwiches behind a computer screen while the other colleagues enjoyed a three-course meal in the canteen. They also had a two-hour "pause" which seemed to involve every employee in France. What's more, having evening meals at 6 pm was a common habit for people from the north of England, like me. Therefore, an evening meal at 9 pm was quite challenging for my stomach. After realising the fact that the local snacks were worth the wait, however, I quickly accustomed to this more relaxing way of life, which was hard to imagine before I came here.

Another aspect of French food and drink culture that I found hard to adapt to at first is the cafe culture. I am getting used to a quick espresso(浓咖啡 ), but deep down I have to admit that when catching up with an old friend, nothing suits more than a tall latte(1#)and a slice of homemade cake, preferably in a comfortable English tea room

Finally, there go greetings. At home I feel comfortable shaking someone's hand on the first meeting. So when I greeted a stranger with two kisses on the cheeks, I felt slightly out of my comfort zone. I do,though, appreciate this part of the French culture.

Being exposed to cultural differences is a unique experience which makes you appreciate your roots more and open your eyes to the diversity of the world.

【推荐2】By the year 2050, Earth’s population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion people. With this growth comes a surprising demand for food resources. To find an effective way to deal with the global food safety crisis, Enter X, Alphabet Inc launched Project Mineral, which focuses on “computational agriculture”, a term to describe new technologies that will further increase understanding about the plant world.

Can a machine be taught to understand the plant world? After years of work, Project Mineral leader Elliot Grant and his team’s latest prototype (原型) -a plant-scanning robot-will turn up at the Smithsonian’s “Futures” exhibition later this year. The four-wheeled plant robot, about as tall as a shipping container and as wide as a car, uses different cameras and other technologies to monitor and find possible problems with plants.

As it rolls through the farmland, it can identify weeds, and measure the ripeness of fruits. The Mineral robot can become taller to take pictures of wheat plants, or widen to scan a broad bed of crops. What’s more, when the robot meets with different situations out in the field, it can accurately identify specific crops, traits or diseases.

Mineral has partnered with a farmer in the Philippines who is helping the team study diseases in bananas. Images of diseased bananas will be used to teach the robot how to detect diseases.

The robot also takes pictures of flowers and then employs the machine learning model to count a plant’s flowering speed, which is crucial to understand how a plant responds to its environment and predict the yields. Besides, the robot can measure all kinds of leaf sizes and detect greenness.

Though the robot has come a long way from its origin, it’s still a prototype. Mineral stresses that they’re constantly improving and working closely with experts in the agricultural field to understand plants further.