【推荐1】Do you want to live stress­free? To be realistic, you aren’t able to live your life with absolutely no stress at all, but you can be free from stress. Even though some stress is unavoidable in life, you can manage your life so that your experience with stress is limited.

Change can be really stressful. Reactions to good or bad changes vary greatly from person to person. Typically, the more significant the change is, the more stress it can bring a person. Heavy work loads or increased demands on your time and energy can be enough for someone to feel stressed.

When you begin to feel worried, anxious, or afraid about something, your body tenses up and stress hormones (荷尔蒙) are released throughout your body. These hormones are helpful in emergencies (紧急情况), but since your body is not meant to keep that level of high­energy, stress over a long period of time can be harmful to your health.

Often stress enters our lives when we feel we are losing control. There are two ways that we can fight this type of stress. First, don’t worry about things that you have no control over, like the weather and the choices other people make. The second thing that you can do is take control over what you do have power over yourself. When things take you by surprise, it is up to you to stay cool.

Another stress­relieving tip is to say “no” once in a while. Be realistic about the number of tasks you take on, and don’t try to be a superhuman.

【推荐3】You know the scene: A child runs downstairs in pajamas to unwrap her holiday presents and sheds joyful tears as she hugs a new puppy rescued from a shelter. The music builds up, hearts double in size and faith in humanity is restored.     1     Before taking that step, there are a few things to consider.

First is the element of surprise. The timing could be a surprise, but the animal should absolutely not be a surprise. The decision should be based on many conversations. Everyone involved should understand the long term consequences, children included.    2    

Next, you’ll choose whether to adopt from a shelter or rescue.     3     They are across the country flooded with lovable animals. They also offer physical locations where you can meet a lot of animals at once. On the other hand, rescues are smaller and funded by donations. They often rely on fosters to house animals.

    4    Applications and their processing times vary and can include tasks like proving that your landlord allows pets. Check to see if applying online is possible. If you’re applying in person, make sure you know what to bring.

If you’re worried about the huge responsibility of choosing the pet for your child, you can wrap a leash (牵引绳) or a pet bag as the gift, and then take the future pet owner to the shelter.     5     This step will be more meaningful and memorable than just having an animal show up at your door.

【推荐2】It takes courage to live on Montana’s short-grass prairie (大草原). The native people successfull, adapted to the difficult environment over many centuries. For the last 150 years, wild animals have given the basic habitat up to cows, which makes this rare habitat decline ecologically.

Today, though, parts of the landscape are being shaped by a different resident—the North American plains bison (野牛). Tribes and conservation organizations have recently started bringing the bison back. And scientists studying the returns are discovering that getting the 900 kg grazer back in its native ecosystem could be a key to the future of the prairie.

An adult bison eats about 11 kg of grass a day. The grasses adapt to their search for food. Vegetation across the plains uses the nutrients in their waste. Birds pull out their fur from bushes to keep the heat of nests from passing out.

Bison also shape the land literally. They roll in the dust and create muddy areas that hold water after rainstorms. After the bison move on, insects flourish in these pools and become a feast for birds and small mammals. Pronghorn antelope survive by following their tracks through deep winter snows.

Plains bison spent thousands of years engineering a distinctive grassland ecology from Northern Canada through Montana to Mexico. But more than a century ago, this influence suddenly stopped. A few decades of killing led the number of bison to fall suddenly from 60 million to barely 800 living wild in the US and Canada by 1889.

Today, however, bison are getting a second chance. Tribal reservations are at the forefront of their recovery, taking extra bison from Yellowstone National Park and restoring them to treaty lands. Now some scientists are keeping close watch on the changes of the lands after the return of bison.

【推荐3】In December, the intense cold turns dripping water into ice within seconds. Yet, 63-year-old Ren Jianguo gets up early before 5 am every morning to sprinkle (撒) 150 kilograms of corn on the river banks to make sure thousands of migratory birds have enough energy to make it through the winter. Over the past 26 years, Ren has been one of many volunteers protecting migratory birds on Changbai Island, where local residents label him as “Uncle Bird”.

For Ren himself, a cottage near the riverbank has almost become his “second home”, a place from which he can observe the dynamics of the birds, provide help for injured birds, educate the public about bird conservation and, after a long day of work, light a fire and enjoy a warm meal. Winter is the busiest time for Uncle Bird. When the harsh season makes it difficult for birds to find food, he calls for donations or sometimes even pays for the food himself to guarantee their survival during the winter. “I simply want this to be a warm and welcoming place for birds when they choose to stay here for a temporary rest,” he said.

A report in 2021 shows that many migratory birds have changed their habit of just passing through China as they head to the Pacific Ocean or South Asia for the winter. Instead, more and more are choosing to spend winter within China’s wetlands. However, when Ren settled in the city in the 1990s, only hundreds of migratory birds would come every winter. Since then, China has stepped up protection of wetlands and nature reserves by introducing new regulations and high technology.

“Thirty years ago, it was impossible to see more than 8,000 birds together in the urban area. But now, thousands of the birds attract an increasing number of tourists every year. As long as they choose to stay in this city, there should be people to take care of them. However tough it is, I will stick to my choice and try to raise public awareness,” Ren said.