【推荐1】Recent findings have shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception(感知) of the food in front of us. A new study suggested that our short-term memory may also play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people’s hunger levels were predicted not by how much they’d eaten but rather by how much food they’d seen in front of them—in other words, how much they remembered eating.

This difference suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol.

“Hunger isn’t controlled merely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal.” Brunstrom says. “This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought.”

These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body’s response to the food itself. In a 2016 study, for instance, people who drank the same 380 calorie milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones(荷尔蒙), depending on whether the shake’s label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more fill when they thought they’d consumed a higher-caloric shake.

【推荐3】Handing your baby a phone or a tablet to play with may seem like a harmless solution when you’re busy, but it could actually affect their development, a new study has found.

Having anywhere from one to four hours of screen time per day at age l is linked with higher risks of developmental delays in communication skills, fine motor skills, personal and social skills,and problem-solving skills by age 2, according to a study of 7,097 children published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The study measured how many hours children used screens per day at age 1 and how they performed in these developmental domains (领域) at ages 2 and 4. Both measures were according to the mothers’ self-reports.

By age 2, those who had had up to four hours of screen time per day were up to 3 times more likely to experience developmental delays in communication and problem-solving skills. Those who had spent four or more hours with screens were 4.78 times more likely to have underdeveloped communication skills, 1.74 times more likely to have poor performances in fine motor skills and two times more likely to have underdeveloped personal and social skills by age2. By age 4, risk remained only in the communication and problem-solving categories.

“One of the areas that is relatively understudied in the whole screen time literature is looking at the impacts of screen exposure on very young kids, especially when screens are introduced to babies,” said Dr. John Hutton, an associate professor of general and community pediatrics (儿科) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “It’s definitely a global concern, and I think the findings should really be applied to other countries as well.”

“Technology use can take time away from interpersonal relationships that develop social skills since real people are more multidimensional than characters on a screen.” Hutton added. Looking at people’s faces is when our brains turn on to figure out how to interact with them.

【推荐1】For thousands of years, humans have built cities. Some of our oldest cities have managed to maintain pieces of their original characteristics while others have disappeared completely.

One of these lost cities belonged to the Anasazi people who lived in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. They built houses along the river that ran through the valley. For nearly 300 years, the Chaco Canyon was the population center of many desert cities. Now nothing is left of this busy city but ruins. Scientists think that drought may have made the Anasazi’s food hard to get or that some kind of disease killed off many of the people. However, no one knows for sure what happened to the people of the Chaco Canyon. Another lost city sits high atop the Andes Mountains in Peru: the city of Machu Picchu. It was once among the most powerful cities in South America. It was home to the Incan emperor. In 1527, its citizens packed up their belongings and moved for unknown reasons. Scientists guess that smallpox, a disease brought by European explorers, was the cause of Machu Picchu’s downfall. Today, tourists from all over the world climb thousands of steep stone steps to view the ruins of this once great city. Yet another city that is no more was called Pompeii. This was one of the wealthiest cities of ancient Italy. This beautiful seaside city was a lively center of trade. However, a storm of lava, smoke, and ash from Mt. Vesuvius buried the city of Pompeii, putting an end to its prosperity. Scientists have studied the ruins of Pompeii, which led to new discoveries about ancient civilizations of Europe.

Humans have always built cities as centers for trade, business, and family life. Cities that have been lost provide information about the past, helping to inform our future. By studying lost cities, we can learn how to preserve our current cities.

【推荐2】How to Win Votes in a School Election

In many ways, school elections are just like elections anywhere else.     1     You will also need to work hard to make sure people know who you are and why they should vote for you.

● Decide what position to run for.     2     Make sure you know what the position does, and what you will be able to do once you get there. There are limits to what you can do while in office, so knowing your responsibilities can keep you from making foolish campaign promises that you can’t keep.

●     3     Talk to your friends about running, make sure they think it is a good idea, and ask for their help in running. You won’t be able to do this alone. It looks good if the people who know you best will vote for you. Your network can also help with more practical activities, such as designing and making posters and encouraging their classmates to vote for you.

● Advertise yourself. You and your campaign team should make posters, T-shirts, and other items that will let other students learn your name even if you don’t get to talk to them.     4    

● Encourage people to vote. Sometimes the hardest thing is actually getting people to participate in the election.     5     Get people familiar with you so that they trust you enough to give you their vote.

【推荐3】Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.

Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.

There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.

There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime （消遣）, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.

The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.