【推荐3】Ninety percent of Americans drive to work every day although working from home is on the rise. If you’re lacking for topics of conversation at a party, chatting about your commute（通勤） is a pretty safe bet.

According to a recent study, driving for more than two hours each day can steadily decrease the IQ of middle aged drivers. The Sunday Times of London detailed the study, which looked into the lifestyle choices of over 500,000 Britons between the ages of 37 and 73.

When looking at the data of the 93,000 participants who drove more than two to three hours per day, the study found a noticeable drop off in brainpower, measured by intelligence and memory tests. The study found similar results with participants who took part in several hours similarly sedentary (久坐的) activities, like television watching.

As it turns out, stimulating activity stimulates your brain, while non-stimulating activity, well, doesn’t stimulate your brain.

“Cognitive (认知的) decline is measurable over five years because it can happen fast in middle-aged and older people. This is associated with lifestyle factors such as smoking and bad diet — and now with time spent driving,” Kishran Bakrania, a medical epidemiologist(流行病学家） at the University of Leicester（莱斯特大学） told the Times.

Fortunately for most Americans, the average commute time was recorded at approximately 26.5 minutes according to the 2015 United States Census.

And if you think that the way to pump up your IQ is through brain games, think again. Just try and avoid those long hours on the road if possible, and if you happen to have free time on your commute, be sure to use it wisely.

【推荐2】Once, a lioness and her cub were hunting in the jungle. The baby asked its mother, "Mother, why are we hunting when a deer is already at home?"

The mother said, "My love! We can't eat that deer because it has surrendered(投降)himself seeking our help. He is wounded and helpless. We must help him."

The baby cub was surprised and questioned again, "Why so? That's our food, we can eat it."

"Honey, you are right! It's our food and we can kill him in any second but do you think he deserves to be killed when he has come to us for protection?"

The baby cub couldn't understand her mother's vulnerability(软弱). It kept quiet and paced with its mother. At last, they didn't get anything and came back to their cave.

The deer, on the other hand, was terrified of his own decision of taking shelter in the cave. Unfortunately he had no choice! He was attacked by a hunter and somehow managed to escape. While running for his life, he saw the cave and without a second thought entered it. He had already got a shot from the hunter. When he realized he was in the lion's cave, he gave up the idea of running back again. The deer gazed at the lioness with a pitiful look, tears rolling down. He sat there as if he urged for the mercy of the lioness.

The lioness came closer to the deer, smelled it and slowly moved out of the cave with her cub.

When the lions came back, the cub asked its mother to kill the deer again. But the lioness was firm on her decision. She said, "Sweetheart! We can manage one night without any food. Tomorrow, I would definitely fetch out some food for you."

The cub said nothing, grunted(嘟哝)a little.

When the cub slept, the lioness whispered to the deer. "Run, away from this area because I doubt if I could save you any longer if the next time situation demands!".

【推荐3】David Attenborough's Dynasties takes viewers to Antarctica to follow the emperor penguin. Why are there penguins in Antarctica and not the Arctic? The simple answer is that there are too many predators(食肉动物) in the Arctic. Animals who call the Arctic their home include the polar bear, arctic fox, grey wolf, etc. There are not many animals that could kill penguins in the Antarctic, which has allowed the species to survive there.

Different types of penguins can be found in Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa. The only species of penguin that lives north of the equator is the Galapagos Penguin.

Penguins have lived in the South Pole for thousands of years but once actually lived in the Arctic. According to Aurora Expeditions: "During the 19th century, several research groups tried to introduce penguins into the Arctic environment. However, because of the predators, the penguins couldn’t protect the eggs in their nest and the entire population died out after a couple of years.”

A now extinct flightless bird called the great auk was the only modern species in the genus (属) Pinguinus and its natural habitat was the North Pole. Although not closely related to penguins, the great auk shared many similarities such as a physical resemblance and being flightless. The species became extinct in the middle of the 19th century due to predation by polar bears and they were also prized by hunters for their feathers and eggs.

The documentary was filmed at Atka Bay in Antarctica. 11, 000 birds gather on the newly frozen sea ice in Atka Bay every year to face the Antarctic winter. Director Miles Barton said: "I think the film will be a surprise. I don't think anyone has shown just what a huge struggle it is for emperor penguins to bring up their chicks in what must be the worst condition on earth.”

【推荐2】Shyness is the cause of much unhappiness for a great many people. Shy people are anxious and self-conscious; that is, they are concerned about their own appearance and actions too much. Negative thoughts are constantly occurring in their minds: What kind of impression am I making? Do they like me? Do I sound stupid? Am I wearing unattractive clothes?

It is obvious that such uncomfortable feelings must affect people unfavorably. A person’s self-concept is reflected in the way he or she behaves and the way a person behaves affects other people’s reactions. In general, the way people think about themselves has a deep effect on all areas of their lives.

Shy people, who have low respect, are likely to be passive and easily influenced by others. They need faith that they are doing ＂the right thing＂. Shy people are very sensitive to criticism. It makes them feel inferior(自卑). They also find it difficult to be pleased by praises because they believe they are unworthy of praise. A shy person may respond to a praise with a statement like this one: ＂You’re just saying that to make me feel good. I know it’s not true.＂ It is clear that, while self-awareness is a healthy quality, overdoing it is harmful.

Can shyness be completely got rid of, or at least reduced? Fortunately, people can overcome shyness with determination since shyness goes hand in hand with lack of self-respect. It is important for people to accept their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Each one of us has his or her own characteristics. We are interested in our own personal ways. The better we understand ourselves, the easier it becomes to live up to our chances for a rich and successful life.

【推荐3】If you’ve ever had trouble getting your teen up in the morning or you’ve seen your teen fall asleep during the school day, you’re not alone. Many teens have difficulty in waking up early for school, and that’s because they sleep late at night.

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Adolescent Sleep Working Group reviewed studies about sleep in teens. Researchers studied the harmful effects of not getting enough sleep — anything less than 8.5 to 9 hours of sleep on school nights — could have on young people. They discovered not getting enough sleep may cause poor grades at school. Not getting enough sleep has also been connected to a higher risk of car accidents in teens.

It may seem as though the way to solve the problem would be for teens to just go to sleep earlier. But researchers say that isn’t likely to work. Teens experience physical changes that make falling asleep earlier difficult. Their biological clocks just won’t allow them to fall asleep at 8 p.m., even when they’re tired.

Studies have shown that just delaying (推迟) school by 30 minutes can have a great effect on a teen’s health and performance. So most researchers suggest the school start time be delayed until at least 8:30 a.m. for teenagers.

Some of the benefits could include:

·Teens may be more likely to get the necessary amount of sleep.

·The delayed start time could help teens sleep during their natural sleep.

·Teens may be less likely to depend on coffee to stay awake during the day.

·Enough sleep could help teens study better in class, which could help them do better in exams.

·Sleeping longer could reduce health problems caused by a lack of sleep in the long term.

·Getting home later in the afternoon may reduce the amount of time when some teens are home alone, and could reduce the possibility that teens will take part in unhealthy activities.

But doing that can also cause some problems.