【推荐3】Cold weather during winter months may keep many people from leaving home and running in the open air. However, a new study shows that the drop in temperature is a good reason to run.    1    

Many people say running in winter can be difficult. One reason is the low temperature.     2     Yet many runners might find it easier than running in hot weather. That could be because lower temperatures reduce stress on the body. When you run in cold weather, your heart rate and the body’s dehydration（脱水）levels are lower than in warmer conditions.    3    

This information comes from John Brewer, who is a professor of applied sports science at St. Mary’s University. For this study，he and other researchers put a group of people into a special room. The researchers then recreated summer and winter weather conditions in the room.     4     Brewer says he and his team recorded biological measurements of the runners.

He says that the most important thing for people who run in cold conditions is to wear the right clothing. Wear gloves on your hands.     5     And especially, wear more than one layer of clothing to keep sweat away from your skin.

【推荐1】Since I was born and brought up in a rural (乡村的) town, I have a great interest in nature. Using the chance of studying abroad in my second year at college, I decided to go to Canada just because I wanted to see the beautiful phenomena there. So after I finished the study abroad program, I went to Yellowknife in the North West Territories.

I clearly remember the sixth night in the Yellowknife. Suddenly my host mother came to my room around 8 p. m. and told me to change clothes and go outside quickly carrying her camera.

The “northern lights” were flickering in the sky! I was astonished and just stood there with my mouth open. I forgot to take pictures of the mysterious lights.

I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep at all that night. Since that night, whenever it was sunny, I went outside at night and looked at the sky. It was so cold that I lost all feelings in my hands and feet. Actually, the time of my being able to be out was limited. I had to bring her camera back to house in one hour at the most, for the camera was going to be broken because of the cold temperature.

As I took the pictures of the northern lights, I came to find a characteristic movement of the lights. They first appear in the north part of the sky and then they gradually come down to the south part of the sky. After that, suddenly, they come in the middle of the north and south only for a while, which is the time when the best northern lights can be seen. Since it is only a few seconds for the northern lights to come down to the middle of the sky, it is very hard to get good pictures.

The stronger the sun acts, the better and stronger the northern lights flicker in the sky. That’s because they occur from the collisions between atmospheric gases and solar wind. Much more solar wind comes to the earth when the sun is active, which leads to the best northern lights. And the colours of the northern lights depend on the height of the collisions and kinds of gases.

【推荐2】When I was young, I lived on an island in the north of Scotland, but I went to school in Edinburgh. It was a music school, and I studied the violin. We practiced for six hours every day. Our school was a boarding school. At the end of the term, we all packed our bags and our instruments to go home for the holidays. Most kids went by train, or bus, or their parents took them home by car. Not me! I went home by ferry (渡船) —14 hours overnight on the open sea. I loved it!

One summer I packed my suitcase and violin and said goodbye to my friends. I took the train to the ferry station and then got on the ferry. When we started moving away, I remembered a terrible thing! I left my violin on the train! I went to ask one of the crew (船员) what to do, but he said he couldn’t stop the ferry for me.

What should I do? What would my dad say? He’d be really angry! I was worried, and didn’t sleep all night. The next morning I got off the ferry to meet my dad. I didn’t want to look at him. I told him what happened. He laughed. I looked at him and couldn’t believe it. Why was he laughing?

In my violin case, I always have a label with my address and a telephone number. My dad told me, “A cleaner found your violin by the label on the train in London and took it to the police. They called me. They put the violin on a plane and it arrived an hour before you did.” My dad had it in his car! Thanks to those people, my violin was safe home!