Children with strong family connections are associated with     1     high likelihood of flourishing in life, according to a new study. Researchers     2    (survey)over 37, 000 children in 26 countries and found adolescents having a great bond with their family also     3    (success)in life.

The essence of family connection is children feeling that they’re accepted and nurtured at home,   which allows them     4    (learn)what their strengths and weaknesses are in a     5    (relative)safe environment. Children with the greatest level of family connection were over 49%     6    (likely)to flourish compared with those with the lowest. The highest scores in both family connection     7     flourishing came from children who lived with parents or never had their family worrying about finances.

Researchers then controlled the data for families’ poverty levels to remove the effect they may have     8    the numbers. After     9    (control)these factors, the strength of family connections still impacted how much children flourished. So it’s very important to create a space     10     children feel seen and heard, researchers said.

By 2050, humans may need to clear an additional 3.35 million square kilometers of land for agriculture,     1     would squeeze more than 17,000 animal species from some of their lands.

Luckily, the impacts can be minimized, says conservation scientist David Williams of the University of Leeds. “We can feed the planet     2     messing it up too badly.”

To figure out     3    , Williams and colleagues first identified habitats most likely     4     (clear) for cropland. The team then calculated     5     amount of food needed to sustain (维持) projected human population growth for 152 countries and     6     (map) where crops would likely be grown in each. By 2050, the world's cropland would need to increase by 26 percent, the team found. The growth is     7     (large) concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia.

Changing the global food system could nearly erase these biodiversity     8     (loss). We can improve crop yields, transition to more plant-based diets, or increase food imports for countries where agricultural     9     (expand) threatens the most species. The world needs to feed a     10     (grow) population, but it can be done more sustainably.

Junk Food! Bad For Wallet!

A new study confirms what you may already know: Few things can stop us from hunting down the foods we really like.

The study     1     (publish) on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people are willing to overpay when they are longing for junk food.

In one experiment, 44 non-dieters who     2     (not eat) for four hours were asked how much they wanted 15 different snack foods, and how much they would pay for each item out of a $5 plan. Next, each person went through a multi-sensory experience which was aimed     3     (stimulate) desire for one of three desirable foods: a Snickers bar, Cheetos or a Coke. They were then asked how much they wanted that particular item, and how much they would pay for     4    .

Not only did desire increase, but the researchers also found that participants were willing to pay       5     average of $0.66 more for whatever they wanted. When they can choose from less similar (and thus, healthier) items, such as cereal, they were not willing to pay as much,     6     suggests desire for food is different from general hunger.

In a second experiment, the researchers repeated the process with 45 people. This time, however, individuals     7     choose to pay for one, two, three, five or eight “units” of whatever they wanted. The researchers found people were also willing to pay disproportionately (不成比例) more for     8     (large) quantities of whatever food they desired.

“    9     people try to eat healthier or promote drug-free lifestyles,” the researchers write in the paper, “desire could overshadow (使逊色) the value of health by boosting the values of unhealthy foods and drugs.”

On the bright side, however, the researchers estimated the effects     10     subjects’ desire would disappear within two hours, and probably less time if this good is not available, or when a person is self-regulated.