【推荐1】The Boryeong Mud Festival takes place every summer in Boryeong, a town around 200 km south of Seoul, South Korea. The first Mud Festival started in 1998.

People celebrate it in the mud area by going on walks, building mud sculptures(雕塑), receiving face and body treatments and listening to talks. Here you can experience the world of mud and learn more about it.

During the festival there are a lot of activities to introduce the different uses of mud, such as visiting mud buildings and sculptures. Show off your sporting skills by taking part in the art competition or join in the “Tug of Mud”. Try your hand at something new or simply relax with a mud face pack(面膜). When you get hungry, visit the Estuary Cafe for some specially-made “mud food”.

The best part of the festival is the Mud Walk. It offers a chance to take a trip to the salt marsh(盐沼). There you can find what lives under the mud.

Salt marsh also provides sites(场所) for birds and winter feeding grounds for large groups of wild ducks and geese. You can also find out about the homes of several uncommon types of fish. Many special kinds of plants can be found in salt marsh such as sea grass, which is the only flowering sea plant.

Through this festival, people would learn more about mud. The festival has become popular with tourists.

【推荐3】Do you know you have more than 600 muscles (肌肉) in your body? These muscles have different jobs. Keeping your muscles healthy will help you be able to walk, run, jump and do all the things you love to do.

What kind of muscles do you have

When you think about your muscles, you probably think about the ones you can control. These are your voluntary (随意的) muscles. They are connected to your bones (骨骼) and work together with your bones to help you walk, run, pick up things or ride a bicycle. The muscles of your mouth and throat even help you talk! But there are also muscles you can’t control. They are your involuntary (不随意的) muscles, such as your heart muscle and smooth muscles.   

Why are healthy muscles important

Healthy muscles let you move freely and keep your body strong. They also help to keep your joints (关节) in good shape. If the muscles around your knee, for example, get weak, you will more probably injure (伤害) that knee. Healthy muscles also help you keep your balance, so you less probably fall.

How do you keep your muscles healthy

·Get at least 60 minutes of physical exercise every day. There are lots of activities you can do for your muscles. Walking, jumping, dancing and swimming are all good ways.

·Eat healthily. It will help manage your weight and provide different kinds of nutrients (营养素) for your muscles and health. For example, if you don’t get enough iron, you may feel weak and tired, because your muscles don’t get enough oxygen (氧气).

·Prevent injuries. There are many ways to help prevent muscle injuries. For example, doing warm-up exercises before exercising may make the muscles warmer. Don’t try to “play through the pain.” If something starts to hurt, STOP exercising or playing. When you lift something heavy, keep your back straight and bend (弯曲) your knees to lift it. This will protect the muscles in your back. Remember to drink lots of water while exercising, especially in warm weather. If your body’s water level gets too low, you could get dizzy (晕眩的) or even pass out.

【推荐2】Traditional Chinese Medicine (中医) is a complete medical system. It has been used to diagnose (诊断), treat, and prevent illnesses for more than 2,000 years. It has an important influence on the prevention and treatment of illnesses in China. TCM says the processes of the human body are changing and they interact (互动) with the environment.

People checked out the living environment around in ancient times in order to fight against illnesses. They got a lot of experience. During the Warring States Period, doctors got medical knowledge widely from different places and produced a large number of books for the treatment of illnesses. However, the wars in the Qin and Han dynasties made many medical books lose. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, TCM developed rapidly and well. And there were a lot of excellent doctors. After the founding of New China, books on TCM were reorganized.

TCM course is now a compulsory course in many medical schools in Europe. Students must learn it. In the future, the combination (结合) of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine to treat illnesses will be a major trend (趋势), and human beings may overcome illnesses finally.

【推荐2】Bringing a pet into a family with small children around is not a decision to make easily. Many parents are concerned about the health and safety of the kids with pets around. However, there are many benefits for kids growing up with them.

Kids with pets like dogs go outside more often for daily walks, exercise and have more playtime with them. A study showed that children with pets around are more likely to move more. Other studies found similar results with disabled children and chat pets can help them to deal with the condition.

Kids growing up with pets can be taught responsibility. Experts explained in an article how adopting a pet into a family with kids can teach young humans responsibility. Pets require food, water and love. Feeding and caring for a pet encourages children to learn the value of responsibility.

Studies showed that kids with pets are more relaxed. A study showed reduction of stress and anxiety in kids of some families with pets. A fellow-up study with a bigger sample (样本) size of kids in regular families proved the earlier conclusion.

Kids who get pets often read to their pets. Researchers found their reading improves clearly. They also found that reading to pets helps children make positive connections between things. Improving reading motivation (积极性) improves reading performance. This may be especially important for students who struggle to read because poor reading abilities are also related (有关的) to low reading motivation.

Parents should practice safety tips for raising kids and pets together. This partnership can result in children growing up much healthier both mentally and physically.