Looking at the undone homework on his desk always makes David feel uncomfortable. Often, David leaves his homework behind and surfs the Internet or watches TV instead, waiting until the last minute. “The longer I wait, the more I worry.” says David, aged 15.

Everyone procrastinates (拖延) because they want to feel good now.     1    . You can procrastinate on nearly anything, even enjoyable tasks such as planning a vacation. “Some people procrastinate cleaning. Some people procrastinate by cleaning,” says Professor Peter Stone. Research has shown that the top tasks that young people procrastinate are studying and going to bed. “The most important cause for procrastination is that people are afraid of failure, of not meeting others’ expectations (期待),” Stone adds.

    2    . They think they could do things better. But researchers disagree. “I did a study several years ago, asking procrastinators to finish a task in a certain period of time,” says Stone. “They did worse than non-procrastinators (people who don’t procrastinate): they made more mistakes, and they took longer.     3    .” No matter what the cause is, procrastination is not going to be good for you. For example, bedtime procrastination can lead to sleeplessness, which in turn can cause many other health problems.

For those who need some drives to stop procrastinating, the best advice might be to take action first. If you’ve been procrastinating on exercise, just put on your walking shoes.     4    . Next, find something to help you remember to take action. If you want to go to bed at 10:30 p.m., you might set a timed dimmer switch (渐暗开关) at 10 p.m. When the lights are dimmer, you’ll start going to bed. It works for most people. Finally, reward yourself every time you make progress. For example, after you’ve run 3 km, enjoy your favorite ice-cream. But be careful: it won’t work the other way around.

【推荐2】From pointing to nodding, humans use signs to help communicate when talking to each other. Apes (猿) also have their own special signs to show what they mean. According to a new study, humans can understand the signs of apes.

Chimpanzees and bonobos (小黑猩) are two kinds of apes that are closest to humans. They use about 80 different signs to show what they mean. Although the two groups of apes use different signs sometimes, they share 90% of the same signs.

Kirsty Graham and Catherine Hobaiter at the University of St Andrews wanted to see if humans with no training or experience could understand the signs of chimpanzees and bonobos. They created a game for people to play online. The game was simple. People watched short videos of apes making a sign. Then they had to choose the correct meaning of the sign out of four possible answers.

The scientists were surprised to find that people were able to choose the correct meaning of the signs over 50% of the time. For some of the signs, people were able to choose the correct meaning about 80% of the time. One example of this was the sign of “wiping (擦) the mouth” meaning “give me that food”.

The scientists believe that humans may have a natural ability to understand the signs of apes. But it’s not clear why. They need to study how humans are able to understand the signs of apes.

【推荐1】①Chinese traditional painting and dance are two important parts of the art world. But what about when they meet each other?

②Last year, a dance program named Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala and became popular.

③According to CCTV, A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》) has to do with the dancing program. Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng painted the 900-year-old painting. The painting is amazing in its big size, rich colors. It shows a blue-green picture of land: “mountains, cloudless sky and water”.

④The dancers acted as mountains and their clothes were green and blue. When the dancer swung, audiences seemed to look at the moving mountains and rivers. “Huge mountains and rivers are coming to life!” Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in Weibo. “Green mountains and rivers still excite people. Some people even decided to watch the dance again in the theater.”

⑤ In recent years, more and more shows pay attention to Chinese traditional culture because of people’s great love for traditional culture. “The younger people grow up with a more open mind. They love Chinese culture and are proud of it.” The director (导演) Yao Wei, told China Daily.

【推荐2】Classic Chinese cartoons bring joy to most of us. Last year, six classic Chinese cartoons came out on the video platform again. Let’s see how old artists put Chinese culture and art into the cartoons to make them classic.

	The Legend of Sealed Book tells the story of the boy Dansheng. He practices great tricks from the book to help people. The film uses face makeup from the Peking Opera. It helps to show the characters’ personalities. Lovely Dansheng looks like wawasheng, roles for kids in Peking Opera. A bad person looks like a clown, with a large white part in the center of his face.
	Little Tadpole Looking for Mummy is China’s first ink wash cartoon. Artists drew all the animals, plants and rocks with ink and brush. They learned from the great artist Qi Baishi. Though it’s only about 15 minutes long, it took lots of work. Artists drew everything by hand. One second of the cartoon needed 24 pictures! The 2020 cartoon series Fog Hills of Five Element also uses this style.
	Pigsy Eats Watermelon is China’s first paper cutting cartoon. This 15-minute cartoon came out in 1958. Artists cut Zhu Bajie out of colored paper. Then they moved its body parts and let it eat the watermelon. Making a paper cutting cartoon was not easy. The artists failed at first. The characters’ moves were not stable(平稳的). After more work, they tried again and finally did it!

【推荐1】You want to run across the street to catch the bus which is leaving soon? But wait! You’d better not. If a policeman sees you, you’ll have to pay a fine (罚款).

New traffic laws (法律) say that if people cross the street when the light is red, they will pay a fine as much as 50 yuan.

Traffic accidents killed more than 104,000 people in China last year. Chinese cities have more cars than ever. Drivers and pedestrians (行人) must work together to make the streets safer.

The law has new rules for drivers and pedestrians. Drivers have to slow down when they are close to crosswalks. If people are in a crosswalk, cars must stop to let them pass.

There are rules for bus drivers, too. If bus drivers smoke, drink or make phone calls while driving, they can be fined. Buses that carry too many people are also against (违反) the law.

Pedestrians will have to walk more safely under the new law. They must cross streets at crosswalks. Also, they shouldn’t climb over the fences (栅栏) along streets.

Do you ride a bike to school? It’s not a good idea to carry classmates on the back. You could be fined 50 yuan. And stay in the bike lane (车道) when you’re riding. The big roads are for cars and buses.

Do you like to ride your uncle’s motorbike? When you put on your helmet (头盔) ask him to put one on, too. People on motorbikes must wear helmets, the new law says. If they don’t, they’ll have to pay 200 yuan.

Do you ride in cars often? Don’ t forget to put on your seat belt (安全带) even if you’ re going for a short taxi ride. It could save your life.

If you see a hit-and-run (肇事逃逸), tell the police. They may give you a reward (奖赏). And don’t be afraid to help people to the hospital if they are hurt in an accident. Don’t worry about money. The new law says that doctors must take care of them even if they can’t pay right away.

【推荐2】Recently, researchers in Israel have done an experiment and found that goldfish are able to navigate (导航) on land after receiving around 10 driving lessons.

The experiment was performed by a research team at the Ben-Gurion University. It was made to see whether goldfish could find their way in a very different environment. Researchers developed a robotic car that could drive forward, backward and from side to side. They called the car FOV—“Fish Operated Vehicle” (鱼驱动车). A goldfish was placed inside a water box on the FOV. Using a set of wheels with a camera system, the FOV recorded the fish’s movements and swimming directions, and then moved in the same direction.

The scientists worked with six different goldfish. They placed the car in a small room with a pink target (目标) on one side. The fish would get food when the car touched the target. After a few days of training, the fish navigated to the target. At first, it took them about half an hour to drive to the target. But by the end of the experiment, they were able to complete the same task in less than a minute. Shachar Givon, one of the researchers, said, “As anyone who has tried to learn how to ride a bike or to drive a car knows, it is challenging at first.”

Not only did the goldfish show that they could drive to the target, but they also weren’t fooled by false targets of other colors. They were also able to get free when the car hit a wall. Although the fish may not have realized they were moving on land, these results show that a fish has the ability to navigate outside its nature environment of water. It can enrich scientific knowledge of animals’ navigation skills.

【推荐3】Plants and Their Parts

Root, Stem , and Leaf

Most plants have roots, stems and leaves. Plants use these parts to get light and water. They take in water and minerals (矿物质) from the ground.

Flower

The flower is one of the parts of the plant. Flowers come in different colors, shapes, and sizes. Even though they look different, all flowers make seeds.

Fruit

Fruit is also part of the plant. Fruit keeps seeds in safety so they can grow into new plants.

Seeds are made by flowers. They come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes. They can grow into new plants. Sometimes, seeds are kept in safety inside of fruit. Some fruits, like strawberries, have seeds on the outside. In order to grow, seeds need to move to a new place where they can get the water, light, and space they need to live.

Connection

Flowers make seeds. Then flowers turn into fruits. Seeds inside or on the fruit grow into new plants.