【推荐1】One day, you open the fridge and find some moldy (发霉的) food. But before you throw it away, your mother stops you. She doesn’t want to waste food. She cuts off the moldy part and eats the rest. Is it safe to do this?

Mold can grow on most kinds of food. It is usually green, white, black or gray. Mold makes food soft and changes its color. Moldy food tastes quite bad—and it’s not safe to eat.

If you find mold in soft food, just throw it away. Soft food, such as bread, tomatoes or hot dogs, usually has water. This allows mold and bacteria (细菌) to grow easily.

But it’s easy to get mold away from hard food. The mold can’t grow very deep inside this kind of food. According to the BBC, you should cut about 2.5cm around and below the mold to get it away. It’s OK to cut the moldy parts out of hard food and eat the rest. But if the food is covered with mold all over, you should still throw it away.

▲ But some kinds of mold can be used to make food. For example, penicillium can be used to make many kinds of cheeses, such as blue cheese. These cheeses are safe to eat and they are quite delicious as well.

【推荐3】Wuyi Rock Tea is a kind of Oolong tea. It got its name from the place where it’s produced—Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province. The tea trees usually grow on rock cracks（缝隙）. The traditional home of Rock Tea is only from a small area in the mountain. Wuyi Rock Tea is famous for its rich smell and good flavour. There are different kinds. The best is Dahongpao.

With its long history, Wuyi Rock Tea dates back to the Shang Dynasty. People used to send it to the emperor as a tribute（贡品）. In 2006, the skills of making Wuyi Rock Tea were added to China’s national intangible cultural heritage list.

Zhang Huichun, 65, is a master of making Wuyi Rock Tea. In 1980, he learned to make the tea and opened a tea factory. To his surprise, the skills were very complex. After 10 years of learning, he could finally make the tea by himself. Zhang said there were 13 steps to make it, including drying, shaking and roasting（焙火）. The most challenging for him is shaking. It takes strength and patience to shake the tea leaves by holding the round bamboo trays. “You have to decide when the best time is to stop based on the color,” Zhang said. “Sometimes you stop after shaking dozens of（几十）times, while sometimes it can be hundreds of times. Only years of experience can help you figure it out（弄明白）.”

“The last step—roasting—is also important. With three stages, it usually takes more than 20 hours! Each stage needs temperatures from 125℃ to 155℃. Tea makers have to keep a close eye on the process. Every 50 minutes, you have to turn over the leaves, or it might burn,” Zhang said.

Zhang is already a master, but he is still learning. “The most fascinating part is that every step is full of changes—different tea trees, weather and temperatures. Every time is an adventure.”

In recent years, Zhang has often worked with schools to train tea makers. “It’s my responsibility to pass on the traditional skills,” he said.

【推荐2】“Five more minutes” is the first thought of many people when their alarm clocks ring in the morning. This first thought is usually followed by hitting the snooze button (延时闹响按钮) and falling back asleep for a few more moments. Hitting the snooze button has become a habit for millions of people.

Though hitting the snooze button allows people a few more minutes of sleep, it causes unhealthy sleep patterns (模式). Most people think if they are tired when they first wake up, they need more sleep. However, sleeping is a process (过程) with different cycles (循环). To feel fully rested, the body must go through all the sleep cycles. Falling back asleep after hitting the snooze button restarts the process, but when the alarm rings again several minutes later, the process is interrupted. The body has not gone through all the cycles, and this can cause the body to feel sleepy for the rest of the day. This sleepiness can influence memory, the ability to make choices, and performance at work or school.

Sleepiness may also happen if the body’s biological rhythm (节律) is interrupted. People usually fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning because their rhythms are working naturally. The rhythms are influenced by repeating use of the snooze button, and it can cause feelings of sleepiness during the day and a difficulty in falling asleep at night.

People need to consider developing better living habits rather than depending on the snooze button. The easiest choice is to put the alarm on the other side of the room. You need to get out of bed to turn it off and it will reduce the possibility of hitting the snooze button. Another choice is to just reset the alarm. Setting your alarm for 30 minutes later will make the whole sleep process longer instead of always restarting it.

Though a few more minutes of sleep may seem to promise a better start to the day, hitting that snooze button creates an unhealthy sleep pattern.

Have you ever thought about how many different things you like? You may like pets, parties, presents, foods, and even superheroes!     1    

Do you ever wonder why you like certain animals or why you like to do certain things? Surely, you may not think about it often.     2    

For example, why do you like to play with cats more than dogs?     3     Why do you like some sweets but not others?

Our personality helps form what we like and dislike. Sometimes the things we like just come naturally to us. For example, who’s your favorite superhero?     4    You may not have even thought about why you like that superhero…you just do.

As you learn more and do more, you may find out that there are more and more things you like. That’s a good thing!

Do your friends like the same things that you do?     5     But it’s OK. What you like is part of what makes you!

【推荐2】

【推荐3】Compared with other European countries, lifestyle (生活方式) in Italy is slower and more relaxing in Italian way. Italians love to chat over a cup of coffee, go out for a walk in the middle of the day, and enjoy long lunches and dinners.

Family is important to Italians. They can’t think of spending a day without asking about their parents or children, and a weekend without a family lunch or dinner. Italians living outside their country also miss their family a lot.

Italians like simple (简单的) life. Their days start and end with a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee after every meal is a must. Italians love to spend time over a hot cup of coffee and even hotter conversation with friends. Topics are usually about family, football and so on.

Sport is a very important part in the lives of many Italians. Football is their favourite sport. There are hundreds of football clubs with top soccer teams in Italy. Also, many top players from all over the world play in Italy. Volleyball is also popular and so is rugby (橄榄球), with the top rugby team playing for the European Challenge Cup.