【推荐2】Lin Wei, one of the panda keepers at the Chengdu Research Base, says, “Pandas are so cute and lovely. I take care of them like they’re my own babies. I wash, feed and play with them every day. They’re very special to me.” In fact, many people around the world love these black and white animals. Pandas have become so popular that they are now a symbol of China.

Scientist say there are now fewer than 2,000 pandas living in the forests. Another 300 or so live in zoos or research centers in China and other countries. Pandas do not have many babies, maybe only one every two years. The babies often die from illnesses and do not live very long. Adult pandas spend more than 12 hours a day eating about 10 kilos of bamboo. Many years ago, there were a lot more bamboo forests and pandas in China, but then humans started to cut down these forests. As the forests get smaller and other human activities cause more problems, pandas cannot find enough to eat and they are having fewer babies.

The undersea world is very beautiful. Now more and more people want to dive in the water to find the secrets there. Scuba diving is a new sport! It can take you into a wonderful undersea world.

You will find many strange animals in the sea. Some are as large as a school bus.

Many sea animals give out light in the dark and some have sharp teeth.

During the day, there is enough light. Here under the sea, everything is blue and green. When fish swim nearby, you can catch them with your hands. When you have bottles of air on your back, you can stay in deep water for a long time. However, you can’t dive too deep. And you must be very careful when you dive in deep water.

The deep sea is not an easy place to live in. It’s cold, and it’s dark, too. The deeper it is, the less sunlight there is. At about 3,000 feet deep, there is no light at all. It is dark in the sea. Many fishes have no eyes. Some have big eyes. A few have eyes on one side.

Besides the cold and darkness, deep-sea animals face a third danger—other animals.

Animals eat animals! They must find food to eat. Many animals eat plants. However, some animals eat meat. This means these sea animals have two big jobs. They need to find animals for food, and they have to try not to become other animals’ meat.

【推荐3】The human body is a machine that can raise lots of interesting questions. Why, for example, are yawns（呵欠）contagious（传染的）? What's up with ice-cream headaches? Here are answers to these and other questions about our bodies.

Why do I get a headache when I eat ice cream too quickly?

Scientists aren't exactly sure what causes the brain freeze when we eat ice cream or other super cold foods too quickly, though some believe it's the result of changed blood .flow in the nervous system. Blood vessels in the head tighten to stop the loss of body heat and then relax to let blood flow rise; that sudden rush of blood is what causes the headache. You can improve an ice-cream headache by rapidly rubbing your tongue across the roof of your mouth to help warm up things.

What causes my stomach to make a low continuous noise when I'm hungry?

Actually, your stomach makes noise whether you're hungry or full; you just hear it more clearly when you're hungry. Think of your digestive tract（消化道）as a really long tube lined with smooth muscle tissue. These muscles move food, fluids and gas through your digestive tract. ____________________________. It can make you feel embarrassed尴尬的）but is nothing to worry about.

Why do I blush when I'm embarrassed?

When you're embarrassed, your brain releases a shot of adrenaline（肾上腺素）, which makes your heart race and blood vessels become larger in size. All this happens to increase blood flow and oxygen delivery throughout the body in a fight-or-flight reaction（对抗反应）. There are a lot of tiny blood vessels in your face, which turn noticeably redder from this sudden rush of blood. As for the actual function of blushing, researchers are still trying to find that one out.

Why are yawns contagious?

Have you ever yawned in front of someone, only to have them yawn right back? It's a common thing, but researchers don't have a good explanation for it. They do, however, know this happens only with humans and chimpanzees(黑猩猩）. A bigger question puzzling scientists is why we yawn at all. It used to be thought that yawning showed that oxygen to the brain was not enough, but that's just a myth. A growing body of research now shows that yawning is nature's way of keeping our brains cool.

【推荐1】Many Chinese mothers are afraid that their children will fall behind their classmates, so these mothers are becoming “tiger mothers”. They believe the harder their children study, the happier life they will have in the future. Is it true? Lulu and her sister Sophia may have a say.

Lulu and Sophia have a “tiger mother”. She pushed them a lot when they were young. For example, they were not allowed to get grades lower than A’s. They had to practice the piano or violin for several hours a day. There were no games or TV.

The tiger mother, Amy, is a Chinese-American(美籍华人) professor at Yale Law School(耶鲁大学法学院) in the USA. Several years ago, she wrote a book named Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and shared her strict parenting style(育儿方式) in it.

Many people don’t like Amy’s style of parenting. They once worried that her daughters would not be happy. However, the two girls have grown up and they are thankful to their mother. Sophia has just graduated from(毕业于) Yale University. She is hard-working, friendly and helpful. Not long ago, she shared some useful studying suggestions online. Lulu is also a warm, smart and popular girl in her friends’ eyes. She said tiger mothers believed that a child could succeed by being pushed to go all out.

Still, not everyone agrees with the tiger mother’s parenting style. In fact, there isn’t a parenting style that fits everyone. What’s the best parenting style for you? Maybe you should work it out together with your parents.

【推荐2】Mulan is an exciting action movie. It comes from an old Chinese story. The movie is about a village girl, Mulan. She dresses up like a boy and takes her father’s place to fight in the army. I think the actress played Mulan’s role well. The other actors are also fantastic and they did a good job in the movie. I like Mulan very much. The movie shows her love for her family, friends and country. If you plan to watch a movie this weekend and you want to see something enjoyable, choose Mulan!

Chinese people have been celebrating the Spring Festival and enjoying dumplings for centuries. Dumplings are always a kind of popular food in Northern China and are often found on the table during the Spring Festival. Dumplings are in the shape of Yuanbao. They carry people’s wishes to the New Year. Eating dumplings during the Spring Festival means “Bring in health and treasure”. Dumplings are also a symbol of home and warmth.

There are many legends (传说) about the origin (起源) of dumplings, but no one knows who invented dumplings exactly. Nowadays, many agree that dumplings were first created by medical Saint Zhang Zhongjing in the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, dumplings were used for medicine. It is said that Zhang noticed that many people’s ears were frostbitten (冻伤) when he returned to his home-town one winter. He decided to help them. So he wrapped (包) mutton, pepper and some warming medicinal (药用材料) in dough (面) . Folding them into the shape of an ear. Then he boiled them in water before giving them to the poor. This food was first called “Jiao’er” for its shape, and later the name slowly became Jiaozi.

Nowadays, dumplings are popular around the world. Many people have regarded them as a symbol of Chinese culture.