【推荐1】Inventions make our life easier and more interesting than before. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting inventions.

It is said that tea can improve creative power of the literary (文学的) artists in ancient China. According to Lu Yu’s Tea Classics, tea-drinking in China can be traced back (追溯) to the Zhou Dynasty. Tea was discovered by Shen Nong and became popular as a drink in the State of Lu because of Zhou Gong.

Tea-drinking in China has a history of four thousand years. As the legend (传说) has it, Shen Nong tasted hundreds of wild plants to see which were poisonous, in order to prevent people from eating the poisonous plants. It is said that he was once poisoned but was saved by eating some leaves of an evergreen plant with white flowers. Later, people called the leaves that saved his life “cha”.

In modern times, people still keep tea-drinking as one of their daily activities. According to the study, tea can also have effects on some modern illnesses. To those who have to work with computers for a long time, drinking tea can help them to build up a wall against the computer radiation. To those who may have too much fat, drinking tea can help them to recreate a new balance (平衡) in their bodies. And to those aged people, drinking tea is also a good way to keep a calm mood for a longer life.

【推荐1】We do eye exercises. We wear sunglasses. We do lots of things to protect our eyes. But we usually forget another important part of our body — the ears. Ears help us hear the world. But many things, such as loud noises, can hurt our ears, even make us deaf. Once this happens, it’s hard to get your hearing back. March 3rd is Ear Care Day. So how can we protect our ears? Let’s take a look together.

Keep your ears dry and warm

Dry your ears with a towel (毛巾) after swimming or taking a shower. If you feel water in your ear, shake your head a little bit. This can help you get the water out of your ear. Also, when the sun is shining, wear some sunscreen (防晒霜) on your ears. During the winter, protect your ears with a hat or a scarf.

How to clean your ears

Usually, our ears clean themselves. The earwax (耳垢) builds up, dries out, and then comes out of the ear along with some dirt. Don’t clean your ears with anything sharp (尖锐的), or it may make the earwax go too deep into your ears and hurt them. But if your ears start to hurt, you can go to a doctor for help.

How to use earphones

Don’t listen to loud music on your earphones for a long time. Follow the “60 Rule”: listen to music for no more than 60 minutes a day. Over-ear (头戴式) better than in-ear ones. It will do a better job of stopping outside noise. So you can listen at a lower volume.

【推荐2】In many English homes, people have four meals (餐) a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea (茶) and dinner. People have breakfast from 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning. They eat eggs or (或者) bread. English people drink tea or milk for breakfast, too. Lunch comes at about 13:00. Afternoon tea is from 16:00 to 17:00, and dinner is about 19:30. They often have soup (汤), and they have some chicken or fish with vegetables. Then they eat some bananas, apples or oranges. But not all English people have meals like that. Some of them don’t have their dinners in the evening (晚上).