【推荐1】It is a question that has confused parents for many years: why do children refuse to eat greens?

Now, two American experts believe they have the answer.

After studying dozens of babies as they played with different objects, the researchers noted that they were far more unwilling to touch plants than other things. They believe this is because evolution（生物进化）has biologically made children be wary of plants.

Because of susceptibility（敏感性）to illness or injury in the early years of life, the body has designed an inner defence mechanism（内部保护机制）that limits a child’s contact with plants, they think. The researchers believe this is why babies in the study were afraid of touching plants and why children turn their noses up when faced with a plate of broad beans.

The findings are published in a paper by Dr Annie E Wertz and Dr Karen Wynn, both psychologists at Yale University.

They wrote, “Throughout human evolution...plants have been important in human’s life. Yet, for all of these benefits, plants have always caused very real dangers.”

“Plants produce toxin（毒素）as defences that can be harmful, or even deadly. Some plants also produce physical defences, such as thorns（荆棘）can damage tissues（组织）and cause effects over the whole body.”

They added, “We predicted that babies may have behavioral strategies that reduce dangers caused by plants.”

To test their theory, the researchers studied how children aged eight to 18 months old reacted when presented with a variety of objects. It took much longer for children to grab plants: objects that were pretended to look like plants also caused a slow response time.

For parents attempting to spoon some peas into the mouth of their child, this finding should come as welcome relief.

【推荐2】Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific. It is one of the smallest countries in the world. But for those who are interested in adventure and sport, there is a lot to do. Vanuatu’s islands offer visitors two of the most exciting and dangerous activities in the world: volcano (火山) surfing and land diving.

Volcano Surfing

On Tanna Island, Mount Yasur rises 300 meters into the sky. Yasur is an active volcano, and it erupts (爆发) almost every day, sometimes several times a day. For centuries, people have climbed this mountain to visit the top. Recently, people have also started climbing Yasur to surf the volcano. In some ways, volcano surfing is like surfing in the sea, but in other ways it’s very different. Volcano surfers try to escape the erupting volcano—without getting hit by flying rocks! It’s fast, fun and dangerous—the perfect extreme sport (极限运动).

Land Diving

Most people are familiar with bungee jumping, but do you know bungee jumping started on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu and is almost fifteen centuries old? The activity, first called land diving, is part of a religious ceremony (宗教仪式). A man ties tree vines (树藤) to his legs. He then jumps head-first from a high tower to touch the earth with the top of his head—without breaking the vines. Every spring, island natives (men only) still take part in this amazing activity.

It’s late fall in the Arctic Ocean (北冰洋). Ice begins to form on top of the water, making it difficult for the white whales to find open areas to come up for air. “They have to come up to breathe.”says Donna Hauser, a marine biologist.

The white whales know it’s time to leave for warmer waters. So the group of about a hundred white whales swims south to the Bering Sea which separates the United States and Russia.

Halfway through their journey, the white whales find themselves swimming between two large ice floes (浮冰). Suddenly, they meet their main enemy—an orca (虎鲸). Luckily, orcas aren’t as good at swimming through ice floes as white whales are. So the white whales have time to speed up and swim away.

The white whales are safe, for now. “But before getting to their destination, they must pass through the Bering Strait (白令海峡) connecting the Arctic Ocean with the Bering Sea—before the narrow waterway freezes over. ” Hauser says.

The white whales finally make it to the Bering Strait, which hasn’t yet frozen over. After a few more days of swimming, they arrive at the Bering Sea.The white whales will rest, hunt, and play here until April, when they’ll swim back north.

After the 2022 Spring Festival Gala, dance-poem drama Thousands of Miles of Mountains and Rivers became widely known. The drama is based on the 900-year-old Chinese painting Thousands of Miles of Mountains and Rivers. Created by Song Dynasty (960—1279) painter Wang Ximeng at 18, the painting is “amazing in its large scale (尺寸), rich: coloration and the expressive details”, reported CCTV. It shows a Chinese blue-green scenery.

To show the Chinese traditional aesthetics (美学) of the painting, the dance performance regarded dancers as the mountains which are one of elements (元素) in the panting. They each had a different hairstyle, which was like a mountain rock. The clothes they wore were shades of green and blue, which s also a poetic explanation of the mountains and rivers.

When the dancers swayed elegantly, audiences seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers.

“It brings me a pure experience of beauty. It is not only a drama but also an’exhibition’. Vast mountains and rivers are true to life (栩栩如生)!” Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in a review. “More than a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still surprise people as they did long ago.”

In fact, in recent years, more and more modern shows highlight (突出) Chinese traditional culture and have received warm welcome.

“The younger generations have grown up with a more open mind. They accept Chinese culture and are proud of it,” Yao Wei, director of Henan TV station’s Innovation Center, told China Daily.

【推荐3】Flu（流感）season often arrives during the coldest month of the year and is never easy to kill. A few simple tips may help you keep the flu away.

Wash your hands.

Most people know that washing their hands regularly is an important part of staying healthy. During the cold and flu season, this is even more important because flu viruses can live long enough on surfaces for you to pick them up on your hands. Wash your hands using warm water and soap（肥皂）and make sure to scrub（擦洗）gently. When water and soap are not available（有效的）, you can always use sanitizers containing 60%-90% ethyl alcohol（包含60-90%酒精的消毒液）.

Get enough sleep and manage your stress.

Not having enough sleep and high levels of stress can reduce immune functions（免疫功能）, so the body’s ability to keep off colds and flu will also become lower.

Exercise 3-4 days a week.

Exercise helps strengthen the immune system and increases the body’s natural ability to fight infection（感染）.

Keep a healthy diet.

Remember to eat some fruit and vegetables daily to make sure to take in enough vitamin（维他命）.

Avoid contact with sick people.

Colds and the flu spread between people in different ways. Try to stay far enough from people who are already sick so they don’t cough or sneeze（打喷嚏）on you.

【推荐2】Welcome to the Oxford Shopping Village, the most exciting shopping centre in the south of England. It is a great place to relax and enjoy a day out for the whole family.

Getting there

You can go there by car. The Oxford Shopping Village is only 3 kms from Junction 8 of the M17 motorway (高速公路). With over 13,000 free car parking places and just 3 kms from the motorway.

You can go there by bus. Over 60 buses visit there every hour. Buses to and from London run every ten minutes.

You can also go there by train. There is a good train service from London to the Oxford Shopping Village. Trains arrive every 15 minutes from London.

Opening times

The Oxford Shopping Village is open from Monday to Saturday between 10:00 and 23:00. On Sunday, it is open from 11:00 to 19:00.