Having a cold is common in winter. You can treat (医治) your cold well at home most of the time. But if you have one that lasts longer than two weeks, you should see a doctor to make sure there isn’t anything more serious. Here is some advice for you to treat your cold at home.

Drink more water. Make sure you drink enough water so that you won’t face the problems of the cold and the physical stress of dehydration (脱水) at the same time.

Sleep enough. Most people need about eight hours’ sleep every night when they’re healthy. When you’re fighting against a cold, you may need more.

Keep up your energy (能量) with chicken soup. Chicken soup is good for you to keep healthy. What’s more, the warm steam (水蒸气) will help clear your nose.

Wash your hands often. Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth without washing your hands first. By washing your hands often, you can stay away from the viruses (病毒) on your hands.

Don’t touch people who are sick. This means not shaking hands, hugging (拥抱), or kissing people who are sick.

【推荐3】Water is a very important part of our environment (环境). It covers (覆盖) nearly three quarters of the Earth’s surface. It is fun to swim and play in water. Water is also very important for life. In fact, we can live much longer without food than without water to drink. Every living thing needs water. Without it, plants and trees will not grow; fish will have nowhere to live.

People use the fresh water in lakes and rivers for drinking, washing, cooking and growing food. We cannot live on Earth without water, so we must take care of it.

How has technology changed our lives for the better? TIME will tell you! The magazine has picked its 100 best inventions of 2021. Here we present you some of the most creative examples.

The Learning Passport

Many schools have closed their doors since the COVID-19 pandemic (新冠疫情) broke out. Home school has been difficult for some students because of slow internet service. To make matters worse, some students don’t even have an internet connection at home. The Learning Passport has a solution. The project offers browser-or-app-based (基于浏览器或手机应用的) classes. These classes do not require a consistent (持续的) internet connection. Instead, students download their lessons when there is internet connection. They can then complete the lessons later, offline.

Blue Jeans Go Green

Jeans are a fashion favorite. Every year more than 4. 5 billion pairs are sold around the world. But the production of jeans is harmful to the environment. To color them, factories use synthetic indigo dye (合成靛青染料). During the process, the chemicals in the dye cause water to become polluted. Bio-technology company Huue has created bacteria (细菌) that can turn natural sugars into indigo dye—without having any negative environmental impacts.

Battery Swapping for EVs

Electric-vehicles(EV) are popular these days. However, they still face a major problem: They can take several hours to charge (充电). This is inconvenient for many drivers. One answer to this problem lies in battery-swapping (电池替换). When an EV pulls into one of these battery-swapping stations, its depleted (耗尽的) battery is removed, and a full charged one replaces it. American company Ample has designed a universal battery. It works with all types of EVs.

   Barbie, a good-looking blonde doll, is loved by many people around the world. It is officially thought that Barbie doll was born in America. Only a few people in the world know her true story.

Barbie’s real name is Lili. It was firstly created by the cartoonist Beuthin in a small town of Germany in 1952. Three years later, Lili, the doll went to market and became a success. Unlike any other doll of her time, she was not a baby, but a modern young woman with a good shape.

In 1956, a woman called Ruth Handler went to Switzerland for a holiday with her family. Her daughter pointed at the doll — Lili in a shop window. Ruth immediately fell in love with it. She had never seen a doll that was a fully grown woman. And at once she saw that it might be a great chance for her husband’s toy company.

Once Ruth went back to the USA, she started to work on her new doll. She thought Lili was fine for adults, but a little sexy for kids. So she asked the designer Jack Ryan to________ it. By 1959 the doll had been perfected. Designed to be played with, Barbie had movable arms and legs. And she could turn her head as well. She also had many kinds of beautiful clothes that could be bought to dress her up. What’s more, Ruth gives the doll a new name Barbie after her daughter, Barbara.

In March of the same year, the new doll first appeared at a toy exhibition in New York. Over 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during her first year. And since then, Barbie has been more and more popular around the world.