Different weather makes people feel different. It influences health, intelligence (智力) and feelings.

In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. People there have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states have more heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March.

The weather can also influence intelligence. For example, in a scientific report, IQ (智商) of a group of students was very high when a cool wind came. The wind can help people have more intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand (另一方面), can make it lower. Students in many schools of the United States often get worse on exams in July and August, the hottest months of the year.

Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They might feel unhappy during cold weather. But fat people may have a hard time in hot summer. They might feel hot and get angry easily.

How interesting!

2 . China covers large areas and has the most people. Different living habits are always an interesting topic (话题) in the country. These days, another difference between southern Chinese and northern Chinese became a hot one: the way to shop at markets.

People from southern China say that they always buy some vegetables for just one or two meals. It is normal for them to buy one potato or a little beef at a time.

However, one may be laughed at if he does this in the north. Instead, buying vegetables and meat enough for a week is usual. Also, you can buy a small amount (数量) of fruit, such as an apple or pear each time in the south. Shop owners even help you peel and cut them. But shop owners in the north hardly offer such service. And they sell many fruits in baskets and boxes.

The difference could be due to the different weather. Food can be kept for a long time in the north as it is usually cold and dry there. Many northern Chinese have the habit of storing food, especially for the long winter. But the hot and wet weather in the south makes southern Chinese buy just enough food for one meal or one day, or the food may go bad.

3 . How can you clean up your bedroom? You can follow the advice below.

4 . Today all the people need to have fun when they are free. We can’t work all the time if we are going to keep healthy.

Everyone has his own way of relaxing. For most people, the most popular way is to play sports. There are team sports, such as basketball and football. There are also individual (个人的) sports, such as swimming and running.

Not everyone who enjoys sports likes to take part in them. Many people like watching them on TV or listening to them on the radio. So many people like some indoor activities, such as watching TV, singing and dancing.

It doesn’t matter if we like indoor activities or take part in outdoor sports. It is important for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves.

6 . Looking for a new way to raise money for charity (慈善)? Has your school run out of clever and fun ideas? Don’t give up. There are several ways to support (支持) your favorite charity.

How about organizing a car wash? Everybody who has a car sooner or later washes it or has it washed. So why don’t you and your classmates do the job? The money the car owners pay for having their cars washed will go towards your charity. When we did it, we had an amazing time! At first, some of us were worried about getting wet or dirty and it’s true. But we also had fun, and at the end of the day it was really worth (值得) it!

On the other hand, if you don’t feel like getting wet, but have some musical talent , how about organizing a street concert? You can make a lot of money as a street musician if you have the talent and courage (勇气) to play in front of audiences. You just need to find a suitable (适合的) place, practice for a few hours with your friends first, and give it a try!

I hope the above ideas have helped you a bit, and if you’ve got any other great suggestions, we would love to hear them and practice them, too. Good luck!

7 . These days, many students like volunteering in their free time. Here are some students’ experiences of being a volunteer. Now let’s have a look.

8 . If music makes you smart and exercise helps you to think, surely exercising to music can turn you into a person who is better at learning and understanding.

A team of scientists from a university did research on 33 volunteers. They found that people who exercised while listening to Italian musician Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons did much better in language ability test than without music.

The volunteers said they felt better after exercising with or without the music. But their improvement on the test doubled after listening to the music during exercise. “Exercise seems to cause great changes in the nervous system (神经系统) and have a direct result on learning ability,” said the scientist Charles Emery. Scientists have found that music can be good for health and education. It helps relieve stress, sadness and nervousness, wakes up the body and improves memory and thoughts.

Scientists have been using Mozart’s music, especially his violin pieces, to help disabled children. Mozart is often chosen because his music is not over-exciting. A study showed students who often exercise to Mozart’s music get higher marks. With important exams drawing near, your parents will not probably allow you to listen to music. But perhaps now you have good reasons to argue with them.

China has succeeded in developing the “giant(巨大的) rice”. It is twice as tall as common rice. People called it a “dream coming true” moment for Yuan Longping, who was the top rice scientist in the world and was regarded as the “father of hybrid rice”.

This special type of rice was grown in Chongqing for 15mu. The rice was planted in May and harvested four months later. Each mu of the fields produced about 750 to 900 kilograms.

This type of rice is not only strong and tall, but also resistant(有抵抗力的) to flood. It can also bring many nutrients(营养) to the plants nearby and provide a good living environment for animals in water. When the water in the rice fields is 60 to 80 centimeters deep, it can even be used to raise fishes. From next year, the “giant rice” will be planted in thousands of mu of fields in Chongqing.

Yuan Longping once said that he hoped to sit under the ears(稻穗) of rice to enjoy the cool one day. He developed the first high-producing hybrid rice. But sadly, he passed away at 91 in Changsha in May 2021. Many people posted online to pay tribute(致敬) to Yuan, saying “Your dream is gradually coming true, can you see it?”

10 . Chinese New Year Painting, or nianhua in Chinese, is a kind of traditional paintings to be put upon walls and windows during the Spring Festival. Its bright colors and different subjects show the Chinese great expectation for happiness and wealth.

Chinese New Year Painting is an old handicraft. Its original (最初的) form was a picture of a door god during the Tang Dynasty. Later, more subjects such as the Kitchen God, women and babies were included. As the Chinese New Year arrives, every family puts up its New Year paintings in order to say goodbye to the past and welcome the future. One of the most famous woodblock(木刻版画) New Year paintings comes from Yangjiabu of Shandong Province. It covers all kinds of themes and forms. They reflect people’s everyday life.

As time went by, people found New Year paintings old-fashioned. Besides, they considered the door god too scary to hang in their homes. They wanted something more artistic. So in the middle of the 1980s, the sales of New Year paintings dropped greatly.

Usually, colorful woodblock New Year paintings are produced in four steps. Firstly, artists draw a simple sketch(素描) on the paper. Secondly, they make the simple sketch on the wood board and print a few samples(样品). Thirdly, they add color to the sample. Lastly, when the preparation is finished, the printers paint color on the color board, and then put paper on the wood board and brush the paper. Then the colorful woodblock New Year paintings are ready.

There are four main themes in the Chinese New Year paintings...