Music could change the world! In fact in Australia, a scientist, Catherine, has made a music program that’s been putting smiles on the faces of kids in hospitals across the country. “It can make you happy, it can make you sad, it can make you want to get up and dance, and it can make you feel good and take away any stress,” said Catherine..

For thousands of years people have believed that music has a great effect on both the mind and the body, but it was only about 70 years ago that scientists began to study its medical effects. At that time, doctors and nurses found that playing music in hospitals helped sick soldiers feel better. Since then it’s been used to help people with brain problems learn to speak again and help other patients feel less pain and sadness. It’s even been used to help kids in schools get better marks because it allows them to relax and pay more attention.

Now music is being used in a special program called Music Therapy (治疗). It helps people improve their life in many different ways by using music. It can include: listening to music, playing instruments, singing, song writing, action songs and games.

Sophia is eleven. She got bone cancer five months ago, but playing music, learning new songs and singing have become a part of her life. “It takes my mind off feeling sick. While I am listening to music, it tells me not to give up hope. It feels like soon my life will turn around and I will be strong again.

It seems that a few minutes of music a day can help keep the doctor away!

Imagine having an ear made out of an apple. It seems to be a crazy idea from a science-fiction movie. But it could happen in the near future.

Canadian biophysicist（生物物理学家）Andrew Pelling used an apple to grow a human ear. He thinks fruit and vegetables can be used to cheaply repair human body parts in the future.

Scientists have been trying to grow organs（器官）in labs to replace injured or dead organs. But it is hard to do. For example, liver cells（肝细胞）can be grown in a lab, but the cells still need things like blood vessels（血管）to actually work. These things have to grow inside a “scaffold（支架）”called the extracellular matrix（细胞外基质）.

In the past, scientists have used man-made materials, animal parts and even dead human tissue as scaffolds. But that has proven to be complicated（复杂的）and expensive.

Pelling and his team, however, found the apple to be a cheap and easy-to-use scaffold. They first cut an apple into the shape of an ear. Then they used some of the apple’s cells to create a scaffold. The team then added human cells to the apple and watched it grow. “You can implant（移植）these scaffolds into the body, and the body will send in cells and a blood supply and they can help keep these things alive,” Pelling said during a TED Talk.

In America, a new activity known as “Zero Waste” is becoming popular. It is carried out in schools, cafes, gyms, parks, restaurants and other places. “Zero Waste” activity calls on people to produce less trash. It encourages people to reuse whatever they can use.

Although the idea seems to be a little unrealistic (不切实际的), it is necessary. According to a new report, American people produce the largest amount of trash (垃圾) in the world. Each person produces about 4.6 pounds of trash each day. More than half of the trash is put into landfills (垃圾填埋地) and then burned. Actually, this is bad for the environment. Besides this, more landfills are needed.

“Nobody wants to have a landfill near his house,” said Jon D. Johnston from the Environmental Protection Agency, which helps to carry out “Zero Waste” activity. “There aren’t enough landfills, so we can’t put all our trash into them. We should try to recycle it as much as we can.”

8 . In recent years, mobile phones and e-readers have become more common. Some people worry that the days of paper books will be gone. So we did a survey about paper books. Here is what we have got. In the UK, sales of e-books are dropping while sales of paper books are rising. More surprisingly, it’s young people who are buying the most paper books. Another survey of university students from the United State, Japan and Germany also showed that 92 percent of them preferred paper books.

The most popular reason was: “I like to hold the product.” It’s true that paper books bring a very different reading experience. Some students said that they liked the smell of paper books. Other students said that they got a sense of accomplishment (成就感) when they finished reading a paper book and they enjoyed seeing it on the bookshelf.

Paper books can also be very personal objects to readers. Many people like to sign their names on the inside cover. If the cover gets bent (弯曲) or there’s a stain (污点) made from coffee or food, it will make the book even more personal. It’s more like the readers’ old friends.

This “friendship” between people and books isn’t just sentimental (情感的). Students have shown that readers remember more information from paper books. People also more easily have sore eyes while reading e-books.

It seems that paper books still have an attraction. So why not pick up a book and start reading?

Some of us have little difficulty in falling asleep anywhere. But there are also quite a few of us who find it’s really hard to fall asleep when we need rest. It often makes us crazy.

So, how to get a better night’s sleep? Here are the 3 things that I’ve found to be the most useful for helping me fall asleep faster and finally get a better night’s sleep:

Put down your phone

The first decision that I’ve found to be really helpful in getting me to sleep faster at night is not to end my night by being on my phone. Every day I try to put my phone away at least one hour before bed. Of course, it’s of great help.

Meditate (冥想)

I’ve heard that some people say when they try meditation, they can’t seem to focus (集中注意力) and as a result they fall asleep. But, don’t we want to have a good sleep? I often choose to guide myself through my bedtime meditation and it helps me sleep.

Write it out

The last tool I’d like to suggest is keeping your diary. I personally love to just let my mind say everything it wants to, so that it feels heard. After writing out what happened in the day, you simply end your day with ease (缓解).

Not only is sleep quite comfortable, it’s also a very important activity that can help us to recharge and reset (恢复体力和调整).

10 . When you were a little child, your parents made decisions about everything for you because you weren’t old enough to take care of yourself and make careful decisions. Finally, however, you grow up and become a teenager. You begin to have your own thoughts and opinions about life.

As you change and grow into this new person who makes your own decisions, your parents may have a difficult time adjusting (调整).They aren’t used to the new you-they only know you as a child.

In most families, this adjustment can cause lots of arguments between teens and parents. You want to cover your walls with posters, but your parents don’t understand why you don’t like your wallpaper anymore. Then you feel your parents don’t respect you and don’t allow you to do what you like, and your parents get angry because they disagree with your decisions. And some other things -like the type of friends you have-can cause even bigger arguments, because your parents will always be ready to protect you and keep you safe, no matter how old you are.

However, the good news is that there will be fewer arguments as your parents realize that you have grown up and should have your own ideas. Before you get on very well with each other again, communication between you and parents is very important.