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The word “low-carbon” sounds familiar to most of us. But do you know “low-carbon community (低碳社区)”? What is the community like? What benefits (好处) will it bring to our environment? Let’s have a look at Hanbei Road Community of Ya’an, Sichuan Province.

Walking into the community, people can see the hanging environmental slogans (环保标语) at first sight. And the most eye-catching items are idle bins (闲置物品投放箱) around. Many people in the community would give their idle things into the bins. Xu Juan, a mother of two, once put a pair of gloves there. “I think it’s meaningful to help others.”

In order to encourage more people to join in the “low-carbon” activity, the community introduced a reward program. Anyone can get some points if he/she gives idle things or takes part in volunteer activities. With certain points, people can exchange things in the “low-carbon supermarket” in the community.

There is also an “exchange corner” in the community. People can exchange their idle things (except the living things) with others. If he/she is not interested in any idle things in the corner, he/she can donate (捐赠) his/her things to poor families in the community.

“We are trying to make the best use of idle things by free exchange and donation. We hope all the people in our community can live low-carbon life,” said Wang Lu, leader of Hanbei Road Community.

4 . Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place?

Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain “remains more awake” than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.

The findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report they have a harder time sleeping the first night at a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it “first-night influence”. In Japan they say, “If you change your bed, you can’t sleep,” said Yuka Sasaki, one of the report’s writers. “You don’t sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it.”

The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart (间隔).They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.

Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.

Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they don’t know if the left half keeps “watch” all night, or whether it “works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night”. They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.

For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is “looking out for us” in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the people to have a good rest when they need to wake up in the morning.

6 . Starting along the Huaihe River in eastern China, Flower Drum Lantern Dance is well known for its bright colors, different forms and a cheerful mood.

As a traditional treasure in China, the dance has a very long history. It’s said that the dance appeared in the Song Dynasty, developed in the Ming Dynasty, and finally became popular in the Qing Dynasty. It’s usually used to show the peaceful lives of people in the countryside.

In the dance, the women wear a red silk ball flower on their heads. In their hands, silk fans and scarves are used as props (道具). And the props used by men are mainly umbrellas, short wooden sticks and drums. Before 1949, women were discouraged from performing in public, so women’s roles were mostly played by men. That’s why most of the old famous artists still alive today are men.

The dance is usually performed in an open area such as the central square of a village and the side of a river. The audiences (观众) usually come around in a circle. Inside the circle are several long benches with the drum group on one side. The performers enter the circle with the women standing on the men’s shoulders, and then the men lower the women to the benches and stand beside them. The show begins when the men with umbrellas enter the performance space. Then they lead the performers into the center to dance.

Flower Drum Lantern Dance is still quite popular across the country, especially in places such as Anhui, Henan and Jiangsu. Even today, village dance teams often compete with each other by performing the dance during the Spring Festival.

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8 . We sometimes say the lion is “the king of the jungle” because it is stronger and more dangerous than the other animals. It can run faster than most other animals and it can hunt better. The lion is the highest animal in the land food chain. In the sea the shark is at the top of the food chain. It can swim faster than most other sea animals. It can also use its big teeth to catch other sea animals and eat them.

What is at the top of the world’s food chain? Humans are! We are not the biggest or fastest, but we are the cleverest. We could not run faster than most animals, so we invented cars and now we can move fastest. We could not fight better than lions, so we invented guns. Now we can hunt the best.

People’s inventions are clever, but they can be dangerous, too. For example, many years ago, in Inner Mongolia, people used guns to kill a lot of wild wolves. The wild wolves usually eat wild rabbits. But in recent years, the number of wild rabbits is becoming bigger and bigger because the number of wild wolves is getting smaller and smaller. The wild rabbits competed for the grass with the sheep and cows. Much of the grassland became desert because it was seriously destroyed by the rabbits.

Remember that we are a part of the food chain, so we are in danger, too! If we protect animals, we are protecting ourselves.

9 . Have you ever felt angry with your parents? Do you sometimes quarrel with your parents? If you’re upset or angry, try to keep yourself cool. 3. Sometimes, the more you show your anger, the unhappier your parents will be. Try to come up with an idea that can solve your problem so that it won’t happen again.

It might seem that your parents don’t understand you—but don’t give up. Remember that they don’t really want to make things difficult for you. 4. Your parents care about you, but sometimes it’s just hard for them to know what you are thinking.

One of parents’ jobs is to take care of you and keep you safe—until you’re old enough to take care of yourself (but some parents have trouble giving up looking after their children even then)!

Usually, kids who quarrel with their parents learn to get along with them sooner or later. This is especially true if kids are able to make their parents know how they feel and what’s important to them.

And remember that this may take time. It’s not always easy. Talking with your parents about your opinions patiently—instead of shouting at them—will also make them listen to you more carefully. And you’ll get respect (尊敬) and learn how to get along with them.

Tofu Culture in China

Tofu is a kind of Chinese food which is known around the world. The process of making tofu is easy. It is made from soybean, water and a coagulant (凝结剂). People coagulate soybean milk, and then press the resulting mixture into pieces.

Tofu is said to originate in the Western Han dynasty. At the time, Liu An, a grandson of Emperor Liu Bang, was thirsty for learning the magical art of living forever, so he went deep into a mountain to make magic pills (药丸). He failed in his efforts to produce the pills. Instead, he created a white and soft material with a pleasant smell. The brave local people tried the product, and found it delicious. And it was named “tofu”. Liu An became an unexpected inventor of tofu, and his hometown, Shou County of Anhui Province, has been known as the “hometown of tofu”.

Simple in production and cheap in cost, tofu soon became people’s favorite food. After the Song dynasty, the culture of tofu spread even further. Many famous people also took part in spreading the culture. Su Dongpo, a great poet of the Northern Song dynasty, had a special liking for tofu and invented a tofu dish called Dongpo tofu. Poet Lu You of the Southern Song dynasty also recorded the preparation of tofu dishes in his work. More interesting is a record about tofu and Emperor Kangxi from the Qing dynasty. When in Suzhou on his tour to South China, Emperor Kangxi didn’t give gold to his high officials, but tofu dishes.

As tofu culture has spread far and wide, people in different areas have continuously developed the recipes of tofu dishes according to their own tastes, such as Mapo tofu, stinky tofu. Simple though tofu is, it can be made into a table of Chinese dishes complete with beautiful colors, sweet smells, and delicious tastes.

Today, tofu and its related products have become common foods for Chinese people. It is a necessary dish on the dinner table during the Chinese lunar New Year, because it sounds like “福”, the word for “good luck” in Chinese. Just as the saying goes, “Tofu, tofu, a mouthful of ‘Fu’”.