If you’re away from home, feeling a bit blue or searching for some comfort, the Danes have a solution. It’s called “hygge”. Coming from Danish culture, but popularized by the British in 2016, hygge is much more than just a word, it’s becoming a feeling around the world.

The hygge means the sense of happiness you get when your family is gathered together at new year or Christmas. It is all about the pleasant feelings of home: the smell of your mother’s cooking, your partner’s arm around your shoulder and so on.

Hygge is an antidote (良药) to stress. You know when you’ve got it, a gentle warmth starts spreading through your body. Another important part of hygge is that it has nothing to do with modern technology. It’s a period time to relax your tired mind and eyes. So, put down that smartphone and turn off the computer.

You should also know that hygge is not about healthy eating or more exercise. In fact, it’s just the opposite. You’re supposed to be lost in what you like: enjoy sweet snacks and calorie-laden cakes freely. Let yourself think of what happened in the past, and remember the childhood songs of your distant youth with a smile. If it helps, wrap yourself in a warm blanket and sleep with one of your favorite books (not a pill or e-reader).

If Denmark seems too far, then think of old Beijing with its hutong and courtyard houses. Picture yourself sit around a traditional stove with your loved ones, eating dumplings and chatting about the old days. Let yourself drift back in time to a period where everything is relaxing, and there is no need to reply to any e-mails or text messages. They did not exist (存在) back then.

Now you’ve really understood hygge without going to Copenhagen.

Seeing someone who seems to be walking on a cloud sounds like a dream. But this scene indeed exists (存在)—and it isn’t just in your head. It’s a popular attraction in the South American country of Bolivia called the Salar de Uyuni (乌尤尼盐湖). The area covers a large amount of white, glistening (闪亮的) salt and runs across 10,582 kilometers of the Altiplano and you can even see it from space.

What’s special about the Salar? This salt flat (盐田) can create an endless natural mirror, which gives you an amazing experience. On a still day, water covering the salt changes the salt flat into “The World’s Largest Mirror” reflecting the sky. Those who are lucky enough to see this natural wonder will tell you how difficult it is to find out the dividing line between the sky and land.

Some 40,000 years ago, water from the surrounding mountains gathered here and there were no outlets (出口) where the rainfall could flow out. So a huge lake was formed with natural salt inside. Over time, about 25,000 years ago, high temperatures reduced the rainfall in the area. The climate from wet to dry caused the water to slowly evaporate (蒸发). About 10,000 years ago, the body of water dried up and a deep layer (层) of salt flat was left behind.

With about 10 billion tons of salt lying around it, it’s no surprise that salt production in the Salar is a big business. But the real treasure lies under the surface of the salt flat, where around 70% of the world’s lithium (锂) reserves can be found. The lithium is used for powering mobile phones, laptops, electric cars and this resource could be of great value.

4 . Rabbit Shiny and tortoise (乌龟) Smily were neighbours. One day they were reading a story about their great grandfathers: Shiny’s and Smily’s great grandfathers decided to have a race. While Shiny’s great grandfather fell asleep during the race, Smily’s great grandfather won the race by slowly walking towards the finishing line.

Smily said, “If your great grandfather didn’t go to sleep, my great granddad might never win. So his win was not a real win.”

The next day there was a notice in the jungle (丛林) newspaper. It said that there would be a race and the winner would win many prizes. The race started from the bear’s house. From there, the runners had to cross the river. But most of the animals could not both run fast and swim fast. So they didn’t know what to do. Shiny and Smily made a plan.

Shiny ran, while Smily was sitting on his back. He and other animals, like the deer, reached the river side at the same time. But they saw the swift (湍急的) water and stood there because they were worried. None of them liked the idea of crossing the river. Smily quickly got into the water and Shiny sat on his back. Smily started swimming. Soon they reached the other side of the river. Shiny got down from Smily’s back and Smily climbed on Shiny’s back again. Shiny ran fast. They reached the finish line first.

“Both of them are the winners.” The president of the jungle said, “Shiny and Smily helped each other during the race and they won. So let’s give them a big hand.”

5 . Many of us have had this experience: we lie down in a bed other than our own, perhaps at a friend’s house or in a hotel room, and find it difficult to fall asleep. Is it because the bed is uncomfortable? Maybe, but perhaps there can be other reasons.

According to a new study published in Current Biology, a significant reason is what the scientists call “first night effect”. They believe that one side of the brain acts as a “night watch” to give us a warning about potential (潜在的) dangers. It forces us to stay awake on the first night in a new environment.

For the study, 35 young volunteers were told to sleep in a lab for several days. Meanwhile, researchers watched their brain activities.

According to the researchers, on their first night, the left brains were more active than the right brains and people had a hard time sleeping. However, left-brain activity reduced as days went by, falling even to the point of complete calm. In this process, the volunteers got an increasingly better sleep experience.

The findings suggest that the different rhythms (节奏) of the sides of the brain influence our sleep. When the two sides work differently, the balance between them is broken. Thus, the brain can’t relax and is sensitive to anything strange in the surroundings, just as it is in the daytime.

“At some level, the brain is continuing to analyze (分析) things, even though you don’t realize the analysis,” US professor Jerome Siegel told Smithsonian Magazine. “If something unusual happens—if a door opens or you hear a key in a lock—you can be alert (警惕的).” More surprisingly, this situation is similar to the way some animals sleep. Whales, dolphins, and many birds can sleep with half of their brain while the other half stays awake.

If you have ever had what you think is “first night effect”, researchers suggest that you bring your own pillow or sleep in a room similar to your bedroom next time you sleep away from home.

This Monday there was a surprise winner of Dr Safak’s Design-an-app Competition. Anna, who only came to this school last month, won first prize for her excellent Timetabler app. Her app helps students organize their time.  

The competition started at the beginning of May. Dr Safak said, “The app must be easy to install (安装) and use on a mobile phone, and it must help students with their schoolwork. It shouldn’t use lots of battery.” Throughout the month students talked about possible winners and everyone said the same thing, “If Bruce enters it, he’ll win it.” “Bruce knows everything about computers,” said Harry.

Everyone was surprised when Dr Safak told them the winner of the competition. Anna is new to the school and very quiet. Nobody knew that she designed her first app when she was only seven years old. Now, she is the star of the software (软件) class and everyone wants to talk about her app. “It makes it easy to plan your time! You tell the app what exams you need to study for. You also tell it when the exams are.

Then you click on the special ‘Plan’ icon and the app makes a timetable for you.” said Diana. “I love it!” said Jim. “With Anna’s app, I have more time for studying because the app does the planning for me.”

Second only to water, tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Whether you like it boiling hot, poured over ice, or served with milk and tapioca pearls, there’s a lot to love about tea. But how much do you know about it? Let’s test your knowledge to see if you’re a real tea master.

Although there are thousands of different types of teas, they all come from one plant—Camellia sinensis, a bush native to East Asia. The differences come from where the plants are grown and how their leaves are treated after harvest. Leaves used to make green tea are processed (加工) for instance, they can be lightly-steamed or oven-dried—while those used to make blacktea are left to dry.

It’s true that the British have the reputation (名声) of being great tea lovers, but they don’t drink as much tea as the people of Turkey. A single Turkish citizen uses more than three kilograms of tea leaves per year, which is enough to make over 1,200 cups of tea!

Tea came to England from China in the seventeenth century, but it was so costly that only noble people could afford it. It wasn’t until the first tea shop opened in 1717 that common people got chances to drink tea. By the middle of the eighteenth century, nearly everyone in England was drinking tea.

In the 1700s, many average British folks didn’t have the strong, well-made tea sets that richer people used. Their thinner cups often broke when boiling water was poured inside. Adding milk first helped cool the tea and prevented the cups from breaking.

While tea lovers will argue (争论) endlessly about how to make a great cup, there’s only one rule. The perfect cup of tea is the one that tastes best to you. No matter how you like it, just enjoy!

Jane was on her way home at 6 o’clock. It was getting dark. As she drove into her community, she noticed a man. She saw the man walking along the sidewalk next to some houses. He didn’t live in any of those houses. She had seen this man several times before. He looked like a criminal (罪犯).

She drove by him. He looked at her car as she drove by. She continued driving and watched him in her rear view mirror (后视镜) . She got to the corner and stopped. She continued to watch him walking in her direction. Suddenly, he turned left up a driveway (车道). A red SUV was parked in the driveway right next to the sidewalk. She saw him walk up to the driver’s door and put his hand on the handle (把手) . Then he returned to the sidewalk and went on to walk towards her.

“What is that all about?” Jane wondered. Then she realized that he had tested the door to see if it was locked. “He is a criminal,” she thought. “That’s what he does. He just walks in our neighbourhood looking for cars to break into.”

She called the police and described the man. The police officer said he knew who the man was. The people in the community called two or three times this week to report him walking by. But the police couldn’t arrest (逮捕) him for walking around unless they caught him with stolen things. “But he was testing that SUV door to see if it was unlocked,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” said the officer. “That’s forbidden (禁止) according to the law. If you see him actually steal something, please give us a call.”

9 . One day, a farmer’s donkey fell into a dry well. The poor animal cried for hours before his owner finally found him. The farmer tried hard to pull him out from the well but failed. He felt very sorry for the donkey but after carefully thinking about the situation, he decided that he would not save the donkey. Since the donkey was too old and it was not worth the trouble of saving. So he invited his neighbours to help him bury (埋葬) the old donkey in the well so that it would make him end his pain.

Hearing many people coming to help, the old donkey was excited at first. As they began to scoop the dirt into the well with shovels (铲子), he soon realized what was happening. He felt very upset and cried sadly again. As the farmer and his neighbours continued throwing the dirt on his back, he suddenly had a good idea. Some time later, when the farmer finally looked down into the well, he was surprised at what he saw: every time the dirt landed on his back, he shook it off and took a step (步) up!

Soon, everyone was amazed when the donkey stepped proudly over the edge of the well and ran away quickly! It seemed that it would bury him at first, but it actually helped him later because of the manner in which he faced his trouble.

That is life! Just like the donkey, life is going to throw dirt on us, all kinds of dirt. As long as we face our problems in an active way, and refuse to give in to any trouble, each dirt is like a stepping stone with which we get out of the deepest wells. Never stop and never give up. Success is just on the way.

10 . Do you know how old Mickey Mouse is? Can you believe that the cute mouse is already 80 years old? As the most famous mouse in the world, Mickey Mouse is likely to be the oldest mouse in the world. If we compare him to a man, Mickey Mouse is about the same age as a grandfather.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, Mickey Mouse’s famous friends, including Donald Duck and Snow White, celebrated his birthday. Mickey Mouse’s fans also travelled from all over the world and got together to celebrate his birthday. They were excited about the event. They wore costumers, colorful birthday hats and took photos to remember the happy moment.

Mickey Mouse has already turned 80, but there is not a grey hair on his head. His look has gone through very few changes over the years. He is still dressed in the same clothes as the time when he was created. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in the movie Steamboat Willie. This was the first cartoon movie with sound. In this movie, Walt Disney provided the voice for Mickey Mouse. Now, Mickey Mouse’s two black round ears have become a symbol of the Disney’s brand (品牌).