1 . It is very important to stay healthy. A lot of people aren’t aware of many benefits of daily exercise and only begin to do so when health complications (并发症) happen. Why then is it important to stay healthy?

Regular exercises will help you burn extra body fat and keep your body vigorous. There are many health complications related to having too much body fat. Heart diseases that are often very deadly are mostly a result of extra body fat.

Exercising keeps you sharp at all times. Keeping your body active also improves the functioning of the brain. Any kind of exercise is terrific. Most sports are excellent for keeping the body in good health, such as, basketball, swimming, bicycling, running and so on. Sports are not only good for your body, but they are enjoyable and interesting, too. There is a reason why most athletes are usually happy. Maybe the reason why you stay angry easily all the time is due to lack of exercise.

Fitness exercises are ideal for strength building. Regular daily exercise will build body muscles and improve your physical strength. They are also important in strengthening your back for good postures. People generally become less active as they grow older, especially when they have small kids that expect to play with them. Daily fitness will help you get the much needed strength and activity to keep up with the youthful energy of your children. Exercising also slows down the aging process by tightening your skin and increasing your body’s metabolic (新陈代谢的) rate.

Exercising is very important and some of the results of not joining in daily fitness are dangerous. Having fitness goals that actually mean something to you will help you develop a controlled daily fitness and achieve your desired result. These are just some of the benefits of having a strong fitness program. Many people ignore them and just begin to suffer from lifestyle diseases in their later lives. Exercise is very significant.

3 . Marks &Spencer(M&S) is planning to remove “best before” labels from 300 varieties of fruit and vegetables in its stores to cut food waste. The change will rely on customers using their judgment to determine whether goods are still fine to eat.

The measure, to be rolled out this week, will affect 85% of the supermarket’s fresh pro-duce offering. “Best before” labels differ from “use by” dates, with the former often merely a measure of aesthetics(美学), while the latter tending to indicate a safety risk if ignored. “Best before” labels were meant to help consumers, but instead were blamed for creating mountains of waste from perfectly eatable food.

Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, had already announced the end of best before dates on its own-brand fruit and vegetables as far back as 2018, while the German supermarket Lidl also says it does not include best before information to reduce food waste. Now M&S is doing the same, with the aim to halve(减半) food waste from its products by 2030 com-pared with 2018. Achieving those targets would put it in line with the UK’s commitment to meet the United Nations’ goal of halving food waste by 2030 compared with 2007.

Reducing food waste is a vital part of tackling carbon emissions associated with farming and food distribution(分配). WRAP, a food waste charity, estimates that as much 45%of global greenhouse gas emissions can only be tackled by changing the way we make and consume products and food. It said that removing dates on fresh fruit and vegetables can save the equal of 7 million shopping baskets of food a year.

Catherine David, a director at WRAP, said, “We’re thrilled to see this move from M&S, which will reduce food waste and help tackle the climate crisis. We urge more supermarkets to get ahead on food waste by cutting date labels from fresh produce, allowing people to use their own judgment.”

4 . Long pieces from the outer shell of the coconut (椰子), known as coir (椰子壳粗纤维), are often used with other materials to build barriers. The barriers are used to protect beaches from getting washed away by the force of waves. The coconut material is widely available and costs a lot less than barriers made of other materials, such as wood, steel or concrete. And it is designed to biodegrade (生物降解) or break down, over time.

Some projects create “living shorelines” made from natural elements rather than hard materials. One is being built along part of an eroded (被侵蚀的) riverbank in Neptune, New Jersey. The effort has already greatly improved areas that suffered major erosion damage. “We’re always trying to reduce wave energy while protecting the shoreline,” said Tim Dillingham, the group’s director. “And whenever we can, we like to employ nature-based solutions.”

Another project is happening in Boston. That is where Julia Hopkins, an assistant pro-fessor at Northeastern University, is using coir, wood chips and other materials to create floating barriers to slow the force of waves. Hopkins is pleased with the results. She says the coconut material is not costly and is actually being recycled rather than being thrown away.

Two projects in East Providence, Rhode Island, used coconut material in 2020. The next year,731 meters of damaged shoreline in New York’s Jamaica Bay were treated through a project that also included coconut coir material. Similar projects have been carried out in the states of Delaware and Texas.

The method doesn’t always work, however. In 2016, the Felix Neck Wildlife Refuge in Edgartown, Massachusetts, built barriers around a salt marsh that had eroded in the past. While the effort did help reduce erosion for a while, the material did not last long because of strong waves.

Suzan Bellincampi is the refuge’s director. “The project is really interesting in terms of what we want to do and how we adapt it,” she said. “It’s not for every site. It works in some places; it doesn’t work in all places.”

5 . I applied to be a first-grade teacher’s assistant. The job paid the lowest wage, and I could hardly afford to pay my rent. I had no desire to go into education, so I didn’t know why I was attracted to this position. Working with children was not my motivation at that time. But later I found that it was all I wanted to do.

There was a student, Ashley, in my class who was very creative and interested in writ-ing. I helped Ashley write her first short story. Ashley and her mother Shirin walked into our classroom every morning. Shirin often volunteered to work in our classroom and would always give me a hug. She asked me questions about her daughter and my writing. At that time, I was working on a new romantic comedy script, and Shirin gave positive comments when I told her the plot.“I can’t wait to see this in the theater!” My confidence increased. I would also exchange some ideas with her. We became very good friends. Shirin also showered me with gifts. For holidays or my birthday, she’d get me some nice gifts. She was always finding ways to wrap me in love and encouragement.

I had worked as a teacher’s assistant for three years. Then I decided to start teaching cre-ative writing. Shirin and I had stayed close, and she kept encouraging me. I was forever grateful that I became a teacher’s assistant and met Shirin. She appeared in my life at just the right time.

6 . From the moment we are born, we interact with the world through movement. We move our lips to smile or to talk. We extend our hand to touch. How does our brain remember this wide range of motions? How does it learn new ones? How does it make the calculations necessary for us to grab a glass of water, without dropping it, squashing it, or missing it?

Technion Professor Jackie Schiller from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and her team examined the brain at a single-neuron (单神经元) level to shed light on this mystery. They found that calculation happens not just in the interaction between neurons, but within each individual neuron. It turns out that each of these cells is not a simple switch, but a complicated calculating machine.

This discovery, published recently in the Science, promises changes not only to our understanding of how the brain works, but better understanding of conditions ranging from Parkinson’s disease to autism. And if that isn’t enough, these same findings are expected to advance machine learning, providing inspiration for new architectures.

“We used to think of each neuron as a sort of whistle, which either rings, or doesn’t,” Prof. Schiller explains. “Instead, we are looking at a piano. Its keys can be struck at the same time, or in order, producing an infinity (无限) of different tunes.” This complex music playing in our brains is what enables us to learn and perform an infinity of different, complex and precise movements.

These same findings can also serve as an inspiration for the machine learning community. Deep neural networks, as their name suggests, attempt to create software that learns and functions somewhat similarly to a human brain. Although their advances constantly make the news, these networks are primitive compared to a living brain. A better understanding of how our brain actually works can help in designing more complex neural networks, enabling them to perform more complex tasks.

7 . Some 20 percent of adults are procrastinators (拖延症患者). Everyone might put off a task or two, but long-term procrastinators do it at home, at school, at work and in their relationships.

For years, researchers have focused on the personalities of people who procrastinate. The results suggest procrastinators may be impulsive (冲动), worriers and have trouble regulating their emotions. But procrastinators are not lazy. They’re actually very busy doing other things than what they’re supposed to be doing. Though procrastinators may think they perform better under pressure, studies have reported the opposite. And when deadlines are uncertain, procrastinators tend to delay their work.

When people put off a tough task, they feel good-in the moment. Procrastinating is a way to avoid the negative emotions linked to the task. But the relief it provides is only temporary, and many seek out ways to stop procrastinating.

In fact, most research today suggests procrastination is a behavioral pattern, which means it’s something you can change, regardless of whether you’re impulsive. What works best is still under research. Some scientists have reported success with time management. But the evidence for that is all over the map. That’s because poor time management is a symptom not a cause of procrastination.

For some procrastinators, seemingly obvious tips can work. Researchers advise students to simply put down their smartphones. Silencing notifications or studying in the library rather than at home can regulate distractions and keep people on task. But that won’t be enough for many people. Stubborn procrastinators may benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (认知行为疗法). This type of therapy, which involves managing thoughts and emotions and trying to change behavior, seemed to be the most helpful. Still, not many studies have examined treatments, and there’s room for improvement.

8 . A New Campaign to Stress the Benefits of a Balanced Diet

Look out for a new TV campaign, entitled “Eat Balanced”, which will highlight the continued benefits of eating meat and dairy (奶制的) products as part of a balanced diet.

The campaign spearheaded by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) will appear on TV, social media and supermarket packaging and aims to highlight the nutritional benefits of enjoying red meat and dairy, while showing Britain’s world-class standards in food production and sustainability.

The campaign will be built on the following three key messages about meat and diary products:

●Meat and dairy products contain vitamin B12, an essential nutrient not naturally present in vegan diet;

●Red meat and dairy products from Britain are produced to world-class standards;

●Red meat and dairy products from Britain are among the most sustainable in the world.

AHDB is conveying a message to consumers for a bright new year—enjoy the food you eat.

AHDB’s Chief Communications and Market Development Officer Christine Watts says, “In Britain, we have so much to be proud of when it comes to the food we eat, how it’s produced and the entire journey from farm to fork. Our farmers operate farms in the excellent way, so our food meets the international criterion. This campaign is aimed to balance the negative commentary around farming, as well as highlight the importance of eating meat and dairy products as part of a balanced and healthy diet.”

10 . Hong Kong to Macau Transportation

It is really convenient and swift for travelers to travel between Hong Kong and Macau, with a straight-line distance of about 60 kilometers.

Helicopter transport is the most swift and convenient means for transportation between Hong Kong and Macau. The length of time for a journey is only 15 minutes.

Service time: The helicopter departs every 30 minutes from 9:00 to 23:00. Passengers should arrive at the waiting room at least 15 minutes before the departure time.

Tel: 2872 7288 (Macau) and 2108 9898 (Hong Kong). Passengers can book a ticket via these telephone numbers.

Approximate ticket fares: The price of a helicopter transport is about 2,700–2,900 yuan per person.

The length of time for a journey by ship between Hong Kong and Macau is about 50 minutes, which is much longer than that taking a helicopter. However, the ticket fare is much cheaper than taking a helicopter.

Service time and departure interval: The ship departs every 15 minutes from 7:00 to 24:00, and then departs at 0:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30, 4:00, 4:45 and 6:00.

Approximate ticket fares: There are different kinds of ticket fares, for day sailing and night sailing and for common seats and luxury seats. The price is from 133 to 268 yuan per seat.

Passengers also can take a jetfoil: a five-star Premier Jetfoil with luxurious services of high quality coming and going among Macau, Hong Kong and Hong Kong International Airport, and the length of time for each route is about 55 minutes.

Service time and departure interval: The jetfoil departs every 1 hour from 8:00–22:00.

Approximate ticket fares: The common seat for day sailing is 250–320 yuan per person. The luxury seat for day sailing is 450–560 yuan per person.