1 . Whether in work or study, great people always do things as effectively as possible. Productive (高效的) people have one thing in common: A solid routine made up of small habits that helps them to keep a healthy mindset and lifestyle. Research shows a habit takes about 2l days to become normal behavior.     1    

●Make daily to-do lists.     2     Some people prefer to make their to-do lists first thing in the morning, while others like to do them each night to prepare for the day ahead. As a matter of fact, either way helps you to manage your time and workload efficiently.

●    3     Writing down your thoughts in your diary can help you achieve goals. You should even write down your progress, no matter how small it is, to help motivate you to keep going. This process will help you reflect and improve your memory and brain function.

●Have a rest. Whatever you are working on, you do not have to use up every ounce of energy you have.     4     When coming back, you’ll become clear-headed and happy, leading to greater productivity than just rushing through it.

●Clean up and organize for tomorrow.     5     It may be a little tiring. However, tidying up your home and preparing for tomorrow can prevent stress. This daily maintaining can ensure that you do not have to spend an entire afternoon cleaning during the weekend.

3 . The museum first appeared in human civilization 2,500 years ago, which has been keeping reinventing itself to become an interactive cultural center. Here are some of the museums worth visiting. It’s time to decide your next travel destination.

The Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

It is the world’s largest art museum and a historical landmark of Paris. Housed in the Louvre Palace, the museum has been extended many times since its opening in 1793. Its eye-catching glass pyramid in the main courtyard was designed by Ieoh Ming Pei, a Chinese American architect, and it later became a symbol of the museum.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US

Commonly known as the Met, the museum is among the must-visit attractions in New York. It stands on the eastern edge of Central Park. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine and Islamic art. Every May, the museum holds the luxurious, blockbuster Met Gala, grabbing global attention like the Oscars.

National Museum of China, Beijing, China

Near Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, it’s one of the largest museums in the world and the second most visited art museum in the world, just after the Louvre. Covering a time span from 1.7 million years ago to the Qing Dynasty, the museum boasts around 1.05 million items—and many cannot be found in museums elsewhere.

Vatican Museums, the Vatican City

If you are into Roman history and Renaissance art, the Vatican Museums will be your ideal destination. Along the exhibition route, visitors can enjoy the marvelous Sistine Chapel decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael.

5 . David Rush of Idaho set out to break one Guinness World Record every week of 2022. The challenge was no small achievement, and at the same time, nothing out of the ordinary for Rush, who is a writer, speaker and entertainer. He describes himself on his website as “one of the most productive Guinness World Records title holders on the planet.”

Rush has been promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for more than a decade through talks with students, educators and corporations. “STEM is hard and when a student struggles with science or fails at math they may say they can never be an engineer,” he wrote.

“In 2015 I broke my first Guinness World Record to create a vivid example for folks to show that if you set your mind to a goal, believe in yourself, and pursue it with a passion, you can accomplish nearly anything. Going on to break an average of one record a week is an extension of that to encourage kids to pursue hard subjects and anyone to pursue anything that’s hard,” he said.

Rush started the year off on Jan. 4 by piling up wet bars of soap with his neighbor. From there, his missions included bouncing ping pong balls, catching fruit in his mouth and doing various tasks very quickly. He crossed the 200-Guinness-World-Records-broken milestone for the most kiwis sliced in one minute using a sword while standing on a ball.

Holding one Guinness World Record is impressive enough, but David Rush of Idaho set a new record each week for the year of 2022—52 weeks, 52 records. Could that be a record number of records? Anyway, his message is engaging and inspiring.

6 . The CO₂-filled air in busy classrooms at a university was recently put to good use—as fertilizer for a rooftop garden, as part of a scientific study. Researchers repurposed the CO₂ from a campus building’s exhaust (废气) to help grow plants in an experimental rooftop garden and found spinach(菠菜), in some cases, was four times as large as the one in a nearby control group.

“We wanted to test whether there is an undeveloped resource inside buildings that could be used to make plants grow larger in rooftop gardens,” Sarabeth Buckley, now at the University of Cambridge and the study’s lead author, says in a news release. “Creating more favorable conditions that increase growth could help make rooftop gardens more successful and therefore more practical options for installation on buildings.”

The study showed how the team grew spinach in areas receiving fanned CO₂ exhaust. A control group also on the roof was fanned, but without CO₂. The researchers said they selected spinach because it is relatively common and eatable. The spinach grown next to one of the two exhaust pipes on the roof had four times the size of spinach grown next to a control fan. Even when high winds decreased the size advantage by limiting the amount of CO₂ reaching the spinach, it was still twice as large as the control group.

“There are still many aspects of this system that must be determined before it can be implemented, such as the most suitable air application design and the possible extent of the enhanced growth effect,” Buckley says. “Also, there is a decrease in growth with increased wind speed, so the best wind speed would need to be found and incorporated into the system design.”

The study calls the experiment a sustainable system for using CO₂ fertilization in urban environments while saying that the goal of “increasing overall urban vegetation” can help address some environmental challenges that come with pollution and farming. Buckley hopes her study can lead to a further development of the system and the eventual implementation into rooftop gardens.

Featuring sparkling lakes, spectacular waterfalls, and colorful leaves, Jiuzhaigou National Park in Sichuan Province is a picturesque fairyland. The park’s name,     1     means “Nine Village Valley,” originated from the nine Tibetan     2    (village) there. It is located in Jiuzhaigou County of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. It     3    (list) as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1992. The park is also home     4     3,634 species of plants and animals, including giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys,     5    (win) the good reputation of an “earthly paradise”. The national park covers     6     area of 720 square kilometers and ranges from 1,996 to 4,764 meters above sea level.

In 2017, a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake     7    (strike) Jiuzhaigou, and the scenic area was closed due to damage. After continuous reconstruction and natural     8    (recover), the park reopened to visitors in 2021. After the pandemic, the tourist destination has     9    (full) regained its former charm. Tourism facilities have also been improved     10    (provide) better services to tourists.