1 . One in four children who are feeling sad or anxious hide mental health difficulties from their parents, research shows.

BBC Children in Ned surveyed 2,502 young people aged 11 to 18, whose replies suggested that one in three regularly felt anxious or worried about their future. One in four said that they regularly felt the need to hide negative feelings, while one in three said they did not feel comfortable asking for help about feelings and emotions. One in four said they had not talked to someone they trusted about their mental health in the past six months.

Researchers also surveyed 2,500 parents, with half saying that there was insufficient support available for children struggling with’ mental health. One in six said they were not confident in recognizing signs of poor mental health in their child. Simon Antrobus, president of BBC Children in Need, said, “Some feelings of anxiety can be hidden, so empathizing (共情) with them and letting them know that you understand why they feel the way they do can make a real difference to a child’s health and can help prevent mental health problems from becoming serious.”

Meanwhile a survey of 3,014 adults by the mental health charity, Mind, suggested that the rising expenses of living is making people stressed. Half of participants said that their mental health was being negatively affected by the financial impact of the expenses of living- Sarah Hughes, Mind chief executive, said, “The uncertainty of watching as our costs rise can be difficult to bear and having so much to deal with can affect our mental health. Despite this, looking after our mental health is often last on our list.”

2 . Do you like cilantro(香菜)? Cilantro is a common food that people tend to either adore or abuse.     1     But the reasons behind what you like and don’t like are not always so straightforward.

    2     Your sense of smell allows you to distinguish between something like strawberry and cherry. Scientists looked at olfactory (receptors and discovered that individuals with a certain gene. OR6A2, are more sensitive to smelling cilantro. That, in turn, affects how people sense its flavor.     3     When you’re open to these foods, you learn to like what you eat. Even people who hate cilantro may be able to learn to at least tolerate it, if not like it.

Culture plays a big role in what you like, too. Food preferences vary across cultures. When it comes down to food preferences in different parts of the world, it has a lot to do with what’s available and considered a food staple (主食).    4    But there will always be exceptions-a Greek person who can’t stand olives or a Dutch person who hates cheese.

While preferences can be formed after a few attempts, negative experiences with foods, especially when you’re young, can have a lasting effect.     5     Jasmine Robinson, 29, from Athens, shared her story about olives. When she was young, another child, who wouldn’t let her have a turn on a swing, made fun of her while eating olives from a jar and being mean. She later tried olives as an adult but failed.

3 . Tennis, basketball, soccer, swimming — these are examples of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of sports in the world. People in every country play some kind of athletic game. Why do people spend so much time and energy playing sports?     1    

Good health is one big advantage to playing sports.     2     Scientists in Finland discovered that even between twins, the exercising one had more muscle, more energy, and healthier hearts and lungs. The one who did not play any sports had less energy and more fat.

    3     Another reason is that they want to be social. People who play on a team become friends with their team members and meet players from different teams. Sports games become enjoyable social events, not just competitions.

An additional reason for playing sports is that it makes people feel good. It does this in two interesting ways. First, playing sports makes people feel good about themselves.     4     Second, when we exercise, our brains produce chemicals that make us feel good. When people run around for two hours playing a basketball game, they often feel great even if they lose the game.

There are a lot of other reasons why people play sports, but studies show that the biggest reason is enjoyment. When asked why they play sports, most people said they play because it’s fun.     5    

Do you want to be healthy, socialize, feel good, and have fun? Play a sport.

6 . American public schools offered transportation for their students long before the modern school bus. In the 1800s, many students attended one-room schoolhouses in rural areas where few people lived. Some students walked; others used horses or sleds to get to school. Over time, school districts used a system of horse-drawn wagons to pick up students and take them to school. In time, horse-drawn wagons gave way to cars, which picked up students before school and delivered them near home at the end of the day.

The first school buses that carried students didn’t look much like modern ones. A school bus from the 1920s, for example, looked like a long car. School buses gradually grew larger to hold more and more students. The yellow color of modern school buses was chosen because it was easy to spot. When buses stand out on the road, drivers see them and stop in time to allow students to board safely. Today, the law says that American school buses must be painted a color called “National School Bus Glossy Yellow.” The bright color helps drivers recognize school buses immediately.

Modern school buses are far safer than before. Bus drivers receive stricter safety training. What’s more, school buses have seats that help keep students safe in the event of a crash. Seat backs are made to absorb an impact when a school bus is hit hard. Buses may also include flashing stop signs, which alert drivers that students are getting off or on the bus. Some buses have cameras that help drivers see what’s happening inside the bus and outside.

Nowadays, some school districts are beginning to make changes to buses that help the environment. For example, one school bus in New York has an electric engine that doesn’t pollute the air. The bus can travel for about 120 miles (190 km) before it needs to be recharged. School buses can also cut down pollution by replacing private cars. The average school bus can drive fifty-four students, which keeps about thirty-six private cars off the road. This fact, along with newer, greener technology, can help keep the air cleaner.

7 . Poppy beamed at herself in the mirror. Her new dress was absolutely perfect. It was her favorite colour of blue and had a row of bows (蝴蝶结) down the front.

Poppy’s mother was making her famous fruit juice. “My goodness, sweetheart, why are you dressed up today?” she asked. “I’m trying on my dress for picture day tomorrow,” Poppy explained. “I want to make sure everything is perfect.”

“Well, I think you’re already perfect,” her mom said. “Be careful. Don’t spill it.” Poppy rolled her eyes, grabbing a cup of fruit and gulping it down.

Seconds later, her mom yelled, “Oh, sweetheart — you spilled your juice!” Poppy glanced down at the spots and gasped. She couldn’t go to school picture day like this! Her class picture would be in the yearbook forever. “It will be all right,” her mom said positively. “I’ll wash it tonight. It’ll be as good as new.”

The next morning, Poppy grabbed her blue dress out of the laundry basket. She pulled it over her head, but something wasn’t right. Poppy couldn’t lower her arms, and the bows pulled tightly. “Oh, no!” Poppy cried. “My dress shrank!” She ran to her closet to find something else she could wear. Finally, in the back of the closet, Poppy found an old yellow dress. Nevertheless, it would have to do.

While waiting for the class’s turn, she hoped it would never come. Maybe the camera couldn’t work or it happened to rain dogs and cats!

The class marched onstage. “All right,” the photographer called. “I guess we all have something we don’t like about our looks. None of us is perfect.”

Poppy glanced at her classmates. Rosa had a bandage taped across her nose. Tom was pulling at his pants, trying to hide his mismatched socks. Lei flashed a Jack-o’-lantern grin, showing several missing teeth. We’re all different, she thought. Maybe that’s what makes us special. Poppy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cheese!” the photographer called out. The flash went off as the photographer snapped the picture of the yearbook. Poppy smiled her brightest. The picture day hadn’t gone the way she had planned. It had gone even better. “Perfect anyway!” she cried.

10 . Human innovation (创新) has allowed people to explore space for decades. Within a space station, astronauts have enough air, food and water to complete missions of a year or longer without a resupply. But missions to further reaches of space are a different matter. Establishing a base on the moon or sending humans to Mars seems just on the horizon. That can only happen if innovative and foolproof ways are developed to supply humans with enough air, water and food.

One company, Interstellar Labs, has developed an advanced, closed loop system that can grow plants anywhere, even in space. They call their AI managed greenhouses BioPods and they are designed to be very efficient. In fact, Interstellar Labs claims that BioPods reduce the amount of land and water needed to produce food by 99 percent. That is not an impossible claim. BioPods don’t use any soil to grow plants, and the vast majority of water is recycled and recirculated.

Plants are grown inside BioPods using aeroponics, the practice of hanging plants in the air and spraying a mist of nutrient-rich water on their roots. By using aeroponics, the BioPod system carefully conserves water with amazing results. According to Interstellar labs, BioPod-grown plants are up to 300 times more productive than traditionally grown plants, using only a small amount of water.

The conditions inside of a BioPod are controlled by AI, which can change anything from the lighting to the temperature and humidity to maximize growth. This optimizes (使最优化) growing conditions no matter what the environment is outside, including the emptiness of space.

The BioPods themselves can be built in almost any environment, too. The pod’s structure is made with a 3D printer using raw materials in liquid form. The inside part is sealed with an inflatable membrane (充气膜) that is also 3D-printed. This means that a BioPod could be built right on the surface of the moon or Mars, making transporting a large structure unnecessary.

Like most technology developed for space exploration, BioPods can also be used on Earth to provide highly efficient food production systems even in the harshest environments.