2 . There’s good news and bad news for flower fans this spring in Washington state.

Good news: The Tulip (郁金香) Festival in Skagit County plans to return for 2021 with new rules, and with reserved tickets available for Tulip Town.

Attendance will be limited at Tulip Town this year, but it is planning to open earlier and stay open later. As in any public place statewide, face coverings are required. As of March 7, the tulips were not yet blossoming (开花) in Skagit County. When they start to blossom each year depends on the weather in March, but mid-April is historically the peak for tulip blossoms in the gardens and fields.

Bad news: The University of Washington in Seattle is asking people to view the cherry blossoms from home again this year in order to reduce crowding. UW Video has a live webcam overlooking the campus, and there’s a virtual tour with photos from campus that will be updated throughout the blossom season.

There are dozens of different varieties of blossoming cherry and plum trees in the Seattle area, with blossoms visible from early February until May for some.

4 . Scotland is packed with beautiful places to visit and you could honestly spend months and months exploring everything this wonderful country has to offer! Next I’m going to take you through some of the best place to visit in Scotland, based on where we have personally visited so far!

If you asked me where my favourite place to visit in all of Scotland is... I would say, Glen Coe. The whole area of Glen Coe constantly had my face in shock due to the beauty that I was witnessing1 was witnessing (亲眼看见). It’s just a stream of dramatic mountains, lakes, rugged (崎岖的) beauty and more.

Fort William is probably one of the most well-known places to visit in Scotland. It’s a popular tourist destination thanks to being home to the UK’s tallest mountain: Ben Nevis. Fort William is also the starting point for one of the world’s most famous train rides: The Jacobite. Harry Potter fans will recognize it as the Hogwarts Express, and this train ride will take you through the beautiful countryside, crossing some iconic Harry Potter filming locations such as the Dumbledore’s Grave and the Glenfinnan Viaduct!

This island feels totally different from other parts of Scotland and is truly rugged and ready! There are many hot spots to explore including the Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Glen. I even stayed on a private island with its very own lighthouse, which was one of the coolest places I’ve ever visited and one of the most romantic places stay in Scotland.

This is the largest national park in the UK so it’s another popular place to visit in Scotland and it’s no surprise why. It’s absolutely beautiful and there’s so much happening at the Cairngorms National Park! From skiing or meeting local reindeers, you’ll not go bored and you’ll be surrounded by beauty the entire time.

5 . Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn't have modern machines.

Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world.

Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog.

Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn't let dirty smoke go into the air.

We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus or with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution.

Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight against pollution.

6 . Tsunami(海啸)is a natural disaster, which is a Japanese word that means “sea wave”.A tsunami is a huge sea wave that forms mainly in the Pacific Ocean area.People die and property is destroyed when a tsunami hits land.What causes these dangerous sea waves? Sometimes, tsunamis are caused when earthquakes take place underwater.Then, water begins to move up and down from the top of the ocean right down to the bottom.Waves begin to form, and each wave is called a tsunami.

A tsunami is less than one meter high and can move at a speed of almost 800 kilometers per hour while it is far out in the ocean.But the tsunami rises much higher and moves more slowly as it comes closer to land.

The weather bureau(气象局)warns people over the radio and television when a tsunami is heading for land.These warnings have helped save many lives.

9 . Researchers believe they have found an unknown kind of whale in waters off Mexico's western coast. If others prove the finding, the new whale will be an important discovery among giant animals.

The team of researchers came upon three unusual whales while following a rare group of beaked whales（突吻鲸）. The whales were near Mexico's distant San Benito Islands, about 500 km south of the U.S. border. Beaked whales usually avoid meeting humans.

Jay Barlow studies sea animals. He noted that it was a very unusual meeting. "It's very rare to even see a beaked whale, and to find a group of friendly beaked whales, it's even rarer," he said.

Barlow said he and other researchers did not realize they were seeing a possible new kind of whale until later. The group saw something different about the whales' teeth when they studied the photos they took of the animals. The underwater recordings of the whales' calls also suggested they were different from all the others.

The researchers are now waiting for test results on water they collected near the whales. There could be skin cells in the water from the whales. If so, they will examine the DNA to make sure whether the whales are a new species.

Though up to 5 meters long, the whales can be hard for scientists to see. That is because they usually swim and eat at depths of around 914 meters. They only come up at times for air. In the deep water, the animals can stay away from their main enemy-killer whales.

Barlow said that finding a new species is a rare event. His team has proof about the whales that looks like a new discovery. He said the DNA testing would help determine it and he hoped the whales could be determined as a new species. That would bring the number of known beaked whale species to 24.

10 . Friendship is an important part of human life. Friends can share our joys and sadnesses. We aren't alone. Many different animals also make friends.

Recently, a British research team finished an eight-year study of Indo-Pacific dolphins off the coast of Western Australia. These dolphins can use different tools to search for food. The researchers found that these dolphins are more willing to hang out with partners that like the same tool. Other factors, like family closeness or sex, have no impact on this relationship. It suggests that dolphins form social bonds based on shared interests.

Apart from dolphins, elephants and horses are also known to form friendships. Are friendships only limited to the same species?

Of course not, The Atlantic reported. In 2015,Timur, a goat, was left in the enclosure（围场） of a tiger, Amur, as a meal. But instead of eating Timur, Amur liked to play with him and got angry when others were close to his friend. That's because in captivity(圈养）, animals don't need to spend much time and energy marking their land or looking for mates the way they would in the wild. They are actually more likely to feel bored.

More interestingly, animals not only make friends but also try to keep lasting friendships. Take bats for example. In 2011, scientists found bats often hang out with a few particular friends, keeping loose ties to the rest of their group. Humans are different. "We do not work, play and live together with the same friends all the time," Swiss zoologist Gerald Kerth explained. "But nevertheless, we are able to maintain long-term despite our often highly dynamic（充满活力的）social lives."