1 . As the world faces extinction crisis and severe climate change, a growing body of scientific research has found that we should set aside more protected areas and manage them well.

Protected areas are extremely important for conservation and can help protect against habitat loss and other human activities. In many areas they may be the only places that can support the survival of some species.

Globally we’ve protected nearly 17% of our lands and 7% of the ocean, but a study published in Nature found that current protected areas on their own are too small or poorly connected to ensure the long-term survival of about half of all mammals studied — between 1,700 and 2,500 species.

If current protected areas don’t do enough, how do we do it better? The researchers suggest that first we need to increase the size and number of protected areas and improve the connectivity between them. But above all, they need to be managed with a clear understanding of the animals’ habitat needs.

In a recent research, after studying 1,500 protected areas with 27,000 waterbird populations in 68 countries, researchers found that areas that were actively managed for waterbirds — such as by preventing hunting or restoring wetlands — were more successful, and often those that were larger had better results, too.

If protected areas are well taken care of, we can not only protect biodiversity (生物多样性) but also achieve other benefits. One of those benefits is to avoid runaway climate change. As we know, the earth is becoming warmer and warmer. Protecting 30% of lands could provide one-third of the reductions needed to limit global warming emissions to under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Of course, this work won’t be easy. The next step, according to researchers, is to promote understanding and communicating the multiple benefits of increasing protected areas, and drive more support from government and local communities.

3 . Swimming is one of the few exercises people can do to work all parts of their body.     1     However, swimming has many more benefits than those obvious advantages. Its improvements to overall health go much deeper. Here are four reasons for you to dive in!

Swimming can strengthen your lungs.

You might hear that lungs benefit from swimming most.     2     For this reason, swimming can increase lung volume and aid breathing technique. Plus, if you have asthma (哮喘), the pool provides an ideal exercise setting, as it’s humid and usually, a low dust environment.

Swimming may boost brain power.

Swimming has unique benefits in improving cognition (认知). In one study, participants who did a 20-minute swim responded faster on cognitive tests conducted immediately after their swim.     3    

Swimming may put you in a better mood.

All exercise can be a mood booster.     4     But a study published in the Journal of Psychology found that a 40-minute swimming improved mood even more than an aerobic dance of the same time. In the meantime, swimming can reduce stress, lower anxiety, and fight depression.

    5    

If the previous reasons aren’t enough to convince you of the benefits of swimming, perhaps this one will: It can keep you from early dying. According to a report conducted by Swim England, swimmers had a 28 percent lower risk of early death compared with those who don't swim.

4 . Teenagers who take part in arts and cultural activities, such as dance, drama, reading and going to concerts, are less likely to engage in antisocial and criminalized behavior up to two years later, according to a new study by researchers from UCL (University College London) and University of Florida.

For the peer-reviewed study, published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, researchers looked at data from more than 25,000 teenagers in the United States who had filled out questionnaires over several years.

They measured the teenagers’ overall engagement with arts activities based on a wide range of factors, from involvement in school clubs, orchestras, choirs, and arts classes outside school, to whether they had visited museums or been to concerts, or read on their own. Researchers looked at data from two US-based studies of 1988, whose participants were nationally representative. The research team analyzed questionnaires filled in by teenagers and their parents between 1988 and 2002. The average age of participants at the start of these studies was 14 to 15.

In one of the groups, about half of adolescents reported engaging in antisocial and criminalized behaviors in the last 12 months. The average number of times participants engaged in these behaviors over the year was 1.6. Although the researchers found that arts engagement was linked to fewer positive perceptions of antisocial behavior and better self-control scores, they could not conclude that these factors were causally responsible for the association between arts engagement and antisocial behavior as the study was observational. Nonetheless, in considering mechanisms through which the arts could reduce antisocial behavior, the researchers cited previous studies showing improvements from arts engagement including increased empathy, more prosocial (亲社会的) behavior, reduced boredom and improved self-esteem, as well as better emotion regulation.

5 . There is nothing like a coast redwood. It is the planet’s tallest tree, soaring to heights of more than 320 feet into the sky. They have trunks that are more than 27 feet wide and can live for over 2,000 years. Some of the gentle giants living today were alive during the time of the Roman Empire.

Before the mid-19th century, coast redwoods spread throughout a range of some 2 million acres along the California coast. People had been peacefully co-existing with the forests forever. But with the gold rush came the logging (伐木作业); and today only 5 percent of the original old-growth coast redwood forest remains along a 450-mile strip of coast. And as the planet warms up, the specific conditions required by the redwoods change; their future doesn’t look so great. Animals can migrate north to escape the south’s warming temperatures; trees, not so much.

But with David Milarch on the case, maybe they can. In 1991, Milarch literally died from a life-threatening illness, before being revived and springing back to life. There’s nothing like a near-death experience to inspire a new course in life, as was the case with Milarch. His new quest? To harvest the genes of the coast redwoods and give them an assist in migration.

“I feel sorrow that 95 percent of them were killed and we didn’t even know what they do to strengthen our ability as human beings to live on this planet,” says Milarch. “We killed them. That’s the bad news. To put back every single tree that was cut down and killed. And I’m going to do it. ” By cloning and replanting them in places where they once thrived (繁荣) but were lost, he is not only increasing their numbers but planting them in locations where they have a better chance of longevity. And the result is two-fold: Save the trees and save the planet for humankind. Redwood trees are among the most effective carbon sequestration (碳封存) tools in the world.

6 . When I had the chance to enter a contest to meet Jane Fonda, I signed up. To my great surprise, I was one of the winners. I thought this was a ______ that my luck was changing. I had always enjoyed Fonda’s ______ and was thrilled to have the chance to ______ her.

Fonda was seventy-five then and looked wonderful ______. She really made me feel special as we discussed one of her films I had recently seen and we ______ for a picture together.

I was thrilled when I received an e-mail the next day. But my ______ turned to embarrassment when I looked at the photo. Fonda looked as extremely good as expected, but I was ______ twice her size. Fonda was thirty years older than me, but she looked better than me, and more youthful, too. Her dedication to ______ had really paid off.

My friend Jon comforted me, saying that anybody would ______ in comparison to a movie star. But that picture made me ______. I couldn’t be as beautiful as Fonda, of course, but at least I could ______ her from her fitness program and start ______.

The next month, I decided to lose weight and get in shape. The way I looked in that photo ______ me to keep on going. I ______ my fitness journey with mall walking and then worked 5 kilometers a day. I began running ______ as I lost weight. My fitness journey led me to lose eighty-five pounds.

7 . Accidents happen, especially when kids are in the house, and being prepared with a first-aid kit is always a great idea.     1     Having a first-aid kit on hand for your child will help put your mind at ease and let you and your family worry less when injuries occur. Making your own first-aid kit ensures your kit has everything your child could need in an emergency.

 Decide on the right size for the kit. 

Consider how and when the kit will most likely be used and where it will be stored.     2     A manageable size for a container that would still be able to contain the necessary items for your kid is a case the size of a shoebox.

    3    

First-aid kits can come in a variety of sizes and are built from a variety of materials. Choosing the right material for your first-aid kit should again be based on how the kit will be used by your child.

 Make sure the container can be locked. 

When the kit is not in use, you want to make sure that the contents of the first-aid kit are unable to be changed by any younger children in the house who aren’t mature enough to use the kit.     4    

 Label the box as a children’s first-aid kit. 

The kit should be labeled clearly as a first-aid kit for kids.     5     You should also paint or attach a symbol to show that it should be used for first aid.