1 . Everyday Food

by Martha Stewart

No matter how busy you are, at the end of the day you want meals that are easy to prepare. And you want lots of choices and variations. You’ll find all of that in this book: 250 simple recipes for delicious meals that bring freshness and nutrition.

Paperback, published by Random House, $16.79

Mighty Jack

By Ben Hatke

Jack dislikes summer. But he’s got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his sister, Maddy. It’s lots of responsibility, and it’s boring, too, because Maddy doesn’t talk. But one day, at the market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom’s car for a box of mysterious seeds. It’s the best mistake Jack has ever made.

Hardcover, published by First Second, $14.15

Zeroes

By Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

The New York Times best-selling author Scott Westerfeld teams up with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti in the book about six teenagers with amazing abilities. These teenagers have powers that set them apart. They can do things ordinary people can’t.

Paperback, published by Simon & Schuster, $12.99

Only Daughter

By Anna Snoekstra

She’s caught stealing. She’s homeless and on the run. But she happens to look the same as a girl who went missing a decade ago, Rebecca Winter. She takes Rebecca’s identity, using it as a way out. Little does she know her new life as Rebecca is itself a prison and it looks like a killer might be after her.

Kindle edition, published by Harlequin Enterprises, $8.88

2 . Emotional energy is a relatively new term to describe our vitality (活力).     1     If we feel that some situations drain (耗尽) us, then it’s because they take away all our vitality in matters that are insignificant, but ones that do require effort. They’re situations that only distract us from what’s truly important, and from the things that enrich us. Let’s learn to identify them and avoid them.

A debate is a great opportunity to present your own points of view and learn from other’s opinions. However, something very different happens when two people get into a pointless argument.     2    

    3    . This sort of curiosity is no more than a sign of a lack of identity. Whoever gossips about others looks for themselves in other people. The thing is, they just can’t find themselves.

One of the situations that drain our emotional energy is unstoppable doubt. This is when we think and think but only come up with “ifs” and “buts”. We try to find the right answer or make the right decision just by reflection.     4    

We’re constantly trying to get other people’s approval.     5     Instead of investing time to explore who we are, whether others like us or not, we just spend our time doing things that other people want us to do. Generally, people either accept you or they don’t, and sometimes for reasons that are completely beyond your control.

3 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.

She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9­year­old daughter Bailey.

He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.

Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”

After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.

4 . These days, more and more people go to the gym to work out. But with so many gyms out there, how do you know which one is the right one for you? We find some information about the best gyms in New York City so you can have a better idea of what each gym offers.

New York Sports Club

Initiation Fees: Neighborhood membership, $49.99; Passport membership, $49.99.

Membership Costs: Neighborhood membership, $44.99 a month; Passport membership, $ 99.99 a month.

Additional Fees: Neighborhood membership, $49.99 a year; Passport membership, S 49.99 a year.

Locations: Locations in all five boroughs.

Classes: Studio classes, athletic conditioning, boxing, kickboxing and yoga.

Planet Fitness

Initiation Fees (入会费): Regular membership, $5; Black Card membership, no initiation fee. Membership Costs: Regular membership is $10 a month and includes free fitness training and free wifi. Black Card membership is $ 22.99 a month and includes access to all Planet Fitness locations, free fitness training, free wifi, half-priced cooler drinks and worldwide travel deals.

Additional Fees: $39 membership fee a year.

Locations: Locations in all five boroughs (区).

Classes: None.

Chelsea Piers

Initiation Fees: Call to request.

Membership Costs: For a specific gym, varies by location.

Locations: Chelsea and Brooklyn.

Classes: Strength and conditioning, cycling and yoga.

24 Hour Fitness

Initiation Fees: $0 on select memberships.

Membership Costs: $79.99 for Ultra Sport.

Locations: Midtown and Madison Square Park.

Classes: Studio classes, free weights, group cycling and personal training.

5 . Blind people have long desired for brightness, but scientists don’t have the technology. To bring that one step closer to reality, Zhiyong Fan, a materials scientist of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, developed a new artificial eye recently. The device, which is about as sensitive to light and has sharper vision and a faster reaction time than a real eyeball, may outperform human eyes.

The human eye owes its wide field of view and clear eyesight to the retina (视网膜) — an area at the back of the eyeball covered in light-detecting cells. The design for a new artificial eye is based on the structure of the human eye and uses a friendly light-sensitive material. At the back of the eyeball, an artificial retina is lined with Nan scale light sensors (纳米级光感器). Those sensors measure light that passes through the lens (晶状体) at the front of the eye. Wires attached to the back of the retina send signals from those sensors to the processor, similar to the way nerve networks connect the eyeball to the brain.

“In the future, we can use this to replace damaged human eyes,” says the lead designer. In theory, this artificial eye could see more clearly than the human eye, because the artificial retina contains about 460 million light sensors per square centimeter while a real retina has about 10 million light-detecting cells per square centimeter. Besides, the artificial eyeball records changes in lighting faster than human eyes can — within about 30 to 40 milliseconds, rather than 40 to 150 milliseconds. Although its 100-degree field of view isn’t as broad as the150 degrees a human eye can take in, the device can see as well as the human eye in poor light.

Hongrui Jiang, an electrical engineer at the University of Wisconsin, though, thinks engineers need a much more practical and efficient way to produce vast series of tiny wires on the back of the artificial eyeball to give it superhuman sight, which is super hard to achieve.

6 . All over the world, animals and plants are in trouble. People are trying their best to help them.     1    .

Donate some money.

Many zoos and wildlife organizations have programs that let kids donate money to help a specific endangered animal.     2    .

Don’t release fish or pets onto the wild.

    3    . Your pet is not native to where you live. Set loose, it might become an invasive species, or it might spread parasites. So keep your fish in their tank, or find them a new home but not the pond.

    4    .

Chemicals used to kill garden weeds and bugs are a big problem for animals. Maybe if you offered to pull up the weeds instead, you could help people to use fewer poisons.

Speak up!

Share what you know and speak up for the animals. Write letters! Powerful people need to know that you care and that you’re keeping an eye on them to make sure they do their jobs right and protect the planet.

Make less trash.

Pollution and plastic trash are bad for animals and nature. How can you help?

Bring drinks from home in a refillable bottle.     5    . Take cloth bags to the store and remind grow-ups of they forget.

9 . Jeanne Calment, a French woman, became record breaker on 17 October of 1995, when at the age of 120 years and 238 days, she became the longest-lived human being on record. A Japanese man died in 1986 at the age of 120 years and 237 days.

Jeanne Calment lives in a small old people’s home in the south of France; her husband, her only child and her grandson have all died. She is nearly blind and deaf and is always in a wheelchair, but her doctor describes her as being more like a 90-year-old in good health than someone of 120. She still has a lively sense of humor. When asked on her 120th birthday what she expected of the future, she replied: A very short one. She also remarked that she thought the good Lord had forgotten all about her.

So what is the key to a long life? According to some doctors, diet, exercise and no smoking are the three important factors. Jeanne Calment has followed two of the tips. She has always eaten a healthy diet, and she used to do exercise every day until she broke her leg at the age of 115. However, until recently she drank two glasses of strong red wine a day, and she does smoke (now only a little). Besides, Jeanne Calment might have got very good genes from her parents. Her father lived to the age of 94 and her mother to 86.

A local lawyer bought her house when she was 80 under an agreement that he would pay her some money every year until her death. It must have seemed a good move at the time, but so far the lawyer has paid her at least three times the value of the house. Every year on her birthday Jcanne Calment sends him a card saying: Sorry, I’m still alive!

10 . Have you tried to run or walk for exercise and then given up? If you answered yes, you should try a new kind of exercise: aquatic (水中的) exercise. Aquatic exercise is like exercise on land, but you do it in a swimming pool. More and more people are trying aquatic exercise now.

Aquatic exercise feels easier than exercising on land. Why? You weigh about 90% less in the pool. It is better for your knees than running or walking. Water is about 1,000 times thicker and heavier than air. To move through the water, your body has to work four times as hard. As a result, you can burn (燃烧) more calories (卡路里).

In fact, most people say they feel more relaxed in the water. They stop thinking about the things that make them worried. They feel in control (控制) of their bodies. The cool, quiet environment makes them feel good.

But what if you are afraid (害怕) of the water? No problem! There is nothing to worry about. Aquatic exercise is safe and easy to learn. It doesn’t require (需要) any special skills. You don’t even need to know how to swim. Aquatic exercise is fit for everyone.