1 . When colds and flu hit, many people automatically turn to over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to push through and treat their symptoms. Although these medicines are easily accessible and widely used, it might come as a surprise to many people to learn that they are not risk-free. A study estimated that every year, 26,735 people went to the emergency room for adverse (不利的) events related to OTC cold and cough medicines.

When two or more drugs are used together, their interactions can sometimes produce unexpected harmful effects. Physicians are typically knowledgeable about potential drug interactions, so it is very important for patients to ask their healthcare providers which OTC medicines are safe for them to use.

It is important to read the package ingredients of OTC medicines closely to avoid duplication of doses (剂量重复). Cold medicines are typically made up of multiple ingredients. A person who takes a single-ingredient medicine paired with one of these multi-ingredient medicines can receive an unsafe dose of that ingredient.

While everyone could potentially experience adverse effects from cold and flu medicines, some groups — including older adults, children and pregnant women — may be at greater risk. Older people who are using prescribed drugs to treat multiple health conditions may have a higher risk of drug interactions because of the higher number of medicines being used at the same time to treat different conditions. The aging body is not as expert at absorbing, distributing and clearing medicines as younger bodies are. This can put older adults at higher risk for an overdose and drug-to-drug interactions with some medicines.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend giving cold medicines to children under age 4. Because of a variety of factors, young children have a higher risk of an accidental overdose and adverse events that could lead to death.

2 . The village super league, or “Cun Chao” in Chinese, is a soccer game among different villages in Rongjiang County, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, and it is so down-to-earth but popular that it has attracted not only the attention of football legend Michael Owen, but also millions of Chinese netizens (网民), who are paying attention to this non-professional football league.

The players come from a variety of backgrounds. They are vendors, drivers, students, carpenters, tilers, former butchers and brick factory workers. Their ages range from 15 to over 40 years old. At the game site, representatives wearing various traditional national costumes play national musical. instruments and enter the arena (竞技场) with the players, and perform songs and dances.

“This kind of football game is natural and with ‘pureness’ and it is driven by the enthusiasm of the ordinary people not the economic benefits. The game is providing not only values of sports, but also a way of socialising with low costs,” an expert noted. “This kind of atmosphere is very rarely seen and is treasured, especially for people in urban areas who are getting increasingly busy and under great work pressure, and when they look at the fun, relaxing and down-to-earth way of life in the countryside, they will naturally be interested,” experts said. There is at least one good impact brought by “Cun Chao” to Chinese soccer—to make more people see the pureness of joy brought by the sport and encourage them to play soccer.

Today, more and more grassroots sports events are held in the mountains and are using sports as a medium to showcase the unique charm of the local area, reflecting a vibrant lifestyle filled with agricultural activities and rural fun.

3 . Signs that You Are Growing

Growing is a lifelong process. Here are the signs that show you are actually growing and not getting stuck in the process.

    1    

Often, we see how badly people look when they get overly upset due to unimportant things. So the first sign of maturity (成熟) is letting the small things go and not getting angry over a tiny detail that didn’t go as you planned.

You start forgiving and understanding other people.

When we are young, we are often unforgiving. As we mature, we are better able to understand the world beyond black and white. Becoming more understanding is a sign of strength, not weakness.     2     We begin to understand better that others have complex lives and personalities, and so we become more willing to forgive their mistakes.

You always complete things that matter.

Immature people don’t know when to commit (承诺) themselves and their energy or resources are always not well employed.     3     In this way, they can often keep their promises and honor their commitments.

You accept the possibility of being wrong.

    4     They are always able to accept the possibility that they are wrong and that they don’t know something, because there is always more to learn.

Being mature is knowing that you are always growing up. You are never done learning and developing.     5     Rather, you open your mind to other ideas and new possibilities.

5 . On today’s blog post, I’ll talk about my favorite magazines. I love reading books and magazines, and I’m learning so many useful tips about health y living, daily life, etc.

Women’s Health

Women’s Health has a unique content. You can find various interesting information about healthy living or exercises you can do at home. I also love their writers because they explain every topic so simply that you can even understand biological articles.

Healthy Food Guide

I totally recommend it to everyone because it has lots of useful information about being healthy during your daily life. In this magazine, you can find articles about foods you often eat but don’t have much idea what they contain or if they’re healthy. If you are searching for new diets, this magazine gives you all the information.

Time Out

Time Out is a well-known magazine and it’s free in my city. Every time I see a Time Out magazine, I get it because it has lots of useful tips. I got Time Out London when I was in London, and I discovered new restaurants, galleries, museums and events. This magazine has various information about the city life. For example, it gives you the events that are happening near you. It gives you tips for the railway stations and other transportation choices.

La Cucina Italiana

If you love cooking Italian food, this magazine is for you! It has lots of recipes and also restaurant reviews. You can also find popular restaurants near you in this magazine. I’ve also read articles by famous chefs from my city.

9 . How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?

In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.

Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces. They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙), and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.

Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families, They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders — they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus keep what little food sources are available. Yong elephants may even eat the dung (粪便)of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.

During drought (干旱) they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!

As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt (适应) as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.

10 . A mother of nine started medical school, graduated with her degree and plans to be a neurosurgeon (神经外科医生).

Sarah Merrill, now 41, said her journey to medical school began at age 17. She then met her husband and got married. But she decided to follow her dream of attending medical school. Certainly, it was a challenge. She owed her success to her husband’s approval. “When I was accepted by the Medicine School, we moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona to start my internship (实习). In fact, they volunteered these movements. I know it was tough for all of us.” said Merrill.

Merrill and her children often have “homework parties” where they study their own courses. Merrill’s choice has given a stimulus to her children. Merrill felt touched when knowing her daughter and son want to become a doctor.

Merrill’s next step will come into a male-dominated field where women doctors only take up 5%. Dr. Halyard at the Medicine School said Merrill was known as a focused student and added, “If you have the ability to deal with nine children, the internship should be a piece of cake because no amount of stress will make you fail.”

Merrill had considered choosing a more family-friendly major, but, again, chose to dream big and follow her original pursuit. It’s the same advice she would give to all. “Set the goal that is what you’re really enthusiastic about, and it helps to think small. If you know what your priorities are, focus on the next step. Then you’ll get where you want to go.”