What We Should Know about Honey
The process that produces honey may have helped form humans too. Scientists believe that wild hives full of honey provided the calories that early humans such as Homo erectus (直立人), walking in Africa , needed to develop their brains into those of modern humans. That puts honey in a class with fire, tool use, and hunting as a key ingredient in the evolution of human beings.
With time, those evolved brains learned to domesticate bees to produce honey in a farmed setting. Today’s beekeepers support large-scale industrial farms, which would be unable to grow their crops without hiring traveling groups of bees to come pollinate (授粉) their vast, single-species fields. The bees will endlessly fill the towers of combs put onto their hives by the beekeeper, who then collects the extra honey for human consumption while still leaving the bees all they need to eat.
Today, the average American consumes nearly a pound and a half of honey every year, in tea, on toast, and beyond. Honey is a timeless treasure. Literally—it never goes bad. Samples nearly 3,000 years old found in the Egyptian pyramids are as eatable as the day they were entombed. Its anti-microbial nature also makes honey an excellent cure for wounds, keeping infection out while holding in the moisture that skin needs to heal.
However, bees’ good health is not guaranteed. U.S. beekeepers lose about 40 percent of their hives annually to colony collapse disorder. The problem lies in the growth of industrial agriculture and pesticide use, as well as changes in weather patterns, all of which reduce the number of flowers bees have to visit. If bees continue to die, apples and peaches (along with any crop that relies on their pollination) will become scarcer and pricier. As will honey.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For thousands of years, Chinese people have valued the large family with three, four, or even five generations living under the same roof. That's what we call an extended family. Now it is changing. Compared to extended families. nuclear families which involve only two generations living together are becoming the trend. Apart from family size, these families are also featured by reduced dependence on the last generation. Young people are able to make decisions on their own and children are less likely to be brought up by their grandparents.
The reason for the tendency of nuclear families can be reflected as follows. It's a time when young people think highly of individual freedom. Young people like to have personal space that won't be disturbed by the old generations. In this way, they are more likely to avoid conflicts caused by different living habits from their parents.
It's also a time when social welfare institutions are highly advanced for old people to lead a comfortable life . Senior citizens can live together in some nursing homes and be taken good care of by specialized nursing workers, which may base young people's heavy burden of attending their aging parents.
However, the problem concerning attending to children turns up as the number of nuclear families increases. Young people are busy with their work and spend less time with their children. As a result, lacking enough care both from their parents and grandparents during their growth, children may develop mental illnesses like loneliness and depression. Many young people, therefore, hire babysitters to look after and keep company with their children, which adds a financial burden to them.
Facing the problem above, young people can seek help from old generations, communities and government. Old generations are welcomed to take care of their grandchildren, especially when young people are asked to work overtime. Communities ought to organize some volunteers to look after unattended kids. And government can set up special loads for young people to relieve their financial problem. With the joint efforts, nuclear families are expected to fit in well with the development of the society.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Picture this: you’re out to dinner with a friend who you know makes a lot more money than you do. When you open the menu, your heart sinks. There’s not a dish in sight that is less than $35, and even a soup is going to run you $18. You probably vow (发誓) to stick to dollar pizza slices the rest of the month to balance out this dinner. However, this time, what if you just turned to your friend, closed the menu, and said, “Sorry, I have to be honest. I can’t afford this. Let’s go somewhere else?” That’s the idea behind “loud budgeting”, a trend that could not only relieve you of the financial burden, but help you deal with these sorts of stressful situations both mentally and emotionally.
The term was first introduced by TikTok (抖音) comedian Lukas Battle. Battle explained his concept in an interview: simply put, loud budgeting is being honest about what you do and don’t want to spend money on.
It’s not just a TikTok thing though. Even those in the financial services industry are on board with the trend. Nikolina Cuca, a financial advisor, says that she’s seen social media add pressure to her clients, causing them to spend beyond their means on luxury items. “There should be no shame about trying to match your spending to your means. This trend helps young people moderate spending by normalizing the idea of living within budgets.”
Beyond just saving money, loud budgeting is also bringing people closer. Honest money talks lead to greater respect among friends and family. By openly discussing money goals, people are creating stronger bonds based on mutual understanding for each other’s financial situations.
As more people adopt this approach, it is likely to stay a big part of how we handle money in the future.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Wise Way to Make Families Rules
All groups, of whatever size or nature, need standard operating procedures. Without them, groups may very well fall into confusion, chaos and conflict. The functions that rules can serve are indispensable. When it comes to parenting, making rules can make a big difference in our family as well. Actually, the issue is not whether our families need rules. We do need them. The real issue is how to motivate all family members to comply with (遵守) them.
At some time in our lives we all have felt unmotivated to comply with some rule or policy that we had no voice in making. Denied the opportunity to participate in establishing a rule, most people feel imposed upon and resentful of the new rule. But when people actively participate in setting a rule or making a decision that will affect them, they are more highly motivated to comply with it. We call this the Principle of Participation, and it has proven its effectiveness in families as well.
When children are given the opportunity to participate in setting rules or making decisions that will affect them, several good things happen. Children feel better about themselves — having more self-esteem (自尊心) and self-confidence. Such a good effect is due to their feeling that they have gained more “fate control” over their own lives. They also feel they are equal members of the family with an equal voice in making decisions and establishing rules — they’re part of a team, not second-class citizens. This means that families that function collaboratively and democratically will have closer and warmer relationships than those in which the adults act as bosses or authorities expecting the children to obey the rules made for them.
Another important reason for encouraging the full participation of family members in decision making is that it often produces higher-quality solutions to problems. Two heads (or three, or four) are better than one. Shared decisions will be based not only on the knowledge and experience of the adults but also on those of the children. The admonition (告诫) that father knows best should be challenged now.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Light the Cities of the Future
A previously unlit cycle path in the Netherlands has recently drawn our attention. It has been resurfaced with a material that consists of thousands of shining stones in order to create a well-lit route. The Van Gogh Path, so called after the artist who lived in the town of Nuenen in 1883, combines the traditional with the contemporary in a gesture that acknowledge ledges Van Gingh’ masterpiece The Starry Night, but also shows the way ahead for city lighting. The Van Gogh Path is not a single case; it is not difficult to foresee a time when natural materials could help light the cities of the future.
Why should we care about city lighting? What’s wrong with current electrical city lighting anyway? Well, the problem that it causes is two-fold. First, of course, electrical lighting in most cities comes from non-renewable resources. According to the International Energy Agency, almost 20% of global electricity is consumed for lighting, which is responsible for high levels of carbon emissions. But there’s also the belief that electrical light itself is a form of pollution by destroying our view of the night sky.
From the above reasons, then, it seems wise to investigate other approaches. The city of Glasgow is attempting to use intelligent street lighting to monitor how citizens interact with the urban landscape and minimize electrical consumption and thus emissions. This “Smart City approach” is seen by many as the way of the future, but some designers aren’t convinced. They are pioneering the altogether more original approach of using materials from the natural world in order to replace electrical light entirely. They believe that this new “technology” can one day completely replace microchips and digital systems as we find better ways of making use of the light-producing mechanisms (制) that already exist in the natural world.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I love charity shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations. They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’ s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than £110million a year, funding medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________If you’re anxious about your exams, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Every year, many young people sit exams and whether they love or hate them, most of them will face some anxiety in the lead up to the big day. It might seem like a stressful time when the pressure is on to pass that all-important test but take a deep breath and absorb some good advice from people who’ve been through the same experience as you.
Eating the right food can feed your brain and keep you alert. Nutritional therapist Kerry Torrens recommends making breakfast the most important meal of the day. She recommends eating energy-giving oats and eggs, which contain a nutrient called choline—thought to help cognitive performance and improve memory. And don’t forget to drink lots of water to keep you hydrated — some research even suggests students who take water into the exam hall may even improve their grades.
One thing I know I always need is a good night’s sleep to help me work and think better the next day and that’s what’s recommended for anyone preparing for their exams. If you get good sleep your memory is better and that means you can remember the information you have revised. And it’s good to get relaxed before bedtime too — no watching TV or chatting on social media!
There comes a point when your brain can’t absorb any more information so you’ll also need to know when to stop. Lisa Artis from the Sleep Council says sitting on your bed when you’re cramming (死记硬背) is not a good idea because then you associate that place with stress. Revising for exams can also sometimes seem endless, so it’s good to take breaks and reward yourself with a small treat, like a cake or a quick run around the block.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Why Socks Help You Sleep Better
If you’re one of those people who has trouble falling asleep, listen up. You might fall asleep 15 minutes earlier and wake up far less during the night if you put on a pair of socks at bedtime.
To understand why you first need to grasp the relationship between core body temperature and sleep. During daylight hours, the human body hums along at an average temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). But at night, your core body temperature dips as much as 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) over the course of six or seven hours of sleep.
This gradual decrease in core body temperature, as it turns out, is a key part of the complicated neurobiological (神经生物学) dance of falling asleep and staying asleep. And the faster you can lower the core body temperature, the faster you will fall asleep. Researchers have show that warming the feet before going to sleep using a warm feet bath or by wearing socks promotes vasodilation (血管扩张), which in turn lowers the body’s core temperature faster than going to sleep with cold, bare feet.
Scientists suppose that socked feet have a neurological effect as well. Inside the brain’s “thermostat (恒湿器)” is a type of neuron called a warm-sensitive neuron (WSN) that increases its firing rate when there’s a temperature difference between the body’s core temperature and extremities like the feet. Research has shown that WSN firing rates go way up on the beginning or slow wave or deep sleep and gradually decrease prior to waking up. So WSNs may play a role in generating the sensation of sleepiness that helps us fall asleep and stay asleep. And if that is the case, warming up the feet before bed time gives WSNs an extra power.
In a small study, researchers found that wearing a pair of special sleeping socks not only sped up the beginning of sleep, but increased overall sleep time by an average of 30 minutes and cut nighttime waking periods in half.
If you are worried about becoming too warm while wearing socks in bed, look for ones made of natural breathable fibers.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ways to Stay Motivated
Many distance learners agree that the most difficult part of studying online is staying motivated. Because students must take the initiative to complete their courses completely on their own, without the physical presence of teachers and other peers, many students find it easy to become distracted and discouraged in their work. Don’t let this happen to you-plan ways for yourself to stay motivated before you’re tempted to stray from your books. Use the following motivational tips to stay on task.
Find a friend or relative who has similar interests or who would enjoy hearing about your studies and let them know what’s going on in your classes. You’ll understand the material better when you have a chance to explain it out loud and will be motivated to stay on task in order to keep up with the conversation.
Don’t rely on campus consultant; design your own map of completed classes and post it somewhere that is visible daily. There’s a certain satisfaction that comes with watching your goals be accomplished. When times get hard, you can always turn to your chart and see how far you’ve come.
You get rewarded for good credit and safe driving. Why shouldn’t you reward yourself for doing well in your coursework? Whether it be a night on the town, a new dress, or even a new car, setting up a reward system just may be the extra push you need to succeed. If you stick to your system, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Before you head out to a run event where there will be many people, you should be aware of the dangers of a crowd crush.
Though the risk of crowd crush is rare, it can be deadly when it happens. Crowd crush occurs when many people are packed together and begin to fall over one another. In the past, such instances have caused horrible injury and even death. To avoid such a fate, it’s best to escape the crush before it happens.
Before attending a crowded event, look up a map of the venue. This will give you an idea of the surroundings - pay special attention to any exits. Once you arrive, choosing the right spot can be crucial. Avoid the middle or front; instead, pick the back or edges of a crowd. It’s also important to trust your feelings. Stay aware to see if you feel packed in at any point. The more crowded the event becomes, the sooner you may need to retreat to a safe place.
If you do end up in a crush, here’s how you can stay safe. The most important thing you can do is stay on your feet. To do this, spread your feet apart and bend your knees a little. Also make sure to move with the flow of the crowd. Trying to move against a crowd of people will only end in disaster.
Helping others is another great way to keep everyone safe. Once one person falls down, more people tend to fall over them. So if your neighbor in the crowd falls to the ground, help them up.
A common cause of death in a crowd crush isn’t being crushed but rather losing air. It’s best to hold out your arms in front of your chest. This allows space between you and the person in front of you. It also protects your chest and lungs from being crushed on the ground should you fall.
There is usually fun where the crowds are, so enjoy yourself. But remember to stay alert!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
