3 . The endangered pandas in the Qinling Mountains might face a new threat: the loss of their food, bamboo, which makes up 99% of their meals.

Adult pandas spend most part of the day eating bamboo and have to take in at least 40 pounds a day to stay healthy. However, a new study published in Nature Climate Change warned that they may soon find their food gone because most of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains might disappear by the end of the century as a result of rising temperature worldwide.

A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has studied the effects of climate change on the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. They have found that bamboo is very sensitive to climate changes. “80% to 100% of the bamboo would be gone if the average temperature rises 3.5 degrees worldwide by the end of the century,” said Liu Jianguo, one of the report’s authors.

He added, “This is how much the temperature would rise by 2100 even if all countries will keep their promises in the Paris Agreement. But you know what is happening all around the world.”

In recent years, China has been trying its best to protect the endangered pandas by setting up more and bigger natural reserves.

“But it is far from enough and the endangered pandas need cooperation from the rest of the world, because their future is not just in the hands of the Chinese,” said Shirley Martin from the World Wildlife Fund but not a member of the team.

The Qinling Mountains, in the southwest of China, are home to about 260 pandas. That is about 13% of China’s wild panda population. In addition, about 375 are living in research centers and zoos in China.

4 . North Americans value independence, and Europeans value togetherness. I never fully understood that stereotype until two months ago, when I left Canada for a 4-month period in a lab in France. On my first day, Pierre, a Ph. D. student, tapped me on my shoulder and asked: “Coffee?” I nodded and followed him to the common room, where other grad students were filling in. I sat there, cautiously sipping the bitter liquid and trying hard not to reveal my uncultured tastes, while lab chatter filled the air.

Coffee breaks are a ceremonial part of lab culture here. The chatter sometimes turns to serious scientific topics. But mostly, the meet-ups offer a chance to wind down, to share stories about life inside and outside the lab and to sympathize with people who understand what you’re going through.

The lighthearted atmosphere and sense of community is a welcome contrast to my life in Canada, where I spent most of my workdays in isolation. I went into the lab each morning with set goals for my day. At lunch, I’d keep my eyes glued to my computer while I fed forkfuls of salad into my mouth, trying to power through my to-do list. For 9 months, I struggled to figure out why I couldn’t exactly copy the results of another study. I didn’t want to trouble my advisor too much. I was also hesitant to ask my labmates for help.

How much we were missing! Researchers need community because good ideas don’t just come from reading literature and thinking deep thoughts. It’s helpful to bounce ideas off others, and, to have a venue to share the day-to-day ups and downs of life.

Would coffee breaks have solved all my problems? Probably not. But I think sharing ideas with my peers would have helped solve my research dilemma. My time in France has taught me that it’s important to create space for organic conversations about lab life. A scientist’s life can feel isolating, but it’s not necessarily so when you’re connected to a supportive community.

5 . Music is not just a set of sounds and rhythms. Its influence on brain is much deeper than any other human experience. Keep on reading to know all these amazing power of music.

A recent study suggests that preterm (早产的) babies appear to experience less pain and feed more when listening to music. Experts led by Dr. Manoj Kumar of the University of Alberta,Canada,found that music had a beneficial effect on reducing pain for preterm babies experiencing painful medical tests. It also appeared to benefit full-term babies during operations.

Many people experiencing brain damage have speech and movement-related problems. Music can help recover from brain injuries. As a different and effective treatment, doctors often advise such patients to listen to good music to improve the parts of the brain responsible for these two functions. When people with neurological (神经的) disorders hear a musical beat, it helps them to regain a balanced walk.

Though music cannot make deafness disappear, it really can stave off the loss of hearing. There was an experiment involving 163 people where 74 were musicians. Participants were asked to pass some listening tests. Musicians heard the sounds better than non-musicians, and this difference gets clearer with age. This means that a 70-year-old musician hears better than a 50-year-old non-musician, even in a noisy environment.

Besides, music mends a broken heart. It is not about a thrown-away love,   but about a heart attack. The matter is that music can help people recover from a heart attack or heart operation by reducing blood pressure, slowing down the heartbeat rate, and reducing anxiety. Listening to the quality music produces positive emotions, improves the movement of blood, and expands blood vessels, thus, promoting quick recovery of the whole cardiovascular (心血管的) system.

6 . Years ago,when we first went to Canada, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children. We thought we’d find a hotel on the way without _________ ahead of time. As it was getting late, we started looking for a hotel, only to find that all the hotels were full.

_________, around 9 p.m., we stopped at a gas station. My husband told the woman behind the counter that we were _________ to find a hotel. She told us it would be _________ at such late time in a busy season. Noticing that we were worried, she said we could spend the night at her home near.

Though surprised at her _________, we gladly accepted it. She then called her son to come and lead the way, since she had to work until midnight. Soon a pick-up vehicle arrived and we _________ it. When we reached her home, her husband _________ us. He invited us to have coffee and we chatted when _________ his wife. She came past 12. We asked if we could leave _________ in the morning so as not to disturb them. They said we were now guests and we’d have to have breakfast with them.

The next morning, around the table were a mass of people, and we were ____________ that they were total ____________ from different countries. After breakfast, when we were ____________, my husband asked if he could offer some ____________. But they said no. Then we left. We kept in ____________ for many years. Later we lost contact, but over the years we have never forgotten their ____________.

7 . Going on vacation can be challenging for people with physical disabilities. Hotels aren’t always clear about how accessible (可进入) they are and the adaptive equipment needed to participate in certain activities can be expensive or difficult to obtain.

This is where the online travel marketplace Wheel the World comes in. The website connects physically disabled people with special tour packages, depending on the person’s needs.

Today Wheel the World offers over 30 accessible destinations in the U.S. and abroad. They’ve served almost 900 disabled people, their family, and friends. Travelers can sign up for trips to destinations such as New York, Hawaii, Paris, London, and Kruger National Park in South Africa. Trip packages can include adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs, which can be used on the beach and in the ocean, and kayaks (皮艇), which can help those disabled to kayak. The team also checks the accessibility of destinations themselves, evaluating things such as door widths, bed heights, bathrooms’ accessibility and if lifts are functioning.

Silberstein, the company’s founder, says there are some trips that are suitable for blind people, though Wheel the World focuses on people with mobility issues. And in the future, they plan to include trips for people with hearing loss, and people with emotional disabilities. “One of the biggest barriers for travelers with physical disabilities is finding information about accessible trips, which is a gap Wheel the World aims to close,” says Silberstein.

Wheel the World is working to enlarge tours in Europe-currently their website lists London and Paris as the only destinations on the continent, but their eventual goal is much higher. “We want to allow millions of disabled people to travel to thousands of destinations,” Silberstein says.

8 . I was never very neat while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Overtime, Kate got neater and I got my merriser. She moved to push my dirty clothing over and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

Who broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! why under my bed!” Suddenly I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up. She quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, crying. Obviously. that was something she could not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart.

Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bad. Cleaned the suckers and swept the floor even on her side. I got so absorbed into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching. Her tears dried and her expression was such disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”

Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

10 . Why Do People Volunteer?

For someone who doesn't do it, trying to understand why people volunteer can be difficult.

    1     But there are several motives that can be used to explain this.

Whenever there have been wars, there have been those who made the decision to join the battle.     2     It's not that they're unaware of the dangers, but it's something they're willing to go through.

    3     An example would be those that join environmental groups. These involve a lot of work, from cleaning out rubbish to taking care of endangered animals. While some view these as thankless tasks, these people are thinking of the future. What they're doing is to preserve the present so there will be a future.

Simple kindness is another factor as to why people volunteer.     4     We see them helping total strangers who become trapped when earthquakes or hurricanes happen. For most, it's simply a matter of doing the right thing.

An individual who becomes financially successful might feel the need to give some of the fortune back. Helping out is one way to do it. For these people, it's not just another way to earn more money.     5     When asked why people volunteer, gratitude and giving back may be the answer.