Young sunflowers face the sun as it rises in the east and follow it across the sky until it sets in the west. Why does this happen? A team of scientists has finally been able to figure{#blank#}1{#/blank#} how and why young sunflowers move.

    Older sunflowers always face east. However, as it{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(turn) out, an internal（内部的）clock helps young sunflowers track the sun so that they can grow better. US biologist Stacey Harmer and her colleagues had it{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(explain) in a recent paper published in the journal Science on Aug. 5.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(depend) on the time of day, certain growth genes seem to work to different degrees on different{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(side) of young sunflowers' stems（茎）. The east side of their stems grows faster during{#blank#}6{#/blank#}day, causing the stems to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(gradual) bend from east to west. The west side grows faster at night, preparing them for the next morning.

    All this move is highly{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(benefit) to sunflowers. The team found that flowers kept away from the sun had leaves{#blank#}9{#/blank#}were 10 percent smaller on average. According to Harmer, sunflowers which{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (face) with the sun receive more bees and other insects because they like warm flowers.

    Eating soil can produce more effective results{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(compare) to eating slimming pills, claimed researchers from an Australian university. China Press{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(report)that researchers from the University of South Australia were looking for a way to improve the body's absorption towards medication to prevent mental illness.

    They{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(accident)found out that soil does not only attract fat, it could also stop fat from being absorbed into the body and round{#blank#}4{#/blank#}digestive system. Meanwhile, other researchers carried out an experiment by{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(separate)mice into two groups--one group{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(give) slimming pills and the other group with soil.

    After two weeks, the weight of the mice{#blank#}7{#/blank#}ate soil decreased obviously. This was the basis for claims that eating soil might make it{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(easy) for the body to excrete(排泄) fat than taking slimming pills.

    However, they {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(test)to see if eating soil is safe for the body{#blank#}10{#/blank#}if it could cause any side effects in the past few months.

    The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture(雕塑品) Festival is Harbin's main tourist highlight every year. It {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(become) the world's biggest winter festival so far. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} makes the Harbin festival special are the scale and size of the sculptures and the beautiful lighting. It is bigger than the ones in Japan, Norway, and Canada.

    At first, mainly the Chinese took part, but now it is an international festival and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(compete). As the festival grows, the size of the snow sculptures and ice architecture exhibits keeps {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(increase). The work of making these exhibits is {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(astonish), and their size and beauty are amazing.

    The festival is {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(official) held from the end of December through February. Opening dates keep changing, and closing dates partly depend {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the weather. More than 1,000 ice sculptures are on show such as ice lanterns, magical figures and animals that {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(love) by children. It is mostly an ice world {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(aim) at kids. There are interesting activities kids may enjoy, like ice skating. If you are planning a Harbin tour, please attend {#blank#}10{#/blank#} wonderful festival.

    "If you're talking to me in a noisy restaurant and my nerve system is good at locking onto the sound of your voice, I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} understand what you say better."

    The research at Northwestern University shows that {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (play) a musical instrument is good for your brain. And the brain remembers how to "lock onto" the important sounds, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, our ears may not work as well as we age, and that helps us to hear better.

    A scientist, living in France twenty years ago, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (write) about what he called the "Mozart Effect". He said that {#blank#}5{#/blank#} could be helpful to the brain when listening to the classical music of Mozart. Some researchers said that Mozart's music would make you much {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (smart), or even have some health disorders {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (cure). Others said that there was nothing special about Mozart's music. Any kind of high energy music would work. So if the cost of a musical instrument or music lessons is too costly, can we get {#blank#}8{#/blank#} same brain experience just by listening?

    Usually people have teachers, or they can teach themselves music. {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, the point is that they're actively playing a musical instrument and engaging in making music instead {#blank#}10{#/blank#} listening to music passively.