Although cats may be one of the most popular pets today, little is known about how and when humans and cats set up their close relationship.

    The earliest evidence for human–cat interaction dates back to prehistoric Cyprus(史前塞浦路斯), where the remains of a wild cat and a human — dated 9,500 years old — were found buried together

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed the first direct evidence of a human–domestic cat relationship among Chinese farmers 5,300 years ago. Researchers studied the bones of cats, dogs, deer and other animals unearthed in an excavation (挖掘) near a village in Central China. By using some ways, scientists showed that the cats were living on a mostly millet(黍)–based diet, just like the domesticated dogs and pigs from the site.

"The most reasonable explanation for a high consumption of millet–based food is that the cats had formed a stable and mutual relationship with humans and could easily feed on rodents (啮齿动物) around human villages, find leftover food or even have been fed by people intentionally," said Hu Yaowu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, whose research focuses on the relationship between humans and domesticated animals.

    "It is very interesting for us to find the consumption of millet-based foods by the cats, since this kind of evidence had long been missing.” Hu explains. Since cats usually eat meat, such a diet would be unexpected, unless the cats were being fed by people, the study argues. The researchers also found that one of the cats survived to reach old age, implying that it had a safe place to live and enough to eat.

Why the farmers wanted to keep cats nearby or make them "pets" could be answered by other evidence. Chinese archaeologists found some storage containers were specifically designed to keep out rodents — a vermin (害兽) that cats could certainly have helped with.

The simplified theory is that rats were attracted to the food of farmers, and so were harmful to farmers. Cats were attracted to the rats, and so farmers formed a mutually beneficial relationship with cats, taking care of them in return for pest control.

    The government in China ended his one-child policy and let families have two children instead in 2015.

    A Chinese Communist Party statement gave a number of reasons for the change in policy. The statement said the change is meant to balance population development, stop a falling birth rate(出生率)and strengthen the country's labor force(劳动力). China, with the largest population in the world, started the one-child policy in 1980. But the government allowed only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some families in the countryside could have two children, if the first-born is a girl.

    In 2013, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children if one of them was an only child.

Jiang Quanbao, a teacher and population expert, explained how Chinese families react(反应) to the newest policy. "Too many young people in the cities are no longer interested in having a second child," he said. "People in the countryside are more interested. But some of them are already allowed to have two children." At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800 million of them have jobs. But the labor market need of labor by the year 2050. With the two-child policy, an increase in births can solve this problem.

    Boys and girls, what do you think of the two-child policy? Do you want to have a new-born brother or sister?

B

    Surtsey was born in 1963.Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's（船长）feet. He noticed a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano（火山）was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom（底部）of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.

    Do animals have a culture? What do we mean by "culture?" Lately social scientists have begun to ask if culture is found just in humans, or if some animals have a culture too. When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life a group of people have in common. Culture includes the beliefs and attitudes we learn. It is the patterns of behavior that help people to live together. It is also the patterns of behavior that make one group of people different from another group.

    Our culture lets us make up for having lost out strength, claws, long teeth, and other defenses. Instead we use tools, cooperate with one another, and communicate with language. But these aspects of human behavior, or "culture," can also be found in the lives of certain animals. Animals can make tools, for example. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other animals. Lately, however, we have found that this is not the case. Chimpanzees(非洲小猩猩) can not only use tools but actually make tools themselves. Animals can also share knowledge with each other and use their own language to communicate. So it may be important for us to know that the line dividing us from animals is not as clear as we used to think.

Kids' health: Four steps for fighting stress

    Everybody gets stressed from time to time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Some ways of dealing with stress like screaming or hitting someone--don't solve (解决)much. But other ways like talking to someone you trust, can lead you to solve your problem or at least feel better.

    Try taking these four steps the next time you are stressed:

    ⑴Get support.   When you need help, reach out to the people who care about you. Talk to a trusted adult, such as a parent or other relatives.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}They might have had similar problems, such as dealing with a test, or the death of a beloved pet.

    ⑵Don't take it out on yourself.   Sometimes when kids are stressed and upset they take it out on themselves. Oh, dear, that's not a good idea. Remember that there are always people to help you. Don't take it out on yourself.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    ⑶Try to solve the problem.   After you're calm and you have support from adults and friends, it's time to get down to business.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Even if you can't solve it all, you can solve a piece of it.

    ⑷Be positive.   Most stress is temporary (暂时的). Remember stress does go away, especially when you figure out the problem and start working on solving it. These steps aren't magic, but they do work~ And if you can stay positive as you make your way through a tough time, you'll help yourself feel better even faster.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    Animals, including insects, do not have a language like ours. They do not talk to each other in words and sentences. But if we watch them, we can see that they do have ways of communicating with each other.

    Can you see the rabbit's tail which is moving up and down? When rabbits see this white tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has done this by using its body language.

    Many other animals use this kind of language. When a cobra is angry, it raises its hood and makes itself look fierce. This warns other animals. When a bee has found some food, it goes back to its home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.

    Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning. Sometimes we human beings speak in the same way. We make sounds like "Oh" or "Ah!" when we are frightened or pleased or when we drop something on our toes.

    But we have something that no animals have—a large number of words that have the meanings of things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other all kinds of different information in words and sentences, which no other animals can do. No other animals have so wonderful a language as we have.