They say music is universal, and it seems to be true since wherever we go, we see people listening, playing or dancing to it. We tend to think that music is larger than our cultural differences and shows the deeper connections between us.

    But according to a recent study published in the Current Biology, music doesn't speak to everyone. There is a condition, the researchers argue, called "musical anhedonia". They say that those who have this condition may have few abilities to experience pleasure from music.

    For the study, 30 people listened to the same, mostly classical music pieces. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire on how they felt about the music. At the same time, the researchers measured their heart rate and skin reaction, which are considered physiological measures of feelings.

    According to the researchers, most of the people in the study got pleasure from the music. They had a quicker heartbeat and sweatedmore. However, a small number of them had very little and even no pleasant feeling while they were listening to the music. These people had none or very few of the physical signs which the others in the study experienced.

    The researchers say that this means people have different abilities to enjoy music and that "there are people who specifically can't enjoy music at all"

    To study the condition more deeply, another group of scientists, at Columbia University, US, researched brain activities. They found that the key is the blood flow to the reward system in the brain. People who got less pleasure from music had comparatively lower blood flow to areas involved in the reward system of the brain when they were listening to music.

    The lower blood flow makes it more likely that the brain's "reward system" will be inactive. And it will produce less of the "pleasure chemical" dopamine. As a result, people get less pleasure from music.

    If the research is correct, according to National Public Radio, there are simply people who just don't get music. They may get pleasure from many things, but a good tune isn't one of them.

    The World Health Organization(世界卫生组织) says air pollution kills seven million people around the world each year. Even if polluted air does not kill us, it can make us very sick.

    However, breathing dirty air may do more than hurt your body. It can also affect(影响) your brain and your ability to think.

A new study shows that air pollution can cause a "huge" reduction(减少)in our intelligence(智商).The researchers reported that long-term exposure(暴露) to air pollution can affect a person's mental(智力的) abilities in two areas: language and math.

Xi Chen, the researcher of the Yale School of Public Health led the study. He and his team found that breathing polluted air can reduce a person's education level by about one year.

    Chen said that the effect(结果) generally is worse for those over 64 years of age, for men and for those with little or no education.

    "The older persons-they are more affected. And we find, quite interestingly, men are more affected than women. And people working outdoors are more affected than people working indoors.

The researchers noted that the effect of pollution on language ability is even more serious as people age, especially among men and the less educated.

    Why were language skills more affected than math? There are two main kinds of tissue(组织)in the brain: white matter and grey matter. White matter is more connected with a person's language skills, while grey matter is connected to our ability to solve math problems. Studies have shown that air pollution has a great effect on the white matter in the brain, but not the grey matter.

    Chen said that air pollution did affect the math skills, just not as much as their language skills.

Music is good for us. According to the new study from the World Health Organization (WHO), music can 1 us happy and healthy. For example, when I feel 2 listening to some classical music helps me relax. When I'm down, I like pop music full of hope and love. It is easy for 3to fall asleep with light music. Some doctors 4 that people who love music may have a long life.

Near my house, a man and his wife have a small music house with mood music(情调音乐). People like to spend time here when 5are plying different kinds of music. Sometimes, we are lucky to hear some famous singers sing songs written by themselves. The songs are 6beautiful that we sing along with them. We communicate(交流)with one another 7 his special language. The most moving music is Chinese folk music(乡村音乐). It 8_us the sweet days in the past.

Everyone of us, rich or 9, young or old, may have his favorite song. 10 will be together with us as long as we live.

Courage is often thought to be one of the important spirits everyone needs. Then what is courage? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential(潜力). Kids build courage as they are growing up.

Many people talk about connections between courage and fear. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If there is no fear, there is no need for courage. That is to say, courage is the ability to do what makes you feel afraid. Courage doesn't only mean great actions such as saving one's life or taking a big risk. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, we show courage when we raise our hand to answer a hard question during class or try a new sport.

Courage is in everyday choices we make. Can you be kind to the new kid in class? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Or can you stand up for someone in need? Often, these things don't come with praise, but they need courage.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} When we become brave enough to face failure, we'll be more willing to try new things and try again after we fail. Courage doesn't always shout. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, "I'll try again tomorrow."

Chinese researchers reached the top of Qomolangma on May 4th, 2022. They set up the world's highest automatic(自动的)weather station at an altitude(海拔)of 8,830 meters. The station helps Chinese scientists to directly collect data (数据) from the top of the world's highest mountain and study the effects of climate (气候) change on the environment. 

Collecting and studying data from Qomolangma is not easy. But the data will give valuable information about the condition of local glaciers（冰川）and mountain snow. The water from the glaciers and mountain snow has been the source(源头)for over 10 main rivers in Asia and it has fed more than 2. 5 billion people 

It will also help scientists study and understand the global monsoon system (全球季风系统),so experts can make proper decisions about climate change and sustainable(可持续的)development. 

With the efforts of Chinese government and many years hard work by scientists, China has become a global front—runner in fields related to the Qinghai —Tibetan Plateau.