The Healthy Habits Survey shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits . Here are some findings and expert advice.

    American researchers found females are the more talkative sex because of a special “language protein” in the brain.

    The study, conducted by neuroscientists (神经学家) and psychologist from the University of Maryland, concluded that women talked more because they had more of the Foxp2 protein. The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that higher levels were found among humans that were women but in rats that were males. Their findings came after it was previously claimed that ladies speak about 20,000 words a day — over 13,000 more than men. “This study is one of the first to report a sex difference in the expression of a language-associated protein in humans or animals,” said Prof Margaret McCarthy, who led the study. In their study, the researchers attempted to determine what might make male rats more vocal than their female friends.

    They separated four-day-old rats from their mothers and then counted the number of times they cried out in the “ultrasonic (超声波的) range”, the frequencies higher than humans can hear, over five minutes. While both sexes called out hundreds of cries, the males called out twice as often, they found. But when the pups were returned to their mother's cage, she fussed over her sons first. Tests conducted on the parts of the brain known to be associated with vocal calls showed the male pups have up to twice as much Foxp2 protein as the females. The researchers then increased the production in the brains of female pups and reduced it in males. This led to the female rats crying out more often and their mothers showing more interest in them. In contrast, males became less “talkative”.

    The researchers then tested samples from ten children, aged between three and five, which showed that females had up to 30 per cent more of the Foxp2 protein than males, in a brain area key to language in humans.

    “Based on our observations, we assume higher levels of Foxp2 in girls and higher levels of Foxp2 in male rats is an indication that Foxp2 protein levels are associated with the more communicative sex,” said Prof McCarthy.

    “Our results imply Foxp2 as a component (成分) of the neurobiological basis of sex differences in vocal communication in mammals.”

    Put your car keys away and forget about your travel pass — it's time to do a bit of walking.

    National Walking Month is organized every May by Living Streets, an organization that campaigns for the rights and the needs of pedestrians — indeed, the organization was previously known as the Pedestrians' Association. The association's aim is to make streets safe, attractive and enjoyable spaces for people to live, work, shop and play. By putting people (rather than vehicles) first, Living Streets wants to create streets and spaces where people feel happier, healthier and more sociable.

    The annual campaign gives participants a great opportunity to experience the many virtues（优点）of walking. These include the physical health benefits of becoming fitter; the environmental advantages of not using vehicles（车辆）; the joy of local discoveries seeing more of your local area on foot; the enjoyment of walking with other people, whether family, friends or work colleagues and finally the stress relief that comes from walking—walking can clear your head.

    Walk to School Week, 19 to 24 May, is part of the month's activities and its aim is to encourage parents to send children to school on foot, rather than take them in the car or let them use public transport. The movement was started in 1995 with only five participating schools and now two decades later, more than one million children take part.

    Similarly, there is Walk to Work Week, 12 to 16 May, where grown-ups are encouraged to walk. In the morning, getting off the bus a stop early or parking a few streets away is a good way to add more steps to the daily total. And during the working day, rather than having lunch at the desks or in the canteen, take a walk and get some fresh air. Walk home with your workmates and chat away about everything under the sun but work!

    Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee (拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

    Perhaps the show's popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy (书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It's possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

    But there's still hope for the paint brush. China's Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

    In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher's examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin, “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don't forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.

    When I was a baby, I entertained you and made you laugh. Whenever I was “bad”, you'd shake your finger at me and ask, “How could you?”--but then you'd give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch and I believed that life could not be any more perfect.

    My house-training was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

    Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. Eventually, you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them. But nevertheless, as they began to grow, I became their friend.

    Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your “family”, but there was a time when I was your only family.

    I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said, “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged and gave you a pained look. The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye. And “How could you?” were the only three words that swept over my mind.

    Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen (围栏), I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream.

    My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever. I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me.