Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place?

    Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain "remains more awake" than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.

The sleep findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report they have a harder time sleeping the first night at a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it "first-night influence". "In Japan they say, 'If you change your bed, you can't sleep,'" said Yuka Sasaki, one of the report's writers. "You don't sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it."

    The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart (间隔). They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.

    Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.

    Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they don't know if the left half keeps "watch" all night, or whether it "works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night". They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.

    For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is "looking out for us" in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the sleep people need to wake up well rested in the morning.

    Why do we like drinking water from plastic bottles? Some people think it is healthy and clean. Others drink bottled water because it's easy--you can carry it around with you. In hot countries, like Greece, we often buy bottles of cold water in the summer.

    However, making tots of plastic is not a good idea for many reasons. First of all, we need a lot of oil for plastic products. We usually use oil as a source(资源) of energy. If we reduced the number of bottles we made, we wouldn't need so much oil. Plastic bottles also pollute the environment. If we recycled all our plastic bottles, we wouldn't need so much space for rubbish dumps. But in Greece, we don't recycle much of the plastic we use. In 2006, Greeks recycled only about 10% of plastic waste. The rest became rubbish on land and in rivers and seas.

    So next time you want to throw away a plastic bottle in the litter bin, stop and think. If you recycled it, you would help the environment. But what can you do when there isn't a recycling bin near you? Well, there are lots of useful ways that you can use your bottles again. For example, an empty bottle makes a great piggy bank for your pocket money, and if you cut a bottle in half, you will have a plant pot. Go green! You can make a difference.

As a traditional and meaningful board game, Weiqi was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago and it is still played until today.

The playing pieces are called stones. One player uses the white stones and the other, black. The players take turns to play the stones on the game board. As we know, the board surface has 361 cross points. The stones are placed on them.

Weiqi is also called Go in the world. Learning it can not only improve people's logical thinking ability, but it can also develop their calm character. That's why it is more and more popular with modern people.

In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Weiqi traveled to Japan, and then to Europe in the 19th century. Now it has grown into an international competition event. So far, people from over 40 countries have played it. Among them, players from China, Japan and South Korea have the highest level of Weiqi.

On February 19, Chinese-English Dictionary of Weiqi Term（术语）came out in Beijing. It's the first professional dictionary about Weigi in China. As a symbol of Chinese culture, Weiqi has its special language. It also has its own way of thinking and the method of communicating. The dictionary will serve as a necessary tool and bridge for spreading Weiqi culture.

Do you know pandas? The animals are so cute that many foreign tourists come to China {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (see) them. And some of{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(they) even choose to stay in China. Abe Nobuko, from Japan, is one of them. 

When Abe was three years old, her grandmother {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(buy) her a toy panda. The little girl liked it so much that she went everywhere with it. When Abe grew {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, she learnt a lot about pandas. One day, her mother said to her, "You like pandas so much. Why don't you find a job that has something to do with pandas?" Abe thought it was {#blank#}5{#/blank#} excellent idea.{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(work) as a panda keeper (饲养员), Abe spent a lot of time {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(learn) Chinese. Then she came to China {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(study) in a university. Three years later, she found a job at the panda base (基地) in Sichuan. 

Abe does her best to make sure all the pandas at the base are {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(health) and happy. "I love pandas {#blank#}10{#/blank#} I love the job," she says. 

Mr. Smith lives in America. He is a very kind {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. He has a big farm. He has many{#blank#}2{#/blank#} such as dogs, cats and chickens. He has a horse and it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}for him every day. Mr. Smith loves it a lot. 

One morning, Peter comes to Mr. Smith's home. He would like to borrow(借)the{#blank#}4{#/blank#} to do some farm work. He is lazy and he doesn't often work hard. He is{#blank#}5{#/blank#} to animals and he gives just a little food to his animals. Mr. Smith says, "I'm{#blank#}6{#/blank#} . My horse is unhealthy today. "Mr. Smith takes him{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the horse and says, "Look at{#blank#}8{#/blank#} horse!" The {#blank#}9{#/blank#} horse is lying(躺)on the grass and closing the eyes, and it{#blank#}10{#/blank#} very weak and can't even stand up. In the end, Peter can't borrow it and he goes back to his home.