How many men do housework? Recently a European Commission tried to find out people's ideas and reactions to the women's movement. As part of their survey, they asked many men and women the question, “Who does the housework?” The men answered very differently from the women!

    The housework they asked people about were: preparing meals, washing dishes, cleaning the house and babysitting. 48% of British husbands said they did these things. 37% of Danish men helped in the house. But only 15% of Italian men said they did the housework, many of them said they never helped at all!

    But there was an interesting point of view from the wives. According to British wives, only 38% of their husbands helped in the house. And Italian wives said that their husbands hardly ever helped. The Italian and British men did not tell the truth! The Commission found that Danish men were the most trustful husbands; their answers were the same as their wives' answers.

    Do the men you know help in the house? Do you think the survey gives a true picture in your experience? Write and tell us what you think.

Best sellers in children's activities ＆ crafts books

    It is not only praise or punishment that determines a child's level of confidence. There are some other important ways we shape our kids—particularly by giving instructions and commands in a negative or positive choice of words. For example, we can say to a child "Don't run into traffic!" or "Stay on the footpath close to me." In using the latter, you will be helping your kids to think and act positively, and to feel competent in a wide range of situation, because they know what to do, and aren't scaring themselves about what not to do.

    Actually, it is all in the way the human mind works. What we think, we automatically rehearse. For example, if someone offered you a million dollars not to think of a blue monkey for two minutes, you wouldn't be able to do it. When a child is told "Don't fall off the tree," he will think of two things: "don't" and "fall off the tree". That is, he will automatically create the picture of falling off the tree in his mind. A child who is vividly imagining falling off the tree is much more likely to fall off. So it is far better to use "Hold on to the tree carefully."

    Clearly, positive instructions help kids to understand the right way to do things. Kids do not always know how to be safe, or how to react to the warning of the danger in negative words. So parents should make their commands positive. "Sam, hold on firm to the side of the boat" is much more useful than "Don't you dare to fall out of the boat?" or worse still "How do you think I'll feel if you drown?" The changes are small but difference is obvious.

    Children learn how to guide and organize themselves from the way we guide them with our words, so it pays to be positive.

    No matter which place you decide to visit in Spain, you'll find a beautiful beach waiting just for you. These popular beaches can meet the needs of people from all walks of life.

    Cala de Algaiarens, Minorea

    With soft golden sand and clear water, this beach is perfect for snorkeling (浅滩潜水) and visiting underwater caves. The beach belongs to a local man, so tourists have to pay a small entry fee. The waves here can sometimes be huge so the beach isn't safe for kids.

    Cala Tarida, Ibiza

    Besides the big music festivals and the exciting nightlife, Ibiza is home to some of the most beautiful beaches; one of them is Cala Tarida. Just relax on the white sand or go swimming in clear water. It is an ideal location to spend a sunny day if you are in Ibiza.

    Beach of La Concha, San Sebastian

    It has been called the best city beach not just in Spain, but also in Europe. It's so popular during the holidays that tourists have to struggle to get some space. Even though the beach is a 10- minute walk from the city, the white sand and the amzing clear waters do make the city a new world.

    Sotavento, Canary Islands

    As an ideal choice for travelers, Sotavento offers 17 miles of white sandy beach. It is blessed with strong water and winds, making it a paradise (天堂) for surfers and kite flyers. The beach also hosts the popular World Kite Surf Championship every August.

The coronavirus in China right now has really turned things upside down for a lot of people, but not even it can come between a marathon runner and his training.

Like many of his countrymen, Pan Shancu, an amateur marathon runner from Hangzhou, in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, is trapped in his apartment because of the COVID-19，but he didn't let that small detail stop him from keeping in shape for his next race, whenever it may be. He has been using the small space in his apartment as a training track, jogging around two tables and the short length of a small hallway, and recently posted on social media.

"I could not bear siting around anymore," Pan wrote. "Let's run laps in the room! Yes, one lap is about eight meters (26 feet) and I ran 50 kilometers (31 miles), I did it in 4:48:44. I am sweating all over, feeling great!"

The runner, who has a marathon best of two hours and 59 minutes, also wrote that he considers his neighbors while jogging, trying to step as lightly as possible on the floor as not to disturb them. He completed 6, 250 circuits in one of his rooms in four hours, 48 minutes and 44 seconds, and his neighbors have yet to complain.

Pan Shancu's achievement spread rapidly like virus this week, with people praising his training spirit, and saying to adopting similar strategies to stay in shape.

"I start in the kitchen, go through the living room, turn into my daughter's room, the less than 20m-long racecourse has beautiful scenery and on my left, my husband's snoring is cheering me on," one commented on Pan's post. "This is a silent battle. My husband's opinion is that I have psychological issues.

It's normal to long for the taste of potato chips or a cheese-covered pizza. Even though they're full of calories, eating them occasionally won't do much harm. However, according to the new numbers, young people are becoming more gluttonous. The BBC's Good Food Nation Survey showed that on average, 16 to 20-year-olds ate fast food at least twice a day in the UK. So what's behind this fast food binge (狂热)?

WebMD, an online publisher of news and information of human health and well-being, surveyed nearly 600 teenagers and adults in the United States. They found that the most common reason was our busy lifestyle. More than 92.3 percent of respondents said they were too busy to cook. Many find it challenging to balance work and life, and the convenience of fast food meets their needs. Fast food is readily available in corner stores and vending machines (自动售货机). Remember those instant noodle cups from the supermarket? They're ready in minutes, and you can store them at home for a long time.

But many people think this trend does no good. Sarah Toule, head of health information at World Cancer Research Fund, told the BBC: "It's frightening that people, especially younger generations, are eating so much fast food loaded with fat, sugar and salt, but offers little nutritional value."

She added, "Especially high in calories, fast food leads to unhealthy weight gain — which in turn increases the risk of 11 cancers later in life."

So what is the right thing to do? Toule suggested that young people should prepare meals in advance and learn to include the different food groups in their diets.