Neuroscientists have explained the risky, aggressive or just plain baffling behavior of teenagers as the product of a brain that is somehow compromised. Groundbreaking research in the past 10 years, however, shows that this view is wrong. The teen brain is not defective. It is not a half-baked adult brain, either. It has been forged by evolution to function differently from that of a child or an adult.

    The most important of the teen brain's features is its ability to change in response to the environment by modifying the communication networks that connect brain regions. It allows teenagers to make enormous progress in thinking and socialization. But the change also makes them sensitive to dangerous behavior and serious mental disorders.

    The most recent studies indicate that the riskiest behaviors arise from a mismatch between the maturation of networks in the limbic system(边缘系统), which drives emotions at adolescence, and the maturation of networks in the prefrontal cortex（前额皮质）, which occurs later and promotes sound judgment and the control of impulses. Indeed, we now know that one's prefrontal cortex continues to change noticeably until his 20s. And yet adolescence seems to be starting earlier, extending the “mismatch years.”

    The plasticity of networks linking brain regions—and not the growth of those regions, as previously thought—is key to eventually behaving like an adult. Understanding that, and knowing that a widening gap between the development of emotional and judgment networks is happening in young people today, can help parents, teachers, counselors and teenagers themselves. People will better see that behavior such as risk-taking and turning away from parents and toward peers are not signs of cognitive or emotional problems. They are a natural result of brain development, a normal part of adolescents learning how to negotiate with a complex world.

    The same understanding can also help adults decide when to intervene. A 15-year-old girl's departure from her parents' tastes in clothing, music or politics may be a source of anxiety for Mom and Dad but does not indicate mental illness. A 16-year-old boy's tendency to skateboard without a helmet or to accept risky dares from friends is not unimportant but is more likely a sign of short-range thinking and peer pressure than a desire to hurt himself. Knowing more about the unique teen brain will help all of us learn how to separate unusual behavior that is age-appropriate from that which might indicate illness. Such awareness could help society reduce the rates of teen addiction, motor vehicle accidents and depression.

    For years I wanted a flower garden. But then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was limited, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden. I wasn't sure, though, I mean, gardens do cost money.

Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by. I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches.

    There was a money tree in my yard !It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. There was also a note attached: “IOU eight hours of digging time. Love. Marvin.”

    Marvin kept his promise, too. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed for me. And my other children bought me tools, ornaments, a trellis, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.

That was three years ago. My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted. When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they are right there with me. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes every time.

I'm still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

    It's common knowledge that there are many benefits to being fit, but one large new study found that skipping out on the gym is practically the worst thing you can do for your health. In fact, the study claims not exercising might be more harmful to your health than smoking.

    New findings, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, detail how researchers at the Cleveland Clinic studied 122,007 patients from 1991 to 2014, putting them under treadmill (跑步机) testing and later recording death rates. Researchers found a clear connection between a longer, healthier life and high levels of exercise. The report calls for health care professionals to encourage patients to achieve and continue a strong and healthy fitness routine.

    Although it is widely understood that an active lifestyle can lead to a healthy life, the study concludes that a lifestyle which involves much sitting but little activity is equal to having a major disease and the simplest cure is exercise.

    Dr Wael Jaber, co-author of the study, called the results totally surprising. “Being unfit on a treadmill or in an exercise stress test has a worse prognosis (病情预断), as far as death, than being a smoker or suffering from high blood pressure,” Jaber told CNN. “We've never seen something as noticeable as this and as objective as this.”

    The study also took a look at the risk of being overactive and found that extreme exercisers do not face higher risk of death: the research found that the more a person exercises the lower their death rates.

Music

    Opera at Music Hall: 1243 Elm Street. The season runs June through August, with additional performances in March and September. The Opera honors Enjoy the Arts membership discounts. Phone: 241-2742. http://www.cityopera.com.

    Chamber Orchestra: The Orchestra plays at Memorial Hall at 1406 Elm Street, which offers several concerts from March through June. Call 723-1182 for more information. http: //www.chamberorch.com.

    Symphony Orchestra: At Music Hall and Riverbend. For ticket sales, call 381-3300. Regular season runs September through May at Music Hall in summer at Riverbend. http://www.symphony.org/home.asp.

    College Conservatory of Music (CCM): Performances are on the main campus(校园) of the university, usually at Patricia Cobbett Theater. CCM organizes a variety of events, including performances by the well-known LaSalle Quartet, CCM's Philharmonic Orchestra, and various groups of musicians presenting Baroque through modern music. Students with I.D. cards can attend the events for free. A free schedule of events for each term is available by calling the box office at 556-4183. http://www.ccm.uc.edu/events/calendar.

    Riverbend Music Theater: 6295 Kellogg Ave. Large outdoor theater with the closest seats under cover (price difference). Big name shows all summer long! Phone: 232-6220. http://www.riverbendmusic.com.

If you've ever seen elephant seals (象海豹) lying on a beach, you might think that they're always. sleeping. But in fact, they spend about seven months of the year in the ocean. So how do they sleep while they're in the ocean?

Even though elephant seals are large animals, they have to be careful in the ocean. Near the surface, some dangerous animals like sharks might attack(攻击)them. So elephant seals spend most of their time diving (下潜) deep underwater, looking for food.

To find out how they sleep in the deep, a scientist named Jessica Kendall-Bar created a special cap. She and her team put the caps on thirteen female young elephant seals. The caps recorded the elephant seals brain activities. They also collected information on the elephant seals' heart rates (心率), how their bodies were moving, and how deep they were.

The scientists learned that elephant seals sometimes sleep for a short time while they are diving. They only sleep for about 10 minutes at a time. As they begin to sleep, the elephant seals can control their bodies. But when they are deeply asleep, they simply begin to fall, spinning (快速旋转) in a circle "like a falling leaf". The elephant seals wake up in time to go up for more air. In shallower (较浅的) areas, the elephant seals sometimes wake upon the seafloor.

Using the information they collected from the cap-wearing elephant seals, the scientists created a computer program to study older records of elephant seal trips. The scientists found that elephant seals only sleep for about two hours a day when they're in the ocean. That means that the rest on land is very important for them. Back on land, they sleep for about 10. 8 hours a day.

The scientists hope that their work will help to protect the places where elephant seals sleep when. they're on land.

Are you too responsible？

Taking responsibility is an essential element of strong leadership. But when the scales tip to over-responsibility, both the leader and their team suffer. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Define what you're truly responsible for. When it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, try the following pie-chart exercise.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Draw a circle on your paper and allocate responsibility for the situation to each person on your list. Add up those amounts and determine the remaining percentage. The amount left over is your actual share of responsibility.

Examine your assumptions. To start overturning your over-responsibility habit, examine the beliefs and fears that keep it alive. Are they really true? Reframe the release of responsibility and consider that you're empowering others. Allow them to struggle with a task, solve their own problem, or own up to a mistake. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Give responsibilities back. Whether you willingly assumed a given responsibility or it was placed on you, it's time to return it to its rightful owner. Identify one responsibility you can return to a specific person. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Expect a few discomfort at first, but resist the temptation to jump back in.

Accept help. If you're overly responsible, you likely say "yes" whenever others ask for help but don't ask for any yourself. It's time to rebalance your give-accept proportion {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If someone asks if they can take something off your plate or offers to do something for you, say "yes."

Rightsizing your responsibility is not about escaping what is yours to own but finding a more appropriate balance. By taking 100% of your responsibility, but not more, you will avoid unnecessary stress and help others grow.

A.Practice accepting offers of help. 

B.Grab a piece of paper and list everyone involved. 

C.It may be a simple task that someone else should be doing. 

D.The following strategies may help you find a more appropriate balance. 

E.In this way，you help them develop greater competence and confidence. 

F.Leaders who ask for help increase the feelings of connection on their team. 

G.If so，these could be signs that you have an overactive sense of responsibility.