Harvard researchers have created a tough, low-cost, biodegradable (可生物降解的) material inspired by insects' hard outer shells. The material's inventors say it has a number of possible uses and someday could provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. The material, made from shrimp ('虾) shells and proteins produced from silk, is called "shrilk." It is thin, clear, flexible and strong.

    A major benefit of the material is its biodegradability. Plastic's toughness and flexibility represented a revolution in materials science during the 1950s and '60s. Decades later, however, plastic's very durability (耐用性) is raising questions about how appropriate it is for one-time products such as plastic bags, or short-lived consumer goods, used in the home for a few years and then cast into a landfill where they will degrade for centuries. What is the point of making something that lasts 1,000 years?

    Shrilk not only will degrade in a landfill, but its basic components are used as fertilizer(肥料), and so will enrich the soil.

    Shrilk has great potential, the inventors said. Materials from which it is made are plentiful in nature, found in everything ranging from shrimp shells, insect bodies to living plants. That makes shrilk low cost, and its mass production possible should it be used for products demanding a lot of material.

Work on shrilk is continuing in the lab. The inventors said the material becomes flexible when wet, so they're exploring ways to use it in wet environments. They're also developing simpler production processes, which could be used for non-medical products, like for computer cases and other products inside the home. They're even exploring combining it with other materials, like carbon fibers, to give it new properties.

Bicycle Safety

    Operation Always ride your bike in a safe, controlled manner on campus(校园). Obey rules and regulations. Watch out for walkers and other bicyclists, and always use your lights in dark conditions.

Theft Prevention Always securely lock your bicycle to a bicycle rack—even if you are only away for a minute. Register your bike with the University Department of Public Safety. It's fast, easy, and free. Registration permanently records your serial number, which is useful in the possible recovery of the bike stolen.

Equipment

    Brakes  Make sure that they are in good working order and adjusted properly.

    Helmet  A necessity, make sure your helmet meets current safety standards and fit properly.

Lights Always have a front headlight—visible at least 500 feet in front of the bike. A taillight is a good idea.

Rules of the Road

    Riding on Campus  As a bicycle rider, you have a responsibility to ride only on streets and posted bicycle paths. Riding on sidewalks or other walkways can lead to a fine. The speed limit for bicycles on campus is 15mph, unless otherwise posted. Always give the right of ways to walkers. If you are involved in an accident, you are required to offer appropriate aid, call the Department of Public Safety and remain at the scene until the officer lets you go.

    Bicycle Parking  Only park in areas reserved for bikes. Trees, handrails, hallways, and sign posts are not for bicycle parking, and parking in such posts can result in a fine.

If Things Go Wrong

    If you break the rules, you will be fined. Besides violating rules while riding bicycles on campus, you could be fined for:

No bicycle registration—————————————————$25

Bicycle parking banned————————————————--$30

Blocking path with bicycle ———————————————$40

Violation of bicycle equipment requirement ————————-$35

How to escape from a car in water

    “If you get on your phone and call your parents or your sister, or 911,you will die, " says Robert May, a 21-year-old veteran （老兵）of the Indiana State. No one else will arrive in time: you have to save yourself.

    Move quickly. Minivans (微型货车) might float for as long as 10 minutes.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} In a study from the University of Manitoba, three passengers were able to exist with a child mannequin (人体模型) through a single driver-side window in justS3segonds.

    Unbuckle (揭开) your seatbelt, lower your window and climb out, ideally onto the roof of the vehicle.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Unfasten them from the backseat, pull them into the front and push them out of your window, oldest ones first. In May's experience, electric car windows will continue to work after falling into water.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Don't open the door, water will flood in. Once full of water, the vehicle will sink fast.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Vehicle submersions (淹没) have one of the highest death rates of any type of single-motor-vehicle incidents, responsible for 400 deaths a year in North America.

    After you get on top of your car, figure out if it makes sense to stay put or swim for dry ground.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Just get out first, May says.

A. From there, call for help.

B. You will be then totally out of danger.

C. Research has been done to confirm this.

D. If there are children present, attend to them first.

E. In one study, a 65-passanger bus sank in nine seconds.

F. Still, keep a small grass-breaking tool on your key ring, just in Case.

G. However, the chances of survival are highest if you get out in the first 60 seconds.

    The end of the school year is in sight — Christmas cards, candy canes and of course, end of year reports.

    While most parents welcome an assessment of their kids' performance, they do not expect their own input to be evaluated. But a school in the UK is changing that. As well as assessing their students, they are dishing out grades to mums and dads. Parents that are really involved in their kids' education are rewarded with an A, and parents that haven't done their bit get a disappointing D.

    The school, Greasley Beauvale Primary in Nottinghamshire, uses standard such as whether mums and dads have attended school events such as plays and parent teacher evenings to decide on the grade. The school's principal, Donna Chambers, said that the scheme had been well received.

    “There were some critics. In spite of it, between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of parents started out in the lower categories but now that has been reduced to just two per cent,” she explained.

    Chambers hopes that the scheme will help motivate parental involvement. “The system is important because you have got to get the parents on board from day one. That one hour initial conversation saying they could improve will make a difference to the rest of that child's academic life”, she said.

    But while the scheme may be well intentioned, it is likely to be connected with parent shaming. There are lots of reasons why some mums and dads might not be involved in school activities such as work commitments, looking after younger children or caring for elderly relatives.

    And of course, being involved in your kid's education doesn't begin and end at school. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes from helping with homework to keeping uniforms freshly laundered. And what about all the parents who stayed up sewing special costumes at the last minute? Surely that earns a gold star instead of a grade!

Tips for Upcoming Senior Two

    People often describe Senior Two as a year with “much more homework, more frequent exams and more fierce competitions”.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Manage your time carefully and make full use of it.

    Try to study not hard but efficiently. Make a to-do-list for your time after school. Don't just spend quite a long time on only one subject.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Remember to take breaks when you feel exhausted.

    ⒉Treat Competition in Class in a right way.

    Don't treat your classmates as potential(潜在的)enemies. Competition cannot be avoided, but everyone wants to study and live in a friendly environment.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}By helping others solve problems, you inspire others, enrich your own knowledge and gain lasting friendship.

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Don't let your former rankings limit you. What really matters is how you treat exams and ranking. Forget the class ranking or grade rankings, but compete with yourself. In a while, you will see yourself climbing in scores and rankings.

    All in all, the coming new school year is sure to be full of challenges. Too much worry only adds to your difficulties in your development.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Wish you the best of luck in the new academic year!

A. Learn for yourself, not for others.

B. Have a right attitude towards your rankings.

C. Good time management skills are very important.

D. Instead, divide the hours into small periods for different subjects

E. When you prepare for the battle, some advice from me may be of help

F. So when they turned to you for help, just share your wisdom immediately

G. If you keep my advice in mind, you will achieve a lot and lead a happy life.

    Being forgiving to yourself and others can protect against stress and the harm it does to mental health, according to a new study in the Journal of Health Psychology.

    Researchers looked at the effects of lifetime stress on a person's mental health, and how more forgiving people got along compared with people who weren't so forgiving. To do this, they asked 148 young adults to fill out questionnaires that assessed their levels of lifetime stress, their tendency to forgive and their mental and physical health.

    No surprise, people with greater exposure to stress had worse mental and physical health. But the researchers also discovered that if people were highly forgiving of both themselves and others, that characteristic alone almost removed the connection between stress and mental illness.

    "It's almost entirely erased—it's zero," says study author Toussaint. "If you don't have forgiving tendencies, you feel the immediate effects of stress in a severe way. You don't have anything to cushion you against that stress."

    How a forgiving personality protects a person from the influence of severe stress is hard to determine. The researchers infer that people who are more forgiving may adopt better skills to deal with stress, or their reaction to major stressors(压力源)may be slow.

    Though more research is needed to fully understand the benefits of being more forgiving, Toussaint believes"100％"that forgiveness can be learned. His own previous research has shown that saying a short prayer on forgiveness can help people take the edge off. "I think most people want to feel good and forgiveness offers you the opportunity to do that," he says.