Everything was put neatly into my suitcase．I'm a flight attendant．I'm so organized，my half of the closet could be a display at The Container Store．My husband's half of the closet？Just thinking about it made my head ache．I carried my suitcase downstairs．Bill was in the kitchen cooking．Looking at the messy kitchen，I shouted，“Why do you have to be so messy？” Bill looked hurt，“What？” I sighed and left for the airport．

    On my last flight，an elderly couple had the seats in my section．They held hands during takeoff．Later I caught them looking into each other's eyes．Something about that look was familiar．Then I realized：it was the look Bill and I had worn in our wedding photographs．I couldn't resist asking them about the secret of their long-lasting marriage. “Have fun together，”the man said, “and never take each other for granted．”

    His words circled in my head long after we landed．Bill wasn't perfect．But then，was I？I kept complaining about his messiness and forgot his kindness，his ability to see the bright side of every situation-qualities that ran so much deeper，the reasons I had married him in the first place

    I took out my cell phone and called Bill. “I miss you already.” I said．“I miss you too，Kim，” he said．As soon as my flights were over，I rushed home．Bill met me at the door．"I have a surprise for you．"he said and led me into the kitchen．I glanced around the room．He really had worked hard．In spite of the fingerprints on that microwave floor，I could see our reflection in it：my husband and I，our smiles glowing with love for each other，just like in our wedding photos．

    Most people looking for ways to quit smoking worry about weight gain, and with good reason. Smokers who quit tend to pack on an average of 5 pounds after they stop smoking cigarettes. A new study, published by the journal Science, explains why this happens.

    The new research explains that nicotine appears to combine with appetite-regulating neurons (调节食欲的神经元) in the brain, besides the receptors (感受器) that bring about addiction. These neurons help regulate how much food gets consumed, but under the influence of nicotine, they lose their self-control. This is why when smokers quit, they tend to eat more and gain weight.

    The researchers believe that their discovery will lead to the development of drugs that aim at nicotine receptors on brain cells that control appetite. In the future, weight gain may no longer be a reason for smokers to delay the decision to kick the habit, but that's no reason to wait. Nicotine-replacement treatment, while not for everyone, can help. Here are a few more ways to quit smoking and stay slim.

    Drink water. To improve metabolic (新陈代谢的) rates, make half of those glasses ice water. Juice can be too high in calories, something you'll want to keep an eye on your journey toward being a slimmer non-smoker. Plan your snacks. Healthy snacks help keep your metabolism working, so you continue to burn calories while stopping wild hunger pain, or fake hunger.

    Keep moving. Exercise kills two birds with one stone. It helps you burn calories and prevents you from eating when you're not truly hungry. It's also a feel-good stress reliever (缓解物). Focus on your fitness and how being healthy makes you feel. Make exercise a goal and think of quitting as your reward for being physically fit.

    Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his new place and meet his friends.

    My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him, as a school girl and young adult I feared him and felt bad about him. He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A's and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as "successful" as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.

    On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father's friends for lunch at an outdoor cafe. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate at the street table, and laughed over my son's funny facial expressions. Gone was my father's critical（挑剔的）air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?

    The next day my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I'm at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing, I'm delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he is.

    Waste can be seen everywhere in the school. Some students ask for more food than they can eat and others often forget to turn off the lights when they leave the classroom. They say they can afford these things. But I don't agree with them.

    Waste can bring a lot of problems. Although China is rich in some resources, we are short of others, for example, fresh water. It is reported that we will have no coal or oil to use in 100 years. So if we go on wasting our resources, what can we use in the future and where can we move? Think about it. I think we should say no to the students who waste things every day. Everybody should stop wasting as soon as possible.

    In our everyday life, we can do many things to prevent waste from happening, for example, turn off the water taps(水龙头) when we finish washing, turn off the lights when we leave the classroom, try not to order more food than we need, and so on. Little by little, everything will be changed. Waste can be stopped one day, if we do our best.

    Back in 2009, China was wrongly accused by the West of "controlling" the Copenhagen talks on climate change. By then China had truly carried out strict policies to reduce the energy consumption of economic activities and at the international level, the top Chinese leaders participated in round-clock efforts to cooperate with the major players to build a united front for efforts to solve global warming. But China was finally misjudged.

    This misjudgment caused China's scholars to rethink China's climate change communicative ways. Among them was Zheng Baowei, journalism professor of Renmin University of China, who realized China had to better shape its communication on its environmental protection.

    Delightfully, the efforts have paid off. Zheng set up a top-level international group advising his research team. He is in charge of doctoral candidates on climate change communication. Climate awareness surveys have been conducted, and a package of communication tools has been designed. Many seminars have been arranged.

    Recently, he arranged a seminar on climate change and health communication on the changing situation both in China and the world. First of all, this stressed that China's policy has developed from reducing its energy consumption and pollution prevention to the important goals of achieving a "Beautiful China" and "'Healthy China, "while coming up with plans to realize an ecological civilization since late 2012. With such goals, China played a leading role in securing the Paris climate change deal in 2015 together with the United States and European Union. In Paris, China promised to let out its carbon to the maximum in 2030.

    It is a demanding job communicating climate change and other topics of lasting development well. Despite that, some foreign scholars have realized China's smart ways in presenting the green concepts. They appreciated China's idea of building a "Beautiful China" and "Healthy China" and said it can he expanded into an idea of a "Beautiful World" and "Healthy World".

    Looking back from how China had followed the steps of the industrialized countries in advocating climate fight, people find now its own green ideas are being recognized.

    The koala is an unusual creature. Native to Australia and a bit bigger than a rabbit, it spends most of its time in eucalyptus trees（桉树）, feeding on leaves that are poisonous to nearly every other animal on the planet.

    The koala sleeps about 22 hours a day and spends the remainder of its time eating and resting. It might spend 10 minutes a day moving, experts say, usually from one tree to another. It has a soft pad at the end of its spine and extra thick fur on its rear end to make the effort, of sitting more comfortable.

    Threats and protective measures

    The unique lifestyle of the koala has helped it prosper, but today the cute and iconic creature is facing threats from habitat loss, disease and a changing climate. Koala populations are expected to decline by 50 percent in the next 20 years according to the Australian Museum.

    To help protect these animals, which bring in an estimated $1.1 billion to Australia each year through koala-related tourism, an international team of researchers has published the first complete genome（基因组）of the koala. Their hope is that the keys to the marsupial's（有袋动物）long-term survival might be planted in its genetic code.

"The ultimate goal is that we won't have to…rescue them from the edge of extinction," said Rebecca Johnson of the Australian Museum Research Institute in Sydney, who led the work.

    "Now we have a really good understanding of the koala genome, and we are in a fantastic position to use that knowledge to help us manage them."

    Early findings

    An elementary analysis of the koala's genome, published in Nature Genetics, has already yielded some interesting findings.

    For example, the authors found that, compared to other mammals, the koala's DNA includes an expansion in the number of genes that encode for enzymes involved in anti-poison. That allows them to have a diet that depends almost entirely on eucalyplus leaves which are unusually high in poison. However, it also means that koalas metabolize（代谢）medicines like anti-chlamydia antibiotics faster than other animals.

    The koala genome also revealed why koalas are such famously picky eaters. They are known to consume leaves from just 20 of Australia's 60 known eucalyplus species. And even when they are in one of their preferred trees, koalas take leaf selection very seriously.

    Information waiting to be discovered

    Johnson said that the information encoded in the koala's DNA is already being included in management strategies by conservation groups. However, she said the findings described in the new paper represent the early stages of what can be gleamed from the marsupial's genome.

    "The data is public, and I would love for anyone to start mining it and see what other amazing things they can find," she said." Once you have a genome of this quality, the sky's the limit with what you can do with it."