Durian(榴莲) is probably the smelliest fruit in the world, letting out an unusual unpleasant smell which would make anyone bring up. However, nobody was aware of what gave this fruit its unique smell, so a team of researchers from Singapore decided to take a look at its genome (基因组) and find out,

    Durian is well-known throughout Southeast Asia as the king of fruits, mostly because of its awful appearance and smell. However, the origin of this unpleasant smell was unknown, so researchers decided to map the genome of the fruit, and find the gene that controlled it. A group of genes, volatile sulfur compounds (含硫化合物), became very active in the fruit, and they were found responsible for resulting in the unpleasant smell.

    The fruit confuses everyone with a sulfuric smell, like rotten onions and ingredients. The smell lasts long, mostly because the fruit contains more volatile sulfur compounds. Other species usually benefit from two gene copies at most, but durian has four, leading to the striking smell.

    However, this smell might be an advantage for durian in the wild. Although we find it unpleasant, many animals might be attracted by it. If they eat the fruit, then they can easily spread its seeds everywhere, thus contributing to the distribution of the species.

    The mapping of the durian genome also showed some other information on the species. First of all, the fruit has an impressive number of genes, namely 46,000. Also, with the help of these genes, they saw how it evolved, and discovered it was related to the cacao tree. All the other discoveries have been published in the journal Nature Genetics.

    Despite the striking smell, many people actually enjoy eating the fruit. However, not all durian species are edible, and some of them may even cause damage to our health, Even so, the fruit is often imported, significantly contributing to the economy.

    Do you know that you have “body amour（防弹衣）”? Yes, you do. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are three protective body parts and how they work.

    Skin

    Your skin might not feel much like the outside of an armoured tank, but it really gives you a lot of protection. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Skin also protects our bones, muscles and insides by covering them up. Our skin may not be that tough when we touch it, but it can be very tough when it counts. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The skin may get scraped（擦伤）and become bruised（青肿的）, but it helps to keep our bones safe so that they don't break easily.

    Eyelashes（眼睫毛）and Eyelids

    The little soft eyelashes attached to our eyelids are constantly working to blink（眨眼）away dust that would hurt our eyes. Our eyelashes and eyelids use reflex actions to close when danger comes near. Actually if we had to tell our eyelids to close, we could not do it fast enough to offer any real protection for our eyes. When our eyes and brain notice something that might be dangerous, they use lightening fast reflexes to close.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Hair

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This is a kind of body amour that is very useful, since the sun shines down on our heads all day. Without this covering of hair it would be easy for us to get sunburnt on the top of our heads. We lose about 50 individual hairs from our scalp every day. But most of us have lots of new ones that are replacing them.

A. Think about what happens when we fall.

B. This protection keeps our eyes safe and sound.

C. But you might not know how the armour works.

D. Some of your personal armour might affect you.

E. The hair on our heads protects our soft scalps（头皮）.

F. By closing eyes, your eyelashes block out light closer to you.

G. Our skin is the biggest organ in our entire body and it helps to keep us safe.

Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often：ability, money, and time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Money is a topic I'll discuss another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule：

    ⒈Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat .So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook？ Do you have the right materials already？{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒉Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread？{#blank#}3{#/blank#} It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking is to try new things. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives you a good start.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

A. Try new things.

B. Ability is easily improved.

C. Make three or four instead.

D. Understand your food better.

E. Cooking is a burden for many people.

F. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

G. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

    From now on, never spend your limited time thinking of reasons for your failures and weaknesses. Instead，realize that seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most powerful machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice but not a chance. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You were also born rich. You can be a success if you make the right choice.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Your level of self -confidence is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-confidence are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are mere victims.(受害人)

    You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance and they have no responsibility for it. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Everything happens as a result of something. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one experts. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

A. You were born a winner.

B. Don't lose heart even if you're in face of failure.

C. successful people realize they are responsible.

D. If we can recognize the cause, we can control the effect.

E. Only you yourself have the power to make those seeds grow.

F. You cannot be successful without first developing your self-confidence.

G. depends on your cooperation with others as well as your own effort.

    From Madrid to Buenos Aires to Panama City to Lisbon, President Xi Jinping has tirelessly promoted the building of a community of shared future for mankind, and the Belt and Road Initiative (倡议) as a means to achieve that.

    But all don't see it that way. While some are quick to see its positive potentials, other countries insist on viewing it skeptically. There have been the usual doubts about the intention behind, although the mysterious threat they speak of is one they seem unable to explain clearly.

    To some of them, it is a vague assumption that investments from China are potential “debt traps” that call for extreme caution or “threats to national security”. That is why the business combinations involving Chinese companies which would be mutually (相互地) beneficial have hit the rocks. The Chinese telecommunications technology giant Huawei, for instance, has found the doors to the 5G telecommunications markets of advanced countries closed to it on “national security” grounds. Likewise, the European Union has agreed on a framework regulating foreign investment (投资), particularly those from China on the same account.

    Even as Chinese and Portuguese leaders discuss bilateral (双边的) cooperation under the Belt and Road, there is no lack of concern about “China's influence”, But existing EU rules do not forbid Lisbon from seeking such a partnership. If Lisbon sees no harm from foreign investment, no outsider is in a position to prevent it from making a choice in its own best interests.

    Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has reminded EU decision-makers of his country's desire for foreign investment, and advised the latter to avoid taking “the path of protectionism”. It was a timely reminder.

    Faring the challenges in today's world, China and the countries that have embraced the Belt and Road are convinced it is the way to common development and the world's lasting peace and stability.

    Whoever wrote the song “it's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” must have never experienced Holiday blues. Fortunately, psychological research suggests some effective ways you can beat the holiday blues. The key point is that sadness and other tough emotions are not what we should try to avoid. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Here are four strategies to help you make your own happiness recipe this holiday season.

    Don't force cheer

    At family gatherings with cousins you secretly can't stand, you tend to put on a happy face. Indeed, that might even seem like the most mature response—no drama, no conflict. But a 2011 study followed dozens of bus drivers, looking to see when they gave forced or honest smiles at their passengers. The results showed when the drivers pretended to have a good mood, their actual moods got worse. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Let off sadness

    The results of the bus-driver study can be explained by researchers, who find that negative feelings like sadness or anger only increase when we try to control them. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. We don't like contradictory behavior.

    Respond cautiously

    Recently, scientists have been paying special attention to the benefits of caution. When you respond cautiously to an emotional trigger (e.g. overcooking the holiday turkey), you pause rather than reacting at once. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Besides, it is associated with less anxiety, and may even carry physiological benefits.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    Of course, the holidays will bring a mix of highs and lows, but the most important lesson to keep in mind is that this variety of emotions might be the best thing possible for your overall well-being. In other words, sadness, anger, and other difficult emotions are nothing to fear. Just make sure you're balancing them with lighter experiences. And don't forget to give yourself a break.

A. Relax your mind

B. Enjoy a mix of emotions

C. We tend to deny the important function emotions serve

D. Instead, they can help contribute to a healthy and happy life

E. So trying to force happiness seems to have the opposite effects

F. A cautious response to a negative event reduces sadness we experience

G. We feel bad when our appearance contradicts how we truly feel inside