Testing the five-second rule

    You may have seen a friend drop food on the floor, pick it up, and eat it, while declaring, “Five-second rule! ” It's said that food dropped on the floor for five seconds or less is still likely to be clean. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Students at Britain's Aston University, led by microbiology professor Anthony Hilton, tested the rule and found it to have some scientific basis. The study's results show that food dropped for five seconds is less likely to contain bacteria than if it sits there for longer, according to Hilton.

    The students also found that the type of flooring where the dropped food lands has an effect. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Bacteria are most likely to transfer from tiled (铺瓷砖的) surfaces to moist food when the food has stood there for more than five seconds.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Therefore, consumers should still be cautious. “However, the findings of this study will bring some light relief to those who have been employing the five-second rule for years, despite a general consensus that it is purely a myth,” professor Hilton said in a statement.

    The research team at Aston also surveyed 500 people to find out who employs the five-second rule. Of the people surveyed, 87% said they would eat food dropped on the floor, or have done so in the past. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} “Our study showed people are also more likely to follow the five-second rule, which our research has shown to be much more than an old wives' tale,” Hilton says.

    Still, scientists say you should be careful about eating food dropped on the floor, especially if you have doubts about the cleanliness of the surface. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. But is that true?

B. Carpeted surfaces posed the lowest risk.

C. Of those people, the majority were women.

D. We've just lost our last excuse to eat food off the floor.

E. Usually people recover from the infection in five to ten days.

F. There is still a risk of infection if certain bacteria are present on the dropped surface.

G. A biologist points out that one in six Americans get sick from food poisoning every year.

    Americans drove more miles in 2015 than any year since the U.S. government started keeping records 45 years ago. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDT) recently reported that Americans drove a record of 3.148 trillion miles last year. In case you are wondering, that is enough to take 337 round trips from Earth to Pluto.

    There are a number of reasons why Americans are driving more miles. The social experts agree that the first is the price of gas, which has dropped to the level of the year 2004 in the past year. The American Automobile Association (AAA) said that the average price of gas was just $1.71 a gallon. That could be the lowest price since 2004.

    P.J. Sriraj, a director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Chicago, notes that the lower cost to fill up a car is just one reason. Another reason is that more Americans are back to work after the 2008 economic recession, and they drive to their jobs.

    Besides, more Americans have to travel a long distance every day between home and the office. There are a lot of Americans who must travel more than 45 miles per day for their jobs. And as for many, there is not enough public transportation.

    Because of the heavy traffic, roads are becoming more and more crowded. While modern cars are more fuel-efficient, the improvement is not enough to offset more cars on the road. “There is no doubt that driving more will make the air dirtier,” said P.J. Sriraj. And many Americans showed a great concern in a recent survey.

    Zhang Kui first learned he could perfectly mimic(模仿)the sounds of animals when he was a child. The 29-year-old, who grew up in a poor family in Qiyang, Human province, today is a full-time performer of kouji.

    Zhang was 15 when his father died in 2003. He dropped out of school and joined his uncle's theater. Zhang bought CDs to study how to mimic the sounds of musical instruments and animals. He performed shortly afterward at a small theatre. “Although I wasn't that skilled, I got a lot applause(掌声). It was my first time on the stage. And then more and more audience came to watch my performances.” he said.

    He moved to Guilin in 2004, where he found work as a waiter at a karaoke bar. In 2005, Zhang went to Guangdong province and performed outside supermarkets to sell shampoo. “They paid me less, so I had to perform at bars at night.” said Zhang. He also worked as a condtruction worker. In 2007, he went to Beijing to learn from Niu Yuliang, a Beijing Kouji master. He worked as a gatekeeper to pay his way. He went to Niu on weekends and during the holidays to learn.

    Zhang's skills improved and he has since performed on more than 20 television programs. In September 2013, he was invited to Switzerland, in 2004, he performed in Africa, Europe and North America.

    Last year, he made a short film about the art and said it was the first film on the subject. The film will be on this year, and he said he hoped to draw more attention to the art. He also plans to give lectures on this traditional art at universities.

    For those concerned about wrinkly old skin, It might be a creative solution: an elastic(有弹性的) “second skin” that can be smoothed on to make aged tissue look more youthful.

    The wearable film, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has shown promise in a series of small experiments where it was applied to wrinkles, under-eye bags and areas of dry skin. When applied to the face or body, the thin, transparent layer sticks to the skin and supports the tissue, making it look and behave like younger skin, its producers claim.

    “What we've been able to do is create a cream that you can put on the skin, and then when it's on the skin it can actually form, essentially, an elastic second skin,” said Bob Langer, who led the research. Tests in the lab found that the polymer film (高分子膜), which is only 70 thousandths of a millimetre thick, reduced the appearance of wrinkles and under-eye bags, and helped keep moisture in areas of dry skin.

    The layer is designed to be applied in the morning, then peeled off at night. In previous studies, the second skin withstood normal daily wear, and the stresses and strains of exercise and swimming, without falling off or causing irritation. It also survived exposure to rain.

    “It's something you can wear for a whole day or longer, depending on the physical forces thatget applied to the area where it is worn, "said Daniel Anderson, who helped develop the product at MIT. “You can't tell you're wearing it.”

    While normal cosmetics can mask imperfections on the skin, the new coating changes the way skin behaves by giving it the elasticity of young skin. It was developed with help from two companies.

    When writing the story of your life, don't let someone else hold the pen. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some ideas for writing a life story:

    Live happily in your own way. You are not in this world to live up to the expectations of others, nor should you feel that others are here to live up to yours. What success means to each of us is totally different. Success to others may mean being a good parent. Success is only about spending your life happily in your own way.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  There are thousands of possible paths up the mountain of life, so it really doesn't matter which path you start off on. The only mistake is by wasting time running around at the base of the mountain, telling everyone that your life path is wrong.

    Embrace (信奉) new ideas, lessons, and challenges. Sometimes growing up means growing apart from old habits, relationships, and situations, and finding something new that truly moves you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You should look very clearly into the unknown and enjoy it. Because when you come in contact with things that you don't know, that's when you're learning, growing, and truly living.

    Live honorably through kindness. If you live honorably, no matter how old you get, you'll never lose your beauty.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Spend quality time with people you love.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} People don't live forever. Appreciate what you have, who loves you and who cares for you. You'll never know how much they mean until the day when they are no longer beside you. Someday you will either regret not doing so, or you will say, "I'm glad I did."

A. Lost time is never found again.

B. Appreciate the little things in life that mean a lot.

C. Change your path when you must, but keep moving forward.

D. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing life as an adventure.

E. For others, it may mean to simply be happy or it can be all of the above.

F. And remember, there is no better thing than reaching out and holding the hand of someone in need.

G. Make wise choices every day because the way you live each day is a sentence in the story of your life.

    When you watch a movie these days, it's difficult to tell what's real and what's created by using computers. Visual effects can even change how movies are made.

    Almost anything that can be imagined by a director can now become reality in the world of movies. "We're really not limited by the technology, '' said David Smith, the CEO of Sony Pictures Imageworks. Mr Smith said that with today's technology, the digital world was more realistic than ever before. For The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Mr Smith's team created a Times Square that was exactly like the real one in New York. "If there are lights inside the stores that are lighting areas inside the store we put those lights there," said Mr Smith.

    But there was still one challenge for visual effects artists, said Paul Debevec of the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. "We're still trying to figure out how to perfect the human face in movies, " said Debevec. He said the movie — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was still one of the best examples of computer generated movies, as actor Brad Pitt could be from an aged man to a baby in the movie.

    Mr Debevec added that besides changing the look of an actor's face, there could be another use for digital faces in the entertainment. Last year, effects artists created a digital face of the Asian pop singer Teresa Teng who was dead. Fans could still see and hear the concert on YouTube.

    Mr Debevec expects directors will start to use more virtual production techniques, like those seen in the movie Avatar. Mr Debevec says that with virtual production, there won't be a need for so many people behind the scenes. But visual effects artists agree, even with advanced technology, there is no replacement for a real actor showing a character in a movie.