According to a recent study, plants are able to make intelligent decisions. They are a lot{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(smart) than we thought. Scientists have discovered that the pea plant can make decisions on how{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (survive) best, even though it does not have a brain. Researchers grew several pea plants that had their roots {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (separate) between two pots. Each pot contained different amount of nutrients. One pot always had the same amount{#blank#}4{#/blank#}the other pot varied between a lot and a little. The plants turned out to be{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (amaze) consistent（一致的）at turning their roots to the pot with the most nutrients.

    Researcher Alex Kacelnik says the experiment raises a question, not about plants{#blank#}6{#/blank#} about animals and humans. He wonders whether the pea plant is more efficient in using its limited resources about {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(make) decisions than humans. He says, “We have a very wonderful brain, but maybe most of the time we're not using {#blank#}8{#/blank#}” Professor Kacelnik does not think that pea plants are intelligent in the human sense, but that they exhibit complex{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (behave) to efficiently take advantage of natural opportunities. It will be interesting to see how our lives would be different if we{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (adopt) similar strategies.

    When we mention the most famous Chinese painting of the Northern Song Dynasty, the image coming into people's mind{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (be) Qingming Shangle Tu or Along the River During the Qingming Festival.

    This painting is important {#blank#}2{#/blank#} several reasons. First, up till that time, almost all Chinese paintings were landscapes, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (contain) no or only a few images of people. Second, this is the first scroll（卷轴）painting {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (describe) both Chinese urban and suburban life during the period in the capital, Bianjing (now Kaifeng in Henan Province). Third, the painting is {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (high) detailed and features shops of all kinds and different economic {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (activity) in and out of the city. People are able to see the Chinese technologies of the time, which helps them {#blank#}7{#/blank#} great deal in understanding {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the Chinese lived.

    The Beijing Palace Museum keeps the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (origin) Song painting and one of its famous copies-the Qing version {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (hold) in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

    Why do many of us find {#blank#}1{#/blank#} difficult or impossible to fall asleep in a bed other than our own? Is it because the bed is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (comfort)? According to a new study published in Current Biology, a significant reason is {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the scientists call "first night effect". They believe that one side of the brain acts as a "night watch" to warn us about potential dangers. It forces us {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (stay) awake on the first night in a new environment.

    For the study, 35 young volunteers {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (ask) to sleep in a sleep lab for several days. Meanwhile, researchers watched their brain activities.

    According to the researchers, on their first night, the left brains were {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (active) than the right brains and people had a hard time sleeping. However, left-brain activity decreased as days went by, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (fall) even to the point of complete calm. In this process, the participants got an increasingly better sleep experience.

    The {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (finding) suggest that the different rhythms of the sides of the brain affect our sleep. When the two sides work {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (different), the balance between them is broken. Thus, the brain can't relax and is sensitive to anything strange in the surroundings, just {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it is in the daytime.

When talking about our bodies, we often forget our skin. Actually, our skin is very important, too. It keeps us{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(inform) of the outside world--{#blank#}2{#/blank#}it is hot or cold, wet or dry.

Try this: pull up the skin from the back of your hand and then let {#blank#}3{#/blank#}go. What happens?

The skin goes back to its first position, which means that skin is elastic (有弹性的).

Our skin seems to be very thin, but it {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (make) up of two layers. The top layer is the one we wash every day. Do you know that this part of skin is dead? However, it is still very important because it serves as{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (protect) against dirt and disease.

Skin has millions of tiny holes called pores(毛孔). Pores allow liquid, especially sweat,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(pass) through. By{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (sweat), our bodies keep up a normal temperature. When it is very hot, we sweat a lot, but{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(strange) enough, when it is quite cool, we also sweat. On a cool day, our bodies produce {#blank#}9{#/blank#}average of 700 ml of sweat. That is{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(much) than 0.5 kilos.