Living among trees, plants and flowers can fill your life with beauty. And if you are a woman, it can also help you live longer. Researchers found that women who live in homes surrounded by plants appear to have lower death rates than women who live in areas with fewer plants.

    Researchers at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported the finding. They looked at the information from one of the largest and oldest investigations of the women's health: the Nurse's Health Study. It began 40 years ago. It now has information on nearly 200,000 women.

    For the new study, the team looked at the death rates of more than 100,000 women between the years 2000 and 2008. Then the researchers compared the death rates of these women to the plants around their homes. The researchers also considered other things, such as the age of the women, money they earn and race. They also looked at whether or not the women smoked.

    The study found that the death rate among women who lived in the greenest spaces was 12% lower than those from the least green areas. The researchers were surprised to find such a strong connection between high vegetation levels and low death rates.

    The study suggested that living among trees, flowers and other plants lowered levels of depression. Researchers said women in greener areas spent more time with other people and exercised more. It is common knowledge that plants can help the environment in many ways. The new finding also suggested ways to the government and the city planners to grow even healthier living areas.

    Dear Student of Star Middle School:

    As your student council president, I am writing to ask for your support to start the Count-Your-Steps walking program. Mr. Stewart Thomas, a parent of two students at Star Middle School, firstly came up with the idea. Mr. Thomas is a fan of walking and wants to encourage others to appreciate the activity. He shared his idea with our principal, Ms. Howser, who immediately agreed that we should try it.

    Ms. Howser contacted the other middle schools in the district, and all the teachers eagerly adopted the program. Now a team of Count-Your-Steps organizers made up of representatives from the middle schools, has established the program's goal: to increase awareness of the benefits of walking. Organizers want middle school students to accept this challenge and make walking one of their daily activities.

    The program has clear guidelines. Interested participants must only commit to recording the number of steps taken daily. Ms. Earley, the assistant principal, will give each of us a log for recording our steps and a pedometer, which is a small, digital tool used to count the steps of the person wearing it. All participants need to do each day is to wear the pedometer, walk as much as possible, and then record the number of steps in our logs. Clearly, the process is simple and convenient.

    While the benefits of walking are multiple, this challenge offers all who participate the opportunity to work together, achieve success, and make positive changes. Remember that the other schools in the district are signed up for the Count-Your-Steps too, and each one will try to take more steps than our school. I hope many will agree to this challenge and show everyone the Star Middle School Cougar Spirit.

    Please take into careful consideration this valuable and well-planned program, and then sign up today! In the words of Mr. Thomas, “Together we can enjoy the advantages of walking.”

    Sincerely,

    Cora Jeffries

    Camping wild is a wonderful way to experience the natural world and, at its best, it makes little environmental influence. But with increasing numbers of people wanting to escape into the wilderness, it is becoming more and more important to camp unobtrusively (不引人注目地) and leave no mark.

    Wild camping is not permitted in many places, particularly in crowded low—land Britain. Wherever you are, find out about organizations responsible for managing wild spaces, and contact them to find out their policy on camping and shelter building. For example, it is fine to camp wild in remote parts of Scotland, but in England you must ask the landowner's permission, except in national parks.

    Camping is about having relaxation, sleeping outdoors, experiencing bad weather, and making do without modem conveniences. A busy, fully—equipped campsite (野营地) seems to go against this, so seek out smaller, more remote places with easy access to open spaces and perhaps beaches. Better still, find a campsite with no road access; walking in makes a real adventure.

    Finding the right spot to camp is the first step to guaranteeing a good night's sleep. Choose a campsite with privacy and minimum influence on others and the environment. Try to use an area where people have obviously camped before rather than creating a new spot. When camping in woodland, avoid standing dead trees, which may fall on a windy night. Avoid animal runs and caves, and possible homes of biting insects. Make sure you have most protection on the windward side. If you make a fire, do so downwind of your shelter. Always consider what influence you might have on the natural world. Avoid damaging plants. A good campsite is found, not made—changing it should be unnecessary.

    The booking notes of the play “Sherlock”

    Price: $10

    BOOKING

    There are four easy ways to book seats for the performance:

    in person

    The Box Office is open from Monday to Saturday, 10 am—8pm

    by telephone

    Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card (Visa and MasterCard).

    by post

    Simply complete the booking form and return it to Box Office.

    --online

    Complete the online booking form at www.Satanfiedtheatre.com.

    DISCOUNTS:

    Saver: $2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Saver s are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.

    Supersavers: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.

    Standby: best available seats are on sale for $6 from one hour before the performance for people suitable for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.

    Group Booking: there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more.

    School: school parties of ten or more can book $6 standby tickets and will get every tenth ticket free.

    Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

    Recently, a 1935 letter in which Ernest Hemingway detailed his catch of a 500lb blue marlin(青枪鱼), an adventure that is believed to have partly inspired his novel The Old Man and the Sea, has been sold for﹩28, 000 (£22, 000).

    The handwritten letter was sent by Hemingway on 8 May to the fishing editor of the Miami Herald, laying out in great detail how the author and his friend Henry Strater battled to keep sharks away from the marlin after catching it off the Bahamian island of Bimini.

    Nate D Sanders, the auction(拍卖) company which sold the letter, said it documented for the first time in Hemingway's own words not only the size of the marlin, but also the attack by sharks, reflecting the plot of the novel.

    The company added that Hemingway's account of the marlin catch differed from other anecdotes of it, one of which described Hemingway using a machine gun on the sharks, which is said to have attracted more sharks rather than frightened them away.

    The Old Man and the Sea was also inspired by an anecdote told by Hemingway's Cuban friend Carlos Gutierrez. In 1936, Hemingway wrote in a magazine that Carlos had told him about an old fisherman who caught a great marlin alone.

    Three years later, Hemingway told his editor Max Perkins that he was planning a short story about the old commercial fisherman who fought the swordfish all alone in his sailing boat. Instead, he ended up writing For Whom the Bell Tolls, not returning to the story about the old fisherman until January 1951. It won him the Pulitzer in 1953, and was specifically cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954.

Much of Earth is unexplored. An ocean census (普查) hopes to change that.

"Earth" has always been an odd choice of name for the third planet from the Sun. After all, two-thirds of its surface is covered not by earth at all, but by oceans of water.

Because humans are land animals, most of the Earth remains under-explored. Marine (海洋的) biologists think the oceans might host more than 2 million species of marine animals, of which they have so far identified perhaps a tenth.

A new initiative hopes to change this. Launched in London on April 27th, Ocean Census aims to discover 100, 000 new species of marine animal over the coming decade. It is backed by Nekton, a British marine-research institute, and the Nippon foundation, Japan's biggest charitable foundation. Its first ship, the Norwegian icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, set sail on April 29th, bound for the Barents Sea.

The initiative is happening for two reasons. One is that the longer scientists wait, the less there will be to identify. Climate change is heating the oceans, as well as making them more acidic (酸的) as carbon dioxide dissolves goes into the water. Already around half the world's coral reefs (珊瑚)—thought to be home to around 25% of all ocean species—have been lost. Oliver Steeds, Nekton's founder, says that one of Ocean Census's priorities will be identifying species thought to be in the greatest danger from climate change. The second reason is technological. Marine biologist s find about 2, 000 new species a year, a rate hardly changed since Darwin's day. Ocean Census is betting it can go faster.

Exactly what the new effort might turn up is impossible to predict. But history suggests it will be fruitful. Half a century ago scientists discovered hot vents (喷口) on the sea bed. These days, such vents are one possible candidate for the origin of all life on Earth. There are more practical benefits, too. Many drugs, for example, come originally from biological substance. An ocean full of unidentified life will almost certainly prove a rich mine from which to mine more.