Ways to protect cell phones from damage

    While people use cell phones frequently, very few take the necessary measures to prevent damage. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some simple ways for you to protect your cell phone from damage.

Keep cell phones out of the rain

    If you must talk on the phone while it's raining, try to move indoors.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Otherwise, you may have trouble with the numbers or the cell phone speaker. Imagine dialing (拨打) one number and getting different results.

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    Many people like to put their cell phones in the pants or jeans pocket. However, storing a cell phone there will put it at risk of damage. You may forget that it is still in your pocket and just sit on the cell phone. As a result, your cell phone screen will get damaged.

Do not handle cell phones while eating

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This is especially true for those times when you are eating messy things and get the ingredients on your hands. One accident can cause lots of damage for your cell phone.

Get a protective cell phone case

    There are many kinds of cases available on the market. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It will provide a protective cushion (垫子) that may save you from paying money to fix or buy a new phone.

    Humans have launched themselves into the outer space. They've landed on the moon. They've built habitable space stations that orbit the Earth. The next giant leap for mankind is to reach another planet – specifically, Mars.

    The problem is that it's no easy task. The planet is 586 times further away from the Earth than the moon, and it'll take around 180 to 220 days to reach Mars, depending on where each planet is in its orbit. Such long periods in space have suggested many potential health problems, including hormonal changes, skin conditions, and muscle and bone deterioration (损耗).

    Here's where some furry friends come in. A wide range of animals have been in space, from fruit flies and spiders to cats, and dogs. Such experiments began as far back as the late 1940s in first tests to see if living things could withstand the extreme g-force (重力) of a rocket launch.

    Mice continue to play a very important part in space experiments, mainly because the animals make excellent test subjects. They're small, which makes them inexpensive and easy to care for. In addition, their size and short life span make it possible to do the equivalent of several human years of tests in a much shorter time. Finally, because mice are mammals, they share many common characteristics with humans in terms of genetics, biology and behavior.

    Astromice have hit the headlines recently, as a team of scientists led by Betty Nusgens, professor of biology at the University of Liege in Belgium, found that the mice suffered a 15 percent thinning of their skin after 91 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

    This experiment was part of a wider NASA mission (任务) called the Mice Drawer System (MDS). The Italian Space Agency developed the facility, which allows six mice to be housed, monitored, and automatically fed and watered aboard the ISS, among which three survived during the mission.

    The mice have participated in 20 separate experiments, to study such effects as osteoporosis (骨质疏松症), anemia (贫血) and heart health.

    Results for the 20 experiments are coming in gradually. But it's clear that mice continue to play an important role in the ongoing quest to conquer the final frontier.

    Being a fit and healthy person is very important for lots of people today.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Thanks to fitness apps and gadgets (小玩意), people can measure every step they take, what they eat and every calorie they bum. They might wear a watch that tells them their heartbeat, own smart shoes that track their steps, or use different apps on their phone to record what they eat.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}All of their friends can see where they've run, what workout (健身) they've done or what they had for lunch. Sounds familiar?

    Doctor Daniel Kraft from the US makes gadgets for people like this. He told the Digital Health Summit that these people, known as “trackaholics”, might become the norm in the future.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} I can see the world of health and fitness changing around me every day.

    One of my friends is always using the latest fitness gadgets. Her favorite is an app called Argus. She uses it on her phone to measure her steps, heart rate and amount of calories she has burned. She always posts this information, and pictures of herself exercising, on social media, It's nice to know exactly how much exercise you have done, rather than guess,” she said. “{#blank#}4{#/blank#}”

    My friends in China use WeChat to track how many steps they've taken each day.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. And I think he's right

B. They are very competitive about this, comparing their steps with each other all the time

C. Fitness apps also make exercise more fun and targeted

D.And most importantly, they share all this information on social media

E. There are many apps that can aid you in achieving your fitness goals

F. In fact, some people like running and exercising so much that they become obsessed (着迷的) keeping track of it

G. That way, I can keep pushing myself to improve

    As most of us know, talking and listening don't go smoothly every time. Will parents take you seriously, believe what you say, listen to and respect your opinions? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But some of what happens depends on you, too. Since communication is a two-way street, the way you talk can influence how well a parent listens and understands you. So here are some guidelines to consider when talking to parents:

    Be clear and direct. Be as clear as you can about what you think, feel, and want.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} They can listen better or be more helpful if they understand what you mean and what's really going on.

    Be honest. If you're always honest, a parent will be likely to believe what you say. If you sometimes hide the truth or add too much drama, parents will have a harder time believing what you tell them. If you lie, they'll find it hard to trust you.

    Try to understand their point of view. If you have a disagreement, can you see your parents' side?{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Telling parents you understand their views and feelings helps them be willing to see yours, too.

    Try not to argue or complain. Using a tone that's friendly and respectful makes it more likely parents will listen and take what you say seriously.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you think your emotions might get the better of you, do something to blow off steam before talking: Go for a run. Cry.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Do whatever it takes to sound calm when you need to.

A. Hit your pillow.

B. If you can, say so.

C. A lot depends on your parents.

D. Think twice before you make a decision.

E. Your parents won't always see things your way.

F. Give details that can help parents understand your situation.

G. Of course, this is hard for any of us when we're feeling heated about something.

    This year's flu season is pretty scary. To try to minimize the effects, public officials are still urging anyone who hasn't yet gotten their flu shot to get one as soon as possible. However, even if every single person got a shot in the arm, the vaccine(疫苗)—with its excellent 36 percent effectiveness—would not prevent everyone from getting infected with the annoying virus. Knowledge is power, so here's what goes on in your body when you come down with the flu.

    The influenza virus primarily attacks your nose, throat, and the tubes that lead to your lungs. But the flu is so much more than that. Your muscles ache, your head hurts, and your appetite goes down, among other things. To our surprise, almost all of these symptoms have less to do with the virus itself than with your immune(免疫的)response to them. Unfortunately, the very defense you have in place to get rid of the flu is the reason you feel so painful when you recover.

    The virus usually enters through your mouth, typically by way of your hands But it takes a few days for symptoms to set in. While this process might cause some harm to your nose and throat, it's nothing major, and nothing like the symptoms that typically accompany a bad or even mild case of the flu.

    The real fun starts when your immune system begins to fight. Your immune system comes in two parts: the innate system and the adaptive. The innate immune system is essentially an all-purpose tool. As soon as your body senses the presence of any injury or invader (入侵者), the innate immune system launches into action by producing tiny proteins called cytokines and chemokines. The cytokines reproduce almost immediately and start to attack the virus. This increase in immune cells creates an serious inflammation(炎症) throughout the body. But the worst is still to come. Meanwhile, the chemokines work with the adaptive immune system to help create T cells. These cells are a special type of white blood cell that works in a much more specific way: They find the influenza virus, identify what's special about it, and create something unique on their surface that finds and destroys similar invaders.

    Most dog owners are convinced that their four-legged friends know exactly what they mean when they use certain words like sit, stay or treat. However, researchers have always wondered whether dogs really understand human speech or if they rely on other information to get the meaning. For example, does the word “fetch” form a picture of a stick or ball in the dog's mind, or does the dog bring back the object based on the owner's voice or gesture? A new study by scientists at Atlanta's Emory University seems to indicate that “man's best friend” does indeed know what the owner is saying.

    The researchers began by asking the owners of twelve dogs of various kinds to train their pets to identify two toys of different materials, such as a toy animal and a ball. Once the dogs had mastered the task, they took turns inside a special scanner. The owners then tested their dog's language skill by first calling out the names of the toys they had been trained to recognize and then saying meaningless words such as “bobbu” and “bodmick” while holding up random objects the dogs hadn't seen before.

    The scans suggested that the parts of the dogs' brains responsible for processing of sounds showed different brain patterns when they heard words they were familiar with, compared with the ones they had never heard before. While that was not enough to prove that the dogs were picturing their toys when they heard the word, it did indicate some sort of recognition. The researchers believe this is an important step forward in understanding how dogs process language.

    Even more interesting was that the dog's brains showed a higher level of neural(神经)activity at the sound of unknown words. This is the exact opposite of what happens in human brains, which get more active at the sound of familiar words. The researchers say the dogs may become cheerful at the sound of new words to try to understand them in the hope of delighting their masters. “Dogs want to please their owners, and perhaps also receive praise or food,” says Empty neuroscientist Gregory Burns, senior author of the study.

    However, though your pet may understand human speech, the scientists recommend using visual signals and smell for training. “When people want to teach their dog a trick, they often use spoken command because that's what humans prefer, ”Prichard says.“ From the dog's view, however, a visual command might be more effective, helping the dog learn the trick faster.”