People already know a lot about animals. However, there are still some things about animals that may surprise you. Here are {#blank#}1{#/blank#}about animals you probably didn't know.

    Cows do have best friends and feel stressed when they are separated. Scientists have found that cows are very social animals and that a cow always {#blank#}2{#/blank#}other cows. When a cow is with its friends, it feels relaxed, compared with when it is alone.

    During a breeding season, a male penguin will offer a small stone to a female penguin as a gift. If she takes it, they will become partners. When the female penguin lays an egg, she and her partner may carry it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, because some penguins don't build nests.

    Crocodiles (鳄鱼) swallow (吞) stones. Crocodiles always swallow their food instead of eating it like other animals. They swallow stones which break the food into very small pieces in their stomachs. These stones may stay in their stomachs {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Elephants use plants to treat pain or other illnesses. Scientists once found a pregnant (怀孕的) elephant in Africa who ate a kind of plant which was not part of her normal food. Four days later, she {#blank#}5{#/blank#}a baby elephant. The same plant was used by the local pregnant women.

    In many children's stories, a girl meets a prince and falls in love. They get married and live happily ever after. As a child, Meghan Markle may never have imagined marrying a prince. But that is exactly what happened on May 19th!

    Who is this young lady who just married into Britain's royal family (王室)？ Meghan Markle was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. Her mother, Doria, was a doctor, and her father, Tom, was a television lighting director. For 10 years after school each day, young. Meghan spent time at the studio where her father worked. This experience allowed her to become very comfortable with the acting business. For that reason, she knew she wanted to become an actress from a very early age. As a child, she felt strong about something else, too: People should be treated fairly. This passion (热情) to help others is still a big part of her life today.

    Her acting career (生涯) began in 2002 when she made her first appearance on TV. Other small parts on TV and in a few films followed. Nine years later, Markle got her big break. She won a lead role in the popular TV series Suits.

Have you ever had lucid (清醒的) dreams? Recent studies suggest that the number of people having them is on the rise. Someone having a lucid dream realizes they are dreaming and may from then on" direct" the action, or they may simply " watch" the dream unfold. The sense of awareness (知道) makes it different from a dream that is simply very lively and true to life. And although the description may seem strange, the process is far from alien to many of us.

Studies suggest that the number of people in the Western world experiencing lucid dreams, which happen once in a while, has risen by between 10 and 40 per cent since the 1980s. Today, they are so common that about one in eight of us will have one in our lives. But still, little is known about what causes them or what is behind the rise.

Research carried out at the respected Harvard University in the US shows that the brain is working hard during lucid dreams. In fact, the level of the mental (精神

的) activity in some parts of the brain is similar to that of a person who is awake. Lucid dreamers seem to share certain personal characters. For example, in general they are quite creative. They are also good at digging deep into problems and going out of their way to solve them. Furthermore, they always believe in personal responsibility rather than letting society carry the can.

Our nightmares (噩梦) may show our waking worries, with the five most common ones-- falling, being run after, feeling disabled, being late and the death of a loved one. Men are more likely to have nightmares about fights or being fired while hair and tooth loss appear more in women's nightmares-perhaps showing worries about losing their looks. Research has also found that women have more nightmares than men. Their dreams are also scarier and more unforgettable.

As you walk down the street, an object falls from a tall building and {#blank#}1{#/blank#}you. Who should be responsible for this? Or maybe you try to help someone in danger, but you accidentally hurt the person. Will you get in trouble for this? China's Civil Code(《民法典》) will give you the  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

On May 28, the National People's Congress (全国人民代表大会) agreed China's first-ever Civil Code. With 1,260 articles, it is a collection of laws that is about personal issues, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}property (物权), marriage, family, personality rights, and inheritances (继承). It's like an encyclopedia (百科全书) for social life.

China does have laws that cover these issues. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} , all kinds of these laws are not unified. The Civil Code gathers them into one unified document and makes improvements. With the Civil Code, China hopes to set up a country under the rule of law with {#blank#}5{#/blank#} protection for civil rights.

One special thing about the code is the part about individual (个人的) rights. It's a major innovation (创新) to form the individual rights into one part alone. This part includes laws{#blank#}6{#/blank#} relate to one's body, health, name, image (肖像), and fame.

Some of the laws in this part deal with how new technology is{#blank#}7{#/blank#}.For example, people who use AI face swap (调换) tools to make videos may go against {#blank#}8{#/blank#} image rights. The laws also provide data protection rights relating to possible data leaks by tech companies.

As we know, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were several attempts to draft (起草) a civil code in 1954, 1962, 1979 and 2001. But the conditions {#blank#}9{#/blank#} not good enough. In 2015, China started to work on the present code and{#blank#}10{#/blank#} it after 5 years. This year, the code took effect on Jan. 1.