Today's demands for measuring childhood success have chased household chores from the to-do lists of many young people. In a survey of 1,001 US adults released by Braun Research, 82% reported having regular chores growing up, but only 28% said that they require their own children to do them. “Parents today want their kids spending time on things that can bring them success, but ironically, we've stopped doing one thing that's actually been a proven predictor of success—and that's household chores.” says Richard Rende, a developmental psychologist.

    Giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and independence, according to research by Marty Rossmann, professor at the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Dr. Rossman analyzed data from a longitudinal(纵向的) study that followed 84 children across four periods. She found that young adults who began chores at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to have good relationships with family and friends and to achieve academic and early career success, as compared with those who didn't have chores or who started them as teens.

    Chores also teach children how to be empathetic(感同身受的) and responsive to others' needs, notes psychologist Richard Weissbourd. In research, his team surveyed 10,000 high-school students and asked them to rank what they treasured more: achievement, happiness or caring for others. Almost 80% chose either achievement or happiness over caring for others. As he points out, however, research suggests that personal happiness comes most reliably not from high achievement but from strong relationships. “We're out of balance,” says Dr. Weissbourd. A good way to start re-adjusting priorities(优先事项), he suggests, is by learning to be kind and helpful at home.

    The next time that your child asks to skip chores to do homework, resist the urge to let him or her off the hook. Being slack(懈怠的) about chores when they compete with school sends your child the message that grades and achievement are more important than caring about others. What may seem like small messages in the moment but add up to big ones over time.

阅读理解

    The kindly “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted （亮相） at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition against “Santa Claus”, according to a report by Guangming Daily.

    Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of “Santa Claus”in recent days. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth. “Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings, ”said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines（小糖人）, and have never heard suona music. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” is unlikely to defeat “Santa Claus”.

    However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the “true face” of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and helps to awake the public awareness of traditional festivals.

    In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largely depends on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior （次于） in cultural meanings, but lack of fashion sought by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance （继承） of fine traditional culture will be cut off.

    Retired nurse Sue Collins was just beginning the second length of her local pool when her morning swim suddenly became anything but a pleasure.

    Two months ago Sue, 69, who has never suffered from asthma or any other breathing problem in the past, suddenly found herself hard for breath.

    “I felt as if my throat and oesophagus (食道) were closing up,” says Sue.

    Sue is convinced the problem is related to the indoor swimming baths. “I spend half the year in Turkey and swim every day outside in a pool or the sea there and never have this problem,” she says.

    She may be right, because although a trip to the pool is the perfect exercise for many, the chlorine (氯气) used to keep the water free from germs can lead to problems.

    But in most cases it's not the chlorine that causes problems, but the by-products formed when chlorine interacts with other substances — and this is mostly due to people not showering before they enter the pool.

    “This then poisons the water for them and for others,” says Dr. Hull. “The chlorine interacts with sweat and urine(尿素) on the skin and forms by-products called chloramines that float above the surface as a gaseous solution that can be inhaled in.”

    Chloramines are heavier than air so hang over the water where they are easily breathed in. Some believe they may cause lung disorders. A Swedish study in 2013 examining the health of 146 workers at 46 indoor pools found that 17 per cent had airway trouble at work — but no problems at home.

    As Dr. Hull says: ‘People need to remember that showering isn't just for them. It is for the greater good.'

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    People who like travelling have their reasons. They believe that travelling can help them expand their field of view, especially in the geographical and historical sense. They also think that touring will give them more chances to enjoy different kinds of food and experience new things that would never be brought by other activities. But those who dislike travelling also have some reasons.

    Travelling, in my opinion, does more good than harm. Most importantly, it broadens  (使扩大) our mind. We can get in touch with other civilizations (文明), cultures, customs and ideas.

    Through history, most people travelled because of necessity (必要性)—not for pleasure. People travelled just in order to remain alive. They searched for food to eat or places to live in. They sometimes ran away from enemies. This is not to say that no one ever travelled just for the fun of it. In ancient times, for example, rich Romans travelled all the way to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games, and festivals. Of course, some people decided to travel just out of curiosity (好奇心). They wanted to find out what it looked like beyond the horizon (地平线). Also business travel has been going on for centuries. Traders could not only make money but also learn to speak several languages and be introduced to different cultures.

    So, travelling does enrich our mind and draw new ideas to us. There is no doubt that we can get much from it.

    The dangers of drowsy (昏昏欲睡) driving have been widely known. Now several companies have developed face-tracking technology that can tell when drivers become dangerously sleepy.

    Here is how it might work: A camera in your car monitors your facial expression, compares it to a database of expressions and determines if you are likely sleepy or distracted. The car then alerts you to pay attention or pull over.

    Affectiva has developed emotion recognition technology that aims to detect when people are just starting to get tired. The idea is to catch the warning signs before drowsiness really strikes. "Actually, when someone is drowsy, that is too late." Gabi, vice president of Affectiva said. "What if you can see trends in someone's face about five minutes before they become sleepy?" Affectiva's program can recognize seven different emotions and 15 facial expressions. Its standards were developed by sifting (筛选) through a database of 4 million faces from 75 counties, said Zijderveld. She suggested that carmakers could coordinate (协调) the program's facial recognition data with oral reminders, such as sound warnings, or (nonverbal) alerts, like a change of temperature and vibrations (continuous slight shaking movements).

    Eyeris is another company working in facial analytics. Modar Alaoui, the company's CEO, said that its software detects "eye openness" in addition to other facial indicators. The software can also read head position, which may indicate when someone begins to nod off.

    These technologies aren't the first attempt to fight drowsiness behind the wheel. Inventors came up with the similar device "sleeper beeper" to prevent sleep in cars back in 1983. The sleeper beeper was attached to a driver's ear and would issue a noisy warning when the driver's head nodded past a certain point. But the latest software would intervene (干涉) earlier and more effectively.

    Taking your pulse during physical activity allows you to measure how hard you are exercising. You should exercise to stay within your target heart range.

    Increasing your heart rate is a key part of exercise but it is important that your heart rate is not too high or too low. If you are a beginner, you should also be able to breathe comfortably while exercising. This will ensure that you are exercising at a level that is safe and effective for your body.

    The chart below illustrates target heart rate ranges for exercise based on the maximal heart rate for selected ages. Here are the steps for using the chart: