One of the most debated issues about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink tend to die sooner than those who do.The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is this：many of those who give up alcohol are actually former hard­core drunks who had already brought health problems associated with drinking.

    But a new paper suggests that abstaining(戒除)from alcohol does tend to increase one's risk of dying，even when you leave former problem drinkers out.The most shocking part—abstainers'(禁酒者)mortality rates(死亡率)are higher than those of heavy drinkers.

    Moderate(适度的)drinking，which is defined as one to three drinks per day，is associated with the lowest mortality rates.Moderate alcohol use is thought to improve heart health，circulation and sociability，which can be important because people who are cut off don't have as many family members and friends who can notice and help treat health problems.

    But why would abstaining from alcohol lead to a shorter life？It's true that those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes，since drinking can be expensive.And people of lower socioeconomic status have more life stressors(压力因素)．

    Though heavy drinking is associated with higher risk for many diseases，heavy drinkers are less likely to die than don't drink. One important reason is that alcohol strengthens social interactions，and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health.Nondrinkers show greater signs of depression.

    The authors of the new paper are careful to note that even if drinking is associated with a longer life，it can be dangerous：it can affect your memory severely and it can lead to falls and other troubles that can affect your life.There's also the dependency issue：if you become addicted to alcohol，you may spend a long time trying to get off the bottle.

    A famous teacher was speaking to the students at our school. He began his lesson by holding up a ￡100 bill. Then he said to the three hundred students, "Who would like to have this ￡100 bill?" The students began to put up their hands at once.

    Then he said, "I am going to give this bill to one of you, but first, let me do this." He then made this bill into a ball. Then he said, "Who wants it?" Hands went into the air.

    "Well," he said, "What if I do this?" and he dropped it on the floor and stepped on it. He picked up the dirty, crumpled bill and said, "Who still wants it?" Hands went back into the air.

    "My friends," he said, "You've learned a valuable lesson today. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it didn't go down in value. It was still worth ￡100.”

     “Many times in our lives, we're dropped, crumpled, and stepped on by the chances we take and the things that happen to us. We feel as if we are worth nothing. But remember, no matter what has happened to you, you will never lose your value: you are always valuable to those who love you. Your value doesn't come from what you drop or whom you know, but WHO YOU ARE.”

    You are special and valuable. Don't ever forget it!

    Elephants might be the most well-known and well-loved animal in African wildlife. But conservation (保护) of the African elephant faces special difficulties. While the elephant population is half of what it was 40 years ago, some areas of Africa have more elephants than populated areas can support. That's why AWF scientists are studying elephant behavior, protecting habitats and finding ways for humans to live peacefully with elephants in Africa.

    Years ago, overhunting and the ivory trade were the biggest threats to elephants' survival. Luckily, ivory bans (禁令), hunting rules and protected areas protect elephants from these dangers today.

    The 21st century brings a different challenge to elephant conservation — land-use. Elephants walk across borders and outside parks and other protected areas. So they often destroy crops, causing conflicts (冲突) between local farmers and these big animals.

    Successful conservation strategies (策略) must allow elephants to walk freely in their natural habitats while reducing conflicts between elephants and local people.

    AWF researchers are searching for a way to give both elephants and people the space they need. The AWF is collecting information on elephant habitats and behavior. The information they gather will help to develop the widest possible space for elephants.

    The AWF is helping elephants by protecting their habitats. And they also work with local famers to improve their life in order to encourage them to protect rather than destroy elephants.

    The world we live in gets more mechanized every year. Some countries which were mainly agricultural a hundred years ago have now become industrial. New factories and towns have been built on good agricultural land. There are now fewer farms to serve a much greater population, so these farms must be more efficient in order to produce as much food as possible. There is no place in the modern agricultural world for the inefficient farmer. Unfortunately, many of the picturesque aspects of farming are disappearing in the search for efficiency. The more tractors are used, the fewer horses are needed. Everyone agrees that horses are far more pleasant to look at than tractors. But they are less efficient. Cows are usually milked by machinery nowadays, and even pigs are fed automatically. There is not much art or poetry on the modern farm, and the old traditional idea of a farm as a slow, peaceful, romantic place is totally wrong nowadays.

    The modern farmer has to be a mechanic, a scientist, an accountant and a gambler. The more mechanized farming becomes, the more expert the farmer has to be. He must understand what machinery is necessary for his kind of farm, and he must know how to use it efficiently. He must also understand the new technical advances in agriculture, and how to use chemical and synthetic products to improve his crops. The more workers a farmer employs, the more he must know about the problems of wages and taxes. As in any other industry, most modern farmers find it necessary to employ office staff to deal with these. But although he has more modern equipments and far more scientific aids than his grandfather had, the farmer is still dependent upon the weather. As he can never be sure what the weather will do, he must be prepared to take risks, and face the possibility of losing everything.

The coronavirus in China right now has really turned things upside down for a lot of people, but not even it can come between a marathon runner and his training.

Like many of his countrymen, Pan Shancu, an amateur marathon runner from Hangzhou, in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, is trapped in his apartment because of the COVID-19，but he didn't let that small detail stop him from keeping in shape for his next race, whenever it may be. He has been using the small space in his apartment as a training track, jogging around two tables and the short length of a small hallway, and recently posted on social media.

"I could not bear siting around anymore," Pan wrote. "Let's run laps in the room! Yes, one lap is about eight meters (26 feet) and I ran 50 kilometers (31 miles), I did it in 4:48:44. I am sweating all over, feeling great!"

The runner, who has a marathon best of two hours and 59 minutes, also wrote that he considers his neighbors while jogging, trying to step as lightly as possible on the floor as not to disturb them. He completed 6, 250 circuits in one of his rooms in four hours, 48 minutes and 44 seconds, and his neighbors have yet to complain.

Pan Shancu's achievement spread rapidly like virus this week, with people praising his training spirit, and saying to adopting similar strategies to stay in shape.

"I start in the kitchen, go through the living room, turn into my daughter's room, the less than 20m-long racecourse has beautiful scenery and on my left, my husband's snoring is cheering me on," one commented on Pan's post. "This is a silent battle. My husband's opinion is that I have psychological issues.

2024 TFK Poetry Contest

Call all poets! Time for Kids has a challenge for you: write a funny, rhyming poem. Enter the Time for Kids Poetry Contest! As fewer and fewer children are interested in writing poetry of their own, Time for Kids decides to organise and sponsor such a contest to change the situation.

Contest Rules

1. How to enter This contest begins on March 6, 2024 and ends on July 24, 2024. To enter, mail the following information to 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 32nd Floor, New York: 

(a) an original and previously unpublished poem that has a humorous and rhyming scheme;

(b) entrants' first name only and a parent's mail address. Limit one entry per person.

2. Judging All entries will be judged by poet Kenn Nesbitt, based on the following criteria: creativity and originality(50%), use of language and rhymes(25%) and appropriateness to the theme of the contest(25%). The length of the entry will not be taken into consideration.

3. Prizes Our judges will select four semi-finalists(半决赛选手) from which one grand prize winner and three finalists will be chosen. The one grand prize winner will receive an online class visit from Children's Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt and a signed copy of his newest book of poetry, The Armpit of Doom: Funny Poems for Kids, approximately value at $275. The three finalists will each get a signed copy of The Armpit of Doom: Funny Poems for Kids, and both their poems and that of the grand prize winner will be published on our website.

4. Eligibility(参赛资格) Open to legal citizens of the 50 States and the District of Columbia who are primary school students and are 8 to 13 years old at the time of entry.

5. Winner's list For names of the winner and finalists, visit our website (after August 1, 2024).