At long last, Stefano Boeri Architects' brilliant Bosco Verticale towers are finally completed. The “world's first vertical forest” consists of a fantastic pair of costly towers that add nearly 2.5 acres of lush vegetation to the sky line of Milan, a city notorious (声名狼藉的) for its air pollution. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Like a pair of green lungs, its forested appearance of 21,000 plants will absorb CO₂, control noise pollution, lessen the urban heat island effect, and create oxygen and favorable micro-climates.

    The Bosco Verticale mixed-use towers are constructed with a $2.5 billion public-private investment as part of the re-development of Milan's Porta Nuova district. The towers, measuring 260 feet and 367 feet, house 800 trees between 9 and 30 feet tall, over 4,000 shrubs (灌木) and 15,000 ground cover plants. Bosco Verticale is created with LEED Gold Certification (绿色建筑黄金认证) in mind. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

    The buildings shrub have welcomed their first residents. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  A fast-growing bird population has already begun to nest in Bosco Verticale's rich leaves, of which over a hundred different species of trees and shrubs are represented. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

    The superstructure is also selected for the world famous International Highrise Building Award as one of the five most beautiful and original high-rises in the world that is completed. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. “We take great pride in this project, which may earn us an award” says Boeri.

B. Boeri is currently in China, where he plans to build another Bosco Verticale project.

C. It is also equipped with a gray water recycling and irrigation system.

D. However, Bosco Verticale will be more than just a beautiful sight to enjoy.

E. “The real key to this project is biodiversity,” says Boeri.

F. It is also well received by the Chinese experts in the field.

G. But those families aren't the only ones to call the vertical forest home.

    Food safety is a problem in all places around the world and people in different areas of the world prepare foods in different ways. The WHO released (发布) five simple rules for preparing food in a safe way. They call these rules the “Five Keys to Safer Food”.

Key 1: Keep clean

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} People should wash their hands often — before touching food and while they are preparing food. People should wash all surfaces and equipment used for preparing food.

Key 2: Separate raw (生的) and cooked

    Raw foods should not touch prepared foods.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Key 3:{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    People should cook eggs and meat especially carefully. These foods may carry more micro-organisms (微生物) than other foods. Food like soup must be boiled for at least a minute to make it be cooked completely. It is also important that people re-heat cooked food completely.

Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures

    When people are finished with eating, they should keep the left food in a refrigerator below 5℃ and shouldn't store it for too long. At room temperature, about 20℃, the amount of micro-organisms can increase very quickly. But temperatures above 60℃ or below 5℃ control the growth of micro-organisms.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Damaged or old food may develop harmful chemicals as it gets older.

A. Eat healthily

B. Cook completely

C. They can live where we make food

D. This key tells about the importance of washing

E. People should use safe water and choose fresh foods

F. They cannot grow as quickly in a very hot or very cold environment

G. People should use separate equipment and tools for touching and preparing raw foods

    In the latter part of the 20th century, child labor remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. Studies carried out in 1979, the International Year of the Children, showed that more than 50 million children below the age of 15 were working in various jobs often under dangerous conditions. Many of these children live in underdeveloped countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Their living conditions are crude and their chances for education small. The poor income they bring in, however, is necessary for the survival of their families. Frequently, these families lack the basic necessities of life—adequate food, decent（得体的、合适的）clothing and shelter, and even water for bathing.

    In some countries industrialization has created working conditions for children that are comparable to the worst features of the 19th-century factories and mines. In India, for example, some 20,000 children work 16-hour days in match factories.

    Child-labor problems are not, of course, limited to developing nations. They occur wherever poverty exists in Europe and the United States. The most important efforts to eliminate（根除）child-labor abuses throughout the world come from the International Labor Organization (ILO), founded in 1919 and now a special agency of the United Nations. The organization has introduced several child-labor conventions（规定）among its members, including a minimum（最低）age of 16 years for admission to all work, a higher minimum age of specific types of employment, compulsory（强制的）medical examinations, and It depends on voluntary obedience（服从）of member nations.

    One advantage of the Internet is shopping conveniently online for clothes; one disadvantage of the Internet is also shopping conveniently online for clothes.

    "Nothing fits," said Lam Yuk Wong, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University. "Everyone says this. They order clothes and they don't fit. People get very unhappy."

    Wong and her design partner, Xuaner "Cecilia" Zhang, are Team White Mirror, creators of what they call a "virtual (虚拟)fitting room". Their goal is simple and consumer-friendly: to let online clothing shoppers have a perfect fit and a perfect look when shopping every time. Both women are from China, Wong from Hong Kong and Zhang from Beijing. They both order most of their clothing online. They got the idea from their own experience as consumers and from listening to the complaints of friends and relatives. "They say, 'The color is wrong' or 'I got the right size but it still does not fit.' We want to make it like you're in the store trying on the clothes," Zhang said.

    Using a Kinect developed by Microsoft for use with its Xbox 360 video game player, Zhang scans Wong and turns her image into, in effect, a virtual model, keeping Wong's dimensions (尺寸), and even her skin and hair color. "We put the clothes on the shopper's 3-D body models and show how they look when they are dressed," Wong said. So far, Wong and Zhang have adapted the software to show dresses and shirts, and they are now working on shorts.

    Asked if she thought men as well as women might be interested in using their virtual fitting room, Wong said, "I think their wives will care about this, so it will also be important to men."

    Next time you make yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, you might want to let it cool down a bit before drinking.

    Researchers say letting your hot drinks cool off could help you avoid some kinds of cancer. Researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found evidence that drinks at temperatures above 65℃, when swallowed, can cause cancer of the esophagus (食道). The researchers examined findings from other studies where tea and coffee were often served at 70℃ or above. Those studies were completed in Iran, China and South America.

    In developed countries, health experts have linked esophageal cancer to smoking and alcoholic（酒精）drinks. However, this form of cancer is more common in areas where people drink beverages（饮料；酒水）at very high temperatures.

    In Europe and the United States, many people drink coffee and tea at temperatures around 60℃.And they often add milk which lowers the temperature greatly. However, tea-drinkers in Iran and mate-drinkers in South America often enjoy their beverages at closer to 70℃.

    The researchers find that South Americans not only drink their mate very hot, they also drink it through a metal straw(吸管). This sends the scalding liquid directly into the throat.

    The findings, however, are good news for coffee drinkers. In 1991, the World Health Organization listed coffee as possibly carcinogenic (致癌的).” The WHO officials have since changed their position on that listing. They now suggest that the temperature of your hot drink is a greater risk factor than the actual drink itself.

    The results suggest that drinking very hot beverages is one probable cause of esophageal cancer and that it is the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, that appears to be responsible.

    When I was growing up, Mother's Day was as important as Christmas.

    The energy around the house was always positive（积极的）, mostly thanks to my father who made sure that his kids appreciated their mother, We would clean the house, and Mum got breakfast in bed in the morning and didn't have to lift a finger all day. And in the evening, we went to a restaurant for a traditional Mother's Day dinner.

    What I learned from my father over the years, was that no matter what, he always put my mother before himself. He absolutely loved her and never let her forget that. And from my parents, I learned a thing or two about how to love.

    I maintain（保持） my father's Mother's Day tradition with my wife. Growing up, I learned that showing affection to the woman you love or who gave birth to you is an important part of life. You see, it goes both ways, and the love you have for your mother comes back to you again and again.

    Believing that and feeling it when you can may keep you from being lonely, even if your mum isn't close by or has passed away. There are a number of us who no longer have a mother in our lives, and truth be told, there are often times when I wish my mum were still here to comfort me. So instead, I remember the times she did just that. It makes me smile, and somehow, those memories of a more simple and loving life give me the comfort I'm looking for.

    My wife's mother is still around, however, and it's great to have that "mother energy" in my life still. Having this relationship with my mother-in-law is nice because it gives me someone to be there for on Mother's Day, and any other day of the year.

    If you are mum-less, you too should find a deserving woman in your life and celebrate Mother's Day with her. If you don't know anyone, there are plenty of lonely mums in rest homes who would enjoy your company for a couple of hours. The visit will make both of your days, and perhaps your lives, a little bit better.