In London's art gallery six or seven men, mostly in their 30s, are busy painting the walls with new designs in colorful lettering and clever tricks. Tins of spray paint and beer stand on the ground. The atmosphere is not unlike that of a golf course: a mix of concentration and relaxation.

    Graffiti(涂鸦) painting is traditionally a daring hobby. Teenagers avoid security guards to put their names on trains and buses. But over the past decade that has almost disappeared from Britain's cities. Between 2007 and 2017 the number of incidents of graffiti recorded by the British Transport Police fell by 63%. A survey by the environment ministry shows that fewer places are damaged by tags(绘名) than ever. Graffiti are increasingly limited to only a few walls. In time the practice may die out entirely.

    The most obvious reason for the decline in tagging and train-painting is better policing, says Keegan Webb, who runs The London Vandal, a graffiti blog (博客). Numerous cameras mean it is harder to get away with painting illegally. And punishments are more severe. A generational change is apparent, too. Now teenagers prefer to play with iPads and video games. Those who do get involved tend to prefer street art to graffiti. And the internet helps painters win far more attention by posting pictures online than they can by breaking into a railway yard.

    Taggers and graffiti artists mostly grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. Those men are now older and less willing to take risks. "We can't run away from the police any more," says Ben Eine, who turned from tagging to street art. The hip-hop culture that inspired graffiti in the first place has faded. Video games and comic books provide more inspiration than music.

    Graffiti may eventually disappear. But for now the hobby is almost respectable. Mr Eine says he has lots of friends who used to paint trains. Now with wives and children, they paint abandoned houses at the weekend. It has become something to do on a Sunday afternoon—a slightly healthier alternative to sitting watching the football.

    Gardening is popular in many parts of the world. This outdoor activity gives us beautiful plants, pleasant smelling flowers and fresh fruits and vegetables. But it also does a lot of good to our health.

    Gardening connects people. When you are gardening, you are outdoors. So it is a perfect chance to meet and spend time with your neighbors. Most people love to talk about their hobbies, and gardeners are no different. They usually enjoy showing people what they are growing. And most enjoy sharing advice and stories about their gardens almost as much as sharing flowers and vegetables from their gardens.

    Gardening is a great activity for children. It gets them outdoors and off computers, televisions and cell phones. Gardening is also a great teacher. It can teach a child about where food comes from and healthy eating. It also helps them to understand that the natural resources (资源) are not inexhaustible and the importance of using them carefully.

    Then, when you garden, you must move around. All the different movements needed for gardening, like bending and lifting, work small muscles (肌肉) in the body. And you can easily get good exercise when you are digging holes or pulling grasses.

    In a study, researches looked at more than 2,800 people over the age of 60. They studied their lifestyle habits, activities and health over a 16-year period. They found that gardening could lower the risk of future dementia (痴呆) by 36%. Gardening requires people do many repeated actions, such as picking off dying flowers. These actions have a calming influence on the brain. The brain is still active but not in the same way when we use computers.

    You'll feel wonderful when what you grow in a garden looks, smells, feels and tastes good.

    Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can't make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue(疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素)and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

    So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?

    Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情感的)attitudes. One of England's most outstanding scientists, J. A. Hadfield, says, "The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare. "Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, "One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems. "

    What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated—those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

HK, mainland university to open in Guangzhou

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), will start its very first semester in the Guangdong provincial capital in September, undertaking its mission {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (train) new talent for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Ma Shu, deputy director-general of the city government, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (say) HKUST(Guangzhou) is the first cooperative university in Guangzhou and the first university in the city's Nansha district, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} has become a new engine for economic growth.

"HKUST (Guangzhou) {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (expect) to become a role model for higher education collaboration between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, as well as a world-class university to train the right kind of talent for the development of the GBA and the entire country," Ma said at a news conference in Guangzhou {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Monday.

It will serve as a research university for scientific and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (technology) innovation, industrial upgrading and the high-quality development of the GBA, he said.

The university {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (aim) to integrate the high-quality education resources of the mainland and Hong Kong, Ma said, adding that by exploring cutting-edge and crossover {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(discipline) it can build a new internal management system and mechanism to help cultivate innovative talent with {#blank#}9{#/blank#} international perspective.

The deputy director-general said the city government would continue to {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (financial) support the construction of the second phase of the university in the coming months.

Floods are common and {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(frequent) destructive natural events that annually affect around 250 million people worldwide. Though the causes of floods --usually heavy rainfall or melting snow-- are {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(avoidable), knowledge of the correct procedures before, during and after a flood can make a difference. 

Before a flood occurs, we must work {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(reduce) the risk to people and their valuables. Firstly, you should prepare disaster supplies {#blank#}4{#/blank#} include a light source, sleeping bags, warm clothes, and most importantly, at least three days of food and drinking water. Secondly, you should bring the most important objects to the {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(up) levels of your house.

During a flood, it's important to leave {#blank#}6{#/blank#} you are immediately. The longer you stay, the more danger you'll be in. Be sure to move to higher ground. If you're already inside a building, move to the upper floor. Don't walk {#blank#}7{#/blank#}drive through the moving floodwater, since as little as 15 centimetres of moving water is enough to knock an adult down, and 60 centimetres can wash most cars away.

{#blank#}8{#/blank#} a flood, listen for official news reports to find out when it's safe to return to your home. As you return home, watch out for possible {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(danger). The flood may have damaged roads and power lines. Keep away from the floodwater, because it may {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(pollute) and unsafe to touch.