{#blank#}1{#/blank#}When it comes to your skin, there is an important fact that you must keep in mind: Your skin is the largest organ of your body. Therefore, skin health and protection is crucial. Your skin does everything for you. It can keep your body hydrated and regulate your body's temperature.

    Now, here are some helpful tips for you to protect your skin:

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Protection against harmful rays from the sun is one of the most important steps that you need to take. With this in mind it is necessary for you to avoid strong sunlight as often as possible. As for sunscreen you need to buy products that contain UVA-1, UVA-2 and UVB protection.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Your diet also has a direct impact on the health of your skin. The most important aspect of your diet in relation to the health of your skin is to make certain that you eat a proper amount of food items that contain the proteins and nutrients necessary for cellular maintenance, repair and regeneration.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Water is also important to the health of your skin. While you certainly have heard it before, it actually is true that you should drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of fresh water every day. There are many health benefits to be derived from drinking water daily, including maintaining healthy skin.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Finally, when it comes to the health of your skin today and into the future you should avoid smoking all together. In addition, you should drink alcohol only in moderation. Both smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can negatively impact the health of your skin in significant ways.

    It's undeniable that spending time outdoors and in nature lifts our spirits and makes us feel more centered and at peace. When we breathe in fresh air, and enjoy the beauty of trees, streams and oceans, we naturally tend to feel more connected to ourselves and others.

Over the past decade, scientists have been exploring why nature — and dirt specifically — is such a powerful tool in improving our mood. According to researchers, the secret may lie in the microbes (微生物)of the soil. One bacterium specifically—-Mycobacterium Vaccae (M. Vaccae) —has been identified as having the power to affect our moods and cognitive function as well.

    Experiments conducted at Sage Colleges in New York found that contact with M. Vaccae can increase serotonin levels in the brain — a chemical that is associated with higher levels of happiness, increased focus, and reduced anxiety. In order to explore how the bacteria can improve learning, researchers Dory Mathews and Susan Jenks experimented with mice in a maze. Mice that ingested the bacteria navigated the maze twice as fast as the control group and proved less anxious as well.

    Humans can absorb M. Vaccae just by playing in the dirt. We take in it when we breathe, we consume it in organic vegetables, and it can also enter our bloodstream through skin contact, especially where we have open cuts. This may explain why children in school perform better after break.

    Neuroscientist Christopher Lowry at the University of Bristol in England believes that he has identified why this incredible bacterium works. "What we think happens is that the bacteria activate immune cells, which release chemicals called cytokines that then act on receptors on the sensory nerves to increase their activity.”

    Beyond the power of M. Vaceae, scientists have been proving for decades that exposure to dirt, and the huge number of microbes found in dirt, can strengthen our immune system. When our body comes into contact with bacteria, it stores die information in a type of library and can then use that information to fight sickness and infection more effectively.

    Happiness, focus, less anxiety… I'll take a double dose of dirt; please!

In 1998, people in Na Doi, a quiet village in northwest Thailand, noticed that their fish catches in the nearby Ngao River were declining. The fish they did manage to net were also getting smaller. Together, Na Doi's 75 households decided to try a new solution: they would set aside a small stretch of river to be strictly off-limits to fishing.

The rules are usually simple: no fishing of any kind in an agreed-upon area marked by flags or signs. While freshwater reserves won't solve everything, in places where fish populations are under pressure, they can give species much-needed breathing room to rebuild their numbers, ultimately making them better able to weather other environmental problems.

Na Doi was the second village in the Ngao River valley to adopt this pioneering approach to freshwater fisheries management. Since the late 1990s, at least 50 other villages there have done the same. As a whole, the entirely grassroots-led reserves have been surprisingly successful, according to findings recently published in Nature. Most importantly, the Thailand case provides probably the best real-world proof that fisheries reserves can benefit not just oceans, but freshwater, too

In 2012. Aaron Koning, then a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin, began investigating the Ngao River valley reserves to see how widespread and successful they truly were. Koning found, not surprisingly, that older and bigger reserves were more successful, because they offered more time and space—including more kinds of habitat—in which to rebuild fish populations and re-establish rare species. But even reserves established in the last couple of years showed clear benefits from being spared intense fishing pressure. "Reserves that were located closer to a village tended to have an advantage," Koning says, "probably because villagers were better able to enforce the rules."

By comparing different systems and approaches around the world, Koning and his colleagues hope to identify common factors for success that could be tailored to diverse rivers and lakes.

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it is of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the most patient and cheerful companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

There is an old proverb, "Love me, love my dog." But there is more wisdom in this: "Love me, love my book." The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them. The best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author's minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products, for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them and grieve with them. The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, people's spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens.

Gardening 380 Kilometers above Earth Astronauts have to go through physical, psychological, and technical training. They also go through training in how to care for plants. These "astronaut gardeners" share their work and living space with plants.

Taking seeds and plants along on a trip isn't a new idea. As space trips become longer, it will be necessary to grow food in space. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Because of this, it's not practical to send everything needed for a long journey, only to be used once and thrown away.

Plants can serve many uses on a space journey. They can provide more fresh things. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Also, plants can help to make air quality better because they produce oxygen. They can improve the quality of the air inside the spacecraft—the only air the astronauts can breathe.  {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Due to the lack of gravity in space, the oxygen that the plants produce stays around the plants. This can actually kill them, so fans are needed to circulate the air. Without gravity, roots don't "know" to grow down, leaves don't "know" to grow up, and water doesn't easily travel up the roots to the leaves. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Besides, soil is too heavy to send to space, and special liquid gels (胶) are used to help plant growth.

Scientists are also working on the plants themselves. They are trying to make plants grow more rapidly and grow with less water and light in space, and they are looking for ways to make plants more resistant to disease. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Imagine that deserts may one day provide lots of fresh food for local people, saving transportation costs. Similarly, plants that are resistant to disease could provide an important food supply. With the world's population now at seven billion (十亿) people, our astronaut gardeners may help discover ways to feed those billions.

A. Every plant grown in space must have several uses.

B. However, there are challenges with growing plants in space.

C. Such methods may result in improvements back here on Earth.

D. The cost of taking anything into space is about $22,000 per kilogram.

E. Specialized containers are being developed to help the plants grow correctly.

F. Astronauts will welcome the addition of fruits and vegetables to their diet of dry foods.

G. Currently all oxygen is taken aboard in tanks and then caught again so it can be reused.

While wandering around a Swedish Christmas market, you'll likely come across booths {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (sell) carved wooden horses, typically in an assortment of bright colors and floral patterns. These {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (tradition) Swedish toys are much more than a classic holiday gift or travel souvenir: the Dala horse has become intertwined (交织) with the very image of Sweden {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

The little wooden horses of Sweden were originally carved by men that worked in the forests during {#blank#}4{#/blank#} winter. When they returned to their villages, they gave the horses to children as playthings. This was in the 17^th century during {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the horses were also sold at market in small towns and villages in the Dalarna region, in central Sweden. The horses were painted in bright colors that were inspired by the furniture in the region. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (eventual) , even young children learned to carve wooden horses. 

The global attention didn't come until the 20 ^th century in the World's Fair in New York 1939. That was because an enormous painted Dala horse was placed outside the Swedish pavilion, which caused excitement throughout the crowds of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (visit) . After this, the Dala horses were seen {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a symbol of Sweden and mass production of the horses started. Since then, Dala horses {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) popular souvenirs and inspired other products as well. You can now find anything from clothing to tableware and phone cases with a Dala horse {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (decorate) .