Is your school good for the environment?

    Being green wasn't easy for Kermit the Frog(a famous cartoon character)—but it is for a growing number of schools around the country.A "green" school is an environmentally friendly building that uses less energy by depending on earth's natural resources for heat,light,and power.Green schools have clean air,a lot of natural light,and renewable power sources.

    New studies show that green schools are not only good for the environment,but good for you too!Kids in classrooms with a lot of daylight scored 25 percent higher on reading and math tests than students who studied in rooms with less natural light.Students in schools with more natural light took three to four fewer sick days than students exposed to artificial classroom lighting.The further study found that those students had less dental decay（龋齿）because they were exposed to more of the vitamin D produced by the sun.

The Willow School in N.J. is a school that was built as a green building in 2002.Parts of the building are made wholly from recycled materials.To help trap heat,for example,building workers filled the walls with material from old blue jeans instead of the traditional insulation（绝缘物）made of chemicals.Every classroom has skylights to allow most sunlight,and solar panels（太阳能电池板）line the south end of the building.It uses about 70 percent less energy than a non-green school.This helps the school cut down on high energy costs.

    Kate Burke Walsh,head of the Willow School,says,"Sunlight has an impact—you're happier."The clean,natural surroundings help both students and teachers "handle stress and stay relaxed and focused…it's a very calming atmosphere."

Distance runners often worry about “hitting the wall” during training or races—that terrible moment when negative thoughts become so overpowering that they make it difficult to continue.

Hitting the wall typically happens around 20 miles in a marathon, when the body's supplies become exhausted. At this point, many runners feel exhausted and discouraged, slow their pace, have trouble focusing and want to quit or walk.

“Generalized tiredness, unintentionally slowing their pace, the desire to walk, and shifting focus to just surviving the marathon appear to be particularly common characteristics of it,” said Dr. Alistair McCormick, an exercise psychologist in England who co-authored a new study. “A marathon becomes a real mental battle when runners ‘hit the wall.'”

    Psychological blocks are an extremely common experience for recreational endurance (耐力) athletes, according to the study. To learn how they affect people, sports psychologists asked 30 recreational runners and cyclers about the psychological demands of training, preparing for and participating in competitions.

     “Recreational runners and cyclists found it stressful trying to find the time to train, McCormick said. “What was also interesting was the number of potential banana skins they met with before and during competition-disasters that could cause the athletes to lose their focus and their motivation to keep persevering.”

    These roadblocks included difficult environmental conditions and equipment failure, problems with nutrition or making a mistake, the study reported. The athletes in the study said they fell these obstacles (障碍) affected their motivation and concentration, negatively affecting their overall performance.

According to the study, 43 percent of marathoners are likely to hit the wall during a race. Finding ways to move past those kinds of experiences, then, could have major benefits for an athlete's performance and well-being.

    A “virtual (虚拟的) cocktail” glass that lets you change the flavor (味道) of your drink using your Smartphone has been developed by scientists.

    Offering a customizable (定制的) range of drinks and tastes, the Vocktail can change a glass of water into a cocktail at the press of a button. The world's first technology tricks your brain into thinking it is experiencing a specific flavor by fooling your senses of sight, smell and taste.

    Developed by researchers at the National University of Singapore, the glass' three sensory components are controlled via a Smartphone App. Because the software can combine a number of smells, colors and tastes, the Vocktail can create almost any flavor.

    Developer Nimesha Ranasinghe said: “Our approach is to increase drinks flavor experience by overlaying outer sensory stimuli (刺激物). For example, in the Vocktail we overlay color, taste and smell sensations to create an adjustable flavor experience. Flavor is mainly how we feel food and that is achieved through the use of these senses. Therefore, by changing the color of the drink, using different smells and changing the taste through electricity, we are able to copy the flavor of a drink without it actually changing the liquid.”

    The glass houses three fragrance containers connected to micro-air pumps. The pumps release smell that change your feeling of the drinks, flavor. For example, a lemon fragrance will trick your brain into believing it is tasting lemon-flavored drink.

    On the outside edge of the glass are two electrode strips (电焊条) that send electric pulses into your tongue to stimulate your sense of taste and flavor differs with different pulses.

Ways to make a great first impression

    You've heard it a million times already, but it really does take but a few seconds to make that all-important first impression（印象）. Here are some easy ways for you to impress your classmates or teachers.

     {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Before you shake hands with somebody, make sure that your hands are clean. The handshake should not be too strong or weak. Most people use their right hands, unless they have a reason to use the left. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Be on time

    When meeting someone for the first time, arriving on time is as important as breathing. You may have an excuse, but that will leave the person who hardly knows you with a bad impression.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} It's better to be hanging around the place than be stuck in traffic.

    Introduce yourself and ask for names

Make sure you properly introduce yourself. Ask for their names in a polite way. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This will increase the chances of their remembering your name in the future. Always remember to stand up when greeting someone and be sure to introduce them to anyone you're with.

    Make good conversation

To get the most out of your discussion, try to find something common between the two of you.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A person will feel more comfortable with someone they can relate to（产生共鸣）.

A. Use body language

B. Have a proper handshake

C. Repeat the name and use it later in conversation.

D. As a general rule, plan to arrive about 30 minutes early.

E. It could be a similar taste in clothes or a common hobby.

F. You'll be in serious trouble if you leave them with a bad impression.

G. However, don't have your left hand in your pocket because this appears impolite.                         

    Do you like eating processed meat? If you do, think twice now if you want to eat such meat for the sake of your health. Why? It's because eating processed meat can cause cancer, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said last Monday.

    Processed meat is the meat that has been preserved by salting, smoking, drying or canning. Experts from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France studied 800 patients. The experts connected processed meat, such as hot dogs and bacon, with at least three kinds of cancer. A person who eats 50 grams of processed meat per day—about two pieces of bacon—increases his or her risk of bowel(肠) cancer by 18 percent.

    The IARC has included processed meat in its Group 1 list, for which there is “enough evidence” of connection with cancer. Tobacco is also on the Group 1 list.

WHO experts also say red meat, including beef, lamb and pork, is “probably” carcinogenic (致癌的) to humans. Dr. Kurt Strait is with the IARC. He said in a statement that the risk of cancer increases with the amount of meat a person eats. Health experts in some countries advised against eating large amounts of red and processed meat. But those suggestions had been centered on the increased risk of heart disease and obesity.

    However, meat industry groups protest the result of the WHO study. They say that meat is part of a balanced diet. They also say the causes of cancer are broad, and include environment and lifestyle factors.

    The WHO report cites the Global Burden of Disease project, which shows that diets high in processed meat lead to 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

The Young Scholars Program

    The University of Maryland's Young Scholars Program is a perfect summer camp for academically talented teenagers who want to earn college credits, pursue academic interests or discover college life at the University of Maryland. The program is challenging and rewarding. Students have the opportunity to show that they can be successful in a university environment.

    The Activities

    During three weeks of exploration, teens preview the university experience, study with students who share similar interests and communicate with the best teachers of the University of Maryland in a dynamic and challenging classroom environment. Students can have trips to nearby Washington, DC and enjoy movie nights and activities at the student union. Workshops and seminars featuring speakers in academic fields further enrich the learning experience.

    The Courses

    The Young Scholars Program offers college courses that are at the cutting edge of theory, thought and technology. Classes generally meet every day from Monday to Friday. The program is a great introduction to the University of Maryland, Participants can benefit from the University of Maryland's vast resources, including libraries, computers and instructional labs.

    The Rewards

    Upon program completion, teens will go home with better preparations for the college experience—both academically and socially. In addition, students earn three college credits that post to the University of Maryland transcript (成绩单).

    The Application

    The application process includes submission of the application, high school transcript and a letter of recommendation.

    Ages: 14-18

    Mailing address: The University of Maryland College Park

    For more information, call 3014057762.