We often find that weekends and holidays feel so short while classes and work feel so long. Actually, though, we know that this is not true. But we still wonder where that strange feeling comes from.

    In fact, this is one of the ways that we're tricked by time, according to the website. All that S interesting. The website lists several wrong impressions (印象) we often have about time. Let's have a look.

    First of all, emotions affect (影响) our time-keeping abilities. Negative emotions (消极情绪). especially anxiety and boredom, make time seem longer because they make us concentrate (集中) more on the passage of time. However, when we are enjoying ourselves, we pay more attention to what we are doing and are likely to lose track of (失去对……的意识) time.

    Here is another example. In 2007, a group of scientists carried out a test. In the test, people fell 50 meters into a safety net and were then asked about their experience. Although the experience took shorter than 3 seconds, the people thought it was much longer than it actually was.

    This is because of the way our bodies reply to danger, according to the scientists. Our bodies produce a chemical called adrenaline (肾上腺素) when we are faced with danger. It allows us to concentrate better so that we can stay alive. As a result, we are able to remember far more details (细节) over a short period of time, which makes it seem like time is going more slowly.

    Another situation when we make mistakes about time is when we take afternoon naps (午觉). Have you ever had trouble telling what time it is after a long nap? That's because the best amount of time for a nap is 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you enter a new stage of sleep called slow-wave sleep. If you wake up mid-way in this stage, it will take a while before you can correctly perceive (感知) time again.

    Yes, time can be mysterious (神秘的) and there is no way to control it. So, perhaps the best thing to do is to make good use of every minute.

The following are today's TV programs.

The meaning of life is what we choose it to be. To Jiang Bing, a man from Weinan, Shaanxi Province, life just means living and helping others. Suffering (受苦) from ALS (渐冻症) for more than 30 years, Jiang has never lost his love for life. What's more, he has been teaching more than 200 children for free for over twenty years.

At the age of 16, Jiang Bing fell to the ground on the way to school and was unable to stand up again. One doctor told him that he had a disease that was hard to cure (治愈) and suggested giving up searching for treatment. Surprisingly, Jiang was really sad at first. Then he faced it positively instead of feeling fearful (害怕的) and hopeless. He kept studying every morning and valued every moment, spending one day like it was a month.

Though Jiang couldn't enter a university himself because of the disease, he succeeded in teaching his younger sister and helping her get into a university in 1994. Later, the people living in the community realized that the special man could teach their children. So they asked him for help. The next year, Jiang started helping children with their studies. He could also teach them art and clay sculpture (泥塑). He once taught 24 children in one single class, all for free.

Today many of the children that he taught have finished their university studies. Zhao Feiyu, a student who once received Jiang's help, runs an art training school now. "He taught us wisely and carefully, and took no money," he said. "He is my teacher and friend."

December 3rd, 2023 marked the second anniversary (周年纪念日) of China- Laos Railway Line. The 1,035- kilometr e China- Laos Railway runs from Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan Province to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. When it was open to traffic on December 3rd, 2021, people from Yunnan and Laos were very excited. It takes about 10 hours to get to Vientiane from Kunming. The railway line, with speeds (速度) reaching up to 200 kilometres per hour, has 50 stations. It has become the best choice for people to travel in China and Laos because of shorter travel time, according to China Railway International. 

24- year- old Yi Bofeng comes from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. She was a college student in Kunming from 2018 to 2020. "The journey from my home to my college was rough. It often took me two days by bus. But now the trip takes about six hours by train and is much more comfortable. People in my home town travel to Kunming much more often than before," she says. 

The railway line has also benefited (使受益) people from Laos. 52- year- old Phetsamone is a businessman in Vientiane. He buys mobile phones and automobile parts in Kunming and sells them in Vientiane. He says, "Before 2022, I drove a truck (卡车) to Kunming. The journey was too long and it was very expensive. Now I take the train. It saves more time and money." It is also easier for him to travel in Laos as well. 

Next time if you go to visit Kunming, maybe you can take the train to Laos. 

Welcome back to the Tang Dynasty (唐朝). There are so many famous poets (诗人). Do you want to know them? Let's have a look.