Money Matters

    Parents should help their children understand money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.

1）The basic function of money

    Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex (复杂的) ways of using money.

2）Money lessons

    Approach money lessons with openness and honesty. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you must say NO to a child's request to spend money, explain, “You have enough toy cars for now.” Or, if the request is for many different things, say, “You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy.”

3）{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Begin at the grocery store(杂货店). Pick out two similar brands（商标） of a product—a name-brand butter and a generic (无商标产品), for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to buy another one with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for buying others.

A. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.

B. The value of money

C. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest

D. Permit the child to choose between them

E. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you

F. Tell your child why he can or can't have certain things

G. Wise decisions

    Next time you hear a funny joke you'd better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn't always the best medicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful. Professor Robin Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says, "We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their hearts, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who'd dislocated their jaws or burst their lungs."

    It seems that laughing can be no laughing matter. But it's not all doom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want to lose weight, for example. Yes, that's right: laugh and be slimmer! Professor Ferner explains that: "You use energy when you laugh, you move your diaphragm(横隔膜), you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful."

    According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you'd use about 2, 000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don't do that or you might end up with a painful jaw. Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in a funny way.

    But I don't want to finish this article leaving you feeling desperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months. So give in to your sense of humour and keep smiling. Life is short anyway.

Planning Your Family Trip

    Plan ahead to make your family trip run smoothly. Family vacations are cherished memories. Keeping children entertained on the road or during a flight, however, can be challenging. The best way to cut down on anxiety? Plan ahead.

    Avoid giving children snacks that contain sugar and caffeine. Sweet treats keep them happy and quiet for five minutes, as it fills them with unusable energy that will turn into crankiness (偏执) when the sugar wears off. Bring fun, small snacks like flavored baked chips, apple sauce, raisins, and granola bars—and top it off with a little protein like cheese sticks to keep the blood sugar levels nice and steady.

    Bring plenty of plastic or paper bags. This is the perfect time to put those spare bags around the house to use. Store them in your purse or pocket, as well as in the car. This is a quick solution for garbage, diaper wrapping or motion sickness.

    Avoid extra costs on bulk items you will need during the trip. When flying, purchase bulk items like diapers, formula, and wipes at your destination. In the past, it was convenient and free to check these items. Now, each checked luggage item costs $25 or more on average. When driving, do the opposite; take your bulk items to avoid extra trips to the store when you arrive, which can help you avoid impulse travel purchases.

    Bring a full change of clothing for each child. Keep these items within fairly easy reach. When a spill or mess happens, this will help parents avoid unexpected (and unbudgeted) clothing purchases.

    Travel planning can help make family vacations what they are supposed to be: Fun! What are some of your favorite strategies for saving time and stress while traveling with children?

    City trees grow faster and die younger than trees in rural forestry, a new study finds. Over their lifetimes, then, urban trees will likely absorb less CO₂ from the air thah forest trees.

    As we all know, the earth would be freezing or burning hot without CO₂. However, CO₂ is a greenhouse gas, meaning it traps energy from the sun as/heat. That makes temperatures near the ground rise. Human activities, especially the widespread burning-of fossil(化石)fuels, have been sending extra greenhouse gases into the air. This has led to a rise in average temperatures across the globe.

    Studies had shown forests readily absorb CO₂, but there hadn't been much data on whether city trees grow, die and absorb CO₂ at the same rate as forest trees do. So some researchers decided to find out.

    To figure out how quickly trees were growing, researchers tracked their diameters (the width of their trunks) between 2005 and 2014. A tree's diameter increases as it grows, just as a person's waist size increases as they gain weight. About half the weight of a tree is carbon, research has shown. Most of the rest is water. Over the nine years' tracking, the researchers found city trees absorbed four times as much carbon from the air as forest trees. However, they were twice as likely to die. So over the lifetime of each type of tree, forest trees actually absorbed more CO₂.

    City trees grew faster because they had less competition for light from their neighbors. In a forest, trees tend to grow close together, shading their neighbors. Street trees also benefit from higher levels of nitrogen (氮)in rainwater. Nitrogen helps plants grow. Waste gases from gas-burning cars also contain nitrogen, thus enriching city air with nitrogen. Later, rainwater may wash much of it to the ground. Some street trees may also have better access to water than trees in the country because the underground water pipes can leak.

Instagram(图片分享社交应用程序)is about to take its biggest step toward removing likes from its platform. After months of testing an option to hide likes in select international markets, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook(FB), has already been testing hiding likes in seven other countries, including Canada, Ireland and Australia. For years, likes have been central to how celebrities, brands, politicians and everyday users experience Instagram and Facebook. It's a way of measuring popularity(名气) and success. But in recent months, Instagram has been rethinking how likes contribute to making its platform more toxic. Now it's considering a change.

The total number of likes on posts — which appear as hearts on the app—will disappear from Instagram's main feed, profile pages and permalink(永久链接)pages. The owner of the account can still see their own likes, but their followers won't know the count.

CNN Business previously spoke with users in countries with the test. The majority felt this move would improve well-being on the app. Instagram is the most harmful social networking app for young people's mental health, such as negatively influencing body image, according to one study.

But other users and psychologists said hiding likes won't fix everything. The test doesn't address some of the key ways that activity on Instagram can influence the well-being of users, including bullying(欺凌), feeling left out and thinking other people's lives are better than their own.

Renee Engeln, a psychology professor at Northwestern University, voiced his opinion that the biggest impact of Instagram is the content and the exposure to this constant stream of perfected images is what seems to hurt psychologically. Plus, users can still see their own likes—and feel badly if their posts don't perform well.

I love hiking. In the mountains, the birds sing for me; the various trees and flowers overwhelm (征服) my eyes and the deep blue of the sky inspires me and makes me feel calm. Furthermore, I can breathe the fresh air, keeping away from the dust and pollution of the city. It seems that all my senses are awakened when I am in the mountains. More importantly, hiking teaches me a lot.

I have been a traveler since childhood and was drawn towards mountains and their beauty. Later my reading several travel books made me think if I could also go on such journeys. Finally, I decided to give it a try. After I was well-prepared to face all difficulties of the hike, I joined a group of hikers. On the way, we encouraged each other, took beautiful pictures, and sat down now and then to feel the breath of the land. All my worries disappeared and we talked and laughed just like kids. This journey excited me for a long time.

I never actually realized the need for water until I started hiking. I remember once I was on a hike where our water was not enough. It was a night hike and the next day we had to return back to our base camp following the same route. So we have to save it for emergencies (紧急事件).That day I exactly learned water is of great value and that we have a duty to save it.

Besides enjoying the beautiful natural views, you have to go out of your comfort zone and push yourself hard to challenge your normal limits when hiking. On a hike, you may sometimes get injured but you can't stop until you reach the destination. Every next try will surely make you stronger and happier if you embrace (拥抱) your injuries, pains and discomforts.

Sometimes we may have a conversation with those locals living in wooden houses. You know, mountain life is hard and difficult. But they never complain about their life. They are happy with what they have. Many times they are facing extreme weather and they just fight with them. They are so brave. What can we complain about?