If you ever visit an English village, make sure to look out for morris dancing. Undoubtedly one of the strangest traditions of English culture, morris dancing is a form of folk dancing that dates back to the 15th century. If you ever get the opportunely, you really have to see it.

    Men and women wearing old-fashioned, shabby clothing dance in the streets of towns and villages across the country during the holiday periods. Women wear long, frilly(有褶皱边的) skirts and men wear short trousers with bells attached to them. They dance to traditional folk music which is often played on traditional musical instruments.

    Some groups carry heavy black sticks which they beat against each other while they dance. Other groups wave handkerchiefs in the air while they perform. The dances are usually performed near a pub so that when it's over, the dancers and audience can sing some traditional folk songs over a pint of beer. The celebrations will often continue long into the night, by which point most people are too drunk to think about performing again.

    Morris dancing is a great English tradition but it's facing a big crisis. As the years go by, fewer and fewer young people are joining morris dancing groups. The dancers are getting older and older and eventually, if nothing is done to change this trends, the tradition will die out within the next few decades.

    If you've ever had the fortune to see morris dancing, you may understand why teenagers aren't rushing to sign up. Putting it to the point, it's not exactly the coolest thing for an 18-year-old to be doing. Why dress up in bells and funny costumes when you could be going clubbing? Or playing sport? Or doing anything else?

    However, it would be a great shame to lose such a fun and lively part of England's history and culture. It's important to look after some traditions and customs especially when it's something as harmless and happy as morris dancing. So here's a toast to the next generation of would-be morris dancers! Let's hope they don't leave it too late.

    Do you find yourself reaching for just one more cup of coffee to get through the day?Are you tired of being tired?Instead of relying on things like coffee or sugar for energy,get happy by eating more foods that give you energy through nourishment.Here are four foods that can help improve your energy levels.

    Hemp Seed

    A complete protein,rich in fiber and omega-3s,hemp is a great low-glycemic（低胰岛素）addition to any diet.The glycemic index (GI) is a measurement of how fast the carbohydrates in food are broken down into glucose（葡萄糖）and how much it will affect your blood sugar.Fiber,fat and protein all lower the GI of a food,which is why hemp seeds (along with nuts,seeds,whole grains and legumes) are low-glycemic.Look for hemp seed oil for salad dressing,and hemp seeds to be added into salads.

    Soaked Almonds

    Raw almonds are nutrient dense,and soaking them releases（释放）higher nutrition potential.Soaking increases vitamin levels and removes the enzyme（酶）inhibitors that slow down digestion.I soak my almonds in water overnight (at least eight hours) and then dry them.

    Quinoa

    It is 20-percent protein,making it a balanced source of carbohydrates.Even though you feel like you're too busy to make home-made meals,quinoa is a fast food that cooks in less than 15 minutes.

    Green Tea

    Caffeine from green tea feels steadier and less sharp than the spike and crash with caffeine from coffee.This is likely because green tea contains L-theanine,a kind of acid found in tea that helps promote relaxation.      .

    Mrs. Blake teaches English in a large school in the inner area of a big city on the west of coast. Even since she was a young girl, she has wanted to become a teacher. She has taught eight years now and hasn't changed her mind. After she graduated from high school， she went on to college. Four years later，she received her bachelor's degree （B A） in English and her teaching certificate（证书）. Then she went to teach in the secondary schools of her state. In the summers，Mrs. Blake takes more classes； she hopes to get a master's degree （M A）. With an MA，she will receive a higher salary and if possible， she hopes to get a doctor's degree as well. The school day at Mrs. Blake's high school，like that in many high schools in the United States，is divided into one hour each. Mrs. Blake must teach five of these periods. During her free period，which for her is from 2 to 3 P.M. ，Mrs. Blake must meet with parents，make out examinations，check assignments at all，Mrs. Blake works continuously from the time she arrives at school in the morning till the time she leaves for home late in the afternoon.

    Dreams can be familiar and strange, fantastical or boring, but some dreams might be connected to the mental processes that help us learn. In a recent study, scientists found a connection between nap time dreams and better memory in people who were learning a new skill.

    In the study, 99 college students between the ages of 18 and 30 each spent an hour on a computer, trying to get through a virtual maze (逃宫). The maze was difficult, and the study participants had to start in a different place each time they tried, making it even more difficult. They were also told to find a particular picture of a tree and remember where it was.

    For the first 90 minutes of a five - hour break, half of the participants stayed awake and half were told to take a short nap. Participants who stayed awake were asked to describe their thoughts. Participants who took a nap were asked about their dreams after sleep and they were awakened within a minute of sleep to describe their dreams.

    Stickgold, a neuroscientist, wanted to know what people were dreaming about when their eyes weren't moving during sleep.Four of the 50 people who slept said their dreams were connected to the maze. Some dreamed about the music that had been playing when they were working; others said they dreamed about seeing people in the maze. When these four people tried the computer maze again, they were able to find the tree faster than before their naps.

    Stickgold suggests the dream itself doesn't' help a person learn, it's the other way around. He suspects that the dream was caused by the brain processes associated with learning.

    All four of the people who dreamed about the task had done poorly the first time,which makes Stickgold wonder if the dreams show up when a person finds a new task particularly difficult. People who had other dreams, or people who didn't' take a nap, didn't show the same improvement.

    In its best times on the nineteenth century, thatch (茅草屋顶) played an important role in protecting British homes from the weather. But new technologies since have led to a rapid decline in thatching and many of the thatched cottages that remain have been changed beyond all recognition by developers or have run into disrepair, a rather upsetting reminder of a bygone age.

    A Welsh company, however, is trying to breathe new life into some of the last traditional thatched cottages in western Wales by repairing them and letting them out as holiday homes. Called "Under the Thatch", the company is run by Greg Stevenson, who lives in his own thatched cottage in Ceredigion. An architectural historians by training, he repairs old buildings in old-fashioned ways.

All the cottages are in attractive locations around southwest Wales. Unlike most holiday homes, the cottages are let all year round—chiefly because Greg prices them lower than many holiday properties( 房屋) and he'd prefer that properties are rented just above cost price than not used at all. And with that comes a bargain or two: it's common for a property to go for as little as£35 a night. Consequently occupancy for properties with " Under the Thatch" is at 95 percent( the average in Wales is 35 percent).

    Its success has meant that Greg has been able to buy up more old cottages and bring them back into the community. Greg has also diversified from offering only thatched cottages: he now lets out a variety of rare accommodations dotted around western styles , including a renovated(修复的) train carriage and two gypsy caravans which were used by Romanies.

    Most of his thirty properties are run using environmentally friendly technologies. Including solar panels and recycled furnishings. But most importantly, what the cottages all have in common is that they bring back life to local communities. Spend a weekend "Under the Thatch" rather than in a holiday home, buy local food and visit nearby restaurants, and you will be contributing to the local economy.

I traveled to Hawaii several months ago, in part to cover a story on invasive plants and animals and their impact on the state. As I worked on this story, I kept thinking about the fact that some plants and animals become uncontrollably invasive when they're brought into a new ecosystem, while others don't. For example, over the past two hundred years or so, there have been approximately 20, 000 non-native plant species either intentionally or accidentally brought into Hawaii alone. But only a small part of those plants — 200 species or so — have become invasive, threatening the environment, the economy, or human health. 

An example from Hawaii's forests: the invasive plant strawberry guava thrives as it gives off a chemical that prevents all other plants from growing nearby, and it also absorbs more water than native species. What makes these particular species so successful? Most of the reasons involve how a particular species interacts with its new environment. First, invasive species may be highly adaptable to a variety of climates. Second, they are usually quite fecund (多产的), which ensures that they can multiply rapidly. Third, they are usually threatening when it comes to resources like nutrients and space, easily crowding out their native counterparts (对应的物种). And finally, invasive species thrive when there are no natural enemies or pests in their new space.

How can we eradicate invasive species once they're in place? Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to do that — conservationists would have to notice that the species is a problem before its population has established and grown to an uncontrollable size. Instead, most conservationists battling invasive species aim for control in key ecological pockets.

It is a constant battle, though, and humans are always playing catch-up. If you're thinking of planting unusual plants in your garden or keeping a foreign pet, perhaps reconsider and go for a native one. You never know when they might escape and tip over an ecosystem.