Suppose you become a leader in an organization. It's very likely that you'll want to have volunteers to help with the organization's activities. To do so, it should help to understand why people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the work.

    S Let's begin with the question of why people volunteer. Researchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involved. For example, people volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishness, to expand their range of experiences, and to strengthen social relationships. If volunteer positions do not meet these needs, people may not wish to participate. To select volunteers, you may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attract.

    S People also volunteer because they are required to do so. To increase levels of community service, some schools have launched compulsory volunteer programs. Unfortunately, these programs can shift people's wish of participation from an internal factor (e.g. “I volunteer because it's important to me”) to an external factor (e.g. “I volunteer because I'm required to do so”). When that happens, people become less likely to volunteer in the future. People must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a must.

    S Once people begin to volunteer, what leads them to remain in their positions over time? To answer this question, researchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over time. For instance, one study followed 238 volunteers in Florida over a year. One of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positions. Although this result may not surprise you, it leads to important practical advice. The researchers note that attention should be given to “training methods that would prepare volunteers for troublesome situations or provide them with strategies for coping with the problem they do experience”.

    S Another study of 302 volunteers at hospitals in Chicago focused on individual differences in the degree to which people view “volunteer” as an important social role. It was assumed that those people for whom the role of volunteer was most part of their personal identity would also be most likely to continue volunteer work. Participants indicated the degree to which the social role mattered by responding to statements such as “Volunteering in Hospital is an important part of who I am.” Consistent with the researchers' expectations, they found a positive correlation(正相关) between the strength of role identity and the length of time people continued to volunteer. These results, once again, lead to concrete advice: “Once an individual begins volunteering, continued efforts might focus on developing a volunteer role identity....Items like T-shirts that allow volunteers to be recognized publicly for their contributions can help strengthen role identity”.

    At first, muffled (听不太清的)conversations made researchers at a San Diego aquarium puzzled, but when a diver thought he was being told to get “out” of the water they realized the conversations were coming from a white whale.

    Noc was about one year old when he was caught off the Pacific coast of Canada. He was kept in an open-ocean pen (围栏) at the US National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, California. After seven years at the Foundation, he began, automatically, to make unusual sounds, a report in the latest issue of the journal, Current Biology, said.

    “We thought of the whale' s vocalizations(发出的声音) as an attempt to imitate humans. Whale vocalizations often sounded as if two people were talking just out of the range of our understanding,” the authors said. “ 'These conversations' were heard several times before we finally realized the whale was the source.” The researchers realized it was Noc when a diver surfaced and asked, “Who told me to get out?” It was then that they realized the word “out”, which was repeated several times, had come from Noc. Later, his speech-like sounds were recorded in the air and underwater.

    Noc started making the sounds after seven years in the open-ocean pen, and continued making them for another four years. He died five years ago. Researchers have now analyzed the sound recordings. It was the first time that sound recordings had shown how such sounds imitated speech and were different from the usual calls of the species.

    The speech-like sounds were lower than normal whale sounds and much closer to those of the human voice. Also, whales talk to each other by blowing air through their noses, rather than using a larynx(喉), as people do.

    “We don't claim that our whale was a good imitator compared to such well-known imitators as parrots,” the researchers said. “However, the behavior we observed is an example of vocal learning by the white whale. It seems that Noc's close association with humans played a role in how often and how well he employed his human voice.”

    Here are six diet foods that can hurt your weight loss journey.

    Diet soda.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Drinking diet soda can make you likely to overeat. The answer is because your body is tricked into believing you're ingesting sugar and it makes you crave more.

    Microwave popcorn.

    Microwave popcorn contains the organic compound diacety to give you that butter taste. Try to avoid this ingredient! {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Granola bars.

    Commercial granola bars can be loaded with corn syrup, salt and processed oils that can add to your waistline.   {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Veggie burgers.

    Say isn't so! Going veggie could damage your diet. Read the labels.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Also Hexane has been found in veggie burgers. This a gasoline by-product used during the process of separating soybeans into oil.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Yup. Low fat-products like yogurt can be loaded with sugar. In a cup of Stoneyfield Farm French Vanilla yogurt, there are 20-plus grams of sugar.

    Blue chips.

    Blue corn chips or vegetable chips are a great alternative to potato chips. But again, there needs to be portion control. They can be loaded with salt and fatty oils.

A. Roast meat.

B. Low fat yogurt

C. Diet soda can actually make you gain weight

D. You're better off making your own popcorn

E. Some are made with processed soy and loaded with oils and butter

F. It is as important for thinking as it is for lifting, especially as we age.

G. Opt(选择)for making your own granola at home, but watch your potions.

    A volunteering vacation can be a meaningful way to spend your time off, but to make the trip satisfying both for you and the cause you are supporting, several factors need to be considered. Here is some advice on planning the satisfactory vacation:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are hundreds of causes to volunteer for, and finding one close to your heart will lead to a more worthwhile trip. Possibilities include wildlife conservation, education, environmental protection, health and nutrition. Also, consider any personal and professional skills that you can contribute. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Choose your destination and setting. Your volunteering trip will be more enjoyable if you use it to reach a favorite destination. Southeast Asia is on your mind, helping with tree­planting programs in Bali would benefit the environment and let you appreciate the scenic island. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Is volunteering outdoors in a hot or snowy climate attractive, or do you prefer being in an air­conditioned office?

    Ask the right questions. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Be aware that most volunteering programs require a week-long stay. Ask other questions like: How many hours of work per day is required? Are there days off? Will you be working individually or as part of a team? And what are the goals of your efforts? {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Ask if the cost includes only accommodations or meals and transportation too.

A. Figure out your cause.

B. Find a well­respected organization.

C. And think about the surroundings you want.

D. Your duty there is to rest and play.

E. The more you know about your trip, the more successful it will be.

F. Despite the word “volunteer”, these vacations usually cost you some money.

G. If you're a doctor, for example, working at a health clinic could be an ideal fit.

    Tencent announced yesterday that it will limit the daily time for youngsters to play its popular King of Glory game after parents and schools in Shanghai and other areas complained their children had become addicted to playing it.

    From tomorrow, children younger than 12 will only be allowed to play the game for a maximum(最大值) of one hour a day, and after 9 pm, they will be banned from logging into it, said Tencent. Those older than 12 will be able to play a maximum two hours a day.

    The game system will remind players the time they have been playing and young players will be forced to log out when the time is up.

    Tencent claimed these were the strictest measures in China's game industry to prevent addiction and the company expected they would ease parents' anxiety.

    The company also said it had updated its system for parents to keep tabs on their children using its games.

    Since February, parents can receive messages when children log in and spend money on the game after they connect children's game accounts with their mobile phone numbers.

    Now, parents can connect phones, tablets or computers that their children use to play games, so that they can keep an eye on the children even if they have several game accounts, Tencent said.

    Song Zhe, a father of a Shanghai high school student, welcomed the measures but was not sure if they would be sufficiently effective. "I like the system that could lock up the devices as children can register many accounts," he said, "but children are so clever that they can always think out counter measures."

More than half of the 1,000 consumers surveyed by Credit Karma said they have impulsively(冲动地) shopped to deal with feelings of stress, anxiety or depression. Twenty-three percent of respondents said they've maxed out (刷爆) a credit card in the past year.

As for age, 68 percent youngsters, responded by saying they have experienced it in the past, compared to 53 percent of the middle-aged and only 26 percent of the old

In regards to genders, 48 percent of men and 31 percent of women who have stress spent said they had purchased alcohol when stressed. Eighty-two percent of women stress spent on clothing compared to 52 percent of men. Women also lead stress spending for jewellery, 42 percent, compared to 22 percent for men with men stress spending more for electronics 44 percent while 30 percent for women.

In fact, shopping to reduce stress can actually help you live a healthier life by making sure that your blood pressure is lowered. Shopping to relieve stress is also called shopping therapy (疗法) as a form of reducing stress.

The survey found that that 82 percent had only positive feelings about their purchases and that the positive mood boost that followed those purchases was long-lasting.

However, the side effect of shopping therapy, for many, can start out as a relatively harmless mood booster but could possibly grow into a financial loss, cause conflict, and therefore add a large amount of stress to a person's life.