Smoking is harmful. But as soon as you quit the habit, everything will be OK, right?

    Wrong

    New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage it has done to your genes (基因) will stay there for a much longer time.In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16,000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7,000 genes of smokers had changed--a number that is one-third of known human genes.

    According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people may have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like smoking.

    When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years.

This means your body is trying to heal (治愈) itself of the harmful effects of smoking. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer. They can stay for as long as 30 years, It's almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement (水泥)—-it will always be there, even when you've walked away and when the cement becomes dry.

    Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer risks.

    More and more birds are flying to settle at Qinghai Lake, one of the highest inland lakes in China, thanks to the protection efforts of local governments. Covering an area of over 4,000 square     kilometers. Qinghai Lake is also the country's biggest salt­water lake. Located in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the lake is famous for the two islands at its northwest point—Cormorant Island and Egg Island. The two islands have plenty of floating grass and various schools of fish, offering rich food sources for birds. The islands have become a paradise for different kinds of groups of birds and have been called“Bird Islands”．

    Each March and April, when ice and snow covering the Qinghai­Tibet Plateau starts to melt, over 20 kinds of birds fly to the Bird Islands to lay eggs.  During the months, flocks of birds cover the whole sky over the islands and birds eggs can be found everywhere. Visitors can hear the singing of birds from miles away. These have become a world famous symbol of the lake.

    To protect this paradise for birds and support calls for ecological protection, China set up the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone at the end of 1997.Meanwhile, the State has pointed out the Bird Islands and Spring bay of the Qinghai Lake as central protection zones.

    Inspection officials and management employees often patrol the lake, improving local residents' knowledge of related laws and spreading knowledge about animal protection to visitors. They are making great efforts to call on people to love and protect the birds. At the same time, they have built special fences around the island area to prevent wolves, foxes and other carnivorous animals, as well as illegal hunters from breaking up the birds' nest­building, egg­laying and breeding. As a result, more and more birds are coming to the islands for sheltering and breeding.

    Mark is always engaged in his work. But this time he felt that it was time for him to take part in his community, so he went to the neighborhood meeting after work. The area city council woman was leading a discussion about how the quality of life was on the decline. The neighborhood faced many problems. Mark looked at the charts taped to the walls. There were charts for parking problems, crime, and for problems in empty buildings. Mark read from the charts, “Police patrols cut back, illegal parking up 20%”. People were supposed to suggest solutions to the council woman. It was too much for Mark. “The problems are too big”, he thought. He turned to the man next to him and said, “I think this is a waste of my time. Nothing I can do would make a difference here.”

    As he neared the bus stop on his way home, Mark saw a woman carrying a grocery bag, and a baby. As Mark got closer, her other child, a little boy, suddenly ran into the street. The woman tried to reach for him, but as she moved, her bag shifted, and groceries started to fall out. Mark ran to take the boy's arm and led him back to his mother. “You gotta stay with mom,” he said. Then he picked up the stray groceries while and the woman smiled in relief. “Thanks,” she said, “You've got great timing.” “Just being neighborly,” Mark said. As he rode home, he glanced at the walls of bus. On one of them was “Small acts of kindness add up.” Mark smiled and thought, “Maybe that's a good place to start.”

B

    My friends and I had just finished lunch at a hotel when it started to rain heavily. When it became lighter, I decided to get my car which was parked at my office three streets away.

    My friends argued that I shouldn't go, mainly because I was seven months pregnant（怀孕的）then. I made it clear to them that I'd be very careful. One of them wanted to come with me but I insisted that she stayed with another friend who needed help with her baby.

    I walked out of the hotel and started making my way to the car. At the crossing, a van stopped and a man came out with an umbrella. Before I knew what was happening, he walked right beside me and told me he'd escort（护送）me to my destination. Although I was very embarrassed and refused, he insisted that he would.

    During our walk, he kept telling me to walk slower, as the ground was wet. When we got to the car-park, I thanked him and he went away. I did not get his name and may not even recognize him now. Did he purposely stop for me? I'll never know.

    So how did I pay it back? I was at home when I noticed two Indian construction workers walking in the heavy rain. They were probably on their way to the working place near my home. I went out and passed them an umbrella. They were completely surprised by my action, and I told them they should take and keep it. They were very grateful to me, probably wondered why a stranger was offering such kindness. I was so relaxed and happy that day.

Confidence Comes From Treating Others As Equals

    There's been recent discussion over Chinese attitudes toward foreigners, caused by another quarrel between a foreigner and a taxi driver. According to the studies described in the Oxford Handbook of Chinese Psychology, Chinese have lower self﹣confidence compared to Westerners. Yet does the result still apply to the Chinese people today？

    Yes and no. For the moment, different attitudes toward foreigners can still be found in China's society, with some displaying low self﹣confidence like "Foreigners are awesome （令人敬畏的）, and Western countries are awesome. We should respect them and be as polite as possible, and shouldn't let them look down on us, " and a few unfriendly opinions such as "Some foreigners are rude and disrespectful, and their level of civility （礼貌） is far behind China."

    Chinese used to be lacking in self﹣confidence. It might start from the modern history, after the failure in the Opium wars, and the following humiliation （耻辱） of being bullied （被欺负） and brought to their knees by Western guns. And the dark history is still to some extent affecting our mentality （心态） today.

    For some time, the Western world represents the best of everything in some Chinese eyes. But our state of mind is gradually changing. When asked "What makes you feel proud of your country？" in school classes in China, answers vary from the World Expo to the Olympic Games, from athletes to astronauts, from the mushrooming skyscrapers to busy metropolises, which have all filled us with growing self﹣confidence.

    While answering the question "Since China is so good today and Chinese people are more confident, why are an increasing number of Chinese emigrating abroad？" Zhang Weiwei, a professor at Fudan University, replied that at least 70 percent of Chinese migrants （移民） become more patriotic （爱国的） after leaving their home country, no matter whether they have become a naturalized citizen of another nation or not. Such result and experiences are much more convincing and have better effect than dozens of "patriotic education" classes.

    There is no reason for us not to be self﹣confident. We live in the world's second﹣largest economy. Chinese net financial assets per capita （人均纯金融资产） and the purchasing power of people have seen a sharp rise, with more and more people starting to purchase works of art, instead of only necessities. These all indicate a rising standard of life and self﹣confidence.

    Nevertheless, the point of the changing attitudes toward ourselves or other countries is not realizing other nations are better or worse than China, but treating them like how we treat our fellow Chinese. That is what confidence means, not being condescending （屈尊）, not worshiping, but looking each other in the eye with trust and respect.

    When you eat fish, you probably eat it off a plate, using a fork. Well, the dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, eat their fish from conch（海螺）shells!

    Scientists have found some of these bottlenose dolphins（宽吻海豚）using their large beaks to trap fish in shells underwater. Then, carrying the shells to the surface, they shake out the fish into their mouths and eat them. Clearly, using the conch shells allows the dolphins to catch more fish than they would be able to without such a tool. The technique has been called "conching".

    Researchers noticed dolphins engaging in the behavior a handful of times from 2007 to 2009. This dolphin trend seemed to become popular.

    Simon Allen, a scientist, was surprised to see the conching technique spreading. "In the lasts four months alone, the research team have seen and photographed the behavior no less than six times, possibly even seven," he said in a press release. He thinks the dolphins may be learning conching from one another.

    Dolphins are known to be highly intelligent. The size of their brain is large in proportion（比例）to their body size. Compared with other animals, they have highly developed communication and social skills. This species of dolphin also uses other tools. They will break off pieces of sponges that grow in the ocean, for example, and use them to cover their beaks. This allows them to search for food on the ocean floor without hurting their noses.

    Scientists are going to keep trying to catch the dolphins in the act of conching. They hope to see evidence of the dolphins teaching one another the technique. They also want to know how the dolphins get fish in the conch shell. Do they push the fish into the shell with their beaks? Or do they chase the fish into the shell before carrying them up to eat?

    However they do it, Allen believes these dolphins to be particularly clever. "I wouldn't be too surprised to find such cunning ploys being adopted by Shark Bay's bottlenose dolphins," he said in statement.