Young sunflowers turn and swing every day. New findings add to evidence that the plants are animal-like.

    Harmer, a professor in the University of California at Davis, Department of Plant Biology, carried out a series of experiments on sunflowers in the field, in pots outdoors and in indoor growth chambers.

    By staking plants so that they could not move, Harmer showed that he could destroy their ability to track the sun. He also noticed that sunflowers prevented from moving were not as tough and leafy as those that were free to move. When plants were moved indoor with a settled overhead light, they continued to swing back and forth for a few days.

    The indoor plants did start tracking the “sun” again when the apparent source of lighting was moved across the room. The plants could reliably track the movement and return at night when the artificial day was close to a 24-hour cycle, but not when it was closer to 30 hours.

    When sunflowers track the sun, the east sides of their stems grew more rapidly than the west sides. At night, the west sides grew faster as the stem swung the other way. The team identified a number of genes that were expressed at higher levels on the sunward side of the plant during the day or on the other side at night. A plant growth-regulating hormone (激素), called auxin, appears to be a key driver.

    The “dance” to the sun cycle obviously slows when the sunflower matures (成熟) and its flowers open up. At that point, the plants stop moving during the day and settle down facing the sun in the east.

    “Bees like warm flowers.” Harmer said, adding that the bees are cold-blooded, so landing on a warm flower saves them energy and perhaps feels really good.

    “The morning warmth changes the flowers in a way to make them more appealing to insects, perhaps causing them to release more attractive scents earlier in the day.” he said “We're currently testing this idea.”

    The first time she saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time he saw Juli Baker, he ran. For six years of living close by, they had played the same game of cat-and-mouse (Juli was the cat; Bryce was the unfortunate mouse).

    For years Juli dreamed of one thing: her first kiss from the boy. Nothing else seemed to matter. But when Juli's favorite sycamore tree is threatened by developers, things begin to change. She begins to see things and places and people in a different light. Things, for years, she thought to be important, become things she can live without; and people she thought to be the center of her universe, become nothing more than a star in a faraway galaxy.

    Things begin changing with Bryce also. It all begins with the eggs…which then cause a domino effect of changes with his relationships with his best friend, his father, the Bakers and, ultimately, Juli.

    I had seen this book on the shelf at bookstores for years, but never bothered to pick it up because it looked to be another book from Jerry Spinelli (not exactly my favorite author in the world) and so, continually, I would walk past it without giving it a second glance. If by chance I had picked it up, I most likely would not have read it, since the summary on the back didn't seem too appealing. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I heard about Flipped the movie. I read an interview with Callan McAuliffe (the actor who portrays Bryce) and thought that Flipped was a romance right up my alley; cute, innocent and as far from Jane Austin as you could get. After reading the interview and a summary of the movie, I found the plot-line to be somewhat appealing and a definite breath of fresh air opposed to the dark material I have been recently reading and writing. I found the book a few days later in a Goodwill bookstore and finished it in three days.

    The story isn't what you would consider deep…it isn't shallow and pointless either…I guess you could say it's the perfect balance of life-lessons and innocence.

    You read about Bryce and Juli (each from their own points of view) and how, throughout six years, their lives and views and opinions change and develop. Flipped is somewhat of a coming of age story about two kids learning to see life from the other's point of view and learning that growing up isn't about staying the same, but changing; changing likes and dislikes; changing friends and crushes and views on family.

Uniquely written, every other chapter showing the same scenes and events, only from the other's point of view, you see how the saying, "Two sides to every story," is true. You are able to see both Juli and Bryce's reasons for doing what they do and saying what they say…not just what the other sees.

    It will be interesting to see how this writing style comes into play in the movie. Overall I thought this story was incredibly cute and light-hearted, although it didn't entirely meet my expectations. Especially the ending. I felt as though it ended quite abruptly and that there was more story that needed to be told.

    But even with that, after having taken a step back and taken my mind off of Flipped, I find the story has stuck with me and stayed in the back of my mind, making me highly anticipate seeing this book turned to a film. I understand why it has been so popular for almost two decades and am looking forward to seeing Flipped on the big screen soon.

Jealous Ken

    Dick and Ken lived in the same street. Both children had a good home and lots of nice things. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In other words, Ken was a jealous(嫉妒的) boy.

    Dick and Ken grew up and got jobs. At first, they both cycled to work every morning. Then Dick bought a motorcycle. Every morning, Dick on his motorcycle rode past Ken on his bicycle, and Ken felt jealous. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} He was happy until Dick bought a car.

    Ken worked hard until he had enough money for a car. He bought a car, and it was as good as Dick's car. There were a lot of other cars on the road, so the journey to work was slower, but Ken was happy.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So Ken worked very hard, and yesterday he bought an expensive new car. This morning Ken left home in his new car. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} But Ken was happy because his car was bigger, better and faster than Dick's car.

    Then he saw Dick behind him, but Dick was not in a car. Dick was riding a bicycle. It was a new bicycle. The cars moved very slowly, so Dick cycled past them easily. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} He watched from his big, expensive car and felt jealous.

A.     Dick was very proud of his new car.

B.     But after a year, Dick bought a bigger car.

C.     Both Ken and Dick walked to work every day.

D.    So Ken bought a motorcycle and he was happy.

E.     Ken watched as Dick cycled away in front of him.

F.     But Ken was unhappy because some of Dick's things were better than his.

G.    There were cars in front as far as he could see, and none of them could move.

    When we were kids, if our parents wanted us to stop the screen time, they would turn off the TV. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They grab the cell phone, the tablet or the laptop. Here we will talk about how to control their screen time.

    First, limit the time they use screens. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Kids are smart. Once you go back to your daily routine, they will quickly be back on a screen. Because they just don't understand that when you tell them to get off the tablet or computer, you mean for the rest of the day.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It can be going outside to play, reading a fun book or cleaning their room. Presenting them with an alternative helps the under-developed planning part of their little brains get past what they can't do and see what else is possible.

    And third, hide the screen device. That one may not seem very fair. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If they don't see the device around the house, they can't grab it. This way, works for us adult-types who may be a little too addicted to screens ourselves.

    Ultimately, the best way to help kids recognize how much is too much screen time is to limit our own. Yeah, you may have to stare at one all day for your job, but do you really have to come home and immediately turn on the TV or answer that email on your phone? Don't think your kids aren't taking excuses from your actions. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Second, give them an alternative.

B. So, it's necessary to set a limited time.

C. It may seem easy, but it can be challenging.

D. Now, kids often have a choice of which screen they want.

E. They watch you just as closely as they watch those screens.

F. Now go to find a screen and turn it off, for you and for your kids.

G. But the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” actually works sometimes.

    When you write a message or an email, you might put a smiling face or other pictures at the end to make the message more fun. These pictures are emojis (表情符号). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Later, they were used on Apple's iPhone and Android phones. Now they are everywhere!

    Emoticon or emoji?

    Before emojis, there were emoticons, which can be made from the signs you can find on your keyboard, for example: for a smiley. Emoji is a Japanese word which means photograph. e ("picture") + moji ("character"). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} There are all kinds of emojis, from faces and weather pictures to things in the kitchen and animals.

    What are emojis for?

    In English, we have a saying: A picture paints a thousand words. For many people, an emoji is like a punctuation mark, or smiling at someone across the room. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It is like the tone (语气) of voice when we speak on the phone, or gestures used in conversation.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    When someone speaks and looks serious, we try to look serious, too, and when someone smiles, we smile as well. This is how we show empathy (共鸣) and make friends.

    But when we are online, we can't see the person's face and there is no emotion. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Scientists in Australia have discovered that when we look at a smiley face online, the same parts of the brain start working as when we look at a real smiley face. Our mood changes, and we try to change our face to match the emoji.