Three kinds of bears live in the United States. They are the black bear, the brown bear, and the polar bear.

    Black Bears

    Black bears are the most common of the three. They live in forests in many different parts of the country. Even though they are known as black bears, they are not always black. Sometimes they are brown or tan (黄褐色的) , and a few are even white. Black bears are usually about five or six feet long, and they are the smallest of the three kinds of bears.

    Brown Bears

    Brown bears are found in a few western states and in Alaska. They live in forests as well as in open areas called the tundra (冻土地带). Brown bears are usually light or dark brown and can grow to be very large. In fact, some are eight feet long!

    Polar Bears

    Polar bears can be found in Alaska. It is in a cold area near the North Pole called the Arctic and there are no trees there. Polar bears are white, and they are the largest of the three kinds of ears. They are a little longer and usually heavier than the brown bear.

    Other Interesting Things

    Bears eat different things. Black and brown bears eat fish and other kinds of meat, roots, and berries. Polar bears eat fish, other meat, seaweed, and grass. All three types of bears eat as much food as they can find just before winter. Then during the cold months, they sleep in caves or hollowed-out trees called "dens". They keep them warm. Winter is when the female bears have their babies. All three types of bears have between one and four cubs (幼兽). The cubs are born while the mother bear sleeps!

    All people are afraid of bears. However, bears are actually shy. Most bears try to stay away from people, but still, bears can be dangerous at times.

Chopsticks are a pair of small equal-length sticks, usually made of wood, used for eating Asian food. Chopsticks are mainly used in China. And it is believed that the first chopsticks were developed in China. Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chinese chopsticks are usually 9 to 10 inches long. They are round on the eating end which means heaven (天), and the other end is square which means earth. The appearance of chopsticks said goodbye to those days when our Chinese ancestors(祖先)had to use their hands to eat.      

Besides, the use of chopsticks has also been a part of Chinese food culture. There are some taboos that you must pay great attention to when you use chopsticks. Firstly, don't use them to hit your bowl or plate. Secondly, never use them to point at others. Thirdly, don't put them in different food without taking something. Fourthly, don't cross the chopsticks on the table. And lastly, don't leave your chopsticks standing in the rice. Chinese people do this only when they honor (尊重) the dead.

Nowadays, chopsticks have many new usages. For example, you can buy a pair as a gift to your friends and relatives. In Chinese, it reads "筷子", which means having sons soon, so a newly-married couple will be very happy to accept it as their wedding gift.

In a recent study in the scientific journal PeerJ, scientists say they have had a"conversation"with a whale, They also say the chat could help them to one day talk to aliens. The scientists are from the University of California, the Alaska Whale Foundation, and SETI(Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence). The three organizations teamed up and spoke to a humpback whale(座头鲸) named Twain.

They spoke to her in"humpback language"for 20 minutes. Their conversation took place after the scientists sent a"contact call"into     the ocean off the coast of Alaska. Twain heard the call and responded. She swam to the research boat and chatted. SETI said it was the first ever communication between humans and humpback whales.

The scientists say their conversation with Twain was not a deep one. Professor Brenda McCowan said it was more like a series of greetings. Whales use contact calls to let other whales know where they are. The scientists made the same call 36 times over a 20-minute period. Each time, Twain responded by calling back. She even matched the intervals(间隔) between each call the researchers made. Professor McCowan told the Business Insider website that her research could make it easier to talk to aliens. She said,"There are diverse intelligences on this planet. By studying them, we can better understand what an alien intelligence might be like because they are not going to be exactly like ours."

A mystery box (盲盒) keeps what's inside a secret. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But now shops are putting food in them—they are "leftover mystery boxes".

The food inside is near its expiration date (保质期) and will be thrown away if no one buys it. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They are more and more popular in China's cities, such as Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu.

In 2021 when I was studying in the UK, I bought leftover mystery boxes from an app called Too Good To Go. Each box cost about 3 to 5 pounds (27 to 45 yuan), and there were usually three to four things inside. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The box cost 3 pounds but the original price (原价) was around 10 pounds.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} I felt happy to see kinds of food in it and then I would be happier thinking about how much money I saved. And it helped to cut down wasting of food.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Because I can't choose what's in the box, sometimes I got the same kind of food. I had to make other dishes, such as a salad, to make the meal healthier.