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    You probably know many of the things that you can do with the hundreds of different muscles（肌肉） in your body. But have you ever thought about how the muscles in an animal's body are different from yours? An animal's muscles are made to do the things that are the most important for its life.

    Lions are hunters. They depend on their ability to catch other animals. Lions must be fast in order to catch their prey(猎物). The powerful muscles in their back legs allow them to run at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour. They can also jump a distance of more than 35 feet. The strong muscles in their front legs help them catch their prey.

    Snakes also use their muscles for hunting prey and for movement, but their muscles work in very different ways than lion's do. Because snakes do not have any legs, they use their muscles to push against the ground or other objects to move themselves forward. Their muscles also allow them to eat things that seem much too large. For example, a snake may eat an egg that is larger than the width of its body. How does this happen? The snake's strong neck muscles work together to push the egg down the mouth.

    The elephant's long nose has a lot of muscles. Scientist believe that the nose alone has more than 100, 000 muscles! This is because the elephant uses its nose much in the same way that people use their hands and fingers. Even though the nose is large, it can perform surprisingly tasks. For example, an elephant can pick up a tree by its roots or even to lift a baby elephant.

    The great muscles of these animals seem pretty unbelievable. But the muscles in your body work exactly the way you need them to. After all, it might be fun to be able to jump a distance of 30 feet, but as a human being, there is just not much need for it.

    Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair, or your fridge? Probably they are not. But in the future, most things in your home may be connected, thanks to the so-called "Internet of things".

    The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. Earlier this year, Samsung CEO spent a lot of time talking about the Internet things. He said that three years from now, every Samsung product will be part of the Internet of things, no matter whether it's a remote control or a washing machine.

    So, how do household objects that are part of the Internet of things work? Well, think of a common chair. When connected to the Internet, the chair warms up when it knows the user has just walked into the room and is feeling cold.

    An Internet-connected camera could help people feel safer in their homes. It can know people's faces and has an infrared sensor（红外传感器）, so even if it's dark it can see when someone passes by and send you a message on your smart-phone to let you know who's there. If the person is someone you don't know, it can tell you that, too.

    But according to MIT Technology Review, whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or safety systems to the Internet, there may be some problems. For example, many early connected-home objects don't have much built-in security, which means they could be hacked（攻击）. Moreover, it could be difficult to get these new machines to work together especially when they are made by different companies. To fight this, many companies have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium, which had 45 members by late 2015.

    So, picture this: you enter your home. The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think that this would be a good thing? It may happen sooner than you think.

    Watering plants is an important part of having a garden. But different plants have different needs. Plants like plenty of water, but how do you know what is too much or too little? Here are just a few helpful suggestions you may want to consider.

    3 Do's 3 Don'ts

    Water early.

    Water in the morning before it begins to get hot. It's a perfect time to water your plants. This way they are ready for the hottest parts of the day. Don't water too much.

    Although plants are usually thirsty, too much water can be harmful to their growth. If you notice the leaves are becoming yellow and falling off, it is a clear sign of too much water.

    Drain （排水） properly.

    Be sure to check the surrounding area of your plants regularly. The extra water should be drained well. Don't water late.

    This is especially important. Although not everyone will be able to do their watering in the early morning hours, try not to wait too late in the day. If you water in the afternoon when it is hot, lots of water will evaporate （蒸发）before reaching the roots. If you water in the evening, the roots will be too wet.

    Prevent insects.

    A thin, fine mist （喷雾） will prevent insects from setting on the leaves and flowers. Don't water the leaves.

    The most ideal place to begin is the root. This is where most of the growth and development takes place. In order for your plants to be strong, the roots have to be healthy.

    To really know what works well for your plants, watch them for signs of over watering or signs of not getting enough water. For more great advice on rose watering and growing roses, visit http:// www. my rose guide. com.

    Animals grow up（成长） in different ways. Some newborn（初生的） animals are helpless but their mothers protect them. A newborn kangaroo is very small. It is only a few centimeters（cm）long. It closes its eyes and doesn't have hair. It stays safe in its mother's pouch（育儿袋）for a long time.

    A newborn monkey can not walk. Its mother carries it everywhere.

    Other baby animals can walk soon after they're born. They learn to run with their mothers when danger is near. A baby zebra can run, an hour after it is born.

    Some baby animals are born in a place that is safe. Baby wolves are usually born in big holes with little light. Other baby animals are born in the open. A baby elephant is often born on open land.

    "Without music, life would be a mistake, "famous German philosopher(哲学家)Friedrich Nietzsche said over a century ago. Music is a big part of our lives. But in recent years, some American schools have cut music classes to control budgets(预算).

    For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired over 1, 000 teachers. Among them, 10 percent of the teachers taught art or music, according to The Washington Times. In fact, this is not just a problem in the US. In other countries, such as China and the UK, music classes are not thought to be as important as ones like science, math and history. That's partly because music is not seen as a very important life skill, and it isn't tested. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so parents and students choose to focus on subjects that are tested more often.

    However, learning music is beneficial(有益的)in many ways.

    When playing music, you need different abilities to work together. It is not as simple as it looks, according to Kenneth K. Guilmartin of Music Together, an early childhood music development program. For example, when playing the piano, people see music notes and decode(解码)them in their brains. They also use their fingers to make sounds. You need to deal with all these things at the same time.

    Music has a special connection with science as well. You can see that many scientists are good at playing music：Einstein played the violin and German physicist Max Planck was talented in playing the piano.