It's every parent's worst nightmare there's a fire in the house, the alarms are beeping, but the children are sleeping on. Now scientists have found a better way to rouse slumbering youngsters. Researchers in the US have discovered that playing a child a recording of his mother's voice is about three times more likely to wake him up than a traditional alarm.

    Writing in the Journal of Pediatrics, Smith and colleagues report how they compared the effects of four different smoke alarms on 176 children aged between 5 and 12 years old, none of whom had hearing difficulties or were taking any medication that affected their sleep. While one alarm featured a high-pitched beep the sort of commonly found in households the other three featured the voice of the child's mother calling either the child's name, giving instructions such as: "Wake up! Leave the room! ", or both. Each child slept in a lab-based room that resembled a real bedroom.

    The results show that vocal alarms appear to be more effective than high-pitched beeps. About 90% of children woke for a voice alarm compared with just over 53% for the traditional alarm.

    “High pitched beeping alarms don't wake up children well at all under about 12 years of age, "said Dr Gary Smith, a co-author of the research from the Nationwide Children's hospital in Ohio, although

he said at present it is not known why. He said it was important to look at developing better alarms.

    Prof Niamh Nic Daeid, director of the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee, said the research found a human voice combined with a low-frequency pulsing tone was far more effective in waking up children than a traditional high-pitched alarm. She also noted that more work was needed to explore whether other familiar sounds, such as a dog barking, might also prove effective in rousing children.

Do you want to see animals? Well, Qingdao Zoo is really a good {#blank#}1{#/blank#}for you. There are many kinds of animals in the zoo. Let's see koalas {#blank#}2{#/blank#}The koalas come from Australia. They are very quiet and smart. People {#blank#}3{#/blank#} them very much. The pandas from China are cute. Many people like these {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.and white animals. They're shy. So {#blank#}5{#/blank#} be noisy when you see them. There's a tiger {#blank#}6{#/blank#}her two sons in the zoo. They are from the US. They're brave and interesting, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}they are not friendly. The giraffes come from Africa. They're beautiful. The lions are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} from Africa. They are really scary. Many people don't like {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. They always sleep in the day. They are very lazy. You can also {#blank#}10{#/blank#} many other kinds of animals in the zoo. Have a good time there.

Jin Ying, 25, is a lover of Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM）. She took part in a three- month training course on acupuncture and tuina（针灸推拿） in the winter of 2023 at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. 

Jin's life has been different since the training. She changed her life habits after learning the Five Elements theory（五行学说）. For example, she avoided sweating（流汗） too much during exercise in winter because the cold of winter means people should slow down , according to TCM. For her, learning these skills and theories was not about becoming a TCM doctor but rather about embracing（拥抱）a new lifestyle. 

She is not an unusual example of young people becoming interested in TCM. A survey by China Youth Daily showed that 93. 3 percent of the 1, 000 young people who took part had tried different TCM treatments. 

"I have seen a rising number of young people come to me for neck and back pains. which are usually related to the elderly, " said Ma Huifang, a TCM doctor at Guoyitang, a TCM hospital affiliated（附属） with Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. 

Between Western medicine and TCM, young people often choose TCM due to its efficacy（疗效 ）, according to Ma. Some people question why TCM treats the same illnesses with different prescriptions（处方）. "This. is actually an advantage of TCM, rather than a shortcoming, as it can be a more accurate treatment（精准的治疗） for different patients, " Ma explained. 

Younger age groups are embracing TCM, and, at the same time, TCM is also benefiting young people. As Jin noted, "It helps young people understand Chinese medicine and learn why it is believed to be a treasure of our Chinese culture. "

Friends are good for everyone. We can talk to them when we are happy. We can ask them for help when we have something hard to do. So all people like to make friends with others.

Before you make friends, you have to meet people. When you are in school, you can meet other students. So you can make friends first with your classmates or schoolmates.

You can also make friends when you do sports and play games. People can become good friends when they are doing the same thing.

Today, the Internet is a very good place to make friends. You can use QQ or WeChat to do so. But do take care not to tell everything to others. Take care when you want to meet your net friend. Don't make friends by giving something good to people.

Swimming is a good way to exercise. Do you know open water swimming? It means swimming in the sea, a river or a lake. Open water swimming is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (enjoy), but there is a lot more to think about. It's very important to know how {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (keep) safe(安全的) in the water. 

Most swimming {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (pool) make sure that the water is comfortable enough for people to get into. However, in open water swimming, the water is often much {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (cold), even in summer. It's not as warm{#blank#}5{#/blank#} swimming in the pool. {#blank#}6{#/blank#}many people like to wear a wetsuit(潜水衣) to help keep them warm. 

If you want{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (swim) in the open water, here are some rules for you to follow. First, choose{#blank#}8{#/blank#} safe place. You can ask the workers there and they can tell you the safest place. Next, never swim by {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (you). Always have an adult swimmer beside you. Third, don't swim too far and stay close{#blank#}10{#/blank#} the river bank or the beach if you are in the sea. 

Remember all these rules and you can have a great time swimming in the open water.