As a Chinese saying goes, "Taste is actually a memory of childhood". Local specialty food may not be popular among all people, but it offers outsiders a glimpse of local culture and history.

    Gongcheng "oil tea" is such a kind of food that would be considered "weird" by many first-time visitors to the remote county in the north of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Many people dislike its bitter and astringent(涩的) flavor when they take a sip.

    "It felt like drinking Chinese herbal medicine. I never expected that I would gradually accept it afterwards, and even become addicted to it," said a traveler surnamed Zhang who comes from Shijiazhuang in northern China's Hebei province.

    Langshan village is said to be the birthplace of Gongcheng "oil tea" whose ideal ingredients are green tea and fermented tea. The village has preserved well its buildings and roads dating back to late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as well as its traditional way of making the special tea.

    Lin Fengyou, 60, introduced the cooking process. She looks younger than her age, and attributes this to the benefits of drinking "oil tea" throughout the year.

    The first procedure is to use a wooden hammer to pound the tea while heating it in an iron pot, and then add edible oil and boiled water afterwards. She filters off the solid residues(余渣), and pours the glue-like green tea soup into bowls. Then, she adds salt, caraway seed, green onion, dried rice, fried groundnuts, sliced taro and fried beans.

    The taste of the "oil tea" is a mixture of the distinctive flavors of all its ingredients. Local people usually eat it together with glutinous rice(糯米) balls, rice dumplings and glutinous rice cake.

    The villagers consume "oil tea" three times a day. The tea soup is a healthy and refreshing food. "The tea soup to us is coffee to Westerners", said Lin. "But it is tastier."

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} one of the best things you can possibly do is to start you own club. it's great fun especially if you are the sort of person who feels there's never anything to do during the school holidays.

    the first thing you need to come up with is an idea for your club. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} pets, clothes, pop music or dancing groups, sports, making things? the list is endless.

    next you need some friends to be in your club with you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} all you need is three or four other people who are interested in the same thing as you.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} you should all sit down somewhere together with lots of pieces of paper and write down every name you can think up. that'll keep you busy for ages.

    at your first meeting you should make up a rule book. and the first rule should be no grown-ups or little/big brothers or sisters! the best clubs are always secret!

    now you have just about everything you need, except membership cards. these are very important and again you can spend a lot of time making them.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} why not leave some space for a photo of yourself? that will make the membership card really look like it.

    so there you are, get clubbing! once you get started you'll think of loads of more interesting things to do!

A.that's easy.

B.enjoy your own club!

C. invite a designer to join you.

D. what are you interested in?

E.some vacation is just around the corner.

F. then you need to pick a name for your club.

G.use a bright thick pen to make a special design.

    Over the last week, a "poisonous kale（甘蓝菜）" theory has been going widespread after an article warned that the vegetable was associated with a variety of medical conditions. It's time to separate fear from fact on the health benefits of kale.

    As a member of the cabbage family, kale is low in calories and rich in nutrients and minerals, especially vitamin A,C and K. Consumed for thousands of years, it's been a health plus for millions of eaters throughout the world.

    However, numerous web articles have reported on some evidence offered by a medicine researcher. The researcher found that thallium（铊）was detected in a few people who were heavy consumers of kale. Thallium is a heavy metal often found in trace amounts（微量）in soil and minerals. His conclusion was that these medical conditions were connected to the impact that trace amounts of thallium detected in some kale samples had on the body.

    I don't think the conclusion is based on a strict scientific basis. It's essential to point out that the original report was in a web magazine, not a scientific journal which is subject to peer review by other scientists. A scientific review includes a careful evaluation of how the findings and conclusions were made. Certain factors are critical before an evidence-based conclusion can be made, such as: how many people were in a study; how well controlled were other factors; how much kale was consumed and for how long; how much thallium was in the kale.

    It is a fact that kale and other vegetables can absorb thallium from the soil. But the ability for a plant to absorb traces of a chemical does not automatically make it harmful to your health. And even finding measurable amounts of thallium in someone's body doesn't imply that the thallium is causing an ill health effect, according to the CDC.

    But we can still learn a lesson from this. Plants grow in soil. Growers must continue to be careful in monitoring the quality of their soil. And what about consumers? Eat your kale—and include lots of other colorful fruits and vegetables. As with all things in nature, variety is key for good health.

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Owls and Larks

    Larks are most likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise, according to the old saying.

But those who are early to bed and early to rise do not always have the upper hand, researchers say. They have found that night owls are generally brighter and wealthier than those able to get up early in the morning.

    Experts from the University of Madrid carried out tests on around 1,000 teenagers and found that those who preferred to stay up late proved the kind of intelligence associated with honored jobs and higher incomes. “Larks” or “morning people”, however, often acquired better exam results, possibly because lessons are held at the wrong time of day for night owls. The researchers examined the habits and body clocks of the youngsters to determine whether they liked to stay up late and sleep later in the morning, or preferred to go to bed early and were at their peak in the morning. School performance and inductive(归纳的)intelligence, or problem solving, were measured and academic grades in the major subjects were also taken into account. The results showed that evening types scored higher than morning types on inductive reasoning, which has been shown to be a good estimate of general intelligence and a strong indicator of academic performance. They also had a greater capacity to think conceptually as well as analytically. Such abilities have been linked to innovative(创新的) thinking, more admired occupations and better incomes.

    Famous night owls include President Trump, Obama, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley. George W. Bush, who is regularly in bed by 10 p.m., Thomas Edison, Napoleon, Condoleezza Rice, who wakes at 4:30 a.m., and Ernest Hemingway are among those known as larks. Jim Horne, professor of psychophysiology at Loughborough University, said, “Evening types tend to be the more active and creative types, the poets, artists and inventors, while the morning types are the deducers(推断者), as are often seen with civil servants and accountants.” A previous study of US Air Force recruits found that evening types were much better at thinking to solve problems than larks.

    Best Travel Guides by Continent

    We've broken down (分类)the best travel guides, by continent, to help you find student discounts and travel like a local on your next adventure.

    Europe—let's Go Europe 2019: The Students Travel Guide

    Let's Go was founded about 56 years ago when a Harvard student had an idea to provide accessible, budget travel tips for young people. Students love its amusing pages. let's Go Europe 2018 has everything you need for your trip—from the best beer in Brussels to how to avoid the lines at the Louvre.

    Africa—The Rough Guide to Cape Town, the Winelands, and the Garden Route

    With its colorful photos and detailed tips on how to make the most of South Africa, The Rough Guide is the book to get when visiting Africa. You may not have access to Google Maps when you're out exploring but that's OK. The Rough Guide also comes with easy use to maps. It can be purchased as an eBook, or as a paperback (平装本).

    Asia—Lonely Planet: South –East Asia on a Shoestring

    This guide is perfect for those backpacking through the hidden treasures of South-East Asia. With detailed recommendations from experts in the area, this guide helps first-times as well as experienced backpackers. This book can be purchased as a paperback travel guide. A download for an eBook or separate chapters can be purchased to serve as a guide to specific cities.

    North America—Lonely Planet USA Travel Guide

    With detailed reviews of the best places to eat, sleep, and explore, Lonely Planet is linked with budget-friendly attractions and that is why it makes our best travel guides list. This travel guide is available in paperback.

    When international aid is given, steps must be taken to ensure（确保）that the aid reaches the people for whom it is intended. The way to achieve this may not be simple. It is very difficult for a nation to give help directly to people in another nation. The United Nations Organization （UNO） could undertake to direct the distribution of aid. Here however rises the problem of costs. Also tied with this is time. Perhaps the UNO could set up a body of devoted men and women in every country who can speedily distribute aid to victims of floods and earthquakes.

    More than the help that one nation can give to another during a disaster, it would be more effective to give other forms of help during normal times. A common proverb says, "Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." If we follow this wise saying, it would be right to teach people from less developed nations to take care of themselves. For example, a country could share its technology with another. This could be in simple areas like agriculture or in more complex areas like medical and health care or even in building satellites. Even a small country is able to help less developed nations. Sometimes what is taken for granted, like the setting up of a water purification plant or the administration of a school, could be useful for countries which are looking about to solve common problems. It does not cost much to share such simple things. Exchange students could be attached for a number of months or years and learn the required craft while on the site. They can then take their knowledge back to their homelands and if necessary come back from time to time to clear doubts or to update themselves. Such aid will be truly helpful and there is no chance of it being temporary or of it falling into the wrong hands.

    Many countries run extensive courses in all sorts of skills. It will not cost much to include deserving foreigners in these courses. Besides giving effective help to the countries concerned, there is also the build­up of friendships to consider. Giving direct help by giving materials may be effective in the short run and must continue to be given in the event of emergencies. However, in the long run what is really effective would be the sharing of knowledge.