Imagine being a crew member, hundreds of years ago, sailing in southern waters. Your captain is searching for food while exploring unfamiliar waters. Your job is to watch the sea off the ship's side for ice. The wind is cold on your face. Alongside the ship, a fish darts past. Another slows to a stop and raises its head above the water to look at you. How could a fish do that?

    Did the sailors see fish with feathers or swimming birds? Today, we know that the sailors saw birds that developed the ability to swim. Their wings became flippers, and they could “fly” through the water with amazing speed.

    There are many types of penguins. Only two kinds raise their young on the continent of Antarctic. Adelie penguins grow up to 29 inches tall and have a white ring around each eye. Emperor penguins have yellow orange color near their necks. Standing about 35 inches tall, they are the tallest penguins living today.

    Emperor penguins have nests on top of their feet. Father Emperor penguins keep the egg on top of their feet for more than two months, until the egg is ready to hatch. The mother penguin goes out for food during that time. Imagine holding an egg on your feet for two months until someone returns with food!

    Male and female penguins are both good parents. Once the chicks hatch, both parents travel long distances to find food for them in the sea. It may be days before the parents return and the chicks eat again. When they return with food, the fun really begins. Chicks chase their parents, begging for food. Penguin chicks eat huge amounts at one time.

    Eventually, the adult penguins stop feeding the chicks. This is nature's way of forcing children to grow up. When the penguin chicks are hungry enough, they find their way to the sea. Without any swimming lessons, they make their way into the icy waters and swim as only penguins do.

    Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping, has drawn extensive attention from people both at home and abroad for her charisma and grace. Accompanying her husband on his first overseas trip after becoming president, Peng Liyuan exhibited graceful demeanor, a pleasant personality and well-chosen dress, prompting people to coin the term “Liyuan style”.

Peng Liyuan, as one of China's best-known singers, was popular among Chinese people long before her husband became the president. Loved by her fans, she has been in touch with the people for years.

    “Liyuan style” is not only representative of a fashion idol, but also overpass cultural and diplomatic barriers. The beautiful handbags Peng has carried, and the plain but elegant and delicate dresses she has worn have become popular. Her choice of clothing, made-in-China instead of luxurious foreign brands, shows her belief in domestic dress designs.

But “Liyuan style” is not only about clothing and a woman's paraphernalia. It is also about diplomacy and promoting China's soft power. In Moscow, Peng visited a boarding school for orphans and children estranged (疏远) from their parents, encouraging them to strive for a better life, which brought out the maternal side of her character. In Tanzania, she donated sewing machines and school bags to women and children. And as a World Health Organization ambassador in the fight against AIDS, Peng is devoted to many public causes, including those relating to charity and healthcare.

    Some observers have already started saying that Peng's activities have become part of public diplomacy in China.

Also, “Liyuan style” has boosted the confidence of the Chinese people. Modem but not flashy, elegant but not arrogant, Peng has all the virtues of a Chinese woman and carries them to the international stage.

Since the 18th Party Congress and the annual sessions of the NPC and CPPCC, the country's new leadership has vowed to adopt a down-to-earth work style to connect with the people. Peng's plain but elegant style shows that thriftiness and an earthy style need not be drab and boring.

    So it can be said that Peng's first appearance on the international stage has kicked off well.

How to improve your happiness

    Recent research has shown that people who value their time over the pursuit of wealth are happier. So how can you best make, save and use your time — and ensure you keep a smile on your face?

● Pay someone to do the housework you hate

Why waste precious hours on housework or gardening if you can get someone else to do it?

● Set time limits on tasks you can't avoid

    Give yourself 20 minutes for necessary cleaning or 10 to hang out the washing. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

● Enjoy standing in that queue

    With three people in front of you at the checkout, think about how busy you usually are and see the wait as a gift, not a bore(烦人的事情). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

● Take on one new activity at a time

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}At work and at home, be careful about the duties you take on. If you already feel stressed at work, don't do more at home.

● Learn to say no

    Be firm by declining a new project, or telling someone you can't talk right now or that you can only talk for a couple of minutes.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

● Make lists your friend

    Start a wish list of the things you'd like to do and do more of the items that simply make you feel happy. Keep your daily to-do list manageable by putting it on an index card.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Be friendly but firm.

B. Make sure you start with an easy task.

C. This will get boring jobs out of the way faster.

D. Intending to do several things at once can be tiring.

E. Think about things that interest you, or wait patiently.

F. Trying to master too many new things at once can be unpleasing.

G. Recall things you're grateful for, talk to another customer or read a magazine.

    China's hot word, tuhao, may be in Oxford English Dictionary.

    In Chinese, tu means rude and hao means rich. In recent years, people use this term to describe those who spend money in an unreasonable way. The word became more popular with Apple's gold-colored iPhone, which is loved by China's rich people. The color became known as “tuhao golden”. The word is now often used to refer to people who have money but lack taste.

    There are two other Chinese hot words: dama and No Zuo No Die, which may also be taken in the dictionary. Dama, meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal. Thousands of Chinese women were buying a large amount of gold when the gold price had gone down. Another phrase No Zuo No Die, meaning if you don't do stupid things, they won't come back to bite you, is also very popular. Other words, such as Maotai, Chinglish and dim sum have also been included in the dictionary.

    BBC World News recently made a special program called “Tuhao, let's be friends!” “The frequent use of Chinglish by foreign media suggests that foreign people are looking more to the lifestyle and popular culture of China,” says Zhang Yiwu, professor of Beijing University.

    What does this trend suggest about the Chinese language's influence?

    Xing Hongbing, a professor from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) said “These show that Chinglish is now being accepted by the rest of the world and they play important roles in daily life of Chinese. Behind these Chinglish words and phrases are the Chinese culture. They are reflections of the changes and trends in the Chinese society and they help people from other countries to understand what's happening in China.”

    We arrived at the hospital to find Dad was very weak, but his smile was as sure as ever. It was another attack of pneumonia (肺炎). My husband and I stayed with him for the weekend but had to return to our jobs on Monday. Local relatives would help Dad get home from the hospital and look after him. But I longed to be able to let him know that we cared too, even when we weren't with him.

    Then I remembered a family tradition when our children were small. When leaving their grandparents' home after a visit, each child would write a love note to their grandparents. They hid notes in the cereal (麦片) box, under a hairbrush, next to the phone or even in the microwave oven (微波炉). For days, their grandparents would smile as they discovered these signs of our love.

    So as I tidied Dad's kitchen and made up a bed for him downstairs in the living room, I wrote some notes. Some were practical, “Dad, I put the food in the fridge so it wouldn't spoil.” Some expressed my love, “Dad, I hope you will sleep well in your new bed.” Most notes were downstairs where he would stay for several weeks until he recovered strength, but one note I hid upstairs under his pillow, “Dad, if you have found this note, you must be feeling better. We are so glad!”

    Just like his medicines strengthened him physically, these “emotional vitamins” would improve his spiritual health. Several weeks later, in one of our regular phone calls, I asked Dad how he was doing. He said, “Pretty good. I just found your note under my pillow upstairs!”

Donna Strickland was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou.It's the first time in 55 years that a woman has won this famous prize, but why has it taken so long? We look at five other pioneering female physicists — past and present — who actually deserve the prize.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Perhaps the most famous snub (冷落): the student Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967, when she was a PhD student at Cambridge.The Nobel Prize that recognised this landmark discovery in 1974, however, went to her male supervisor, Antony Hewish.Recently awarded a £2.3 million Breakthrough Prize, which she gave away to help under-represented students, she joked to The Guardian, "I feel I've done very well out of not getting a Nobel Prize."

Lene Hau

Hau is best-known for leading the research team at Harvard University in 1999 that managed to slow a beam of light, before managing to stop it completely in 2001.Often topping Nobel Prize prediction lists, could 2019 be Hau's year.

Vera Rubin

Rubin discovered dark matter in the 1980s, opening up a new field of astronomy.She died in 2016, without recognition from the committee.

Chien-Shiung Wu

Wu's "Wu experiment" helped disprove the "law of conservation of parity".Her experimental work was helpful but never honoured, and instead, her male colleagues won the 1957 Nobel Prize for their theoretical work behind the study.

Lise Meitner

Meitner led groundbreaking work on the discovery of nuclear fission.However, the discovery was acknowledged by the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which was won by her male co-lead, Otto Hahn.