Scientists found that sleeping considerably improves our creativity. After taking a nap people are able to think faster and put more imagination into their thinking. Besides, if we dream, the thinking abilities are improved even more.

    Researchers consider that sleeping on a problem in most cases leads to elucidation(解释). They say when a person enters a phase called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) during sleep, it increases the effect. Such phase takes place right before we awake and according to scientists it helps our brain make links between unrelated subjects.

    In the study, led by Professor Sara Mednick, scientists made a conclusion that the REM was "important for assimilating(消化) new information into past experience" in order to find solutions to creative problems.

    Prof. Mednick is a psychiatrist at the University of California. Her study involved the analysis of 77 adults. Each participant was given several word-associated creative tasks. All tasks were given in the morning, with participants being shown a number of groups of 3 words, for example: cookie, heart and sixteen. They were asked to come up with a word that would be associated with all three given terms—like sweet. Sometime later, after some participants were allowed to sleep, they were asked to perform the same tasks and some new ones. It is worth mentioning that while some people slept, researchers used brain scans to see the type of sleep each participant entered.

    When given the same tasks, participants, who took a nap, were able to give more varied solutions, some of which were much better than they gave earlier. But when given new tasks, researchers found that those who entered REM sleep had a 40 percent better result compared to the performance they showed in the morning.

    Here are the lessons that my first swimming experience taught me about starting a business.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}For the first time, I went beyond thinking of swimming and actually made a conscious decision to swim. When it comes to starting that business, it's enough with the wishing, thinking and talking. You need to make a conscious decision to start.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It is something you have to do consciously. Thus you need to go beyond desiring that business.

    Tell your friends and family about your decision. I started telling my close friends and family members about my intention to go swimming for the first time. Some of them laughed at me, but it didn't stop me. I did it for two reasons. On one hand, I wanted to receive encouragement On the other hand, however, telling people about it made me responsible for them{#blank#}3{#/blank#} You can discuss the plan with your boss or best friend.

    Secure yourself. After getting my swimming ticket, I quickly asked for a lifebelt I wasn't about, to go into the swimming pool for the first time without it. Prevention is always better and cheaper than cure Make security a priority in your new business.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Enjoy yourself. Yeah, I had a lot of fun at the pool.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Starting and running a business should also involve an amount of fun. I don't mean you should not take things seriously. But not until you do what you enjoy, or enjoy what you do and have fun in the process, can your business be successful.

A. Decide to take action.

B. Make up your mind and just wait silently.

C. So go ahead and tell someone about your business plans.

D. I hung out with my friends and we all had a wonderful time.

E. Put as much money as you can in business regardless of security.

F. Making a decision involves more than just wishing for something to happen.

G. The higher the worth of the business is, the more effort you should put in security.

    Average humans can consume 15 or more drinks in plastic bottles a month. If you were born after 1978, and live until 80 years old, you will leave behind a minimum of 14,400 plastic bottles on this planet. These bottles take hundreds of years to break down into tiny pieces of plastic, never to completely disappear. Most of the waste is consumed by fish and birds, which has shortened their lifetime greatly.

The Plastic Bottle Village is just a great idea that might finally save us from being buried in plastic. It's a community in Panama that is going to be made of used bottles. The design process begins with building steel frames, which are then filled with these bottles. Once this step is complete, and electrical and plumbing (管道装置) lines are put inside, the plastic walls are covered by concrete—both inside and outside. So no one will actually be able to tell that the walls are made of plastic. Besides, the material will keep the house 17℃ cooler than the outside, which is the biggest benefit to people living inside.

    The village is the brainchild (主意) of Robert Bezeau with the intention of setting up several environmental projects. Having started a recycling program four years ago, during which a number of plastic bottles were collected, he started to think of how they could be put to use. Soon enough, he decided to use them to build houses, and came up with a basic idea for the construction process.

    The project hopes to make people conscious of the waste that these bottles create so that they can do more to protect the environment. The village will also create an education center that will teach individuals from the world how to reuse plastic bottles as construction materials for shelter. Recycled bottles could neutralize the negative effect of your passage on this planet, and move closer to leaving only your “footprints”.

    We all know that a hot, milky drink and a warm bath are supposed to relax you before bed, but many of us still can't slip into sleep. Here are some tips to help you go to sleep.

    Breathe in through your left nostril(鼻孔)

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Sleep specialist Peter Smith says, "Lie on your left side, resting a finger on your right nostril to close it. Start slow, deep breathing in the left nostril." Peter, author of Sleep Better With Natural Therapies, says this technique is particularly good when overheating is preventing sleep.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Relaxing all your muscles can prepare your body for sleep. Anxiety expert Charles Linden says: "Lying on your back, take a deep, slow breath in through your nose and, at the same time, squeeze your toes tightly as if you are trying to curl them under your foot, then loosen them slowly. Breathe again, contract your leg muscles, then your thigh, belly, chest, arms, and so on until you heat all the way up your body. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Try to stay awake

Challenge yourself to stay awake— your mind will fight against it! "It's called the sleep paradox(悖论)." says psychotherapist Julie Hirst. She explains: "Keep your eyes wide open, repeat to yourself 'I will not sleep. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, but instead view this as an instruction to sleep and eye muscles tire quickly as sleep turns up."

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Use at least three senses imagining yourself in a situation where you feel content—a paradise(乐园), sailing on calm waters, walking in flower fields.

A. Just imagine

B. Enjoy a paradise

C. Squeeze and relax

D. The brain doesn't process negatives well

E. You must repeat what you have done

F. This yoga method is thought to reduce blood pressure and calm you

G. When you have gone from head to toe, you should feel ready for sleep

    By the end of the century, if not sooner, the world's oceans will be bluer and greener thanks to a warming climate, according to a new study.

    At the heart of the phenomenon lie tiny marine microorganisms (海洋微生物) called phytoplankton. Because of the way light reflects off the organisms, these phytoplankton create colourful patterns at the ocean surface. Ocean colour varies from green to blue, depending on the type and concentration of phytoplankton. Climate change will fuel the growth of phytoplankton in some areas, while reducing it in other spots, leading to changes in the ocean's appearance.

    Phytoplankton live at the ocean surface, where they pull carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) into the ocean while giving off oxygen. When these organisms die, they bury carbon in the deep ocean, an important process that helps to regulate the global climate. But phytoplankton are vulnerable to the ocean's warming trend. Warming changes key characteristics of the ocean and can affect phytoplankton growth, since they need not only sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, but also nutrients.

    Stephanie Dutkiewicz, a scientist in MIT's Center for Global Change Science, built a climate model that projects changes to the oceans throughout the century. In a world that warms up by 3℃, it found that multiple changes to the colour of the oceans would occur. The model projects that currently blue areas with little phytoplankton could become even bluer. But in some waters, such as those of the Arctic, a warming will make conditions riper for phytoplankton, and these areas will turn greener. "Not only are the quantities of phytoplankton in the ocean changing." she said, "but the type of phytoplankton is changing."

If you find your inner voice difficult to control, you can argue with it {#blank#}1{#/blank#} most active learners do. When your inner voice tells you a speaker / writer is wrong, think about why the speaker / writer may be right. Be flexible in your opinions and you might end up {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(agree) with the speaker / writer after all. If not, at least you have "listened to" another point of view.

Asking questions is the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(easy) way to promote active learning. When you get information from someone, from books {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the Internet, ask two, three, even five {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(question) about the topic. The answers will lead you to {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(far) learning, and the very act of working {#blank#}7{#/blank#} questions will help you to achieve a higher level of{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(understand) about the topic.{#blank#}9{#/blank#} short: Do not stop being {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (curiosity).