It is not only praise or punishment that determines a child's level of confidence. There are some other important ways we shape our kids—particularly by giving instructions and commands in a negative or positive choice of words. For example, we can say to a child “Don't run into traffic!” or “Stay on the footpath close to me.” In using the latter, you will be helping your kids to think and act positively, and to feel competent in a wide range of situations, because they know what to do, and aren't scaring themselves about what not to do.

    Why does such a small thing make a difference? It is all in the way the human mind works. What we think, we automatically rehearse. For example, if someone offered you a million dollars not to think of a blue monkey for two minutes, you wouldn't be able to do it. When a child is told “Don't fall off the tree,” he will think of two things: “don't” and “fall off the tree”. That is, he will automatically create the picture of falling off the tree in his mind. A child who is vividly imagining falling off the tree is much more likely to fall off. So it is far better to use “Hold on to the tree carefully.”

    Clear, positive instructions help kids to understand the right way to do things. Kids do not always know how to be safe, or how to react to the warning of the danger in negative words. So parents should make their commands positive. “Sam, hold on firm to the side of the boat” is much more useful than “Don't you dare to fall out of the boat?” or worse still “How do you think I'll feel if you drown?” The changes are small but difference is obvious.

    Children learn how to guide and organize themselves from the way we guide them with our words, so it pays to be positive.

    Lions are the top tourist attraction to Kenya and also considered critically endangered. One of the main causes of their death is that people kill them in return for lions attacking their cows. “We put our cows in a small cow shelter at night,” locals said, “and that's when the trouble would start. Lions would jump in the shelter and kill the cows”.

    There have been a lot of efforts to try to protect the lions, but it's a crisis and everyone is looking for a solution. One idea was land leases(租用), another was lion-proof fences. However, no one even knew that Richard Turere, a 13-year-old Maasai from Kenya, had already come up with something that worked.

    One night Richard was walking around with a flashlight and discovered the lions were scared of a moving light. An idea was born. Three weeks and much repairing later, Richard invented a system of lights that flash around the cow shelter, mimicking a human walking around with a flashlight. His system is made from broken flashlight parts and an indicator box from a motorcycle. “The only thing I bought was a solar panel（电池板）, which charges a battery that supplies power to the lights at night.” Richard says. He calls the system Lion Lights.

    His simple solution was so successful: his neighbors heard about it and wanted Lion Lights, too. He put in the lights for them. From there, the lights spread and are now being used all around Kenya. Someone in India is trying them out for tigers. In Zambia and Tanzania they're being used as well.

    Until recently, scientists had mapped only about 20 percent of the sea floor. But our knowledge of the deep seas is changing because of information from satellites. Scientists have produced a new map that provides a detailed picture of the oceans. The map is expected to help oceanographers (海洋学家), industry and governments.

    The new map is twice as detailed as the map made 20 years ago. David Sandwell is a geophysics professor at the University of California. He and other scientists worked on the mapping project. He says they turned to space to look deeper into the ocean.

    The scientists collected and studied information from two satellites. Some of the data came from the European Space Agency's Cryo-2 satellite. It was placed in Earth's orbit to watch sea ice. The other satellite is the American space agency's Jason-1. It is studying the surface of the oceans. Scientists combined the satellite data with images gathered by sonar (声波定位仪) equipment on ships. Sonar works by sending sound waves through the water. When the sound waves hit an object, its presence is confirmed.

    The new map shows the sea floor as it has never been seen before. It shows thousands of underwater mountains and places where continents pulled apart. It shows where earthquakes were active many years ago. They all are buried deep underneath the ocean floor.

    David Sandwell says the map is a powerful tool for fisheries, those interested in protecting the environment and for oil exploration.

    “The petrol exploration industry is interested in how to reconnect the continents, bring them back together tectonically so you can map the basins （盆地）on one continental edge—say, Africa—and use that to establish where the similar basin would be on the other continental edge in South America.”

    If scientists know that information, they may be able to find oil fields. The new data also will help scientists improve their estimates of ocean depths. This information can help ships travel safely and improve military operations and scientific projects worldwide.

    Mr. Sandwell thinks scientists will make many more discoveries as they examine the new map and the information it provides.

    Why we cry with happiness show: Responding with a negative reaction helps us deal with extreme joy. If you cry with happiness at weddings, you are responding to a happy experience with a negative reaction. The researchers believe the unusual reaction may help renew emotional balance in us and keep extreme emotions under control. The findings make it clear how people express and control their emotions, which could help improve their understanding of people's mental(精神的) health.

    Dr Oriana Aragon set out to explore the phrase “tears of joy”, which she said never made sense to her. But after studying a series of incongruous(不和谐的) expressions, she now understands better why people cry when they are happy. “People may be renewing emotional balance with these expressions,” she explained. “They seem to take place when people are struck by strong positive emotions. People, who do this, seem to recover better from those strong emotions.”

    The report show various examples of responding to a positive experience with a negative emotion, such as, a crying wife seeing the husband returning from war again, and teenage girls screaming at a Justin Bieber concert. Examples also include a baseball player who hits a home run, only to be slapped(拍) on the back by teammates, as well as when people cannot help kissing babies' faces who they consider lovely.

    Dr Aragon and her team discovered that people, who expressed negative reactions to positive news, were able to moderate(缓和) strong emotions more quickly. There is also some evidence that strong negative feelings may provoke positive expressions. For example, nervous laughter often happens when people are faced with a hard situation. We've seen people smiling during times of extreme sadness.

    “The findings affect our knowledge of how people express and control their emotions, which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of relationships with others, and even how well people work together,” Dr Aragon said.

    Filled with much housework, meals and childcare at home, many people feel that being at work sounds more like having a picnic. Even for those who have a happy family life, they feel actually more stressed at home than at work.

    Recently, a study carried out by the researchers at a university in the USA found lower levels of hormone released in response to stress in a majority of subjects when they were at work compared to when they were at home. This was true for both men and women, and parents and people without children.

    Both men and women showed less stress at work. But women are more likely to report feeling happier there. Men were more likely to feel happier at home. Experts say there are other reasons why work is less stressful than home for many. “Paid work is more valued in society,” said Sarah Damaske, the lead researcher on the study, “Household work is boring and not particularly rewarding.”

    We get better at our job with time and the increased competence means less stress and more rewards. Yet none of us, no matter how long we've been doing it, ever truly feels like an expert at parenting or even at marriage.

    The support and friendship of co-workers also offer stress relief. At home, meanwhile, stress spreads and increases quickly. “That's the reason why most housewives wish they were the bread earners,” Dr. Damaske says.

    Much of the advice to families and couples includes the warning to “leave work stress at office” and even to change our mind-set from work to home, for example, a walk around the block. The recent findings, though, suggest our home life, not our attitude, might be due for some change.

Research has shown that mindful eating has positive impacts on people, so it's beneficial to know how to eat more mindfully. Here are some techniques for eating at a healthy pace

Remove all distractions while your eat. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Make sure your cell phone is face down and you' re not going to be responding to any messages that come through.

Take enough time to finish your meal. Even with all distractions removed, very often you still find yourself eating faster than you should.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It takes about that time for your body to get the signal to the brain that you are full.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}You might wonder how to spend 20 whole minutes eating a sandwich. One way to slowdown is to engage your senses and think through all the details about your meal. Ask yourself: What's on my plate? How hungry am I today? Is it too salty? Notice the smell, the taste and whatever other senses that arise as you eat.

Limit the amount of the food you might munch on(大口吃) mindlessly. Put a small amount of snack food, like potato chips, in a separate bowl to help avoid mindless munching. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Putting aside some of the food can help you eat less at a healthier pace.

Actually chew. If you' re wolfing down(狼吞虎咽) your food you' re probably not chewing it. And chewing is an important part of digestion. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Look at each bite before putting it into your mouth, acknowledge what you' re eating and chew, chew, chew.

A. Notice all the little details about your food.

B. Limit your time for a meal within 20 minutes.

C. It helps break up the foods so it's easier for absorption.

D. Watch out for your food intake and the time you spend on it.

E When you sit down to eat, spend at least 20 minutes doing so.

F. If you have a whole bag of it, it is challenging to stop after several bites.

G. They can limit your ability to enjoy your food and notice when you are full.