Getting a cold drink might seem like the perfect way to relax after a long hot summer day, but for most Chinese, the opposite is true. They consume(喝) hot drinks through the day in spite of the weather.

The idea is that consuming anything at room temperature or below is bad for your health. “In the big family where I was brought up, no one would dare to pour even room-temperature water,” journalist Nicole Liu writes for the LA Times. “Doing this will be criticized by parents, aunts, cousins, and grandparents.”

Hot water might be useful to a certain degree, but it appears that Chinese people’s strong belief in its effects might be the result of subliminal(潜意识的) messaging. According to Liu, people’s hot water habit can date back to 1949, when the government encouraged people to drink boiled water and regard that as a way of getting rid of water-borne bacteria (bacteria carried by water). “There were boiler rooms in every place and community, and people delivered (递送) hot water to each home,” 68-year-old Li Zhenhui told Liu.

And the rule of ancient Chinese medicines cannot be ignored — they also appear to play an important role in the nation’s love for hot drinks. The consumption of warm water early in the morning has long been thought to help digestion(消化), improve blood flow, and reduce muscle pain. Hot food, on principle, is never mixed with cold water because that would cause an imbalance of temperatures. In fact, most restaurants in China provide the choice of serving soft drinks hot or at room temperature, as opposed to ice-cold in Western countries.

It seems that the Chinese like hot water for life, and will continue to do so for several generations to come. This is more than obvious from scenes of the ongoing conferences in the nation, where waiters repeatedly serve hot water to senior officials in the conference hall.

The world-famous British Museum has a secret: a hidden study where anyone can request private viewings of prints and drawings by Rembrandt, Michelangelo and more.

On the fourth floor of the British Museum, in a quiet corner, is an ordinary door. I first opened the door a few years ago, and was shown into a room with a glass ceiling and cabinets(陈列橱) filled with cardboard boxes. Those boxes hold Britain’s national collection of prints and drawings.

Studying a work of art in your own time at a desk is a very different experience from looking at it in a museum or gallery. It is much closer to how the artists themselves would have viewed the work. I was drawn into the images, which still felt fresh and immediate decades after their creation.

I asked the archivist(档案保管员) if I could see Michelangelo’s ink drawing of a philosopher(哲学家). The drawing shows a bearded man holding a round object: perhaps a rock or a glass ball. That the drawing was unfinished made it more interesting. Was the drawing an old man thinking about death, an alchemist(炼金术士) weighing a fresh piece of gold, or a philosopher turning over the stone of knowledge?

I looked at it until the archivist told me they were about to close for the day.

Since that first visit, I have gone back to the study room several times, usually to look at works from the period I was researching. Very occasionally, I asked for the Michelangelo drawing. Although I know that it prefers to be in the dark, I also like to think that, every now and then, it enjoys being looked at.

 Swimming is very popular. People like swimming in summer because water makes people feel cool. If you like swimming and swim in a wrong place, it may not be safe. These years, a lot of people died when they were enjoying themselves in the water, and most of them were students. But some people are not careful in swimming. They often think they swim so well that nothing will happen to them in water. Summer is here again. If you go swimming in summer, don't forget that better swimmers have died in water. They died because they were not careful not because they could not swim. So don't get into water when you are alone. If there is a "No Swimming" sign, don't get into water. If you remember these, swimming will be safer.

The common cold is the worldˈs most widespread illness, which is a plague that man receives.

    The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions, explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contract again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.

    During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches, cold and wet, seldom caught colds.

    In the Second World War, prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starved, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.

    At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in a room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.

    If then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in winter? Despite the most hard research, no one has yet found out the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and that makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.

    No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killers such as aspirin, but all that they do is to relieve the symptoms.

As soon as you meet, or even see, a person, you form an impression of him based on his posture, gesture and facial expressions. This is why it is important to make a good first impression on the person who will be interviewing you. Within the first 60 seconds of meeting you, the interviewer will have formed an impression about what type of person you are and what kind of employee you would become, and 55% of this will be based only on your body language. Here are some tips to make you that impression a good one.

First of all, relax. Think positive thoughts and you are more likely to come across as a positive, confident person during the interview. Dress smartly, as your appearance is one of the first things an interviewer will notice you. Stand up straight, and walk in with your shoulders back and your head up. Try to avoid slowing down as you walk into the room because this suggests fear and uncertainty. Shake hands with the interviewer firmly. You should have a positive handshake and a warm smile. Open your coat or jacket as you sit down shows that you, too, are open.

Posture is important. You should be sitting well back in your seat. Sit up straight and lean forward slightly, but not too much. Sitting at too much of an angel expresses discomfort and distrust. Two of the most common defensive(防卫的) signals are crossing your arms and legs, so try to avoid them.

Another important issue is eye contact. Looking someone in the eye shows confidence in yourself and trust in the other person. However, don’t overdo it, as too much eye contact or starring will make the other person uncomfortable. Use more eye contact when listening than when talking, and when you look away, look down. Looking up at the ceiling will make you seem bored and rude.

      On February 14, people look forward to getting cards from friends-cards that say, “Will you be my Valentine?” Did you ever wonder why? And what does that even mean?

       As it turns out, people have been celebrating Valentine’s Day for centuries, in one form or another. In fact, historians say it may begin with a Roman holiday that goes back more than 2,000 years. They say Valentine’s Day has its roots in an agricultural festival called the Feast of Lupercalia—a festival that was celebrated every year on February 14, just as Valentine’s Day is today.

       Around 500 A.D., a Roman Catholic Pope named Gelasius decided to replace the Feast of Lupercalia with a Christian festival. So February 14 became a day to honor Saint Valentine. Why?

       According to legend, Saint Valentine had been thrown in prison several centuries earlier for disobeying a Roman emperor. The legend says that while Saint Valentine was in prison, he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and sent her a note he signed, “From your valentine.”

       That’s supposedly where the tradition of sending Valentines began. The Saint Valentine’s Day celebration eventually spread to France, England and other countries.

       At first, people used to exchange hand-written notes with their Valentines. But in the 1840s, a woman named Esther Howland created the first commercially produced Valentine’s Day greeting cards in the United States. Nowadays, according to one report, more people send cards to friends around Valentine’s Day than on any other holiday except Christmas. Today, Valentine’s Day is no longer a religious holiday. It’s just a day to show your friends you appreciate them. Chocolate and flowers are among the most common ways people show that appreciation. In fact, the people who keep track of chocolate sales say that more than $1 billion worth is sold around Valentine’s Day.

       And according to the National Retail Federation, people will spend $2.1 billion this year on flowers. But you don’t have to buy anything for your Valentine. A home-made card is just fine. After all, it’s the thought that counts.

  The way you stand can identify whether you will suffer from aches and pains in the back or neck in later life, the British Chiropractic Association has said. Whether you area“spoon”, “bridge”, “leaning tower” or “flat-back” will determine your risk of having problems later.

    A quarter of women suffer pain lasting between one and three days starting at the relatively young age of 34, the survey found. While previous indicators have focused on body shapes, with larger-breasted women and “apple” shapes being seen as a warning sign, this new research shows posture(姿势) could be key in preventing back pain.

    “Leaning tower”—women whose heads lean forward—are most likely to report pain, with almost six in ten with this posture already suffering. Being a “bridge” with an arched back was the second worse posture, followed by a “spoon” position with rounded shoulders but a flat back. And a change in posture can be far less demanding than a crash diet or an exercise programme.

    “Flat back” ladies, who keep their backs flat are the most likely to avoid pain with a fifth reporting they have never suffered back or neck aches in their lives. Tim Hutchful, a member of the British Chiropractic Association said, “Rather than worrying about being an ‘apple’ or an ‘hourglass’, we want people to think about what they look like from the side. The perfect posture should give you a side-on appearance with your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in line.” People who want to improve their back and neck pain symptoms through a better posture should try imagining they have a plumb line(铅垂线) hanging straight from their ears to ankles—with everything in the middle sitting on the same line. One way to do this is to try standing in a relaxed way and then gently pressing together the abdominal muscles(腹肌).

C

Parents whose children think the latest Nike or Adidas shoes may be better than buying old-fashioned plimsolls (橡胶底帆布鞋) because they encourage a healthier style of running, researchers said.

Big companies, like Nike and Adidas, make millions of dollars from selling highly-cushioned shoes（厚增高的运动鞋) both as fashion and sports shoes. The researchers warn that wearing such shoes from an early age can make it difficult to run in a healthy way. Once we have grown used to running in this kind of shoes, it is very difficult to change our technique, even if we remove our shoes, it can raise the risk of injury.

Children should be encouraged to wear shoes with thin soles such as plimsolls from a young age to help them develop a natural “barefoot” running style, experts said.

Dr Mick Wilknson, who did the research, told the British Science Festival in Newcastle, “If I would advise someone on what to give their child, I would say don’t go and buy them expensive Adidas or Nike, just get them a pair of flexible, flat shoes. Give them basic foot-ware, nothing fancy, nothing particularly cushioned.”

Running in flat shoes, barefoot, encourages the runner to use the front of their foot which is a better technique for running, especially long distances as the human was designed to do.

Around the world, and in particular in the US, running barefoot is becoming more and more popular with many long distance runners training without shoes.

Dr Mick Wilknson believes that training and running barefoot or in flat running shoes can help reduce injuries to runners, he said: “Injury rates in running have not changed since the 1970s, despite claims of improvements in running shoes. That has led some to conclude that barefoot running is better.”

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Many people have paid special attention to newer drivers who may send messages while behind the wheel. But a new study shows that texting and driving can be even more dangerous for older and experienced drivers. “It surprised us because they are generally better at managing distractions than less seasoned drivers,” said Randall Commissaris.

   For the study, a group of 50 people between 18 and 59 years old took driving tests. Researchers then sent them text messages, asking them simple questions like what was their favorite color. Half of the highly-skilled texters －people who said they texted a lot, could text one-handed and owned smart phones—began driving into other lanes while reading or sending texts. But the older texters did especially bad: all of the 45- to 59-year-olds and 80 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds drove into other lanes. Meanwhile, about 40 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds and about 25 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds began crossing lanes while texting.

Researchers are not sure why this age difference exists, and it’s a question they are exploring now. Perhaps older drivers take more and longer glances at their phones when composing and reading messages. Or maybe older drivers can not manage technological multitasking in the same way as young people who have grown up with phones as children. It could be a combination of those factors and others, Commissaris said.

   Distraction behind the wheel is a major public health concern. In 2012, 3328 people died and 421000 people were injured in car crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

   There are reasons why so much attention has been paid to young people texting behind the wheel. As a group, younger adults text more than older ones. And younger drivers are much more likely to report that they were texting during a crash or near crash. Anyway, all age groups should not text when they are driving.

For the first time, researchers have discovered that some plants can kill insects in order to get additional nutrients. New research shows that they catch and kill small insects with their own sticky hairs near the roots and then absorb nutrients through their roots when the insects are killed and fall to the ground.

Professor Mark Chase, of Kew and Queen Mary, University of London, said: “The cultivated (改良的) tomatoes and potatoes still have the hairs. Tomatoes in particular are covered with these sticky hairs. They do trap small insects on a regular basis. They do kill insects.”

The number of these carnivorous plants is thought to have came up to 50 percent and many of them have until now been wrongly regarded as among the most harmless plants. Among them are species of petunia(矮牵牛), some special tobacco plants and cabbages, some varieties of potatoes and tomatoes, etc. Researchers at Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, which carried out the study, now believe there are hundreds more killer plants than previously realized.

It is thought that the technique was developed in the wild to get necessary nutrients in poor quality soil ­ and even various plants grown in your vegetable garden still have the ability.

The researchers, publishing their finding in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, said: “We may be surrounded by many more murderous plants than we think.” “We are accustomed to thinking of plants as being immobile and harmless, and there is something deeply frightening about the thought of meat­eating plants，” they added.