If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.

While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities.  More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks(缺点)of Westerners philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers. 

So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive. Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

A

       If you wish to become a better reader, here are four important points to remember about rate, or speed, of reading:

1 Knowing why you are reading—what you are reading to find out—will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly.

2 Some things should be read slowly throughout. Examples are directions for making or doing something, arithmetic problems, science and history books, which are full of important information. You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each important idea.

3 Some things should be read rapidly throughout. Examples are simple stories meant for enjoyment, news, and letters from friends, items, or bits of news from local, or hometown, paper, telling what is happening to friends and neighbors.

4 In some of your readings, you must change your speed from fast to slow to fast, as you go along. You need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful readings when you come to important ideas which must be remembered.

C

Have you ever seen Jurassic park？ In this film, scientists use DNA kept for tens of millions of years to clone dinosaurs. They find trouble, however, when they realize that the cloned creatures are smarter and more dangerous than expected. That’s nothing more than a fiction.

But could we really clone endangered animals?

To date, the most successful attempt to do so was the cloning of a gaur (野牛), a rare ox-like animal from southeast Asia. Scientists used a cow to bring the cloned baby gaur, named Noah. Two days after birth, however, Noah died from a common bacterial infection. Other endangered species that may be cloned include the African bongo antelope, the Sumatran tiger, the cheetah (猎豹), and the giant panda.

Next, could we really clone extinct animals?

In theory? Yes. To do this, you need a well-kept source of DNA from extinct animals such as wool mammoth (毛象), Tasmanian tiger, or even dinosaur, and a closely related species, still living, which could serve as a surrogate mother.

In reality? Probably not. On the one hand, it’s not likely that extinct animals’ DNA could survive undamaged for such a long time. Cloning extinct animals as wool mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, or dinosaur is much more difficult due to the lack of properly well-preserved DNA. On the other hand, for example, a gaur can have a cow as a surrogate mother, definitely not a monkey. But what about an extinct animal as unique as the panda? What species could possibly serve as a surrogate mother?

Cloning presents many exciting possibilities. However, even if extinct animals are brought back, they could not survive in today’s world. Not only do most extinct animals have no habitat to live in, but the other plants and animals they depended on for food may be gone as well.

   Science can’t explain the power of pets, but many studies have shown that the company of pets can help lower blood pressure (血压) and raise chances of recovering from a heart attack, reduce loneliness and spread all-round good cheer.

       Any owner will tell you how much joy a pet brings. For some, an animal provides more comfort than a husband/wife. A 2002 study by Karen Allen of the State University of New York measured stress (紧张) levels and blood pressure in people—half of them pet owners—while they performed 5 minutes of mental arithmetic (算术) or held a hand in ice water. They completed the tasks alone, with a husband/wife, a close friend or with a pet. People with pets did it best. Those tested with their animal friends had smaller change in blood pressure and returned most quickly to baseline heart rates. With pets in the room, people also made fewer math mistakes than when doing in front of other companions. It seems people feel more relaxed around pets, says Allen, who thinks it may be because pets don’t judge.

       A study reported last fall suggests that having a pet dog not only raises your spirits but may also have an effect on your eating habits. Researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital spent a year studying 36 fat people and their equally fat dogs on diet-and-exercise programs; another group of 56 people without pets were put on a diet program. On average, people lost about 11 pounds, or 5% of their body weight. Their dogs did even better, losing an average of 12 pounds, more than 15% of their body weight. Dog owners didn’t lose any more weight than those without dogs but, say researchers, got more exercise—mostly with their dogs—and found it worth doing.

    There are many fun, free activities that you can do as a family. All that is required is a bit of imagination and some time set aside for fun. And the best part is that these are the kind of memories a child will remember for a lifetime.

Family game night

Find out any of the games that are already around the house. Kids often get computer games for Christmas or birthdays, and would love to have a chance to play with their family. Or, make up some games of your own. “Charades” is a fun game to play that will challenge a child to use his/her imagination. Divide the family into teams and let each team come up with words that the other has to act out.

Family art time

       Pick some time for the family to sit down and come up with their own masterpiece. It doesn’t need to be just a drawing—take some old magazines sitting around the house, let the kids cut out pictures and paste them into their own books. Or, use items from nature. Let them use leaves, pine cones, twigs and whatever else they can find to create something from their imaginations.

Family Picnic

       Taking the family for a picnic is a great way for some fun that doesn’t cost any money. If the weather is nice, take them to a park or playground and let the kids have a day of playing. Or, if it is the middle of winter and a foot of snow is on the ground, set up a picnic in the living room.

Family Field Trip

       A family field trip doesn’t have to cost a lot. Ask a nearby farm if it would be alright to bring your kids out for a tour and to see some of the animals. Or take them to a park and make a hunt where they need to find certain items from nature. Ask a local business if you could bring the family for a tour to see how things work—you might be surprised at the number of people who would be excited to share what they do with others, and it could be an interesting lesson for the kids.

B

    Organic(有机的) farming is a type of agriculture that benefits from the recycling and use of natural products. Use of dried plants not only saves money, but also ensures the growth of crops. The technique is characterized by the use of green manure(肥料), biological pest control methods and special farming techniques to keep soil productivity. Limiting the use of man­made chemicals or completely doing away with them reduces the risk of diseases. Today, organic farming is a major and preferred(首选的) industry around the world. Organically grown products have a huge market, with farmlands covering about 10% of the total world­farmland cover. The hard work of Sir Albert Howard, the Father of Organic Farming，has paid off.

Advantages of Organic Farming：

    1  The economics of organic farming are characterized by increasing profits through reduced water use and reduced soil erosion(侵蚀)．

    2  Organic farming produces the same crops as those produced through traditional farming methods, but uses half the energy, and holds 40% more top soil.

    3  Farming the organic way enables farmers to get rid of weeds without the use of any chemicals.

    4  The use of green pesticides (杀虫剂) is environmentally friendly and does no harm to human’s health.

Disadvantages of Organic Farming：

    1  Organic methods of farming produce less，compared to traditional farming techniques.

    2  Organic agriculture does little to fight global climate change. Though organic farming practices are recognized as giving out less CO2，but not to a significant degree.

    3  However, though there are some disadvantages to organic farming, farms where organic methods for cropping have been used have more advantages than traditional farms.Organic agriculture is surely better in the long term.

   a. is more environmentally friendly  b. produces a lot more food

   c. uses less energy       d. results in more weeds in the farmland

   e. is better for human's health

B

Is price a barrier to eating more fruits and vegetables for low-income families? A few weeks ago, my readers voted on whether healthy foods are more expensive and if that’s one reason why so many people don’t keep a healthier diet. Some of the comments were very good, but there were plenty of readers who had no reason for not buying healthy foods.

      We have a little more information to go on now thanks to a new study. Here are some of the interesting facts from the study:

     ·The dietary guidelines recommend nine servings of fruits and veggies a day.

    · People with higher incomes are more likely to meet these dietary recommendations.

     ·People who make less than $ 25,000 a year eat only about five servings a day.

     ·Low-income neighborhoods often have higher food prices, as these neighborhoods often have fewer and smaller supermarkets, which charge more.

     ·It costs about 17-19% more to eat healthier choices (e.g., whole-wheat instead of white bread, nonfat dairy products, etc.).

    · On average, low-income families would have to devote 43-70% of their food budget to meet the fruit and veggie dietary guidelines.

       From these facts, it’s easy to see why choosing healthy food isn’t always an option. So what’s the answer? Would lowering prices solve the problem or would people still keep eating the same way? Should we tax unhealthy foods to make them less appealing? Should we educate people on how to budget their money so they can afford healthy foods? Leave a comment and tell us what you think below.

    Who made your T-shirt?” A Geowetown University student raised that question. Pietra Rivoli, a professor of business, wanted to find the answer. A few weeks later, she bought a T-shirt and began to follow its path from Texas cotton form to Chinese factory to charity bin (箱). The result is an interesting new book, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy.

Following a T-shirt around the world in a way to make her point more interesting, but it also frees Rivoli from the usual arguments over global trade. She goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner. In China, Rivoli shows why a clothing factory, even with its poor conditions, means a step toward a better life for the people who work there. In the colorful used-clothing markets of Tanzania, she realizes this, “it is only in this final stage of life that the T-shirt will meet a real market,” where the price of a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color. Rivoli’s book is full of memerable people and scenes, like the noise, the bad air and the “muddy-sweet smell of the cotton. ”She says, “Here in the factory, Shanghai smells like Shallowater Texas. ”

Rivoli is at her best when making those sorts of unexpected connections. She even finds one between the free traders and those who are against globalization. The chances opened up by trade are vast, she argues, but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check. True economic progress needs them both.

Morgan Bishop, a five-year-old boy from the UK, has suffered eczema(湿疹)since he was four months old. The skin on his feet and legs has become so painful that he can hardly walk, “Daily Mail” reported. And the boy told his mother on his fifth birthday that he wanted to die rather than suffer any more pain.

Morgan’s story moved lots of Chinese people once it was published on Sina Weibo. The post on the official Weibo of “China Daily” received more than 208,000 views and 3,040 likes within one day. It has also been forwarded(转发) 1,483 times and got 1,096 comments.

Chinese Internet users showed strong support and offered their help to the boy. They encouraged him to be strong and not to give up. Besides showing sympathy, many people offered various therapies(治疗方法) and advice to the boy’s parents. Some even shared their own experiences against the disease.

A Sina Weibo user named Chache said,“I read the report on your website and I myself happened to get eczema a few days ago. I used a kind of medicine called” “Yufubao” and got cured within two days. The medicine has little side effect. But for safety reasons, the patient can first use it on the hands and feet and if it is getting better, he can use it on the whole body. According to my own experience, I highly recommend that he go to see a traditional Chinese doctor. The medicine can be bought online.”

Among all the advice, Traditional Chinese Medicine was highly recommended. There are people now trying to contact the boy’s parents and invite them to China for some traditional Chinese treatment.

Morgan also got strong support from other places besides China as he has received donation worth £33，615($52，537)raised by 1,755 people across the world in two months as his website shows.

To donate for Morgan, please visit: /: // www. gofundme.com/ paulbishop

Technology may create challenges for travelers but it can also solve them. It’s more than making sure of a hotel cost. The latest Booking.com can help users select hotels by location, make a secure booking and view the confirmed(已确认的) cost so they never need to re-discuss their hotel price.

       Another pain point for travelers is traffic that eats away precious vacation time. There’s a new app called Commute which is aimed at users who have to make the same trip every day. Just input basic information about your destination and expected leaving time, and the app will start sending you traffic information 15 minutes before you leave. Testing Commute proved to be a challenge for me, because my home address is about 900 miles from my place of work. But if you have only a short distance to travel through a heavily populated area, you can use Commute to avoid traffic jams.

       Another source of travel-related problems is money. That’s particularly true when you’re dealing with a foreign currency. The latest Travel Money Tracker helps travelers prevent currency mix-ups. It immediately changes a country’s native currency to yours, so you know exactly how much that Espresso(浓咖啡) in Milan costs in dollars. It can also warn you when you’re overspending, which can sometimes be a problem when you’re on vacation. The only catch, of course, is that you have to remember to record all your purchases.

       Taken together, these apps solve some of the most common travel problems. But not all of them. Some things, no smartphone can fix, which means I get to keep my job – for now.