El Nifio, a Spanish term for “the Christ child", was named by South American fishermen who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.

        The weather effects, both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by $15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural incomes in rich countries is greater than the fall in poor ones.

          But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱）in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.

The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute(ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards.This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.

Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施）can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道）make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr. Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.

    We once had a poster competition in our fifth grade art class.

    “You could win prizes,'' our teacher told us as she wrote the poster information on the blackboard. She passed out sheets of construction paper while continuing, “The first prize is ten dollars. You just have to make sure that the words on the blackboard appear somewhere on your poster.”

    We studied the board critically. Some of us looked with one eye and held up certain colors against the blackboard, rocking the sheets to the right or left while we conjured up our designs. Others twisted their hair around their fingers or chewed their erasers while deep in thought. We had plans for that ten-dollar grand prize, each and every one of us. I'm going to spend mine on candies, one hopeful would announce, while another practiced looking serious, wise and rich.

    Everyone in the class made a poster. Some of us used parts of those fancy paper napkins, while others used nothing but colored construction paper. Some of us used big designs, and some of us preferred to gather our art tidily down in one corner of our poster and let the space draw the viewer's attention to it. Some of us would wander past the good students' desks and then return to our own projects with a growing sense of hopelessness. It was yet another grown-up trick of the sort they seemed especially fond of, making all of us believe we had a fair chance, and then always — always — rewarding the same old winners.

    I believe I drew a sailboat, but I can't say that with any certainty. I made it. I admired it. I determined it to be the very best of all of the posters I had seen, and then I turned it in.

    Minutes passed.

    No one came along to give me the grand prize, and then someone distracted me, and I probably never would have thought about that poster again.

    I was still sitting at my desk, thinking, What poster? when the teacher gave me an envelope with a ten-dollar bill in it and everyone in the class applauded for me.

    How many times a day do you check your WeChat(微信) or QQ? When you wake up? Before bed? A dozen times in between? The technology which was supposed to make our lives simple has taken up too much time. The young people spends more than seven hours a day using technological devices(设备), with an extra hour just text-messaging friends.

    The advantage of technological devices is connection: we are in touch with more people during more hours of the day than at any other time in history. But is it possible that we're lonelier than ever? That's what professor Sherry Turkle observes（观察）in her new book, Alone Together, which clearly describes our changing relationship with technology.

For Turkle, technology isn't offering us the lives we want to live. “We're texting people at a distance,” says Turkle, “We're using lifeless objects(物体) to convince(使确信) ourselves that even when we're alone, we feel together. And then when we're with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we are alone—always on our mobile devices. I call it a storm of confusion(困惑) about what's important in our human connections. That's my biggest worry.”

    Besides, communicating online is not equal to face-to-face communication. Online, you can ignore(忽视) others' feelings. In a text message, you can avoid eye contact(目光接触). A number of studies have found that this generation of young people is less sympathetic(有同情心的)than ever. “That doesn't lead to disaster,” says Turkle, “but the disadvantages still cannot be ignored.”

    Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one's personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person's ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead a better way of doing things. All these, however, remain true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.

    However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who missed the “good old days”, efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish to. The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadgets, such as mobile phones and ipads, people often do not take the effect to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with it the additional feature of having to be in the person's presence for as long as the visit lasts. We cannot unnecessarily excuse ourselves or turn the other person off.

    With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handcrafts are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handicraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.

    Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.

    It is people's attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people's attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to think again about their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new “past” is created.

    Bus Tours in Washington DC

    The Blossoms Tour In Washington DC

    Duration: 3 hours $56.99

    BEST WAY to Experience the Cherry Blossoms! Each year from mid March to mid April, see the beautiful Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC and get great photos because you'll be led to all the best spots by the best guides. The annual spring bloom in DC is a magical time and this tour promises to provide the very best tour opportunity for you!

    The Lights Night Tour in Washington DC

    Duration: 3 hours $56.33

    Highest-rated Night Tour in DC! The ONLY DC Night Tour where the Tour Guides HOP OFF with you at each stop and tell you about each monument and attraction. HOP aboard the The Lights Night Tour! The best time to take a tour of Washington DC is at night.

    The Best Minibus Tour in Washington DC

    Duration: 3 hours $ 46.92

    See all the key attractions DC has to offer in a 3-hour format. You will learn all about the history and trivia (琐事) that surrounds Washington and visit the major monuments and attractions DC has to offer.

    Please Note: Rates for this tour vary by day of the week. When you choose your specific date on the availability calendar, the rates for that date will be displayed.

Best Mount Vernon & Arlington Cemetery Tour from Washington DC

    Duration: 6 hours $ 78.96

    See Arlington Cemetery, Old Town Alexandria and George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate on this small group bus tour from Washington DC. Your tour guide will accompany you through Mount Vernon, telling you about all of the attractions there and the history of George Washington's home on the Potomac River.

    In our increasingly fast-paced, technology-driven world, most adults do not get the 8-10 hours of sleep every night. Things are even worse for those with young children. A recent study showed that 86% of parents in the UK complain of tiredness and about 26% get less than 5 hours of sleep every night. To give tired parents a little relaxation from their tight schedules (时间表), David Lloyd Clubs, a chain of gyms and fitness centers in Europe, has introduced a napping (小憩)class!

    As the name suggests, the hour-long group class, described as a way to " refresh the mind, improve moods, and even bum the odd calorie (卡路里)", does not involve any hard exercise. Instead, the members are guided through 15 minutes of light stretching (伸展)to help them relax. Then, they are encouraged to lie under the blankets of a comfortable bed, cover their eyes with an eye mask, and take a nap for 45 minutes. With music playing in the background and the room set to the perfect temperature, they can be assured of the best possible sleep. The class is now being offered at just one place. If popular, they will be expanded (延伸)to other David Lloyd Clubs.

    Do you know the good points of nap? A study conducted by Pennsylvania's Allegheny College found that midday naps not only help participants feel well-rested, but also enable them to deal with stress better. A follow-up study carried out at the University of California at Berkeley concluded that a 45-minute nap in the middle of the day helps to improve the learning abilities. The good news is that you do not have to make a trip to the U. K. to join this latest exercise fashion. You can get involved with the comfort of your own bed. So, go ahead and encourage your entire family to try a napping class.