A new study finds almost one third of the world's population is overweight. Since 1980, obesity rates(肥胖率)in children and adults have doubled in 73 countries, making people more worried. And rates are increasing in many other countries. Obesity is increasing faster in children than adults in many nations, including Algeria, Turkey and Jordan, the report said. But the world's weight problem is growing in both rich and poor countries alike. Researchers say an increasing number of people are dying of related health problems in what they called a "disturbing global public health problem."

    Researchers studied health information from 1980 through 2015. They examined obesity rates, average weight gain in 195 countries. They found that obesity rates are three times greater among youth and young adults in countries like China, Brazil and India. Almost 108 million children and more than 600 million adults were found to be overweight. Egypt had the highest number of overweight adults in 2015. Vietnam had the least. In the same year, the United States had the highest number of overweight children, and Bangladesh had the least.

    Yet hunger remains a problem in many areas. The United Nations said that almost 800 million people, including 300 million children, go to bed hungry each night. Experts said poor diets and lack of physical activity are mainly to blame for the rising numbers of overweight people.

    Growing populations have led to rising obesity rates in poor countries. Often, poor people will eat processed(加工的) foods instead of choosing a diet rich in vegetables.

    The London-based Overseas Development Institute studied the price of food in five countries: Britain, Brazil, China, Mexico and South Korea. It found that the cost of processed foods like ice cream and hamburgers has fallen since 1990. But the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables has gone up.

    The writings of Shakespeare are today little read by young people in Britain. His young readership is limited to those who choose to study literature at university.

    Shakespeare's work, together with most other classics, is seen as remote, and written in a 400­year­old version of English that is about as inviting as toothache.

    Still, in Britain schools, it is compulsory to study the bard(诗人), and when something is made compulsory, usually the result is boredom, resentment(憎恨) or both.

    This was my experience of the classics at school. But when I reached my late teenage years, I had a change of heart. Like every other young person since the dawn of time, the world confused me. I wanted answers, so I turned to books to find them.

    I went on to take a PhD in literature and have taught it in Britain and China. I have never regretted it. There is something in literature that people want, even if they don't read books. You see this in the popularity of TV and movie adaptations of great works, the recent film version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice being a case in point. These popular adaptations may help increase people's interest in the classics.

    Reading a simplified Romeo and Juliet may perhaps lead to a reading of Shakespeare's actual play. If that is the case, then I welcome the trend. But do not make the mistake of thinking that it is the same thing. Shakespeare is a poet. His greatness is in his language. Reading someone else's rewriting of his work is like peeling a banana, throwing away the fruit, and eating the skin. Take on the original. It really is worth the effort.

    The similarities between elephant and human behavior has been a curiosity to scientists worldwide. These huge beasts are not so different from us. Their devotion to their family is just as powerful as the friendships between humans. In order to prevent future elephant attacks, people must first understand the similarities between elephants and themselves.

    Because deaths are felt so deeply in elephants, memories of people harming or killing other members are not forgotten. Due to the Uganda-Tanzania War in Africa, poaching (偷猎) elephant increased during the 1970's and continued, despite government restrictions. However, ecologists like Eve Abe did not see this as simple poaching; they saw it as a “mass destruction. “Elephants that have witnessed the murder of a matriarch, are more likely to become violent and attack humans. Many aggressive elephants do not act without reason; they are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At a young age, humans invade their life, kill their parents, and ultimately destroy their peaceful environment. More and more calves live neglected lives without a mother figure, and have to become a parent early for survival. Humans that had a difficult childhood or early family life also suffer from aggression and pain. Young elephants have been known to have “nightmares,” waking up suddenly and screaming. These are clearly signs of stress, as males grow up to be increasingly hostile (敌对的) humans and target certain villages where painful experiences had occurred.

    Although many see elephants as massive, violent, and simple-minded animals, their social structure is not unlike many human societies. Humans and elephants have been on parallel paths. However, if people continue practicing ignorance over the cruel treatment of these creatures, then collision will become inevitable. Cruel treatment of elephants still goes on, but by understanding the similarities between us, it can be stopped.

    Seventy-three-year-old George McNeilon selected his food in Value Mart very carefully. After leaving the cashier, he estimated (估计) that he had saved 80 cents and thought that he had got good value for his money again.

    At the exit, the chilly wind reminded him of his gloves. "Now where are they?" He searched here and there, but nowhere could he find them. He was sure he was wearing them when he entered the store. The worried man made a second search in all his pockets, again including the grocery bag. He was sure they must have been dropped somewhere inside the store.

    George bought the gloves at a 25% discount, for just $30, ten years ago. They were genuine lambskin (小羊皮), soft, warm and durable. Until then, he had worn cheaper man-made material that lasted no more than three years. His impulsive decision to buy the expensive gloves turned out to be a good one, which even promoted his social status on the bus, as passengers stared at him enviously for six months out of the year. He enjoyed being envied.

    Bad luck, George thought, to lose his expensive gloves on New Year's Eve. He reentered the store and followed the same route he had walked before. But several minutes of anxious search turned out to be in vain. "Society has changed. People have changed …" he murmured to himself. "Years ago, if people picked up something lost, they would give it back."

    Back home, George was at a loss. In deep winter, he could not do anything without a pair of gloves. If he bought cheap ones, he would have to replace them very soon. If he bought new leather ones, they would cost forty dollars.

    After the holiday, poor George decided to buy another pair of leather gloves. Before boarding the subway, he stepped into Value Mart again to see if by any chance his gloves had been returned to the lost and found office.

    "What color are they?" the woman in the office asked.

    "Black," he answered.

    She looked into her drawer and drew out a pair of men's leather gloves.

    "Are they?"

    "Yes! Those are mine!"

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    We talk continuously about how to make children more "resilient(有恢复力的)", but whatever were doing, it's not working. Rates of anxiety disorders and depression are rising rapidly among teenagers. What are we doing wrong?

    Nassim Taleb invented the word "antifragile" and used it to describe a small but very important class of systems that gain from shocks, challenges, and disorder. The immune system is one of them: it requires exposure to certain kinds of bacteria and potential allergens(过敏源)in childhood in order to develop to its full ability.

    Children's social and emotional abilities are as antifragile as their immune systems. If we overprotect kids and keep them "safe" from unpleasant social situations and negative emotions we deprive(剥夺)them of the challenges and opportunities for skill-building they need to grow strong. Such children are likely to suffer more when exposed later to other unpleasant but ordinary life events, such as teasing and social rejection.

    It's not the kids fault. In the UK, as in the US, parents became much more fearful in the 1980s and 1990s as cable TV and later the Internet exposed everyone, more and more, to those rare occurrences of crimes and accidents that now occur less and less, Outdoor play and independent mobility went down; screen time and adult-monitored activities went up.

    Yet free play in which kids work out their own rules of engagement, take small risks, and learn to master small dangers turns out to be vital for the development of adult social and even physical competence, Depriving them of free play prevents their social-emotional growth. Norwegian play researchers Ellen Sandseter and Leif Kennair warned: "We may observe an increased anxiety or mental disorders in society if children are forbidden from participating in age adequate risky play."

    They wrote those words in 2011. Over the following few years, their prediction came true. Kids born after 1994 are suffering from much higher rates of anxiety disorders and depression than the previous generation did. Besides, there is also a rise in the rate at which teenage girls are admitted to hospital for deliberately harming themselves.

    What can we do to change these trends? How can we raise kids strong enough to handle the ordinary and extraordinary challenges of life? We can't guarantee that giving primary school children more independence today will bring down the rate of teenage suicide tomorrow. The links between childhood overprotection and teenage mental illness are suggestive but not clear-cut. Yet there are good reasons to suspect that by depriving our naturally antifragile kids of the wide range of experiences they need to become strong, we are systematically preventing their growth. We should let go-and let them grow.