The hit movie Notting Hill（诺丁山）begins with a famous scene. Hugh Grant bumps into Julia Roberts and spills orange juice all over her. After the collision, Grant repeatedly says, “I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.”

    His actions in this scene are very British. If Roberts' character were from the Britain, than she would probably apologize repeatedly as well – even if the crash were not her fault. But this doesn't happen in the movie, as Roberts is from the US.

    A report in The Telegraph once said that three quarters of British people apologize when they bump into someone in the street – regardless of whether they are responsible or not. In fact, Britons use “sorry” in many situations. For example, if they mishear someone, they say “Sorry?” The person they are talking to will also apologize by replying, “No, I am sorry!” This can go on for up to five minutes as they compete over who is the most sorry.

    Why are Britons so sorry? Mark Tyrell, a psychology writer in the UK, thinks that their apologetic tendencies are rooted in British class system. “We say sorry because historically the new middle class in Britain had to apologize for not being the working class, but also for really being the upper class.” Another theory is that they apologize to avoid conflicts. For example, if they bump into someone, he might get angry. To avoid this, they instantly say “Sorry!”

    True manners are about being considerate, and today's constant use of apologizing shows that we are perhaps not as thoughtful as we once were. The word “sorry” has lost some of its meaning.

    Do you see my point? Sorry, it might just be a British thing.

    So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for what only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that "reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible."

    Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also a public activity: It can be seen and observed.

    Learning to read involves all that each individual does not make sense of the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny. If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching will aid the child in knowledge. Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions. "Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children."

    When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher and learner fulfill them appropriately, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated. Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of learning to read by reading.

    In the tenth grade, I began working for free at a vet's that was run by a friend. I wanted to get experience for what I thought would be my future job. However，on one particular Saturday morning I learnt something perhaps more important.

    The hospital was in the middle of one of the poorer sections of the city and some people could only pay for the most basic treatments. On this Saturday，a man and his young son，who was probably about 7 years old，walked in with a small cat in a cardboard box. There was something wrong with the cat's left eye. But the man could not afford to pay for the cost of the medicine. He kept quiet for a while，and then he asked where the nearest animal shelter was. Hearing this，his son cried and started to argue with him. All of a sudden，an older woman who was sitting in the waiting room stood up，walked up to the counter，and told the man that she would pay for the cost. The man thanked her and the son got to keep a healthy cat.

    I always thought it was the right thing to help out a needy person，but I only saw people do acts of kindness on TV or in movies. What the woman did made me believe that these things do happen in real life，and quite often.

    Now，when I can't decide whether to help someone who is in need，I remember this woman，and then I have the courage to step up to the plate. Sometimes other people follow.

    What's the meaning of "dark horse"? It's someone who wins when no one expects it.Han Xiaopeng took China's first gold on snow. He became an Olympic "dark horse" by winning the gold medal in men's freestyle aerial skiing(自由式滑雪空中技巧) at Turin in Italy. He made two almost perfect jumps for the highest score. Han had never won a world gold medal before, let alone(更不用说) in the Olympics!

    "I never thought this would happen," said the 23-year-old. "I feel like I'm in a dream." It's China's second gold medal at the Turin Olympics. But more important, Han's gold was the country's first ever in a snow sport. In 2002, China's Yang Yang won the gold for speed skating at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, US.

    That Han's win was unexpected doesn't mean that he didn't work hard.

    Han grew up in Jiangsu Province. Before he started his training on snow, he used to be an acrobat(杂技演员) at a circus. In 1995, a coach found his talent(才能). The coach, Yang Er'qi, said Han had the agility(灵活性) and courage to be a ski jumper. When Yang first took the 12-year-old to northern China, the boy couldn't swim, skate or ski. But he wasn't afraid of the high platform(跳台) and kept on training.

    Han almost left the sport after hurting his knee months before the Salt Lake Games. In that Olympics he only got 24th. "I was hopeless at that time, but my family and the coach stood firmly(坚强地) behind me, helping me through," he recalled.

    Han Xiaopeng worked so hard that he won the gold medal in the Olympics at last. Because of his success, more and more people in China are becoming interested in skiing. We are proud of him and we hope he will have another big success in the next winter Olympics.

    Are you a social media addict? Are you always checking your smart phone to see how many "likes" you've received for your latest post? Maybe you feel comforted by the sound that someone has sent you a message?

    Don't worry, you're not alone. We check our phones an average of 150 times a day, and around 30% of the total time spent online is devoted to social media. Some experts now fear this habit could be damaging our mental health.

    This is something particularly bothering young adults, according to a study from the University of Pittsburgh. It found the more they used social media, the more likely they were to be depressed. In tests, those people who checked social media frequently were 2.7 times more likely to be depressed compared to those who spent most of their time generally surfing the Internet, who had just 1.7 times the risk.

    Some of us certainly feel sad when we're ignored on social media sites, or when we see someone else having a better time than us. But depression is a more serious condition and clinical psychologist, Abigael San, recently told the BBC that ,"It's a real issue, and it's been getting significantly worse over the last 5﹣6 years. You can get so hooked that it takes you away from your real relationships. "However, Abigael does admit that social media is more likely to worsen pre﹣existing issues than directly cause them.

    Other research by the University of Glasgow found that teenagers are affected by the 24﹣hour demands of their social media accounts. It found that those with higher levels of emotional investment in social media, and who use it at night, were more likely to feel depressed and anxious.

    Despite these warning signs, why do some of us continue to keep clicking? Well, I suppose we all want to be liked and we don't want to miss out on a conversation that's taking place online. But we need to know when to switch off our virtual online world and connect with the real world instead.

Planning Your Family Trip

    Plan ahead to make your family trip run smoothly. Family vacations are cherished memories. Keeping children entertained on the road or during a flight, however, can be challenging. The best way to cut down on anxiety? Plan ahead.

    Avoid giving children snacks that contain sugar and caffeine. Sweet treats keep them happy and quiet for five minutes, as it fills them with unusable energy that will turn into crankiness (偏执) when the sugar wears off. Bring fun, small snacks like flavored baked chips, apple sauce, raisins, and granola bars—and top it off with a little protein like cheese sticks to keep the blood sugar levels nice and steady.

    Bring plenty of plastic or paper bags. This is the perfect time to put those spare bags around the house to use. Store them in your purse or pocket, as well as in the car. This is a quick solution for garbage, diaper wrapping or motion sickness.

    Avoid extra costs on bulk items you will need during the trip. When flying, purchase bulk items like diapers, formula, and wipes at your destination. In the past, it was convenient and free to check these items. Now, each checked luggage item costs $25 or more on average. When driving, do the opposite; take your bulk items to avoid extra trips to the store when you arrive, which can help you avoid impulse travel purchases.

    Bring a full change of clothing for each child. Keep these items within fairly easy reach. When a spill or mess happens, this will help parents avoid unexpected (and unbudgeted) clothing purchases.

    Travel planning can help make family vacations what they are supposed to be: Fun! What are some of your favorite strategies for saving time and stress while traveling with children?