When the evening is coming, my dear son and I are preparing for the tape time. “Shoes on,” I remind 9-year-old Sam. “Snakes are always waiting for the chance to kiss you. But with our feet stepped into my car, we are safe.” We take blankets and cups of milk and head out to the shelter that serves as our garage. This has become our bedtime habit.

    I press “play.” A motherly voice fills the car. My mother and my aunt send us books on tape obtained from secondhand shops or rescued from the back of drawer. Maybe no one in England lays cassettes anymore, but I still love them.

    Sam rests on his seat. He's sitting in the front seat. I am listening to the cassette. But I am also thinking. In a month's time, my boy will be 10. Next year, he will be 11. And so it will go on, until he leaves me and his father and his sister to live out his own stories— as it is only right and proper he should.

    Will he think back to the times when he sat in the dark in a car in Africa, listening to tales of Wales in World War Ⅱ, the finest lady detective of Botswana, or a country he has visited, and tells me he finds them “very interesting”? Will he think , when he is grown-up, the poor mum always makes the ancient tape player which is out of date work?

    I like to believe that he will recall those wonderful moments. By then, perhaps, my child will realize a deep love of sharing and understanding by listening to the old tape player. I hope Sam will think that these evenings we spend in the car are a story themselves. It is his own first chapter. In time my boy will ease off the hand brake and roll out into the world. Until then, I'll keep pressing “play”.

    It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was ,in his words, “a wonderfully written book ”. however, he then went on to talk about Mr. Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all .I felt that I was talking to a book liar.

    And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven't .In the World Book Day's “Report on Guilty（愧疚的） Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9.The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I'm not one to lie too often (I'd hate to be caught out ),I'll admit here and now that I haven't read the entire top ten .But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one ,George Orwell's 1984.I think it's really brilliant.

    The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky(I haven't read him, but haven't lied about it either )and Herman Melville.

    Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in –depth!

    But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J.k. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella(ah, the big sellers, in other words).Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story(I'll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).

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    At home, ordering food from a menu is a normal, everyday routine. I don't even give it a second thought. In China, it's a whole other story! Here, ordering is a fun game of trial and error, and the adventure begins before the food is even served!

    Many restaurants in central Beijing advertise “English language menus”, but the translations can just add to the confusion. Although accompanying pictures can be a helpful relief, the translations often make the whole experience even more amusing. During my first few weeks in China I tried some delicious dishes with strange names. As an experiment, my friends and I would order things like “students addicted to chicken gristle (软骨)” and “red burned lion head”. It was always fun to see what landed on our table. Eventually we learned that “lion head” was actually pork, and “students” are “addicted” to diced (切碎的) chicken with green pepper.

    Recently, I came across a busy restaurant down a narrow side street in a Beijing hutong. It was lunchtime and the small room was packed with people sitting on small stools (凳子) eating noodles. I was hungry and cold, and the steaming bowls looked irresistible! I sat myself down and called out for a “caidan!” In response, the waitress pointed to a wall at the back of the restaurant. The wall was full of Chinese characters describing numerous dishes. There was only one sentence in English: “crossing over the bridge noodles”.

    I had never heard of the dish and had no idea what it would taste like. I took a gamble and ordered one bowl of “crossing over the bridge noodles”. A few minutes later the waitress carried over a heavy bowl full of broth (肉汤) and I quickly dug in. It was the best bowl of noodles I had ever tasted! I have been back again and again and each time I point at the one English sentence – “crossing over the bridge noodles”. I always enter a restaurant in China feeling excited and a little nervous. Who knows what the next ordering adventure will reveal?

    Wild mangoes come from the foothills of the Himalayas. They are by far the most important fruit in India, and have been cultivated there for four thousand years. The arrival of the mango tree in other parts of the world was probably due to the Portuguese who carried mangoes via Goa to Africa, from where they eventually reached the New World. Mango trees are now so well established in many tropical countries that it might appear that they have always been there.

    Like many tropical trees, the mango tree is multi-purpose product. Its wood is used in boat building, and its leaves can be fed to cattle. Most of the mango crop is consumed in the areas where it is grown, but in recent years mangoes have gained in popularity across the world as people in mild climate become increasingly eager to enjoy the delight of the fresh fruit.

    The global market for mangoes is very profitable, and mango producers are keen to make use of the fruit's growing popularity. Modern shoppers not only appreciate the fruit's high nutritional value(the mango is a good source of vitamin A and C, protein and fibre), but also expect it to look and taste perfect. Therefore producers now select only the best quality seedlings which have the most chance of developing into good quality fruit.

    Mangoes are high in fiber, thus making them very good for the heart. The high fiber content is also helps easing constipation. They have high pectin(果胶) and vitamin C content that reduces the blood cholesterol levels and serves as an immune booster. This fruit is rich in anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and contain an enzyme(酶) that has stomach soothing properties. These enzymes act as a digestive aid and digestive proteins.

    Although the mango tree has spread from its native Himalayan foothills to the tropics, delivering the fresh fruit to the world's supermarkets presents a challenge, as it does not travel well. Producers transport the fruit by speedy but costly air freight (货运)for minimum delay rather than risk the cheaper but slower road or shipping routes which, can result in damage to the fruit.

    Mangoes are usually in storage for some time after their arrival at their destination. The fruit must be kept cold, or the sweet, juicy flesh will soon become over ripe and the mangoes will be unfit for sale. Fortunately, extremely effective refrigeration is now available and this is the best way of preventing the fruit from going bad before it reaches the supermarket shelves.

    The Marches were a happy family. Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the Union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother.

    The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults. Pretty Meg was often displeased with the schoolchildren she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden-haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always.

    The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs. March. “Your husband is very ill,” it said, “come at once.” The girl tried to be brave when their mother left for the front. They waited and prayed. Little Beth got scarlet fever（猩红热）when she was taking care of the sick neighbor. She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back. When Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together.

    Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood. Meg became Mrs. Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her new state happily. Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts. Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society. But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety.

    Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches'. Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there. But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall. Beth had known for some time that she couldn't live much longer to be with the family and in the spring time she died.

    News came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon. Now Jo became ever more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer and soon afterwards founded a school for boys.

    And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to.

    A new study of 8, 000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily, it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love (早恋) may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.

    The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is "loss of self". According to the study, even though boys would say "lose themselves in a romantic relationship", this "loss of self" is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won't tell that to their parents.

    Dr Marianm Kaufman, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.

    Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes—and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.