A drug that is used to treat serious bleeding could save thousands of lives of mothers giving birth. A world test of the drug found it reduced (降低) the risk of bleeding deaths during childbirth by nearly one third. The study included 20,000 women in 21 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. The test was carried out by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The drug is called tranexamic acid (凝血酸). It is low-cost and researchers said it does not cause serious side effects (副作用) for mothers or babies.

    The drug is used to treat mothers for serious bleeding during childbirth. Postpartum hemorrhage (产后出血) is the main cause of mothers' death around the world, according to the World Health Organization.

    Haleema Shakur is the project director for the test. She said though medical condition is improved in many countries, serious bleeding after childbirth remains a big problem in some parts of the world. “It's one of the biggest killers of mothers. In Africa and Asia, about 10% of women will end up with serious bleeding.” The drug works after a mother gives birth.

    Shakur said the best results were reported when the drug was given to women as soon as possible after childbirth. “The earlier you give it — within the first three hours after giving birth — the better the result is.”

    The next step will be to provide training for doctors and nurses on how to use it and then to find where the drug is needed. During the test, women were given the drug in a hospital. But researchers are looking for easier ways to use the drug so it can be more widely used in small clinics and the countryside.

    If there's one memory Anna wanted to keep from her experiences during the Second World War, it was her son, Andrzej.Anna,89, lost touch with him when she was forced to leave her native Poland and sent to a labor camp in Austria more than 60 years ago.Now,64，Andrzej hugged his mother at the airport, who had been waiting for him.

    Andrzej searched for his mother for more than 50 years, almost giving up. But his mother made the first phone call. Unluckily, he wrote down his mother's phone number wrong and spent another month trying to reach her again. When he did, the two talked regularly on the phone for two months to break down the language barrier. Anna can hardly speak Polish over the years and Andrzej doesn't speak English.

    After the war, Anna could not find her son and went to Italy, finally ending up in Great Britain，the US，then Canada 45 years ago. She used the Internet to track her son，making phone calls with no luck. Meanwhile Andrzej contacted(接触) the Polish Red Cross last year to help in his search. At last, they locate each other at the same time. Andrzej will spend a month with his mother in Britain.

    Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.

    "There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone."

    Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released（发布，发售）, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

    As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: "Do we really need the latest upgrades?"

    According to Donald Norman, an American author, "planned obsolescence (淘汰）" is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.

    Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

"This is an old-time trick—they're not inventing anything new," Norman said. "This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics—— release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one."

    But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, "We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing." In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

    Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.

    As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

    "Some games require better hardware to run," said Li. "If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends."

    Many people like to explore the Internet. Exploring the Internet is one of the most important activities of the day. The Internet brings the outside world closer to people's homes. Some people say the world is smaller than before because of the Internet.

    What's going on in other countries? How do people live in places far away? Is there a good sports game somewhere？What's life like in the deepest part of the sea? If you want to answer all these questions, just come to the Internet. Of course, people can also learn through reading or listening to the radio. But with the Internet they can learn better and more easily. A lot of information can be collected at a great speed.

    Can we go shopping without leaving home? Can we see a doctor without going to the hospital? Can we study without going to school？ All these things seemed to be impossible, but now they have become true.  

    The Internet helps us to open our eyes. The Internet also helps to open our minds. The Internet often gives us new ideas. In a word, it helps us in many ways. Great changes have taken place in our life since the use of the Internet.

Tuesday, 1^st September

    I had mixed feelings today, nervous, worried, happy, excited… My heart went down when Miss Chan, our head teacher, said that Matthew and Beth, two students from England, would spend three months with us! I was worried that I had to speak English so much! But at the end of the school day, I was happier than I thought: the morning with them today was more enjoyable than I expected.

    Today is the most unforgettable first day I have had! Matthew is fantastic! His English is clearer and easier to listen to than I thought. The other English student, Beth, is the most helpful girl I've ever met. There were lots of things to do on the first day. Beth offered to help Miss Chan put up all the notices. Of course, some of the credit (功劳) should also go to ME because I translated some of the notices for her. Miss Chan praised us!

    We finished all the preparations 10 minutes earlier than expected, then Beth and I talked for a while, Matthew sang several English songs and did some stand-up comedy (单人喜剧表演) at the party. We all praised him. When the bell rang to end the first school day, none of us wanted to leave.

    When I went back home, I had a little headache. I have probably spoken more English today than the whole of last year.

    It was really a happy day! I hope our friendship can continue, even after they gone back to England!

Discovering a hobby can lead to amazing results, as Maria Martinez, an 11-year-old with a heart of gold, has proven.

Just over a year ago, Maria came across the world of clothes-making, thanks to one of the Christmas gifts she received. Little did she know that this newfound ability would become a source of joy and purpose, not just for her, but also for countless furry friends.

"I got a gift permitChristmas to start clothes-making lessons," Maria said. "I really liked it."

After mastering the basics, an idea came to her mind during a visit to a local exhibition. Surrounded by pet owners and their pets, Maria had an idea that would change lives. Why not create lovely bandannas (头巾) for dogs and cats and use them to support animal shelters?

With great interest and the support of her grandmother, Maria turned a corner of their home into a busy working room. Together, they made many beautiful bandannas, each one filled with love and care.

But Maria's wish went far beyond creating decorations. She began donating her works to shelters like Claws Forever in Fall River, hoping to catch the eye of some people who can take these dogs and cats home.

Maria also began selling them through word-of-mouth and at various events. "At first she started just donating the bandannas because it took her much time to make them. Then she got more skilled and was able to buy cloth with some extra income that she was making from it," her mom, Crystal, said. "Maria is a really kind giving person and she doesn't want for much of anything. It makes her feel good to donate. We are proud of her." Ranging from $3 to $7, money from her sales is now donated to shelters, too. A few weeks ago, she donated more than $200 to the Kingston Animal Shelter.

"They were happy and really grateful, which made me feel really good inside," said Maria. "It makes me happy to see how it's impacted the people and dogs."