SIGN YOUR CHILD UP FOR "FLY TO THE MOON CLUB"

    AND ENJOY A FREE * FLIGHT TO ANY DESTINATION IN ASIA!

    With a registration fee of just $50 per child, children under the age of 12 can join Eagle Airways'

    FLY TO THE MOON CLUB as members.

    They can then enjoy the same benefits onboard Eagle Airways' newest Boeing-797 to any destination in the world!

    BENEFITS YOU CAN'T MISS!

     A free * flight to any destination in Asia

    30% off any course at Tanya Language School

    20% off any purchase made at Ruby Bookstore

    A free notebook with every purchase above $50 at Starlight Stationery

    A free bowl of dessert for a family of four at Don's Diners

dinner ordered

    A birthday gift on your child's birthday

    A free album containing pictures taken during the journey

    All bookings made before 12 September will receive free travel insurance for the entire family! ** Insurance is issued by Live Life Insurance Group. 10% OFF ALL BOOKINGS

for departures from 5 to 11 September

    * Child must be accompanied by two paying adults.

    ** Terms and conditions apply.

    Liverpool, my hometown, is a special city. It is so unique that in 2004 it became a World Heritage（遗产）Site.

    I recently returned to my home city and my first stop was at a museum on the River Mersey. Blanketed in mist（薄雾），Victorian architecture rose from the banks of the river, responded to the sounds of sea-birds, and appeared unbelievably charming. When I headed toward the centre, I found myself surrounded by buildings that mirror the best palaces of Europe. It is not hard to imagine why, on first seeing the city, most visitors would be overpowered by the beauty of the noble buildings, which are solid signs of Liverpool's history.

    As if to stress its cultural role, Liverpool has more museums and galleries than most cities in Britain. At Walker Art Gallery, I was told that it has the best collections of Victorian paintings in the world, and is the home of modern art in the north of England. However, culture is more than galleries. Liverpool offers many music events. As Britain's No. 1 music city, it has the biggest city music festival in Europe, and its musicians are famous all over the world. Liverpool is also well-known for its football and other sports events. Every year, the Mersey River Festival attracts thousands of visitors, making the city a place of wonder.

    As you would expect from such a city, there are restaurants serving food from around the world. When my trip was about to complete, I chose to rest my legs in Liverpool's famous Philharmonic pub（酒馆）. It is a monument to perfection, and a heritage attraction itself.

    Being a World Heritage Site, my home city is certainly a place of “outstanding universal value”. It is a treasure house with plenty of secrets for the world to explore.

    What makes a building ugly? Everyone's got their own opinion, so it's hard to say. Now, let's take a look at some of the world's worst buildings.

    The Torre Velasca

    The Tone Velasca in Milan is in the centre of Milan (Italy). The tower, which went up in the 1950s, is about 100 metres tall. Its design is actually a modern representation of a traditional Lombard castle, where the lower parts were narrower (狭窄的）than the upper parts.

    The Mirador Building

    The Mirador Building in Madrid (Spain) was created by Dutch studio MVRDV and the Spanish architect Blanca Lleo. The building, which is a block of flats, opened in 2005. There is a large rectangular (矩形的）hole in the upper part of it, which is used by the neighbourhood as a meeting area and playground.

    The Prague TV Tower

    The Prague TV Tower is in Prague (the capital of the Czech Republic). It stands 216 metres high and looks a bit like a tall, thin space ship. Prague is famous for its architectural beauty,so when the tower was put up in 1985 by architect Vaclav Aulicky and engineer Jiri Kozak, many felt it didn't fit in.

    The Longaberger Basket Company

    The Longaberger Basket Company building is in Newark, Ohio (USA). The office block was opened in 1997 and looks like a very large basket. It，s got seven floors and two handles at the top. The handles weigh about 150 tons. It may not be the ugliest building in the world but it's certainly one of the most unusual.

    In recent years, a growing body of research has shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception（感知）of the food in front of us.

    Studies have shown, for instance, that eating in front of the TV (or a similar distraction) can increase both hunger and the amount of food consumed. Even simple visual clues, like plate size and lighting, have been shown to affect portion size and consumption.

    A new study suggested that our short-term memory also may play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they'd eaten but rather by how much food they'd seen in front of them—in other words, how much they remembered eating.

    This disparity (新旧研究的差异）suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol.

    "Hunger isn't controlled individually by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal," Brunstrom says. "This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought."

    These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body's response to the food itself. In a 2011 study, for instance, people who drank the same 380-calorie milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones （荷尔蒙），depending on whether the shake's label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.

    What does this mean for our eating habits? Although it hardly seems practical to trick ourselves into eating less, the new findings do highlight the benefits of focusing on our food and avoiding TV and multitasking while eating.

    The so-called mindful-eating strategies can fight distractions and help us control our appetite, Brunstrom says.

    Five-year-old Prisilla Perez, a student at Meador Elementary School in Willis, was unhappy with her recent haircut, which resulted from a severe disease. When students in her class started calling Prisilla a boy, she felt ashamed, often crying and losing focus in school.

    Her teacher, Shannon Grimm, sympathized with her unhappiness. Grimm and Prisilla's mom were concerned, but their ideas didn't work. “We had classroom discussions about how girls have short hair and boys have long hair, and I showed them photos of movie stars with different looks,” Grimm said. “However, it wasn't sinking in.”

Grimm thought about Prisilla throughout winter break, and one morning, she had an idea: Cut off her hair — a scary thought for Grimm, who wore her hair long and took pride in it. “I've never had short hair, and I stressed about it for two weeks before making a decision,” she said. On Jan. 4, Grimm invited a hairstylist friend to her home. “I told him to keep going, even if I cried,” she said.

    The class loved their teacher's new do, especially Prisilla, who excitedly ran off the school bus that afternoon yelling, “Mom, Ms. Grimm cut her hair!” The teacher also bought matching bows for herself and the girl, so they could style their hair together.

    In February, the teacher recommended Prisilla for the school district's Student of the Month Award, but during the Monday ceremony, she received a surprise “hero medal” from the girl. “Now we have matching awards,” says Grimm.

Prisilla's mother, Maria, said that Grimm's thoughtfulness brought her to tears. “I was shocked. I was crying. I couldn't believe it — she did something I wouldn't have the bravery to do. I will never forget that.”

Dear Jamie,

    I'm writing to you because I feel like we've grown distant lately. I know you have two little babies now that take up most of your attention, but I want to remind you that I'm your dog. My name is Max, and I am here long before those two troublemakers joined our family. The older one, Hannah, keeps trying to ride me. She knows I'm not a horse, right? Let's remember that I'm 11 now. That's 77 years old to you, friend. So how about showing me some respect I deserve?

    Anyway, I'm still an official part of this family. I know I have made mistakes with food, but those kids are covered with so much food. It's like an alcoholic living in a wine store. I have tried harder not to eat their food, but this business of forcing me to the backyard for most of the day was unacceptable.

    And when you told your wife Kate that you wanted to drop me off in the valley to live with wolves, well, that hurt my self-respect. And did you have to do it right in front of me? I might be old, but I can still hear.

    Remember the old days? By the time you came into the picture, I had already known Kate for three years. And then you came along. I knew she liked you so I welcomed you into our world. I remembered one night, she asked me if I thought you were the one. I barked "yes" repeatedly because I thought you would take great care of us. And you did.

    Look, I know you're a father of two now, but please try to include me a little bit more. That's all I'm asking.

Sincerely yours,

Max the Puggle