Online shopping has become more and more popular these years. Women have jumped ahead of men for the first time in using the Internet to do their holiday shopping, according to a study published last week in the US.

    For years men have been more likely to shop on the Internet than women, but during the 2013 holiday season 58 percent of those shopping online were women.

    “It shows how popular the Internet is becoming,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project group, which carried out the study. Rainie said it was only a matter of time before women shoppers caught up with men. This is because women traditionally make decisions about spending.

    Users were more likely to shop online to save time. Internet users between the ages 18 and 29 were responsible for some of the surprising increase in the online gift-buying population this time around.

    However, three-quarters of the US Internet users did not buy holiday gifts online in 2013. They worried about credit card security(信用卡安全), or just compared online prices with off-line prices, then dashed off to the shops to get the best deals.

    “But even if shoppers don't buy online, websites are becoming promotion(促销) tools for stores,” said Dan Hess' vice president of Com Score Network Inc. Hess said that actually most stores, websites can make customers fully believe the security of their credit card numbers. And most are able to ensure that gifts arrive on time.

    “It's all about making the shopping experience more efficient(效率高的), more reliable and more comfortable.” Hess said.

    For most of us Veterans Day just means a chance to enjoy an extra day off from school or work．However this November 11th，be sure to spend a few minutes on its true purpose，by acknowledging（感谢）the men and women who have served in our armed forces．

    And you don't have to stop at just this one day．Join the over 10，000youth members of the Young Marines group that honor these brave men and women all year long with special events and completely spoil them for an entire week，from November 4th to 11th，by visiting hospitalized veterans，performing chores for disabled veterans and even organizing community－wide social event．The program open to kids ranging from the age of eight all the way to high school，is a great way to not only show your appreciation，but also get a chance to do some fun activities with like－minded kids and make a real difference in a veteran's life．

    People often believe that Memorial Day and Veterans Day are celebrated for the same reason．There is however a subtle but important difference between the two．While both honor our military personnel，the former is a day to remember and pay respect to all the men and women that died serving our country in a war，while Veterans Day is to celebrate the soldiers who are still alive and served in the forces at any time，during peace or war． Though several other countries celebrate this day in honor of their own veterans，the meaning is slightly different for each one．Some like the United Kingdom，celebrate it in honor of all soldiers－living or dead，while others like Canada celebrate it to honor all living veterans．They also call it different names．France and New Zealand sill call it Armistice Day．In the United Kingdom，Australia and Canada it is referred to as Remembrance Day，while Malta and South Africa celebrate it as Poppy Day．

    No matter what it is called，the reason for observing the day is the same－to show our appreciation to the brave men and women who sacrifice（牺牲）everything to make this world a safer place for the rest of us．

    Retired judge Davison hated all the quiet. Evy, his wife of 66 ears, had passed away, and he was lonely and sad in the months after her death. But he knew how to beat those feelings; he decided to build a pool.

    Davison contacted a family-run company in Hopkins, Minnesota, that had built a pool for his previous house 40 years ago. “They did such a great job before and were still in business, so they came out and planned it,” Davison said.

    Kevin, who works on new pools for the company, helped Davison with everything, from initial planning and completing contracts back in March to teaching him how to filter the water once the pool was finish in July.

    “If You build it, they will come,” he thought. He invited all the neighborhood kids over to swim. Now it's not so quiet anymore.

    He hears the sounds of laughter and splashing as he sits on a chair in the shade, watching happy children play in his backyard.

    “I knew they'd come.” 94-yvear-old Davison told KARE-TV.

    Neighbor Jessica thought the judge was joking when he talked about putting in a pool until she saw the work starting. Now she and her four kids have been regulars since the pool was finished in July.

    “It's him spreading joy throughout our neighborhood for these kids.” Jessica said.

    Davison's pool includes a diving board and reaches nine feet in the deep end under the board. It's especially welcome in a town that doesn't have a public outdoor pool.

    Although Davison has three adult children, he doesn't have any grandchildren.

Jessica says she's told him, “You kind of adopted our whole neighborhood of kids. These are your grandkids.”

    The judge's rules require that a parent or grandparent stay while the children are swimming. Once the kids leave, he likes to swim, too.

    Davison tells KARE-TV that he realizes that putting in the pool didn't make a lot of financial (经济的) sense for an old man. But that didn't matter to him.

    “I'm not sitting by myself looking at the walls.” he says. “What else would you think of doing where you could have a whole bunch of kids over every afternoon?” The 94-year-old judge now hears laughter all day as he watches children splash in his backyard pool.

    Studying the DNA of 300 mice has flagged up genes which have been linked to hereditary (遗传的) sight loss for the first time. Researchers say because mice's genes are so similar to humans', their findings could lead to the treatment of more genetic diseases.

    Scientists at the University of California, Davis studied information from a data bank of mice's genetic material. They found 347 genes linked to eye problems, with just 86 of them having been studied in the past.

    Only around 50 to 75 percent of hereditary eye diseases in human can be explained with present science. The researchers believe these hundreds of new genes found in mice could be a key to explaining-and therefore being able to treat the other 25-50 percent.

    "This is extremely valuable for people with hereditary eye disease," said researcher Professor Ala Moshiri. "All researchers are going to start using these data. In the past, we knew the problem was there but we didn't know where to look. Now eye centers can call back patients and screen them for these new genes. We expected that more and more of these genetic diseases will be treatable." Also, the fact is that more than 60 percent of eye problems at birth are ones resulting from the baby's parents!

    Thanks to data from the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), which is trying to work out what every single gene in a mouse is responsible for, with the aim of translating it to humans, scientists are moving closer to figuring out all genetic causes of blindness. To do this, scientists separate a single gene from other ones at a time and then observe what effect it has on the mouse for a long time. This has so far been done more than 7,000 times and has achieved great success. Researchers are now working alongside eye care centers in Texas and Iowa in order to compare the mice's genes to those of patients.

    I attended a party one night. During the dinner a man told a humorous story based on the quotation: "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will."

    The storyteller mentioned that the quotation was from the Bible. I knew he was wrong. There couldn't be the slightest doubt about it. To get a feeling of importance and display my superiority, I appointed myself as an unwelcome committee member to correct him. He stuck to his guns. "What? From Shakespeare? Impossible! Absurd! That quotation was from the Bible." And he knew it.

    The storyteller was sitting on my right; and Frank Gammond, an old friend of mine, was seated on my left. Mr. Gammond had devoted years to the study of Shakespeare. So the storyteller and I agreed to submit the question to Mr. Gammond. Mr. Gammond listened, kicked me under the table, and then said, "Dale, you are wrong. The gentleman is right. It is from the Bible."

    On our way home that night, I said to Mr. Gammond, "Frank, you knew that quotation was from Shakespeare. "Yes, of course," he replied, "Hamlet, Act Five, Scene Two. But we were guests at a happy time, my dear Dale. Why argue with the storyteller? Why prove to him he is wrong? Why not let him save his face? Always avoid your sharp angle." I learned a lesson I'll never forget. I not only had made the storyteller uncomfortable, but also had put my friend in an embarrassing situation. How much better it would have been had I not become argumentative.

    Nine times out of ten, an argument ends with each of the contestants more firmly convinced than ever that he is absolutely right. You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it

    When he was 22, Rob Stewart traveled the world for four years. He wanted to call attention to the mistreatment of sharks. His 2007 film, Sharkwater, documents the cruel practice of removing sharks' fins (鳍) for money and leaving the animals to die. In his latest documentary, Revolution, Stewart takes on an even bigger challenge: climate change.

    The Canadian filmmaker says that climate change has harmed people and places everywhere: "It is stronger than any government or organization. If we educate people, they will make better decisions about protecting natural resources. "

    According to a recent report on climate change, "The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have reduced, and sea levels have risen." These developments are endangering crops, wildlife, fish, and even people.

    Stewart says that the consequences of climate change will be irreversible unless people take action, especially young people."It's up to kids to be the moral compass (道德指南) of society," he believes, "and say, 'Guys, this is not right.'"

    Many kids took action after seeing Sharkwater. Elementary school students in the Northern Mariana Islands, for example, got their local government to ban the sale of shark fins.

    Felix Finkbeiner, 17, of Germany is also part of the "revolution" to save the planet. In 2007, Felix started a youth group called Plant-for-the-Planet, whose motto is "Stop Talking. Start Planting." The group raises money to plant trees. So far, Plant-for-the-Planet has planted nearly 200 trees around the world. "Future generations are the ones who will be suffering the most from inaction (无作 )," Felix says. His goal is to plant millions of additional trees.

    "When we started four years ago," Felix tells Stewart in Revolution, "we thought we had to save the polar bear. We thought we had to save the environment. But soon after, we found out that it's about our future, that we have to save our own future."