Reuel Tolkien (1892 ~ 1973), the British linguist, writer. He created a fantasy novel “The Lord of the Rings”, the well-known trilogy (三部曲).

    Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. When he was 4 years old, his father died and his family moved back to England. Tolkien graduated from Oxford University when he was 23 years old, and participated in the First World War. During the war, Tolkien suffered from “trench fever” and stayed in the hospital until the end of World War I. It was the days in the hospital that he began his writing career first.

    After the war, Tolkien became a linguist. He was an edition of the “New English Dictionary” of 1918 ~ 1920. However, he was more researching to Anglo-Saxon language which makes his extensive contacts in Britain and the Nordic spread all over the folklore and mythology.

    In 1937, Tolkien completed his first work “The Hobbit”. Although this was a fairy tale, it was also suitable for adults to read. Because of good sales, publishers (Allen & Unwin) convinced Tolkien to write its sequel. This encouraged Tolkien to complete his most famous works the epic (史诗) trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”. The works of writing went on for almost a year with the support from his good friend Lewis.

    At the beginning “The Lord of the Rings” was similar works for children, but after that writing style quickly became serious and dark. “The Lord of the Rings” was one of the most popular literary works in the 20th century in terms of sales and readers' evaluation. Tolkien's influence is important, for the success of “TheLord of the Rings” makes the fantasy novels of this literature genre (体裁) developed rapidly.

    The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost.

    Some people have a great fear of losing. In fact, fear is not the best description of what they have. It is more like a crazy phobia(恐惧症) that they cannot keep away from. Day after day, these people allow their fear of losing to control everything in their lives. They are so afraid of losing that they try to keep away from losing without considering the cost of doing so.

    When things start to get out of control, fear begins to come in. As the fear of losing or getting hurt overwhelms(充溢) them, they quickly look for excuses, rather than fight back or find a way to deal with their fear. They never realize that losing is just as common as eating and breathing.

    If one is given a choice, who wouldn't prefer winning over losing? After all, winning is exciting and winning is what living is all about. Although we might try hard all the time, we're not going to win every time. In fact, most of us are going to lose a lot more often than we win and, believe it or not, it's not all bad.

    In order to make the most of our abilities ，we have to take risks every now and then. When we take risks, we might get knocked down, or even knocked flat, but with each failure and each loss, we have an opportunity to get better and get closer to the life we expect.

    Art museums are places where people can learn about various cultures. The increasingly popular "design museums" that are opening today, however, perform quite a different role. Unlike most art museums, the design museums show objects that are easily found by the general public. These museums sometimes even place things like fridges and washing machines in the centre of the hall.

    People have argued that design museums are often made use of as advertisements for new industrial technology. But their role is not simply a matter of sales — it's the honouring of excellently invented products. The difference between the window of a department store and the showcase(玻璃陈列柜) in a design museum is that the first tries to sell you something, while the second tells you the success of a sale.

    One advantage of design museums is that they are places where people feel familiar with the exhibits. Unlike the average art museum visitors, design museum visitors seldom feel frightened or puzzled. This is partly because design museums clearly show how and why mass-produced products work and look as they do, and how design has improved the quality of our lives. Art museum exhibits, on the other hand, would most probably fill visitors with a feeling that there is something beyond their understanding.

    In recent years, several new design museums have opened their doors. Each of these museums has tried to satisfy the public's growing interest in the field with new ideas. London's Design Museum, for example, shows a collection of mass-produced objects from Zippo lighters to electric typewriters to a group of Italian fish-tins. The choices open to design museums seem far less strict than those to art museums, and visitors may also sense the humorous part of our society while walking around the exhibits.

    Africa is a very diverse land with many different tribes. One tradition that many of these groups share is painting or marking their bodies and faces in color. They do this for many reasons. Some marks are used to identify people as part of the group. Other marks are used for ceremonies such as wedding and during times of war. Let's look at some different examples of body painting.

    Red is a common color in body painting because it often represents health and long life. Among the Masai of East Africa, when men are old enough to marry and make decisions for their people, they participate in a special ceremony in which they paint their heads and faces red. This ceremony takes place every seven to fourteen years, so there is not an exact age for participating in it.

    The Samburu, also from East Africa, like to paint their faces and hair red because they think it looks pretty.

    The Masai men also have a unique way of showing that they are brave. To show that he has killed a lion, a man will paint his body with a natural white material, making special marks to represent this accomplishment. The Masai men also use this white to show that they are no longer boys and are considered adults.

    One quite unusual example of face painting is done by the Wodaabe people of West Africa. Once a year, they have a beauty contest for men. The men paint their faces yellow and red. Then they add white and black circles and lines. Black paint is used near the eyes and on the lips to draw attention to the whiteness of their eyes and teeth, which the Wodaabe consider most beautiful. The women then decide which man they like best.

    As you travel, enjoy the beautiful and bright colors of Africa.

    Most people who own iPhones use them as their alarm clocks―making it very easy to check emails one last time before falling asleep and hard to ever feel away from work and social networks.

    Several years ago, my boss fainted due to exhaustion after staying up late to catch up on work. She banged her head and ended up with five stitches (缝针) and became what she calls a "sleep evangelist (传教士)." Now she leaves her phone charging in another room when she goes to bed and encourages her friends to do the same.

    "I sent all my friends the same Christmas gift―a lovely alarm clock―so they could stop using the excuse that they needed their very attractive iPhones by their beds to wake them up in the morning." she said.

    If your phone wakes you up in the morning, it may also be keeping you up at night. A 2008 study showed that people exposed to mobile radiation took longer to fall asleep and spent less time in deep sleep. "The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are severely affected," the study concluded.

    A quarter of young people feel like they must be available by phone around the clock, according to a Swedish study that linked heavy cellphone use to sleeping problems, stress and depression. Unreturned messages carry more guilt when the technology to deal with them lies at our fingertips. Some teens even return text messages at midnight.

    Most of us choose not to set limits on our nighttime availability. Nearly three quarters of people from the age of 18 to 44 sleep with their phones within reach, according to a 2012 Time poll. That number falls off slightly in middle age, but only people aged 65 and older are leaving the phone in another room as common as sleeping right next to it.

About us

    Family, Career and Community Leaders of America ( FCCLA) is a non-profit national career and technical students organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public and private school through grade 12. Since 1945，FCCLA has  been making a difference in their families, careers and communities by addressing important issues through Family and Consumer Science education.

    Mission (任务)

    To promote personal growth and leadership development through Family and Consumer Science education. Focusing on the various roles of family members, wage earners and community leaders, members develop skills for life through: character development, creative thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge and career preparation.

Purposes

    To provide opportunities for personal development and preparation for adult life.

    To strengthen the function of family as a basic unit of society.

    To promote greater understanding between youth and adults.

    To provide opportunities for making decisions.

    To prepare for the various roles of men and women in today's society.

Membership

    FCCLA has a national membership of over 205, 000 young men and women in nearly 6, 500 chapters. There are 50 associations. Since its founding in 1945, it has involved more than 9，000, 000 youth.

     Financial (资金）and Cooperative Support

     FCCLA is supported primarily by student membership dues. Additional money comes from individuals and businesses. It is supported by the US Department of Education artd the America Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS).

National Publications

    Teen Times, the official magazine of FCCLA, is published once every three months during the school year and sent to its members. The national staff also publishes a variety of other resource materials for members and adult leaders.