Parents who help their children with homework may actually be bringing down their school grades. Other forms of prenatal involvement, including volunteering at school and observing a child's class, also fail to help, according to the most recent study on the topic.
The findings challenge a key principle of modern parenting(养育子女) where schools except them to act as partners in their children's education. Previous generations concentrated on getting children to 
school on time, fed, dressed and ready to learn.
       Kaith Robinson, the author of the study, said, "I really don't know if the public is ready for this but there are some ways parents can be 
involved in their kids' education that leads to declines in their academic performance. One of the things that was consistently negative was
 parents' help with homework." Robinson suggested that may be because parents themselves struggle to understand the task." They may 
either not remember the material their kids are studying now, or in some cases never learnt it themselves, but they're still offering advice."
       Robinson assessed parental involvement performance and found one of the most damaging things a parent could do was to punish their children for poor marks. In general, about 20% of parental involvement was positive, about 45% negative and the rest statistically
 insignificant.
      Common sense suggests it was a good thing for parents to get involved because "children with good academic success do have involved
 parents ", admitted Robinson. But he argued that this did not prove parental involvement was the root cause of that success." A big 
surprise was that Asian-American parents whose kids are doing so well in school hardly involved. They took a more reasonable approach, conveying to their children how success at school could improve their lives."

Time:2017-01-24     From:kekenet.com        Editor: clover

    The head of China's largest online seller Alibaba does not think China and the United States will have a trade war despite comments from the Trump administration.

    Jack Ma is the chairman of the Alibaba Group. At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, he said, "China and (the) U.S. will never have a trade war. Give Trump some time. He's open-minded, he's listening."

    The Chinese billionaire said he would do all he could to prevent trade relations between the countries from getting worse.

    Last week, Ma met with Trump at the Trump Tower in New York City. The Chinese billionaire is said to have discussed a plan to permit one million small U.S. businesses to sell goods on Alibaba's online shopping platform.

    During the campaign and after winning the presidential election, Trump strongly criticized the Chinese government's support for its businesses. He blamed unfair trade policies for taking away U.S. jobs. And he said that China unfairly controls the exchange value of its currency, the yuan.

    Trump also has threatened to place import taxes on goods from China and other countries in response to their trade policies.

    According to the South China Morning Post, Ma said, "American international companies made millions and millions of dollars from globalization." He added that the U.S. should not blame the loss of jobs and companies on globalization.

    However, a new study by an American business group says many U.S. businesses feel unwelcome in China. The companies say the cost of doing business in China is increasing. They add that rules and regulations are unclear or not enforced in a consistent way.

    The American Chamber of Commerce in China led the study, which looked at responses from 462 companies.

    William Zarit is chairman of the chamber. He says trade policies in China make it difficult for American companies. He says, "we feel that over the last few years that we've been taken advantage of to some extent, with our open market and the lack of open areas in the Chinese market."

    Another major concern for U.S. companies in China is fake products. Fake products are copies of the originals that cost businesses with the legal right to sell them millions of dollars each year.

    Ma defended Alibaba's efforts to fight fake products on its shopping platform. He said his company is doing all it can to fight the problem.

    "Fighting against fake products is a war against human greediness," Ma said.

    I'm Mario Ritter.

New York City Tour Guide

CENTRAL PARK PHOTO TOUR $79

With Sam L.

    Come to shoot in the Central Park of New York that will allow you to take home digital postcards.This tour is a great introduction to Central Park and combines views of the bridges,lakes and skyline.

    At each stop of the photo tour,I will provide you with explanations around photography（摄影）,camera settings, etc.You will be able to put these tips to good use immediately.

NEW YORK RUNMNG TOUR $50

With Sebastien B.

    Love running?Love New York?Do you want to see the sites of the city?Contact me and we'll take a special tour. All you'll need to do is to put on your sports shoes and we'll be off.I'll show you my favorite running spots along the Hudson River or north of Central Park and away from all the tourists.

    If you're thinking of training for something,I'll give you the explanations and tips to make the best of your time training!

GREENWICH VILLAGE FOOD TOUR $75

With Manhattan W.

    Discover unbelievable places to eat.This is the real Greenwich Village gastronomic（美食的）experience.Along the way,find out how the village has kept its unique character throughout the years,from the Dutch and English controlled periods to today.

Tour runs every day from 12:30 PM-2:30 PM.

NEW YORK BY NIGHT PHOTO TOUR $115

With Sam L.

    We have already prepared NYC for the most unique points for you.During the  hour walking tour,we share these special comers of NYC.

    The night tour teaches night photography techniques while discovering the "darker" side of the city that never sleeps: the UN headquarters,42nd street,Grand Central Terminal,the Chrysler Building,Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.

    Something's happening at the lowest point on our planet.

The Dead Sea, a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west, is shrinking(缩小) at an alarming rate—--about 3.3 feet per year, according to the environmentalist group EcoPeace Middle East. And human actions are largely to blame.

    “It's not just like one country is punishing the Dead Sea; it's more like the whole area,” said photographer Mortize Kustner, who visited the area in February to work on his series “The Dying Dead Sea”.

    The Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it, such as the Jordan River basin. But around the 1960s, some of the water sources it relied on were diverted(使改道).Israel, for instance, built a pipeline during that time so it could supply water throughout the country.

    Mineral extraction(开采) industries are another main reason the water levels are falling, experts say. The Dead Sea's minerals have been used as medicine and can often be found in cosmetics(化妆品) and other consumer products.

    And then, of course, there's the Middle East's hot, dry climate, which makes it difficult for the lake to replenish itself.

    Last year, Israel and Jordan signed a $900 million deal in an effort to keep the Dead Sea's water levels stable（稳定）. It includes building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea which would be able to not only supply water to Israel and Jordan but also to pump water into the Dead Sea.

    But for now, Kustner shows us that the Dead Sea remains very much a place of interest, with people from all over the world going there to swim in its salty waters.

    The Dead Sea, known as the Salt Sea in the language of Hebrew, is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world. And because of what has been happening over the years, the salt is only getting saltier.

    Have you ever lost your car on a parking lot? It happens. You park and go shopping. When you get back, you have no idea where your car is. It can be discouraging.

    You don't need to install (安装) an expensive GPS system to keep track of your car. That's too expensive. You would need to pay a monthly subscription fee just to use it. But is there a way to track your vehicle without spending a fortune? Yes, now there is! A California-based start-up company was able to make this a reality. They created a tiny device (装置）that works with your smartphone, and it could be exactly what you're looking for! It's called TrackR Bravo. It's changing the way we keep track of the important things in our lives.

    Install the free TrackR app on your smartphone, connect the app to your device and you're ready to go! Simply attach TrackR to whatever you want to keep an eye on. The entire process of setting it up only takes 5 minutes or less. You can attach it to your keys, wallet and anything else you don't want to lose. Then use the TrackR app to find where your missing item are in seconds.

    Forget expensive GPS systems or tracking services. Nobody wants to pay expensive monthly subscription fees. We understand how stressful these things can be, and this is the reason why the company created TrackR. This device is your VIP when you need to take care of important things.

    If you forget where you park your car, take out your smartphone and open the TrackR app. Tap on the “lost item” sign on the screen and the app will tell you the exact location. This device is by no means expensive. TrackR only costs $29, a small price to pay for peace of mind. The device is small enough that you can attach it to your pets. Put it on their collar, and you will never lose track of them! Attach it to your key or wallet, and never waste a minute rummaging the whole house for it.

    Since you've been informed about this brilliant invention, now attach it to everything that's important to you.

    It's hard to talk to Dad sometimes. His silence about his feelings and thoughts made him mysterious and hard to see through. You could never break his hard shell and get to know him. And he seemed to want to stay that way too.

    But a year ago when my relationship with my wife and career took a hit, I needed my dad to pull back the curtain so I could see him as real and accessible. I was facing serious problems, and I wanted to know whether he had faced them before and how he had found his way, because I felt like I had lost mine. In desperation, it occurred to me that sending an email might be the key, so I wrote him one, telling him about my regrets and fears, and I asked him to answer, if he felt like it.

    Two weeks later, it showed up in my inbox: a much thought, three page letter. Dad, a 68­year­old retired technologist and grandfather of four, had carefully considered my message, and crafted a response. He mentioned his lost love, the foolish mistake he made in career and the stupid pride he had between him and his parents. He comforted me that “life will still find its right track despite many of its twists and turns”.

    I closed the email and started to cry, because I wished I had opened it up earlier but was grateful it wasn't too late. I cried because at first, in the midst of my own struggles, his letter instantly put me at ease. And I cried because in the end, it was so simple: I just had to hit “Send”.

    We've since had many email exchanges. This increasing communication opened a door into his world. My problems haven't been magically solved, but getting to know my dad better has made the tough stuff more manageable and life sweeter. It's hard to talk to Dad sometimes, but I'm glad I found a way to talk to mine.