Justin Bieber used to be an ordinary Canadian boy, but his life totally changed in 2008. With his great musical talent, this seventeen-year-old boy has become a superstar in the music industry.

    Justin Drew Bieber was born in 1994 in Stratford, Ontario and was raised by his single mother. Bieber learned to play musical instruments when he was very young. In 2007, he took part in a local singing competition in his hometown, and he did it just for fun. He never took singing lessons before but surprisingly he placed second in the competition. Then, with the help of his mother, he uploaded (上传) videos of him singing on a website and they successfully attracted the attention of thousands of viewers. His videos got popular through word of mouth and some of them have received up to 10,000,000 views.

    Justin Bieber would have never gotten a career in the music business without his videos. Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive (主管) of So So Def Recordings, had watched Bieber's videos and he was impressed by the boy's talent. Braun then contacted Bieber and he flew the boy into Atlanta seven months after the first video was posted. Bieber showed his talent in singing as well as his ability in playing musical instruments. He then got a record deal.

    In 2009, Justin Bieber released (发行) his first single “One Time” while he was recording the debut album (首张专辑). The single “One Time” tells a story about love. This song had success not only in Canada and the US, but also in the international market. Then he released his debut album “My World 2.0” in 2010 and the song “Baby” became the lead single. This album successfully entered the Top Ten Charts in seven countries. In June 2010, he started his first world tour in Hartford, Connecticut. One month later, he started recording his second album.

    I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I searched in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those. I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him “Have you got a light?” He looked at me, shrugged and came over to light my cigarette. As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently（不经意地）locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don't know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was because, when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn't want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.

    "I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension too. “Do you have kids?” he asked. “Yes, here, here.” I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I'd never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. "Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.

    “My life was saved by a smile.” Yes, the smile― the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn't be enemies. We couldn't have hate or envy or fear!

    Have you grasped the information taught by your teacher in class? Have you understood what you saw on the screen? Maybe everyone has their own learning style.

    Generally speaking, we gather information with our minds and bodies in different ways, such as seeing, hearing and doing. Then our brains deals with that information, organizing it and connecting it to things we are already aware .In other words, our brains will deal with the information in different ways. Sometimes we think in pictures or words. Sometimes we remember details or the big pictures.

    For different people, their learning styles are different too. One person may find it hard to make out the information in written forms but easy to know it immediately in an oral description. However, another person might find difficulties with the picture but the written message.

    Now scientists say there exist seven basic learning styles.

    Linguistic: These people learn through listening, reading, speaking and writing.

    Logical: These people learn with formula (公式) and principles (原理).

    Visual: These people learn by seeing what they are studying.

    Musical: These people learn well when information is presented through music.

    Kinesthetic: These people learn from movement and physical activities.

    Intrapersonal: These people learn best by linking new information directly with their own experiences.

    Interpersonal: These people learn well by working with others.

    Therefore, if you know what learning style is your strength, you can balance your weakness, and get a more successful learning experience.

    On average, Americans spend about 10 hours a day in front of a computer or other electronic devices and less than 30 minutes a day outdoors. That is a claim made by David Strayer, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah. In his 2017 TED Talk, Strayer explained that all this time spent with technology is making our brains tired.

    Using an electronic device to answer emails, listen to the news and look at Facebook puts a lot of pressure on the front of the brain, which, Strayer explains , is important for critical (有判断力的)thinking , problem-solving and decision-making.

So, it is important to give the brain a rest. And being in naure, Strayer claims, helps get a tired brain away from too much technology. More than 15,000 campers from around the world attended an international camping festival in September. That is when friends and family take time off and escape to nature for several days. They take walks, climb, explore, swim, sleep, eat and play. Camping may be just what a tired brain needs.

    Take Carl for example .He lives in West Virginia and enjoys camping. He says that staying outdoors makes him feel at ease. It also prepares him for the work he must do. Kate Somers is another example who also lives in West Virginia. She says she enjoys camping with her husband and two children. She calls it a “regenerative” experience.

    At the University of Utah, David Strayer has studied both short-term and long-term exposure to nature. He found that spending short amounts of time in nature without technology does calm the brain and helps it to remember better. However, he found, it is the long-term contact with nature that does the most good. He and his research team found that spending three days in nature without any technology is enough time for the brain to fully relax and reset itself.

Rich as a King

    William 1, who conquered England some 930 years ago, had wealth, power and an army. Yet although William was very rich by the standard of his time, he had nothing like a flush toilet (抽水马桶), paper towels, or riding lawn mower (除草机). How did he get by?

    History books are filled with wealthy people who were poor compared to me. I have storm windows, Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn't buy cat food. Czar Nicholas lacked an electric saw.

    Given how much better off I am than so many famous dead people, you'd think I'd be content. The trouble is that, like most people, I compare my wealth with that of living person: neighbors, school classmates, famous TV people. The greed I feel toward my friend Howard's new kitchen is not reduced by the fact that no kings ever had a refrigerator with glass doors,

    There is really no rising or falling standard of living. Over the centuries people simply find different things to feel sad about. You'd think that simply not having disease would put us in a good mood, but no we want a hot bath too.

    Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by today's standards the things I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean.

    Besides, to people looking back at our era from a century or two in the future, these bankers' fancy counter tops and my awn worn Formica will seem equally shabby, I can't keep up with my neighbors right now. But just wait.

Insect numbers have decreased by half in some parts of the world due to climate change and intensive agriculture,a study has found.The combined pressures of global heating and farming are driving a "substantial decline" of insects across the globe,according to the UK researchers.

Lead researcher,Dr Charlie Outhwaite of UCL,said losing insect populations could be harmful not only to the natural environment,but to human health and food security,particularly with losses of pollinators(传粉昆虫)."Our findings highlight the urgency of actions to preserve natural habitats,slow the expansion of high-intensity agriculture,and cut emissions to reduce climate change," she added.

In the latest study,the researchers pulled together data on the range and number of nearly 20,000 insect species,including bees,ants,butterflies,grasshoppers and dragonflies,at about 6,000 different locations.In areas with high-intensity agriculture and substantial warming,insect numbers have decreased by 49%,compared with relatively untouched places that have so far avoided the most severe impacts of climate change,according to the research published in Nature.

But the researchers said there was some cause for hope.Setting aside areas of land for nature creates a refuge(庇护所) for insects,which need shade to survive in hot weather."Careful management of agricultural areas,such as preserving natural habitats near farmland,may help to ensure that vital insects can still survive," said Dr Tim Newbold,also of UCL.

Study researcher,Peter McCann,added,"We need to acknowledge how important insects are for the environment as a whole,and for human health and well being,in order to address the threats we pose to them before many species are lost forever."