A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Web holism, a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use e-mail and speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive （强迫的，强制的） habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.

    Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. This obsessional behavior has affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log on computers and spend long hours at different websites.

    They become hooked on computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don't concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.

    They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.

    Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to keep themselves apart from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real live friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world.

    Having experienced a shocking electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, James Franco's world became completely dark and quiet for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live.

    One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was struck by the lightning. Witnesses thought he was dead but he woke up 20 minutes later, lying face down in muddy water. He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a tree and a muddy road. When Mrs. Franco came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.

    The news of James regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread and many doctors came to examine him. Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from the lightning. However, none of them could give a compellent answer as to why this should happen. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since James lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was by another sudden shock.

    Feifei, an 11-year-old boy from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, suffered from a sudden acute eye disease which has almost led to blindness. The disease was caused by excessive(过度的)eye fatigue(疲劳)during the winter vacation, during which he played computer games for continuous 10 days and nights.

    Many youngsters in China nowadays are increasingly addicted to computer games and other electronic products. This is followed by a series of health problems, with the most typical case being myopia, or nearsightedness.

    According to the latest research report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the myopia   rate among Chinese teenagers ranks first in the world—70 percent of high school and college students. The rate is nearly 40 percent in primary school students, while it is only 10 percent for their peers in the United States.

    There are at least 10 million people in China with severe myopia, and they are likely to get pathological(病理性的)myopia in middle age. Pathological myopia can't be treated with glasses or surgery, and it is one of the biggest factors that lead to blindness, Xu Xun, director of the ophthalmology(眼科学) department at Shanghai General Hospital, pointed out.

    Experts explain that two major factors lead to the high rate of myopia among Chinese people. One is high academic pressure, and the other one is excessive use of electronic devices over a long period of time. Genetics, on the other hand, are not the main reason, as only 20 percent of Chinese people had myopia in the 1960s.

    "Teenagers are now faced with severe academic pressure, which means they often study without natural light. This increases their risk of becoming nearsighted," Xu said.

    Experts suggest that youngsters maintain a proper balance between study and rest so as to protect their eyesight, and parents should play an active role in the process.

    Scott and Daniel Harry are enjoying everyday tasks like shopping and washing for the first time following their move to an accommodation (住宿) support house in Kurwongbah, north of Brisbane last year.

    Disability Services Queensland's Strengthening Non-Government Organisations project provided an accommodation support model that would enable residents (居住者) like Daniel and Scott to live more independently.

    The house is just one of many accommodation support services funded (资助) through the project. The five-bedroom house provides 24-hour care for up to four individuals with complex needs, including medical support. Care and staffing levels are varied and flexible, depending on each resident's requirements.

    Scott and Daniel, who have a severe form of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, require 24-hour support in all activities of daily living. Before they moved to the house, they lived with their family. Scott says living at home was difficult as it placed a physical and emotional strain (负担) on their parents who had to wake them several times each night to reposition them or place them on breathing machines.

    "We were heavyhearted," says Scott, who is planning to write a book about his life experiences. "But our parents now have a lot more time for themselves. We now manage ourselves on a day-to-day basis."

    Daniel is an enthusiastic gardener, taking care of his own vegetable garden. The men share the house with one other young man, and they go to rugby league games, meeting up with friends.

    Leeding Care Australia provides the care service at Kurwongbah. Manager Lee Garniss says setting up the facilities (设施) has not been without its challenges.

    "It is an unconventional model of care," Lee says. "The home is Scott and Daniel's home, however it is also a workplace for their support staff. Balancing these two requirements has been a challenge for all."

    "We have experienced a bit of a learning phase over the last twelve months. However, by working as a team we try our best to meet the needs of both residents and staff and I think we have achieved the right balance."

    Imagine being a business that regularly takes huge quantities of your own products worth millions of pounds and burns them up. Your stock literally goes up in smoke. It sounds crazy, but the practice is common for some of the world's biggest clothing manufacturers. They argue that it is the most cost-effective way of maintaining their brand's exclusivity (独特性).

    The clothes that are burned are those that do not sell at a high enough price. Rather than watch them go on sale, the companies would set fire to them and regain a small amount of energy.

    Nobody knows exactly how much unsold stock is burnt annually by those fashion houses, but burning clothes has various negative impacts on the environment. For example, burning clothes made from artificial fibers may release plastic microfibers into the atmosphere, which worsens global warming. A U.K. parliamentary committee report on sustainability and the fashion industry advises the government to ban the burning of unsold stock if it can be reused or recycled.

    Actually, there are other approaches. What if those companies had a section tasked with taking back unsold clothes, redesigning them into new products, and shipping out the new products to the market once again?

    There is also now an opportunity to focus on biodegradable (可生物降解的)fabrics. Clothes that break down faster might not have to be burned. They would also appeal to those who care about the environmental impact of their own wardrobes.

    Additionally, we have an over-production problem. According to the World Bank, while clothing sales have risen steadily since 2000, clothing utilization has fallen at roughly the same rate. For every extra T-shirt that is sold, it will be worn roughly half as much as it would have been 20 years ago. That means better forecasting market trends would in theory result in less waste.

    Burning clothes won't happen simply through fashion firms. The scale of fashion production has to change. And it's important to recognize that these consumer-focused brands will only go where the market takes them. If protecting the environment really matters to the public, they have to make clear that they want more sustainable clothing in the first place. Without consumers demanding that, it won't change.

    The booking notes of the play “The Age of Innocence”:

    Price:$10

    BOOKING

    There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:

--in person

    The Box Office is open from Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m.—8 p.m.

--by telephone

    Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card(Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted)

--by post

    Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.

--on line

    Complete the on-line booking form at www.Satan-fiedtheatre.com

    DISCOUNTS:

    Saver: $ 2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.

    Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.

    Standby: best available seats are on sale for $ 6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible (suitable) for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.

Group Bookings: there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more.

    School: school parties of ten or more can book $6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.

    Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.