A crisis is on the way．Global warming? The world economy? No，the decline of reading．People are just not doing it anymore，especially the young．Who's responsible? What is responsible? The Internet，of course，and everything that comes with it—Facebook，Twitter，etc..

    There's been a warning about the coming death of literate civilization for a long time．In the 20th century，first it was the movies，then radio，then television that seemed to end the written world．None did．Reading survived；in fact it not only survived，it has developed better．The world is more literate than ever before — there are more and more readers．and more and more books．

    The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over．The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing．Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before．Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations，an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links：to texts，pictures，and videos．

    On the other hand，there is the danger of trivialization(碎片化)．One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long“digests”of the great novels．War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking．We should fear the fragmentation(碎片)of reading．There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span—that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration．

    In such a fast-changing world，in which reality seems to be remade each day，we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us．This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear．Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone entirely in pace with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic，confusing world．

    With their furry round heads and big black eyes, Zhongzhong and Huahua look just the same as any other monkey. But they happen to be the world's first cloned (克隆的) monkeys.

    Years ago, scientists used cloning techniques to produce Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal (哺乳动物).They now used the same technique to produce the monkeys in China.

    In animal cloning, animals are produced in a lab by using DNA that is taken from the cells (细胞) of a naturally-born animal. To clone Zhongzhong and Huahua, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS.中国科学院) first removed the nucleus (细胞核) from a monkey's egg cell (卵细胞). They then put another nucleus taken from the monkey's body cells into the egg cell. The newly-formed egg was put into the womb (子宫) of a female monkey. Finally, Zhongzhong and Huahua were born.

    The cloning process is hard, especially removing nucleus. It needs to be done in a fast and precise (精确的) way. The faster you do it, the less damage is done to the egg, according to CAS. Scientist Liu Zhen spent three years practicing removing the nucleus.

    Unlike common monkeys, cloned monkeys have the same DNA as each other. When doing experiments on them, scientists can easily know that certain results are caused by different treatments, rather than different genes.

    According to Sun Qiang from CAS, most drug trials (药物试验) are done on lab mice. However, drugs that work on mice might not work on humans. The two species are very different.

    "Monkeys and humans are much closely related and testing on monkeys is supposed to be as effective (有效的) as testing on humans," Sun added.

    It is estimated that more than half the world's population is bilingual (双语的), and in an increasingly globalised world, there are obvious benefits of speaking more than one language. However, for many years, parents were advised not to teach their children to speak more than one language from birth. Learning two or more languages simultaneously (同时) was believed to cause confusion and slow down academic development. While it is certainly true that children who are learning to speak more than one language as their mother tongue will often mix the languages up or speak a little later, these are temporary problems, and there is no reason to avoid teaching a child more than one language.

    In fact, there are plenty of reasons to encourage your child to become bilingual from birth. As well as the obvious benefits of being able to communicate with more people, and the possibility of earning more money, children who speak more than one language have been shown to score more highly in achievement tests at school. This is true for mathematics as well as tests of verbal (言语的) skills.

    And in later life it has been found that bilinguals, on average, will tend to develop Alzheimer's disease five years later than monolingual speakers. Speaking three or more languages offers even more protection. It seems that the increased number of connections within the brain allows bilinguals to cope better with brain damage.

    But is it too late if you haven't already learned a second language in childhood? It used to be thought that the adult brain was very fixed, but recent research has shown that we continue to develop new connections in the brain throughout our lives, meaning that it's perfectly possible to learn another language to a high standard. Older learners are less likely to have native-like pronunciation, but they are better at learning vocabulary as they are able to use far more skills and strategies than children. And learning a language is like using a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it gets, meaning that you will find your third language easier than your second, and so on.

    Have you ever thought of quitting your job when you feel exhausted? Maybe most of you would say "yes". After a particularly busy period at work, I decided to get away from it all by going on a hike in the mountains in southern France.

    Before I left, I read an interesting story in a magazine. It read, "Once, while I was riding on a crowded bus, the man sitting next to me threw his cell phone out of the window when his phone rang. I was surprised. He looked at me, shrugged (耸耸肩) and looked away. I had no idea whether it was his or stolen or whether he even knew what a cell phone was or not, but he clearly wanted to be free of it, because it clearly troubled him."

    Billions of people across the world use cell phones. Though cell phones are a wonderful way for communication, they often do the exact opposite. Using cell phones can increase stress within families and friends.

    So when I recently returned home, I got rid of my cell phone. Now I go outside without taking my phone with me. I've noticed things in my neighborhood I never noticed before, such as gardens. I've met new people, started conversations with neighbors I didn't speak to before and talked with some of my friends face to face instead of chatting over the phone.

    Instead of keeping me off from the world, stopping using my cell phone has helped me get even closer to my family and friends.

    When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied (欺凌) at school. I felt completely alone in my small town.

    But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into a passion for helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy I shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received. I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.

    Books were my true friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.

    After surviving terrible experiences at school and at home, I made a choice to take the optimistic, positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career, one I thought was only possible for the authors I loved, is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.

    Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone's life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.

    Sparrow is a fast－food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago，the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining，the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast－food concepts reaching the market，the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse，its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.

    Sparrow failed to grow for another two years until a new CEO，Carl Pearson，decided to build up its market share. He did a survey，which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain，while customers of other fast－food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.

    Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain's owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy's restaurants. Pearson resisted，arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success，rather than customers' spending power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.

    The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast－food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product，the intention was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.

    Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example，he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover(营业额).

    These efforts paid off，and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast－food chains in the regions where it operated.