A report by the US' Open Syllabus Project found that the most read books among US college students in the past year were books like The Republic by ancient Greek philosopher Plato and The Clash of Civilizations by US political scientist Samuel Huntington.And according to reports by Chinese college libraries,the most popular books among Chinese students are novels like Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils by Chinese author Jin Yong.

    This is considered by many to be one of the reasons why Chinese students are sometimes not as good at critical thinking or observing global perspectives (视野) as US students—they read too many bestseller novels.

    "By reading texts in history/social studies,science,and other subjects,students build a foundation of knowledge in these fields that will also give them the background to be better readers in all areas,"Robert Pondiscio,vice president of the Core Knowledge Foundation in the US told Th.e Washington Post.

    According to China Youth.Daily,there are usually five stages when it comes to reading,with popular novels at the bottom.More advanced readers normally go on to read classic fictional literature,history and philosophy,or books with critical ideas.

    We spend hours,days or even weeks on a book,so it's only natural that we want to learn something useful in return for our efforts.Many see reading as an investment (投资) in themselves.But this practical view of literature and the thought that history and philosophy books are superior to novels are not agreed by everyone.After all,what they offer are two different kinds of satisfaction.While the former provides knowledge,the latter brings emotional experiences."Fiction and poetry are medicines,"UK writer Jeanette Winterson once wrote."What they heal is the rupture (裂痕) reality makes on the imagination."

    Technology offers conveniences such as opening the garage door from your car or changing the television station without touching the TV.

    Now one American company is offering its employees a new convenience: a microchip implanted in their hands. Employees who have these chips can do all kinds of things just by waving their hands. Three Square Market is offering to implant microchips in all of their employees for free. Each chip costs $300 and Three Square Market will pay for the chip. Employees can volunteer to have the chips implanted in their hands. About 50 out of 80 employees have chosen to do so. The president of the company, his wife and their children are also getting chips implanted in their hands.

    The chip is about the size of a grain of rice. Implanting the chip only takes about a second and is said to hurt only very briefly. The chips go under the skin between the thumb and forefinger. With a chip in the hand, a person can enter the office building, buy food, sign into computers and more, simply by waving that hand near a scanner. The chips will be also used to identify employees. Employees who want convenience, but do not want to have a microchip implanted under their skin, can wear a wristband or a ring with a chip instead. They can perform the same tasks with a wave of their hands as if they had an implanted chip.

    Three Square Market is the first company in the United States to offer to implant chips in its employees. Epicenter, a company in Sweden, has been implanting chips in its employees for a while.

    Three Square Market says the chip cannot track the employees. The company says scanners can read the chips only when they are within a few inches of them. “The chips protect against identity theft, similar to credit cards.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the chips back in 2004, so they should be safe for humans, according to the company.

    In the future, people with the chips may be able to do more with them, even outside the office. Todd Westby is Chief Executive Officer of Three Square Market. He says, “Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”

    Two summers ago I was about to tum fifty and wanted to do something I'd never done before. My daughter Bailey thought skydiving (跳伞) would be perfect for me. I can promise you that of all the things I was thinking of doing, jumping out of an airplane never came close to making the list. As I age, I seem to have developed a growing fear of heights.

    After several requests from my daughter, I finally said yes and she looked almost shocked. I told a friend what we were doing, then we set off. We had a 3-hour drive to the jump site. We drove through some beautiful countryside, but then we passed a small cemetery (基地) Then we passed another cemetery and another one. I asked if so many people died jumping out of airplanes in this area that they needed to keep building more cemeteries to bury all the bodies!

    As we squeezed into the little plane, I tightly held the right hand of my partner Ronnie. The short ride to altitude was cruel for me. As Bailey stepped to the door, she looked back at me and said “Dad, I'm sure you can do it!” I said yes as she rolled out, I immediately looked behind me and said “RONNIEI AM NOT FEELING GOOD” He said, “It's going to be great. Besides, it's too late now anyway”, any we jumped out.

    The next five minutes were some of the most exciting of my life. It was so beautiful and peaceful—except for the parts where I was screaming. I prayed to God for the parachute(降落伞)to open, but mostly I told Him how thankful I was for my life and being with me through good and bad.

    We are looking for a full-time nanny to help care for our young children. This position is suitable for people with 3 years or less teaching experience that are looking for a new direction or a break from teaching. It is also suitable for school leavers.
    Responsibilities will include:

    Helping us take care of our young children

    Handling small projects and light housework as needed

    Please apply by sending your resume(简历) to prudolph@architects.com.

    Pre Kindergarten(幼儿园) Teachers

    Are you energetic and believe that children learn best through play-based activities? We do, too. At Montgomery Child Care Association, we try hard to provide the best early care and education for children. Our salary(薪水) and benefits package is one of the best in the industry. An AA (a two-year college degree in the US) or higher in Early Childhood Education plus previous experience with children in a child care setting is preferred.

    Consider a career with us! E-mail: resumes@mccaedu.org.

    Learning Center Instructor

    School on Wheels is a non-profit(非盈利的) organization to support the educational needs of homeless children. We are now searching for an experienced teacher to instruct children during the after-school program at our Downtown Los Angeles Learning Center.

    You should have 3 + years teaching experience and excellent communication skills. Knowledge of the Spanish language is required.

    Please apply by e-mailing your resume to administration@schoolonwheels.org.

    Special Education Teacher

    An exciting teaching opportunity is offered by De LaSalle Academy, a non-profit school for 96 students with special learning needs. De LaSalle Academy has very high expectations for teacher performance, particularly in the areas of teacher-student-parent relationship, classroom management, high level of understanding of disabilities of the student and the ability to recognize student needs.

    If you are 25-35 and have experience in special education, you could be the person we are looking for.

    Please e-mail to imoreau@delasallefm.org.

    Even though it's the 18th movie from the Marvel Universe, Black Panther is the first one to feature a black superhero with a primarily black cast(演员阵容).

    The film tells the story of the Black Panther, a superhero who takes his father's place as king of the fictional African country Wakanda. The film came out in Chinese mainland cinemas on March 9, passing the $1 billion (about 6 billion yuan) mark at the global box office and becoming the No. 2 superhero release of all time on March 10.

    However, Black Panther means more than just the money it's making. As the Guardian noted, the film is already being regarded as "a positive force for social change".

    The wild success of Black Panther lies in the fact that it gives voices to minorities who are rarely given room in popular culture. "It carries a weight that neither Thor nor Captain America could lift: serving a black audience that has long gone under-represented," Time noted.

    "It makes me feel proud and confident that we made it on screen in that way," Rasheed Butler, 14, from a black community in California, US, told the Marin Independent Journal.

    The superhero Black Panther is inspiring, but the movie also highlights brilliant black women. For example, Black Panther's teenage sister is a tech genius. She designs gadgets for her brother and develops resources that make the isolated Wakanda wealthy scientifically and technologically advanced.

    "What I love about the way this film represents women is that each and every one of us is an individual, unique," Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o, who plays a spy in the movie, told the Los Angeles Times. "I think that's a very powerful message to send to children – both male and female."

    Powerful characters aside, the movie has social implications. While the Black Panther tries to keep his country and people away from the outside world, others want to make use of Wakanda's advanced technology to fight injustice. "But neither option is truly tenable," The Verge noted. "It suggests that these destructive cycles may only be broken through guidance, education, and global leadership."

    Instead of hiding away from current issues of race and economic differences, the movie explores what it means to be black in the US, in Africa and in the world. It deals "head-on with the issues affecting modern-day black life", Time concluded.

Are we alone in the universe? A team of scientists announced on January 6, 2015 that they had identified eight planets beyond our solar system, three or four of which orbit in their stars' "Goldilocks Zone" — the region where temperatures are not too hot or too cold for water, which is a necessary ingredient for life as we know it, to exist liquid form. This may be good news for people hoping that Earth is not the only inhabited world in the universe.

    The scientists, led by Dr. Guilermo Torres of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, made the discoveries using data collected by the planet-seeking Kepler telescope.

    NASA launched Kepler in 2009. Since then, the telescope has identified more than 1,000 planets outside of our solar system. Torres and his team analyzed the data about the eight newly discovered world to determine which ones are most likely to be similar to our Earth.

    Among the new discoveries, the scientists say the planets called Kepler438b and 442b are the closest to Earth. Kepler 438b is just about 10% larger than our planet, and gets 40% more of its energy from its star than Earth receives from the Sun. Temperatures there would be about 140 degrees. Kepler 442b is about 33% larger than Earth, but receives 30% less energy from its star. That would make it a potentially chillier world than our own. Torres says it is possible for life to exist and survive in either of those temperatures, but for that to happen, these planets would need to have another key ingredient for life: a heat-trapping atmosphere like Earth's.

    While these findings add to the possibility that life exists beyond Earth, Torres cautions against drawing conclusions, “We are not claiming they are inhabited,” he says. In fact, these planets are so far away that the scientists cannot observe them directly, which can be explanation for why for now it remains unknown whether these planets contain life. But the discovery of planets in their stars' habitable zones suggests that somewhere out there, some form of alien life may have taken hold.