The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple's products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” --and many other brands are following suit. The BBC's iPlayer--which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet--used the title in 2008. A lovely bear--popular in the US and UK--that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version(简装本) of London's Independent newspaper was started last week under the name “i”.

    In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce(电子商务) first came into use.

    Most “I” products are targeted at(针对) young people and considering the major readers of Independent's “I”, it's no surprise that they've selected this fashionable name.

    But it's hard to see what's so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King's College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn't have one clear definition(定义),” he says.

    “However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便).” adds Thorne.

    Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

    Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “I” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade(十年).

    But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the fashion disappeared.

    When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.

    Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive（使人上瘾的） thing in modern life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their wishes to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.

    With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, the cell phone connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away. It affects us in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined.

    Dr. Chris Knippers, an expert at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality.

    Sounds extreme, but we've all witnessed the evidence: the person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?

    Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, he points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances(熟人) through the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says.

    If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. In 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use. Today, almost 300 million Americans carry them. The number of cell phones is far more than that of wired phones in the United States.

    “Freelance retail consultant” refers to daigou in Chinese, or overseas people who buy goods for customers in the Chinese mainland.

     It's estimated that there are 40,000 daigou in Australia, most of whom are young migrants or international students looking for ways to help cover their rent and university cost.

    These freelance retail consultants have created thousands of trading routes, both small and big, into China.

    Shops in Australia sold out of instant formula （婴儿配方奶粉）, leaving many Australian parents unable to buy their preferred brands. The Sydney Morning Herald reported last year that half of Australia's infant formula sold went to China through customers selling to other customers.

    Because of this, daigou have received criticism from Australian media. The Sydney Morning Post even suggested that the Australian government should put a limit on instant formula exports.

    However, not everyone dislikes daigou. “We think daigou are good for the local economy and they are very good for our business,” Peter Nathan, the chief executive of A2 Milk, a New Zealand infant formula maker, told Reuters. “We clearly believe they are a positive force.”

    Others agree that nothing is wrong with the practice. “People are buying these products legally on the Australian market… they're not illegally being exported to China,” Tim Foulds, head of research at Euro monitor Australia and New Zealand, told The Washington Post.

    The City of Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a 7.1­magnitude earthquake on the early morning of Saturday, September 4, 2010.

    No tsunami alert was reported. The country's army troops were on standby to assist victims and disaster recovery operation. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, flew to the affected area to inspect and assess the situation of the damaged city. The Prime Minister said that the full assessment of the damages would possibly take months to know the severity of damages. Based from his assessment on what he saw in the area, it could cost at least 2 billion New Zealand dollars or US$1.4 billion for reconstruction.

    "An absolute miracle that no one died," Prime Minister John Key said. Two were seriously injured from this quake and thousands of local residents were awakened after being shaken at 4:35 a.m. of that Saturday.

    There were people trapped inside the damaged buildings but fortunately none were reported dead from the rubble of the damaged buildings.

    "We're all feeling scared—we've just had some significant aftershocks," a survivor told TV One News. "Tonight we're just people in the face of a massive natural disaster, trying to help each other and we're grateful we haven't lost a life."

    GNS Science reported 29 aftershocks within the 14 hours after the quake, with strength from magnitude 3.7 to 5.4.

    New Zealand is no stranger to earthquakes. The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year—but only about 150 are felt by people.

    "Many buildings here were built with earthquake protection measures. However, in most cities in developing countries, people build how they want to and there're no building controls to force them to build to a higher standard that's safe," Andrew Charleson, an architecture professor at Victoria University of Wellington told CNN.

    Health insurance can be very expensive. Some working people do not make enough money to pay for it. In the US there is a program called Healthy Families. This program offers people health insurance at a low cost.

    Families are charged about $7.00 a month for every child, and $10.00 for every adult. It costs much less than any other kind of health insurance. Having health insurance is very important. With this insurance, people can see a doctor when they are sick or hurt.

    The program is not expensive at all, but many people are still not enrolling (登记) in it. People say that it still costs too much money. They need all of their money to pay for things like food and rent.

    It would be great if everyone could have health insurance. People are working hard to come up with ways to make this happen. One idea is to make the Healthy Families Program free for some people.

    It is important for people to see a doctor when they need to. The Healthy Families Program makes it possible for more people to do this. Many ideas are being considered. Hopefully some of them will allow even more families to get health insurance.

    The Healthy Families Program is made to help those who don't have welfare (社会保障金) and cannot earn enough to pay for private health insurance. It is an important program, but officials say that too many people are signing up for it and then dropping out (退出) because of the Healthy Families Program's cost.

    On one occasion, while visiting my parents, I happened to meet the little boy who lived next door. It was obvious that his mother had told him not to come over uninvited. He was standing on the very edge of his yard with an anxious look on his face, seemingly about to burst.

    My father waved him over and performed the introductions. "Eliot, this is my son, Gary. Gary, meet my little friend, Eliot." To my delight, he reached out his small hand and I accepted the formality(遵守礼节) with a smile.

    Unlike most children, this teenager was not shy of meeting a stranger. As a matter of fact, he turned out to be quite a chatterbox. Eliot had me laughing as I listened to the excitement in his voice. for, as you know, it was a big deal to find a toad (蟾蜍)! His descriptions were priceless as I asked the obvious questions concerning the capture(捕捉). He was pleased that I showed interest in his adventure and gladly explained its details.

    Since Eliot seemed so willing to invest in our budding friendship, I asked him a question, "Do you like banjo music?" He got very excited and answered me with a hearty "Yes!"

    I took out my banjo from the car, but when I sat next to him and started playing, Eliot looked at me with a puzzled expression. He asked me "What's that?" in all seriousness.

    My dad and I smiled. The boy who just "loved" the banjo didn't recognize that I was holding one and that what I was playing was "banjo music".

    I realized that his heart was in the right place. Eliot just wanted to please his new friend with that "Yes", thinking it was what I wanted to hear.

    Well anyway...Eliot likes the banjo for real now. And I like Eliot.