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    “People today prefer living together to putting their signatures on a marriage certificate because they refuse to accept responsibility for the relationship,” said social worker Ken Yip, “and this is what is causing a lot of family problems.” When we sign a paper, for example, a business contract or a bank document, the signature is a seal of consent, an agreement to take the matter seriously. Most governments and many organizations will not process written complaints if they do not bear the writer's signature. The absence of a signature, they explain, tells us that the writer cannot be too serious and therefore does not deserve a reply.

    There are people who wish to remain anonymous(匿名的) for various reasons. Multi-billionaire Mr. King donates generously to charity several times a year. He gives simply because he wants to help but not for the publicity his donations may bring, and he does not want his good deeds to make news. In other cases, people insist on anonymity because they are afraid of the consequences of revealing their identity. Crime witnesses may be willing to assist the police, but most are unwilling to give their names when reporting a crime.

    Name or no name? The answer is very personal and lies in how much we want to get involved. We all have a name. It is a matter of responsibility to use it when we make a statement, a claim or an accusation. We all want to honor our own name, and it is only by stamping our expression of an opinion with our own name that we honor what we say.

    What are the biggest problems that society will have to deal with in the new age? There re diseases like AIDS and cancer. There's climate change, of course. And what about producing enough cheap food and energy for the world's growing population? Who's going to solve all these terrible problems? Yes, politicians and world leaders will have a big part to play. Yes businesses will need to create the economic wealth to pay for some of these things. But who's going to make a much greater difference to something like AIDS or climate change. It's going to be a scientist. It is the scientist who can turn some new bit of science into a new technology to solve these problems. If you like thinking about the world around you, why not become a scientist? It doesn't mean you have to wear a white coat and plastic glasses and spend all your time in a lab as most people often imagine! Scientists do all kinds of amazing things that are actually interesting!

    Military scientists develop not only new weapons but new military technologies that could help make wars out of date. Forensic(法医的) scientists work with the police to find quite small clues to catch criminals. Scientists work in schools and colleges as the teachers and professors who will train tomorrow's scientists. Don't think a scientist is far away! Maybe you like cooking? You could be a food technologist helping to keep fruit and vegetables fresher for longer. Perhaps sport is your thing? Do you know that most top athletes work with sports scientists in order or improve their performance? You could even be the science writer who gets to spend the life studying the latest advances and sharing them with the world.

    Looking for something to do for the rest of your life? My advice? Take a long and hard look at science. It is interesting and ever.

    My children are perfect. All four of them. Perfect and beautiful and clever. I bet yours are, too. Except, of course, they are not. In reality, my children and yours are likely to be reasonably average in terms of looks, behavior, intelligence and charm. That's why it is called average. Your belief in your child being special is more probably a biological thing than a fact.

    A loved one, particularly a loved child, is edited as we observe them. Other people's children are spoiled; ours are spirited. Theirs are naughty; ours are confident.

    This is all natural and even touching when not taken too far. However, it is one thing feeding this idea to ourselves but feeding it to our children may be a little less desirable. We have the idea that — unlike my parents' generation — we should build our children's self-respect as high as we can. Therefore, their random scribble (胡写乱画) is up there with Picasso, their C-minus is an unfortunate oversight on the part of the teacher, and the fact that no one wants to be friends with them is because they are particularly clever or sensitive.

    Children see through this kind of thing very quickly and ignore their parents' praises as a matter of course. As they grow up, they sense that the wider world judges them differently. This leads to a – hopefully gentle – cynicism (猜忌) about anything their parents tell them about their achievements. Perhaps that is OK — but I'm not sure if it is good for them to have the parental praise so overlooked.

    If parents were a little harsher sometimes, this could have two positive effects — first, when praise came, it would be more likely to be believed and, second, it would fit in rather more accurately with the picture of reality that the child is forming in their heads.

    A lot of pressure is put on children who are told they are beautiful, special and perfect. Because then, where is there to go? Only downwards. They become too much aware of their status in your eyes, and a danger must be that they fear failing you. To be over-praised by your parents is the counter side of being criticized all the time. Both can have negative consequences.

    It is important to give your children the freedom to be flawed (缺点) — to know that it's OK to be imperfect, and that, in fact, we often love people for their flaws — perfect people (whom we can only imagine, as they do not exist) are easy to respect, but hard to love.

    Now I am nearly 60, my main insight is that I am much less special than I once believed. This knowledge has actually been helpful in leading a more well-balanced life.

    I certainly wouldn't like to go back to attitudes that my parents, particularly my father, held, that to praise the child was to "spoil them" or make them bigheaded. However, the history of families is like the history of everything else — the story of overreactions. We praise our children to the skies, partly because we think it makes them feel good, but also because it makes us feel good. And perhaps it is more the latter than the former.

    Too much love can be as big a burden as a shortage of it. My advice is to limit your praise. Then every piece of praise will count, rather than being just ignored.

    With at least a dozen wildfires going through western North Carolina in the fall of 2016, it would take more than one local fire department to fight the flames. In early November, the federal government sent over a team of firefighters from the Interagency Hotshot Crews.

    Most of the Hotshots stayed at Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville, North Carolina. The center reached out to the media and community groups, hoping to get four volunteers per day to help things run smoothly for their firefighting guests. They didn't expect a response quite so unbelievable.

    Within two days, over 200 people—about a third of the town's population—reached out to offer help, according to the center's website. Meals and accommodation were already being taken care of, so they went above and beyond the basic things. Community members donated over 1,000 goods, including sports drinks, snacks, eye drops and so on.

    Even the kids in Hayesville participated, sending thank-you cards, pictures and signs to motivate the Hotshots. The team received over 2,000 thank-you notes. After the fires were put out and the firefighters were preparing to go home, the town threw a parade（游行）to thank them and wish them well.

    The firefighters were at a loss by the generosity from Hayesville. They put together their own thank-you in a YouTube video.

    “You guys don't know how much you mean, all the support you guys give us, '' says Ron, a firefighter from Oregon, in the video. “Out of four years when I've been fighting fire, this is about the most hospitable（好客的）state and county I've ever been in. And it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.”

    American writer and former president of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, has died at the age of 95. The legendary comic book author died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a family lawyer.

    Lee was born in 1922 to working-class Jewish immigrants from Romania. He began working at the comics section of Timely Publications—a company that would eventually transform into Marvel Comics – and became comic editor there at age 18. At age 40, Lee decided to give up on comics. But his wife Joan urged him to create the characters he always wanted to write as his comic swansong. And in 1961, Lee and artist Jack Kirby created 'The Fantastic Four'—fascinating characters with individual personalities and the golden age of comic books began. Many Marvel characters were groundbreaking at the time. For example, Black Panther was the first black superhero featured in a mainstream US comic. Other characters he created include the Ant Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America and Doctor Strange. In its heyday (鼎盛时期), Marvel sold 50 million copies a year. Lee was also known for appearing as a cameo (配角) in every Marvel film. Fans are very happy to look for Stan Lee in the films and after watching, they will definitely have a discussion online.

    Celebrities and fans have been sharing across social media how Lee and his work affected them. The CEO of Lee's Pow! Entertainment, Shane Duffy, called him "a true iconic pioneer with no comparable second". Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine in the X-Men films, called Lee a "pioneering force in the superhero universe". Evangeline Lilly, who portrayed Ant Man's superhero partner, the Wasp, also shared his respect on Twitter. Chris Evans, the star of Captain America, wrote on Twitter: "For decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy. He expressed love and kindness and will leave an unforgettable mark on so, so, so many lives."

How to read more and learn more

These days,more and more Chinese people enjoy sending and receiving messages on the phone.It can help them to get the latest news and communicate with friends.But I think I should read more books besides the textbooks;the more,the better.It can broaden my mind and improve my language skills.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some tips for you.

Clear your purpose for reading.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most people read for two main reasons,pleasure or knowledge.Clearing about your reading purpose can not only help you choose the books you really need to read,but also remind you why reading the book is important to you,so you will keep reading and complete the book faster.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

No matter what you are reading,it is important to enjoy what you read.Your friends may introduce you the books they love,but those books might not necessarily be the ones you enjoy.

Give up books that you don't enjoy.

You may have chosen books that you are interested in,and they are right purpose.But while you are reading them,there may still be some books that you don't enjoy reading.Whenever you realize that you aren't enjoying the book you are reading,give it up.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

Set a reading goal.

It is interesting that I read the books borrowed from libraries faster than those I bought.The reason is that the books I bought don't have a due date!I don't need to return those books.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Before you read each book,ask yourself what time you need to complete this book by.

A.Read only what you are interested in.

B.Read the books borrowed from others.

C.Remember reading shouldn't be a burden.

D.Of course,it also can help me to get good grades.

E.We need to get the latest news and communicate with friends.

F.Before you start reading,ask yourself why you are reading this book.

G.Having a reading goal helps you work out how much reading you need to do in a week or even a day.