Recently, a painting of actress Elizabeth Taylor, which was drawn by American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol, sold for US $63 million. Another simple black-and-white image of a Coca-Cola bottle sold for US $35 million. But the all-time record for a Warhol painting is $100 million for a piece titled “Eight Elvises”. What's amazing is not that the pieces sold for so much, but the fact that they are not what you would call traditional art. They are “pop art”, art based on simple images of things and people from advertising, movies, music and day-to-day life.

    Born in the 1920s, Warhol grew up mostly separated from other children due to (由于) health problems. He spent a lot of his time alone drawing and then went on to study art in college. He began his career as a commercial (商业的) artist, creating pictures for magazine articles and newspaper ads. That inspired him to experiment with pop art and he hosted America's first pop art exhibition in the 1960s. The show met with a lot of discussion with some people saying that what he was doing was not art.

    Warhol followed his first works with a series we are all familiar with — paintings of Coca-Cola bottles, Brillo soap pad boxes, and portraits (肖像) of famous people. Soon after, Warhol stopped creating his own artwork. Instead, he had assistants and other artists create them at his studio called “The Factory”. Warhol wanted to show the world that art doesn't have to be complex or original; it can be created by anyone using ordinary things.

    Today, Warhol's work is unmistakable in its uniqueness. No matter how you may feel about his work, one thing cannot be argued. He introduced the world to a whole new art form, inspiring future generations of artists, and eventually becoming one of the most famous and successful pop art artists in the world.

    Most teens can't wait to learn to drive. Not so with me. Driving made me nervous. I didn't get a license until I turned 24 years old. As a result, when I first married, we only had one car and car pooled to work. My husband's hours were different from mine by one hour. I worked earlier. So he dropped me off and went to the diner to drink coffee until work time.

    Then, in the afternoons, I leisurely walked the three miles to his work place where I waited in his car, reading a book.

    One day while waiting for him, I noticed the most beautiful Cadillac pull in the lot. It was powder blue and sleek looking. The kind of car you dream about. I was busily admiring the car, when I noticed the driver. Honestly, she was probably the prettiest woman I had ever seen off the movie screen.

    She pulled into the spot beside our car and it was all I could do not to stare. There was a striking resemblance to Liz Taylor. Jet black hair and alabaster skin. Our eyes made contact and she smiled at me. Her eyes were as blue as the sea, and teeth like an even row of pearls. She was wearing a light blue shirt that just matched her car. Peeking through her long, softly curled hair I could see gold hoop earrings. They had to be gold to shine like that. A couple of minutes later, a nice looking man came out of the building, entered her car, leaned over and kissed her and she drove away.

    Sitting there in my jeans, shirt and hair in a pony tail, I wanted to cry. How could some people have it all?

    Maybe I would have forgotten about her, but the following week, I saw her again. Then it became almost routine to see her about once a week. She seemed friendly and always waved, flashing a big smile. My envy lingered long after she drove away.

    Many nights when sleep evaded me, I would think about the beautiful lady. I wondered if she and her husband ate out, and where they dined, and what she was wearing. I wanted her to get out of the car and let me see her full length. Did she wear really high heeled shoes and pants, or a skirt.

    I would get my answers in a couple of weeks.

    Sitting in our usual parking lot, I was holding my book, watching her over the top of it. She was waiting and when her husband came to the car, she called to him. They spoke a few words and he opened the car door for her to step out. He took her arm and helped her out of the car. I could see very well as she moved to get out. She was wearing a skirt.

    She haltingly walked around to the passenger side very slowly, leaning on a walking cane. Sitting sideways in the car, she lifted one leg with her hands and then the other one. The beautiful lady had a prosthesis on the left leg and a brace on the right leg. I couldn't watch them drive away as the tears were blinding me. For weeks I had envied this woman and her way of life, while I had been able to walk three miles to our car!

    When my husband arrived and found me crying, he immediately asked what was wrong. Through my tears, I told him about the beautiful lady. He said he knew her husband and also knew the story. The beautiful lady and her parents were in a car that either stalled or got caught on the railroad tracks and was hit by a train. Both parents were killed and she was severely injured. She was only 12 years old. The railroad made a large settlement with her because the crossing had no signals. He explained her car was specially built for her needs as well as the home.

    I prayed for forgiveness all the way home. The lady I thought had everything I didn't. I realized how lucky I was to have my parents, the ability to walk, run or dance through life and many wonderful things money can't buy. I would not have traded places with the beautiful lady for anything.

    When you meet a person who seems to be much better off than you, don't be fooled.

    Venom (毒液) from a local scorpion (蝎子) in Cuba is being used by Cuban scientists as an effective weapon to fight cancer. The venom, with stopping pain, anti-inflammatory (炎症) and anti-cancer properties, is the active ingredient in the medicine “Vidatox 30 CH,” which can be used to treat liver, brain, lung and other cancers. The treatment has been successfully used for more than four years in humans after being first tested in biological models. Labiofam, a Cuban laboratory, has breeding (繁殖) centers for both the Red Scorpion and Blue Scorpion. Each month, some 30,000 scorpions in Las Minas town, 270 km east of Havana are made to give the venom. After two years, the scorpions are released back into their natural habitat.

    Denyer Sanchez, a biologist from Labiofam, explained that the conditions are adjusted for reproduction, proved by the high number of breeding female scorpions. He said when the offspring (后代) becomes able to live in the environment, we release them because they do not have the necessary size yet to remove their venom, said Sanchez. Sanchez also said that there is still much to research on the exploitation process of scorpions, such as female death rate or the ability to survive of the released scorpions.

    Cuban research on the scorpion's venom began at the end of 1980s in Guantanamo province, the island's eastern tip, where a group of biologists and doctors became interested in the stories told by the peasants about the venom's benefits. However, the first discovery was made by Cuban biologist Misael Bordier. In 2001, Bordier visited Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) and presented the research progress in a professional journal. Bordier died in 2005, one year before Cuba's Industrial Property Office gave Labiofam the rights to exploit the patent related to the venom.

    Researchers say getting a good night's sleep is probably the best tool for memory and learning. But short periods of sleep may help our brains work better, says a recent study on napping. And taking a nap  may also help old adults fight off age-related memory loss.

    CDC, an American scientific organization, found that 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic（长期的）sleep disorders. So, someone who naps as a way of paying off a sleep debt may not experience the same improvements from napping as a well-rested person would. Also, that only children, the very old, sick or  lazy people nap is not an uncommon opinion.

    Researchers recently looked at information provided by nearly 3,000 Chinese adults, aged 65 years or older, to learn if napping after a mid-day meal had any effect on the mental performance of the subjects.

    First, they asked the people if they napped and for how long. Then, based on their answers, researchers put them into four groups: non-nappers (0 min), short nappers (≦30 min), moderate nappers (30-90 min), and extended nappers (≧90 min).  Nearly 60% of the people said they did take a nap after lunch and that   their naps lasted anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Most of the subjects said they napped for about an hour.

    The study found that people who took an hour-long nap did much better on mental tests than those      who did not nap. The hour-long nappers also did better on the tests than those who napped for shorter and longer periods. In this study, it seemed that the most effective nap lasted for about an hour, but not much longer.

    Yet Doctor Michael Twery notes that an hour long nap may be too long for young, healthy adults. 30 minutes is enough to remove the pressure to sleep and will help us feel more awake.

    My teacher, Mr. August J. Bachmann, was the most influential teacher I ever had.

    I had gotten into trouble in his class: Another student had pushed me for fun, and I became angry and began to hit him. Mr. Bachmann stopped the fight, but instead of sending me to the office, he sat me down and asked a simple question,“Penna, why are you wasting your life？ Why aren't you going to college？”

    I didn't know anything about colleges or scholarships. No one had ever considered that a fatherless boy from the poorest neighborhood had a future. That day, instead of rushing off for lunch, he stayed and explained possible education options to me. At the end of our talk, he sent me to see a secretary who had a child at a state college. This was in 1962 at Emerson High School in Union City, New Jersey.

    Well, 55 years have passed, and what have I done with the knowledge he gave me？I gained a PhD from Fordham University when I was only 29.I taught English and social studies and then moved up the chain of command from teacher to principal(校长).

    I've sat on the board for Magnet Schools of America and represented that organization at the United Nations. I've won a number of great educational awards. But where would I be if a truly caring teacher had not taken the time out of his lunch period to speak to me？ It was without question only his confidence in me that helped me forward.

    I have repaid his kindness hundreds of times by encouraging misguided youngsters to aim higher. If I have saved any children, it is because of him. If I have been a successful educator, it is because I had a great role model in Mr. Bachmann.

    Many kids help out around the house with chores such as emptying the dishwasher, putting laundry away, and taking out the trash. In exchange, some kids get allowances or other rewards such as extra computer time.

    But some people do not think that kids should get rewards for doing chores. Susie Walton, a parenting educator and family coach, believes that by rewarding kids, parents are sending a message that work isn't worth doing unless you get something in return. "Running any kind of household is a team effort, Susie said. "A home is a living space for everyone in the family. It's important for kids to see that we all have responsibilities in the house, and that families decide together how they want their home to look, and how they are going to keep it looking like everyone wants it to look."

    Other people believe that getting a cash allowance or other rewards motivates kids to do chores, and it also teaches them real world lessons about how we need to work to earn money. There are also new applications that give kids points and digital gifts that can be redeemed (兑取) either online or in the real world. With the ChoreMonster app, kids earn digital points by completing chores that they can turn in for real-life rewards such as extra Xbox time or a trip to the mall. "Our goal is to encourage kids to earn rewards," says Chris Bergman, founder of ChoreMonster. "Kids need positive reinforcement to help motivate them."

    What do you think? Should kids be rewarded for doing chores? Or should kids help out around their homes without getting anything in return?

    Write a 200-word response. Send it to tfkasks4you@timeforkids.com. Your response may be published in a future issue of Time For Kids. Please include your grade and contact information of your parent or teacher if you want your response to be published. The deadline for responding is February 18.