The “babies” tend to be on or near me, or crying, or both. I spend a fair amount of time trying to get William to sleep, to get Elliott to get involved in something that will actually keep him happy for a little while, or to get William to play on the floor for 10 minutes straight so that I can get something done. But, a lot of days, it seems like I'm not succeeding in any of those efforts.

    So, yesterday, a friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook. This particular friend has a baby who is about a month younger than William. The picture was of the baby, who had made his way across the floor to the toys housed along the side of the room. I just kept looking at that picture and thinking that if only William had some different toys to play with, perhaps he would stay occupied a bit longer at a stretch. But William seems so bored with all of his toys! And I am so ready for him to be ready to play. In order to find a way to make him playing longer, I kept looking at that picture. Suddenly, I realized my sons need to play closer to me.

    So I cleared off the cubby(围起来的)shelves in the playroom, and my husband and I moved it to the living room. We found all of the toys that would be safe for William and put them in the cubbies. Then, we pulled the play kitchen in.

    William was so interested in what I was doing that he sat there and played and chewed on his toys while we moved furniture. When we were done, I moved him over closer to the cubbies and he got so excited that he didn't disturb for an hour, while I made dinner and cleaned up! Even Elliott played happily for a few hours. It was a dream come true! And I got to know that my lack of happy children was because of my desire for a toy—free living room.

    A drug that is used to treat serious bleeding could save thousands of lives of mothers giving birth. A world test of the drug found it reduced (降低) the risk of bleeding deaths during childbirth by nearly one third. The study included 20,000 women in 21 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. The test was carried out by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The drug is called tranexamic acid (凝血酸). It is low-cost and researchers said it does not cause serious side effects (副作用) for mothers or babies.

    The drug is used to treat mothers for serious bleeding during childbirth. Postpartum hemorrhage (产后出血) is the main cause of mothers' death around the world, according to the World Health Organization.

    Haleema Shakur is the project director for the test. She said though medical condition is improved in many countries, serious bleeding after childbirth remains a big problem in some parts of the world. “It's one of the biggest killers of mothers. In Africa and Asia, about 10% of women will end up with serious bleeding.” The drug works after a mother gives birth.

    Shakur said the best results were reported when the drug was given to women as soon as possible after childbirth. “The earlier you give it — within the first three hours after giving birth — the better the result is.”

    The next step will be to provide training for doctors and nurses on how to use it and then to find where the drug is needed. During the test, women were given the drug in a hospital. But researchers are looking for easier ways to use the drug so it can be more widely used in small clinics and the countryside.

    A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.

    Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality child-care center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.

    The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the child-care center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.

    Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child-care program did much better in tests.

    The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the child-care center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.

    A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to be attending college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.

    The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.

    The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.

    The American newspaper has been around for about three hundred years. In 1721, the printer James Franklin, Benjamin's older brother, started the New England Courant, and that was what we might recognize today as a real newspaper. He filled his paper with stories of adventure, articles on art, on famous people, and on all sorts of political subjects.

    Three centuries after the appearance of Franklin's Courant, few believe that newspapers in their present printed form will remain alive for long, Newspaper companies are losing advertisers, readers, market value, and in some cases, their sense of purpose at a speed that would not have been imaginable just several years ago. The chief editor of the Times said recently, “At places where they gather, editors ask one another, 'How are you?', as if they have just come out of the hospital or a lost law case.” An article about the newspaper appealed on the website of the Guardian, under the headline “NOT DEAD YET.”

    Perhaps not, but the rise of the Internet, which has made the daily newspaper look slow and out of step with the world, has brought about a real sense of death, Some American newspapers have lost 42% of their market value in the past three years. The New York Times Company has seen its stock（股票）drop by 54% since the end of 2004, with much of the loss coming in the past year. A manager at Deutsche Bank suggested that stock - holders sell off their Times stock. The Washington Post Company has prevented the trouble only by changing part of its business to education; its testing and test — preparation service now brings in at least half the company's income,

    Inspired by a 9-year-old cyclist, Lauren Turner, who can only use one hand, a group of University of Guelph students has won an international award for their invention — a bike brake lever (刹车手柄) that pulls both the front brake and the back brake at the same time.

    Lauren Tuner was able to ride her bike, but not as confidently and quickly as her friends.

    "She couldn't use the front brake. She only used the back brake, but the front brake makes you stop twice as fast," says Micha Wallace, who, with Katie Bell, Anina Sakaguchi and Andrew Morries won second prize in the James Dyson Award for their single-handed bike brake lever.

    "Lauren Turner tried the device (装置) first and she used it all last summer. She had no problems. It helped her go faster because she felt more confident in her braking abilities. She felt safer." says Wallace.

    The invention was the fourth-year design project for the four students. They designed, tested and created a prototype (模型) within a four-month period.

    When Wallace heard about the James Dyson Award on the news, she and her co-inventors entered their project in the U. K. -based contest, which rewards students designers who create products that improve the way we live. The students collected the runner-up prize — £2,000 for them and £500 for their school.

    As well, they had a chance to meet James Dyson, a U.K. famous inventor. Praising the students for their invention, Dyson says the single-handed brake lever could improve safety for all cyclists. By using both brakes at once, you could prevent the possibility of flying over the handlebars and ending up with an injury.

    The students hope to sell it to a major company. It may be used in other devices that require two hands for operation.

One of the interesting things about languages is the way they change over time. In English, everything from spelling to vocabulary has 1  major changes over the years. In fact, to a modern speaker, the English of 1000 years ago looks like a 2  language!

The history of English dates back around 100 years. At that time, groups of Europeans 3  England, bringing their language with them. It developed into old English. Later in 1066, English was invaded by the Normans from France. The language went through an important shift leading to what we now call Middle English. Over the next 500 years, the language underwent 4  shifts, leading to modern English. As the language has developed over time, many things about it have changed.

5 is one of the most obvious areas. For example, in old English, people say "hus" and "mus". Now, we say house and mouse. These days there are many differences in the way English is pronounced in the U.S., India and elsewhere. When people live in groups separated by great distances, the 6 of change can be fast.

Vocabulary changes happen even more quickly. English has grown by borrowing words from languages such as French, Spanish and 7 , 8 . This often happens with types of 9 -for example, "tofu". Then there is slang which enters and 10 the language every year! Thirty years ago, one often heard people saying "groovy", meaning great. These days you rarely hear the word 11 on old TV shows or movies.

Because English is spoken by so many people worldwide, it really is an exciting time for the language. Just as American and British versions are always changing, so are versions 12  in Canada, 13  and elsewhere. At the same time, an entirely new version of English is appearing on the Internet with whole new 14  and writing styles. In a way, learning English is a never-ending process, even for native speakers! The atmosphere is as much a part of the earth as 15  its soil and water of its lakes, rivers and oceans.