Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood. When I was a boy of 12, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.

    We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. It's the most beautiful sound in the world.

     I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

    I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

    I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day, my new pet's mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

    The following morning when I went to see how my pet bird was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

    Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries(浆果). She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

    Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

    For most of us Veterans Day just means a chance to enjoy an extra day off from school or work．However this November 11th，be sure to spend a few minutes on its true purpose，by acknowledging（感谢）the men and women who have served in our armed forces．

    And you don't have to stop at just this one day．Join the over 10，000youth members of the Young Marines group that honor these brave men and women all year long with special events and completely spoil them for an entire week，from November 4th to 11th，by visiting hospitalized veterans，performing chores for disabled veterans and even organizing community－wide social event．The program open to kids ranging from the age of eight all the way to high school，is a great way to not only show your appreciation，but also get a chance to do some fun activities with like－minded kids and make a real difference in a veteran's life．

    People often believe that Memorial Day and Veterans Day are celebrated for the same reason．There is however a subtle but important difference between the two．While both honor our military personnel，the former is a day to remember and pay respect to all the men and women that died serving our country in a war，while Veterans Day is to celebrate the soldiers who are still alive and served in the forces at any time，during peace or war． Though several other countries celebrate this day in honor of their own veterans，the meaning is slightly different for each one．Some like the United Kingdom，celebrate it in honor of all soldiers－living or dead，while others like Canada celebrate it to honor all living veterans．They also call it different names．France and New Zealand sill call it Armistice Day．In the United Kingdom，Australia and Canada it is referred to as Remembrance Day，while Malta and South Africa celebrate it as Poppy Day．

    No matter what it is called，the reason for observing the day is the same－to show our appreciation to the brave men and women who sacrifice（牺牲）everything to make this world a safer place for the rest of us．

    A new study suggests that the more teenagers watch television, the more likely they are to develop depression (忧郁) as young adults.

    The researchers used a national long-term survey of adolescent health to survey the relationship between media (媒体) use and depression. They based their findings on more than 4,000 adolescents who were not depressed when the survey began.

    As part of the survey, the young people were asked how many hours of television or videos they watched daily. They were also asked how often they played computer games and listened to the radio. Media use totaled an average of five and one-half hours a day. More than two hours of that was spent watching TV.

    Seven years later, more than seven percent of the young people had signs of depression. The average age at that time was twenty-one. The researchers say they did not find any such relationship with the use of other media such as movies, video games or radio, etc. But the study did find that every extra hour of television meant an eight percent increase in the chances of developing signs of depression. Young men were more likely than young women to develop depression given the same amount of media use.

    Last December, a popular magazine published a study of activities that help lead to happy lives. Researchers from the University of Maryland found that people who describe themselves as happy spend less time watching television than unhappy people. The study found that happy people are more likely to be socially active, to join in outdoor activities and to hang out with friends.

    2017 was an influential year for artificial intelligence (人工智能), not just in terms of the advancement of the technology itself, but also for the development of our understanding of AI's impact on our society.

    When we talk about AI, often we focus on the belief that it is going to take away certain types of jobs. However, we often ignore the fact that this technology will also slowly spread into most of our lives.

    Thanks to the development of AI, we are on the highway of IA, (human) intelligence augmentation (增强). Despite the great steps we've made in AI development and will continue to make in 2018, we are still years away from AI fully replacing human jobs. However, we are much closer to seeing the impact of AI spread into almost every job and the growth in human intelligence.

    Take a doctor for example: AI will soon be able to detect and diagnose common diseases more quickly and accurately than humans. Now, doctors can spend more of their time explaining the possible diagnoses, communicating with patients and developing unique, reliable treatment plans that are most effective for each specific patient.

    However, AI is so powerful and its adoption will only accelerate as it begins to help our work and allow us to focus on the parts of our job that are most important. But part of why AI is so attractive is also why it's so dangerous. That is, that same power allows AI that are making incorrect decisions to do so with greater speed and impact than humans have ever had.

    This is why, as AI becomes more useful in 2018, it will also become more closely examined. 2018 will be the year when companies purchasing AI products don't just ask about the power of AI—they will make sure that it is tested carefully in advance, minimizing their potential unexpected impact.

    At 88, my grandmother Vera has dementia and barely recognizes me. But I'm determined to help her age with dignity and grace in her home for as long as she can.

    Since 2015, I've been a manager at Honor, a technology company that uses a website and an app to pair professional caregivers (we call them Care Pros) with loved ones who need a hand. I want to make sure we are offering all our clients (客户), including my grandmother, a service that is affordable, with people who are reliable, diverse and skilled. On Sundays. Amy, my grandmother's most-loved Honor professional caregiver, comes over to get her dressed for church. She loves the time she spends with Amy. That's the best gift I can give her and the best gift I can give myself. Care giving can exhaust a family emotionally and physically. At Honor, we're trying to create something that makes it easier for women to be moms, daughters, and sisters all at once. That's why this company was built.

    What sets Honor apart from other care giving services is that we're equally focused on treating the Care Pros well. We pay higher-than-average rates and they can get health benefits and sick leave. Most of our Care Pros are women, and a lot of them arc single mothers. The technology behind our app allows Care Pros to set parameters (参数) based on when, where, and how much they want to work so they can control their schedules. The company also allows continuity of care. Each Care Pro notes in the caregivers' app how the client is feeling or what should happen on the following shift. That way, the client's family can stay up to date on their loved one's health.

    When I was working with my team at Honor, I wanted to create opportunities for people who looked like me. I'm proud to say that there are single moms and other women without traditional educational training who lead teams here. The makeup of this company proves that people with diverse backgrounds can be part of a successful tech company. This has to be a model for the future.

    I'm confident it will happen.

    Tencent announced yesterday that it will limit the daily time for youngsters to play its popular King of Glory game after parents and schools in Shanghai and other areas complained their children had become addicted to playing it.

    From tomorrow, children younger than 12 will only be allowed to play the game for a maximum(最大值) of one hour a day, and after 9 pm, they will be banned from logging into it, said Tencent. Those older than 12 will be able to play a maximum two hours a day.

    The game system will remind players the time they have been playing and young players will be forced to log out when the time is up.

    Tencent claimed these were the strictest measures in China's game industry to prevent addiction and the company expected they would ease parents' anxiety.

    The company also said it had updated its system for parents to keep tabs on their children using its games.

    Since February, parents can receive messages when children log in and spend money on the game after they connect children's game accounts with their mobile phone numbers.

    Now, parents can connect phones, tablets or computers that their children use to play games, so that they can keep an eye on the children even if they have several game accounts, Tencent said.

    Song Zhe, a father of a Shanghai high school student, welcomed the measures but was not sure if they would be sufficiently effective. "I like the system that could lock up the devices as children can register many accounts," he said, "but children are so clever that they can always think out counter measures."