Doing homework not only can help children master the knowledge they have learned, but also can train their abilities of finishing the work alone, planning the time and doing the duties. But some children don't like to complete the work. Why? There are some reasons.

    Some children feel it is very difficult to do their homework, because they can't understand their teacher clearly, and can't follow their teacher's teaching process. Maybe there is something wrong with their intelligence.

    But some children's intelligence is normal. They are even cleverer, but they don't listen to the teacher carefully. It is hard for them to sit well and pay attention to anything. It needs to carry on the attention centralized（集中注意力）training to help the children.

    Some children love their teacher and then they like the subject. Their interest depends on the teacher who teaches them. So every teacher should be helpful and kind. It can make children love you and the subject you teach. So they can do their homework happily.

    Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables(寓言) into cartoon movies.

    The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother's death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.

    The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella's food into the ashes of the fire and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence（因此）her name.

    In the original story, the king's ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed soothing sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape, a shoe got stuck on it.

    Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked(邪恶的) stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So the prince took her away to be his bride. But when they passed the tomb of Cinderella's mother, the birds called out to the prince,

    “Turn and peep, there's blood in the shoe;the shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”

    Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother. The other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella's foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella's two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king's riches, two birds flew by and plucked(啄) out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.

    The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.

Earth's geologic ages—time periods defined by evidence in rock layers—typically last more than three million years. We're barely 11,500 years into the current age, the Holocene. But a new paper argues that we've already entered a new one—the Anthropocene, or “new man”, age.

    The name isn't brand-new. Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen, a co-author of the paper, coined it in 2002 to reflect the changes since the industrial revolution. The paper, however, is part of new push to formalize the Anthropocene age.

    Recent human impacts have been so great that they'll result in an obvious boundary (界限 ) in Earth's rock layer, the author's say. “We are so skilled at using energy and exploiting the environment that we are now a defining force in the geological process on the surface of the Earth,” said co-author Jan Zala, a geologist with the University of Leicester in the UK. Even so, it could take years or even decades for the International Union of Geological Science to formalize the new age.

If the concept of the Anthropocene age is to be formalized, scientists will first have to identify and define a boundary line ,or marker, that's set in stone. “The key thing is thinking about how—thousands of years in the future—geologist might come back and actually recognize in the deposit in the UK.” It's not as straightforward as you might think. The market has to be very precise, and it has to be recognized in many different parts of the world,” said Haywood, who wasn't involved in the new study.

One candidate for the market is the distinctive radioactive signature left by atom bomb tests, which began in 1945. “The fallout (沉降 ) is basically across the world,” Haywood said. In a similar way, scientists used traces of the element iridium (铱) left by shooting star strikes to help define the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods—the time of the great dinosaur extinctions.

    The push for a formal declaration of the Anthropocene age is about more than just scientific curiosity. The move the scientists write in the last issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, “might be used as encouragement to slow carbon emissions and biodiversity(生物多样性)loss” or “ as evidence on protection measures” Just as Haywood said, by underlining how much we're changing the environment, the formalization would be "a very powerful statement”.

    I can't remember the first time one of my children told me, "I hate you." I can, however, tell you that it still happens occasionally, but it doesn't bother me. As their father, I often say things that are unpopular. If they hate me once in a while, I know I'm doing a good job.

    There are three other words that I won't allow in my house, however. Last week, I was watching my older son play with a paper airplane. After he accidentally threw it into a wall and it came apart, his eyes welled up with tears.

    "I hate myself," he said. It wasn't the first time he'd said it, and I was concerned that he'd started to actually believe it.

    I knelt down next to him and made him look into my eyes. I told him that I never wanted to hear those words again, and that he needed to respect himself.

    The difference between your kid telling you they hate you and them saying they hate themselves is that, five minutes later, they've already forgotten they "hate you". Self-hate is much more potentially poisonous and for young people, it can linger into the rest of their life.

    Kids who start to believe they hate themselves sometimes struggle to form new friendships. As teenagers, they avoid the chance to connect with a potential love interest, because they assume they'll be rejected. And as adults, they might choose not to apply for the dream job because they assume it won't work out.

    I know this is true, because I didn't have a high opinion of myself as a child. I found myself struggling in many areas, and I'd hate to see my children suffer the same fate.

    Sometimes, words are just words. But some words can make the kind of impact I'd very much like to avoid for my children. I don't fear strong language; I fear language that makes us weak.

    A while back I caught a news report on something called couch surfing and the network of trusting souls who make this phenomenon possible. They offer to put up travelers free of charge and help them on their ways. At first, it sounded unbelievable. I mean, inviting strangers into one's home for one or two nights? Give me a break.

    However, I was intrigued. I decided to find it out. The only way to truly learn about this phenomenon was to dive in. So I planned a trip to Finland, a country I've always wanted to explore. I would couch surf at every stop there.

    If ever any anxiety existed when stepping into the unknown, it disappeared when my first host met me at the train station. Ari looked like my idea of a typical Finn: tall and blue-eyed. Finns were also supposed to be famously reserved (寡言少语的). Ari was anything but. He was a live wire, giving me a warm welcome and walking with me to his apartment, where he showed me the sleeper sofa, served me tea, and engaged me in warm conversations. He also handed me a key to come and go as I pleased.

    If this was what couch surfing was all about—trust and friendship—then I had gotten off to a good start. As I boarded my next train to continue my journey, I began to think about this couch-surfing idea. What encouraged these people to open their homes to strangers? I concluded that there was a desire to lend a hand to like-minded folks who might enrich their own lives.

    Seven cities in 14 days. Seven hosts. Seven new friends. If couch surfing taught me anything, it's this: Most people are good and generous. Where will couch surfing take me next? Who knows? But I can't wait to find out.

A Wild Child's Guide to Endangered Animals

From New York Times bestselling author Millie Marotta comes this gorgeous celebration of the animal kingdom. Highlighting 43 endangered species, the book takes readers on a trip around the world while learning about rare and well-known animals and their habitats.

Marcovaldo

Marcovaldo is a collection of 20 short stories written by Italo Calvino. Describing the life of a poor rural man living in northern Italy, the stories unfold according to the seasonal cycle of a year. Common themes in the stories include pollution, failure and poverty.

The Art of Mondo

Over the years, Mondo has received global recognition for its incredible art posters that bring to life classic films, television shows, and comics such as Jurassic Park. For the first time, The Art of Mondo brings together this highly sought-after art in one volume that showcases the incredible creativity of the studio's artists whose vastly different styles are united by one guiding principle: limitless passion for their subject matters.

The Coming of the Third Reich

There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than Hitler's rise to power and the collapse(坍塌) of civilization in Nazi Germany. The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard Evans, offers a masterful combination of academic work, important new research and interpretations.

Patriarchy and Capitalism

Chizuko Ueno, a leading Japanese sociologist, feminist critic and public intellectual, has been a pioneer in women's studies and the author of many books, including Patriarchy and Capitalism.