America's businesses are getting older and fatter, while many new businesses are dying in infancy.

    A study last month by the Brookings Institution found that the proportion of older firms has grown steadily over several decades, while the survival rate of new companies has fallen. In addition, young people are starting companies at a sharply lower rate than in the past.

    A new report from the National Association of Manufacturers shows a major cause: The cost of obeying government regulations has risen to more than $2 trillion (12.26 trillion yuan) annually, or 12 percent of the GDP, and this cost falls disproportionately on smaller, newer businesses.

    It's risky, difficult and expensive to start a business, and getting more so. Governments are imposing various new rules on a seemingly daily basis: health insurance, minimum wage increases and, most recently in California, compulsory paid sick days for even hourly employees. These regulations shift huge social welfare costs directly onto often-struggling small businesses, while being proportionally much less costly for larger companies.

    This is partly an unintended issue of resources—established companies can cope with new costs more easily—but it's also deliberate. For instance, big insurance companies got a seat at the table to help write Obamacare, but less politically powerful firms—like medical device manufacturers—got squeezed.

    Mature, successful corporations can employ ex-lawmakers with connections, distribute campaign contributions and even write regulations for themselves. They are also more likely to want to protect steady revenue streams than revolutionize their industry.

    Major companies that have been so ill-managed they would otherwise collapse—airlines, car companies and banks—stagger（蹒跚）on because politicians ride to the rescue with bags of taxpayer money.

    The genius of our unique system of government is the determination to protect and defend the rights of the individual over the rights of the nation. As such, the rise of a well-connected oligarchy（寡头政治）that protects big business at the expense of small business, and the established over the new, is opposite to American ideals.

    Income inequality—which is directly caused by faulty government policy—is being promoted as the reason to impose more of that bad policy. But let's be perfectly clear, we do not have a free market but one where government picks winners and losers through regulations and financial aids.

    Politics is, and always has been, about balancing competing interests seeking to benefit themselves, and that's as it should be, but the force of government should never be used to reduce competition, kill innovation or support and extend artificial monopolies（垄断）by harming the consumer, the taxpayer and the economy. Policy must breed our new and small businesses or see the as-yet undreamed of innovations that could be our bright future die in infancy.

    When it was announced that Patrick Modiano had won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Oct.9, the Swedish Academy had not yet managed to reach the writer himself to tell him the news. as the Telegraph put it, “It was a curious case of missing personhood in an author whose career had been spent in searching others, within the confines (界限) of a single city.”

    Though the 69-year-old French author has had a successful writing career, only six of his books have been translated into English. One reason for this might be that “Modiano's storylines are as slim as the books themselves”, said the BBC.

    While most of Modiano's works don't run for hundreds of pages, they explore serious subjects. The author's signature themes are Germany's occupation during World War II and the evolution of Paris over the past century.

    Modiano's life has been greatly affected by Nazi Germany's occupation during the war, and his family's connections to it. According to New York-based newspaper Forward, his father survived the war dishonorably. When Paris's Jews were rounded up for deportation(驱逐)to concentration camps, the businessman did not join them but spent the time making money from deals with Nazis on the black market.

    “The novelist has a duty to record the traces of the people who were made to disappear,” French writer Clemence Boulouque, also an expert in Jewish Studies, told The New York magazine.

    In his more than three dozen novels, Modiano has returned again and to the same themes: Jewishness, the Nazi occupation, and loss of identity.

    Paris is another recurring(重复的)theme in Modiano's works .Most of his novels are set in the city , from the rich parts of downtown Paris to more remote suburbs where the characters try to live anonymous protect lives.

    Anne Ghisoli, the director of  Librairie Gallimard, a bookstore in Paris, concluded, “Modiano is a master of writing on memory and occupation, which haunt(萦绕)and inform his works. He is a chronicler(年代记录者)of  Paris ,its streets, and its present.”

    The Amazing Penguin Rescue

    The summer of 2016, the ship MV Treasure sunk, creating an oil spill. Thirteen hundred tons of fuel oil were flowing right in the middle of the African Penguins' habitat. Soon the oil covered about 20,000 penguins. Without swift help, the seabirds would have no chance for survival. Volunteers were showing up by the thousands and I also took part in what was the largest animal rescue operation ever.

    A warehouse was turned into a rescue center near the habitat and hundreds of pools were built to hold about 100 oiled birds each. When walking into the center, I couldn't believe my ears. I had expected to walk into a chorus of honking and squawking(叫声). Instead, the center sounded like a library. The penguins were dead silent. My heart ached for the painful birds. Cleaning them all seemed like an impossible task. But we had to carry on like doctors in an emergency room. There was no time for doubt. Cleaning oil off a penguin wasn't easy. Even with more than 12,500 volunteers, it took a month to bathe all 20,000 birds at the center.

    While volunteers were busy bathing the oiled penguins, another crisis (危机) was developing. Oil from the spill had started moving north. Tens of thousands of penguins were in the oil's path. But we already had our hands full with 20,000 recovering birds. If any more birds were oiled, we wouldn't have enough resources to save them.

    One researcher came up with an idea: What if the penguins were temporarily moved out of harm's way? Experts decided to have a try. Volunteers rounded up the penguins and released them 500 miles away. The hope was that by the time the seabirds swam home, the oil would be gone. The plan worked! Another 20,000 penguins were saved.

    The entire penguin rescue took about three months. More than 90% of the oiled penguins were successfully returned to the wild. Looking back on the rescue, I am still amazed by the work of the volunteers. What I could hardly believe was that we accomplished an impossible task.

    Back about 20 months ago I started college and just struggled with everything, such as classes and friends. I quickly became depressed and angry at myself for not being about to do better in school, in addition to lack of friends due to poor social and communication skills.

    This went on for months until my 19th birthday. My parents sent me a cake, which was a great cake. But I remember having this large cake and absolutely no one to share it with. I ended throwing out the cake after having one piece, with about 90 % of it leftover . That night I was depressed that I decided to go outside to the freezing temperature of the winter and run. I put my earphones in, went outside and ran about 2 miles at 11 p.m. on my birthday.

    When I got back inside I was content. I was proud of what I was able to do. The next night did the same. I wasn't quick or fit but you know that I went outside and did something. The continued for about 2 months until I finally worked up the courage to go to the gym, where I started swimming again as I used to in high school. A month went by and I started lifting weights and continually running.

    Looking back I can see that exercise helped cure my depression but it didn't only do that. At the gym I met new friends and back at my dorm I grew confidence to go to the end of the hall seeing people playing Super Smash Brothers and ask if I could join.

    So go forward to present now. I exercise every day and look forward to that hour and a half I get daily to do what I love with people who love it as well. I hope this helps someone who may be or have been in a similar situation.

    Teens who are preparing to undergo cosmetic surgery(整容手术) often have unrealistic expectations. The growing numbers of makeover television shows which make cosmetic surgery seem simple，have encouraged adolescents to pursue surgery to improve their physical appearance. As a result, more teenagers are going under the knife to achieve a desired look.

    When teens feel the need to have plastic surgery, they believe that it is not a huge deal, but they may not be mature enough to make such a life altering decision. If teens feel inadequate before surgery，they will most likely feel disappointed afterwards. Not only is surgery complex and risky for mature adults，it is extremely dangerous for younger people，and some doctors are performing these procedures on kids as young as fourteen！

    The cost of procedures can add up to thousands of dollars. Insurance does not cover the costs of these procedures. Teenagers often pay for surgery themselves 一 a very costly purchase for a young person. Not only can surgery become addictive for insecure teens，the consequence can be disappointing. When surgery takes an unexpected wrong turn, irreparable (不可挽回的）damage can occur. Any surgery on a young，undeveloped person has a risk of complication (并发症）such as infection (感染），which can lead to death.  Even if . there are no complications, there is no guarantee that surgery will provide the perfect nose or sculpted body. No matter how minor the procedure, it is not as effortless as it appears.

    Of course, there are cases where plastic surgery is appropriate. If a child has a serious injury or scarring from an accident，it can be beneficial. In all cases, parents must be involved in the process for the welfare of their child, and must guide them in the right direction. Fortunately, parents or legal guardians (监护人）must sign documents allowing their child to have plastic surgery. Doctors also need to be a part of the decision. Most experienced and trust-worthy physicians turn down the opportunity to operate on a teenager unnecessarily.

    Plastic surgery is a life-changing experience.  Hopefully, more teens will realize that there is more to a person than physical beauty, and learn to accept themselves for who they are.

    Resorts of every kind have sprung up to cater to the Englishman need to spend a part of the year, however briefly, by the seaside. No town in Britain is more than eighty miles from the sea and there are seaside resorts all round the coast. On a summer Sunday most of the roads that lead to the sea axe congested (拥挤) with cars full of people eager to get a breath of sea air. In the evening when everyone is full of food, ice-cream and lollypops, there is the long slow drive home on roads crowded with returning cars.

    Brighton

    Brighton is one of the best-known south coast resorts and is very popular for day trip excursions. It is only fifty miles from London and can be reached by fast train in an hour. At the weekend the pebbled beaches are thronged with people sunbathing or picking their way to the water's edge for a dip.

    Bournemouth

    Located a hundred miles from London, the beaches are wide and sandy. White houses line the cliff tops and narrow valleys, densely wooded with pine trees, reach down to the shore. The area near to the town of Torquay on the Devon coast is sometimes called Britains Riviera and the climate is so mild that palm trees grow along the sea front.

    Blackpool

    On the north-west coast, a popular resort for the people in the industrial north, Blackpool is a gay, noisy town, famous for its amusement facilities and the magical lights. At night people travel from miles around to see the extravaganza of lights decorating the sea front.

    Southend

    On the east coast at the mouth of the Thames, Southend is, like Brighton, one of the favorite resorts of Londoners. The pier here is the longest in Britain and offers a great variety of differing entertainments.