We've reached a strange—some would say unusual—point. While fighting world hunger continues to be the matter of vital importance according to a recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO), more people now die from being overweight, or say, from being extremely fat, than from being underweight. It's the good life that's more likely to kill us these days.

Worse, nearly 18 million children under the age of five around the world are estimated to be overweight. What's going on?

    We really don't have many excuses for our weight problems. The dangers of the problem have been drilled into us by public ­health campaigns since 2001 and the message is getting through—up to a point.

    In the 1970s, Finland, for example, had the highest rate of heart disease in the world and being overweight was its main cause. Not any more. A public ­health campaign has greatly reduced the number of heart disease deaths by 80 per cent over the past three decades.

    Maybe that explains why the percentage of people in Finland taking diet pills doubled between 2001 and 2005, and doctors even offer surgery of removing fat inside and change the shape of the body. That has become a sort of fashion. No wonder it ranks as the world's most body ­conscious country.

We know what we should be doing to lose weight—but actually doing it is another matter. By far the most popular excuse is not taking enough exercise. More than half of us admit we lack willpower.

    Others blame good food. They say: it's just too inviting and it makes them overeat. Still others lay the blame on the Americans, complaining that pounds have piled on thanks to eating too much American­ style fast food.

    Some also blame their parents—their genes. But unfortunately, the parents are wronged because they're normal in shape, or rather slim.

    It's a similar story around the world, although people are relatively unlikely to have tried to lose weight. Parents are eager to see their kids shape up. Do as I say—not as I do.

    Do you know that November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? You can find the NaNoWriMo Young Writer's program at ywp.nanowrima.org. It is a challenge（挑战）to write a 50,000-word novel in one month.

    The program began in 1999 in San Francisco with only 21 members. Later year, more than 400,000 took up the challenge. The writers can choose what they want to write about. On November 1st, writers visit the website and start to update（更新）their word count. They can communicate with other writers there as well. All the writers have to stop writing on November 30th.

    It is okay if you have never written a book before. The website provides lesson plans and workbooks for beginners. You can use them to improve writing skills in your novel. Then you can start planning what your novel will be about.

    Are there any books published（出版）from the NaNoWriMo program? Here are a few:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Water for Elephants by SaraGruen

Entrychats by Cecile Duquenne

    Are there any young readers who want to join in this program? If you want, we hope you can write the best novel. If you have not heard of NaNoWriMo, but you have a good story in mind, join us!

    Have you ever trained your brain? Now there are some new suggestions, such as eating dark chocolate and having cold meat for breakfast. You should also avoid watching soap operas, spending time with people who complain or follow fat-free diets, according to a new book on getting “brain-fit”.

    Many of the suggestions in Teach Yourself Training Your Brain are surprising. The book says to read out loud while holding a baby. Writers Terry Horne and Simon Wotton say their advice is from the latest research by experts around the world.

    “For years we have thought our brain capability is decided by our genes. But it's now clear that it depends on our lifestyle. What we eat and drink, how we learn at school and what type of feelings we have are all important,” said Horne.

    The book talks about the most up-to -date thinking in science about how diet, the environment, stress and other sides of modern life affect our brain capacity. It also offers advice and exercises. The book comes as more and more people are spending money on books, DVDs and computer games, which can improve their brain's capability.

    Horne believes that people need to make changes to their lifestyles to increase their brain capacity. Happiness, confidence and an optimistic nature help the brain, he added.

    “So mix with people who make you laugh, or share the same interests as you. And avoid people who complain,” said Horne. “People who are negative will make you sad, which means you won't achieve things.”

    Finding a summer job often shows that you're growing up, and it's also a way to earn money to pay for what you dream of. It's never too early to start considering the future. Now, here are some good choices for you!

    Retail（零售）Sales

    Retail offers plenty of chances for teens who are looking for a job. This type of work can pay from $ 10 to $ 15 an hour depending on the duty you are expected to take on. For more information, call us at 4005075.

    Food Service

    A job in the food service industry is a natural fit for sociable teens who enjoy communicating with the public. It allows employees to work as part of a team while learning about following instructions. It also comes with the chance to earn between $ 7 and $ 9 per hour. Just call 4005077 for more information.

    Babysitter （保姆）

    This job requires someone who is highly responsible. Though it pays generally between $ 6 and $ 8 hourly, it also requires a lot of patience. This is a great choice for teens who wish to make a career in teaching, child care, social work or any other field that makes use of social skills or requires interaction（互动）with kids. Got a question? Just call 4005076.

    Housekeeping

    This type of work can bring in about $ 5 an hour and it will allow teens to learn the tourism industry, so hotels are often looking for more housekeeping staff, and parks often need more people to help with keeping public areas clean and organized as well. Telephone 4005079.

    Humans and elephants don't always get along. In Africa and Asia, elephants damage equipment, farmers' crops, and natural habitat for other species. If an elephant becomes a problem, humans may kill it. So local people and animal protectionists are trying to find better ways to keep elephants away from sensitive places. Now, researchers think they have a good tool to prevent elephants: honeybee pheromones (信息素).

    “Elephants dislike being stung(叮咬) in the trunk, because it's an extremely sensitive organ. Imagine being stung in your nose by a bee, and multiply that a few thousand times.” said Mark Wright, a professor at the University of Hawaii.

    Kenyan farmers have long known that if they hang live beehives (蜂箱) around their farms, they will drive elephants away. The problem is how to manage hundreds of thousands of hives, if you have a huge area to protect. And then the idea came up to look at the alarm pheromones, which are chemicals that the bees release to launch an attack on something that's damaging the hive.

    So the researchers tested out an artificial mixture of chemicals that imitates (模仿) honey bees' alarm pheromones. The researchers hung white socks treated with the artificial mixture as well as untreated control socks around an elephant watering hole, and then observed the animals' behavior. “Elephants are really curious creatures. They'll walk along and see something like a sock hanging on a branch. If it's not treated with the alarm pheromones, they'll pick it up, throw it around, and try to taste it, things like that. And in the case of the treated ones, they would show immediate signs of unease or uncertainty, and they'd eventually back off from them.”

    In order to avoid the elephants more effectively, the researchers plan to make the pheromone mixture purer. That way, elephants will stay far away from wherever they should not be going-and both elephants and humans can coexist a bit more peacefully.

It was 1504,and Columbus was making another trip to the New World.Columbus and his men needed fresh water and food after three months at sea.They saw an island and went to the shore.On the island there were unfriendly Indians who refused to give food and water to them.Columbus' men were afraid of the Indians,but he had a clever plan.He used gesture(手势) language to tell the Indians about his mysterious (神秘的) power to turn off the light in the sky.He knew about a lunar eclipse (月食) the next night because the information was in his almanac (天文历书).Columbus told the Indians,"Tomorrow night I'll turn off the light in the sky." But they didn't believe him.When the eclipse began the next night,the Indians became very frightened.They begged Columbus to turn on the light again,and they quickly gave him all the food and water he wanted.Immediately Columbus and his men hurried back to the ship and sailed away in the moonless night.