While we all try to find happiness, sometimes we still end up feeling low. While most people can control this feeling, low moods can stay with some, leading to depression. About 322 million people suffered from depression in 2015, according to a report by the World Health Organization in February. This is more than 4 percent of the world's population.

    Depression is described by the WHO as a mental disorder. It has several symptoms including sadness, loss of interest and feelings of low self-worth. In severe cases, depression may even lead to suicide.

    The number of people living with depression is increasing. The WHO reported a rise of 18.4 percent between 2005 and 2015. Young people are a group known to suffer with depression. “The pressures on today's youth are like no other generation, perhaps,” Dan Chisholm, an official of WHO, told Reuters.

    In China, depression among young people is on the rise, Zhu Zhuohong, a psychology professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua News Agency. Competition to outperform others, especially in education, can cause a lot of pressure for Chinese youth.

    Almost 1.2 million Chinese people aged 15 to 24 suffer from depression, according to a report released by British science journal The Lancet in May.

    Luckily, more and more efforts are being made to deal with this problem. This year's World Health Day, held on April 7, will focus on depression. The day will highlight (强调) the “Depression: let's talk” campaign. The campaign aims to make sure that people with depression both seek and get help.

    For 80 years, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has kicked off the holiday season with glorious bands, balloons and floats (花车)，and for one day, it has transformed New York City into a living comic book.

    The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by Macy's Department Store. It was first held in 1924. It was organized by Macy's employees, most of whom were first­ generation immigrants(移民)，who wanted to celebrate holidays like they did in Europe. The employees dressed in costumes(盛装)and marched on the streets with floats, bands and live animals borrowed from a zoo.

    With an audience of over a quarter of a million people, the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event.

    In 1927 Felix, the Cat became the first parade balloon to float over the city. Large animal­ shaped balloons replaced the live animals from then on. These giant signature(特有的)balloons are by far the biggest attraction of the parade. Each year sees parade balloons adding new characters from comic strip characters to timeless toys.

    One tradition long gone is the releasing of the balloons after the parade. They would float for days and the lucky finder or finders could claim a cash reward if he or she returned the balloon or its remains to Macy's.

    The parade has gone on every year except during World War Ⅱ when, aside from not having much to cheer about, the helium(氦气)air and rubber used for the balloons were needed for the war effort.

    When the parade returned in 1945，it was televised in New York for the first time and also traveled its current route for the first time.

    Nowadays, more than 10,000 people participate in the parade and the National Broadcasting Company(NBC) will nationwide broadcast it live from 9 a.m. to noon. The NBC has even earned several Emmy Awards for this program.

    As always, the parade will end with a visit from Santa Claus. The joyful old man will get settled in Macy's Department Store after the parade to start a­month­long search for who's been naughty and who's been nice.

    Nov. 21 is World Hello Day. It began back in the 1970s as part of an effort to make the world more peaceful. It was created by the United Nations just after the war between Israel and Egypt in 1973. The philosophy (理念) behind it is: Say “Hello” and stop war.

    It sounds like a fine idea, but most of us know that simply saying “Hello” won't bring about world peace. Still, on a smaller range, the simple act of saying hello to someone can make a lot of difference.

    This might not be obvious. After all, it's such a casual thing and requires so little effort. You raise your head to someone as you pass by them in the school corridor (走廊), say “Hello' then it's over.

    Although we might not realize it, a small thing like a greeting can mean a lot to a person. Many people are lonely because they're shy. They find it difficult to communicate with people, even though they want lo. It leads to them feeling cut off.

    On this basis, maybe it's a good idea, not just on Nov. 21, but every day, to remember to say “Hello” to as many people as we can. The stranger who hears your greeting may secretly smile in their heart. You might even make their day.

    Greeting other people is the easiest way to be polite. Politeness is the way we individual humans link up with the rest of the human world outside of our circles of family and friends. Politeness is one of the aspects of culture that make us a society rather than just many individuals living in the same space.

    No one said it better than the French author Joseph Joubert: “Politeness is the flower of humanity''. A “Hello” to a stranger is a small thing, and often neglected (忽视), but through it we can make the world better for another person.

    We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests' coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.

    The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.

    Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.

    I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she's the one who seems more easily to be hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.

    But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshone. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.

    I said, "What are you doing, my dear?"

    She turned to me with a sad expression and said, "Mommy, why don't people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I'm not pretty? Is that why they don't say nice things about me as much?"

    I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.

    Now, whenever I visit a friend's home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

    Membership

    All you need to do is fill out the order form at the bottom of the page, select your first order from our book list and then post the completed form back to us.

    Special offers for new members

    As a special offer, you may choose any reduced-price books from our new members' book list, to the value of 100 yuan in total. Tick the box on your form to order a free watch. Join before the end of this month and you receive another free book carefully chosen by our staff. Order an audio-book from the many on offer, at half the recommended retail price.

    When you've joined

    As a member you get around 50% off the publisher's price of every book you buy, and what's more, they come straight to your door. Your free club magazine arrives once a month to keep you up to date with the latest best-sellers we've added to our list. On the Internet, you can find all our titles for the year at our exclusive members' website. Our website also has a book swap service where members can request or offer books for exchange.

    Being a member

    All you have to do is order four books during your first year. After that, you can decide on the number of books you wish to take. In each of your monthly club magazines, our experienced staff choose a "Book of the Month" for you, which is offered at an extra-special price. If you do not want this book, just say so in the space provided on the form and send it back to us. We always send the book if we do not receive this form.

    Once we receive your order, your books are delivered within one week. And remember, you have up to a fortnight to decide if you wish to keep the books you have ordered. If they aren't what you expected just end them back!

    Directions Choose a book from the list below and bring it to class by the due date. You will have approximately one trimester，from September 14 to November 16，to read the book and complete your report. It is okay to switch your book if you do not like your original choice. Students are encouraged to check out the book of their choice from the public library.

    The purchase of a book is optional.