New Orleans, Louisiana, was established as part of the French Empire in 1718.

    Its location on the east bank of the Mississippi River gave it control of the American hinerland and it became strategically important to many nations. It was transferred from France to Spain, returned to France, and finally sold by Napoleon to the United States in 1803. The city was the site of a famous battle fought in 1815 between the British, who hoped to control it, and the Americans under General Andrew Jackson.

    The riverbed of the Mississippi is constantly silting（淤积）and the river is now actually higher than the city. Levees hold back the river and giant pumps are used to move water from the city into the river.

    Although New Orleans has been a part of the United States for almost two centuries, its population takes great pride in its French heritage. Louisiana still retains parts of the Code Napoleon which, for many years, was its only law.

    New Orleans is carefree city and it boasts its hot, spicy Creole seafood and its native Dixieland Jazz. The Jackson Square neighborhood maintains its French colonial homes and in other sections are pre-Civil War mansions. Visitors are surprised to find that behind this interesting surface of yesteryear is a busy industrial and port city. Grain and coal come from the Midwest and foreign goods are unloaded here. New Orleans is no longer a sleepy Southern town—but it's still fun to visit.

    Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been making changes to my brain. I'm not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I'm reading. Involving myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. That's rarely the case any more.

    I think I know what's going on. For over a decade, I've been spending lots of time online. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes by a few Google searches. Even when I'm not working, I'm scanning headlines or just tripping from link to link.

The Net is becoming a universal medium where information flows through my eyes and ears and into mind. The perfect recall of silicon memory (硅制存储器) can be a blessing to thinking. But that comes at a price. As the media theorist Marshall Mcluhan pointed out, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is weakening my ability for concentration. Once I was a driver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a flying swallow.

I'm not the only one. When I mention my troubles with reading to acquaintances, Bruce Friedman, a blogger, also has described how the Internet has changed his mental habits. His thinking has taken on a "staccato (破碎)" quality. "I can't read War and Peace any more" he admitted, "I've lost the ability to do that."

A recently published study suggests that when reading online, we tend to become "more decoders (解码器) of information". We are not only what we read; we are how we read.

    “Why do I live? Why do I wish for anything, or do anything? Is there anything in my life that will not be destroyed by my death?”

    These are the words of the famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Like Tolstoy, many people ask these difficult questions. And they struggle to find meaning in their life. Tolstoy spent his whole life trying to answer difficult questions like these. His search for answers influenced his writing.

    On August 28th, 1828, Leo Tolstoy was born in the country of Russia.

    As a child, Tolstoy was a member of the Russian Catholic Church. But as a young man, he began to question that faith. Tolstoy wanted to make his own moral decisions; he was tired of being told what to believe. He thought people could achieve a degree of perfection if they tried hard enough. So he worked very hard at being the best in everything he did. He thought that he would find meaning and truth in success.

    In the 1850s, Leo Tolstoy wrote his first stories. He wrote about his experiences in the army He also told stories about when he was a child. These works were published and Tolstoy became a well-known writer.

    Tolstoy was finally successful. He earned the respect he always wanted. Many wealthy and intelligent men met and talked with Tolstoy. Some of the men were writers like him. They talked a lot about faith and the meaning of life. But soon Tolstoy recognized that these men were not perfect. Now he knew they could not answer his questions about faith.

    So in the 1860s, Tolstoy tried a different way to find meaning. He opened a school for the children of his serfs -the people who worked on his land. These workers were very poor. He wanted to help them because he thought they were more honest than the wealthy people he knew.

    Tolstoy learned many things from his workers. He respected how they worked hard to provide for their families. He began to believe that marriage and family would give his life meaning. So in 1862, Leo Tolstoy married a young woman named Sonya Behrs.

    The next 15 years were the best years of Tolstoy's life. It was during this time that he wrote his most famous books -War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Many literature experts say that War and Peace is one of the greatest books ever written.

    Both War and Peace and Anna Karenina communicate Tolstoy's beliefs about the Russian nation, church and people. They also communicate what he thought was the answer to all his questions. Tolstoy believed humans were supposed to live a simple lite and take care of their families. Tolstoy thought this would satisfy him and bring him happiness.

    Leo Tolstoy is still a very respected writer today. His faith and writings have influenced many people. Tolstoy's search for the meaning of life is something everyone can understand. His teachings still interest people all over the world.

    Many people like travelling, but they cannot take their dogs wherever they go. Some people let their dogs stay alone at home while others ask someone else to take care of their pets. If you're leaving your beloved pet at home for a holiday, it can turn into a bad experience. Luckily, you don't have to worry about your dogs any more because Rover can cover for you while you are on leave. Rover is the latest service to offer at­home dog boarding. It's a good alternative (替代物) to boarding your dog at a dog boarding kennel (狗舍) or your neighbour's house.

    The way Rover works is sort of like Airbnb. Dog owners browse the "search" section of the site or app for pet sitters, which can be organized by zip code and available dates. Information of pet sitters is provided, complete with many reviews, specific services and rates. Now Rover has over 25,000 pet sitters in more than 5,000 US cities. And they're all experienced pet sitters.

    After finding someone that meets your needs, just send messages to the pet sitter to arrange a meeting. Then, like Rover says, all that is left to do is relax! Rover's pet sitters are encouraged to send text and picture information throughout the day, and if there's a medical emergency, the site will send a vet. Besides, don't worry about a pet sitter who falls through, because someone else will soon take his or her place.

    Happy doggie, happy travels — that sounds good to us. To learn more about Rover, click here.

    Primary school students in China started using new editions of their textbooks last September, with new illustrations(插图)to go with classic Chinese poems.

    With the 110 classic poems for primary school students from Grade One to Six come one hundred illustrations painted by artist Huang Guoxiang of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. The old version of Chinese was in use for more than 10 years. "Our aesthetic(美学的)tastes have changed. The illustrations in textbooks should keep up with that," said Huang.

    "An editor from People's Education Press called me last September and asked whether I was interested –to create illustrations for three poems: Ode to Goose, Min Nong and Spring Dawn. I made it. After about 20 days, the publisher called me again and asked me to do all of them," Huang said.

    Huang also said he referred to the Chinese textbooks his son used previously before working on a new painting.

    But he did not just create any ink paintings; Huang changed his style of painting a little bit for his young readers. Primary school students may not necessarily be attracted to traditional Chinese ink painting, as the stokes(笔画)tend to be thick and the colors dark. So he mixed ink painting with watercolor to make the pictures visually appealing to the young readers while fully expressing the meanings of classic poems.

    "It's not that difficult to illustrate a single poem. The hard part is: sometimes there are three poems on one page and the contents of these poems may change greatly, so it was difficult for me to express the feelings of all of them with one illustration. Sometimes I had to think with a bigger picture and create something that fits it all," added Huang.

"It's nice having a friend," said Mole (鼹鼠) to Rabbit as they sat talking in the sun one day.

"Oh, it is!" said Rabbit. "Very useful, too, 1 if you need help. 2 , I think I'd like Bull (公牛) to be my friend."

"But I'm your friend!" said Mole, feeling 3

"Oh, yes," said Rabbit. "You are good for talking to and laughing with, 4 you are too small. When I need help, I 5 someone big and strong like Bull. He would be a very good friend to have. It would be 6 shouting for him when I need help."

Mole went off in anger.

"Oh, well, I need to 7 something," Rabbit thought.

He moved along 8 he found a tiny garden. He had just started on his first leaf when there was a big noise. People were shouting and dogs were barking (吠叫). Rabbit was so afraid and in such a 9 to get away that he ran into the wrong hole. The hole was too small and Rabbit got stuck. He could not 10 at all.

"Help!" cried Rabbit.

Mole 11 him. He ran up to see what was the matter.

"Help!" cried Rabbit. "I'm stuck in this hole."

"If you want help," said Mole, "I'd better 12 Bull."

"No!" cried Rabbit. "He's no good! He's too big to get into this hole. You're just the right 13 ! Please help me, Mole!"

So Mole began digging around Rabbit. He worked so fast that Rabbit was 14 in no time.

"I'm sorry, Mole. I was wrong, " Rabbit said. "I'm 15 I have you as a friend."

And the two good friends set off for home together.