The question of what children learn, and how they should learn it, is continually being debated and redebated. Nobody dares any longer to defend the old system, the parrot-fashion（way of learning by repeating what others say）of learning lessons, the grammar-with-a-whip（鞭子）system, which was good enough for our grandparents. The theories of modern psychology have stepped in to argue that we must understand the needs of our children. Children are not just small adults; they are children who must be respected as such.

    Well, you may say, this is as it should be, and a good idea. But think further. What happens? “Education” becomes the responsibility not of teachers, but of psychologists. What happens then? Teachers worry too much about the psychological implications（暗示） of their lessons, and forget about the subjects themselves. If a child dislikes a lesson, the teacher feels that it is his fault, not the child's. So teachers worry whether history is “relevant” to modern young children. And do they dare to recount stories about violent battles? Or will this make the children themselves violent? Can they tell their classes about children of different races, or will this encourage racial hatred? Why teach children to write grammatical sentences? Oral expression is better. Sums? Arithmetic? No; real-life mathematical situations are more understandable.

    You see, you can go too far. Influenced by educational theorists, who have nothing better to do than write books about their ideas, teachers leave their teaching-training colleges filled with grand, psychological ideas about children and their needs. They make complicated preparations and try out their “modern methods” on the long-suffering children. Since one “modern method” rapidly replaces another, the poor kids will have well been fed up by the time they leave school. Frequently the modern methods are so complicated that they fail to be understood by the teachers, let alone the children; even more often, the relaxed discipline so necessary for the “informal” feeling the class must have, prevents all but a handful of children from learning anything.

    Teenagers who spend hours in front of the television may have a poorer diet as young adults.

    A study, which included nearly 1,400 high school students, found those who watched TV for five hours or more per day had less healthy diets than peers(同龄人) five years later. Why does this happen? Should the parents take any measures?

    On the one hand, people who spend a lot of time in front of the TV, especially teenagers, may snack more, and that may affect their long-term diet quality.

    On the other hand, TV ads for fast food, sweets and snacks tempt teenagers to eat more of those foods. And TV time might also replace exercise time for some kids.

    Lead researcher Dr. Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told Reuters Health a clear correlation between TV time during high school and diet quality in young adulthood. While the heaviest TV viewers were eating the most junk food, those who'd watched less than two hours per day had the highest intake(吸收) of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and high-calcium food. In her opinion, parents should limit and monitor TV viewing.

    As far as I am concerned, children should watch no more than two hours of television per day. And parents should set a good example by eating right, being physically active and curbing their own TV time.

    People have grown taller over the last century, with South Korean women shooting up by more than 20cm on average, and Iranian men gaining 16.5cm. A global study looked at the average height of 18-year-olds in 200 countries 1914 and 2014. The results show that while Swedes were the tallest people in the world in 1914, Dutch men have risen from l2th place to claim top spot with an average height of 182.5cm. Larvian women, meanwhile, rose from 28th place in 1914 to become the tallest in the world a century later, with an average height of 169.8cm. James Bentham, a co-author of the research says the global trend is likely but once you average over whole populations, genetics plays a less key role," he added.

    But while height has increased around the world, the trend in many countries of north and sub-Saharan Africa causes concern, says Elio Riboli of Imperial College. While height increased in Uganda and Niger during the early 20th century, the trend has reversed in recent years, with height decreasing among 18-year-olds.

    "One reason for these decreases in height is the economic situation in the 1980s," said Professor Alexander. The nutritional and health problems that followed the policy of structural adjustment, he says, led to many children and teenagers failing to reach their full potential in terms of height.

    Bentham believes the global trend of increasing height has important implications. "How tall we are now is strongly influenced by the environment we grew up in," he said. "If we give children the best possible start in life now, they will be healthier and more productive for decades to come."

    British Museum Visitor Regulations

    Opening hours

    We open the Museum's galleries daily from 10：00 am until 17：30 pm. We keep selected galleries open until 20：30 pm on Fridays.

    The Museum's Great Court is open from 9:00 am until 18:00 pm; except on Fridays when it remains open until 20:30 pm.

    You may be asked by your staff to begin leaving up to ten minutes before closing time.

    The Museum is closed 24-26 December and 1 January.

    Admission

    We warmly welcome you on your visit to the Museum. In the interests of the security of all of our visitors we require you follow these regulations.

    Admission to the Museum is free, but we may charge for entry to some temporary exhibitions and events.

    Food and drink

    You aren't allowed to consume food and drink inside the Museum, except in places such as the restaurant and cafes or the forecourt. Families with children may use the Ford Centre for young visitors in the basement of the Museum's Great Court at weekends and during school holidays.

    Animals

    If you have a disability, you may be accompanied in the Museum by your guide, assistant or companion animal. You aren't allowed to bring animals into the Museum under any other circumstance.

    Film, photography and audio recording

    Except the place that are indicated by notices, you're permitted to use hand-held cameras (including mobile phones) with flash bulbs or flash units, and audio and film recording equipment not requiring a stand. You may use your photographs, film and audio recordings only for your own private and non-commercial purposes.

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    I must have always known reading was very important because the first memories I have as a child deal with books. There was not one night that I don't remember mom reading me a storybook by my bedside. I was extremely inspired by the wonderful way the words sounded.

    I always wanted to know what my mom was reading. Hearing mom say, "I can't believe what's printed in the newspaper this morning," made me want to grab it out of her hands and read it myself. I wanted to be like my mom and know all of the things she knew. So I carried around a book, and each night, just to be like her, I would pretend to be reading.

    This is how everyone learned to read. We would start off with sentences, then paragraphs, and then stories. It seemed an unending journey, but even as a six-year-old girl I realized that knowing how to read could open many doors. When mom said, "The C-A-N-D-Y is hidden on the top shelf," I knew where the candy was. My progress in reading raised my curiosity, and I wanted to know everything. I often found myself telling my mom to drive more slowly, so that I could read all of the road signs we passed.

    Most of my reading through primary, middle and high school was factual reading. I read for knowledge, and to make A's on my tests. Sometimes, I would read a novel that was assigned, but I didn't enjoy this type of reading. I liked facts, things that are concrete. I thought anything abstract left too much room for argument.

    Now that I'm growing and the world I once knew as being so simple is becoming more complex, I find myself needing a way to escape. By opening a novel, I can leave behind my burdens and enter into a wonderful and mysterious world where I am now a new character. In these worlds I can become anyone. I don't have to write down what happened or what technique the author was using when he or she wrote this. I just read to relax.

    We're taught to read because it's necessary for much of human understanding. Reading is an important part of my life. Reading satisfies my desire to keep learning. And I've found that the possibilities that lie within books are limitless.