Parents who help their children with homework may actually be bringing down their school grades. Other forms of parental involvement, including volunteering at school and observing a child's class, also fail to help, according to the most recent study on the topic.

    The findings challenge a key principle of modern parenting where schools expect them to act as partners in their children's education. Previous generations concentrated on getting children to school on time, fed, dressed and ready to learn.

    Keith Robinson, the author of the study, said, "I really don't know if the public is ready for this but there are some ways parents can be involved in their kids' education that leads to declines in their academic performance. One of the things that was consistently negative was their parents' help with homework." Robinson suggested that may be because parents themselves struggle to understand the tasks."They may either not remember the material their kids are studying now, or in some cases never learnt it themselves, but they're still offering advice."

    Robinson assessed parental involvement performance and found one of the most damaging things a parent could do was to punish their children for poor marks. In general, about 20% of parental involvement was positive,  about 45% negative and the rest statistically insignificant.

    Common sense suggests it was a good thing for parents to get involved because "children with good academic success do have involved parents", admitted Robinson. But he argued that this did not prove parental involvement was the root cause of that success. "A big surprise was that Asian-American parents whose kids are doing so well in school hardly involved. They took a more reasonable approach, conveying to their children how success at school could improve their lives."

    Dazha Crabs from Yangcheng Lake

    With the Mid-Autumn Festival coming, the time for crabs is around the corner! Dazha Crabs from Yangcheng Lake in China are believed to be the best freshwater crabs.

    “They are delicious, because the bottom of Yangcheng Lake is hard and the crabs grow strong by walking on such a hard surface,” said one sales manager in Suzhou.

    Li Lei, a crab lover from Beijing, said “It's very delicious! But there are too many fake Yangcheng Lake Dazha Crabs”.

    “Maybe the crabs from other regions can appear to be glistening green back, white belly after people wash them, but the golden fine hair on crab claws is still a point of pride and is exclusive to Dazha Crabs from Yangcheng Lake,” said the manager.

    The best time for enjoying them is during September and October of Chinese lunar calendar. “When the season for crabs arrives, the Dazha Crabs from Yangcheng Lake are flown to various cities so that people's appetites can be satisfied,” said the sales manager. “They are really expensive here, sometimes more than 320RMB/500g, 10% of my salary!” said Li Lei.

    Dazha Crabs are usually steamed or boiled for within 20 minutes before they come on the dinner table. They are often enjoyed with vinegar mixed with minced ginger to add flavor and get rid of the cold. People who are particular about how they eat crabs also need to have high-grade Shaoxing rice wine to warm their stomachs.

    There is much work required to eat crabs. So much shell!Most people use both hands and teeth while eating Dazha Crabs. “The eating way is not graceful or elegant,” said Huck. “However, some professionals of eating crabs can use tools to take all the meat out of the crab without damaging a single bite and the crab can be restored to its original shape if the empty shells are pieced together!” said Han Mei, another Dazha crab lover.

    My elder cousin Ted liked complaining almost about everything. When he faced a problem, he always chose to complain about it instead of finding a way to solve it. That was not right. Ted was healthy and had received a good education. He should and could find a good job and work hard to feed himself, but he just complained all day, drifting from one job to another. One day, I read about a farmer called Chris and told Ted about the farmer.

    Chris works hard, performs many jobs around the farm. But Chris is not exactly like other farmers. What makes him different is that he was born without arms or legs. But this has not stopped him from working hard and getting things done.

    Now, you may ask, is this possible? Like many other amazing people who have no arms or legs, Chris does not focus on what he can't do, but rather on what he can do. And he can do a lot! He drives farm vehicles and looks after crops. Once you see Chris in action, you will think there is nothing he could not do.

    Chris is a great example of a person who is making the most of his gifts. His positive attitude and courage make him a true inspiration.

    After I told Ted about Chris, he became silent. Compared with Chris, Ted was much luckier. Then luckily, I saw Ted's change.

    Do you like complaining? If you do, think about Chris. Such a man chooses to stay positive. Why don't we?

    Scientists have found that human eyes are more likely to be damaged by UV rays (紫外线) while skiing in the snow-covered areas than sitting on the beach, according to a report by the UK newspaper The Telegraph.

    The researchers at Kanazawa Medical University, Japan and American company Johnson conducted the study together. They looked at the effects of light reflection on newly fallen snow on a ski trail (a rough path) in Ishikawa District, northern Japan. They compared the results with the levels of UV rays on a sand beach in southern Japan's Okinawa District They found that on the beach, eyes are exposed to a daily 260 kilojoules (千焦耳) of UV a square meter compared to 658 kilojoules in snow-covered areas. The findings are supported by the Japan Meteorological Agency. According to the agency, the reflection rate of UV light on beaches is often between 10 and 25 percent, compared to 80 percent in lie new snow areas. The amount of light increased 4 percent with a 300-meter rise in height.

    Most of us know that UV rays can harm the skin. That's why we wear sunscreen on our skin before we get out in the suit. But many of us may not realize that UV rays are also harmful to the eyes.

    If your eyes are exposed to large amounts of UV radiation over a short period of time. You may experience a kind of sunburn of the eye, which is harmful. Your eyes will become red and feel a strange feeling. They may be sensitive to light. Fortunately, this is usually temporary and seldom causes permanent damage to the eyes.

    Long-term exposure to UV radiation, however, can be more serious. Scientific studies and researches have shown that exposure to small amounts of UV radiation over a period of many years increases chance of eye damage, which could lead to total blindness.

    As I was thinking about language learning the other day, the image of baking bread came into my mind. I compared some of the exercises and drills that we put ourselves through in order to learn a language to the various ingredients that go into baking a loaf of fresh bread.

    Real language learning takes place in human relationships. No one sits down and eats a cup of flour, even if he is hungry and in a hurry. You don't become bilingual（双语的）by learning lists of vocabulary. You don't become a speaker of a language by memorizing verb conjugations（动词的词形变化）and agreement rules. You become bilingual by entering a community that uses that other language as its primary means of communication.

    I am not suggesting that we can make bread without ingredients. Flour is necessary, as are yeast, salt, water and other ingredients. Vocabulary is part of any language and will have to be learned. Grammatical rules exist in every language and cannot be ignored. But merely combining the appropriate ingredients in the recommended proportions does not result in bread. At best, you only end up with a ball of dough（面团）.

    In order to get bread, you have to apply heat to the dough. And in language learning, that heat comes from the community. Anyone who has learned a second language has experienced that heat. It creeps up your neck when you ask the babysitter, “Have you already been eaten?” when you meant to say, “Have you already eaten?” When you try to say something quite innocent and the whole room bursts into laughter, you are experiencing the heat that turns raw dough into good bread.

    Remember the old saying, “If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”? This is where language learning often breaks down because we find the heat uncomfortable and we stop the baking process. In other words, we can't stand the heat, so we get out of the kitchen.

    However, the language learner who stays in the kitchen—in the heat—until the combined ingredients are thoroughly transformed will enjoy the richness of a quality loaf of bread. He said that he did not “get out of the kitchen” at the critical moment when the oven seemed too hot. The dedicated language learner knows that becoming bilingual cannot be achieved without the heat!

    It's pleased to receive gifts from your loved ones. I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. But the best gift I ever received was presented to me by a stranger. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him for less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed the way I had thought about people and Christmas.

    It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child's bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle. After a while, the whistle blew. It was like throwing a bucket of fish into a tank of sharks. I told my wife that if we obtained a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.

    As the shelf of bikes began to gradually decrease in size, I saw my polite opportunity to wrap my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I lifted it off the box and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up to see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Threat was not the word to describe his presence. He was decorated with numerous belts of metal pointed leather around both arms and even his neck. Tattoos (文身) were an obvious passion of his.

    I started to return anxiously the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Merry Christmas.” My wife and I went to the checkout, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all previous views I may have had of stereotypes and prejudices. I will never forget the tenderness of a human heart in a simple act.