Are you interested in some of the most popular brands such as Beats headphones, True Religion jeans, and UGG shoes? They are also expensive. But some experts say they are not much better than cheaper brands.

    For example, Jim Wilcox works for Consumer Reports. He tested all kinds of headphones. He says that $80 Koss Pro headphones provide basically the same quality and comfort as Beats. So why do people pay twice or even 10 times as much for the hottest brands?

    Experts say it's because fashionable, expensive brands send a message. Brands say “I belong” or “I can afford it.”

    Some people think that expensive brand names are worth the price. They say that some designer clothes are really top quality and that they last longer than cheaper brands. Some teenagers choose to wear popular brands because these brands make them feel good about themselves.

    Alexandra Allam, 17, likes to buy brand-name products. “I'd rather spend the extra money to get something I know I'll be satisfied with,” she says. Her friend Emmy Swan agrees, saying “As long as you can afford it, it seems reasonable to buy what you want.” But not all teenagers agree. “Spending hundreds of dollars for designer sunglasses is stupid and unreasonable,” says Daniel Steinbrecher, 16. “It's fake (假的) happiness.”

    People who are against wearing expensive brand names say that many designer brands aren't any better. “It's wasteful to buy things just because they are popular,” says Edmund Williams, 15. “You'll feel better if you buy things because you like them. If you have extra money to spend, it would be better to give it to people in need.”

    When Vivienne Harr was 8 years old, she saw a photo she would never forget. It was a photo of two young boys carrying large, heavy rocks on their backs. These children were the same age as Vivienne. But they did not have the same freedom and opportunities that she had.

    In some parts of the world, children have to work hard long days and they can't go to school. Vivienne wanted to change this. “I want all kids to be able to go to school and play,” said Viienne, now 10. “I want them to be happy.”

    To help raise money for children like the two boys in the photo, Vivienne started a lemonade stand (柠檬汽水摊位) near her home in Marin County, California. She promised to work every day for a year, rain or shine. “Sometimes, it was hard for me, when the weather was bad or I wasn't feeling well,” said Vivienne. “But I knew that some children were having a harder time than I was.”

    Vivienne's goal was to raise $100,000 in 365 days. On Day 175, she reached her goal. But that didn't stop Vivienne from working. With the help of her family, she started Make a Stand. The company now puts Vivienne's lemonade into bottles and sells it in 130 stores around the US. A small part of sales goes to help achieve Vivienne's dream — to make the world a better place for all children.

    Who is smarter? A human being or artificial intelligence?

The question swept the world last week when a Google-developed program called AlphaGo defeated the world top player, South Korean Lee Se-dol, 4-1.

    So, what comes next?

    Some people have been arguing that artificial intelligence, or AI in short, will be a bad thing for humans. In an interview with the BBC in 2014, UK scientist Stephen Hawking warned that “The development of full artificial intelligence could mean the end of the human race.”

    So are we really about to live in the world shown in the Terminator movies?

    “Not quite,” answered The Economist. After all, it's not hard to get a computer program to remember and produce facts. What is hard is getting computers to use their knowledge in everyday situations.

    “We think that, for the human being, things like sight and balance(视觉平衡), are natural and ordinary in our life.” Thomas Edison, founder of Motion Figures, a company that is bringing AI to boys, told the newspaper. “But for a robot, to walk up and down just like human beings requires various decisions to be made every second, and it's really difficult to do.”

    As The Economist put it, “We have a long way to go before AI can truly begin to be similar to the human brain, even though the technology can be great.”

    Meanwhile, John Mark off of The New York Times said that researchers should build artificial intelligence to make people more effective.

    “Our fate is in our own hands,” he wrote. “Since technology depends on the values of its creators, we can make human choices that use technology to improve the world.”

    Body language is the quietest, secretest and mostpowerful language of all! It is said that our body movements communicate about 50 percent of what we really mean while words only express 7 percent. So, while your mouth is closed, your body is just saying...

    Arms. How you hold your arms shows how open and receptive you are to people you meet. If you keep your arms to the sides of your body or behind your back, this suggests you are not afraid of taking on whatever comes your way. Outgoing people generally use their arms with big movements, while quieter people keep them close to their bodies. If someone upsets you, just cross your arms to show you're unhappy!

    Head. When you want to appear confident, keep your head level. If you are a monitor in class, you can also take on this position when you want your words to be taken seriously. However, to be friendly in listening or speaking, you must move your head a little.

    Legs. Your legs tend to move around a lot more than normal when you are nervous or telling lies. If you are at interviews, try to keep them still!

    Posture (姿势). A good posture makes you feel better about yourself. If you are feeling down, you normally don't kit straight, with your shoulders inwards. This makes breathing more difficult, which can make you feel nervous or uncomfortable.

    Mouth. When you are thinking, you often purse your lips. You might also use this position to hold back an angry comment you don't wish to show. However, it will probably still be noticed, and people will know you're not pleased.

    Face. When you lie, you might put on a false face. But that expression would crack briefly, allowing displays of true emotions such as happiness, sadness, disgust(厌恶)and fear to come through.

    Don't we all know a "Happy Meal" when we see one—the famous boxed meal that includes a hamburger, kid-sized French fries, fruits and milk, served with a toy that's extremely popular with children who love to collect them?

    A Happy Meal is a form of kids' meal sold at a certain fast-food chain since 1979. A toy is included in the meal, both of which are usually contained in a box or paper bag. However, collectors of these little toys will not get them any longer, since the company will replace toys with books and each of these books will mainly pass on nutritional messages.

    Happy Meals are extremely popular with kids, especially for their collectable toys, when you consider that over 1.3 billion of these packages are sold each year. These packages have been very controversial. Health supporters believe that drawing kids to these meals with toys is clever way of promoting unhealthy food choices. They see it as an advertising strategy of "catching its customers young"—a move that has paid off very well for the fast-food company.

    Child development experts say that food habits get formed in children by age six and continue through to their adult life. Fatty and sugary foods such as those served in Happy Meals are believed to play a big role in growing health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Public health care costs have gone up and untold amounts of money have been spent on coping with these health problems. On November 2, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring that children's meals sold in restaurants must meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys, to overcome the problem of childhood obesity—in other words, the State of California tried to ban the toys in Happy Meals. However, it was strongly opposed by some as being heavy-handed, and the ban was thrown out by the government.

    While some people believe that the fast-food company, with its large following of children, can create a powerful message through the books, others believe its actions are contradictory. Anyway, the company is trying to spread the message of nutrition while it is serving food that is anything but healthy.

The huge billboard at the side of the highway is no joke; transporting firewood in certain areas is a crime, punishable by a four-thousand-dollar fine. The reason? Emerald Ash Borer disease, or EAB disease, a new addition to the long list of dangerous foreign pest infestations（虫害）on American soil. It was in 2002 when the Emerald Ash Borer beetle（甲虫）was first discovered in Michigan. Not long after, the pest was found in Ohio. Originally from Asia, this green beetle probably found its way to North America through a wooden box made of ash wood and immediately settled into a local ash tree. In little time, the species managed to kill millions of ash trees. 

To date, much work is underway to stop ash trees ending up in the same group as elm and chestnut trees, which are all dying out in many areas. Ash Borer Infestations are particularly troublesome because they are difficult to identify until the ash tree is heavily infested. In addition, other ash trees in the area surrounding the source will probably also be infested, making control a hard task. 

Researchers are working on many issues related to the control and removal of this harmful beetle. For example, it has been discovered that Asian ash trees are not destroyed by this native borer. It may be that, Asian ash trees have developed genes（基因）to protect them from the insect; therein, perhaps, lies the secret to controlling this pest. Insecticide（杀虫剂）treatment is also being explored on several fronts. Research is underway to determine which insecticides are proving to be the most successful. The proper application of the insecticides is being debated. 

However, all possible solutions require a great deal of study and research. In the meantime, careful steps must be taken. Methodical identification of infested trees is taking place. Identified trees are being cut down and destroyed to get rid of the beetle colonies（群）. In the end, this puts a huge drain（消耗）on city budgets, as tree removal can be extremely expensive. 

Even though it will be expensive to deal with this problem in the short term, the costs of doing nothing could be far higher, since we could lose an entire species of tree.