Kumiko And The Dragon

    Author: Briony Stewart

    Price: $16.95

    Kumiko is a little girl, who likes to listen to her obasaan's stories before going to bed. But she hates sleeping alone at night. She often begs to sleep with her mother but her mother won't hew(坚持)of it. Each day, bedtime is hard for little Kumiko as she walks upstairs with heavy steps and her frightened heart beats wildly.

    Roti Rolled Away

    Author: Anti Utarid   Price: S9. 10

    It takes place in India. Asha of about nine visits her Nard(grandmother)on top of a hill Her Nani has just made hot fresh Rotis and the Roti is given to Asha to eat. However, the Rot escapes Nannis hands and begins to roll out into the great big hills.

    The Alchemist

    Author: Paulo Coeho   Price: $8.83

    This book is about a Spaniard shepherd boy. Santiago has a dream about hidden treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids.

    The Cay

    Author: Theodore Taylor    Price:UK 5.9 pounds

    Set during the Second World War. The Cay is about the adventures of Philip who set off from the island of Curacao off the Venezuelan coast, with his mother, bound for Virginia. First published in 1969, this book has won eleven literary award and has been translated into fifteen.

    It was anniversary（周年纪念）and Ria was waiting for her husband Manoj to show up. After some years of marriage things changed between them. The once cute couple who couldn't live without each other were now fighting over every little thing, but both didn't like changes that came into their marriage.

    Ria was waiting to see if Manoj remembered that it was their wedding anniversary. As the doorbell rang she ran toward the door and opened it with a bunch of flowers to greet him. Both started to celebrate. They wanted to make up for fights.

    Suddenly the phone in the bedroom rang. Ria went to pick it up. On the call there was a man who said, “Hello, madam. I am calling from the police station. Is this Mr. Manoj Kumar's number?”

    She replied, “Yes, it is!”

    “I am sorry, but there has been an accident and man died. We got this number from his wallet. Can you please come and identify the body?” the man replied. Ria was shocked!! “But my husband is with me here!!”, she replied. “Sorry, but the accident took place in the afternoon while he was getting off the bus.”

    Ria was about to lose her consciousness（意识）. She had read stories about souls returning to meet their loved ones after their death before it leaves!! Her heart sank. In fear she ran towards the other room to look for her husband. But he was not there. She said to herself, “It's true!! He left me forever. Oh God, I can die to have another chance to mend for every fight we had. I lost my chance forever.” She fell on the floor in pain.

    Suddenly there was noise from the bathroom. The door opened and Manoj came out and said, “Darling, I forgot to tell you today my wallet was stolen.”

    Life might not give you a second chance, so never waste any moment while you still have one. Value people and relations in life and have a wonderful life with no regrets. Live today and enjoy every moment of life because no one has promised tomorrow.

    I must have looked deep in thought, or as deep in thought as an 11-year-old man can, when my grandmother glanced up from her weeding to ask, “You have something on your mind, don't you?”

    “Yes, I was thinking that someday I want to be an Olympic speed skating champion like my hero, Eric Haiden, I want to be a doctor like my parents and I want to help children in Africa.”

    I immediately knew I had confided in the right person when a knowing smile broke across her face. “Johann, of course! You can do anything you want to do!” she said simply. And with my grandmother's support, I set out to pursue my passions.

    14 years later, I was well ready to take hold of my first dream: becoming an Olympic champion. The Olympics in 1994 were in my home country, Norway. As I entered the Olympic stadium, I wasn't the best athlete, and many had doubts about my ability to perform well. But I had something special working for me. I had a woman in the first row who believed in me following my passions just as much as I did. For the first time ever, my grandmother was going to see me skate.

    It happened. Breaking a world record, I won the gold.

    As I stood on the podium(领奖台) that I had dreamed about my entire life, a curious question popped into my head. Why me? Why did I win, given all the other incredible competitors out there? The reason had to be more than a grandmother who shared a belief in her grandson's dream. The question led me to only one answer: because I wanted to make a difference in the world, and with all the media attention on my success, I could.

    I immediately knew what that difference had to be: hope in the lives of the children in Africa. Six months earlier, I'd been invited to Eritrea as an ambassador for Olympic Aid.

    Tablets(平板电脑) are useful devices, but their big screens always make them as a burden to carry around without a bag. Wouldn't it be great if there were a phone with the powers of a tablet that could be folded up and fit neatly into the hand? Now something like a tablet-shaped but foldable(可折叠的) phone is about to become available. In February, Samsung and Huawei both introduced foldable phones, the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X separately, to the public for the first time. Mobile phone use has entered the "foldable future", the Verge noted.

    The technology could change our lives in significant ways. These devices, due to their bendable screens, give us the larger screens we want but still fit easily into the pocket. The technology could change other devices too. For example, we could make TVs that stick to walls like posters, or fold up easily to hide away in drawers, which could help increase available space to the maximum. In a keynote address, Justin Denison, Samsung's senior vice president, called the foldable screen "the basis for the smartphone of tomorrow". "It's a blank canvas (画布) for us to do something beautiful together," he said.

    So is there nothing to stand in the way of the foldable future? According to tech news website Android Authority, the necessary displays were difficult to produce. In 2012, nine out of ten foldable screens produced were defective or unusable. Today, that 10 percent rate has been improved to almost 90 percent. However, at present these foldable devices are expensive. For example, the price of Huawei Mate X is 17, 500 RMB. That's a price that few people will be able to afford.

    But if the foldable device isn't going to change the world overnight, there is no doubt that it is coming. Patrick Moorhead, an industry expert told The Verge, "Few are debating if foldable mobile displays are the future of smartphones; the only question is when and by whom."

    Teenagers who talk on the cell phone a lot, and hold their phones up to their right ears, score worse on one type of memory test. That's the finding of a new study. That memory impairment might be one side effect of the radiation (放射线) that phones use to keep us connected while we're on the go.

    Nearly 700 Swiss teens took part in a test of figural memory. This type helps us remember abstract (抽象的) symbols and shapes, explains Milena Foerster. The teens took memory tests twice, one year apart. Each time, they had one minute to remember 13 pairs of abstract shapes. Then they were shown one item from each pair and asked to match it with one of the five choices. The study volunteers also took a test of verbal memory. That's the ability to remember words. The two memory tests are part of an intelligence test. The researchers also surveyed the teens on how they use cell phones. And they got call records from phone companies. The researchers used those records to figure out how long the teens were using their phones. This allowed the researchers to work out how big a radiation exposure (接触) each person could have got while talking.

    A phone user's exposure to the radiation can differ widely. Some teens talk on their phones more than others. People also hold their phones differently. If the phone is close to the ear, more radiation may enter the body, Foerster notes. Even the type of network signal that a phone uses can matter. Much of Switzerland was using an older "second-generation" type of cell phone networks, the study reports. Many phone carriers (通讯公司) have moved away from such networks. And more companies plan to update their networks within the next few years.

    The teens' scores in the figural memory tests were roughly the same from one year to the next. But those who normally held their phones near the right ears, and who were also exposed to higher levels of radiation, scored a little bit worse after a year. No group of teens showed big changes on the verbal memory test. Why might one type of memory be linked to cell phone use, but not another? Foerster thinks it could have to do with where different memory centers sit in the brain. The site that deals with the ability to remember shapes is near the right ear.

When I was a young boy I was in a poor neighborhood as a foster ( 领养) child. I was1 to spend lots of time alone. I would often wander the neighborhoods on my own and2 to help rake (用耙子耙平) a yard, mow a lawn ( 割草), or wash some walls3 some pocket money just to buy some clothes or candy.

Once I knocked on the door of an elderly woman and asked if she needed her leaves raked in the yard. She asked why I was not in school and I4 her my torn trousers and shoes, which were5 and no longer keeping my feet warm and6 . And when I finished the work she gave me some7 . She said, "I want you to buy some trousers and new shoes and8 school. I also want you to come back and9 me with your report card and I will reward you when I see you have worked hard and have some good10 ."

I returned several times to see the woman in the corner house and she did just as she11 . She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and a sandwich every time I12 showed her I had an "A" or "B". And over the next couple of years, she continued to be this13 influence in my life as brief as it was and I never knew her name.

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighborhood into a different home, with another family. I will of course never14 the huge difference this wonderful stranger made over my life with her15 . This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.