A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap. He was texting while being scolded for texting. “It was a subconscious act,” says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. “Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive.”

    A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more sociable, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to 'night texting' for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)

    Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media's impact on families. Will these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers come to see texting and 'social-network checking' as accepted parts of the workday?

    Think back. When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans. In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired. It was impossible to imagine the constant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today.

    Educators are also being asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules. “In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now students are skilled at texting with their phones still in their pockets,” says 40-year-old Mr. Gallagher, the vice principal, “and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are just fundamentally different today. They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones.”

    The brain of an insect isn't very big. But insects are somehow still able to make lots of important decisions. Bees, ants and roaches(蟑螂) build hives(巢穴)with thousands of workers doing specialized work. The jobs are done without a head or even a plan. How do insects manage this?

    To solve the mystery, scientists in Belgium spent months building robotic roaches and then putting them among real roaches. The final goal of the research is to find out how the simple behavior of individuals gives rise to a collective decision. The roach is a good starting point for trying to answer the big question because its social system is simple enough for scientists to study.

    The first step was to build robots that real roaches would accept as their own. Although the robotic roaches don't look much like the real thing, they have similarities with them in three key ways: they naturally head toward dark areas, they are influenced by the behavior of other roaches, and even more importantly, they smell like roaches.

    The next step was getting the robotic and real roaches to work together on common tasks. In experiments, the robots would collectively head towards a dark place, copying the behavior of natural roaches. That got the researchers wondering: if you program the robotic roaches to go woward the lighted place, would the real roaches follow, going against their natural instincts.(本能) ?

    They will – it turned out. Many of the real roaches followed the robots to a lighter shelter. But influence turned out to be a two- way street. On occasion, the real roaches were able to override the programming of the robot roaches and get them to turn into dark hiding places. Being social creatures, both the robotic and natural roaches were paying attention to and following the example set by others.

    In theory, it would be possible to create a robot that could influence collective decision-making in humans. To do this, researchers would have to invent a robot that people would accept. Fortunately, the technology isn't there yet.

    A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, DC. I saw many of our nation's treasures, and I also saw a lot of citizens on the street—unfortunate ones, like beggars and homeless folks.

    Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice ask. “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an old blind woman with her hand extended. In a natural reflex (自然反射), I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it in her hand without even looking at her. I hated being disturbed by a beggar.

But the blind woman smiled and said: “I don't want your money. I just need help finding the post office.” In an instant, I realized what I had done. I had acted with prejudice (偏见)—I had judged another person simply for what I thought she had to be.

    I hated what I saw in myself. This incident brought back my central belief. It reminded me that I believed in being humble (卑下的), even though I'd lost that belief for a moment.

    The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant (移民). I left Honduras and arrived in the US at the age of 15. I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother, my sister and a strong mother. Through the years, I have been a dish washer, roofer, mechanic, cashier and pizza delivery driver, among many other humble jobs. Eventually, I became a network engineer.

In my own life, I have experienced many acts of prejudice. I remember a time at age 17—I was busboy (餐馆工), and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me. I have also seen the same treatment of family and friends, so I know what it's like, and I should have known better.

    But now, living my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to go. The blind woman cured me of my blindness. She reminded me of my belief in being humble, and to always keep my eyes and heart open.

    By the way, I helped that lady to the post office. And in writing this essay, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson she gave me.

    Can you imagine how great the United Kingdom is? The queen of Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, is also the queen of other 16 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Jamaica. Her face is seen on stamps and coins all around the world.

    Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in London on April 21st 1926. Her parents were George, the Duke of York, and Elizabeth, the daughter of the Earl and Count-ness of Strathmore. As a child, Princess Elizabeth lived with her parents and younger sister in London and Windsor. Every summer, she traveled to Scotland to visit her mother's parents. She was interested in all sorts of sports, but her favorites were horse riding and swimming. She was also fond of acting, art and music.

    As princess Elizabeth grew older, she started to play a part in British public life. When she was 14, she broadcast a radio message to all the children of Britain and the Common-wealth(共和国). Two years later, she carried out her first public engagement, and started to go on official tours shortly after that. After a tour to South Africa in 1946, she married Philip Mountbatten. The couple had four children: Prince Charles, born in 1948, Princess Anne, born in 1950, Prince Andrew, born in 1960 and Prince Edward, born in 1964.

    After her father died, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony held in London in 1953. As a queen, she has many duties, and leads a very busy life. She travels throughout the world, meeting the leaders of other countries, and attends a large number of official functions. She also holds a meeting every week with the British Prime Minister. Every year, on Christmas Day, she broadcast a message to the people of British and the Commonwealth, talking about her hopes for the future.

    Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne for more than 40 years and has become one of the most famous women in the world. Lots of people in British believe that she tries hard to understand her people and be a good queen. More than her title, this quality has earned her much love and respect.

    There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real! Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

    May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough difficulties to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

    Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

    The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

    Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, and you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

    When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

    Please send this message to those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life in one way or another, to those who make you smile when you really need it, to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down, to those who you want to let know that you appreciate their friendship. And if you don't, don't worry; nothing bad will happen to you. You will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone's day with this message.

London Underground

    The world's first subway was built in London in 1863. At the time, the government was looking for a way to reduce traffic problems in the city of London. The poor areas of the city were so crowded with people that it was almost impossible for horse carriages to get through. The city officials were interested in trying to make it possible for workers to live outside of London and travel easily to work each day. If people had a cheap and convenient way that they could depend on to go to and from work, they would relocate their homes outside of the city. This would help ease(减轻) the pressure of too many people living in the poor parts of London. From these problems, the idea of the London Underground, the first subway system, was born.

    The plans for building the Underground met with several problems and delays, but the fast track was finally opened in January 1863. A steam train pulled the cars along the fast underground track which was 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) long. About 30,000 people got on the subway the first day. Riders were treated to comfortable seats (standing up while the train was moving was not allowed), and pleasant decorations inside each of the cars. However, the smoke from the engine soon filled the air in the tunnels with ash and soot(煤灰), as well as chemical gases. Fans had to be put in the tunnels later to keep the air clean enough for people to breathe. Even with its problems, riding in the Underground did catch on. It carried 9 million riders in its first year.