The Greatest Navigational Journey

    In 1787 Captain Bligh was given command of “The Bounty”, a three-year-old merchant ship. His mission was to transport breadfruit plants from the island of Tahiti to the West Indies. We know the popular story of this voyage and the rebellion, in which Bligh has been presented as hard, violent and thoroughly unpleasant captain. However, there is quite a lot of evidence to suggest that this picture is far from being true. He seems to have been unusually thoughtful about the health and welfare of his men. For example he made sure that his crew got exercise, insisted on cleanliness on his ship, and adopted the practice of giving them a drink which prevented scurvy every day.

    When Captain Bligh arrived in Tahiti, it became clear that it would be some months before the breadfruit trees were ready to be taken to the West Indies. Instead of going off right away, he gave his crew extended shore leave. This may have been a mistake as many were unhappy about leaving when the time came. Finally, on the return journey the rebellion took place. The ship was under the command of the rebels and Captain Bligh had to leave in a small boat.

    Captain Bligh's achievement was to get to dry land successfully. It is one of the supreme examples of seamanship. Apart from Bligh there were 18 members of his crew sailing in an open boat about 23 feet long and 7 feet wide. They took with them 25 gallons of water, 150 pounds of bread and 30 pounds of pork. They had no guns or other weapons. The boat was so low in the water that it seemed likely to sink at any time. On one occasion Captain Bligh tried to land on an island to get more water. He and his men were attacked by hostile natives and one of the crew was killed. At this point Bligh decided to sail directly to the Dutch settlement on the island of Timor without stopping. The distance was about 4,000 miles. The voyage took about 42 days and he had no advanced navigational equipment. However, his skill and commitment proved equal to the task and amazingly no one else died. It was truly a remarkable achievement.

    We asked more than 200 teachers,children's authors,and children's literature experts to name the best picture books ever.We made a list based on their advice.Here are some of the books in the list.

    If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff,illustrated by Felicia Bond

    Who it's for: Grades PreK-2

    What it's about: Oh,that hungry mouse.Once you give him the cookie,he will ask for a glass of milk,and then a straw（吸管）and then...The action is unstoppable!In the end,the mouse and the boy that gives him the cookie (and perhaps the reader) are extremely exhausted!With terrific pictures and a wonderful lead character,this book shouldn't be missed by little kids.

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson,illustrated by E.B.Lewis

    Who it's for: Grades 1-4

    What it's about: This is a story about a fence（篱笆）that divides a white neighborhood from a black one and two little girls whose need for play and friendship allow them to cross it.It has a very deep theme.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen,illustrated by John Schoenherr

    Who it's for: Grades 1-5

    What it's about: A classic example of child's expanding a simple walk into a glorious adventure.As a girl and her father hike through the moonlit night,the creatures they come across become exciting companions（同伴）for their owl hunt.

    The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

    The only wordless story on our list.

    Who it's for: Grades PreK-2

    What it's about:A great book to lead a child into reading.A fanciful story of a boy who makes and then befriends a snowman who both enters his world and takes him out for fun.

    China's Singles Day, which falls on Nov. 11 every year, has far surpassed its U. S. counterparts of Black Friday and Cyber Monday—combined Last year, Americans spent a record $ 12.8 billion online between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. It's impressive until you compare it to the $ 17.6 billion in sales made by Chinese consumers in a single 24-hour period during 2016's Singles Day.

    Singles Day is known as “Bare Sticks Day” or “Bare Branches Day” in Chinese-because the date “11/11” looks like bare branches and “one” is the loneliest number. Singles Day began in the early 1990s in the dorm rooms of Nanjing University when a group of single friends were sorry about the lack of significant others and decided to mark the day by organizing activities as a group of singles and reducing their loneliness by buying themselves a gift.

    Then in 2009, sensing a break between the sales period of China's National Day on Oct. 1 and Chinese New Year in late January or early February, Alibaba's Jack Ma saw an opening: sell to comfort lonely hearts.

    The first year did only $7.5 million in sales, but just 8 years later, shoppers spent $ 25.3 billion, or 168.2 billion yuan, this year—a 40 percent jump from last year's $ 17.6 billion. For comparison, Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the U. S. only netted $ 6.79 billion in 2016. Amazon doesn't release sales figures for July's Prime Day, but it's pretty safe to believe the not-quite-national-holiday doesn't come close to $ 25 billion.

    “More than $ 25 billion in one day is not just a sales figure,” Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement. “It represents the desire for quality consumption of the Chinese consumer, and it reflects how merchants and consumers alike have now fully accepted the combination of online and offline sales.”

    There is no doubt that many parents want to mold (塑造)their child to be better, faster, smarter and more skilled. Even though human parents can't do that, a robot that builds its own children can. Scientists at the University of Cambridge in England have created a mother robot that not only creates its own children, but tests out their performance.

    The mother robot analyzes(分析)the performance of each of the “children” it creates, and passes down good characters to the next generation

    For example, as the mother creates them and puts them to work, she measures how they're behaving, and she uses data from this behavior to create the next generation of robots.

    The mother robot can actually build hundreds of child robots and see the performance of these child robots. And if their performance is good, keep their design for the next generation. And if bad, just let it go.

    “We program the robots based on some functions that define(规定)the reward the robots are going to get, depending on the construction that they make. They cannot change their own reward. For the child robot, the longer the distance the robot walks, the better the reward it receives,” said Fumiya Iida, the lead researcher.

    After several generations, the “children” were running twice as fast.

    “The mother robot produced 500 robots to see which one is good and which one is bad,” said Iida.

    The researchers believe that the machines can be used in a car factory, for example, where robot cameras examine each ear in production line, find out any mistakes, and then design a better car.

    It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter altogether.

    Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic condition. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.

    However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to. It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies (奶奶).

    An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.

Westwinds Farm Campsite

    Open April - September

    (Booking is advised for holidays in July and August to guarantee a place.)

    Jim and Meg Oaks welcome you to the campsite. We hope you will enjoy your stay here. We ask all campers to show due care and consideration whilst staying here and to observe the following camp rules.

    Keep the campsite clean and tidy: dispose of litter in the bins provided; leave the showers, toilets and washing area in the same state as you found them; ensure your site is clear of all litter when you leave it.

    Don't obstruct rights of way. Keep cars, bikes, etc. off the road.

    Let sleeping campers have some peace. Don't make any noise after 10 o'clock at night or before 7:30 in the morning.

    Dogs must be kept on a lead. Owners of dogs that disturb other campers by barking through the night will be asked to leave.

    Disorderly behavior will not be tolerated.

    The lighting of fires is strictly prohibited.

    Ball games are not allowed on the campsite. There is plenty of room for ball games in the park opposite the campsite.

    Radios, portable music equipment, etc. must not be played aloud.

    The management reserves the right to refuse admittance.