Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other gold.

    This song expresses a nice rule: increasing friends. Sometimes things actually work out that way. I've met adults who've said, “We've been friends since kindergarten!” A friend who has known you forever is a treasure. But friendships don't always last — especially for children.

    When I was growing up, my family moved about every three years. The advantage of this was that I got to see different parts of the world, and it made my family very close. I also learned to be pretty good at making new friends, and, to keep in touch with old friends, I became a great letter writer. But I always admired those kids who stayed in one place and kept their friends for a long time. I didn't learn that children's friendships can disappear even when no one moves until I was much older, with children of my own.

    Sometimes friendships end in quarrels and hurt feelings. But perhaps the most painful end to a friendship is the one-sided rejection — one friend turns away, or chooses someone else as a close friend, and the other child is left feeling sad and wondering why this thing happened. The end of a friendship is often sad, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Often the end of one friendship makes more room for other friendships to grow.

    Custom tattooed fish (纹身鱼) may be big sellers at markets, but an animal expert say it is a cruel and potentially lethal practice.

    In Laitai Flower and Fish Market near the Lufthansa Center in Beijing, four of over 20 fish stores sell marine ornamental fish that are tattooed using laser (激光) guns with beautiful images in order to make them more attractive to customers. Many people just love these kinds of fish, which gives them a unique visual impression. The price of these fish ranges from 50-100 yuan. Some customers are willing to pay an additional 100 yuan to have Chinese characters tattooed on to the fish. The most popular characters are “zhaocai” (attracting fortune) and “fu” (blessing). The color of tattooed fish won't fade away, and the fish can be cared for as regular fishes:

    But Ye Zhenjiang, a professor from the Ocean University of China, said “the practice would damage a fish's mackerel scale, which is its protective layer. Although I haven't done any research on the impact of the laser on mackerel scale, it is obvious that the mackerel scale may be infected or even destroyed under the exposure of laser,” Ye said. “It's like tattooing a human being's body, and it breaks the physiological balance of the fish and damages: the skin's protective surface, It may even cause death among fishes which have thin mackerel scale.”

    A specialist in aquatic(永生的) animal study surnamed Xu, from the Beijing Fisheries Research Institute, said, “We have no specific regulations to prevent fish from being tattooed. An official surnamed Bai from the Fishery Surveillance and Administration Bureau(FSAB), said there is no study showing that the laser threatened a fish's health. He said a regulation on small animal protection, to be passed in the near future, doesn't include regular aquatic animals. He said the institution is only responsible for aquatic animals that are on the verge of extinction. He said tattooed fish are mainly from south China's Guangdong province because Beijing does not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish.

    “It's too brutal to tattoo pictures or characters on fishes, even if it makes them more beautiful,” many tropical fish buyers told METRO yesterday. “We would never buy fish like that and we prefer them with natural beauty.”

    Many editors have a rule that they will not even read stories that are not formatted and presented as requested in their Submission（投稿）Guidelines.Even if this policy is not stated,it affects their decision-making.There are a few reasonable reasons.

    A good editor likes to read all stories for the first time in the same format（格式）as the publication standard.A consistent format between manuscripts（手稿）removes distractions like unusual presentation and puts each manuscript on the same starting level,with the focus on content.

    Leading publications get thousands of submissions a year.Editor time is extremely valuable.Most editors enjoy finding gems among the manuscripts,but they really dislike reformatting(don't you prefer eating an elegant meal to washing dishes?).When an editor sees he will have to spend an extra half hour of precious time in reformatting,he subconsciously marks that submission down compared to other submissions of equal quality.

    Publications need to have consistency in formatting for all their published stories: letterform,type size,spacing, paragraph structure etc.This keeps the reader's focus on the words and not their structure.Since editors don't have a choice to just accept a weirdly（古怪的）formatted story as it is,they are forced to either reformat or decline the submission.

    Publications use different software and other tools in their operations.Editors know what makes their system go smoothly.Many invisible software formatting structures between types of documents create disasters.

    Editors are not pedantic（迂腐的）.Their job is to find great material and expose those works to appreciative readers.Differently formatted manuscripts steal time away from that responsibility,which is bad for everyone.Editors love nothing more than finishing a read and thinking “Wow.A great story-AND it's cut and paste!"

    “Now I just don't believe that.” Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It's simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we're fools.

    If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they'd probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn't explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis/Jackie Chan/Will Smith would most likely be in a coma(昏迷) after getting kicked in the head.

    Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing tech moments from some top movies. Let's see what they are all about.

    Telegraph writer Tom Chivers' first example from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien(外星人) spacecraft uses. “It's a good thing they didn't have Norton antivirus,” jokes Chivers.

    It's just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams of light raveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles(颗粒) for the light to reflect off. In reality, they'd not be seen, which wouldn't look so cool on the big screen.

    Chivers' second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “the bellow(咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn't actually be any sound at all.

    Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly.

    And finally, as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die another Day by. In the film the villain(坏人) has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.

    I work with Volunteers for Wildlife, a rescue(救援) and education organization at Bailey Arboretum in Locust Valley. Trying to help injured, displaced or sick creatures can be heartbreaking; survival(存活) is never certain. However, when it works, it is simply beautiful.

    I got a rescue call from a woman in Mutton town. She had found a young owl(猫头鹰) on the ground. When I arrived, I saw a 2­to-3­week­old owl. It had already been placed in a carrier for safety.

    I examined the chick(雏鸟) and it seemed fine. If I could locate(定位) the nest, I might have been able to put it back, but no luck. My next work was to construct(建造) a nest in a tree.

The homeowner was very helpful. A wire basket was found. I put some pine branches(松树枝) into the basket to make this nest safe and comfortable. I placed the chick in the nest, and it quickly calmed down.

    Now all that was needed were the parents, but they were nowhere to be found. I gave the homeowner a recording of the hunger screams of owl chicks. These advertise the presence of chicks to adults; they might also encourage our chick to start calling as well. I gave the owner as much information as possible and headed home to see what news the night might bring.

    A nervous night to be sure，but sometimes the spirits of nature smile on us all! The homeowner called to say that the parents had responded(回应) to the recordings. I drove over and saw the chick in the nest looking healthy and active. And with it was the greatest sight of all — LUNCH！The parents had done their duty and would probably continue to do so.

    Fights at school sometimes happen. But how can you keep away from a fight? Here's something you can do.

    Be calm (冷静). Sometimes, you feel so angry that you really want to teach somebody a lesson. But being angry can't solve problems. Neither can a fight. Instead, it may bring you more problems. In the school, everyone involved (卷入) in a fight will be punished, no matter who started it. There are winners in a fight.

    Shout loudly. If you know someone is coming up behind you to attack, turn toward the person with your hands up in front of your body and loudly say "stop" before walking away. Loud voice can usually make the attacker calm down. If the person doesn't stop, cry for help by calling out the name of a teacher whose office is nearby.

              . Your friend may ask you to join in a fight. Learn to say no. Helping him fight is not really helpful to him. If you really want to give him a hand, try to ask him to give it up. Also, you can tell him if he gets involved in a fight, he may get hurt and be punished. Then, try to learn why he wants a fight and help him find a right way to deal with the problem.