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    Teens and younger children are reading a lot less for fun, according to a Common Sense Media report published Monday.

    While the decline over the past decade is steep for teen readers, some data in the report shows that reading remains a big part of many children's lives, and indicates how parents might help encourage more reading.

    According to the report's key findings, "the proportion (比例) who say they 'hardly ever' read for fun has gone from 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds in 1984 to 22 percent and 27 percent respectively today."

    The report data shows that pleasure reading levels for younger children, ages2-8, remain largely the same. But the amount of time spent in reading each session has declined, from closer to an hour or more to closer to a half hour per session.

    When it comes to technology and reading, the report does little to counsel(建议)parenst looking for data about the effect of e-readers and tablets on reading. It does point out that many parents still limit electronic reading, mainly due to concerns about increased screen time.

    The most hopeful data shared in the report shows clear evidence of parents serving as examples and important guides for their kids when it comes to reading. Data shows that kids and teens who do read frequently, compared to infrequent readers, have more books in the home, more books purchased for them, parents who read more often, and parents who set aside time for them to read.

    As the end of school approaches, and school vacation reading lists loom(逼近)ahead, parents might take this chance to step in and make their own summer reading list and plan a family trip to the library or bookstore.

    San Francisco is a great city. Below are some ideas for educational activities and programs in San Francisco for this summer.

    The San Francisco School: Summer Programs

    There are summer camps for the children from pre-kindergarten through middle school at the San Francisco School. With programs such as "Fearless Writing" "A Green World" and "Re-Making Clothing", San Francisco becomes a great place for children to learn and have fun in the summer. Registration starts in the spring. Call 415-749-4550 to know more.

    San Francisco Art Institute: Community Education

    From children to elders, all people are welcome to sign up for all sorts of art classes all year round, such as "Adult Continuing Education", "Pre-college Programs" and "A Young Artist". Check online for schedules, class types, age groups and more or call 415-749-4500.

    San Francisco University High School: Summer Program

    This is a three-summer commitment and a great program preparing kids for college. It provides language and art classes in the morning and social studies such as sports and history in the afternoon. There are also fun activities such as a field day, a party night, a talent show, etc. 30 to 35 tenth-grade children are chosen each summer, so you have to fill out a form. Call 415-749-4558 to know more.

    Rudolf Steiner College: Summer Programs

    Rudolf Steiner has summer programs for those who want to take courses such as teaching grade courses 1 to 8. Registration is at the beginning of April. Call 415-749-4560 for more about it.

    These activities and programs are usually popular, and if you are interested, get up and join us!

    In most situations, light helps us see. But when it comes to looking at the night sky, light is actually a kind of pollution. It prevents our view of some of life's most striking sights: stars, planets, and even galaxies (银河系).

    "When I was a little boy, I loved the night sky. I remember looking up and the sky was filled with stars. I became an astronomer because I was amazed by their beauty," says Robert Gent, "Now in most big cities kids can't see the stars like I did."

    Normally, about 2，500 individual (单个的) stars are visible to the human eyes without using any special equipment. But because of light pollution, you actually see just 200 to 300 and fewer than a dozen from some cities. Only one in three Americans can see our own galaxy with the naked eyes. Those people live far away from the lights of big cities, office buildings, and shopping malls.

    Fortunately, there's an inexpensive and useful way. If we shine lights down at the ground instead of up into the sky, and use lower brightness levels, we can save big amounts of energy and keep the beauty of the night skies. Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night, making sure enough shine for safety without creating much light pollution.

    Light pollution affects more than our view of the heavens and can harm wildlife. Migrating birds (候鸟) sometimes fly over cities and become confused by the brightness, flying in circles until they drop from exhaustion. Sea turtles need dark beaches for nesting and won't approach bright lights. Too much light at night may even affect human health. For all these reasons, researchers are working on ways to use lights only when and where they are truly needed. Everyone deserves to look up at the sky.

    The San Diego Center for Children recently added three acres of land to its 9-acre Linda Vista campus. Thanks to the efforts of Assembly member Dr. Shirley Weber, the state sold the land near the Center's main campus. Now the Center, which is the oldest children's nonprofit (非营利的机构) in the region, will be able to provide more treatment and educational foster care (看护) to kids and families who need it most.

    Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) received a $10, 000 grant from the USS Midway Foundation to support its Hand Up Food Pantry (食品贮藏室). "Jewish Family Service works every day to help struggling families and individuals in San Diego move forward and build more stable, secure lives," says JFS CEO Michael Hopkins.

    St. Madeleine Sophie's Center raised more than $16, 000 at its Swing with Santa Golf Tournament (锦标赛). The funds will go toward programs for adults with developmental disabilities. The 5th annual tournament included 18 hotels, food and drinks, and two celebrity appearances: both Santa and Elvis made a dramatic entrance via helicopter.

    Coming Up: Raise money for the 4SRanch-Del Sur Community Foundation and Helen's Closet (壁橱，衣帽间) at the 9th Annual Thank You Run on Thanksgiving Day, November 22. Helen's Closet serves patients with ALS. The distance is 5K with a 1K Fun Run for children aged 8 and under.

Every profession or trade, every art, and every science has its technical vocabulary, the function of which is partly to name things, or processes which have no names in ordinary English, and partly to secure greater exactness in terminology (术语). Such special dialects are necessary in technical discussion of any kind. Being universally understood by those engaged or interested in the particular science or art, they have the accurateness of a mathematical formula (公式）. Besides，they save time in these kinds of discussions, for it is much more economical to name a process than to describe it. Thousands of these technical terms are very properly included in every large dictionary, yet, as a whole, they are rather in the suburbs of the English language.

Different occupations, however, differ widely in the character of their special vocabularies. In trades and handicrafts, and other professions, like farming and fishery, which have occupied great numbers of men from remote times, the technical vocabulary is very old. It consists largely of native words, or of borrowed words that have worked themselves into the very central part of our language. Thus, though highly technical in many particulars, these vocabularies are more familiar in sound, and more generally understood, than most other technical terms. In law, medicine, and philosophy, the special dialects have also become pretty familiar to cultivated persons and have contributed much to the popular vocabulary. Yet among these professions, each one still possesses a large body of technical terms that remain essentially foreign, even to educated speech. And the proportion has increased in the last fifty years, particularly in the various departments of natural and political science and in the mechanic arts. Here new terms are coined with the greatest freedom, and abandoned when they have served their turn. Most of the newly-invented terms are restricted to special discussions, and seldom get into general literature or conversation.

Yet no profession is nowadays, as all professions once were, a close combination. Lawyers, doctors and men of science all communicate freely with others, not in a merely professional way. Furthermore, what is called "popular science" makes everybody familiar with modem views and recent discoveries. Any important experiment, though made in a remote or provincial laboratory, is at once reported online, and everybody is soon talking about it-as in the case of AI.

Some people live to climb the highest mountains. Some people live only dreaming about it while others live to avoid ever climbing at all. But one thing is certain — all people meet mountains in their life. 

When I was a little girl, my family moved to a tiny town at the bottom of a big mountain. One day after school, while exploring the green woods of this amazing mountain, I almost fell on a set of stairs. What could these steps lead to? Curiosity got the best of me as I knew it would be starting to get dark soon. I started climbing up those strangely mysterious (神秘的) steps. I climbed and climbed. There was nothing but just green bushes and these steps. I had to reach the top. But it was now getting real dark. If I kept going I might not be able to see my way back. My mom would be worried sick if I didn't come home soon. So I ran back home almost in the dark while trying not to get too scared.

Anxiously I went to bed dreaming about what I would find at the top of this magical mountain. Could there be a castle up there? Maybe I would find a monster (怪物) . Maybe I was taking the risk of never coming back home. Or, maybe all I would find was absolutely nothing! But something inside me was going to climb that mountain at all cost. I could hardly wait to try this adventure again. 

Now we live in a world surrounded by the "can't do" attitudes. We all fall down. We all have doubts and regrets. Still we must climb and dream about what's at the top of our mountain. Monsters may appear or the night will fall. But never ever give up on your dream! Never let anyone tell you, "You can't." Dream big and climb high!