It seems that the great desire among the young is to be popular. The desire to be popular can force you into looking and acting like everyone else. You can lose yourself in a sea of identical hairstyles and thinking styles.

    I was forced to think about popularity not too long ago in a talk I had with my daughter. Margy had to change schools when my busy work schedule made it necessary for me to move houses. I suppose that, for a girl in her teens, entering a new school is like spending a season alone in the tropical jungles. At least that's how Margy found it at first. However, as the school year drew to a close, one student after another came to her. I told Margy that I would have been more concerned if she had been an instant social success in her new school. Nobody can please everyone. If you try to do so, you will find values as lasting as soap bubbles blown into the air.

    Some teenagers claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in a certain way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon into a larger cocoon.

    I know that it has become harder for a young person to stand up against the popularity wave. Our way of life makes a young nonconformist stand out like a Martian. These days there's a great barrier for the young person who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. Well, go to it. Be yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That's the only kind of popularity that really counts.

    I was a bit of a bookworm as a child.For car journey,day trip or family holiday,many books were always packed to keep me busy.Since then,I've continued reading all kinds of books but I'll always love my childhood favorites.

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timer—Mark Haddon

    This children's mystery novel is interesting,exciting,thought-provoking（发人深省的）,sad and happy all at the same time.The main character is a 15-year-old boy who has autism（自闭症）. The book gives you a window into his world, his thoughts, his hopes and his dreams. It's easy to read and both kids and adults love it.A must-read in my opinion.

    Secret Seven—Enid Blyton

    If you love adventures,this one is for you.The Secret Seven are a group of child detectives who make it their duty to solve crimes.They have many adventures along the way.It's a fun book that you won't want to stop reading. And in fact, there is more than.one book.There's a series of books about the Secret Seven's adventures so if you like the first one, you're in luck.

    Matilda—Roald Dahl

    It's now a film and show at the theatre,but we can't forget the original book.Matilda is about a loveable little girl who is very clever and,like me,loves to read.She goes to school and meets the very scary Miss Trunchbull who tortures（折磨）children,but thankfully makes friends with a kind teacher. The book will have you crying one, moment and laughing the next.

    The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—C.S.Lewis

    As a kid I read the book, watched the film and listened to the tape.I really couldn't get enough of the book.It's an exciting story set in a magical land called Narnia. When you're reading it, you'll feel like you're really there.You'll get caught up in the adventures of the four children and the characters they meet.I can't rate it highly enough.

    The deadliest Ebola(埃博拉病毒) outbreak in recorded history is happening right now. The outbreak is unprecedented(空前的) both in the number of people who have gotten sick and in the geographic scope. And so far it's been a long battle that doesn't appear to be slowing down.

    Ebola is both rare and very deadly. Since the first outbreak in 1976, Ebola viruses have infected thousands of people and killed roughly 60 percent of them. Symptoms can come on quickly and kill fast.

    The current outbreak started in Guinea sometime in late 2013 or early 2014. It has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, including some capital cities. And one infected patient traveled on a plane to Nigeria, where he spread the disease to several others and then died. Cases have also popped up in various other countries throughout the world, including in Dallas and New York City in the United States.

    The Ebola virus has now hit many countries, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and the United States. The virus, which starts off with flu-like symptoms and sometimes ends with bleeding, has infected about 6,500 people and killed more than 3,000 since this winter, according to the World Health Organization on September 30, 2014.

    There are some social and political factors contributing to the current disaster. Because this is the first major Ebola outbreak in West Africa, many of the region's health workers didn't have experience or training in how to protect themselves or care for patients with this disease.

    Journalist David Quammen put it well in a recent New York Times article, "Ebola is more dangerous to humans than perhaps any known virus on Earth, except rabies(狂犬病) and HIV. And it does its damage much faster than either."

Hopefully, researchers are working to find drugs, including a recent $50 million push at the National Institutes of Health. And scientists are working on vaccines(疫苗), including looking into ones that might be able to help wild chimpanzees, which are also susceptible to the disease. The first human Ebola vaccine trial is scheduled to start in the spring of 2015.

    Fifty years ago I had a young family of three boys. My husband Johnny and I left them with a friend while we made a rare trip to the cinema in Liverpool.

    It was dark and pouring with rain but with the headlights shining on the road  we saw something ahead of us. Johnny pulled to a stop and I jumped out, ran to the grass edge and grabbed a small, wet, and frightened creature. I wrapped it safely in my woollen hat and insisted that my husband turn back and head for home. We thought it was a baby rabbit because it had long ears and was grayish-brown in colour. Once home, we filled a box with torn-up newspaper and a warm towel. We named our new animal Bobsy as we had no idea of its sex.

    Sadly though, on the third day with us, it caught its back foot in a door and we quickly realised it was broken. We rushed to the vet (兽医), who said, "It's only a rabbit, I'll put it to sleep." Our response was a very determined, "No way !"We found another vet and told that she was a baby hare. We were told we should continue to keep her in her box for a week and her foot would heal.

    After her recovery, Bobsy learnt to use the kitty litter tray. She would comb her long ears with her front paws. The local paper heard about this and came to our house to take her photo and write a story about her. We had her for seven wonderful years before we moved to New Zealand and we will never forget her.

    One day, on a small farm in Maine, a man sat in a barn watching a large grey spider spin a web. The man was E.B. White — or Andy, as he was called — who thought spiders were wonderful creatures. He thought that one day he might like to write a children's book about a spider.

    But writing was hard work for Andy. He had written many articles and essays and poems. He had also written one children's book, Stuart Little. But Andy could never just rush to turn an idea into an article or a book. He told his editor (编辑) that he needed to let his ideas ripen.

    So for years, Andy continued to think about writing a children's book about a spider. He did some of his best thinking while he wandered around his farm.

    Once while he was cleaning his barn, he found a spider's egg sac (卵囊). Andy wanted to see the eggs hatch. But he was scheduled to leave for a trip to New York City. So he found a small box and carefully placed the egg sacinside. When he got to his hotel, he put the box on the dresser. One morning he woke up, and there were hundreds of baby spiders rushing across the dresser!

    Years later, Andy finally began writing Charlotte's Web, the story of a spider named Charlotte and a pig named Wilbur. Andy created most of the book sitting by himself in the tiny boathouse of his farm.

    Sometimes he stopped writing and aimlessly drew pictures of spiders. Andy always said Charlotte's Web was more than just a children's story about animals. It was a timeless story about true friendship.

Five trends to watch in the coming year

The number 21 is connected with luck, risk, taking chances and rolling the dice, all of which seem strangely appropriate for a year of unusual uncertainty. As 2021 approaches, here are some trends to watch in the year ahead.

⒈ Fights over vaccines

As the first vaccines become available in quantity, the focus will shit from the heroic effort of developing them to the equally difficult task of distributing them. Vaccine negotiations will accompany fights within and between countries over who should get them and when.

⒉ A mixed economic recovery

As economies bounce back from the pandemic, the recovery will be inconsistent, as local outbreaks and restrictions come and go — and governments turn from keeping companies on life-support to helping workers who have lost their jobs.

⒊ A less footloose world

Tourism will shrink and change shape, with more emphasis on domestic travel. Airlines, hotel chains and aircraft producers will struggle, as will universities that rely heavily on foreign students.

⒋ An opportunity on climate change

One positive side to the crisis is the chance to take action on climate change, as governments invest in green recovery plans to create jobs and cut emissions. How ambitious will countries' reduction promises be at the UN climate conference, delayed from 2020?

⒌ The year of déjà vu

That is just one example of how the coming year may feel, in many respects, like a second take on 2020, as events including the Olympics, the Dubai Expo and many other political, sporting and commercial gatherings do their best to open a year later than planned.