Venom(毒液）from a local scorpion(蝎子）in Cuba is being used by Cuban scientists as an effective weapon to fight cancer. The venom, with stopping pain, anti-inflammatory (炎症） and anti-cancer properties, is the active ingredient in the medicine “Vidatox 30 CH“ which can be used to treat liver, brain, lung and other cancers. The treatment has been successfully used for more than four years in humans after being first tested in biological models. Labiofam, a Cuban laboratory, has breeding(繁殖)centers for both the Red Scorpion and Blue Scorpion. Each month, some 30,000 scorpions in Las Minas town, 270 km east of Havana are made to give the venom. After two years, the scorpions are released back into their natural habitat.

Denyer Sanchez, a biologist from Labiofam, explained that the conditions are adjusted for reproduction, proved by the high number of breeding female scorpions. He said when the offspring(后代）becomes able to live in the environment, we release them because they do not have the necessary size yet to remove their venom, said Sanchez. Sanchez also said that there is still much to research on the exploitation process of scorpions, such as female death rate or the ability to survive of the released scorpions.

Cuban research on the scorpion's venom began at the end of 1980s in Guantanamo province, the island's eastern tip, where a group of biologists and doctors became interested in the stories told by the peasants about the venom's benefits. However，the first discovery was made by Cuban biologist Misael Bordier. In 2001, Bordier visited Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) and presented the research progress in a professional journal. Bordier died in 2005, one year before Cuba's Industrial Property Office gave Labiofam the rights to exploit the patent related to the venom.

    My motivation for starting our family tradition of reading in the car was purely selfish: I could not bear listening to A Sesame Street Christmas for another 10 hours. My three children had been addicted to this cassette on our previous summer's road trip.

    As I began to prepare for our next 500-mile car trip,I came across a book Jim Trelease's The Read Aloud Handbook. This could be the answer to my problem, I thought. So I put Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach into my bag. When I began to read aloud the tale of the boy who escapes the bad guys by hiding inside a giant peach, my three kids argued and wrestled in their seats. But after several lines, they were attracted into the rhythm of the words and began to listen.

    We soon learned that the simple pleasure of listening to a well-written book makes the long miles pass more quickly. Sometimes the books we read became highlights of the trip. I read Wilson Rawls's Summer of the Monkeys as we spent two days driving to the beach. We arrived just behind the power crews restoring(恢复)electricity after a tropical storm. The rain continued most of the week, and the beach was covered with oil washed up by the storm. When we returned home, I asked my son what he liked about the trip. He answered without hesitation, “The book you read in the car. ”

    Road trips still offer challenges, even though my children now are teenagers. But we continue to read as we roll across the country. And I'm beginning to see that reading aloud has done more than help pass the time. For at least a little while, we are not shut in our own electronic worlds. And maybe we've started something that will pass on to the next generation.

    Which tablet computer should YOU be buying: They are this year's must have ... and there's a style to suit everyone.

    I have been flying since I was three years old. I am now 27 and cannot ever remember being afraid of flying until I was around 20. Suddenly, it seemed to come from nowhere. I began to be afraid of flying.

    Two weeks before I was to fly I would have nightmares every night, all of which were centered on a plane crash. This would obviously add to my anxieties. The turning point for me was when I had to go on a business trip to Germany. My boss and my husband were with me, but nobody was allowed to talk to me. I was quiet and on the verge of (濒于) tears right up until boarding. On the flight I was even worse. I was crying, shaking and my palm were sweaty. It sounds so ridiculous, but if you have a fear of flying you will understand my distress.

    I got home and my fear was getting out of control. It was upsetting for my husband when we were going on holidays together. I would never be excited because I didn't want to fly as I was certain the plane would crash, or we would be hijacked, or there would be a bomb on board, etc.

    I thought about paying for expensive hypnotism (催眠术) to see if that would help me but I also wanted to try and help myself first. That was when I found this book.

    I read the book as soon as it arrived. It answered the questions I had. After that, when I had a flight coming up, I read a few chapters of the book every night for 2 weeks before the flight. I also took the book in my hand luggage so it was there to refer to if I felt fearful during a flight.

    This book is AMAZING and a MUST-HAVE for any nervous flyer.

    I grew to be a tall girl but I tried to be as ordinary as possible. At school, I always chose a seat in the back of the room, and never raised my hand in class. When I was 16, I went to my new school. And I liked the English teacher. In my last year in high school, however, we were told that a new English teacher, Oliver Bascom, was going to teach us.

    Oliver Bascom! The girls laughed as we imagined a short and bald（秃头的）man．The situation was not funny, because this man would teach us for the whole year. Surprisingly, after we opened the door, there in front of the blackboard, we saw a young and handsome man!

    What followed was chaos, seventeen-year-old girls flying to get to seats in the front of the room. And I managed to get a front and center desk.

    I really wanted to make a good impression on my new teacher, but I usually kept quiet. The day that directions were given for our first major writing assignment, I arrived late to class. A friend later gave me the guidelines and I thought I understood them. I worked the whole weekend on the essay and waited nervously for Mr. Bascom's evaluation.

After three days, he arrived in class holding the corrected papers. "I've chosen the ten best essays for class discussion." he said.

    Twenty minutes later, my heart sank when he got to the last essay, and I didn't hear my name.

"These are all great essays," Mr. Bascom continued. "However, I am now going to read you the most successful of all…" We were all surprised as I was the author of this unusual work. A different girl walked out of the classroom that day. I knew that I had a new set of standards to live up to and that anything was possible in the future. Finally, I raised my head.

    My favorite book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, talks about a formula called "SFF" which stands for "stopping finding faults". I used to be a critical person and tried to find faults. I guess I somehow inherited this character from my father. Actually, many good qualities of my father are worth admiring except this.

    My father is the person who constantly looks for mistakes in other people and he thinks no one is perfect in the world. His character created a negative atmosphere in my family. I was the same as my father, so I often felt angry, disappointed, depressed, and lonely in school.

    After I had read my favorite book I began to seek "good things" in other people. It has completely changed my life. Now I feel happier, I have more friends, I have more trust in people, and I realize everyone has their own strength! Another important lesson I got from this book is that I should always behave myself in a positive manner. Let's admit that we sometimes complain about our situation. That's not good. "Believe it or not, people don't like to listen to negative opinions."

    One more valuable lesson I got from the book is that I should be a good listener. When I was younger, I only wanted people to pay whole attention to my words so that I could show them how important I was. I was very proud and would show off my achievements in school without considering others' feeling. I had very few friends and most people considered me as an "arrogant" person. Now, I find it much easier to make friends after making some changes!