Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs—what do they have in common? They are, of course, all Americans. And according to a survey by social networking site baidu. com, they all best illustrate(举例说明) the word “cool”.

    But just what does it mean to say someone is “cool”? Most would answer that it is something to do with being independent-minded and not following the crowd.

    Yale University art professor Robert Farris Thompson says that the term “cool” goes back to 15th century West African philosophy. “Cool” relates to ideas of grace under pressure.

    “In Africa, ” he writes, “coolness is a positive quality which combines calmness, silence, and life.”

    The modern idea of “cool” developed largely in the US in the period after World War II. “Post-war ‘cool' was in part an expression of war-weariness (厌战情绪), ... it went against the strict social rules of the time,” write sociologists Dick Pountain and David Robins in Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude.

    But it was the American actor James Dean who became the symbol for “cool” in the hugely successful 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause. Dean plays a tough guy who disobeys his parents and the authorities. He always gets the girl, smokes cigarettes, wears a leather jacket and beats up bullies. In the movie, Dean showed what “cool” would mean to American young people for the next 60 years.

    Today the focus of “cool” has changed to athletics (体育运动) stars. Often in movies about schools, students gain popularity on the athletics field more than in the classroom. This can be seen quite clearly in movies like Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die.

    But many teenagers also think being smart is cool. Chess and other thinking games have been becoming more popular in schools.

    “Call it the Harry Potterization of America—a time when being smart is the new cool,” writes journalist Joe Sunnen.

    I could feel the judging eyes of my family burning a hole into the back of my head as I picked up my phone. All of a sudden, the chattering in the living room died and all I could hear was the sound of the turkey sizzling (发出嘶嘶声) in the oven.

    “Look at her! She's been on her phone all day long! It's all your fault! Children will never respect elders if they are not taught how to behave! ” my grandmother shouted.

    I was very shocked and angry! I opened my mouth to say something, but words failed me and I just sat down quietly on the chair like a mouse in its trap. I thought “Here we go again.” I truly love my family and I would do anything for them. I also know that they would do anything for me as well. However, there are moments that make me feel that they are just stuck with me. They all agree on one thing: technology is wrecking me.

    If I am going to be treated like a child or completely ignored, I will most likely not enjoy your company, and I feel that this applies to (适用于) the majority of the people. So I sometimes simply shut myself in my room and listened to the voices coming from the living room, thinking: They all grew up in a world so different that it amazes me how they have actually gotten this far. They did not have phones or any type of advanced technology, which is both good and bad. Bad because they had almost no type of fast communication, and good because they were forced to interact (互动) with one another, which is something today's society is lacking in. However, maybe if they made an effort to be aware of how things work nowadays, they would not be so against everything.

    Uncover a magical mix of new and unforgettable experiences when you add theme park admission.

    Item 1: An all-New Lana and Evening Show at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme pork

    Bury yourself in the magic of nature like never before at Pandora-The World of Avatar. Visit this destination to start innovative(革新的) travel and enjoy themed dining and shopping opportunities. And at night, treat your sense to Rivers of Light – an incredible mixture of water, sound and light!

    Item 2: Dazzling New Shows at Magic Kingdom Park

    Get ready to wonder at Once Upon a Time, a new night projection show that brings Cinderella Castle to life with projections of beloved Disney scenes and characters. In addition, catch the impressive Happily Ever After ninth when it is performed for the first time on May 12, 2017.

Item 3: Attractive Escapades at Epcot

    Board an ancient Norwegian ship and go to the kingdom of Arendelle during a Frozen Ever After adventure. Then, stop by the Royal Sommerhus to meet Anna and Elsa—and maybe even start a warm hug. Longing for an air adventure? Take flight on the re-imagine Soarin' and feel as though you're flying above some of the earth's most surprising landmarks and landscapes.

Item 4: Epic Entertainment at Disney's Hollywood Studios

    Catch excellent stage shows like Beauty and the Beast—Live on Stage, have fun playing virtual games on Toy Story Mania! , and wrap up your day with Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, a laser and special effects show set to an iconic musical score.

    Serious Shopping, One-of-a-Kind Eateries and World-Class Acts at Disney Springs.

    Discover a waterfront destination filled with more than 150 places to shop, dine and be entertained—including brand name stores, restaurants with rooftop rooms and the only place in the world to see Cirque du Soleil^TM La Nouba.

    One advantage of the Internet is shopping conveniently online for clothes; one disadvantage of the Internet is also shopping conveniently online for clothes.

    “Nothing fits,” said Lam Yuk Wong, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University. “Everyone says this. They order clothes and they don't fit. People get very unhappy.”

    Wong and her design partner, Xuaner “Cecilia” Zhang, are Team White Mirror, creators of what they call a “virtual (虚拟) fitting room”. Their goal is simple and consumer-friendly: to let online clothing shoppers have a perfect fit and a perfect look when shopping every time.

    Both women are from China, Wong from Hong Kong and Zhang from Beijing. They both order most of their clothing online. They got the idea from their own experience as consumers and from listening to the complaints of friends and relatives. “They say, 'The color is wrong' or 'I got the right size but it still does not fit.' We want to make it like you're in the store trying on the clothes,” Zhang said.

    Using a Kinect developed by Microsoft for use with its Xbox 360 video game player.

    Zhang scans Wong and turns  her image into, in effect, a virtual model, keeping Wong's dimensions (尺寸), and even her skin and hair color. “We put the clothes on the shopper's 3-D body models and show how they look when they are dressed,” Wong said. So far, Wong and Zhang have adapted the software to show dresses and shirts, and they are now working on shorts.

    Asked if she thought men as well as women might be interested in using their virtual fitting room, Wong said, “I think their wives will care about this, so it will also be important to men.”

    Kang Sung-il buys Sancho, his Pomeranian, a toy every business trip and this lunar New Year holiday will dress him up in s new $50 suit to visit 'grandma', Kang's mother. Kang and his wife say children are too expensive and bring too much pressure. Instead they have chosen to shower Sancho with love and gifts.

    They are not alone. South Korea's pet industry is booming, fuelled by the same factors that have made the country's birth rate, at 1.05 births per woman, the lowest in the world: the high cost of education and housing as well as extremely long working days.

    "Social pressures in South Korea are such that parents are required to provider resources for decades from private schooling to art classes," said Kang a 39 year old manager of a pet funeral home.

    On top of education expenses, an average and household must budget roughly 12.8 years of income to buy a mid-range home, compared to 8.8 years in 2014, data from KB Kookmin Bank shows. Adding to their stress, south Koreans work the third most hours per year among OECD (经合组织) nations, next only to Mexico and costa Rica.

    Pet-owning households have rose to 28 percent of all South Korean households in 2018, compared with 18 percent in 2012, government data shows.

    That in turn has resulted in a prosperous pet care industry whose offerings include tailored pet diets and high-priced photo shoots. Pet-related startup s are also popular with venture capitalists. The south Korean pet-related industry was worth 2.7 trillion won ($2.4 billion) last year, and that could more than double in size by 2027, according to the Korean Rural Economic Institute.

    Chinese media and Internet users on Monday decried（谴责）a lack of morals in society after a child was struck twice by two different trucks and left bleeding on the road as more than a dozen bystanders did nothing to help the seriously injured girl.

    The incident, captured by a surveillance camera and aired by Southern Television Guangdong (TVS), showed the two-year-old girl was knocked down and run over by a white truck on a narrow market street on the afternoon of Oct. 13, in Foshan City of Guangdong Province.

    The driver fled the scene of the accident, leaving the girl to bleed on the sidewalk. Over the next six minutes, more than a dozen people walked by the girl, yet not one individual did anything to help her. The girl was then hit a second time by another van before an elderly trash collector came to her aid and brought the attention of the girl's mother, according to the video and eyewitnesses.

    Doctors said that the girl, who was put on life support after being hospitalized, remains in a deep coma. The girl's parents, who are migrants living in the city, are now with her.

    Police said the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested. However, the apathy(冷漠) of the bystanders shown in the video has shocked the public, and people are questioning the morality of society.

    High moral standards were once considered as national pride in China where individuals known for selflessly helping others were adored（崇拜） by the public.

    But in recent years, the perception（观念）of a decline of morals has become a hot topic as profit and materialism are perceived to be affecting society's values.

    On Sept. 2. an 88-year-old man in central China collapsed, his face striking the pavement. Yet, no one came to his aid, and he ended up choking to death on the blood from his nose.

    Some have linked the absence of good Samaritans (模范人物)to a previous case in which a man trying to help an elderly woman who fell was accused of harming her.

    A strong chorus of opinion on the Internet says laws should exempt（免除）Samaritans from liability（责任）, yet laws themselves cannot solve society's morality dilemma.

    Cao Lin, a China Youth Daily commentator, said in a signed article published on Monday that the worry of liability should not be an excuse for not helping, and this case exposes the decline of humanity in Chinese society.