Raeann Sleith began making bracelets (手链) when she was six. Family and friends loved her designs and asked for more. When admirers suggested that Raeann sell her bracelets, she realized she wanted to do just that — and donate the money to help kids with special needs, like her brother Derek.

    Raeann's older brother, Derek, has cri du chat syndrome. Children with cri du chat usually have problems understanding ideas and might have a hard time learning to talk. Many also have weak muscles that can cause problems with walking or using their fingers to pick things up. The term cri du chat means “cry of the cat” in French. Babies with cri du chat often have a high-pitched cry that sounds like that of a little cat.

    Over the years, Derek's teachers helped him learn sign language and gestures. They also taught him skills such as recognizing letters, cutting with scissors, and understanding basic math. Raeann wanted to donate money to Derek's school. “I just wanted to help my brother,” she says, “and the people who help him.”

    At first, Raeann focused on creating jewelry that would raise awareness for cri du chat. But people started requesting bracelets to wear as a symbol of support and awareness for a variety of other diseases and disorders. To create those symbols, Raeann researched the color most often associated with raising awareness for the disease or disorder, such as pink for breast cancer or orange for leukemia.

    In the end, it turned out to be a great idea. In only a few years, Raeann has donated more than $30,000 to local charities. Raeann's mom says that working on the bracelets has developed the generosity and kindness that already existed in her daughter. Raeann plans to keep making bracelets and raising dollars for charities. “I just want to keep going on with it,” she says, “to help my brother more.”

    "How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way that people in the United States greet each other. But "How are you?" is also a very unusual question. It's a question that often doesn't need an answer. The person who asks "How are you?" hopes to hear the answer "Fine", even if the person's friend isn't fine. The reason is that "How are you?" isn't really a question and "Fine" isn't really an answer. They are simply other ways of saying "Hello" or "Hi".

    Sometimes, people also don't say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks "Do you agree?" the other person might think, "No, I disagree. I think you're wrong…" But it isn't very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say "I'm not sure." It's a nicer way to say that you don't agree with someone.

    People also don't say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says "I have to go now." Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse: "Someone's at the door." "Something is burning on the stove." The excuses might be real, or not. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn't want to talk any more, but it isn't polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn't hurt the other person.

    Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people don't say exactly what they are thinking. It's an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it's part of the game of language.

    On Friday, Germany's telecom regulator(电信业管理者), the Federal Network Agency, announced that a number of children s smartwatches, designed for ages 5 to 12, can allow someone to remotely tap into the watch s microphone and secretly spy from remote places. The regulator isn't just worried about the potential of people spying on children-it's worried the devices(设备) can be used to spy on anyone.

    And in Germany, it's illegal to record private conversations without permission. "According to our investigations, parents were using the watches, for example, to listen in on their children during class, said Federal Network Agency President Jochen Homann in a statement.

    Smartwatches that make phone calls, like the Apple Watch, are legal in Germany. The problem with many of the children's smartwatches, however, is that the devices have a classic spying function, similar to a baby monitor, which can be easily activated (激活) just by using an app.

    The German regulator is so serious about destroying these devices. It's asking citizens to document the watches' destruction and file evidence online. Once the watches are destroyed, the regulator will provide a "certificate of destruction," confirming the deed was done.

    This isn't the first time the Federal Network Agency told German citizens to destroy a consumer device. The regulator once prohibited the doll "My Friend Cayla", which was fitted with radio transforming technology that could allow children to be spied on.

    Remind tech producers: The German government won't just ban devices that can spy on anyone, they'll demand the devices be destroyed with hammers (or whatever means of destruction one prefers) — even if they're dolls.

    Happy Shakespeare Day!

    The 23rd April is World Book Day, but did you know that it is also Shakespeare Day? Everybody has heard of Shakespeare, but do you know many plays he wrote? Have you heard of many of his poetry?

    Shakespeare's plays fit into three categories: tragedies, comedies and histories. Perhaps his most famous play is the tragedy story of Romeo and Juliet, which deals with two young lovers who are forbidden to marry by their parents. Other tragedies include Hamlet, a play about a vengeful ghost Othello, about an army general who is manipulated(操纵) into killing his wife, and Macbeth(麦克白). If you've seen Harry Potterandthe Prisoner of Azkaban written which is sung in the Great Hall after the Sorting Ceremony. These words come from the Witches in Macbeth!

    Shakespeare's comedies include Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a play about confusing identities. Two twins are shipwrecked and the sister, Viola, dresses up as her brother, Sebastian, who she thinks is dead. It's hilarious, because the brother reappears without Viola realizing and there's a big love triangle going on: Viola is in love with the Duke Osino, who is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with Sebastian, except she doesn't realize that Sebastian is actually Viola dressed up! Everybody falls in love with the wrong person, but it is all made right in the end.

    The history plays, such as Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III and Henry V are based on the lives of real historical people. Antony and Cleopatra is a story about a doomed romance in ancient Egypt. Cleopatra becomes Antony's mistress and Antony becomes so obsessed with her that he loses his military might. Cleopatra kills self by letting a snake bite her after Egypt's army has been defeated by Octavius and Antony kills himself too.

    Shakespeare's plays can be very heavy going sometimes. Some of the themes they deal with are heavy and complex, so they almost always contain a lighter subplot with characters who aren't closely linked to the characters in the main plot. They are often used in tragedies to lighten the mood of the play and to keep the audience interested in the main plot.

    Patients with light or moderate depression can be successfully treated by swimming with dolphins, researchers said on Saturday.

    The study was carried out in Honduras, including patients who were thought by the doctors with light of moderate depression coming from the United States and Honduras.

    For two weeks, half of the group swam and snorkeled (潜泳) with dolphins for an hour a day. At the same time the other half group carried out the same type of water activities, but with the absence of dolphins. Researchers want to find out the influence of water and the natural setting.

    All the study volunteers didn't continue to take any drugs or psychotherapy ( 心理治疗) at least for weeks before the start of the study and did not take any drugs during the study, said the researchers from the division of clinical Psychiatry at t e the University of Leicester Medical School.

    By the end of the study, those people who swam with the dolphins had a greater average reduction in their depressive symptoms than those who did not.

    The researchers noted that the study supports the theory of biophilia, which thinks that human health and well-being depends partly on the human connection with the natural world. The findings appeared in the issue of the British Medical Journal.

    Coming from the Greek, biophilia means “love of life”, and it has been developed by biologists to reflect the humans' natural tendency to connect with nature and animals, leading to interactions and positive emotions that result in psychological treatment.

    Two of the hardest things to accomplish in this world are to acquire wealth by honest effort and, having gained it, to learn how to use it properly. Recently I walked into the locker room of a rather well­known golf club after finishing a round. It was in the late afternoon and most of the members had left for their homes. But a half­dozen or so men past middle age were still seated at tables talking aimlessly and drinking more than was good for them. These same men can be found there day after day, and, strangely enough, each one of these men had been a man of affairs and wealth, successful in business and respected in the community. If material prosperity were the chief necessity for happiness, then each one should have been happy. Yet, it seemed to me, something very important was missing, else­there would not have been the constant effort to escape the realities of life through scotch and soda. They knew, each one of them, that their productivity had ceased (停止). When a fruit tree ceases to bear its fruit, it is dying. And it is even so with man.

    What is the answer to a long and happy existence in this world of ours? I think I found it long ago in a passage from the book of Genesis which caught my eye while I was looking through my Bible. The words were few, but they became memorably impressed on my mind. "In the sweat of the face shall you eat the bread."

    To me, that has been a challenge from my earliest recollections (memories). In fact, the battle of life, of existence, is a challenge to everyone. The immortal words of St. Paul, too, have been and always will be a great inspiration to me. At the end of the road I want to be able to feel that I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.