The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place

    Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.

    Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale(秤)instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food labels.

    On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don't have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.

    The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemicals that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.

    Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological and physical harm that comes from using them.

Car Hire

    Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday.There are so many places of interest to visit, and if you enjoy seeing more than just the city center there's no better way to explore than by car.

Hire Charges:

    What's included

    a) Unlimited mileage（英里数）.

    b) Expenses on oil,maintenance and repairs,which will be repaid on production of invoices.

    c) Full insurance except personal accident (see below).

What's not included

    a) Personal accident insurance.

    b) Garaging, petrol, parking and traffic fines.

    Conditions of Hire:

    The shortest rental period at these special low prices is three days.For prices for periods of one or two days you only see our representative at the hotel.

    Car hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee a car.But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance please see our representative at the hotel who may still be able to help you.

    The car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range,but particular car cannot be guaranteed.

    Upon delivery the driver (s) will be asked to sigh the car hire company's Condition of Hire.

    If you decide to hire a car,just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us.A booking fee of £ 12 as part of the car hire cost is required.

    Should you be forced to cancel your car hire booking after payment in full (two weeks before date of hire),a cancellation charge of £ 12 will be made.

    The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (儿科学) just released its updated guidelines for children's media use.

    The recommendations reflect what all parents know: children need less screen time, which indicates that they desperately need more free time to develop their imagination, a sense of wonder and discover their passion and purpose.

    Our children are over-stimulated, over-scheduled and under pressure to perform academically and beyond school. This weakens their ability to build creative thinking skills essential to self-discovery. Creativity occurs when kids have time for curiosity and exploration. With children spending up to eight hours a day on media devices and additional hours engaging in scheduled activities, opportunities for growth disappear.

    What we are not so sure about is how to get our kids to want the free, screenless time which we know will benefit them. It may sound counter-intuitive (违背直觉的) but today's kids need coaching to experience and discover the benefits of free time.

What came to parents easily a few decades ago has become a challenge for our generation. It's not that yesterday's parents knew more about child development; they simply had fewer choices. Boredom and relaxation were an inescapable part of daily life. Today, they mean, "I'm a bad parent and not doing enough to get my kid ahead."

    Recently, I had an eye-opening revelation while watching my 11-year-old daughter play in a softball game. I have six children and have attended dozens of such game. I know the drill—or thought I did. Families settled in for the day with lawn chairs, cold drinks and cousins. These brothers and sisters would gradually chat with each other. Games of catch and hide-and-seek began, and friendships were formed then. At crucial moments, the newfound friends turned their attention to the field to cheer on their teams.

    But that wasn't happening. Though there were at least 15 children by the sidelines (球场边线), I didn't hear any of them. They sat in silence using their individual tablets (平板电脑). Even with the score tied in the final inning (垒球比赛的一局), not a single child watched the game or spoke to each other. The situation was strange and revealing: Kids have more planned activities and passive entertainment at their fingertips than ever before, but less free time to dream, imagine and focus on what they truly love.

I understand that making time for "nothing" is difficult in a world where we are constantly worried our kids will fall behind if they aren't good at academics. But I refuse to sit back and watch this loss of childhood. We are taking back childhood. Imagination needs time and space to blossom.

If your kids are like mine, asking them to imagine will at the beginning be difficult. That's because they haven't developed the skills and muscle memory to make it second nature. I hope the AAP guidelines prompt all of us to set needed screen time limits for our children. Personally, I am practicing strategies to "develop imagination" in my children. Imagination, like a sport, requires practice, training, motivational speeches, rewards and extreme patience.

    At a daycare center in Texas, children were playing outside. One of the children was Jessica Mc Clure. She was 18 months old. Her mother, who worked at the daycare center, was watching the children. Suddenly Jessica fell and disappeared. Jessica's mother screamed and ran to her.

    A well was in the yard of the center. The well was only eight inches across and a rock always covered it. But children had moved the rock. When Jessica fell, she fell right into the well.

    Jessica's mother reached inside the well, but she couldn't feel Jessica. She dialed 911 for help. Men from the fire department arrived. They discovered that Jessica was about 20 feet down in the well. For the next hour the men talked and planned Jessica's rescue.

    "We can't go down into the well," they said. "It's too narrow. So, we're going to drill a hole next to the well. Then we'll drill a tunnel across to Jessica. When we reach her, we'll bring her through the tunnel and up through our hole."

    The men began to drill the hole at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 1987. The men had a difficult job; they were drilling through solid rock. During her days in the well, Jessica sometimes asked for her mother. Sometimes she slept, sometimes she cried and sometimes she sang.

    All over the world, people waited for news of Jessica. Everyone worried about her.

    At 8 p.m. on Friday, October 16, men reached Jessica and brought her up from the well. She was soon sent to hospital. Jessica was dirty, hungry, thirsty and tired. Her feet and forehead were badly injured. But Jessica was alive.

    After Jessica's rescue, one of the rescuers made a metal cover for the well, saying, "To Jessica, with love from all of us."

    Today, the Chinese traditions of Qixi have combined with Western celebrations of love and romance. Lovers often use flowers, chocolates, sweet gifts or grand declarations to express feelings deep in their hearts.

    But this year, you could let your love take off by traveling with that special someone on a romantic adventure. Where should you travel? Find inspiration (灵感) from these four romantic movies, which all took place in breathtakingly beautiful places. Choose one as the ideal setting for your own real-life love story.

    Trevi Fountain in Rome

    Trevi Fountain is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. It has appeared in several notable films, including Roman Holiday. In the film, Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn) has her hair cut a barbershop near the fountain, which becomes the style-setting “gamine” haircut in fashion history.

    Empire State Building, New York

    The Empire Sate Building is an American cultural icon and has been featured in more than 250 TV shows and movies. In the comedy-drama Sleepless in Seattle, Annie (played by Meg Ryan) writes a letter to Sam (Tom Hanks) suggesting meeting on top of the Empire State building on Valentine's Day. After twists and turns, they finally see each other on the observation deck on top of the building.

    Somerset House in London

    Located in central London, Somerset House is a popular filming location with its exterior featuring in several big budget Hollywood films. In the winter, its central courtyard is turned into an open-air ice rink, as seen during the well-received film Love Actually.

    Daocheng, Sichuan Province

    Daocheng is a county in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, located at the eastern Hengduan Mountains. This magical place combines the beauty of snow mountain, glacier, lake, grassland and waterfall. After the film I Belonged to You, Daocheng grows to be a major tourist attraction, a remote sacred place for unchanging love.

    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.