When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.

    People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems ­­blurry. Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near-sighted. People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm's length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.

    Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people's eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.

    Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object's relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distances as people with two eyes.

    Babies love reading stories with bright and colorful pictures. As they progress, they'll enjoy slightly longer stories, and will look forward to joining in. So whatever your kids are interested in, look for stories that attract their interest.
Isabella's Garden by Glenda Millard
    Price: $22.95

     Description:

    A lyrical(抒情的)  book with colorful illustrations(插图) that explores the growth and continual change of a garden. It's a pleasant story about the cycle of life.

    Call Mrs. Smith at 758-9339 for more information.

Snug as a Hug by Marcia Vaughan
      Price: $21.95
       Description:

    This book is about the typical Australian animals in lots of different Australian environments. The gently thyming(押韵) text is easily understood and accompanied by Pamela

    Lofts' bright and colorful pencil illustrations, creating a warm and loving atmosphere.

    Call Mr. Black at 758-9328 for more information.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
    Price: $12.95

    Description:

    Max, a wild and naughty boy, is sent to bed without supper by his exhausted mother. In his room, he imagines sailing far away to a land of wild things. Instead of eating him, the wild things make Max their king. This year, the book won the Caldecott Medal, and was named one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books.

    Call Mrs. Green at 758-2589 for more information.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
      Price: $8.95

     Description:

    This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dr. Seuss's classic tale of the coolest and the most fashionable cat in history! The cat is one of the most popular characters in children's fiction, and this book is a great way for readers to make his acquaintance.

    Call Mr. Wilson at 758-4876 for more information.

    Nowadays, social media like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter are becoming increasingly popular. People have completely made social media part of their daily lives. As a result, many people have developed an Internet personality.

    The Internet personality I am talking about is the one we shape on our social media sites. We are always posting information about ourselves for other people to know even when it can be completely untrue. Some people even go so far as to spend money in buying flowers or “likes” or buying a very expensive camera for their friends to take photos of them. I find it unbelievable. The time and energy spent on these silly things can only make us want to be accepted by more people.

    Social media are also a modem cause of depression: People see the perfect lives of others and consider their own imperfect lives as bad. Even kids deal with this. They don't realize that the reason why they struggle to love themselves is that they spend all day receiving untrue information.

    I find that many people spend more time and energy in making sure that their online personality is worth accepting than caring for their real presence. So many times I have seen confident and beautiful girls on social media. But in the real world, they are extremely shy. They hardly talk to anyone and spend all their time using the phone.

    Social media have gone so far as to even negatively affect marriages. This is because of the fact that there are now “Instagram husbands”—people whose use is to take perfect photos of their partners throughout the day. They spend a lot of time doing that whether they like it or not. Needless to say, social media likely influence relationships in a negative way.

    I think everyone should not use social media at least for a few months to experience the difference it makes to them. They may find life is very different and much better.

    We've all experienced the feeling that comes when your phone makes a sound to tell you that its battery level is low. It often comes at the worst times—when you're out on a trip and don't have a charger（充电器）, or when you're expecting an important phone call.

    Indeed, this feeling is so common that South Korean electronics manufacturer LG has given it a name: low battery anxiety（低电量焦虑）.

    According to a survey of 2,000 US adults conducted by the company last year, 90 percent of respondents said that they panic if their battery level reaches 20 percent or lower. And last month, UK telecommunications service provider found that around 15. 5 million Britons live in “constant fear” of their mobile phones running out of power, according to a survey by the company.

    “The problem is not about being unable to make calls, but is rooted in the fact that smartphones are now where we store digital memories,” noted the Daily Mail, However, battery worries don't just affect smartphone lovers. Many owners of electric vehicles also suffer from so-called “range anxiety”. This refers to the concern that the vehicle may not make it to its destination before the power runs out. Meanwhile, it isn't just low power that people worry about. A study carried out by South Korea's Sungkyunkwan University and China's City University of Hong Kong found that many of us also worry about not having constant access to our phone.

    This condition is known as homophobia, short for “ no mobile phone phobia（恐惧症）”. Symptoms include feeling uncomfortable when access to one's phone isn't possible, being unable to turn off your phone, and constantly topping up the battery to make sure it never dies.

    So, why do so many people treat their smartphone with such importance? The reason may be that they keep us connected to the people around us, and if we're unable to use our phone, we feel like we're cut off from our social life.

    With products with bigger batteries being released all the time-such as Xiaomi's Mi Max smartphone range or Tesla's Model S cars-battery anxiety may hopefully soon be a thing of the past.

    A young man was walking through a supermarket to pick up a few things when he noticed an old lady following him around. Thinking nothing of it,he ignored her and continued on. Finally, he went to the checkout line, but she got in front of him. “Pardon me,” she said, “I'm sorry if my staring at you has made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you look just like my son who just died recently.”

    “I'm very sorry,” replied the young man, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

    “Yes,” she said, “As I'm leaving, can you say ‘Goodbye mother'? It would make me feel much better”. “Sure,” answered the young man.

    As the old lady was leaving the counter, he called out from behind her, “Goodbye mother!” As he stepped up to the checkout counter and put what he bought on the counter, he saw that his total was $127.5. “How can that be?” he asked, “I only bought a few things!”

    “Your mother said that you would pay for her.” said the clerk.

    Imagine being a business that regularly takes huge quantities of your own products worth millions of pounds and burns them up. Your stock literally goes up in smoke. It sounds crazy, but the practice is common for some of the world's biggest clothing manufacturers. They argue that it is the most cost-effective way of maintaining their brand's exclusivity (独特性).

    The clothes that are burned are those that do not sell at a high enough price. Rather than watch them go on sale, the companies would set fire to them and regain a small amount of energy.

    Nobody knows exactly how much unsold stock is burnt annually by those fashion houses, but burning clothes has various negative impacts on the environment. For example, burning clothes made from artificial fibers may release plastic microfibers into the atmosphere, which worsens global warming. A U.K. parliamentary committee report on sustainability and the fashion industry advises the government to ban the burning of unsold stock if it can be reused or recycled.

    Actually, there are other approaches. What if those companies had a section tasked with taking back unsold clothes, redesigning them into new products, and shipping out the new products to the market once again?

    There is also now an opportunity to focus on biodegradable (可生物降解的)fabrics. Clothes that break down faster might not have to be burned. They would also appeal to those who care about the environmental impact of their own wardrobes.

    Additionally, we have an over-production problem. According to the World Bank, while clothing sales have risen steadily since 2000, clothing utilization has fallen at roughly the same rate. For every extra T-shirt that is sold, it will be worn roughly half as much as it would have been 20 years ago. That means better forecasting market trends would in theory result in less waste.

    Burning clothes won't happen simply through fashion firms. The scale of fashion production has to change. And it's important to recognize that these consumer-focused brands will only go where the market takes them. If protecting the environment really matters to the public, they have to make clear that they want more sustainable clothing in the first place. Without consumers demanding that, it won't change.