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　　BEIJING(Associated Press美联社)－China has a growing middle class, a tradition(传统)of expecting education and 21 million new babies every year．Selling educational toys should be easy．

　　While China may be the worlds biggest toy maker, many of the best are exported．Department stores here do not have enough high quality toys．It is said that the demand for educational toys is low．

　　A US company, BabyCare, is trying to change that with a new way to sell toys in China．

　　BabyCare works basically together with doctors in Beijing hospitals．People who join the company’s "mother club" can get lectures and newsletters on baby and child development at no extra cost, if they agree to spend 18 dollars a month on the company’s educational toys and child care books．

　　"We want to build a seven-year relationship with those people," said Matthew J．Estes, BabyCare’s president．"It starts during pregnancy(孕期), when the anxiety and needs are highest．" BabyCare works on a one to one basis．Doctors, nurses, and teachers paid by BabyCare advise parents, explain toys that are designed for children at each stage(阶段)of development to age six．

　　BabyCare opened its first store in China last June in a shopping center in central Beijing and another near Beijing Zoo．It plans to have 80 stores in China within six years．

　　It is a new model for China and develops a market in young children’s education and health that no other companies are in．

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　　In the modern world more and more people meet the problem of identity．The most interesting example is that of a so－called “banana”, which refers to an American who has an Asian face but holds Western values．

　　In Shanghai, there now live a group of people from abroad．They look no different from the locals and speak fluent Chinese or even Shanghai dialect, but when it comes to writing Chinese characters, they are almost illiterate(文盲)．Jack is such an example．He never learned to read or write Chinese characters, which he finds mysterious and difficult．From time to time, he files to the US as he does not feel Shanghai is where he comes from．“But when I am in the States, I feel that’s not my home either,” he said．

　　At De Gaulle Airport in France, there is a Swiss man who has been living in the waiting－room for a long time because he lost h is passport during his travels．He was refused entry into several countries．But when he was eventually allowed to return to Swizerland, he refused to leave the airport．His reason was very simple－“I am sure who I am．I need no acknowledgement from others,” he said during an interview．For th is reason he was honored by the Western media as “the Hero of identity．”

　　As the Internet becomes more and more popular, the problem of identity becomes more serious．In a virtual world, people can have different addresses registered with different names．In the Internet chat room, even one’s gender(性别)is hard to determine．It seems that in the glohal village, people are saying hello every day to each other without knowing whom they are talking to．

　　What will be the next crisis(危机)of identity? With the development of cloning technology, it might be：who is the real “I”?

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　　The secret of carrier pigeons’ unbelievable ability to find their way home has been discovered by scientists; the feathered navigators follow the roads just like we do．

　　Scientists now believe the phrase “as the crow flies” no longer means the shortest most direct route between two points．They say it is likely that crows and other birds also choose AA－suggested routes, even though it makes their journeys longer．

　　Scientists at Oxford University spent 10 years studying homing pigeons using global positioning satellite(GPS)and got a surprising result．The birds often don’t use the sun to decide their directions．

　　Instead they fly along motorways, turn at crossing and even go around roundabouts(绕道), adding miles to their journeys．

　　“It really has knocked our research team sideways to find that after a decade-long international study, pigeons appear to ignore their inbuilt directional instincts(本能)and follow the road system,” said Prof Tim Guilford, reader in animal behavior at Oxford University’s Department of Zoology．

　　Guilford said pigeons use their own navigational system(导航系统)when doing long distance trips or when a bird does a journey for the first time．

　　“But once homing pigeons have flown a journey more than once, they can fly home on a habitual route, much as we do when we are driving or walking home from work,” said Guilford．

　　“In short, it looks like it is mentally easier for a bird to fly down a road．They are just making their journey as simple as possible．”

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　　When middle-aged Alex quit his job and made up his mind to become a self-employed writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a used typewriter and settled down to work．

　　After a year or so, however, Alex began to doubt himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by selling what he wrote．But Alex determined to put his dream to the test-even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．This is the shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there．

　　One day Alex got a call, “We need an assistant, and we’re paying ＄6,000 a year．” ＄6,000 was real money in 1960．It would enable Alex to get a nice apartment, a used car and more．Besides, he could write in his spare time．As the dollars were dancing in Alex’s head, something cleared his senses．He had dreamed of being a writer－full time．“Thanks, but no,” Alex said firmly and swiftly, “I’m going to stick it out and write．”

　　After Alex got off the phone, he pulled out everything he had：two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Alex put the cans and cents into a paper bag, saying to himself, “There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．I’m not sure I ever felt so low．”

　　Finally his work was published in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into focus of attention．

　　Then one day, Alex found a box filled with things he had owned years before．Inside was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he pictured himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Alex, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course(持续到底)in the shadow land．

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　　The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them．It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment．

　　A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo．"Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it．Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising．

　　Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities．Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers．

　　The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things：To identify the advertiser．To know what the advertiser is really saying．And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do．

　　Children learn these things through a video game．They create their own game character．They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes．Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards．The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level．

　　The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found．It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing．

　　One such area is food marketing．The Federal Trade Commission(FTC)says it is a big business．The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009．

　　The FTC says children are important for three reasons．They buy products．They influence parents and caregivers to buy．And they are the future adult buyers of the products．

　　A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value．First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children．

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　　Millions of people are using cell phones today．In many places it is actually considered unusual not to use one．In many countries, cell phones are very popular with young people．They find that the phones are more than a means of communication-having a mobile phone shows that they are cool and connected．

　　The explosions around the world in mobile phone use make some health professionals worried．Some doctors are concerned that in the future many people may suffer health problems from the use of mobile phones．In England, there has been a serious debate about this issue．Mobile phone companies are worried about the negative publicity of such ideas．They say that there is no proof that mobile phones are bad for your health．

　　On the other hand, why do some medical studies show changes in the brain cells of some people who use mobile phones? Signs of change in the issues of the brain and head can be detected with modern scanning(扫描)equipment．In one case, a traveling salesman had to retire at a young age because of serious memory loss, He couldn’t remember even simple tasks．He would often forget the name of his own son．This man used to talk on his mobile phone for about six hours a day, every day of his working week ,for a couple of years．His family doctor blamed his mobile phone use, but his employer’s doctor didn’t agree．

　　What is it that makes mobile phones potentially harmful? The answer is radiation．High-tech machines can detect very small amounts of radiation from mobile phones．Mobile phone companies agree that there is some radiation, but they say the amount is too small to worry about．

　　As the discussion about their safety continues, it appears that it’s best to use mobile phones less often．Use your regular phone if you want to talk for a long time．Use your mobile phone only when you really need it．Mobile phones can be very useful and convenient, especially in emergencies．In the future, mobile phones may have a warning label that says they are bad for your health．So for now, it’s wise not to use your mobile phone too often．

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　　Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again．They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food．They are learning a lot about the deserts．But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time．Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time．

　　Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts．People are doing bad things to the earth．

　　Some places on the earth don't get much rain．But they still don't become deserts．This is because some green plants are growing there．Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places．Plants don't let the sun make the earth even drier．Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away．When a bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water．Without plants, the land can become desert more easily．

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　　In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc．in almost every family．These are their pets．People love these pets and have them as their good friends．Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections(注射)so that they won't carry disease．They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store．Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food．When you visit people's houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them．You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden．All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal．They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada．They have a law against killing wild animals．If you killed an animal, you would be punished．If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it．

　　People in Canada have many reasons to like animals．One of them might be：Their family ties are not as close as ours．When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life．Then the old will feel lonely．But pets can solve this problem．They can be good friends and never leave them alone．

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　　I believe that my country, Poland, is a perfect example for a place where food is particularly important．When we were little children, we began to understand how much a loaf of bread meant to our parents-to some it might sound silly but for me the custom of kissing bread before you started cutting it was simply amazing．It's not so common nowadays to treat food that way, since you hardly ever bake your own bread．Besides, everyone would call you crazy if you tried to kiss every bread roll before you ate them! But though we no longer make our food from scratch(起点), some customs have been kept--that's why I feel so sorry every time I have to throw any food away-even though I no longer live with my parents and nobody would blame me for this anymore!

　　Many people of our nation are still working as farmers, eating what they grow and harvest and therefore enjoying everything more．It's widely known that you value more anything that needs your effort in the first place．In most homes in Poland, especially those of farmers, the whole family would try and have their meals together--extremely difficult now, but so rewarding(值得)! You can share other members' troubles and successes, give your children some attention, or just sit down for a moment instead of rushing through life aimlessly．Furthermore, your body, and stomach in particular will be very grateful(感激)for such a time!

　　In Poland, a wedding, Christmas or even a birthday is celebrated with a great meal．Women in the house get together and cook, sometimes for a few days before the event, and the extremely good or unusual food will be remembered and widely talked about．

　　You cannot over-value the importance of food in the country．What's more, almost everyone in Poland will be as interested in the topic as I am．

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　　Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side．

　　Most people know this joke．But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road．

　　“Millions of animals die each year on U．S．roads,” the Federal Highway Administration reports．In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U．S．today．The main reason? Roadkill．

　　“Eco-passages” may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars．They are paths both over and under roads．“These eco-passages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society．

　　But do animals actually use the eco-passages? The answer is yes．Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an eco-passage that went under a highway．This showed that the lions used the passage．

　　Builders of eco-passages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them．Animals seem to be catching on．Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses．

　　The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around．You might see an animal overpass!

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