By March 2018, Cape Town’s biggest reservoir (储水库) had dropped to just 11 percent of its capacity. The city was close to turning off the taps. “I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said Samantha Reinders. Like everyone else here, Reinders learned to wash, cook and drink using just the official daily limit—50 liters. Posters were put up everywhere, telling 400,000 people in Cape Town how far the reservoirs had dropped. They also showed the countdown until “Day Zero”. Finally, in June, the rains returned. People ran outside to feel the water flow on their faces. Cape Town’s water shortage was over, at least temporarily. “Day Zero” had never quite arrived.

Afterward, an international group of scientists analyzed Cape Town’s drought and water shortage. They studied computer models and rainfall records. Finally, they came to a conclusion: Climate change wasn’t the culprit (罪魁祸首) of the drought. It hadn’t begotten the drought. But it had tripled (使成三倍) the chance that a drought would occur.

Friederike Otto is a climate scientist at Oxford University in England and lead author of that study. The risk of drought could triple again by the end of the 21st century, she said. That’s when global temperatures are predicted to rise another 1 degree Celsius.

Co-author Piotr Wolski said that better planning could help in the future. The area could manage its water reservoirs more carefully. People could fix leaky dams and make use of a variety of water sources instead of only reservoirs. “Drought may or may not translate into a crisis (危机),” he pointed out.

In many ways, said Reinders, the water crisis made a change to the city. Most people, across race, gender, religion and class, did their best to save water and help their neighbors out. And most were sticking to the water-saving habits they had learned. “I think this is the new normal. And that is pretty much the word on the street,” said Reinders.

I have two kids, a boy and a girl. I don’t worry about my girl; I’m sure she’ll be well trained and educated, but I worry about my son. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be feminine (女性化的). No dad wants his son to go feminine, but let’s face it.

You won’t be able to tell the difference between boys and girls in a couple of years. Sound extreme? As often is the case, in a movie where advanced time-traveling beings come to our planet, you can’t tell the male aliens(外星人) from the female aliens!

Look around the world today, kids are soft and fat. People ask why. Is it junk food? No. Junk food has been around for fifty years. Is it video games? No. Video games have been around for thirty years.   None of the   kids   playing them back were terribly obese（肥胖症）.   We’re all scratching our heads trying to figure out what we’ve introduced to society to ruin our kids. In fact, you will find it’s stuff we’ve gotten rid of rather than what we’ve added that has ruined our kids.

Take the gym rope for example. Remember the rope that stretched from the floor to the ceiling in your gym class that you could never climb? Most of the kids couldn’t make it to the top. The point is that you should try. We should have put our son on that rope, and given him a start. But we didn’t want to shame the boy, so we took it down.

Taking down the rope would be a good idea if there were no ropes in life. But they’re everywhere. You just can’t see them. They’re in goals unrealized and expectations unsatisfied. The point everyone missed about the rope is that you weren’t supposed to make it to the top. It was there to create a fire burning in the oversize belly of every kid.

The computer is a powerful tool. With it, teachers can improve the classroom experience in a variety of ways. But misuse of the computer will probably result in disadvantages.

To investigate the way technology is being used in our school district, I recently spoke with Jeanine Lowell, who teaches social studies at Lake Town Middle School. Mrs. Lowell informed me that computers have helped to increase students’ motivation and prepare them for life in a technological society. “These kids are probably going to be using some kind of computer system when they graduate from high school,” Lowell noted. “It’s important that we provide a proper introduction to them in the classroom.” Lowell also observed that the computers have made it easier to promote different areas of learning, so that students can work on a project or topic that relates to more than one subject.

With all of these benefits, however, come a few shortcomings. Although Mrs. Lowell has nearly wallpapered her room with warnings that state: “The computer is NOT A TOY”, not everyone in the class agrees with this idea. Some students get easily distracted (分心) by the internet and are quite good at making it look as if they are doing work when they are really checking their email or watching videos. “You’ve got to be three steps ahead,” she told me, “if you want to stay on top of what they’re actually doing on the computer.”

Some schools use some type of blocking software to ensure that students cannot access improper sites at school. More complex programs use a server-based, network-wide program instead of software that runs on personal computers. Research has shown that in a way these server-based blocking programs provide better security, because some students can disable the software on a personal computer.

However, there is no replacement for the watchful eye of a good teacher like Jeanine Lowell. There are also no electronic cure-alls for any of education’s many challenges. Technology is a useful tool, but that is all it is: a tool.