Autism (自闭症) is a disorder of the brain that happens in the first three years of life. It affects the brain’s normal development. Most autistic patients have difficulty talking with other people or doing things. However, some of the autistic people have amazing abilities. For example, some can memorize many things and some can do calculations (计算) really fast.   

Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man is an example. The character in the film was based on Kim Peek, a man from the USA. Peck couldn’t switch on a light or put his clothes on by himself. But his memory was so amazing that he could remember almost anything. He could memorize every road, place and distance on maps. He could even remember almost every word in thousands of books. His way of reading was more amazing. Peek could read two pages at the same time in just eight to ten seconds. He read the left page with his left eye and the right page with his right eye.   

Scientists still don’t know for sure why some autistic people have special talent after they have done a lot of research. There is one possible explanation. When certain parts of the brain are damaged by autism, other parts of the brain might get stronger. Therefore, special abilities were born.

But not all people with autism have amazing abilities. In fact, autistic people with amazing abilities are rare and the abilities cannot be trained. According to research, only ten percent of autistic people show signs of special talent.

I am near-sighted, and my eyesight is getting worse, because I spend too much playing computer games and watching TV. When I play computer games, I always forget about my   other plans. I am a bit ashamed (羞愧的) of this habit (习惯). I also like watching television. Sometimes I keep the TV on even while I am doing my homework. I usually sit one metre away from my TV and watch it for hours if my parents do not ask me to do something else.

I get to know how bad my eyesight is when I am in a car. I look out of the window at the shops along the street, but I can’t see the signs clearly. I have to guess the shop names from the curves (弧线) and lines. I try my best not to wear glasses, because they change my appearance and make me look like a hen. I hate my eyes for making me wear glasses during school hours. I love my eyes at the same time because they let me see the beautiful world.

Love your eyes and keep yourself away from computer games and TV. Always remember to protect (保护) your eyes. The world will be dark after you become near-sighted.

Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890)killed himself by shooting himself in the chest(胸膛).

This is what van Gogh himself told his brother, the doctors and the police just before he died.

However, in a new book Van Gogh: The Life, two Pulitzer (普利策奖) Prize-winning authors, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, argue that van Gogh may have been murdered.They believed that the artist was protecting a 16-year-old boy named Rene Secret, who shot him accidentally.

Van Gogh's statement that he shot himself was accepted because he had been mentally unstable(精神状况不稳的)for two years. He suffered from psychotic(精神病的)attacks and imagined things that were not really happening. Art critics (评论家)believe that his unstable mental state is shown in his work, describing his style of painting as shaken. Some of his most famous paintings, such as The Starry Night, were produced during this period.

Van Gogh is among a number of creative minds who suffered from mental health problems. In fact,mental illness is so common among famous creative figures that scientists have studied whether there is link between creativity and insanity(精神错乱). Research began in the 1970s, but the idea that an unstable mind could be linked to creative genius(天才) was already around in ancient Greece.

Some scientists believe mental illness, in its more manageable state, gives artists creativity. Research has found that doing creative activities can also be therapeutic(有疗效的) for people suffering from mental illness. Painting, writing, or making something can be a positive way for people to express their thoughts.