Ongoing conflicts across the Middle East have prevented more than 13 million children from attending school, according to a report published by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

    The report states that 40% of all children across the region are currently not receiving an education, which is a result of two consequences of violence: structural damage to schools and the displacement (转移) of populations, also called “forced migration.” Both issues result from the violence that has crossed the region in recent years. The report examines nine countries where a state of war has become the ordinary state. Across these countries, violence has made 8,500 schools unusable. In certain cases, communities have relied on school buildings to function as shelters for the displaced, with up to nine families living in a single classroom in former schools across Iraq.

    The report pays particularly close attention to Syria, where a bloody civil war has displaced at least nine million people since the war began in 2011. With the crisis (危机) now in its fifth year, basic public services, including education, inside Syria have been stretched (竭尽所能) to breaking point. Within the country, the quality and availability of education depends on whether a particular region is suffering violence.

    The report concludes with an earnest request to international policymakers to offer money and other resources to help ease the regional crisis. With more than 13 million children already driven from classrooms by conflict, the educational future of a generation of children are in the balance. This is destroying the future for an entire region.

                                                                                         The University of Sheffield

    Back to its origin

    The University of Sheffield is a research university in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original “red brick” universities, which are a group of top and famous old universities. The University of Sheffield was originally formed by the combination of three colleges. The Sheffield School of Medicine was founded in 1828, followed in 1879 by the opening of Firth College by Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer (制造商), to teach arts and science subjects. Firth College then helped to provide money for the opening of the Sheffield Technical School in 1884 to teach applied science. In 1897 the three institutions were joined together to form the University College of Sheffield, which in turn became the University of Sheffield by Royal Charter (特许) in 1905. This university is famous for its good education and boasts a number of Nobel Prize winners among its former students.

    More information

    System: The University has five departments: Arts and Humanities; Engineering; Pure Science; Social Sciences; Medicine, Dentistry and Health. Sheffield also has many research programs in fields including aerospace, environmental science, psychology, and biology.

    City show: Sheffield is a lively city in the north of England. Sheffield is known as the greenest city in Europe because of its 2 million trees. As a result, there are many parks and woods throughout the city and beyond. Sheffield is the greenest city in England with 150 woodlands and 50 public parks within the city. Once, in Sheffield, the folk hero—Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest with 150 of his loyal friends. And Charlotte Bronte, the English writer noted for her novel Jane Eyre was born in Sheffield.

    Finding a winter job is often a proof that you're growing up, and it's also a method for earning money to pay for what you dream of. It's never too early to start considering the future. Now, here are some good choices for you!

Retail (零售) Sales

    Retail offers plenty of opportunities for teens that are looking for a job. This type of work can pay from $10 to $15 an hour depending upon the duty you are expected to take on. It can also be great for teens who are friendly and enjoy talking to other people. For more information, call us at 4005075.

Food Service

    A job in the food service industry is a natural fit for sociable teens who enjoy communicating with the public. It allows employees to work as part of a team while learning about following instructions. It also comes with the opportunity to earn between $8 and $10 per hour. Just dial 4005077 for more information.

Babysitting

    This job requires someone who is highly responsible. Though it pays generally between $6 and $8 hourly, it also requires a lot of patience. This is a great choice for teens who wish to make a career in teaching, child care, social work or any other field that makes use of social skills or requires interaction with kids. Got a question? Just dial 4005076.

Housekeeping

    This type of work can bring in about $5 an hour and it will allow teens to learn the tourism industry, so hotels are often looking for more housekeeping staff, and parks often need more people to assist with keeping public areas clean and organized as well. Telephone: 4005079

    A thrilling polar competition between two adventurers to cross Antarctica alone, unsupported and unassisted had a happy ending with both explorers achieving the unprecedented feat (功绩). American professional athlete Colin O'Brady and British Army Captain Louis Rudd set off a mile apart at the same time on November 3, 2018, from the Atlantic coast with the aim to become the first person to ski across the remote continent alone.

    Louis Rudd maintained the lead at first. However, O'Brady caught up with Rudd on November10 and never let the British man get close to him again. O'Brady was the first to conquer the 930 mile icy land, arriving at the Ross Ice Shelf on the Pacific coast by way of the South Pole on December 26, 2018. The 33-year-old spent 54 days skiing the world's coldest continent while pulling a 300-pound sled(雪橇) with supplies.

    Instead of leaving the harsh environment after completing the historic adventure, the explorer set up a tent on the world's largest ice sheet and waited patiently for Rudd to complete the great undertaking. On December 29, just three days after O'Brady arrived, the British explorer finished his adventure, becoming the world's second person to complete the solo crossing of the frozen continent.

Rudd was not disappointed at being second since he never considered it to be a     "race". Besides, the 49-year-old British Army Captain had a more selfless motive for attempting the feat. He was doing it in memory of his friend Henry Worsley, who had introduced him to polar exploration. The disaster happened while Worsley was trying to cross the continent alone in 2016. Rudd said, "I didn't want to get drawn into a race. All that mattered to me was that I completed it, and that I skied solo and unsupported, carrying the flag with Henry's name on it."

    After spending a few days camping 10 feet away from each other, the two adventurers were picked up by a helicopter to the South Pole scientific research station.

    In a recent series of experiments at the University of California, researchers studied toddlers' thinking about winners and losers, bullies (欺凌) and victims.

    In the first experiment, toddlers (学步儿童) watched a scene in which two puppets (木偶) had conflicting goals: One was crossing a stage from right to left, and the other from left to right. The puppets met in the middle and stopped. Eventually one puppet bowed down and moved aside, letting the other one pass by. Then researchers asked the toddlers which puppet they liked. The result: 20 out of 23 toddlers picked the higher-status puppet—the one that did not bow or move aside. It seems that individuals can gain status for being dominant (占优势的) and toddlers like winners better than losers.

    But then researchers had another question: Do toddlers like winners no matter how they win? So researchers did another experiment very similar to the one described above. But this time, the conflict ended because one puppet knocked the other down and out of the way. Now when the toddlers were asked who they liked, the results were different: Only 4 out of 23 children liked the winner.

    These data suggest that children already love a winner by the age of 21-31 months. This does not necessarily mean that the preference is inborn: 21 months is enough time to learn a lot of things. But if a preference for winners is something we learn, we appear to learn it quite early.

    Even more interesting, the preference for winners is not absolute. Children in our study did not like a winner who knocked a competitor down. This suggests that already by the age of 21-31 months, children's liking for winners is balanced with other social concerns, including perhaps a general preference for nice or helpful people over aggressive ones.

    In a time when the news is full of stories of public figures who celebrate winning at all costs, these results give us much confidence. Humans understand dominance, but we also expect strong individuals to guide, protect and help others. This feels like good news.

    The Frick Collection (5th Avenue and E. 70th Street)

    Many art lovers would rather visit this small art gallery than any other in New York. Henry Clay Frick, a rich New Yorker, died in 1919, leaving his house, furniture and art collections to American people. Frick had a preference for pre­twentieth century Western paintings, and these are well­represented in this excellent collection. You can also explore Frick's beautiful house and garden which are well worth a visit

    Guggenheim Museum (5th Avenue and 88th Street)

    This museum owns 5,000 excellent modern paintings, sculptures and drawings. These art works are not all displayed at the same time. The exhibition is always changing. It will appeal to those who love Impressionist and Post­Impressionist paintings. The Guggenheim Museum building is also world­famous. The best way to see the paintings is to start from the top floor and walk down to the bottom. There are no stairs, just a circular(环形的) path.

    Metropolitan Museum of Art (5th Avenue and 82nd Street)

    The reputation of this museum lies in the variety of its art collection. This covers more than 5,000 years of civilization from many parts of the world. The museum displays more than just the visual delights of art. It introduces you in ancient ways of living. You can visit an Egyptian temple, a fragrant Ming garden, a typical room in an 18th century French house and many other special exhibitions.

    Whitney Museum of American Art (945 Madsion Avenue, near 75th Street)

    The Whitney holds an excellent collection or contemporary American paintings and sculptures. There are no permanent displays in this museum and exhibitions change all the time. Every two years, the Whitney holds a special exhibition of new art by living artists. The museum also shows videos and films by contemporary video artists.