Sometimes it is difficult to talk to taxi drivers. They must give all their attention to the road as they work out the shortest way to the place where you are going. However, passengers from Wangfujing were in surprise when they took a taxi. The driver just would not stop talking in English.

    Organized by the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, “Dare to Speak” examines if Chinese people will speak English in “real-life” situations.

    Matthew Knowles, an acting student from South Carolina at Beijing Film Academy, acted the part as the “driver”. He collected six passengers on Saturday morning, most of whom were female white-collar （白领）workers.

    “Of course they were surprised at first, wondering why I'm driving a taxi, and wondering whether this is a real taxi, but then most of them were pretty willing to speak,” he said. Knowles said he was also surprised by his “passengers”. “Apart from my first ‘passenger', who could speak very little English, all the rest spoke English very well, and it was fun to communicate with them,” he said, adding that some “passengers” were quite talkative.

    The “foreign taxi driver” project was just one of the “Dare to Speak” activities, which have been going on since the end of October. Other projects included a foreign store owner near a high school in Beijing, a cook in a Shanghai university canteen. They were testing the willingness of Chinese people, especially students and white-collar workers, to speak to foreigners in English.

    Rong Xin, senior manager of IELTS （雅思） with the British Embassy, said they hoped to let IELTS takers in China know that communication is the ultimate goal of IELTS.

    “We hope that more and more IELTS takers in China can realize the importance of communicating in English in real life, instead of just getting high test scores,” she said.

    Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France on December 27, 1822. His family was poor, and during his early education Pasteur was an ordinary student who enjoyed art and singing. However, when Pasteur was exposed to science as a teenager, he knew he had found his career.

    In 1838, Pasteur went to college to become a science teacher. He then became a chemistry professor at the University of Strasbourg. He got married in 1849 and had five children. However, three died young from typhoid fever (伤寒症). It was the deaths of his children that drove Pasteur to investigate the infectious disease in order to find a cure.

    During Pasteur's time, people believed that bacteria (细菌) appeared due to “spontaneous generation (自然发生)”. They thought that the bacteria just appeared out of nowhere. Pasteur earned out experiments to see if this was true. Through his experiments he proved that germs (细菌) were living things that came from other living things. They didn't just spontaneously appear. This was a major discovery in the study of biology and earned Pasteur the title of Father of Germ Theory.

    As Pasteur learned more about bacteria, he began to think they may be the cause of diseases in humans. When the French silk market was threatened by a disease to silkworms (蚕), Pasteur decided to investigate. He discovered that this disease was caused by germs. By killing them from the silkworm farms, he was able to cease the disease and save the French silk business.

    Today Louis Pasteur is known as one of the most important scientists in history. His discoveries led to an understanding of bacteria and diseases that has helped save millions of lives.

    Like many children, young Lotte Reiniger was crazy about movies, which at the time were a completely new invention. She taught herself how to cut paper silhouettes（剪影）, of people, animals, and objects. I could cut silhouettes almost as soon as I could manage to hold a pair of scissors, Reiniger said. “I could paint, too, and read...But everybody was surprised at the scissor cuts”

    At first, Reiniger wanted to be an actress, but her skill at making silhouettes drew the attention of the German film industry. Before 1927, films were silent. To help the audience understand the film, title cards with printed text appeared during the film between scenes. Reiniger helped create title cards for films, using her silhouettes. In 1918, she was asked to provide stop-motion animation（定格动面）, in which objects are photographed（拍摄）in a series of slightly different positions and then replayed at high speed so that the objects appear to move on their own, for wooden rats（老鼠）in the movie The Pied Piper of Hamelin. It was a breakthrough that led to her own films, first short films and then, in 1926, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the first full-length animated film.

    Although Reiniger once described herself as “a primitive（原始的）caveman artist”, her work is not simple. She carefully cut bits of card, paper, and wire, creating wonderful shapes, and then made them move and dance by hand. The black shapes were then placed on colorful backgrounds. She made more than 60 films, around 40 of which survive, all cut by her own hands. Most were based on timeless fairy tales, like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

    Reiniger was truly a pioneer both in animation and for women in film-making. Though her last film came out in 1980, her style is still influential and can often be seen in today's films.

    You know the feeling-you have left your phone at home and feel anxious, as if you have lost your connection to the world. "Nomophobia" (无手机恐惧症) affects teenagers and adults alike. You can even do an online test to see if you have it. Last week, researchers from Hong Kong warned that nomophobia is infecting everyone. Their study found that people who use their phones to store, share and access personal memories suffer most. When users were asked to describe how they felt about their phones, words such as "hurt" (neck pain was often reported) and "alone" predicted higher levels of nomophobia.

    "The findings of our study suggest that users regard smartphones as their extended selves and get attached to the devices," said Dr. Kim Ki Joon. "People experience feelings of anxiety and unpleasantness when separated from their phones." Meanwhile, an American study shows that smartphone separation can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

    So can being without your phone really give you separation anxiety? Professor Mark Griffiths, psychologist and director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, says it is what is on the phone that counts-the social networking that creates Fomo (fear of missing out).

    "We are talking about an internet-connected device that allows people to deal with lots of aspects of their lives," says Griffiths. "You would have to surgically remove a phone from a teenager because their whole life is rooted in this device."

    Griffiths thinks attachment theory, where we develop emotional dependency on the phone because it holds details of our lives, is a small part of nomophobia. For "screenagers", it is Fomo that creates the most separation anxiety. If they can't see what's happening on Snapchat or Instagram, they become panic-stricken about not knowing what's going on socially. "But they adapt very quickly if you take them on holiday and there's no internet," says Griffiths.

    Four teenage girls from Minnesota, US. 120 hours of non-stop togetherness. No cellphones. This is not a reality show, but an adventure journey.

    "It was really perfect," said Julia Ruelle of her recent adventure to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with three of her childhood friends. "By unplugging, we had an amazing time."

    Last year, the 16-year-old took part in an essay contest and carried off a prize. The award was a 5-day canoe and camping adventure with up to three friends. No parents or guides would be there. So Julia invited her friends Anna Wander, Madeline Wilson and Julianna Torelli.

    The four Minnetonka High School juniors arrived in Ely for training the day before they began the journey. They set out the next day at 7 a.m., quickly developing a routine.

    "We were done paddling by noon," Julia said. "We ate lunch at the campsites and then it was time for hammocks (吊床), reading, making friendship bracelets (手镯) and talking."

    The girls had all had experience in the outdoors before.

    Anna had been to the Boundary Waters with her family. "I love how you are separated from everything in your life, especially technology," Anna said. Without her phone, she said, "I'm less worried about things." Madeline, too, had been to the Boundary Waters a few years back. "But this time, I had to paddle right and set up camp," she said. The girls made fire and cooked meal together. No one was ever hungry or homesick, but they were nervous the final night as they waited out a thunderstorm. They left wet sleeping bags in one tent, and squeezed into another for the night. "Every thunderstorm in the Boundary Waters feels huge," Julia said.

    On the car ride home, they were all on their phones catching up with friends. "It was a little at a loss turning my phone on," said Anna. "Mental health can be improved so much in the Boundary Waters. It really helps to get away and reconnect with yourself."

Children who were behind in their development at age 4-5 were almost three times as likely to have been out of education,employment,or training at age 16-17,analysis of pupil data has found. 

4-5-ycar-olds in England are assessed by the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile,and those who reach the boundary of a"good level of development"are considered"school ready". 

The new study in the journal BMC Public Health has found a significant gap in Not in Education,Employment or Training (NEET)outcomes between those who were ready and unready for primary school. The research drew on data from more than 8,000 Bradford young people whose records are linked as part of the Connected Bradford project. The research found that 11%of children who were not school ready went on to be NEET at 16-17, compared to just 4%of children who were school ready. 

Lead author Dr Matthew Warburton,Research Officer at Leeds' School of Psychology, said:"These findings tell us that there are clear,early indicators for children and young people being at risk of disadvantage in late adolescence. As schools routinely collect this data,the research could be used to kickstart early intervention in schools based on primary school readiness. "

The research team,which also included academics from Lancaster University and the Bradford Institute for Health Research,say this shows a clear need for early intervention by schools to reduce disadvantage in later life. 

This echoes the message from a series of N8 Child of the North and Centre for Young Lives reports on the need to put children and young people first. Senior author Dr Amy Atkinson,Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Lancaster University said:"Data from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile is readily available for millions of children and young people in England. This information could,and should,be used to identify pupils at increased risk of becoming NEET. "