A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.

    Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality child-care center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.

    The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the child-care center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.

    Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child-care program did much better in tests.

    The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the child-care center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.

    A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to be attending college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.

    The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.

    The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.

    When you are travelling in Thailand, which means of transport is the best choice?

    You can rent a variety of motorbikes or bikes in Thailand. It seems to be very popular in most of the beaches and islands along the places in the north. The most popular bikes are the little 125 cc Honda Dream which you can get for about 150 baht (铢) a day or as little as 3,000 baht per month, making it the cheapest way to tour Thailand for the people from other countries.

    Sometimes you will have to go somewhere by taxi. When you are in cities in Thailand, especially in Bangkok, always remember to get a taxi that is traveling on the roads. Some drivers outside hotels refuse to use the meter (计程表). They will ask a price which is several times the price when they use the meter!

    The quality of the roads in Thailand is generally pretty good, so renting cars is another way to get around. The big car rental companies may offer you slightly older cars at a very reasonable (合理的) price. It is a little surprising considering that the cost of buying a car in Thailand is more than that in the West. Petrol is also reasonably priced in Thailand, more expensive than American prices, but much cheaper than what is paid in Europe. In the past, Bangkok could be a difficult place to drive in—signs were generally in Thai only, making it a hard job to find exactly where you were by looking around. But now, the situation is improved. In a lot of places, even the farthest corners of the country, street signs are in both Thai and English.

    It was anniversary（周年纪念）and Ria was waiting for her husband Manoj to show up. After some years of marriage things changed between them. The once cute couple who couldn't live without each other were now fighting over every little thing, but both didn't like changes that came into their marriage.

    Ria was waiting to see if Manoj remembered that it was their wedding anniversary. As the doorbell rang she ran toward the door and opened it with a bunch of flowers to greet him. Both started to celebrate. They wanted to make up for fights.

    Suddenly the phone in the bedroom rang. Ria went to pick it up. On the call there was a man who said, “Hello, madam. I am calling from the police station. Is this Mr. Manoj Kumar's number?”

    She replied, “Yes, it is!”

    “I am sorry, but there has been an accident and man died. We got this number from his wallet. Can you please come and identify the body?” the man replied. Ria was shocked!! “But my husband is with me here!!”, she replied. “Sorry, but the accident took place in the afternoon while he was getting off the bus.”

    Ria was about to lose her consciousness（意识）. She had read stories about souls returning to meet their loved ones after their death before it leaves!! Her heart sank. In fear she ran towards the other room to look for her husband. But he was not there. She said to herself, “It's true!! He left me forever. Oh God, I can die to have another chance to mend for every fight we had. I lost my chance forever.” She fell on the floor in pain.

    Suddenly there was noise from the bathroom. The door opened and Manoj came out and said, “Darling, I forgot to tell you today my wallet was stolen.”

    Life might not give you a second chance, so never waste any moment while you still have one. Value people and relations in life and have a wonderful life with no regrets. Live today and enjoy every moment of life because no one has promised tomorrow.

    Time management is the greatest challenge for me in high school．I have to take good care of my subjects, activities, social life and rest．I was often angry with my family members just because I didn't plan my time well．For example, I might shout at them for troubling me when I was working．And sometimes I might say something bad to them when I missed deadlines, even if it was actually my fault for cramming everything in (把所有的事情堆积起来) at the last minute．

    As time goes by, I realize that time management is very important in our everyday life．The best advice to deal with time management is “break it into bits”．It's really important for you to learn how to break a big project into small, manageable tasks．Then you can work progressively and have a sense of achievement whenever you've done with a small part．

    Another piece of advice is to plan a timetable for yourself．It doesn't have to be the one that you follow completely．It's just there to serve as a guide．You can compare your actual timetable with the planned one to see how well you actually use your time．The final suggestion is to always set deadlines for yourself．

    The Secretary-General of the U.N. has always been chosen in private meetings. But for the first time in its 70-year history, part of the selection process is taking place in public.

    At least eight countries have announced their candidates (候选人) for the position, among whom are women, including Irina Bukova from Bulgaria, Susana Malcorra from Argentina and Helen Clark from New Zealand. 56 countries says the next U.N. chief should be a woman. There have been eight U.N. chiefs, none of whom was a woman.

    All member states were permitted to ask the candidates questions during two hour-long meetings last week in the U.N. General Assembly (联合国大会). The candidates were also asked some of the 1,000 questions written by people on social media.

    They were asked questions about development, how they would improve efforts to create peace and how they would protect human rights.

    The U.N. Security Council will examine the candidates' backgrounds. Then the 15 members will vote secretly until one person is chosen. The General Assembly will then vote on whether to accept the choice.

    Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the five permanent members of the Security Council. Experts say they are likely to have more influence on who will be the new secretary-general than the 10 non-permanent nations on the council.

    The Security Council will begin to discuss who will be named the next secretary-general in July. A new secretary-general may not be confirmed until as late as November.

    The U.N. has a tradition of choosing its new leader from a part of the world different from its current leader. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is from Asia. The previous U.N. chief was Kofi Annan, who was from Africa.

    Dan Thomas is a spokesman for the president of the General Assembly. He says there is no rule that says where a new secretary-general must come from. But most observers say the new U.N. chief will not be from Asia or Africa.

    New Jersey Middle School Makes Students Go Phone-Free

    A middle school in Union County, New Jersey, is forcing its students to stay disconnected in class, by prohibiting cellphones. Maxson Middle School Principal Kevin Stansbury put forward the phone ban last week after he noticed some major issues in the school. "Our test scores were down, discipline was up," he says. According to him, students were too focused on their phones to pay attention to their lessons. So, he purchased Yondr pouches for the school.

    Yondr pouch

    When students come into class each morning, they place their phones in the pouch, which is then locked up tight. It can only be opened using a special device at the end of the day. The ban on mobile devices applies not just during class time but during breaks, with the only exceptions being in times of emergency or in cases of students who need such devices to help with disabilities.

    Eighth-graders who spoke with News 12 New Jersey say that they noticed a change in a matter of hours. "It's just better for everyone because you'll understand how it feels to get more work done instead of paying attention to the phone," says student Charlene V. "I'm usually listening to music, but today I got to communicate with all my friends," says student Desiree Duncan.

    The program was originally met with resistance from students and parents, so the process was not that smooth. But teachers and administrators say that the program will have a major impact. "Students were talking and laughing and there were no cellphones other than being carried in the pouches," Stansbury says.

    Teacher Nia Cummings says she even noticed students bouncing ideas off each other in class. She says students used to give up quickly and just look for answers on their phones. She says they now try to figure it out themselves. "Everyone is socializing and eating lunch together. That's what I wasn't seeing enough of when phone usage was at its worst," she adds.

    Maxson Middle School is currently the only one in the district to use these pouches. Kevin Stansbury also called on all the schools in the community that it's worth paying close attention to cellphone issues at secondary schools and taking actions when necessary.