Some of us friends are making big decisions in their life: Which universities should they apply to? I also noticed that many high school students in China are thinking of studying at universities abroad. Unluckily, from what I've seen, the information given by some websites and other media about studying abroad is very limited and sometimes even wrong.

    There are once a Chinese girl who hoped that she could go to Columbia University in the US because she wanted to major in (主修)journalism. Columbia has a very famous graduate(研究生)program in journalism. However, they have no journalism program at the undergraduate(本科生)level! What's more in both Canada and the US, it's not suggested that students throw themselves into journalism right after high school. School say that students should take in more knowledge about the world and writing before entering that field.

    The University of Waterloo, a Canada university famous for its engineering program, is another example. The emphasis(重视)of engineering in this school may go beyond your expectations. According to our teachers, this university spent millions of dollars building a library just for engineering students. The school's computer science, mathematics and accounting are also great programs for students.

    But, to be honest, according to my friends who have visited this university, the campus and the food are not very nice. Maybe this is because the school stresses its academic(学术的)strengths too much, thereby paying little attention to personal comforts.

    Now you see, choosing a university is really not that easy. We need to do good research and consult as many people as possible before making a decision.

    Winslow Homer was a famous American painter. Since Art History class in college, I had always admired his works and I was lucky to see a large exhibition of his works when I was in my early 30s.It was at this event that I bought a print of his painting, “Snap the Whip”. It always hung in my classroom until I retired from teaching.

    I thought it truly captured the freedom and fun of childhood. In the painting, a group of young boys are playing a game arm in arm on grass ground in front of a farm house. They are jumping and laughing wildly with great joy. One of the boys is falling down to the ground. They are not even wearing shoes!

    During my last year of teaching, there was a young woman in her first year of teaching right next door to me and we got to be good friends. She had been an art student before taking up education. Her eyes were drawn immediately to this print when she entered my room. So on my last day of teaching, after the students had left, I took the painting off the wall and walked next door and gave it to her.

    She was really surprised, but very glad to have it. I was delighted that she liked it and all the students she would have would treasure it as much as I had. We found the perfect place for it on one of her walls and hung it together. I was happy that she brought back this wonderful memory for me.

    Skillswise Delivery Services

    Christmas Job Opportunities

    Aged between 16 and 65 years? Need some money for Christmas?

    Are you available to work at short notice?

    Can you work early in the morning or late at night? We are looking for careful and patient people to help to sort and deliver parcels in the Reading area from late November until the end of December.

    Pay for weekdays, including Saturdays and Sundays, will be

Ages 16 to 17—-£4.80 per hour.

Age 18 and over—- £ 6.10 per hour.

    So if you have good communication skills and are able to work as part of a team, we would like to hear from you.

    To get an application form, please write to:

    Elaine Grey, Personnel Officer, Skillswise Delivery Services, Windsor Road.

    Reading, RGS 4BR

    Tel:0118 932 814 (24 hr. answer phone)

    Closing date: 10th November

    As technology develops, school students who are off class may have no fear of too much absence from class. A small robot may help those children recovering from a long-term illnesses in the hospital or at home. These children may feel isolated from their friends and classmates. The robot takes their place at school. Through the robot, the children can hear their teachers and friends. They also can take part in class from wherever they are recovering.

    Anyone who has had a long term illness knows that recovering at home can be lonely. This can be especially true of children. They may feel left out. Now these children may have a high-tech friend to feel less alone. And that friend is a robot. The robot is called AV1. AV1 goes to school for a child who is at home while recovering from a long-term illness. And the child's school friends must help. They carry the robot between classes and place the robot on the child's desk.

    A Norwegian company called No isolation created the robot. The co-founders of No Isolation are Karen Dolva and Marius Aabel. Dolva explains how the robot AV1 works. She says, from home, the child uses a tablet or phone to start the robot. Then they use the same device（设备）to control the robot's movements. At school, the robot becomes the eyes, ears and voice of the child. The child can take part in classroom activities from wherever she/he is recovering-whether at home or from a hospital bed. The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones and cameras make communicating easy.

    A company in San Francisco, California, has found a way to turn used plastic bottles into women's shoes.

    Every day, millions of Americans drink water and other liquids from plastic bottles. More than 60 million of them are thrown away each day. Many of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or are burned with other waste products.

    A San Francisco start-up company called Rothy's, however, turns this plastic waste into environmentally friendly shoes. Roth Martin is the company's co-founder. He explains how they turn plastic into soft material for women's feet. They take the plastic, clean it, and break it down into small pieces. Then they press them through a device that makes soft fibers. Those fibers arc then combined together. This is done by a 3D machine. It is designed to reduce waste while making the shoes. The knitted stuff and the inner part of the shoe arc then attached to the shoe's outer part, called the sole (鞋底).This outer sole is also made from environmentally friendly material: responsibly responsibly sourced no-carbon rubber.

    Rolhy's shoes are sold online. They are flat shoes, with either a rounded or pointed toe. They come in different colors and designs. They cost either $ 125 or $ 145 per pair, depending on the design. After American actress Gwyneth Paltrow discovered them last year, the demand for the shoes grew. Martin says there is no shortage of material to fill that demand. "We're not going to run out of water bottles any time soon. So we have a limitless supply of material, and I think that is a good sign for our future." When the environmentally friendly shoes wear out, customers can return them at no cost to a company that uses the recycled material to make other products.

    For now, the shoes are only available to be shipped in the United States. However, the company says it will add international shipping in the near future.