Visitor Guide to Birch Aquarium General Information

Thank you for respecting the health of our animals and the experience.

◆ Keep voices low in exhibit areas.

◆ No tapping on marine life displays.

◆ As a courtesy, please silence cell phones.

◆ Please use trash and recycling bins.

◆ Birch Aquarium is smoke-free facility.

Photography

    For the safety of our live animals, please do not use flash photography. Visitors may be photographed or videotaped by aquarium staff for professional use, or by the media covering aquarium news. Entry into the aquarium grants permission for use of these images.

Refreshments

    Splash Cafe offers a variety of gourmet, sustainable, and organic sandwiches, snacks, and beverages.

Drinks, food, and gum are not permitted inside the aquarium.

Restrooms ＆ Baby Care

Changing tables are located in both the men's and women's restrooms.

Re-entry

    Please keep your ticket or have hand stamped at the Visitor Service Office if you plan to exit and re-enter the same day , including visits to Splash Coffee Shop.

Visitors with Disabilities

    See the Visitor Information Center for assistance. All exhibits are wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs are available at no charge.

Emergencies /First Aid/ Lost ＆ Found

Go to the Visitor Service Office or alert the nearest staff member.

Don't Miss!

    Watch a diver hand-feed the fishes—including three species of sharks—during our Kelp Tank Dive Show.

Learn about this unique and beautiful undersea world during a live, interactive presentation. After your visit, view the exhibit at home through our live, online Kelp Cam.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.

    Sometimes, the word “green” means young, fresh and growing. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience. In the 15th century, a greenhorn was a young cow or an ox whose horns(角)had not yet developed. A century later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had no experience in war. By the 18th century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.

    Someone who is good at growing plants is said to have a green thumb(大拇指). The expression comes from the early 20th century. A person with a green thumb can make plants grow quickly and well.

    Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling , jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster （怪物）is not a dangerous animal from outer space. It is an expression used about 400 years ago by the British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling when someone has something he wants. For example, a young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if you get a pay rise and he does not.

    In most places in the world, a green light means to move ahead. In everyday speech, a green light means agree to continue with a project.

    There once lived in China a very foolish king and queen. One day the queen had a baby daughter. When they saw their baby, they both cried out, “My goodness! How small it is! It's hairless and toothless! It's a monster!” they sent for all the doctors in the country and ordered them to prepare some medicine for her.

    “When she drinks your medicine, she must grow to the right size and have hair and teeth,” the king said, “If you don't do this, you'll have a beating.”

    The doctors thought it impossible, but they dared not say anything against the king's order. Just then and old doctor stepped forward. “Oh, we shall certainly obey your order,” he said, but it takes time. We have to dig a mineral from the KunLun Mountains when the snow melts for the second time. The snow melts on those mountains only once in six years. So we need twelve years.”

    At last the king agreed and the doctors took away the little princess. On her twelfth birthday, they brought her back to her parents with long black hair and beautiful teeth. The king and queen were very happy and gave the doctors expensive presents.

    Webber is a labor economist. His latest research offers guidance on how to keep students on target to earn a degree from a college or university. Among his findings: It is important, whenever possible, for college students to complete their degree program in four years. Also, getting a part-time job is probably a good thing to help finance a college education. But too much time spent working on a job makes it less likely the student will graduate.

    One thing, Webber said, is financial aid that helps many students pay for college. Scholarships and other assistance generally stop after four years. So the cost of each additional year in school is likely to come almost entirely from the student and/or parents.

    But there are other reasons why taking more than four years is a problem, as Webber notes. It's because life gets in the way, other things happen. He means the longer you stay in college, the more likely that some unexpected event will affect your studies. It could be a loved one getting sick, a parent losing a job, or the student running out of money for college.

    Only about four in 10 graduated within four years. It is also important that students have enough time to complete their college classes, Webber added. His research suggests part-time work of 15 hours or less will not cause harm to the student's scholastic performance. But his research shows students who work 20 hours or more a week are about 15 percent less likely to graduate on time, or to graduate at all.

    His belief is that students active in college athletic programs would face the same problem. It is common, he said, for student athletes to spend 20 hours or more for training, travel and to compete against athletes or teams from other schools.

    A young woman sits alone in café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: "Where are the toilets please?" This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafes", where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among youg Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation(隔离). The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a "one woman wedding" – a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression – "botchi-zoku", referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the café, Miss Higashikokubaru said: "I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere."

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million "hikikomori" – a more extreme example of social recluses（隐士）who withdraw completely from society.

My Favorite Sweater

By Bonnie Highsmith Taylor