You may not know a lot of people when you start high school. Maybe your friends from middle school are going to a different high school. Even if you know other freshmen(新生), you still feel nervous that you don't know any upper-classmen. How are you going to make friends among this sea of unknown faces?

    Most high schools hold a freshman orientation(训练) before school actually starts. These are helpful not only because you learn your way around the building and get to meet some of your teachers, but you also get to meet fellow freshmen. That way, when you show up on your first day of school, you may already recognize a few familiar faces.

    When you talk to people at orientation, you'll probably find that a lot of them are feeling just like you are. They're all new to the school and don't know what to expect. Talking about a common concern with your classmates can help you develop friendships.

    The work in high school is something freshmen are probably worried about. The work in high school builds on what you learned in middle school, giving you a more advanced knowledge of many subjects. So you may find you have more work to do or that it's a bit more challenging. If you ever find your work too difficult, teachers can give you extra help.

    High school also has more after-school activities than middle school did, such as clubs, music and theater groups and sports teams. This is a good time to explore your interests and try new things.

    Middle school taught you the basics of academics, time management, and social skills while providing you with a little extra support and guidance. High school gives you the chance to learn how to be more independent and responsible.

    Have you ever heard of a great Chilean poet? He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 114th birthday of Pablo Neruda(1904—1973).

    Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he, was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.

    However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.

    In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair”. Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

    Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. “I need the sea because it teaches me,” he wrote. “I move in the university of the waves.” He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed（共鸣）in his work.

Venom(毒液）from a local scorpion(蝎子）in Cuba is being used by Cuban scientists as an effective weapon to fight cancer. The venom, with stopping pain, anti-inflammatory (炎症） and anti-cancer properties, is the active ingredient in the medicine “Vidatox 30 CH“ which can be used to treat liver, brain, lung and other cancers. The treatment has been successfully used for more than four years in humans after being first tested in biological models. Labiofam, a Cuban laboratory, has breeding(繁殖)centers for both the Red Scorpion and Blue Scorpion. Each month, some 30,000 scorpions in Las Minas town, 270 km east of Havana are made to give the venom. After two years, the scorpions are released back into their natural habitat.

Denyer Sanchez, a biologist from Labiofam, explained that the conditions are adjusted for reproduction, proved by the high number of breeding female scorpions. He said when the offspring(后代）becomes able to live in the environment, we release them because they do not have the necessary size yet to remove their venom, said Sanchez. Sanchez also said that there is still much to research on the exploitation process of scorpions, such as female death rate or the ability to survive of the released scorpions.

Cuban research on the scorpion's venom began at the end of 1980s in Guantanamo province, the island's eastern tip, where a group of biologists and doctors became interested in the stories told by the peasants about the venom's benefits. However，the first discovery was made by Cuban biologist Misael Bordier. In 2001, Bordier visited Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) and presented the research progress in a professional journal. Bordier died in 2005, one year before Cuba's Industrial Property Office gave Labiofam the rights to exploit the patent related to the venom.

A Language Programme for Teenagers

    Welcome to Teenagers Abroad! We invite you to join us on an amazing journey of language learning.

Our Courses

    Regardless of your choice of course, you'll develop your language ability both quickly and effectively.

Our Standard Course guarantees a significant increase in your confidence in a foreign language, with focused teaching in all 4 skill areas—-speaking, listening, reading and writing.

    Our Intensive Course builds on our Standard Course, with 10 additional lessons per week, guaranteeing the fastest possible language learning (see table below).

    Evaluation

    Students are placed into classes according to their current language skills. The majority of them take on online language test before starting their programme. However, if this is not available, students sit the exam on the first Monday of their course.

    Learning materials are provided to students throughout their course, and there will never be more than 15 participants in each class.

Arrivals and Transfer

    Our programme offers the full package—students are taken good care of from the start through to the very end. They are collected from the airport upon arrival and brought to their accommodation in comfort. We require the student's full details at least 4 weeks in advance.

    Meals/Allergies (过敏) /Special Dietary Requirements

    Students are provided with breakfast, dinner and either a cooked or packed lunch (which consists of a sandwich, a drink and a dessert). Snacks outside of mealtimes may be purchased by the student individually.

    We ask that you let us know of any allergies or dietary requirements as well as information about any medicines you take. Depending on the type of allergies and/or dietary requirements, an extra charge may be made for providing special food.

    Peter Skyllberg, a Swedish man, was trapped in his car for two months, with temperatures reaching -30^oC, with no food or water, and yet he survived. The best explanation was that his vehicle created an “igloo (snow house) effect” and protected him from the extremely low temperatures and that his body would hibernate(冬眠) during this time.

    Can humans get into a low-energy consumption state like a bear by reserving energy, and reducing body temperature? Chinese scientists are looking for the key to regulating body temperature.

    Scientists have found the hypothalamus (下丘脑), an area in the central lower part of the brain, is responsible for regulating body temperature. Wang Hong, a brain scientist at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led her team to mark the neurons (神经元) responsible for regulating body temperature in mice by means of a cutting-edge genetic biology technique. In the experiments, they injected (注射) drug into mice to make the body temperatures of the mice drop rom 37℃ to 27 in two hours. The team found the change in body temperature caused no harm to the health of the mice. “We don't know if we can develop a drug that can control human body temperature. We still need a lot of study.” Wang said.

    Chinese scientists are not alone in such research. Body-cooling techniques are being used in pioneering hospitals around the world. Dutch doctors are now using low temperatures for patients who have suffered brain injuries in accidents, According to doctors working in Florence, it may even help to save the brains of babies who are born suffering from severe epileptic fits (癫痫病发作).