A couple of days ago, as the test results came out, my son and a group of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald's. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cell-phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPad, and she's only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A.”

    I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell-phone, and the DVD player?

    I saw the road ahead:As the homework load increased, my income would decrease.I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes — no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!

    I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal achieved by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns? What about the orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.

    “We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it.”

    Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she's spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation. And what about the primary grades? What do these students get? “When the teacher asked if anyone got rewards for good grades, everyone in my class raised their hands and said they got ice cream cones ,” said one third-grader.

    Every country may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming". We should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true.

    Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now. This is known to the warming establishment, as one can see from the 2009 "Climategate" email of climate scientist Kevin Trenberth: "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is an irony that we can't." But the warming is only missing if one believes computer models where so-called feedback involving water vapor and clouds greatly amplifies the small effect of CO2. The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant and it is a key component of the biosphere ( 生物圈)'s life cycle. Plants get better growth with more of it and part of the increase of agricultural yields in the past century certainly came from additional CO₂ in the atmosphere.

    Although the number of the scientists who are publicly opposed to the claim is growing, many young scientists secretly say that while they also have serious doubts about the global-warming message, they are afraid to speak up for fear of not being promoted or worse.

    Why is there so much passion about global warming? There are several reasons, but a good place to start is the old question "Cui bono?", or the modern update, "Follow the money". Alarmism (危言耸听) over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research, and thus those people who benefit from this fiercely defended their dogma (信条) and the privileges it brought them.

    Every country should support rational ( 合理 的) measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that turn away resources from real needs and are based on alarming but shaky claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.

    Social media is one of the fastest-growing industries in today's world. Your friends' lives may look more exciting than yours on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but a new research shows it is because they are faking(伪造) it.

    A recent survey has found around two-thirds of people on social media post images to their personal information to make their lives seem more adventurous. And more than three quarters of those asked said they judged their peers based on what they saw on their Instagrm, Snapehat or Facebook pages.

    The British survey, by smart phone maker HTC, found that, in order to make our own pages and lives appear more exciting, six percent also said they had borrowed items to include in the images in order to pass them off as their own. More than half of those surveyed said they posted images of items and places purely to show off, causing jealousy among friends and family.

    Behavioral psychologist Hemmings said the trend was unsurprising due to the rise of social media. "We're living in a world instant communication." she said. "Fashion and style used to live and die in magazines; now people are in search of authentic, peer-to-peer recommendations as well, making social media an equal power house to magazines and newspaper."

    "With images being shared in an instant, we desire to know what our friends are wearing, or what super stars are buying, as soon as they have got them." Such is the influence of social media sites like Instagram, 76 percent of those asked also said seeing items on social influences them to buy them, with men more likely to take style advice and buy what they see.

    Children who qualify for free school meals are twice as likely to be out of work in later life as their better off peers, and even when they get good qualifications at school, the employment gap remains, as a research has found.

    A report by Impetus, a charity that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, found that 26% of those on free school meals (FSM) were not in education, employment, or training (Neet) after leaving school. In contrast, only 13% of non-FSM children ended up Neet.

    The study found that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to get good qualifications, but even when they had the same qualifications as their better-off peers, they were still 50% more likely to be out of education and employment as other young adults.

    The research is based on analysis of longitudinal education outcomes data from the Department for Education, which reveals the impact of having a disadvantaged background on life chances and connects pupils' school records with their employment.

    "Qualifications play a central role," the report said, "and it is well known that disadvantaged young people have worse qualification outcomes than their better-off peers." It added qualifications alone were not enough to explain the difference in Neet rates. "Disadvantaged young people are around 50% more likely to be Neet than their similarly qualified but better-off peers. This is true at all levels of qualifications and regardless of age. This means that half the gap in Neet rates can be explained by qualifications, but half cannot."

    The study also showed how where you grow up affects your life chances—it found that a disadvantaged young person in north-east England is 50% more likely to end up Neet than a disadvantaged young person in London.

    Andy Ratcliffe, the CEO of Impetus, said: "We are breaking a fundamental promise to young people in this country. We tell them that study hard, get your qualifications and good jobs will follow. For many young people this is true. But for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds it isn't. They are less likely to get those qualifications, and even when they do, less likely to benefit from them."

    In Mexico, girls mark their fifteenth birthday with a celebration called Quinceanera. In the morning, the birthday girl goes to the church with her family and her best friends. She wears a beautiful dress. Later in the day, there is a huge party, with a big cake that matches the girl's dress, and a night filled with music and dancing.

    Becoming an adult is a very important life change, and Japan has a special holiday to celebrate this. The second Sunday in January is Coming-of-Age Day. On that day, everyone who had their twentieth birthday in the last year goes to their Town Hall for a special activity. Everyone dresses up, and many women wear beautiful dresses. The mayor makes a speech and gives presents to all the new adults.

    Some kids are afraid to start school, but six-year-olds in Germany can't wait. For them, Schulanfang is a big holiday. To celebrate a child's first day of school, parents or friends give the child a Zuckertuete, a big color box filled with candy and little presents. People take pictures of the kids holding their Zuckertuete, and there is a school party later for the parents with cake and coffee.

    It is the ideal way for traveler to ensure they wake up with the perfect view — a portable Eco-capsule that can be set up anywhere in the world. The egg-shaped pod (独立舱) ensures travelers can camp in the most extreme corners with all the luxury of a hotel room.

    Looking like something in a sci-fi movie, the pod is equipped with solar panels, which guarantee solar energy as its power. In this way the tiny home can let you live comfortably wherever you travel. It even has its own shower and toilet, sleeping area for two, and a small kitchen. The 3,306 ib pods can be transported in a sea-container, meaning the possibilities are endless.

    Bratislava-based Nice Architects are behind the extraordinary Eco-capsules and said they initially designed them for people who stay in the nature for a long time. However, it quickly became apparent that they could be opened up to the wider public and even used in urban areas to fight against high rent and placed on roofs for studio space or living quarters. The Eco-capsule can serve as a cottage, a pop-up hotel or even as a charging station for electric cars.

The Eco-capsules could even be quickly imported for housing for emergency teams who have been quickly arranged to help with natural disasters. Described by the website as a "Swiss Army knife" — it packs everything you need, the self-contained unit can sustain long periods of time without external resources.

    The 86 sqft pods are able to sleep two people for up to year and for those worried about a cold night's sleep, the Eco-capsule has a thick layer which significantly reduce heat loss.

    The pod is designed to cope with extreme weather conditions due to its innovative (创新的) design and materials used. No wonder the Nice Architects are so confident about its future and the producers are receiving heavy orders.