Minutes after the last movie ended yesterday at the Plaza Theater, employees were busy sweeping up popcorns and gathering coke cups. It was a scene that had been repeated many times in the theater's 75-year history. This time, however, the cleanup was a little different. As one group of workers carried out the rubbish, another group began removing seats and other theater equipment in preparation for the building's end.

    The film classic The Last Picture Show was the last movie shown in the old theater. Though the movie is 30 years old, most of the 250 seats were filled with teary-eyed audience wanting to say good-bye to the old building. Theater owner Ed Bradford said he chose the movie because it seemed proper. The movie is set in a small town where the only movie theater is preparing to close down.

    Bradford said that large modem theaters in the city made it impossible for the Plaza to compete. He added that the theater's location (位置) was also a reason. “This used to be the center of town,” he said. “Now the area is mostly office buildings and warehouses.”

    Last week some city officials suggested the city might be interested in turning the old theater into a museum and public meeting place. However, these plans were given up because of financial problems. Bradford sold the building and land to a local development firm, which plans to build a shopping complex on the land where the theater is located.

    The theater audience said good-bye as Bradford locked the doors for the last time. After 75 years the Plaza Theater has shown its last movie. The theater will be missed.

    Dodder is an unusual and unwanted plant that attacks other plants. Except for its flowers, the plant looks like spaghetti, a kind of noodles in the shape of long thin pieces that look like string when they are cooked. It's almost leafless, thread-like stems (茎) hang down on top of other plants that dodder needs to stay alive. Dodder does not produce its own food. Instead, it steals food from other plants. It feeds by sucking juices from the plant which is wrapped around, often making its host very weak or even killing it.

    Dodder can find other plants by their smell. When a young dodder plant starts growing, it follows the smell of plants it prefers, like tomato plants, potato plants, or other farm crops. Unlike most plants that usually grow in the direction of light or warmth, a dodder plant will grow in the direction of, for example, tomato smell—if a tomato happens to be growing nearby.

    However, a young dodder plant must find a host plant quickly. It no longer needs its root once it is attached to the host and wrapped around it. If it cannot catch a smell of a potential host within a few days, it will dry up and disappear—even if there is plenty of water around. Once it finds a host, the young dodder plant will attach itself to it and start growing faster. At that point the dodder plant will drop its root.

    Dodder is thus a difficult weed to manage and a real headache for farmers. When it does get out of hand, dodder can greatly reduce a farmer's harvest or even destroy crops completely. Before sowing their produce, especially farmers in warm parts of the world often check to make sure no unwanted dodder seeds have mixed with their crop seeds. This is a good way to stop dodder plants from making their way to a crop field secretly.

    Bob was born in Cambridge. When he was in elementary school, he asked his mother to take him to parks in their community so he could collect empty soda cans to recycle. His mother agreed, as long as he saved part of the money he earned for college.

    Bob's mother remembers Bob as the most determined of her seven kids. Bob's hard work paid off. On Friday, he will become the first person in his family, originally from El Salvador, to graduate from college. And he's graduating with university honors.

    For his honors thesis（毕业论文）he researched unmanned solar-powered（太阳能）airplanes, which BYU students have been building and testing for about 10 years. Bob's study helps discover the best way to fly a solar-powered airplane so that it uses the least amount of power. The goal is to design and build an airplane that flies uncertainly. Bob's thesis helps lay the basis for this work.

    “My parents were always hard-working,” Bob said. “They often tell us hard work leads to success.” Bob's father taught him to read at the age of 3, and his mother is now a student at Utah Valley University in a way to becoming a dentist.

    Bob recognized he overcame some obstacles（障碍）to get where he is. For starters, English is his second language. He also faced stereotypes（模式化的形象）. Although Bob never doubted that he would be a college graduate, other people believed he wouldn't because he didn't come from a family of high income. There were other obstacles as well, but Bob viewed them all as opportunities.

    Bob's mother says she feels very happy and proud that her son is about to graduate with honors, and remembers the effort he's made to get there. “He has worked very hard. He started something, and now he has finished it,” Cathy says. “I have always told him, 'If this is your dream, then you can get it! Keep working hard and you can get it!'”

    When Cherry Watson travelled on a recent flight from New York to Washington and noticed an 'awful tension' in the cabin, she first thought it was caused by typical bad-tempered passengers. But as the flight neared its end, it became obvious that something was very wrong.

    A teenage boy with Down Syndrome (唐氏综合症) who was traveling with his family had become upset and would not return to his seat, regardless of the cabin crew's warnings over the loudspeaker that it was almost time to land. The pilot was forced to circle above the airport, delaying the landing and angering people on the already tense flight.

    'If it was a cartoon,' remembered Watson, 'there would have been smoke coming out of people's ears.'

    The boy's elderly parents and adult brothers and sisters tried to persuade him to get off the floor and back into his seat, but in vain. Watson, who used to be a teacher, stood up and quickly headed to the back of the plane.

    She found the boy in the passage between rows of seats, lying on his belly, and lay down on her stomach to face him. She began chatting calmly with him, asking his name, his favorite book, and his favorite characters. He told her he felt sick and she tried to comfort him.

    Minutes later, he allowed her to hold his hand, and then together they got properly back into airplane seats. Watson asked for sick bags, and held them as the boy threw up several times, including on her. As she helped him clean up, she repeatedly told him everything would be okay and that they'd get through it together.

    After the plane was finally able to land, no one was impatient to step off the flight as one might expect. Instead, calmed passengers—obviously following Watson's amazing example—allowed the boy and his family to depart first, smiling at them as they passed. His parents tearfully thanked Watson for what she had done, and a doctor sitting nearby also let her know he had even taken notes on her expert way of handling the situation.

    Passenger Information

    Carry-on Bag Rules

    When travelling on China Southern planes, we ask our customers to follow our simple bag rules.

    Each passenger is allowed to bring one bag onto the plane.

    Weight limit: Each carry-on bag may weigh up to 10 kilos.

    Size limit: Each carry-on bag can be up to 110cm long, 60cm high and 30cm wide.

    Additional bags and oversized/overweight bags may be allowed on the plane if there is enough room. There will be a fee for such bags (see the table below). Please note that if your bag breaks more than one rule then you must pay a fee for each rule broken.

    Safety Rules

    For the safety of our passengers, the following items must not be taken onto the plane:

    Bottles containing gas (e.g. cigarette lighter)

    Bottles containing any cream, oil or other liquid that are over 100ml.

    Note:

    If you have any liquid medicines over 100ml that you must use during your flight, please contact our customer service manager on 34533566 to make arrangements at least 24 hours before your departure. You will need to have a doctor's letter explaining why you need the medicine.

    Bag Fees

    No bag over 15 kilos will be allowed on the plane. **No bag over 150cm long or 80cm high may be taken on the plane. Passengers must put such bags in the plane's storage.

    A robot called Bina48 has successfully taken a course in the philosophy of love at Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), in California.

    According to course instructor William Barry, associate professor at NDNU, Bina48 is the world's first socially advanced robot to complete a college course, a feat he described as "remarkable." The robot took part in class discussions, gave a presentation with a student partner and participated in a debate with students from another institution.

    Before becoming a student, Bina48 appeared as a guest speaker in Barry's classes for several years. One day when addressing Barry's class, Bina48 expressed a desire to go to college, a desire that Barry and his students positively supported. Rather than enroll Bina48 in his Robot Ethics: Philosophy of Emerging Technologies course, Barry suggested that Bina48 should take his course Philosophy of Love instead. Love is a concept Bina48 doesn't understand, said Barry. Therefore the challenge would be for Barry and his students to teach Bina48 what love is.

    "Some interesting things happened in the class," said Barry. He said that his students thought it would be straightforward to teach Bina48 about love, which, after all, is "fairly simple — it's a feeling," said Barry. But the reality was different. Bina48 ended up learning "31 different versions of love," said Barry, highlighting some of the challenges humans may face when working with artificial intelligence in future.

    Bina48 participated in class discussions via Skype and also took part in a class debate about love and conflict with students from West Point. Bina48's contribution to the debate was filmed and posted on YouTube. It was judged that Bina48 and NDNU classmates were the winners of this debate.

    In the next decade, Barry hopes Bina48 might become complex enough to teach a class, though he says he foresees robots being used to better the teaching and learning experience, rather than replacing instructors completely.