In the professional or career world, a gap year is when one stops their formal work life to pursue other interests. However, today gap year refers mostly to a year taken between high school and college.

    During this gap year, American students engage in advanced academic courses, extra-academic courses and non-academic courses, such as yearlong pre-college math courses, language studies, learning a trade, art studies, volunteer work, travel, internships(实习), sports and more.

    British and European students, however, take a much more vacation style approach to the “Gap Year” by generally working for 3-6 months and then traveling throughout the globe for the remaining time before college begins. This is intended to expand the mind, personal confidence, experiences, and interests before college.

    Let's look at the gap year in the following countries:

Denmark

    Denmark has tried to limit the number of students who take a year out, punishing students who delay their education to travel abroad or work full-time. In 2015, it was announced that fewer students than before had taken a year out.

India

    In India, the practice of taking time out after high school education, popularly called a drop year, has been on a quick rise in recent years, primarily students deciding to enroll in coaching institutions to prepare themselves for rigorous(严格的)college entrance examinations. However, using that year for travel is still not common.

Republic of Korea

     In republic of Korea, gap year is defined as time for the youth to think about directions of their lives by going through gap year programs such as voluntary activity, career exploration, education, having a relationship, internship and enterprise while he/she pauses studying.

United Kingdom

    In the United Kingdom a year out is a common choice before university, again to travel or volunteer, gaining life experience. All universities seem to welcome gap year applicants, no different from going straight to university from previous education.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Following the suggested route will help you explore the museum.

    The Temple of Dendur

    This 2000-year-old building stood near the Nile River, surrounded by a wall that no longer exists. But you can still peek through the gateway. Whose "house" is this? It's not for people. It's for gods. Can you identify them? They face out. A king faces in, bringing offerings.

    MetSpeaks

    Bringing together some of the most respected thinkers on a given subject, MetSpeaks features lectures, discussions, talks, films, and forums in which compelling voices explore timely issues that connect to the Met's exhibitions and permanent collection. Program times, audiences, and topics vary.

    Time to Sketch

    Settle down for a few minutes, pick something in this gallery, and have fun drawing it. Enjoy the chance to look carefully as you create your own sketch. You'll be surprised at how much more you notice, thanks to exploring art by sketching.

    MetAccess

    Make the Met yours! Choose from a variety of services and exciting programs that are tailored to meet the needs of visitors with disabilities. Program times, audiences, and topics vary.

    Ask for the Access Information brochure and Access Calendar at Information Desks, download the Access Calendar (PDF), or call 212-650-2010 or email access@metmuseum.org.

    Admission

    Fee includes admission to the Main Building and same-week admission to the Cloisters museum and gardens.

    Eighty-five-year old Chinese pharmacologist(药理学家) Tu Youyou became China's first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine when it was announced that she was one of three scientists awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in developing effective drugs against parastic diseases.

    Tu was honored for developing artemisin（青蒿素）,a drug for malaria that has saved millions of lives across the globe,especially in the developing world,the Nobel Assembly at karolinska Institue disclosed on its website on Monday.Tu,a Chinese trained pharmacologist and a researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing, went to Stockholm, Sweden in December to receive her award, according to Cao Hongxin, the science and technology department head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

    "She was calm and said she has received lots of congratulatory calls." Cao told China Daily on Monday after he telephoned Tu to congratulate her. "It's an overdue（迟来的）honor for Tu and the world's recognition of traditional Chinese medicine," he said.

    "Tu's breakthrough in winning the Nobel Prize in a natural science is the pride of the whole nation and the whole Chinese scientific community," said Zhou Dejin, spokesman of the Chinese Academy of Science, China's national research body that consists of more than one hundred research insistutes, universities and research branches,

    "The achievement of discovering artemisinin was made in the 1970s, but it only received international recognition in later years, which suggests that we might have more achievements that have reached the Nobel Prize level but have not been recognized." Zhou said.

    Have you ever been faced with trying to stay positive when others around you are negative? A negative person can bring you down and throw your positive plans out of the window. Whether you deal with a family member, friend or co-worker who is negative, there are things you can do to remain positive in the face of negativity?

    Whatever you do, don't argue with a negative person. Arguing only adds fuel to the fire. I have noticed when my children are crabby, it is best to avoid trying to convince them to analyze and adjust their attitude. As soon as I take the approach of being in opposition to them, the situation gets worse before it gets better. Sometimes the best thing to do is remain silent and let negativity pass.

    You know how difficult it can be to give love and positive attention to negative people. Unfortunately, that is often exactly what they need. A negative person is usually afraid he is unlovable. How do you show love when someone is negative? You must listen to what he is trying to tell you. Acknowledge the feelings he has by saying something like, “You sound very angry right now.” How might you help a negative person? Offer a hug even if you get rejected. A negative person often has difficulty accepting love from others.

If you have negative people on your life who are affecting your mental and physical health, you need to decide whether or not you want these people in your life. Some people are so negative that you have no other choice but to remove them from your life. However, some people, such as your children, are difficult to remove from your life, in this case, professional counseling(咨询) may be the answer.

    Babies made from three people approved in UK

Babies made from two women and one man have been approved by the UK's fertility regulator. The historic and controversial move is to prevent children being born with deadly genetic diseases.

    Doctors in Newcastle - who developed the advanced form of In Vitro Fertilization or IVF (人工授精) - are expected to be the first to offer the procedure and have already appealed for donor eggs. The first such child could be born, at the earliest, by the end of 2017.

    Some families have lost multiple children to incurable mitochondrial (线粒体的) diseases, which can leave people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating.

The diseases are passed down from only the mother so a technique using a donor egg as well as the mother's egg and father's sperm has been developed.

    The resulting child has a tiny amount of their DNA from the donor, but the procedure is legal and reviews say it is ethical (伦理的) and scientifically ready.

    "It is a decision of historic importance," said Sally Cheshire, chairwoman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)."I'm sure patients will be really pleased by what we've decided today."

    But some scientists have questioned the ethics of the technique, saying it could open the door to genetically-modified(转基因) 'designer' babies.

    The HFEA must approve every clinic and every patient before the procedure can take place. Three-person babies have been allowed only in cases where the risk of a child developing mitochondrial disease is very high.

    Prof Mary Herbert, from the Newcastle Fertility Centre, said: "It is enormously pleasing that our many years of research in this area can finally be applied to help families affected by these devastating diseases.

    "Now that that we are moving forward towards clinical treatments, we will also need donors to donate eggs for use in treatment to prevent affected women transmitting disease to their children."

    Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, the director of the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, said: "We are delighted by today's decision. We will also provide long-term follow up of any children born."

    NHS England has agreed to fund the treatment costs of the first trial of three-person IVF for those women who meet the HFEA criteria, as long as they agree to long-term follow up of their children after they are born.

Yesterday morning I was having breakfast in the 37th floor club lounge(休息室) at the InterContinental Bangkok, quite enjoying my conversation with Julia. She is a lovely Bavarian lady who works in the club lounge. Suddenly I felt really dizzy(晕眩的). I hadn't drunk anything the night before and had got a great night of sleep, so I found that a bit strange. But it continued. After a few moments I realized what was going on -- I wasn't dizzy, but it was an earthquake. For over 20 seconds the club floor was shaking.

Julia tried to remain calm and asked us to go down the stairs. When I walked past the rooftop pool, I saw water rushing out of it, which terrified me even more. I skipped down the 37 flights of stairs as if I were taking part in the Olympics.

However, as I was trying to get to the ground floor, I found it strange that nobody else was escaping. Eventually I made it to the ground floor. Again, I had never been in an earthquake before, so I had no sense of what it was like during an earthquake. I was kind of expecting disorder on the streets, a thousand people in the hall, and a general Armageddon style setting.

Sure enough I hurriedly got through the doors on the first floor and went straight to the reception desk, thinking the girl at the desk knew what was going on. But she looked quite confused, not knowing what I was talking about. Then I asked another one but I got the same response. I believed the world was coming to an end, while everyone looked at me as if nothing had happened.

Well, as it turned out, nothing did happen to them. Clearly there was an earthquake in Myanmar, and it was only felt at the top of some of the taller buildings in Bangkok.

Julia kept the club lounge closed for safety for some time, while I was happy just to be on the ground level.