In London's art gallery six or seven men, mostly in their 30s, are busy painting the walls with new designs in colorful lettering and clever tricks. Tins of spray paint and beer stand on the ground. The atmosphere is not unlike that of a golf course: a mix of concentration and relaxation.

    Graffiti(涂鸦) painting is traditionally a daring hobby. Teenagers avoid security guards to put their names on trains and buses. But over the past decade that has almost disappeared from Britain's cities. Between 2007 and 2017 the number of incidents of graffiti recorded by the British Transport Police fell by 63%. A survey by the environment ministry shows that fewer places are damaged by tags(绘名) than ever. Graffiti are increasingly limited to only a few walls. In time the practice may die out entirely.

    The most obvious reason for the decline in tagging and train-painting is better policing, says Keegan Webb, who runs The London Vandal, a graffiti blog (博客). Numerous cameras mean it is harder to get away with painting illegally. And punishments are more severe. A generational change is apparent, too. Now teenagers prefer to play with iPads and video games. Those who do get involved tend to prefer street art to graffiti. And the internet helps painters win far more attention by posting pictures online than they can by breaking into a railway yard.

    Taggers and graffiti artists mostly grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. Those men are now older and less willing to take risks. "We can't run away from the police any more," says Ben Eine, who turned from tagging to street art. The hip-hop culture that inspired graffiti in the first place has faded. Video games and comic books provide more inspiration than music.

    Graffiti may eventually disappear. But for now the hobby is almost respectable. Mr Eine says he has lots of friends who used to paint trains. Now with wives and children, they paint abandoned houses at the weekend. It has become something to do on a Sunday afternoon—a slightly healthier alternative to sitting watching the football.

    When my sister Gina was born, she had a problem with her heart. Her heart was pretty bad in the beginning and she stayed in the hospital for a month. The first few years were very difficult because she was very sick. She had five operations before she was three years old. She had trouble walking, playing with other children, and going to school.

    Although Gina couldn't laugh and talk, we all knew that she just needed love and care. Our parents wanted to take Gina to a special place in Florida where she could swim with dolphins. Gina was afraid of swimming with them because she had never been around dolphins before. We had also never traveled that far as a family.

    When we got to Florida, we saw where the dolphins lived. It was a place where kids with special needs like Gina could come and spend time. I thought it was going to be a vacation, but it wasn't. Gina had to work hard every day for a week.

    The trip was amazing .Gina laughed and clapped(拍手) when she saw the dolphin, and the dolphin splashed (溅起水花) when it saw Gina. They swam together all day. Gina was able to move her body more than she normally did at home. Mom and dad were proud of Gina. I was, too.

    Computer programmer David Jones earns $35.000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card. Instead he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18. The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the fast growing computer market each month.

    But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage（抵押贷款）, or get credit cards. David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs”, he said. David spends some of his money on records and clothes and gives his mother 50 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.

    “Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school”, he said “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.” David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”

    What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?

    This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming. and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.

    I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood. I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.

    Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.

    The STAR Eco Station is an environmental science museum, a wildlife rescue center, and a shelter for endangered and illegally-traded foreign animals confiscated (没收) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It carries out the mission "Preservation through Education "by educating visitors about the preservation of the environment and the inter-dependence of all living things.

    Field trips

    STAR Eco Station hosts field trips for schools and camps throughout Southern California. Each field trip lasts two hours, consisting of a one-hour gathering and a one-hour tour of the facility, with lessons associated with California State Science Standards.

    Throughout the field trip, students learn about the latest developments in environmental protection and the ways in which wildlife interacts with various ecosystems. The students also receive an up-close and hands-on experience with our rescued foreign wildlife. The tour includes different environmental exhibits that showcase the ways students can help protect animals in the wild.

    Field trips are offered on weekdays only, from 10 a. m.-12 p. m. or 12 p. m.-2 p. m. The rate is $6 per visitor, both child and adult, with a $120 minimum. We offer one free adult per 10 children for groups of 40 or more. Maximum capacity is 120 people per field trip.

    Public tours

    Guided tours of the STAR Eco Station introduce visitors to over two hundred rescued foreign wildlife. Each tour is led by an Eco Station staff member, and features fun animal facts, hands-on animal encounters, surprising rescue stories, environmental exhibits, and original approaches to going green. Visitors may only see the animals on a guided tour, for both your safety and the safety of our animals.

    The guided tour lasts approximately 45-60 minutes. Visitors are served on a first-come, first-served basis. No reservations are required. However, tours may sell out. We suggest larger groups schedule a private tour.

Note:

    Our regular public tours times are subject to change without notice・ Please call in advance for the most up-to-date information

    A couple in their 60s has travelled 12,000 miles across 16 countries from Britain to China - riding their bikes all the way. Grandparents Peter and Chris stepped on the long journey after deciding to "do something a bit different". They traversed (横穿) cities, deserts, mountains and everything in between across Europe, the Middle East and the East Asia.

    Peter, 66, said the moment they finally had a look at the famous Great Wall after a year and a half of cycling 30 miles a day was "really exciting". At the end of their journey, the special pair didn't fly home but instead choose to book a cabin (舱) inside a 400m-long ship.

    "You never know what the day is going to bring. All you know is that you are going to get on your bike and cycle. Every day is an adventure and every day is new. Overall, the experience is unbelievable," Peter said.

    At first Peter and Chris set out to cycle from Britain in January 2017 but were forced home. They had cycled all the way to Hungary when Peter slipped and broke his leg. After seven months of recovery, the couple set out again in Britain. They finally arrived in China in November 2018.

    Both Peter and Chris agreed that the best part of the entire trip was coming across the kindness of strangers along the way, many of whom invited the couple for food and drink. Chris, 64, said, "It was a wonderful experience, particularly wonderful because of the amazing people we met along the way."