Most people would say the sea is blue and green. But the people who live near the coast of Zhejiang may say it is red. It is not people who caused the colour change, but very small living thing in the sea. They are algae(藻类)and protozoa(原生动物). They come in many different colours; red, yellow or brown. Red is the easiest of those to see so when this happens people call it a “red tide.”

    Red tides only happen when conditions in the sea are right. In the past few years, factories and people have been putting more chemicals into the sea. These chemicals help algae and protozoa to grow very quickly. The temperature of the sea is also important. Red tides usually happen at 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Red tides often happen in dry, warm areas where there is little wind. Living things grow easily in these places. Sometimes fishermen help red tides by mistake. They put small sea animals into the water for food to help fish grow.

    Those living things do more than change the colour of the water-they also put poison and mucus(黏液)into the sea. This is had for fish. The poison is bad for their brains. And too much mucus in the sea fills up fish's gills(鳃) so they can't breathe. Lots of dead fish and other sea animals are now washed up on Chinese beaches.

    Red tides can be bad for people too. We shouldn't eat fish from red-tide waters. The algae gets inside of fish and it smells bad. It can make your eyes water. If people eat fish with too much algae inside they could die.

    Fishermen in Zhejiang are having a hard time right now. Because of the red tide, they are selling 30% less fresh seafood than usual.

    In China red tides usually happen in May and June around places like Fujian Guangdong and Hong Kong.

    Many other countries sometimes also have red tides. But it seems that we have few ways to stop red tides. They can last as long as 16 months.

    Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve

    Published by OUP Press

    ISBN: 978-0-192-73455-6

    Oliver grew up in a family of explorers—but his biggest adventure is about to begin! Along with his new friends, Oliver goes off to look for his missing parents.

    I really like this book because it's not one of those short stories that are over too quickly, but a longish book that takes time to read. I recommend this book and give it 5 stars.

    Ginny, age 8

    Lady Lydia: Read Me a Story by Anne Lavis

    Published by A H Stockwell

    ISBN: 978-0-722-34327-2

    Lady Lydia is old and eccentric (古怪的), but she is never lonely. She shares her home with bats and mice and spiders, and all the animals round about are her friends too.

    My lovely daughter Alice likes all the pictures of the animals in this book, but she doesn't like it when the pages have lots of writing on with no pictures. Alice rates this book 2 out of 5.

    Alice, age 4

    I Am a Woolly Hat (EARLY READER) by Salma Koraytem

    Published by Orion Books

    ISBN: 978-1-444-00844-9

    Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together.

This book makes my sweetheart Lucie feel lovely inside and the drawing are not as good because the colors are not bright like other books. Lucie rates this book 3 out of 5.

    Lucie, age 4

   A Royal Fairytale by Ink Robin

    Published by Egmont

    ISBN: 978-1-405-26843-1

    See Kate and Will's romance develop from their studying days at Edinburgh through to their happy wedding at Buckingham Palace with the royal family, even the queen, in tow.

    My little angel Amy likes the book. The best parts are the wedding and fireworks as she likes fireworks and the colors on the page are really bright. Amy rates it 4 out of 5.

    Amy, age 4

    One of the most firmly established idea of manliness is that a real man doesn't cry. Although he might shed a tear at a funeral, he is expected to quickly regain control. Sobbing openly is for girls. One study found that women cry significantly more than men do—five times as often, on average, and almost twice as long per period.

    Historically, however, men routinely wept, and no one saw it as shameful. For example, in the Middle Ages, knights cried purely because they missed their girlfriends. In The Knight of the Cart, no less a hero than Lancelot weeps at a brief separation from Guinevere. There's no mention of the men in these stories trying to restrain or hide their tears. They cry in a crowded hall with their heads held high. Nor do their companions make fun of this public crying; it's universally regarded as an admirable expression of feeling.

    So where did all the male tears go? The most obvious possibility is that this shift is the result of changes as we moved from an agricultural society to one that was urban(城市的) and industrial. In the Middle Ages, most people spent their lives among those they had known since birth. If men cried, they did so with people who would sympathize. But from the 18th to 20th centuries, the population became increasingly urbanize, and people were living in the midst of thousands of strangers. Furthermore, changes in the economy required men to work together in factories and offices where emotional expressions and even private conversations were discouraged as time wasting.

    Yet human beings weren't designed to swallow their emotions, and there's reason to believe that holding back tears can be harmful to your well-being. Research from the 1980s has suggested a relationship between stress-related illnesses and inadequate crying. Weeping is also, somewhat related with happiness and wealth. Countries where people cry the most tend to be richer and more confident.

    Below you will find a profile of each gap year program. If there is a specific program you are interested in or a question you have regarding these programs, please feel free to contact them directly.

    Youth International

    Since 1997, Youth International has been providing many people with the most exciting and educational experience of their life. It is a learning program that combines international travel, inter-cultural exchange, home stays, volunteer community service work and outdoor adventures.

    Phone: 720-270-3323

    Carpe Diem Education

    Through volunteer service, travel and cultural exchange, students of Carpe Diem Education receive a personal insight into themselves and their cultures. We specialize in guiding summer and semester programs for high school students. Each course is carefully crafted to develop leadership and self-awareness within our students, who return home better prepared to be leaders in thought and action.

    Phone: 503-285-1800

    Center for Interim Programs

    Founded in 1980, Center for Interim Programs is the first independent gap-year organization in America. Based on students' interests and budget, our experienced teachers help make individual course choices including: low cost volunteer options, language programs, research trips, and so on. We are committed to helping students find more experiences of formal education and work.

    Phone: 413-585-0980

    EF Gap Year

    EF Gap Year offers students the ability to explore several countries where you will learn a language, volunteer for a good cause, gain international work experience. Choose between a 12-week semester or 26-week academic year. You can then personalize your program to meet your learning goals and interests by deciding where, when, and how you wish to study on your own. Our well-structured curriculum even allows you to place out of college-level classes and earn advanced credits toward graduation.

    Phone: 800-726-9746

    Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are probably a mere walk away from your college.

    King's Art Centre

    A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend tees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.

    You could attend a class teaching you how to 'learn from the masters' or get more creative with paint—free of charge.

    The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.

    The Botanic Garden

    The Garden has over 8, 000 plant species; it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.

    The multi-branchedTorch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue-green leaves, and is not one to miss.

    Get to the display house to seeDionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.

    The Garden is also a place for wildlife-enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called 'Hissing Sid' is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.

    Byron's Pool

    Many stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University, Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of "mess and drunkenness". However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his roans. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.

    It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths around the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me, then perhaps you'll take it from Virginia Woolf—over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.

    War can be deadly for wildlife, too. A new study reports that war is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinoceroses, and other animals. Researchers examined how years of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals. More than 70 percent of Africa's protected wildlife areas have been within a war zone at some point in the last 70 years. The more frequent the fighting, the greater the drop in animal populations, said Josh Daskin, an ecologist at Yale University. He was the lead author of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

    It takes very little conflict, as much as one conflict in about 20 years, for the average wildlife population to be declining, Daskin said. "Areas with frequent fighting — but not necessarily the bloodiest fighting—lose 35 percent of their large animal populations during each year of war," he said.

Some animals get killed by weapons of war. Yet, many also die because of changes in social and economic conditions in an area as a result of war, said Rob Pringle. He is an ecologist at Princeton University and the study's co-author. "People in and around war zones are poor and hungrier. So they may begin to illegally hunt animals for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat," Pringle said. "And during wartime, animal conservation programs do not have as much money or power to protect wildlife."

    The new study examined the entire African continent over 65 years. The researchers looked at 10 different factors that could change population numbers. They included war, drought, animal size, protected areas and human population density. The number of wars had the biggest effect on wildlife population. The intensity of the wars — measured in the number of human deaths — had the least effect on animals.