With the approval of the Singapore government, a company called nuTonomy has become the first-ever to test self-driving cars with the public. Interested people could sign up for a free trial run at no cost. When they received an invitation from the company, they could book a ride on the driverless taxi service from their smartphones.Not surprisingly,the rides proved very popular,with dozens of customers eagerly trying out the cars each day.

    Driverless cars are a great option for those who do not know how to drive and for those who do not enjoy driving.Some researchers even believe that such cars can make road travel safer by reducing human errors.But since driving requires many of our senses to be on alert（高度警觉）, replacing that by machines is easier said than done.

    The environment in which cars operate is constantly changing—from roads and pedestrians to co-travelers. A driverless car needs special equipment to analyze its surroundings. Then, it must translate that information into a practical route and safe travel. To be truly autonomous, a car has to do this independently without human input. Today, some cars have a certain degree of autonomous functions. But even the completely automated vehicles still require a driver to take back control under uncertain conditions.

    The island city-state is well known for excellent roads and drivers who obey the rules. This has made it ideal for real-world testing and feedback. The government has encouraged research in autonomous vehicles, since it can improve safety and potentially reduce the traffic burden as well.

Five years ago, when I taught art at a school in Seattle, I used Tinkertoys as a test at the beginning of a term to find out something about my students. I put a small set of Tinkertoys in front of each student, and said: "Make something out of the Tinkertoys. You have 45 minutes today - and 45minutes each day for the rest of the week."

    A few students hesitated to start. They waited to see the rest of the class would do. Several others checked the instructions and made something according to one of the model plans provided. Another group built something out of their own imaginations.

    Once I had a boy who worked experimentally with Tinkertoys in his free time. His constructions filled a shelf in the art classroom and a good part of his bedroom at home. I was delighted at the presence of such a student. Here was an exceptionally creative mind at work. His presence meant that I had an unexpected teaching assistant in class whose creativity would infect(感染) other students.

Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare, "But I'm just not creative."

"Do you dream at night when you're asleep?"

"Oh, sure."

"So tell me one of your most interesting dreams." The student would tell something wildly imaginative. Flying in the sky or in a time machine or growing three heads. "That's pretty creative. Who does that for you?"

"Nobody. I do it."

"Really-at night, when you're asleep?"

"Sure."

"Try doing it in the daytime, in class, okay?"

    Put on your sunglasses and enjoy the island, the sun and the blue sea. Malta combines (结合) learning English with the Mediterranean way of life: you will have language course and a great holiday at the same time,

    Your language course    Our school lies in Sliema, only a few meters from the sea, the beach road and cafés. The school is in an old Maltese building. Our teachers use a modern teaching method and you will learn English quickly.

    The leisure (休闲) programmes    Our school and team leaders organize varied leisure programmes. There will be a welcome party on your first day. You will also take part in beach volleyball, and beach parties. Other activities include: Discos, visit to Popeye Village, Water Park, bowling, cinema, ice skating (different prices).

    Accommodation (住宿) Family    You will live in friendly host families that the school has known for years. All families are near the school (20 minutes on foot or by bus).

    Supervision (监督)    Our team of friendly teachers, team leaders and host families will always be there for you. There is also an emergency phone number for parents and students.

    Dear parents, please note that there are periods of time when your children are unsupervised, for example on the way to school. We are happy to discuss any questions you may have. Please contact us by phone or email.

    Do you know the difference between a food chain anda food web? Food chains show how a living thing such as a plant or an animal gets its energy. A food web consists of multiple food chains and includes many more plants and animals than a food chain includes. This diagram shows a food chain within a food web of the African savanna.

    Traveling can be a fun way to gain life experiences, especially during Spring Break-a week-long school vacation in the United States. But what if you're a student and don't have enough money for a trip？Don't worry. Here are some useful suggestions.

    Save：This probably is the most important preparation for traveling. Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you'll have more choices about where to go and how to get there.

    Plan ahead：Don't wait until the last minute to plan your trip. Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice. Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security and savings.

    Do your homework：No matter where you go, research the places you will visit. Decide what to see. Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants.

    Plan sensibly：Write down how much you expect to spend for food and hotels. Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything.

    Travel in groups：Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places. By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences.

    Work as you go：Need more money to support your trip？Look for work in the places you visit.

    Go off the beaten path：Tourist sites may be expensive. You may want to rethink your trip and go to a less﹣known area. Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights.

    Pack necessary things：The most important things to take are not always clothes.

Remember medicine in case you get sick, and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant.

    Use the Internet：The net can help to save money. Some useful websites include www.travelcity.corn, www.bargainslowestfare.corn and www.economictravelcity.com.

    By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel. Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime.

    Machines equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) have performed better than human beings in a high-level test of reading comprehension. Two natural language processing tools received higher test scores than humans in recent exams.

    One of the tools is a product of the American software maker Microsoft. The other was created by the Chinese online seller Alibaba Group. The company said that a deep-learning model developed by its Institute of Data Science of Technologies was the first to beat a human score in the reading comprehension test.

    The test is called the Stanford Question Answering Dataset. It was developed by researchers at Stanford University in California. It has over 100,000 questions and answers. They are based on information found in over 500 stories from the Wikipedia website. The answers to all the questions come from the reading material.

    The AI-powered machines were tested on whether they could provide exact answers to the questions after processing large amounts of information.

    Alibaba said its deep neural (神经的) network model received an “Exact Match” score of 82.44 on the Stanford test. Microsoft reported that a team at Microsoft Research Asia had a score of 82.65. It said the human score on the same questions and answers was 82.304. Many research organizations also appeared on the list—all with scores below 82.

    Alibaba said it has already used its reading comprehension model in different parts of its business. For example, the company is using machines to answer many incoming telephone calls from customers. The company says in the future, the technology could enable machines to guide visitors through museums or provide advice to medical patients.

    Microsoft noted that, overall, people are still much better than machines at understanding the complexity and nuances (细微差别) of language.