When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie,“ Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”, shown in late April.

    Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it.

    Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets. “What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way o f being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

    She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS.“I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time.”

    Liz wants moviegoers (who often see films) to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.

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    These hotels don't have all the necessary facilities(设施),but each of them offers something different. Don't miss them if you travel to Canada.

    Sleep on a train at the Train Station Inn. This hotel is in an old train station in Nova Scotia. The owners, James and Shelley Le Fresne, use the station and the train as rooms. There are seven old train cars and there is also a restaurant in the dining car. Prices are from $89 to $169 per room or train car.

    Sleep in a jail(监狱) in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. Here, you can sleep in the old downtown Ottawa Jail Hostel. There are group or private bedrooms. There are still bars on the doors! Prices are from $ 25 to $ 65. Don't worry, there aren't any criminals(犯人）there !

    Sleep in a tepee (a tent of the American Indians) at a UNESCO World Heritage site in Alberta. At this hotel, there are guided tours and lessons in local culture. The best part: sleeping in a real tepee outside. The price is around $ 300, or $ 620 for a full package.

    Sleep in a lighthouse at the Quirpon Lighthouse Inn. This hotel is on Newfoundland's Quirpon Island. There are great views of the ocean from the windows. There are 11 private rooms in total. Prices are from $ 225 for a single to $ 350 for a suite(套房). Meals are included in the restaurant. The hotel has the traditional look and feel of the lighthouse, so there is no Internet, TV or telephones in the rooms. There are tours available, and boat tours to the island are included.

    Kerala, India, has placed a tax on hamburgers, pizza and other fast food. The 14.5 percent tax will be added to foods at restaurants such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Burger King.

    The tax is being called a "fat tax" because it adds cost to foods considered high in fat and calories. It is the first fast food tax enacted in India, where obesity levels are rising in the growing middle class.

    Kerala's Finance Minister Thomas Isaac suggested the tax after learning of similar measures in other countries. He hopes it will get people to choose to eat healthy food, which he said is "going out of fashion."

    Dr. Anoop Misra at New Delhi's Fortis Hospital strongly supports the" fat tax" as a way to reduce the number of diabetes cases in young people.

    A government finance official in central Gujarat says that the state is considering a similar 14.5 percent tax." This idea can also be adopted in the state, as we also have high consumption of junk and unhealthy food," the official said.

    Critics of the tax say it probably will not stop people from buying fast food. IT engineer Gaurav Singh wants the government to focus on education and awareness instead of taxing fast food.

    "The one food that is eaten widely in Kerala is the 'paratha', which is basically high in fat, high in refined(精制的)flour, and it is cheap. It can't be taxed because it is highly unorganized."

    Some doctors and health experts say the tax should also include other snack foods and sugary drinks sold across the country.

    One fast food customer In New Dehli, Vijay Deoli believes the government should deal with more important issues. "First you have to clear up the air, the water, etc. This is a small thing."

    Others say the government should do more to bring attention to fast food and obesity rather than changing people's choices.

    Many health experts agree that bringing attention to the issue is important. But Dr. Misra thinks education alone does not work.

    He compared the tax to a law passed several years ago that got people to wear seat belts to avoid paying a fine. "Laws can change people's habits."

    Happy birthday! Do birthdays really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthdays celebrate the day we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity (成熟)— or so we hope. We all like to imagine that we're getting wiser and not just older. Most of us enjoy seeing the miracle(奇迹) of growth in others, as well. For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud. For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process(过程). But growing old? That's a different story.

    Growing old is not exactly pleasant for people in youth-oriented(以年轻人为中心) American culture. Most Americans like to look young,act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, "You're as young as you feel." Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old. People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom. But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least "young at heart."

    Many older Americans find the "golden years" to be anything but golden. Economically, "senior citizens" often struggle just to get by. Retirement(退休) at age 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income. Social security(安全) benefits usually cannot make up the difference. Older people may suffer from poor nutrition(营养), medical care and housing. Some even experience age discrimination. In 1987, American sociologist Pat Moore dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets. She was often treated rudely — even cheated and robbed. However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect.

    Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast. Why? People are living longer. Fewer babies are being born. And middle-aged "baby boomers" are rapidly entering the groups of the elderly. America may soon be a place where wrinkles(皱纹) are "in". Marketing experts are already noticing this growing group of consumers.

    A person can use all five senses while spending time with dolphins. We can see them play in the waves, hear them call, and feel their skin. Dolphins can sense you, too, but not in all the same ways. They have good eyesight, for example, but no sense of smell. Sensory biologists try to understand connections between animal behaviors and the senses. One team of these scientists recently made an unexpected discovery about certain dolphins.

    The researchers found that Guiana dolphins can detect electric fields, an ability that may help them find fish to eat. The secret to this newly found sense, say the scientists, is hidden in the dolphins' snouts (口鼻部).

    "We were really surprised to find this in the dolphin. Nobody had expected it," said Wolf Hanke, who led the new dolphin study.

    Hanke and his team suspected the dolphin's electro－sense might have something to do with small dimples (酒窝) on the animal's snout. "We thought they must have some functions," Hank said. To find out for certain, his team studied two Guiana dolphins.

    The scientists first studied the dimples of a 29－year－old dolphin that had died of natural causes. Under a microscope, the dimples looked familiar: they were similar to the sensors used by other animals to detect electric fields.

    Next, Hanke and his team tested a live dolphin, a 28－year－old named Paco, to see if he could recognize an electric field. They taught Paco to swim close to a device that could create a weak electric field in the water. Then the team taught Paco to swim away from the device if he detected any changes. When the scientists created an electric field, Paco swam away—showing that he knew something had changed. When there was no electric field, Paco stayed there. When Paco's snout was covered in plastic, he didn't react to the electric field.

    Paco's behavior told the scientists that the dolphin used his snout to detect the tiny electric field. "This is a major breakthrough," Peter Madsen, a sensory biologist, said.

    A university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, has installed facial recognition systems in classrooms to monitor students' behavior, sparking a heated debate online. China Pharmaceutical University recently installed the systems in two pilot classrooms as well as school gates, dormitory entrances, the library and laboratory buildings.

    Xu Jianzhen, director of the university's library and information center, told TbePaper.cn that the systems will help teachers check student attendance and monitor behavior during the lectures. "In the past, some students just checked their attendance and ditched the class or asked other students to check the attendance for them. Now with facial recognition, that would no longer be a problem," he said. "The moment you enter the classroom, the camera will monitor you all the way through and can tell how long you lower your head, whether you're playing with a smart phone, whether you're dozing off or reading other books," he added.

    The news has raised wide debate on Chinese social media, with many questioning if the cameras will violate students' privacy. A Sina Weibo user said: "I oppose such methods, and it is not clear whether the systems are developed by the school itself or by third parties. If it is the latter, is there any regulation of security? Where will the information be sent and stored?"

    Gan Xiangsi, a senior student from the university, said she welcomed the systems being applied in dormitories and libraries as this can help prevent personal belongings being stolen，but it is not necessary to use such technology in the classroom. "If the teacher teaches well，the students will be interested," she said. "On the contrary, this kind of monitoring will make everyone feel resistant."

    China Pharmaceutical University is not the first university to use facial recognition technology on campus. Many universities across the country have installed cameras at campus entrances to ensure safety. But many are also hesitant when it comes to applying such technology in classrooms.

    "This issue has been debated for quite a long time," Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, told China National Radio. According to Chu, teachers and students who are under observation might not behave as they normally would since they know they are being watched. "Cameras should not be installed in classrooms merely for effective teaching purposes," Chu said, as teachers are also being observed. He agreed that "students' privacy needs to be protected". He also said that not putting classrooms under control is an important principle. "If you don't follow this principle, students will falsify and disguise their state of listening，and teachers may also not perform as well. Then real teaching will not occur," he added.