Are you interested in students in other countries: Do they also have so much homework like you? What do they do in their spare time?

    On April 8,a report came out on the lives of high school students in China,Japan,South Korea and the US.It surveyed（调查）around 6,200 students from the four countries last year.You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who study hardest?

    Chinese students spend the most time studying.Nearly half of Chinese students(48.6%) spend more than two hours on their homework every day.That's much more than students of the US(26.4%),Japan(8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleep most often in class?

    Japanese students fall asleep in class most often.About 45% of them said they sometimes sleep in class.In South Korea, it's 32%;in the US,21%;and 5% in China.

    Who are the most distracted（分心的）?

American students are the most active in class,but also the most distracted.64.2% said they chat with friends in class;46.9% said they eat snacks in class;and 38.9% said they send emails or read storybooks in class.

    What do they do after school?

    In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet.Most American students go out to play with their friends.Most Japanese students do physical exercises.Most Korean students watch TV.

    A cancer-stricken British teenager said on Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do before dying.

    Alice Pyne, 15, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. “I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one,” she wrote.

    For her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor (骨髓捐赠者), swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer.

Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter.

     “Oh dear! And I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!” she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. “Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me.”

    Alice, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, said the manager of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also made efforts with the Anthony blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell (干细胞) projects.

    Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family, and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck. I'm not going to say luck, talent, and circumstances don't come into play because they do. Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence, and that's just the reality of how life is.

    However, to succeed in life, one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical. And, in addition to that, in order to get really good at something, one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practicing. To become great at certain things, it'll require even more time, time that most people won't put in.

    This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don't enjoy what you do, it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.

    When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success, you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost. It's sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent, but thinking that way does you no good, and there's a huge chance that you're wrong anyway.

    Whatever you do, if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out, almost to the point of addiction, and over a long period of time. If you're not willing to put in the time and work, don't expect to receive any rewards. Consistent, hard work won't guarantee you the level of success you may want, but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.

                                                  Printable Tags Turn Everyday Objects into Smart Devices

    Engineers have developed printable metal tags (标签)that could be attached to everyday objects and turn them into smart Internet of Things devices.

    The metal tags are made from copper foil (铜箔) printed onto thin, flexible, paper-like materials to reflect WiFi signals. The tags work essentially like "mirrors" that reflect radio signals from a WiFi router(路由器). When a user's finger touches these "mirrors", it disturbs the reflected WiFi signals in such a way that can be remotely sensed by a WiFi receiver like a smartphone.

    The tags can be nailed onto objects that people touch every day, like water bottles, walls or doors. These objects then become smart and connected devices that can signal a WiFi device whenever a user interacts with them. The tags can also be shaped into thin keypads or smart home control panels that can be used to remotely operate WiFi-connected speakers and other Internet of Things devices.

    Xinyu Zhang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, named the technology LiveTag. He pictures people using LiveTag technology to track human interaction with everyday objects. For example, LiveTag could potentially be used to assess the recovery of patients who have suffered from stroke (中风). "When patients return home, they could use this technology to provide data based on how they interact with everyday objects at home, whether they are opening or closing doors in a normal way, or if they are able to pick up bottles of water, for example. The amount, intensity and frequency of their activities could be recorded and sent to their doctors to evaluate their recovery," said Zhang. "And this can all be done in the comfort of their own homes rather than having to keep going back to the clinic for frequent testing," he added.

    The researchers note several limitations of the technology. LiveTag currently cannot work with a WiFi receiver further than one meter away, so researchers are working on improving the tag sensitivity and detection range. Ultimately, the team aims to develop a way to make the tags using normal paper and ink printing, which would make them cheaper to mass produce.

    You may have heard adults say they are uncomfortable in the morning without a cup of coffee. One reason they may feel that way is that coffee contains caffeine(咖啡因). Caffeine appears naturally in coffee, tea, and cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate. But now food makers are adding it to many products, from potato chips to water.

    The US government is especially worried about the problem. That's why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is studying the health effects of caffeine on young people. Studies show that too much caffeine can make people nervous and unable to sleep. What's more, caffeine is habit- forming. Those who consume it regularly and stop suddenly may experience headaches and feel tired.

    One of the biggest concerns is the large amount of caffeine added to so-called energy drinks, like Red Bull. A 12-ounce can of cola has about 35 milligrams of caffeine. A similar serving of Red Bull contains more than three times that amount.

    The Institute of Medicine is also working on caffeine-safety measures. "Teenagers should not drink beverages that contain caffeine. They should be aware of caffeine's effects on health and on how the brain works. Take, for example, teenagers who consume caffeine to stay awake and study for a test. They will remember less of what they just studied," said Stallings, a member of the institute.

    Companies that make products with added caffeine claim they do not advertise them to kids. However, there is no law to stop children from buying them. So the FDA needs to set limits on caffeine, especially in energy drinks. As for added caffeine in foods, the government should just say no. If not, the amount of caffeine should be printed on food labels to remind consumers. The government must do that.

    Doctors say kids should avoid caffeine. If you need extra energy, try these natural boosters: eat right, exercise, and get plenty of sleep.

Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman

    Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on. Austen's popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters(角色). Here's my own suggestion…

    It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.

    "My dear husband," said his hopeful wife one day," have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman?"

    Her dull and indifferent (漠不关心的) husband replied that he had not. "But it is, it is," she replied excitedly. Mr. Dull-Husband made no reply.

    "Don't you want to know her plans?" she cried with some impatience.

    "Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head, so I'd better listen."

    "Well, my dear, the rumour (传言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though how a woman can know anything about that is beyond me". She will move in herself next month." "What is her name?" "Bingley."

    "Is she married or single?"

    "What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys." "How so? How can it possibly affect them?"

    "My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going."

    "Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place."

    "Nonsense, my love, how little you've noticed the world has changed. She's got a first-rate degree and some sort of business qualification, I'm told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call."

    "Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job." "Oh, that's not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I'll go along all the same."

    And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSE-listed company.

    It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more "female" dimension(方面) and her lifespan (年限) among the city's business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she'd no doubt have enjoyed Davos(达沃斯经济论坛)—and might even have hobnobbed (攀谈) with influential figures.