The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System（BDS）is a Chinese satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations（星座）. The first BeiDou system, officially called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System and also known as BeiDou-1, consists of three satellites, which since 2000 has offered limited coverage and navigation services, mainly for users in China and neighboring regions. Beidou-1 was decommissioned at the end of 2012.

    The second generation of the system, known as COMPASS or BeiDou-2, became operational in China in December 2011 with a partial constellation of 10 satellites in orbit. Since December 2012, it has been offering services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

    In 2015, China started the build-up of the third generation BeiDou system（BeiDou-3）in the global coverage constellation. The first BDS-3 satellite was launched on 30 March 2015. Up to January 2018, nine BeiDou-3 satellites have been launched. BeiDou-3 will eventually consist of 35 satellites and is expected to provide global services upon completion in 2020. So far, China has sent 27 BeiDou satellites into space. When fully completed, BeiDou, the world's fourth navigation satellite system, following GPS in the United States, GLONASS in Russia and Galileo in the European Union, will provide an alternative global navigation satellite system to the United States owned Global Positioning System（GPS）, and is expected to be more accurate than the GPS. It was claimed in 2016 that BeiDou-3 will reach millimeter-level accuracy（with post-processing）, which is ten times more accurate than the finest level of GPS.

    According to China Daily, in 2015, fifteen years after the satellite system was launched, it was generating a turnover of $31.5 billion annually for major companies such as China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, AutoNavi Holdings Ltd, and China North Industries Group Corp.

    Have you ever learned about F. Scott Fitzgerald? F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24, 1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St. Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton. University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.

    His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary:" My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary."

    This side of paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. Encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, which quick brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.

    However, Fitzgerald's problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The Love of the Last Tycoon in 1940 while his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.

    I have been flying since I was three years old. I am now 27 and cannot ever remember being afraid of flying until I was around 20. Suddenly, it seemed to come from nowhere. I began to be afraid of flying.

    Two weeks before I was to fly I would have nightmares every night, all of which were centered on a plane crash. This would obviously add to my anxieties. The turning point for me was when I had to go on a business trip to Germany. My boss and my husband were with me, but nobody was allowed to talk to me. I was quiet and on the verge of (濒于) tears right up until boarding. On the flight I was even worse. I was crying, shaking and my palm were sweaty. It sounds so ridiculous, but if you have a fear of flying you will understand my distress.

    I got home and my fear was getting out of control. It was upsetting for my husband when we were going on holidays together. I would never be excited because I didn't want to fly as I was certain the plane would crash, or we would be hijacked, or there would be a bomb on board, etc.

    I thought about paying for expensive hypnotism (催眠术) to see if that would help me but I also wanted to try and help myself first. That was when I found this book.

    I read the book as soon as it arrived. It answered the questions I had. After that, when I had a flight coming up, I read a few chapters of the book every night for 2 weeks before the flight. I also took the book in my hand luggage so it was there to refer to if I felt fearful during a flight.

    This book is AMAZING and a MUST-HAVE for any nervous flyer.

    The theatre in Shakespeare's time was much different than it is today. Authors wrote plays for the masses, especially those who couldn't read or write.

    The theatre changed a lot during Shakespeare's lifetime. The authorities didn't like it and didn't allow acting in the city itself: They thought it had a bad influence on people and kept them from going to church. Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, loved acting and helped the theatre become popular.

    The theatre in Shakespeare's time was full of life. People did not sit all the time and it was not quiet during the performance. The audience could walk around, eat and drink during the play.

    Theaters were open arenas or playhouses that had room for up to three thousand people. There was almost no scenery because the dialogue was the most important part of the play. Colourful and well-designed costumes were very important and told the people about the status of a character. Women never performed in plays, 80 young boys played female characters. The performances took place in the afternoon because it was too dark at night.

    There was no stage crew as there is today. Actors had to do everything themselves-from making costumes to setting the stage. Plays were organized by acting companies. They performed about 6 different plays each week because they needed money to survive. They had almost no time to rehearse (排练).

    The companies in Shakespeare's time had a rank system. The company belonged to shareholders and managers. They were responsible for everything and got most of the money when the company was successful. Sometimes they even owned their own buildings. Actors worked for the managers and after some time became a permanent member of the company. Apprentices (学徒) were young boys and were allowed to act in unimportant role. They also played female characters in plays.

    Next month, I'm traveling to a remote area of Central Africa and my aim is to know enough Lingala — one of the local languages — to have a conversation. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage this — until I discovered a way to learn all the vocabulary I'm going to need. Thanks to Memrise, the app I'm using, it feels just like a game.

    "People often stop learning things because they feel they're not making progress or because it all feels like too much hard work," says Ed Cooke, one of the people who created Memrise. "We're trying to create a form of learning experience that is fun and is something you'd want to do instead of watching TV."

    Memrise gives you a few new words to learn and these are "seeds" which you plant in your "greenhouse". When you practice the words, you "water your plants". When the app believes that you have really remembered a word, it moves the word to your "garden". And if you forget to log on (登录), the app sends you emails that remind you to "water your plants".

    The app uses two principles about learning. The first is that people remember things better when they link them to a picture in their mind. Memrise translates words into your own language, but it also encourages you to use "mems". For example, I memorized "motele", the Lingala word for "engine", using a mem I created — I imagined an old engine in a motel (汽车旅馆) room.

    The second principle is that we need to stop after studying words and then repeat them again later, leaving time between study sessions. Memrise helps you with this, because it's the kind of app you only use for five or ten minutes a day.

    I've learnt hundreds of Lingala words with Memrise. I know this won't make me a fluent speaker, but I hope I'll be able to do more than just smile when I meet people in Congo. Now, I need to go and water my Vocabulary!

    My six-year-old son, Stephen, was in front of the TV and smiled. His favorite show was about to begin-a Phoenix Suns basketball game.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer's voice was heard, "here is your starting lineup (首发阵容)." The arena (球场) darkened and the lights flashed when the players ran into the court to sing their team song. Stephen clapped and danced around. My wife Lorrie and I laughed. Stephen had been performing this for months. "One day I'm going to take you to a game, son," I promised.

    About a year later, the construction company where I worked finished a project for a Suns player. One afternoon my boss called me. "The player has two extra tickets for tonight's game! Just pick them up at my office," he said. I picked up the tickets, but felt a little disappointed when I looked at the clock. Even if I had had a helicopter, we would never have gone to the arena in time for the player introductions. Stephen would miss his favorite part! I grabbed my key, got Stephen in my car and hit the road. "Lord," I prayed, "I'd love to see the joy on Stephen's face. Help us make it on time."

    When I drove, it began to rain heavily. Suddenly, lightning flashed right near the arena! I turned on the radio to listen to the game. The announcer said there'd been a power failure at America West Arena. Everyone was fine, but there would be a delay until they got everything running. Finally, I parked the car and we walked in hurriedly to take our seats. I hoped that we hadn't missed the introductions.

    The very moment we entered the arena, the lights darkened. The music started. "Ladies and gentlemen, here's your starting lineup!" Stephen's eyes grew wide. There wasn't enough space for him to dance around, but I could tell that his heart was leaping more than his body was able to. Thank heaven, he hadn't missed a thing. And neither had I.