On October 31st, 2009, Chinese famous scientist Qian Xuesen, died in Beijing when he was 98 years old. He is famous as “the country's father of space technology and king of rocketry”.

    Qian was born in 1911 in Hangzhou. He left for the United States after winning a scholarship to graduate school in 1936. He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later at the California Institute of Technology.

    Qian began his career in the US and was regarded as one of the brightest minds in the new field of aeronautics（航空学) before returning to China in 1955.

    After he returned, Qian set up the first missile（导弹）and rocket research institute（学院) of China. The institute later helped start Chinese space program. He led the development of China's first nuclear-armed ballistic missile (弹道导弹) and worked on its first satellite.

    He retired in the year before Chinese manned space program was launched in 1992. But his research formed the basis（形成基础）for the Long March CZ -2F rocket that carried astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit in 2003.

    In August, 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Qian and praised him for devoting his life to Chinese defense technologies. Qian told him, “I'm trying to live to be 100 years old”.

    Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.

    He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.

    In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."

    He found a taxi (出租车) and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.

    "Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office."

    How much weight a baby gains during its first month could determine its IQ, new research found. The study found that children who gain more weight, and whose heads grow quickly during the first month of life, tend to have a higher IQ when they start school.

    Researchers at the University of Adelaide, in Australia studied 13, 800 children who were born at full-term. They found that those who put on 40% of their birth weight in the first four weeks had an IQ 1.5 points higher than those who only put on 15% of their birth weight. Those who experienced the biggest growth in head circumference(头围) also had the highest IQs by the age of six.

    "Head circumference is an indicator of brain volume, so a greater increase in head circumference in a newly-born baby suggests more rapid brain growth, "says the author of the study, Dr. Lisa Smithers. She added, "Overall, newly-born children who grew faster in the first four weeks had higher IQ scores later in life. Those children who gained the most weight scored especially high on the verbal IQ at age 6. This may be because neural (神经的) structures for the verbal IQ develop earlier in life, which means the rapid weight gain during the first month could be having a direct cognitive benefit for the children."

    Previous studies have shown the association between early postnatal (产后的) diet and the IQ, but this is the first study of its kind to focus on the IQ benefits of rapid weight gain in the first month of life. Dr. Lisa Smithers says the study further highlights the need for successful feeding of newly-born babies." We know that many mothers have difficulty establishing breastfeeding in the first week of their babies' life,” Dr. Lisa Smithers said.

    "The findings of our study suggest that if babies are having feeding problems, there needs to be early intervention(干预) in the management of that feeding."

    Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.

    "There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone."

    Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released（发布，发售）, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

    As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: "Do we really need the latest upgrades?"

    According to Donald Norman, an American author, "planned obsolescence (淘汰）" is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.

    Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

"This is an old-time trick—they're not inventing anything new," Norman said. "This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics—— release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one."

    But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, "We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing." In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

    Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.

    As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

    "Some games require better hardware to run," said Li. "If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends."

Comparing college entrance exams, there are different needs for admission. The national college entrance examination, or gaokao, is known as the most competitive test for Chinese students. Do students in other countries also need to take a standardized test to get into university?

South Korea holds the College Scholastic Ability Test（CSAT） in November each year. The CSAT plays an important role in the country's education. On test day, bus and subway frequency increases to make sure that students can get to the test sites in time.

Japan is trying to reform its standardized national college entrance exam. In January 2022, Common Test for University Admissions took the place of the National Center Test for University Admissions, which had been adopted since 1990. The new exam aims to put emphasis on the ability of students to discover and solve problems by themselves.

The American College Test（ACT） and Scholastic Assessment Test（SAT） are the two main college entrance exams taken by students in the US. While SAT tests a student's ability to learn, the ACT tests a student's educational development. Both tests normally take place seven times throughout the year. Students can retake the exams for a better score.

In the UK, there's no standardized test for college admission. Instead, each college has their own admission criteria. These criteria often onlyinclude submission of transcripts（成绩单） and participation in an interview. Yet, there are subject-specific exams used by some colleges.

One of the best ways to pay for college is to find work that helps foot part of the school fee. Here are 4 types of part-time jobs that provide students with extra income. 

Jobs with employer scholarships

Some companies offer help paying for college through scholarship programs. Taco Bell, for instance, offers its part-time employees the chance to win up to a $ 25 , 000 award through its Live Mas Scholarship. The award can be used toward vocational schools or a two-or four-year college. Employees must have worked for the company at least three continuous months. 

Work-study

For years the work-study program has allowed students to earn money through part-time work. Students aged between 16 and 24 who submit Free Application for Student Aid maybe qualified for the program. While these jobs aren't always on campus, students in work study earn at least $7. 25 per hour-the state minimum wage. 

Paid internships

A paid internship (实习) can not only help students pay for college but can also open doors for full-time work after graduation . According to a 2019 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly two-thirds of paid interns received a job offer, while just about 44% of unpaid interns were offered a job. 

On-demand economy jobs

Known for its flexibility, the jobs can help students carn cash between classes. These on-demand jobs include completing small jobs, making deliveries or even driving for ride-booking services. Students can typically earn more through on-demand work, ranging from $10 to $20 an hour.