Many people in high school cannot wait to go to college and leave their hometown behind. Questions arise, though, when it comes to all of the decisions involved in choosing a college.

    One of the first considerations may be finance. State and public colleges are often the least expensive. Often, though, the better colleges are private and more expensive. It is sad when gifted students cannot attend a college of their choice just for financial reasons.

    Another major factor is location. Whether the college is in a small town or large city can have a major impact on its activities. A water lover probably will be more comfortable spending four years near an ocean or a lake. Those who cannot tolerate heat will probably be more comfortable at a northern college. Distance from home may also come into consideration. If family is a top priority, that person should stay close to home; on the other hand, if independence is desired, a campus farther from home would be more appropriate.

    School size also plays a major role in the decision process. If you want to get to know your teachers, a small college is suitable. For those of you who consider yourself a “people person” and want a wide range of activities, a large college is more fitting. Your area of interest is another factor to consider in the decision-making process if you want to get the most from your education. The whole point of college is to learn what is of interest to you.

    Crucially(至关重要地), one must take into consideration the colleges by which you can realistically be accepted. An Ivy League school for an average student would probably not be a good match. Similarly, an average school for an above-average student would not work well. The college should provide enough of a challenge for the student to work hard. Although there may not be the perfect college out there, there probably will be one that is close. Those who cannot find a suitable college are probably not looking hard enough.

    Three years ago I worked for a few weeks as a doctor in a new dental clinic(牙科诊所）at Victor Harbor to the south of Adelaide and an hour further away than my usual workplace. My first day there was a driving to a new clinic and getting used to the clinical environment.

    As it was all new to me, I took off my rings: my wedding ring, and one that was an anniversary(周年纪念日)gift from my husband. I put them in a tissue(纸巾)and placed them beside my computer. During my lunch break, I noticed the tissue and thought that it did not look very clean and threw it into the rubbish bin. I went about my work and my day went well; I met new patients and felt that I had been productive

    Driving home at the end of the day, just moments before I reach that were missing. I felt the heat in my body rise, my cheeks(脸颊)burning red. I felt sick to my stomach.

    I spat an hour or so making calls, trying to find my rings. The first people I called were and clinical leader and they gave me a few phone numbers for cleaners I got in touch with already who managed the leaning services for the clinic, and she told me that the bins had already been collected.

    I knew nothing could be done now. I had lost my rings. Bu after two or so hours, I received the most amazing phone cal. The cleaner had gone through the bins and found my rings! I was so thankful to her, someone who had taken the trouble to go through the bins-which is not a pleasant task-to find my priceless rings.

    I worked at that clinic the following day, so I bought chocolates to thank this wonderful person. Unfortunately I did not get to meet her as she was not at work that day.

    What if we could replace oil with a fuel which produced no pollution and which everybody had equal access to? The good news is that we can, in fact, we are swimming in it -literally.

    Hydrogen is one of the building blocks of the universe. Our own sun is basically, a big，dense cloud of the stuff. And hydrogen can be used to create electricity for power, heat and light.

    The problem is that hydrogen is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It does not exist as a material on its own, but is always part of something else. So it has to be separated before it can be used.

    Most commercial hydrogen in use now is created from natural gas. As oil will start to run out in around the year 2030. It makes sense to produce as much hydrogen as possi­ble as soon as we can. But natural gas supplies will also begin to run out soon after. Another source is needed.

    Researchers are now using electricity to make water into hydrogen. Companies are working on the problem in their own areas. The first commercial hydrogen "fuel cells" for computers and mobile phones have already come on to the market Auto companies have also invested over US $2 billion in the production of hydrogen fuelled cars.

    The nations of a hydrogen fuelled planet would not fight over energy recourses. There would be a great reduction in pollution, the only by-product of creating hydrogen is pure drinking water something that is very scarce in many parts of the world. But that is not where the good news ends, once the costs of producing hydrogen have been brought down, it will possibly provide power for a third of the Earth's popula­tion that has no electricity.

    And electricity creates wealth. In South Africa over the last decade there has been a large programmer of electrification. Thanks to the programmer, people do not have to spend their days looking firewood to burn for heat and with electric light, they can work long into the night

Some scientists see radical changes in the way the human race co-operates. Hydrogen creates electricity, and is also created by it. With dual use fuel cells, everyone who consumes energy could also produce it. Late at night, a man drives home in London and connects his car into the "worldwide hydrogen web", which it supplies with electricity. A few hours later, a man in Beijing uses that electricity to power the hydrogen cell in his car. Hydrogen could be the first democratic energy source.

    Like all dreams of the future, it seems very far away. But the threat of war and terrorism in the Middle East has made governments and businesses more aware of the need to end oil dependency and spend more time and money on hy­drogen resource. So maybe the threat of war is not a completely bad thing for the future of the human race.

    My grandmother often said to me, "You can count the number of your true friends on the fingers of one hand." For a long time I thought this was true. However, I've now discovered my grandmother was only half right. Maybe we do only make a few "best" friends in our lifetime, but those aren't the only people that we can call friends. There are many different types. Let me tell you about a few of them.

    One type of friends is the type I call the "football mom friends". My neighbour Sally is a good example. We both have kids who play football in a football club, and someone has to take them to practise and pick them up. Sally and I and two other mothers do this. We meet sometimes and have tea and talk about what our kids are doing, but those are the only times that we meet each other. I enjoy being with these women, but we don't do anything else together.

    Another type is called the "hobby friend". That's the person you share an interest or a hobby with. Michael and Cater, who are brothers, are a good example of this type. We're all in a bird watching club. Every few weekends the members of the club go on a trip to watch different kinds of birds. There's nothing romantic about my relationship with Michael and Cater, of course. We just share interest in birds.

    Then there's the "other half the couple" type of friends. Jim is married to Rose, a friend that I have known since college. When Rose married Jim, I realized that I would have to be Jim's friend if I want to continue to be Rose's. Jim and I don't share so many interests, but we do have a friendly relationship.

    Artificial intelligence can predict when patients with a heart disorder will die, according to scientists.

    The software learned to analyze blood tests and scans of beating hearts to spot signs that the organ was about to fail. The team, from the UK's Medical Research Council, said the technology could save lives by finding patients that need more aggressive treatment. The results were published in the Journal of Radiology.

    According to the researchers, high blood pressure in the lungs damages part of the heart, and about a third of patients die within five years after being diagnosed. There are treatments: drugs, injections straight into the blood vessels, a lung transplant. But doctors need to have an idea of how long patients might have left, in order to pick the right treatment.

    The software was given scans of 256 patients' hearts, and blood test results. When this data was combined with eight years of patient health records, the artificial intelligence predicted when patients would die.

    The software could look about five years into the future. It correctly predicted those who would still be alive after one year about 80% of the time. The figure for doctors is 60%.

    The team now want to test the software works in other patients in different hospitals before assessing whether it should be made widely available to doctors. The researchers also want to use the technology in other forms of heart failure, such as cardiomyopathy, to see who might need a pacemaker or other forms of treatment.

    Dr Mike Knapton, from the British Heart Foundation, said, "This exciting use of computer software in medical practice will help doctors in the future to make sure that patients are receiving the correct treatment before the condition deteriorates and leaves them needing a lung transplant. The next step is to test this technology in more hospitals with heart disease."