Humans have launched themselves into the outer space. They've landed on the moon. They've built habitable space stations that orbit the Earth. The next giant leap for mankind is to reach another planet – specifically, Mars.

    The problem is that it's no easy task. The planet is 586 times further away from the Earth than the moon, and it'll take around 180 to 220 days to reach Mars, depending on where each planet is in its orbit. Such long periods in space have suggested many potential health problems, including hormonal changes, skin conditions, and muscle and bone deterioration (损耗).

    Here's where some furry friends come in. A wide range of animals have been in space, from fruit flies and spiders to cats, and dogs. Such experiments began as far back as the late 1940s in first tests to see if living things could withstand the extreme g-force (重力) of a rocket launch.

    Mice continue to play a very important part in space experiments, mainly because the animals make excellent test subjects. They're small, which makes them inexpensive and easy to care for. In addition, their size and short life span make it possible to do the equivalent of several human years of tests in a much shorter time. Finally, because mice are mammals, they share many common characteristics with humans in terms of genetics, biology and behavior.

    Astromice have hit the headlines recently, as a team of scientists led by Betty Nusgens, professor of biology at the University of Liege in Belgium, found that the mice suffered a 15 percent thinning of their skin after 91 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

    This experiment was part of a wider NASA mission (任务) called the Mice Drawer System (MDS). The Italian Space Agency developed the facility, which allows six mice to be housed, monitored, and automatically fed and watered aboard the ISS, among which three survived during the mission.

    The mice have participated in 20 separate experiments, to study such effects as osteoporosis (骨质疏松症), anemia (贫血) and heart health.

    Results for the 20 experiments are coming in gradually. But it's clear that mice continue to play an important role in the ongoing quest to conquer the final frontier.

    Some students prefer a part­time job after class to earn some money and improve their working and communication abilities. Here are some good companies for you to choose.

    In­N­Out Burger

    It's the best hamburger shop in the west of America. Thought as one of the best employers, it offers flexible working hours and the highest starting part­time salaries (薪水). Above all, the company treats its workers the way they would like to be treated: like family.

    Position: selling assistant (experience required)

    Website：www.in­n­out.com

    Starbucks Coffee

    Starbucks has been a leader of the United States' coffee. Working hours are flexible. There is also a 30% discount and a free pound of coffee or box of tea every week.

    Position: coffee waiter (experience required)

    Website: www.starbucks.com

    Whole Foods Market

    Whole Foods Market is the world's largest natural and organic food selling company. With its focus on organic food, Whole Foods Market is all about health. Working hours are not fixed. You can get a 20% discount. There are also training courses on health and food every week.

    Position: secretary

    Website: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

    Lands' End

    Lands' End is a Wisconsin­based clothing retailer(零售商). Working hours can be changed easily to suit any new situation. Workers (even part­time workers) have the chance to go to a company­owned centre and get a 25% discount, and an invitation to the yearly company picnic.

    Position: salesman

    Website: www.landsend.com

    We offer some kinds of courses. Each course has been designed to help students according to their needs.

    Course 1: High School ESL

    Why not make the most of your time studying in Australia with the help from TIES? We have High School ESL classes each week specifically designed for international students. Tuesday to Friday: 10:00 am to 12:00 am, $25 per hour.

    Course 2: One on One

    If you are interested in some One on One lessons with TIES teachers, we can design a course to meet your needs. One on One lessons can improve your English language skills more quickly and help students who want to take TOEFL. Tuesday to Friday: 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, $ 80 per hour.

    Course 3: General English

    General English is designed to develop students' basic communication skills in speaking and pronunciation, reading, listening, writing, grammar and vocabulary. Tuesday to Friday: 9:00 am to 11:00 am, $ 288 per week.

    Course 4: Night Classes

    Do you want to improve your English and get the best possible results in your GRE test? We have two night classes each week designed to meet your needs. Tuesday and Thursday evenings: 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm, $60 per day.

    For decades, research has shown that children's book not only provide great pleasure to readers , but they can also play an important role in children's academic（学业上的）and social success. In 1974, researchers reported that sixth-grade children who had been read to form an early age developed into better readers and valued reading more than did sixth graders who had not been to, and they expected to continue reading throughout their lives. Others have determined that the more time children spend reading literature（文学作品）, the better their reading and writing abilities become. Significant increases have been found in young children's comprehension and vocabulary skills, their understanding of sentence structure and story structure as a result of their being read to form an early age, either at home or in school. Children who have access to literature and stories in their homes have been found to learn to read more quickly, and have better attitudes toward reading. Teachers who provide time for continuous silent reading, who share books and discuss book authors with children during the school day, positively those children's reading outside school. And the National Assessment of Educational Progress that children who frequently read for enjoyment out of school are better readers.

    Because children's literature is so valuable to children, it should also be valuable to their teacher. And so it's unfortunate that something that can play such an important role in children's lives is often moved into a less than important role teacher education.

    This article discusses three important issues about the position of children's literature in teacher﹣preparation programs. They are：⑴Respect for children's literature content in teacher education. ⑵The value of children's literature as a powerful educational tool. ⑶Children's literature as an important literary form.

    As smog forced students to stay home, the online learning industry saw a sharp increase in consumers.

    During the air pollution red alert from Dec. 8 to 10 last winter, the Beijing Commission of Education ordered all kindergartens, primary schools and middle schools to suspend classes (停课). But the commission urged that, "Teachers should guide students to make full use of digital materials and conduct online learning at home".

    According to the China Education and Research Network, the number of new users of 17zuoye. com, an online homework platform, tripled (增至三倍) on Dec. 8 compared to the previous day.

    Online courses companies also adopted special measures to meet students' demand for Internet learning during the red alert period. For example, New Oriental offered free online English classes for three days for school students as well as online question answering services.

    Recent years have seen the popularity of online courses increase sharply in China. Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC), for example, originated in the United States but have become widespread in China since 2013. Some Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University and Peking University, have started their own MOOC platforms. "MOOCs have enlarged the time and space of teaching, fired up learners' interest, helped more people benefit from high quality educational resources and accelerated reform in many aspects of teaching," an official at the Ministry of Education told China Daily.

    Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease as people get older. Yet research seems to show that some training can improve such skills. A recently published study also appears to attest that the good effects of training can last for many years after that training has ended.

    Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills would last in older people who were trained to keep them. The people were part of the ten-year research project. They were taught methods meant to improve their memory, thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.

    More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE ­ short for Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Most were studied when they were more than 70 years old.

    The volunteers took one of several short training classes meant to help them keep their mental abilities. One class trained participants in skills including how to remember word lists. Another group trained in reasoning. A third group received help with speed-of-processing ­ speed of receiving and understanding information. A fourth group ­ the control group did not get any training.

    Earlier results had established that the training helped the participants for up to five years. Now, leading study writer George Rebok says, the research showed most of the training remained effective a full ten years later.

    Professor Rebok and his team found that the people trained in reasoning and speed-of- processing did better on tests than the control group.

    "We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training, and in fact, that's exactly what we found.

    The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long. Still, the old people in any of the three classes generally reported less difficulty in performing daily activities than the control group. The total training time for the older people was between 10 and 15 hours.