American college students are becoming more adventuresome as they study abroad, showing less interests in English-speaking destinations such as Great Britain and Australia and more in such countries as China, India, Argentina and Brazil.

    Britain remained the most popular study destination in 2005, according to annual figures from the Institute of International Education, followed by Italy, Spain and France. But the number of American students studying in Britain and Australia descended a little, even as the number of American students abroad rose by 8%. The growth came in non-English speaking European countries and in Asia. China is now the eighth most popular destination for American students, attracting nearly 6,400 in 2005, up 35% from the number of the year before. Argentina and India saw increases of more than 50%.

    Allan Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education, said that a range of factors contributed to the trend, from growing awareness of globalization after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, to programs such as former President Bush's National Security Language Initiative, which trains soldiers, intelligence officers and diplomats in foreign languages. “What Americans are doing is waking up and discovering there's a world out there,” he said.

    Other figures showed the flow of students in the opposite direction, from foreign countries into American universities. The institute found that international enrollment (入学) in American higher education remained steady at about 565,000. The figures are of keen interest to universities, which depend on foreign students for teaching and research help, and to policy-makers, who consider it important, as future foreign leaders may be familiar with the United States. The year of 2005 saw big increases in students from South Korea, Mexico and Taiwan of China. India sends the most students and China is No.2. Other countries that show large percentage increases in the number of students sent to the US include Nepal and Vietnam, while Japan, Turkey and Malaysia saw declines. About 58% of international students in the US come from Asia.

    When I was in my fourth year of teaching, I was also (and am still) a high school track and field coach (田径教练). One year, I had a student, John, who entered my class when he was a junior.

    When I was in my fourth year of teaching, I was also (and am still) a high school track and field coach (田径教练). One year, I had a student, John, who entered my class when he was a junior. John changed to our school from Greece, and seemed to be interested in athletics, so I encouraged him to join our track team. I explained to him that even though he had never taken part in it before, I did believe that he could do well in any event, and I would be willing to coach him at whichever ones interested him. He accepted the offer, and began to work hard at every practice.

    About a month later, I had found out from other sources that John was a first-class tennis player, winning various junior awards in his home country. I went to him asking, “John, I really appreciate that you came out for the track team, but why didn't you play tennis instead? It seems that would interest you a lot more, since you're so good at it.” John answered, “Well, I like tennis, but you told me that you believed in me, and that you thought I could do well in track, so I wanted to try it for that reason.”

    From then on, I often remember my student's reply. I told it to a friend and she suggested I write it down to share somewhere with more teachers. No matter how critical (不满的) students can be of themselves, I've found that a simple “I trust that you can do it!” can go a long way!

    Nowadays, top performing sportsmen earn huge amount of money as compared to people in other professions. Some people consider it a rational approach. However, there are a few who think it is unjustifiable.

    Some people think sports professionals with outstanding performance should be overpaid as it is a short-lived career which requires rigorous hard work as compared to other professions. This field demands a strict, disciplined life with extensive physical efforts, consistent practice, a fixed diet schedule to bring pride and glory to the country. Due to such tough requirements, people in this field have an average career span of 10-15 years. As sports professionals have limited tenure, they should be rewarded with high monetary gains to acknowledge their excellent performance.

    However, there are a few who think that top performing sportsmen and women should not have high salaries as it is a biased approach. They feel that there are other critical professions which are more valuable to the country as compared to the sports field. For example, the professions, like doctors, social worker, works for the betterment of the society. Their efforts not only help to reduce the social issues prevailing in the community, but they also contribute in providing a healthy environment. As a result, they significantly contribute to the growth of the country. Henceforth, their efforts should be equally recognized along with the sports professionals.

    In my opinion, although there are some logical reasons for huge earnings of the top performing players, people from other professions should also be equally appreciated in terms of lucrative monetary benefits for their outstanding contribution. As all the professions are critical in their own field and contributes to the overall development of the country.

    To conclude, sports people delivering excellent performance should not be overpaid in comparison to other professionals who make a significant contribution to the society.

    Over the next decade, technology will decimate more jobs in many professions.

    Some robots already cost less to operate than the salaries of the humans they replace, and they are getting cheaper. Boston Consulting Group predicts that, by 2025, the operating cost of a robot that does welding (焊接) will be less than $2 per hour, for example. That's more affordable than the $25 per hour that a human welder earns today in America.

    Uber and many other companies are working on developing cars and trucks that don't need a driver in the driver's seat. According to the American Trucking Associations, approximately 3 million truck drivers were employed in the United States in 2010, and 6. 8 million others were employed in other jobs relating to trucking activity. So roughly one of every 15 workers in the country is employed in the trucking business. We could be talking about millions of jobs disappearing in the early 2020s.

    And then there is the "Gig Economy (零工经济)" that has some businesses moving toward part-time, on-demand employment. Uber has already done this to taxi drivers, and other technology companies are doing it to a wide range of jobs. A study by Intuit predicted that, by 2020, 40% of American workers will be self-employed, and that full-time jobs will be harder to find. We are talking about 60 million people in this category. The problem is that not only do such part-time workers lack reliable full-time jobs and sick pay, but they can't enjoy health insurance and longer-term benefits.

    The measures to be taken are to raise trade barriers. But closing the doors to foreign trade won't bring jobs back. It will only slow the global economy and hurt American exports, shrinking the U. S. economy and accelerating job loss.

    One day when I was 5, my mother scolded (责骂) me for not finishing my rice and I got angry. I wanted to play outside and not to be made to finish eating my old rice. When angrily opening the screen door with my foot, I kicked back about a 12-inch part of the lower left hand corner of the new screen door. But I had no remorse, for I was happy to be playing in the backyard with my toys.

    Today, I know if my child had done what I did, I would have scolded my child, and told him about how expensive this new screen door was, and I would have delivered a spanking (打屁股) for it. They never said a word. They left the corner of the screen door pushed out, creating an opening, a breach (裂缝) in the defense against unwanted insects.

    For years, every time I saw that corner of the screen, it would constantly make me think about my mistake. For years, I knew that everyone in my family would see that hole and remember who did it. For years, every time I saw a fly buzzing (嗡嗡) in the kitchen, I would wonder if it came in through the hole that I had created with my angry foot. I would wonder if my family members were thinking the same thing, silently blaming me every time a flying insect entered our home, making life more terrible for us all. My parents taught me a valuable lesson, one that a spanking or stern (严厉的) words perhaps could not deliver. Their silent punishment for what I had done delivered a hundred stern messages to me. Above all, it has helped me become a more patient person and not burst out so easily.