A cab company in one of Japan's major cities is introducing silent taxi drivers. Miyako Taxi, which is based in Kyoto, shows the new idea in March. The business is currently operating five “Silence Taxis” across the city.

    The cars look like any ordinary taxi，but a notice written on the back of the passenger seat  inform passengers that they have entered one of the new silent fleet. Drivers will offer a greeting when their passenger enters the car, and aside from confirming the route they will not engage in small talk. The drivers can indulge in conversation, only if they are spoken to first, and they are also allowed to communicate in emergency situations.

    Announcing the idea, Miyako Taxi said: “This service is currently in a trial stage, with the goal of creating an in-car atmosphere that provides the most comfortable ride for passengers through limiting the driver's speaking.” According to Japan Today, they made the move after hearing reports from passengers that they were fed up being forced to chat with their drivers.

    The company will assess the popularity of the trial before deciding whether to expand it and roll it out across more of their drivers.

    Language and speaking is at the heart of another issue facing Uber drivers, after lost a High Court Battle to block written tests in London. Drivers applying for a minicab license in the capital will now have to pass the written exam following Uber's failed challenge against Transport for London (TfL). The company argued it could see up to 33,000 existing drivers lose their licences under the new rule.

    The company's London head, Tom Elvidge: vowed to challenge the rule and said, “We've always supported spoken English skills, but writing an essay has nothing to do with communicating with passengers or getting them safely from A to B.”

    Are you interested in students in other countries? Do they also have so much homework like you? What do they do in their spare time?

    On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who study hardest?

Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students (48.65%) spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That's much more than students of the US (26.4%), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleep most often in class?

Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes sleep in class. In South Korea, it's 32%; in the US,21%; and 5% in China.

    Who are the most distracted?

    American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted. 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send emails or read storybooks in class.

    What do they do after school?

    In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students go out to play with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercise. Most Korean students watch TV.

    There are numerous amusement parks all over the world. A famous magazine, Amusement Today, does a survey among park lovers every year both in the US and overseas, based on which, “Top 5 List of the Best Amusement Parks in the World” has come out as follows:

    Disneyland, California

    Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California, the US. More than 515 million guests have traveled to this American landmark from around the world since the park first opened to guests on July 17, 1955. The park consists of many world-famous sections, such as Main Street, Adventure Land, New Orleans Square, and so on.

    Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida

    Magic Kingdom is a theme park within the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando opened on October 1, 1971. It is the most famous theme park in Florida. The park's design and attractions don't make much difference from Disneyland Park in Anaheim.

    EPCOT, Disney World, Florida

    EPCOT is the second theme park built at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The park opened on October 1, 1982, and was named EPCOT Center from 1982 to 1993. It was the largest Disney theme park in the world until 1998, when Disney's Animal Kingdom opened.

    Disney-MGM Studios, Florida

    MGM's streets are the home for some great movie-themed attractions with a history of less than 30 years. With the addition of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock and

    Roller Coaster, the park is now home to Disney World's most thrilling rides.

    Universal Studios, Florida

    Go behind the scenes, beyond the screen and jump right into the action of your favorite movies at Universal Studios, the number one movie and TV theme park in the world.

    In China, Major Cold (大寒) is the last solar term in winter and also the last solar term in the annual lunar(阴历的) calendar. In this period, snow, rain and icy cold weather have a big influence on people's lives.

    Here are several things you should know about Major Cold.

    Eating "dispelling cold cake" (吃"消寒糕")

    During Major Cold, people in Beijing have a habit of eating "dispelling cold cake", a kind of rice cake. Sticky rice, the cake's main ingredient, contains more sugar than rice, which can make people feel warm all over their bodies. In Chinese the word "rice cake" has the same pronunciation with the word "higher in a new year", which symbolizes good luck and continual promotion.

    Eating fried spring roll（吃春卷）

    In Anqing of Anhui province, people traditionally eat fried spring rolls during Major

    Cold. They use a round, cooked, thin pancake to wrap stuffing（馅料）in a thin roll. Then it is fried in a pan with oil until it turns yellow and floats to the top. The stuffing inside the spring roll contains meat or vegetables and the flavor can be salty or sweet.

    Drinking stewed soup

    People in Nanjing of Jiangsu province like to drink stewed soup during Major Cold, which can make people feel warm from head to foot. They always stew the aged hen soup with ginseng(人参), matrimony vine(枸杞) and black fungus(黑木耳).

    Doing winter sports

    There is a saying that goes, "Dripping water freezes during Minor and Major Cold." In various regions of China, Major Cold is the perfect time for winter sports such as skiing, ice skating and sledding.

    Two things changed my life:  my mother and a white plastic bike basket. I have thought long and hard about it and it's true. I would be a different person if my mom hadn't turned a silly bicycle accessory into a life lesson I carry with me today.

    My mother and father were united in their way of raising children, but it mostly fell to my mother to actually carry it out. Looking back, I honestly don't know how she did it. Managing the family budget must have been a very hard task, but she made it look effortless. If we complained about not having what another kid did, we'd hear something like, “I don't care what so –and –so got for his birthday, you are not getting a TV in your room a car for your birthday a lsvish sweet 16 party.” We had to earn our allowance by doing chores around the house. I can still remember how long it took to polish the legs of our coffee table. My brothers can no doubt remember hours spent cleaning the house .Like the two little girls growing up at the White House, we made our own beds (no one left the house until that was done)and picked up after ourselves. We had to keep track of our belongings, and if something was lost, it was not replaced.

It was summer and ,one day ,my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed—and there it was in the window, White, shiny, plastic and decorated with flowers ,the basket winked at me and I knew —-I knew—I had to have it.

    “It's beautiful,” my mother said when I pointed it out to her,” What a neat basket.”

    I tried to hold off at first, I played it cool for a short while. But then I guess I couldn't at and it any longer: “Mom, please can I please, please get it? I'll do extra chores for as long as you say, I'll do anything, but I need that basket, I love that basket. Please, Mom. Please?”

    I was desperate.

    “You know,” she said, gently rubbing my back while we both stared at what I believes was the coolest thing ever,” If you save up you could buy this yourself.”

“By the time I make enough it'll be gone!”

    “Maybe Roger here could hold it for you,” she smiled at Roger, the bike guy.

    “He can't hold it for that long, Mom .Someone else will buy it .Please, Mom, Please?”

    “There might be another way,” she said.

    And so our paying plan unfolded. My mother bought the beautiful basket and put it safely in some hiding place I couldn't find. Each week I eagerly counted my growing saving increased by extra work here and there (washing the car ,helping my mother make dinner, delivering or collecting things on my bike that already looked naked without the basket in front).And then ,weeks later ,I counted ,re-counted and jumped for joy. Oh, happy day! I made it! I finally had the exact amount we'd agreed upon….

    Days later the unthinkable happened. A neighborhood girl I'd played with millions of times appeared with the exact same basket fixed to her shiny, new bike that already had all the bells and whistles. I rode hard and fast home to tell my mother about this disaster. This horrible turn of events.

    And then came the lesson. I've taken with me through my life:” Honey, Your basket is extra-special,” Mom said, gently wiping away my hot tears.” Your basket is special because you paid for it yourself.”

Pieter Bruegel's iconic 1565 painting The Harvesters hangs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work shows people harvesting wheat nearly as tall as they are. "Nowadays, however, if you walk through a wheat field, you basically see that wheat is about knee-height. The reduced height is essentially a consequence of being bred (培育) along with genes for increasing production to feed a growing population," biologist De Smet explained.

De Smet said wheat was just one example of how historical artwork could allow us to track the transformation of food crops over time. He teamed up with art historian Vergauwen, a friend since childhood, to document such art work around the world. They have been mainly looking at things where they can spot changes in shape, color and size.

Their interest in plants in artwork began with a visit to the Hermitage Museum, where they noticed an odd-looking watermelon in an early-17th-century painting. It appeared to be pale and white on the inside. Biologist De Smet assumed the painter had done a poor job. But art historian Vergauwen had a different idea. "No, this is one of the best painters ever from that era. So if he painted it like that, that's the way it must have looked like," he explained.

Other paintings revealed that both red and white watermelons were grown during the 17th century. "With all the genetic knowledge we now have, we can look at how something comes about in more detail," said De Smet. "For example, until the 18th century, European strawberries appeared tiny in paintings. They then grew in size as they were crossbred with North American varieties."

Ultimately, the team hopes to create an online research database of historical plant artwork. They seek the contributions of art enthusiasts around the world via the social media. "However," Vergauwen reminds, "if you're going to use, for example, Picasso to try and understand how a pear looked in the early 20th century, you might be misled."