I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasn't going to hurry now. We thought he'd drink a while and rest in the shade, and then drink again. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.

    We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisonous arrow (箭) from the elephant's body, and let out over 100 liters of drug—the result of the elephant's meeting with a poacher (偷猎者) months before.

    Today's poacher fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once—it doesn't mean the poison won't finally kill the elephant, but it will be a slow death.

    Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time. When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the great silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I couldn't escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed to be a poorer and emptier place.

China Daily—Last week, the Beijing municipal government released a list of 192 areas in the capital where spring blooms, including peach, magnolia, apricot and winter jasmine, can be enjoyed from March to May. The recommended spots cover an area of 22 square kilometers. Apart from admiring blooms, folklore performances, botany exhibitions and other activities will be put on. 20 travel routes for tourists looking to appreciate floral beauty in the countryside are issued in Hubei, too.

    South Korean drama Descendants of the Sun《太阳的后裔》 has collected more than 200 million views on iQiyi, the Chinese streaming website said Tuesday.

    "Descendants of the Sun", the first Korean show to premiere simultaneously in South Korea and China (中韩同步首播), is a love story between an Army captain (Song Joong-ki) and a doctor (Song Hye-kyo) who find themselves in a fictional war-torn country called Uruk, where both try to save lives.

    "The show has become the talk of the town everywhere. Some shows even had live phone conversations with viewers to discuss its popularity," a Chinese entertainment official said.

    To put things into perspective, a f ifth of South Korea's population is 10 million people. Just a little over that number tuned in to watch Descendants of the Sun.

    Enthusiastic customers snapped up(抢光) the first batch of tickets in just five minutes on Monday for the opening day of the Shanghai Disneyland park on June 16, temporarily crashing the official website.

"Within half an hour, clicks on the website (www.shanghaidisneyresort.com) reached more than 5 million. The massive volume resulted in our ticketing system temporarily malfunctioning."

    Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.

    In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a way to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let illnesses in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus it began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

    Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War Ⅱ. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

    Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children of touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家), encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

    Humans are much worse at estimating risk than we think we are. While we overestimate the risk of rare but disastrous occurrences, such as being attacked by a shark, many of us seriously underestimate the risk of behaviors that reduce our lifespan (寿命), such as smoking.

    In fact, there are two types of risks — acute and chronic. Acute risks are those that may kill you immediately, such as a car accident.

    Chronic risks don't kill you immediately but rob you of your life a little at a time. If you choose to eat an unhealthy diet, for instance, you may appear to be getting away with this, but you risk developing illnesses in future that may shorten your life.

    The problem is we value things much less when they occur in the future. Distant events are abstract — we don't know how and when they might affect us -~ so we care less about them.

    Take smoking for example. It is just about the worst choice you can make for your health. Every two cigarettes that you smoke takes 30 minutes off your lifespan.

    In contrast, eating vegetables is clearly very good for you, with each serve increasing your lifespan by two hours. This is a massive health gain and clearly should be a strong motivator for you to eat healthily.

    Drinking coffee is also good for you, though with limited health gains. Each cup of coffee (assuming you drink reasonably), is associated with approximately a ten-minute gain in your lifespan.

    Even drinking alcohol may add to your lifespan, with each serve adding 30 minutes to the length of your life. But this health gain is only true for the first drink; following drinks shorten lifespan. Alcohol also causes an acute risk when consumed in excess. Too much drinking gives you a 25 in one million chance of sudden death.

    We shouldn't be too nervous about exposure to risks. Life is all about making decisions about risks and rewards, and we all have a different starting point for what we consider acceptable risks to take. Even if we don't always make the healthiest decisions, at least we can make ones that are fully informed.

    Gabriella's family immigrated to the US from Peru when she was two years old. As a compound bilingual (双语使用者), Gabriella develops two linguistic codes at the same time, with a set of concepts, learning both English and Spanish. Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English in school, Spanish at home. Finally, Gabriella's parents are likely to be subordinate bilinguals who learned a second language by translating it into their mother tongue.

    Regardless of accent and pronunciation, all types of bilingual people can become fully proficient in a language. It seems that the difference may not be apparent. But recently brain imaging technology has given a glimpse into how specific aspects of language learning affect the bilingual brain. It's well known that the brain's left hemisphere (半球) is in charge of logical processes, while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones. Language involves both types of functions. "Critical Period Theory" says children learn languages more easily because their developing brains let them use both hemispheres in language learning, while in most adults, language relies on one hemisphere, usually the left.

    Before the 1960s, bilingualism was considered a handicap that slowed the children's development by forcing them to spend too much energy distinguishing between languages. But a recent study did show that bilingualism may make you smarter. It does make your brain more complex, healthier, and more actively engaged, and even if you didn't have the good fortune of learning a second language like a child, it's never too late to do yourself a favor and make the linguistic leap from "Hello" to "Hola" "Bonjour" or "nihao" because when it comes to our brains, a little exercise can go a long way.

Welcome to the Public Transport Guide for Parents where you will find all the information and decisions you need to make to prepare your child for travelling on Trans Link's public transport network in South East Queensland.

We have three planning tools to help you find the most suitable public transport mode and school route for your child: School service finder. Journey planner, and Qconnect journey planner.

My TransLink is the official Queensland Government app for public transport in South East Queensland, Mackay, Cairns. Toowoomba and Townsville.

When using journey planner, make sure you select a date that falls on a school day and choose between 'Depart' or 'Arrive before' to tailor your search.

You can contact your local school bus operator for more information about the school service and student assistance options.

If you live outside South East Queensland, please contact your local Passenger and School Transport Office.

To find the best travel product for your child, visit student ticketing options. The most common concession (特许) is the child and student go cards:

·All primary and secondary school students are qualified for a concession go card.

· Concession fares are 50 percent of an adult fare.

· A further 50 percent is deducted(扣除）after the 8th paid journey within a week (Monday to Sunday).

School students 15 years and older must hold a valid student ID (issued by school) to buy a green go card.