Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Swift's family ran a farm. “I had her sitting on a small horse when she was nine months old,” said Swift's mother. “If my dream had gone well, she'd be in a horse show right now.” The only obvious forerunner (先驱) of Swift's musical talent was her grandmother, an opera singer.

    That talent showed itself early: when the family went to see a Disney musical film, Swift would come out of the theater singing all the songs correctly. At the age of 11, she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Philadelphia 76ers game. The experiences during her pre-teen years encouraged the creativity to go with Swift's talent. As a child, she attended the academically competitive Wyndcroft School in Pottstown, but then switched to public schools in Wyomissing. Although it was her hometown, she didn't know any of her classmates, and she was terrified. Swift began to understand the storytelling feature of country songs, and put her feelings into songs of her own.

    One of her future hits, “The Outside”, was written when she was only 12. “I wrote that about the scariest feeling I've ever felt: going to school, looking at those faces, and not knowing who you're gonna talk to that day,” she said. “In the music, I could never feel the kind of rejection (拒绝) that I felt in middle school.” Swift's parents quickly realized that they had someone special on their hands. They sold their farm when she was 13 and moved the family to Hendersonville, Tennessee.

    Swift had the ability, above all, to put feelings into words with accuracy (准确) far beyond her years. In “Our Song” she wrote, “Our song is the slamming screen door, going out late, tapping on your window.” In the summer of 2006, “Tim McGraw” came out, and almost from the beginning the 16-year-old Taylor Swift was a star.

    A Canadian woman who lost her diamond ring 13 years ago while cleaning her garden on the family farm is wearing it proudly again after her daughter-in-law pulled it from the ground or a carrot.

    Mary Grams, 84, said she can't believe the lucky carrot actually grew through and around the diamond ring she had long given up hope of finding. She said she never told her husband, Norman, that she lost the ring, but only told her son. Her husband died five years ago.

    “I feel glad and happy, ”Grams said this week . “I grew into the carrot. I feel it amazing”,

    Her daughter-in-law, Calleen Daley, found the ring while getting carrots in for supper with her dog Billy at the farm near Armena, Alberta, where Grams used to live. The farm has been in the family for 105 years. Daley said while she was pulling the carrots and noticed one of them looked strange She almost fed it to her dog bu decided to keep it When she was washing ;the carrots she noticed the ring and spoke to her husband, Grams'son, about what she had found.

    They quickly called Grams. “I told her we found her ring in the garden She couldn't believe it, ”Daley said. “It was so strange that the carrot grew perfectly through that ring. ”

    Grams said she wanted to try the ring on again after so many years with her family looking on, she washed the ring with a little soap to get the dirt off. It moved on her finger as easily as i did when her husband gave it to her.

    “We were laughing, ” she said. “It fits. After so many years it still fits perfectly.”

    People usually visit cafes to ease themselves of their tiredness and keep themselves from falling asleep, but Mr. Healing, a popular cafe chain in South Korea actually does the opposite. Customers can come in, order a drink, lie down in a comfortable massage chair, and take a nap.

    Many Koreans suffer from a lack of sleep as a result of overworking, so any opportunity to relax and even take a nap is greatly appreciated. Mr. Healing is the perfect place to go when you're on a short work or school break and you need to catch up on sleep. The cafe offers massage periods in various modes, depending on how much time you have and how you choose to spend it.

    The 20-minute session is priced at $3.5, the 30-minute massage costs $7, and the 50-minute session is $9, all of which also include a drink. Once you make your choice, you are taken to the “healing center”. You are asked to take off your shoes as well as any jewelry that might damage the chairs, after which you can choose a massage mode, from “stretch” or “sleep”. You can start with stretch for a few minutes, and then switch to sleep if you want to take a short nap. After it comes to an end, you are taken back to the cafe area to enjoy a coffee or one of the many other refreshing drinks on the menu.

    Mr. Healing cafes are so popular in Korea that customers are advised to make reservations in advance to be sure that a massage chair is available. “I have to sit on a chair and stare at a computer monitor all day due to my job, the healing room was truly effective to relieve tiredness and stress from weekdays,” said Park Hye-sun, a 24-year-old officer.

    Some have described Mr. Healing and other similar relaxation cafes in South Korea as simple fashions, but others see them as a sustainable business model, because they offer a service that Koreans really need.

    A while back I caught a news report on something called ―couch surfing‖ and the network of trusting souls who make this phenomenon possible. They offer to put up travelers free of charge and help them on their ways. At first, it sounded unbelievable. I mean, inviting strangers into one's home for one or two nights? Give me a break.

    However, I was intrigued. I decided to investigate. The only way to truly learn about this phenomenon was to dive in. So I planned a trip to Finland, a country I've always wanted to explore. I would couch surf at every stop there.

    If ever any anxiety existed when stepping into the unknown, it disappeared when my first host met me at the train station. Ari looked like my idea of a typical Finn: tall and blue-eyed. Finns were also supposed to be famously reserved (寡言少语的). Ari was anything but. He was a live wire, giving me an enthusiastic welcome and hiking with me to his apartment, where he showed me the sleeper sofa, served me tea, and engaged me in warm conversations. He also handed me a key to come and go as I pleased.

    If this was what couch surfing was all about－trust and friendship－then I had gotten off to a good start. As I boarded my next train to continue my journey, I began to think about this couch-surfing idea. What urged these people to open their homes to strangers? I concluded that there was a desire to lend a hand to like-minded folks who might enrich their own lives.

    Seven cities in 14 days. Seven hosts. Seven new friends. If couch surfing taught me anything, it's this: Most people are good and generous. Where will couch surfing take me next? Who knows? But I can't wait to find out.

    The University of Birmingham is the first excellent UK Russell Group university to announce that it will accept the "Gaokao" exam for high­flying Chinese students wishing to join its undergraduate courses in 2019. High school students who complete the "National Higher Education Entrance Examination", or Gaokao, with top grades will be able to apply for direct entry onto Birmingham degree programmes without first completing a foundation year which is a routine for the freshman.

    Gaokao is usually taken by students in their last year of senior high school and, every year, each province in China sets the grades required to gain admission to its universities. It is usually held across China in early June. Students are tested in Chinese, Mathematics, a Foreign Language and social sciences or natural sciences.

    University of Birmingham Vice­Chancellor Professor Sir David Eastwood said: "The University of Birmingham has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century. We welcome people from around the globe to study at Birmingham and Chinese students form an integral part of our education and research community. We are further opening access to Birmigham's wealth of education opportunities for the brightest and most dedicated Chinese students by accepting this strict and important qualification. I look forward to welcoming these high­flying students to the University of Birmingham."

    Gaokao is increasingly accepted by universities in Australia, the USA, Canada and mainland Europe. Birmingham will only be considering high quality students who achieve a minimum 80% Gaokao score and meet additional academic and English language requirements.

    Professor J on Frampton, Director of the University of Birmingham's China Institute said: "The University of Birmingham has a long history of educating students from China and one of our most famous graduates is Li Siguang­the founding father of Chinese geology. I am delighted that the University is now accepting the Gaokao. This gives the brightest and best Chinese students an opportunity to move straight into the first year of our undergraduate programmes and experience the benefits of studying at a global Top 100 university, such as Birmingham."

    I must have always known reading was very important because the first memories I have as a child deal with books. There was not one night that I don't remember mom reading me a storybook by my bedside. I was extremely inspired by the wonderful way the words sounded.

    I always wanted to know what my mom was reading. Hearing mom say, "I can't believe what's printed in the newspaper this morning," made me want to grab it out of her hands and read it myself. I wanted to be like my mom and know all of the things she knew. So I carried around a book, and each night, just to be like her, I would pretend to be reading.

    This is how everyone learned to read. We would start off with sentences, then paragraphs, and then stories. It seemed an unending journey, but even as a six-year-old girl I realized that knowing how to read could open many doors. When mom said, "The C-A-N-D-Y is hidden on the top shelf," I knew where the candy was. My progress in reading raised my curiosity, and I wanted to know everything. I often found myself telling my mom to drive more slowly, so that I could read all of the road signs we passed.

    Most of my reading through primary, middle and high school was factual reading. I read for knowledge, and to make A's on my tests. Sometimes, I would read a novel that was assigned, but I didn't enjoy this type of reading. I liked facts, things that are concrete. I thought anything abstract left too much room for argument.

    Now that I'm growing and the world I once knew as being so simple is becoming more complex, I find myself needing a way to escape. By opening a novel, I can leave behind my burdens and enter into a wonderful and mysterious world where I am now a new character. In these worlds I can become anyone. I don't have to write down what happened or what technique the author was using when he or she wrote this. I just read to relax.

    We're taught to read because it's necessary for much of human understanding. Reading is an important part of my life. Reading satisfies my desire to keep learning. And I've found that the possibilities that lie within books are limitless.