Our body clock, or natural body rhythm, influences our energy and alertness. Paying attention to it can help us choose the suitable time of the day when we best perform specific tasks.

    The reality, however, is that most of us organize the time around work demands, school deadlines, commuting or social events. Doing whatever the body feels like doing is a luxury in today's fast-paced modern society.

    But that doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. Obeying our body clock has significant health benefits. Disrupting our natural body rhythm, on the other hand, has been linked to problems such as depression, obesity, or headache, says Steve Key, a biology professor.

    When the body clock can synchronize (使…同步) the rhythms of its natural processes, it “gives us an advantage in daily life”, says Key.

    According to him, when it comes to cognitive (认知的) work, most adults perform best in the late morning. As our body temperature starts to rise just before awakening in the morning and continues to increase until midday, our memory, alertness and concentration gradually improve.

    However, he adds, our ability to concentrate typically starts to decrease soon thereafter. Most of us are more easily distracted (分心) between noon and 4 pm.

    Alertness also tends to fall after eating a meal and sleepiness tends to peak around 2 pm, making that a good time for a nap.

    Surprisingly, tiredness may increase our creative powers. For most adults, problems that require open-ended thinking are often best dealt with in the evening when they are tired, according to a study in the journal Thinking & Reasoning.

    When choosing a time of the day to exercise, paying attention to your body clock can improve results. Physical performance is usually best from about 3 to 6 pm, says Michael Smolensky, a professor of biomedical engineering.

    Of course, not everyone's body clock is the same, making it even harder to synchronize natural rhythms with daily plans.

Airport Express

    With the Airport Express, you are never far from town. There is a train every 10 minutes, ready to rush you between the airport and Hong Kong Station in the heart of the shopping and downtown district in about 24 minutes. Or travel to the Asia World-Expo in just 1 minute from the airport.

Airport Express service hours

Mon.-Fri.: 5:50am to 1:15am

Sat.-Sun.: 5:00am to 2:00am

Tickets

    There are three types of ticket for travelling to and from the Airport: Single Journey, Round Trip and Same Day Return. Single Journey Ticket and Same Day Return Ticket are valid(有效的) on day of issue(发放). Round Trip Ticket is valid for 30 days from day of issue. You can also use the Octopus Card for the Airport Express. (The Octopus Card is an electronic store-value ticket and it can be used on most public transport. The fare will be deducted(扣除) from the stored value each time, so you do not have to carry heavy coins. The card is valid for three years after value has been added.)

Travel tips

Children under 3 travel for free.

    Passengers travelling on the Airport Express are now able to write email and do online searches with Wi-Fi service.

    For more information about Airport Express, please visit www.hongkongairport.com or call 00852-21818888.

    Up to 60 Shanghai maths teachers are to be brought to England to raise standards, in an exchange arranged by the Department for Education.The announcement comes as a campaign is launched to raise adult maths skills.A survey of 300 adults for the numeracy campaign found that over a third thought their level of maths had held them back.An accompanying economic analysis said that a lack of maths skills cost the UK 20 billion pounds per year.

    The plan to bring 60 English-speaking maths teachers from Shanghai is an attempt to learn from a city that has been the top performance in the OECD's Pisa tests.The OECD says that children of poor families in Shanghai are on average better at maths than middle class children in the UK.The Shanghai teachers, expected to arrive from the autumn, will help share their teaching methods, support pupils who are struggling and help to train other teachers.

    “We have some smart maths teachers in this country but what I saw in Shanghai-and other Chinese cities-has only strengthened my belief that we can learn from them.” said education minister, Elizabeth Truss, who has recently visited Shanghai, accompanied by head teachers from England, “They have a can-do attitude to maths-and I want us to match that, and their performance,” She stressed the economic significance of raising maths standards, for individuals and the country.'As part of our long term economic plan, we are determined to drive up standards in our schools and give our young people the skills they need to succeed in the global race.Good maths qualifications have the greatest earning potential and provide the strongest protection against unemployment,” said the education minister.

    "Hey, little boy, will you support me when I'm getting old?" Wang Wenshan, 35, asked his newborn baby as he hugged him at home.

    The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly growing economy and improved standard of living. As is the case with more and more developed countries, China faces an aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore, many Chinese families are falling into a 4-2-1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize that a problem is likely to happen ahead.

    The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. The Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, issued（发行） a white paper on measures China has been taking to help its elderly population. The paper said China's population entered the aging period at the end of the 20th century and the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of the population, according to the white paper.

An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.

    "I used to think that it's not an issue for me to provide for the aged," said Wang, whose parents and parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Wang's father suffered from a serious illness and afterward Wang began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.

    After his father recovered, Wang opened a bank account for each parent and put away some money in the account every month to prepare for future uncertainties. In addition, he has to save money every month to provide for his son's future education. "I'm now breaking my back to support my family: saving pensions for the parents, my son's education funds, and living costs."

    Wang also bought some commercial old-age insurance for himself. "We have to take precautions（预防） before it is too late, and many of my colleagues share the same view," he said.

    Some best music and opera holidays for 2019.

    Tangle wood Festival

    The villages of Lenox and Stockbridge in western Massachusetts have been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for more than 80 years, and its annual Tanglewood festival is East Coast America's most distinguished music event. Andris Nelsons, BSO music director, conducts 14 of the concerts and star performers include Emanuel Ax, Paul Lewis and Anne-Sophie Mutter. Tickets on sale Feb 10.

    June 15—Aug 25 (tanglewood.org)

    Aspen Festival

    This year is the 70th anniversary of the Aspen Music Festival, one of the longest-running and most prestigious festivals in the United States. The 2019 program has yet to be announced, but a typical eight- week summer season includes more than 400 classical music events—including concerts by five orchestras, solo (独奏) and classical music performances, fully staged opera productions, music lessons, lectures, and children's programming. Tickets and details available in February.

    June 27—Aug 18 (aspenmusicfestival.com)

    Grand Teton Music Festival

    Aspen's great classical music competitor in the Rocky Mountains is the Grand Teton, which has been held in Jackson Hole since 1962 and at its heart is a timber concert hall, the Walk Festival Hall, famous for its friendly atmosphere and excellent natural sound. Despite its relatively modest size, the hall attracts the greats—current music director is the Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles. The program for 2019 is yet to be announced but subscriptions are on sale from Feb 1, single tickets from March 1.

    July 2—Aug 17 (gtmf. org)

    Salzburg Festival

    The excitement is building in Salzburg both for this summer and for its 100th anniversary year in 2020. Bar the Proms, it is the world's oldest music festival and this year it will pack in an unbelievable 199 performances in 43 days at 16 venues. This year's theme is ‘Myths' and includes first public performances of Mozart's Idomeneo and George Enescu's opera dipe.

    July 20—Aug 31 (salzburgfestival. at)

    In a room at Texas Children Cancer Center in Houston, eight-year-old Simran Jatar lay in bed with a drip(点滴)above her to fight her bone cancer. Over her bald(秃的)head, she wore a pink hat that matched her clothes. But the third grader's cheery dressing didn't mask her pain and weary eyes.

    Then a visitor showed up. "Do you want to write a song?" asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone and speakers. Simran stared. "Have you ever written a poem?" Anita Kruse continued. "Well, yes," Simran said.

    Within minutes, Simran was reading her poem into the microphone. "Some bird soaring through the sky," she said softly. "Imagination in its head…" Anita Kruse added piano music, a few warbling (鸣,唱)birds, and finally the girl's voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song.

    That was the beginning of Anita Kruse's project, Purple Songs Can Fly, one that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs. As a composer and pianist who had performed at the hospital, Kruse said that the idea of how she could help "came in one flash".

    The effect on the kids has been great. One teenage girl, curling(蜷缩)in pain in her wheelchair, stood unaided to dance to a hip-hop song she had written. A 12-year-old boy with Hodgkin's disease who rarely spoke surprised his doctors with a song he called I Can Make It.

    "My time with the kids is heartbreaking because of the severity of their illnesses," says Anita Kruse. "But they also make you happy, when the children are smiling, excited to share their CD with their families."

    Simran is now an active sixth grader and cancer-free. From time to time, she and her mother listen to her song, Always Remembering, and they always remember the "really sweet and nice and loving" lady who gave them a shining moment in the dark hour.