More student than ever before are taking a gap-year (间隔年)before going to university.It used to be called the “year off” between school and university.The gap-year phenomenon originated(起源) with the months left over to Oxbridge applicants between entrance exams in November and the start of the next academic year.

    This year, 25,310 students who have accepted places in higher education institutions have put off their entry until next year, according to statistics on university entrance provided by University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) .

    That is a record 14.7% increase in the number of students taking a gap year. Tony Higgins from UCAS said that the statistics are good news for everyone in higher education. “Students who take a well-planned year out are more likely to be satisfied with, and complete, their chosen course. Students who take a gap year are often more mature and responsible,” he said.

    But not everyone is happy. Owain James, the president of the National Union of Students(NUS), argued that the increase is evidence of student had ship – young people are being forced into earning money before finishing their education. “New students are now aware that they are likely to leave university up to ￡15,000 in debt. It is not surprising that more and More students are taking a gap year to earn money to support their study for the degree.NUS statistics show that over 40% of students are forced to work during term time and the figure increases to 90% during vacation periods,”he said.

    Seventy years ago, a group of well-known people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music, dance and theater in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.

    It quickly attracted famous names such as Alec Guinness, Richard Burton, Dame Margot Fonteyn and Marlene Dietrich as well as the big symphony orchestras (交响乐团). It became a fixed event every August and now attracts 400,000 people yearly.

    At the same time, the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge to the official festival. Eight theater groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform, and they did so in a public house disused for years.

    Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theater by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.

    Today the “Fringe”, once less recognized, has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theater, music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959, with only 19 theater groups performing, some said it was getting too big.

    A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.

LONDON—A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake bomb detectors（探测器）to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences.

It is believed that James McCormick got about $ 77.8 million from the sales of his detectors--which were based on a kind of golf ball finder—to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. McCormick, 57, was convicted of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.

    “Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people,” Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. “You have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt.”

    The detectors, sold for up to $ 42, 000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they “lacked any grounding in science” and were of no use.

    McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.

    “I never had any bad results from customers,” he said.

    Summer Camps

    Make your summer magical with a one-of-a-kind summer camp experience!

Half-day, week-long camps are held from 9 am-12 pm or 1 pm-4pm.

    Daily snacks will be provided and even become part of the hands-on fun!

Session 1—Ocean Commotion（暴动）

    Set sail for fun and adventure on the deep blue sea! Campers explore uncharted land at The Magic House and discover something fishy as they come into the exciting world of sea creatures.

    June 6-10

    June 13-17

    June 20-24

Session 2—Super kids Explore Earth

    Campers become superheroes to the earth as they learn about the environment and discover how to use their super powers to protect it! During this action-packed week, campers will explore the earth from the sky to the sea and participate in fun, earth-friendly activities such as turning trash into treasure.

    June 27-July 1

    July 11-15

    July 18-22

Session 3—Once Upon A Time

    At this unique fairy tale-themed camp, campers have a magical, make-believe adventure through the pages of some of their favorite storybooks. Campers experience gaint-sized fun as they use their imaginations to travel to places found only in fairy tales.

    July 25-29

    August 1-5

    August 8-12(am sessions only)

    All campers must be registered in advance.

    2.26-meter-tall Yao Ming made his NBA debut (初次登台) on October 23, 2002 and got 6 points for the Houston Rockets in the game. The next day, he got 13 points in another game.

    Most people think that Yao Ming is a born basketball player. But Yao said, "When you watch it on TV, it looks very easy. But when you are playing in the NBA, it is really not so easy." He said that joining the Houston Rockets was a new start and a new challenge. "I hope that through very hard work I can make everyone happy and help the Rockets win more games," he said. Yao Ming speaks some English. Both he and his teammates can understand each other. They don't think there is a language problem. While Yao Ming faces this new challenge, the people of Houston have shown great interest in him and they hope Yao Ming will bring new energy to the Rockets. The team has started having lessons to learn more about China, and many people who work for the Rockets have learned to speak some Chinese.

Emerald Coast Science Center Field Trips

Bring your group or class to explore our hands-on Science Center now which provides wonderful learning opportunities for students all along the Emerald Coast!

To book a field trip, please call Lisa at 850-664-1261. Please choose your preferred date and two alternate dates you would like to book before calling. We will email you a confirmation of your booking.