Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium (水族馆)

    The all-new Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, situated in the heart of Melbourne's CBD, is one of Victoria's leading visitor attractions and an unforgettable outing for the whole family. Having 12 amazing zones of discovery, Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is the very place that you cannot miss when you visit the city.

    * Opening Times

    Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is open from 9:30 am until 6:00 pm every day of the year, including public holidays. Last admission is at 5:00 pm, one hour before closing.

    * Location ( 位置)

    Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is located on the corner of Flinders Street and King Street, Melbourne. It is siyuated on the Yarra River, opposite Crown Entertainment Complex.

    * Getting to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium

    Train

    The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium train stop is located on the free City Circle Tram route (公交线路) and also routes 70 and 75. City Circle trams run every 10 minutes in both directions.

    Shuttle Bus

    The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is a free bus service, stopping at key tourist attractions in and around the City. Running daily, every 15 minutes from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

    Car Parking

    While there is no public car parking at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, there are several public car parking lots available only a short walk away.

    * Wheelchair Access

    Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium provides people in wheelchairs with full access to all 12 zones. Each floor also has wheelchair accessible toilets.

    * Terms

    Tickets will be emailed to you immediately after purchase or you can download and print your ticket once payment has been accepted. Please print out all tickets purchased and present at the front entrance of Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium. No ticket, no entry!

    In my living room, there is a plaque (匾) that advises me to “Bloom (开花) where you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy. I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980s, when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. The job responsibilities required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program. Dorothy stands out in my memory as one who “bloomed” in her remote area.

    Dorothy taught in a school In Harlan County, Kentucky, Appalachian Mountain area. To get to her school from the town of Harlan, I followed a road winding around the mountain. In the eight-mile journey, I crossed the same railroad track five times, giving the possibility of getting caught by the same train five times. Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountains, I found it depressing. The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of hopelessness.

    From the moment of my arrival at the little school, all gloom (忧郁) disappeared. Upon arriving at Dorothy's classroom. I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen. The children had been prepared to show me their latest projects. Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for “dinner” (lunch). In case you don't know, poke greens are a weed-type plant that grows wild, especially on poor ground.

    Dorothy never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students. Her enthusiasm never cooled down. When it came time to sit for the testing and interviewing required to receive her Child Development Associate Certification, Dorothy was ready. She came to the assessment and passed in all areas. Afterward, she invited me to the one-and-only steak house in the area to celebrate her victory, as if she had received her Ph. D. degree. After the meal, she placed a little box containing an old pen in my hand. She said it was a family heirloom (传家宝), but to me it is a treasured symbol of appreciation and pride that cannot be matched with things.  (360 words)

    Have you ever felt like you are not given the kind of respect you deserve? In one way or another, all of us have felt this way. We've yearned(渴望) to be looked at as an authority, someone people look up to and trust. We're not taught in school how to do this and our parents didn't tell us the secret on how to establish our authority. It's something we learn and gain by ourselves. And the answer is as simple as changing our mindset. What? No way! Oh but it is. People tend to underestimate the power of the mind. Change your game by changing your mind.

    Take time to look back and think about people in your life who are an authority or a leader at work, who has more credibility(可信度) than you or who you look up to and inspires you. They are up there not for the reasons you think. If you really think about it, they aren't the smartest of the bunch, not the most educated, and neither are they the best. And in no way do they even call themselves an expert. Instead, they are up there because they are great teachers and advocates(支持者) for the success of their customers or employees.

    Let's take Richard Simmons for example. This famous fitness personality has been a household name ever since he started gaining popularity during the first few years of his career. Stop and think, though, do you really think he is the best person to really get people into shape? Is he the Einstein of fitness and nutrition? Or does he even call himself a master of his craft? Of course not. People look up to him and give him authority because he is a great educator. Instead of sharing information that's far too complicated to understand, he figures out what your problems are and finds out a way to fix them. He even has social media that he updates on a regular basis with topics that are helpful and easy to understand for his fans and followers.

    Depending on the field you're in, you can share with people things you know and that you think they will want to know as well. If you're a nurse, for example, you can make a blog post for common health problems and quick remedies(治疗方法) people can do at home. Remember, the simpler you can make it, the better. People will trust you completely if you give them easy solutions. Like Richard, you'll soon be the expert you'll want to listen to. You can be an advocate also by showing people that you have their best interests at heart. You can also start up conferences to take up people's concerns and try to deal with them the best way that you can.

    So, how will you be viewed as an authority? Make that mind shift. Find out what concerns and troubles your target. Give solutions. Show that you care. And help them climb up that ladder of success. Ladies and gentlemen, that's how it's done.

    Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan

    When it comes to the world's wonderful desert scenery, Jordan's Petra and Wadi Rum has it. Also known as the Valley of the Moon, this place is one of the best due to its amazing desert canyons (峡谷) and rock walls. Participants love exploring its Burdah and Um Fruth, walking to the impressive ancient city.

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

    The Rongai Route is the best route if the participants of the walking tour want a quiet climb. The Kili Trail permits travelers to witness the region's wilderness, virgin forests, and rare animals. This route, according to many, is the easiest way to reach the top where the breath-taking 360-dcgree sights of natural wonders await.

    Quebec, Canada

    This special environment made up of both the natural and cultural treasures, where fresh water becomes one with the tides (潮汐) of the sea, makes Quebec one of the interesting walking tour destinations in the world. Here is a track that heads to the Saguenay Fjord National Park which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Adding to the beauty of Quebec are its sparkling waterfalls, inviting lakes, and rare animals.

    Great Smoky Mountain, US

    This region has been named as the ancestral home of the Cherokee Indians, where rich natural wonders combined with interesting history are the major happenings. The rich natural reserve is evident and enjoyed by walking tour participants. What also makes this destination a popular choice is its reputation as the biggest wilderness on the eastern part of the United States.

    One morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.

    Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practised sewing machine.

    Elias Howes was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.

    Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.

    To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.

A school district in Michigan has banned all backpacks from school buildings, in response to growing safety concerns. 

Flint Community Schools announced last week that backpacks would be banned and the ban would be in place for the rest of the school year. The new policy went into effect on Monday. 

"We are doing all that we can to create a safe and secure environment for our scholars, families, teachers and staff," Superintendent (主管) Kevin Jones wrote in a letter posted on the school district's website. 

Jones cited growing threatening behavior happenings across the country, including weapons being brought to schools, as the reason for the backpack ban. 

"Backpacks make it easier for students to hide weapons, which can be taken apart and harder to identify than hidden in pockets, inside books, or under other items," he said. 

Following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last May, where 19 students and two teachers died, schools began taking policies requiring students to use clear backpacks. However, Flint Community Schools have gone a step further and banned clear backpacks from school buildings, with the superintendent saying that it doesn't resolve the issue. 

"By banning backpacks altogether and adding an increased security presence across the district, we can better control what is being brought into our buildings," Jones said. 

Students are allowed to store personal items like wallets, keys, hygiene products (卫生用品) and phones in small purses, bring lunchboxes or place their gym clothes in clear plastic bags, all of which will be subject to searches. 

If a student brings a backpack to school, parents or guardians must pick it up from the school, according to Jones. 

The Flint Board of Education, the district's administration and headmasters approved the policy change, Jones said, adding that the district received support from the Flint Police Department.