Japan's youth are losing interest in science and as a result, threatening the nation's industrial progress. According to Japan Science and Technology Agency, young Japanese are surrounded by high-tech devices(设备), but are not interested in how they work.

    Japanese businesses have succeeded partly because they've a great many engineers. A drop in interest could lead to a decline(减少) in their numbers and quality. "In the past, the young had a big interest in science and technology," said Hirano, director of the agency's policy department.

    There are two main reasons for the problem. The first is known as "black box syndrome" of modern technology.

    Electronic devices depend on tiny silicon chips（芯片）, which can only be made in big factories, whose workings can't be seen by the eyes. The devices, unlike machines of the past driven by gears and wheels, are simply boxes.

    Young Japanese, brought up on video games and at home with computers, enjoy using modern technology, but this is a passive interest and different from the interest in how things work. "You need an active interest to get interested in science. This is declining in the young," said Hirano.

    About two-thirds of Japanese in their 20s use PCs, twice the number of those in their 50s. But only 40% of those in their 20s say they are interested in news about science and technology, compared to 60% of the 50 to 60 year olds.

    "Another reason for it is that life in modern Japan is too comfortable," he said. "A wealthy society reduces people's desire to modernize and develop their country. To a degree, you can't avoid this when the fruits of science and technology are fully developed." Similarly, science in Europe and the US has also suffered a lack of interest.

We'd arrived at Rockefeller Center station on the D train. As in many of New York's underground stations, trains pull in at both sides of the platform. Or rather, they seem to erupt into the station first on one side, then on the other.

    Abruptly, my wife stopped.

“Uh, what's this?” she said.

    I looked over her shoulder. There at our feet lay a young woman of about 20. She was on her stomach with the top half of her body on the platform, while her legs hung over the tracks kicking powerlessly.

    She was stuck. She had also, clearly, been down on the tracks and discovered that climbing back up is really hard.

But unlike in our imaginings, this woman was not in panic, expecting her approaching death by the F train which would be screaming into the station in the next few minutes, if not seconds.

    She was laughing! So was her friend who half-heartedly leant down to assist. The assistance was somewhat weakened by the fact that the friend was holding her smartphone. Was she hoping to capture this moment with a picture? Or composing a text?

It's well known that people's compulsive checking of their phones can be deadly. Among young people in America, texting is now the number one cause of car crashes. Maybe it's also a leading cause of leaving friends to die when they fall in the river or on to the train tracks.

    I stepped forward, leant out as far as I could, got hold of her leg somewhere near the knee and, together with her finally-engaged friend, dragged the young woman on to the platform.

    And you can guess why she'd been on the tracks. Still laughing, but maybe chastened (内疚）by my look of horror she said, “Thanks. Sorry. My phone fell down there. ”

    While I turned to hold my daughter's hand and head upstairs, the young woman and her friend walked away. I wonder when she'll be scared.

    If you have a long holiday to spend, where can you go?

    Nikoi Island, Indonesia

    Less than 85 km-but somehow a whole world away-from Singapore's shining skyline lies Nikoi Island. Surrounded by white sandy shorelines and vivid coral reefs, Nikoi's centre is hidden in rainforest, resulting in amazing biodiversity seen in its native plants, animals and bird life. Marrying traditional Indonesian craftsmanship with contemporary design, Nikoi boasts just 15 stilted（建于支柱上的）beach houses, all with breathtaking sea views, guaranteeing privacy and total escape from the daily routine.

    Amanpulo, Philippines

    The only property on Pamalican Island, the luxurious Amanpulo resort offers extremely impressive accommodation, with only access to over five kilometres of clean coral sand beach. Designed to resemble local Bahay Kubo homes, Amanpulo's beachside, treetop and hillside villas all feature comfortable decks（木质平台）with hammocks（吊床）from which to enjoy the spectacular views of the greenish-blue sea below. Fill your schedule with Amanpulo's signature adventures (including diving, windsurfing and sailing), recharge in the award-winning spa or feast on locally caught seafood-the choice is yours.

    Song Saa, Cambodia

    Song Saa's incredible ocean views, and breathtaking sunsets are a very typical example of pure paradise. Its 24 villas—each with their own sea-view private plunge pool-are designed to reflect the natural beauty of Cambodia's coastline; built from recycled wood with straw roofs and driftwood furnishings, these presences are stylish proof of Song Saa's admirable commitment to sustainability and conservation. You can choose to do as much or as little as you want here. With rainforest tours, island safaris and reef snorkeling（徒手潜水）, it just offers some of the activities that show this spectacular destination.

    Gardening is a very popular hobby. And it is one that produces wonderful results – food for your dinner table and flowers for your home! Gardens themselves can be very beautiful. So you would think that a garden path is a great place to be. Well, in conversation, it is not. Leading someone up the garden path means you are trying to trick them. You are not trying to show them your beautiful flowers.

    Speaking of beautiful flowers, gardeners love to see small buds (芽) forming on their plants. Besides plants and flowers, people can bud, too. If a child is good at drawing and painting, we can call him a budding artist. So “budding” describes something that is beginning to develop.

    On the opposite end, you stop something from growing if you nip it in the bud. This is a common expression when we talk about stopping something bad and preventing it from continuing. It's good to nip small problems in the bud before they turn into big problems.

    Now flowers that bloom （开花）are beautiful to see – even garden-variety flowers. “Garden-variety” describes anything that is common and not so special. You can have a garden-variety cold—not a serious illness.

    Now, a problem that many gardeners have is weeds. Weeds grow easily and can quickly take over a garden. In conversation, we sometimes use “weeds” to mean too many details. So, if you are in the weeds, you are taken over by too many details.

    As we said, weeds grow quickly. So do children. So, we like to say a child grows like a weed. This expression compares a child's fast growth to that of a weed.

    When first entered, Vanak Restaurant does not look like much of a restaurant, but once the pleasant smells of kabob (烤肉串) hit the senses, you are incapable of calling it anything less.

    Owned by a local couple, this Persian restaurant has an inviting, homelike atmosphere that many restaurants lack.

    The space is small with only a few dining tables and nearly no decoration, but the environment is truly charming.

    Lying in a hardly noticeable street corner, the restaurant still attracts all customers, especially those experienced in the delights of Middle Eastern cooking.

    A common sight is that of old Persian men sitting in the corner talking loudly about world topics, watching news events on TV, drinking a black tea known as Persian chai, and reading local Persian newspapers all the while trying to finish off their plates piled with food.

    The variety of food at the restaurant is limited, but the amount of each dish is fairly large. Most of the meals can serve two people and are under $10, so not only is it affordable but practical as well.

    The food especially appeals to health-conscious eaters because each dish is very healthy, made with limited fat and oil and served straight off the grill (烤肉架).

    The main dish that the restaurant is popular for is its kabobs, which are different styles of grilled meat.

    One delicious and extremely healthy dish is the Joojeh Kabob, which is made of grilled chicken pieces served with either rice or bread. Another great kabob is the Chelo Kabob, a kabob consisting of grilled beef.

    Although the restaurant is small, the atmosphere and the food is delicious. It is a place that should not be overlooked.

Gemini Man

    Gemini Man is a big-budget Hollywood sci-fi-action movie based on an original concept, rather than on a superhero comic or an old TV series, even though this particular original concept is more 20 years old. In it a government assassin (杀手)is being hunted down by his own clone The original script was sold by Darren Lemke to a studio in 1997, and since then almost every male A-listener has been attached as a potential star. Now, at long last, Ang Lee has directed Gemini Man, and Will Smith plays both the veteran assassin and his much younger doppelganger (分身).

Jojo Rabbit

    During World War Two, a 10-year-old German boy (Roman Griffin David) is desperate to be a dutiful Nazi, only to discover that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding, a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their house. It may not sound like the stuff of a big-hearted comedy but Taika Waititi can make anything warm and funny. As well as writing and directing Jojo Rabbit, Waititi co-stars as the boy's imaginary friend,a nitwitted Adolf Hitler.

Doctor Sleep

    Mike Flanag's new film is adapted from Stephen King, novel, Doctor Sleep, which was a sequel (续集) to The Shining. You can expect to see blood flowing out of lifts in a rapid stream, ghostly twin girls and headache-including carpet patterns. Ewan McGregor stars as Danny Torrance, the boy with psychic powers m 1980 film. Now, he is a middle-aged hospital counsellor.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

    Here's another chance to see Angelina Jolie. In 2014 she starred in Maleficent, Disney's live-action remake of the Sleeping Beauty cartoon from 1959. The twist was that the eponymous wicked fairy wasn't so wicked, after all, and that the real villain was the father of Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning). The sequel's subtitle promises that Maleficent will actually be evil this time around, her change of heart prompted by Aurora's engagement to handsome prince (Harris Dickinson).