You've just come home, after living abroad for a few years. Since you've been away, has this country changed for the better—or for the worse?

    If you've just arrived back in the UK after a fortnight's holiday, small changes have probably surprised you—anything from a local greengrocer suddenly being replaced by a mobile-phone shop to someone in your street moving house.

    So how have things changed to people coming back to Britain after seven, ten or even 15 years living abroad? What changes in society can they see that the rest of us have hardly noticed—or now take for granted? To find out, we asked some people who recently returned.

    Debi: When we left, Cheltenham, my home town, was a town of white, middle-class families—all very conservative (保守的). The town is now home to many eastern Europeans and lots of Australians, who come here mainly to work in hotels and tourism. There are even several shops only for foreigners.

    Having been an immigrant (移民) myself, I admire people who go overseas to find a job. Maybe if I lived in an inner city where unemployment was high, I'd think differently, but I believe foreign settlers have improved this country because they're more open-minded and often work harder than the natives.

    Christine: As we flew home over Britain, both of us remarked how green everything looked. But the differences between the place we'd left behind and the one we returned to were brought sharply into focus as soon as we landed.

    To see policemen with guns in the airport for the first time was frightening—in Cyprus, they're very relaxed—and I got pulled over by customs officers just for taking a woolen sweater with some metal-made buttons out of my case in the arrivals hall. Everyone seemed to be on guard. Even the airport car-hire firm wanted a credit card rather than cash because they said their vehicles had been used by bank robbers.

    But anyway, this is still a green, beautiful country. I just wish more people would appreciate what they've got.

    Thousands of taxi drivers in Shenyang, Liaoning province, reportedly blocked streets with their vehicles on Sunday in protest against unlicensed vehicles using taxi-hiring apps and apps-based car rental companies providing passenger services, including high-end cars. Although the drivers also complained about the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy (补贴)by the government, their main complaint was the loss of business because of the rising number of Internet-based car services companies.

    On Wednesday, news reports came that Beijing transport authorities will take measures to stop the illegal “taxi business” of private cars through the newly rising Internet apps, following the footsteps of Shenyang and Nanjing.

    It is not yet clear how the Shenyang city government will handle the issue and whether it will declare the services offered by market leaders such as Didi Dache, a taxi-hiring app provider backed by Tencent Holdings, and Kuaidi Dache illegal. But Shanghai transport regulators (交通管理结构)have set a rule, by banning Didi Zhuanche, or car services offered by Didi Dache in December.

    Such regulations will cause a setback to the car-hiring companies and investors that are waiting to cash in on the potentially booming business. Just last month, Didi Dache got $700 million in funding from global investors, including Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings, Russian investment company DST Global and Tencent. Besides, the market is uncertain that Kuaidi Dache is about to finalize its latest round of funding after getting $800 million from global investors.

    Regulatory uncertainties, however, could cast a shadow on the future of the Internet-based car-hiring services, which have become popular in most of China's big cities. To be fair, these companies' business model is anything but bad. For example, Didi Zhuanche works side by side with established car rental companies to provide high-end car service mainly for businesspeople through the Internet and mobile phone apps.

    Every link in this business model chain has legal companies and services. Hence, it is hard to define it as illegal and ban it.

    Harvard University in the United States has been ranked as the university with the best “reputation” in the world.

    The Times Higher Education magazine has listed 200 top universities all over the world based on how they are regarded by a group of international college teachers. That is to say, the list measures how universities are regarded, rather than how they actually performed.

    “A subjective, word-of-mouth (口碑的) quality such as “reputation” has genuine economic value for universities,” said Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

    “Reputation is not just an impression, though it might not be as reliable as performance by objective indicators (客观指标),” said Prof Marginson.

    Based on the views of 13,000 college teachers around the world, it confirms the power of the big US universities, which dominate this list. Seven of the top 10 are US universities, headed by Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Furthermore, 14 of the top 20 are from the US. Cambridge is the highest ranking UK university in the list, in third place, with Oxford ranked as sixth.

    “For students applying to university, reputation might be hard to quantify, but was an important part of the attractiveness,” said the president of Cambridge University's students' union, Rahul Mansigani.

    “Reputation makes a huge difference. If there is an idea that somewhere is great, it will get lots of good people applying whether it's true or not. Factors such as a sense of history and the presence of outstanding college teachers were part of the reputation of Cambridge,” he said.

    With spring officially here, we can look forward to fresh flowers and cherry blossoms. While you could stay home and admire the change in season, why not celebrate the end of winter with a fun spring time holiday？We've found a handful of terrific packages at home and abroad, good for departures through mid-May.

       London's Chelsea Flower Show for $849

    Every May, London hosts the world famous Chelsea Flower Show, showcasing astonishing gardens, and lively horticultural(园艺) displays that set the latest in garden design trends. This year, Virgin Vacations offers a six night air-land packages priced at a sweet $849.Good for departures May 21—23, this deal covers the following costs: accommodations; airfare from New York; daily continental breakfast; and one full day entrance to the Flower Show (May 24, 25 or 26).

    Cherry Blossoms in Washington D. C. from $319/nt.

    You don't need to travel far for an impressive flower show！From March 31 through April 15 Washington D. C.is hosting its yearly Cherry Blossoms Festival, marking the 95th celebration of the original gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of D. C.. Several hotels are honoring the occasion with special deals：for example, Hay-­Adams offers a Cherry Blossom Package from $319/night with lodging (two-night minimum stay), free parking, and a special amenity.

    Spring Flowers of Amsterdam for $739

    Want to catch the spring flowers blooming in the lowlands of Holland？Amsterdam is a treat to visit at this time of year, as its numerous gardens explode with color. You can go Dutch and save some serious dollars to boot！At just $739 for a four night stay with airfare, at this spring escape is priced to go！Good for travel between April 1 and May 17, the deal includes air from New York; accommodation at a budget hotel; daily breakfast; and a local map and guide.

    Tokyo Spring Fun for $949

    To spot the cherry blossoms right at the source, we recommend a spring venture to Tokyo. Now you can visit on the cheap with the Asian Affair Holidays special we found：a Tokyo spring special starts at just $949！This deal covers airport transfers; five nights' lodging at Tokyo Hilton International; and a half day city tour. This particular price is valid for departures between April 1 and April 30, perfectly timed for the best of cherry­ blossom season.

    Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia (痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones (荷尔蒙) , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

    Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no offsprings, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer's (早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.

“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.

    “It's rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”

    Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer's and other forms of age-related brain decline.

    “When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.

    “They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations to the brain.”

    A few days ago I was sitting in a Thai restaurant enjoying a meal when I got a phone call from a friend I hadn't spoken to for a long time. Full of enthusiasm and excitement I talked slightly louder than usual and in Spanish, my mother tongue.

    A few minutes into the call the lady sitting beside me got up, seemingly upset, and asked the restaurant staff to relocate her to a table as far away as possible from "this man who won't get off his phone"

    I sank in my seat out of embarrassment. I ended the call soon afterwards and felt the urge to go over and apologize. Before getting up I looked around to see where she was and I found she was, indeed, at the table furthest away from me. I noticed that the lady was alone and staring out of the window, looking a bit sad.

    Right then I quit my plan for a conventional apologetic gesture and decided to conduct an experiment. Seeing those funny smile cards in my wallet, I took one out. When signing my check I asked the waiter to secretly charge the lady's meal to my credit card instead of her bill.

    I left the restaurant, letting the waiter know I would be back in a few hours to pick up my credit card. I returned later as promised, excited to learn the result.

    To my pleasant surprise, things turned out the best possible way. A group of restaurant staff approached me with joy, telling me that the lady had dined there many times, but they had never seen her smile and laugh like she did upon receiving the smile card and the $0 check.