【推荐1】Parents are usually at a loss when it comes to graduation gifts for their teens. Here is a great graduation gift list.

IKEA blue bags

IKEA blue bags are truly the most amazing bags we have ever used for packing and moving. College freshmen will have a lot of necessities to bring to the college and giving them one of these lightweight and durable (耐用的)bags will be a huge help. They can be put on a narrow shelf when folded. It takes only a shake to get them back into shape.

Mini Plus

College students sometimes stay up late at night and wake up early for class next day. They'll appreciate their own single sending coffee maker. Less than 13 cm wide, Keurig's Mini Plus coffee maker makes any place perfect for great coffee. It's also excellent for its low-energy cost, quick boil and easy cleanup.

Napkin Finance

Basics of finance will serve teens well in college and for life. Get your teens on the track of economic independence with the newly-released bestseller, Napkin Finance. It covers all financial knowledge necessary for freshmen. They can pick up complex financial ideas in an entertaining way.

Graduation trips

Graduation gifts don't necessarily mean something that are nicely packaged. Teens need some experiences to share with their new classmates. Many parents mentioned the lasting joy of a post-graduation trip if it fits into the family's finances.

【推荐2】Would you like to come to the Royal Opera House to experience incredible opera productions for only £ 7.50? Students’ applications for 2024/25 are now open!

La bohème                                   13 May 2024 12: 30 pm                              Applications open

OPERA (Italian with English surtitles)

Paris, 1900. Penniless writer Rodolfo believes that art is all he needs-until he meets Mimi, the lonely seamstress who lives upstairs. So begins a timeless love story that blooms, fades, and rekindles with the passing seasons. [Content Warning: this production contains loud noises and flashing lights]

Hansel and Gretel                           9 January 2025 11: 30 am                         Applications open

OPERA (English with surtitles)

This famous fairy tale of two children who get lost in the forest and are lured into the home of an evil witch makes for a magical experience for you. Will Hansel and Gretel escape the witch’s gingerbread house and manage to return home? This performance includes a special Everybody Sing at the end of the production with the cast and orchestra!

Carmen                              11 June 2025 11: 30 am                                 Applications open

OPERA (French with English surtitles)

Carmen is a rebel with a passionate cause-she wants to live and love in her own way. Though Carmen warns Don José not to love her, he gives up his job, reputation, and girlfriend for her with disastrous consequences. [Content Warning: this production contains themes of moderate violence]

【推荐1】Uber has introduced a motorcycle taxi service in the over-crowded streets of Bangkok.

The move is an effort to respond to what competitor Grab is doing, and Grab already offers a motorcycle option in the Thai capital, called GrabBike.

It isn't Uber's first go at motorcycles. In 2012, the company launched a moto-taxi option in Paris for a few weeks as a short-term experiment. It hasn't tried another motorcycle feature until the Bangkok one, which it has designed for cities in developing countries like Thailand.

Motorbike rides can now be requested like any other Uber taxi on the app in three central Bangkok neighborhoods, and the driver will even show up with a helmet for the passenger.

"Motorcycles are part of the commuting(通勤)culture in Thailand," Douglas Ma said in a Statement, "The new service would create tens of thousands of flexible work opportunities for Thais."

Fares start at 10 baht(28 US cents), and cost an additional 3. 50 baht for each kilometer and 0. 85 baht per minute for every ride—cheaper than the car service.

Bangkok residents reported varying degrees of success at finding available motorcycle taxis in the city after the feature launched Wednesday(February 24, 2016), ranging from a few minutes away to none at all. Uber declined to comment on how many motorcycles are available through the app.

The startup said it has plans to roll out the motorcycle service in other cities in the near future, but it wouldn't clearly state which ones. The taxi -hailing app is in over a dozen Southeast Asian locations, including Bali, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore.

【推荐2】Researchers from The University of Queensland(UQ)have helped design a new app to protect birds at risk of extinction across the world by eliminating language barriers among scientists. The Bird Language Diversity web app will help provide a “birds eye view”, ensuring vital information is shared to improve worldwide conservation.

UQ’s Dr Pablo Negret said the research team analysed more than 10,000 bird species, and found that 1,587 species have 10 languages or more spoken within their distributions. “Scientific information on species can be spread across different languages, but valuable information can go missing or get lost in translation,” Dr Negret said. “Without enough sharing of information, this can affect the effectiveness of conservation measures.”

Take the common bird Pochard for example. It is classified as vulnerable species(易危种)and crosses 108 countries in Europe, Asia and north Africa, where a total of 75 official languages are spoken. The survival of the common Pochard, and so many other species, depends on effective cooperation and policy agreements among people with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

This app reveals where threatened and migratory birds exist geographically, in relation to the language spoken in those regions. ”We hope the app will encourage researchers and conservation organisations to interact with their peers in other regions, especially if they speak different languages, and be a starting point to allow everyone to work together to protect threatened species,” Dr Negret said.

Dr Tatsuya Amano, a researcher and the co-author of the paper, said this work could extend further than bird species. “Any species, whether they’re mammals, amphibians(两栖动物), or plants, with a range crossing multiple countries will be impacted by language barriers, as well as species that migrate across different countries, such as marine species and butterflies,” he said. ”The significance of the impact of poor communication on such an important issue is evident, and is the reason why we’re working hard to improve science communication across languages.”

【推荐2】A macular hole, a hole at the most crucial part of the retina brought Bonny Huang who is from Hong Kong to the Singapore National Eye Centre for treatment. The retina is the light sensing nerve tissue at the back of the eye. In no time the potentially blinding condition was treated and his vision is now restored.

"In April 2008, I noticed straight lines started to become distorted, and white patch appeared in the centre of my vision. I went to the Singapore National Eye Centre immediately. The ophthalmologist, a medical doctor who specializes in eye care and surgery, found a central macular hole in my left eye."

The treatment of this condition involves delicate judgment dependent on the experience of the doctor. The success of the recovery, however, relies largely on the face- down posture by the patient.

"The Ophthalmologist explained to me the operational procedures, and taught me how to comply with the post- surgery face- down posture. The best part is that when I forgot some of the key points he told me, he showed no sign of resentment but instead comforted me not to worry before he went through the points again. I underwent an operation which lasted for only one hour, and maintained a face- down posture for three weeks. The result was very successful."

"I once consulted my Ophthalmologist during his lunch time, and he attended to me without finishing his lunch. His understanding and concern shown towards his patients can be scarcely found in other medical centres. I am very pleased to have received timely treatment in Singapore National Eye Centre where the doctors care about their patients."