2 . Six-year-old Amar Lal was never concerned with what year, month, week or day it was. His routine was the same. Every morning the family would pack their belongings and move from quarry (采石场) to quarry, where they began a day’s work. As the colours of the sky changed from blue to orange to black, the family would break stones.

Needless to say, school was a distant dream as was permanent housing. But one day in 2001, Lal’s destiny changed when Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi paid a visit to the quarry.

Recalling the fateful day in 2001 when Satyarthi was conducting a gathering in his village — an education march part of the “Save Childhood Movement” — Lal says Satyarthi spotted him carrying heavy stones. A short conversation later, Satyarthi had convinced Lal’s parents that their child was meant for greater things.

“I vividly recall Satyarthi asking my parents whether I went to school. But not my parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents had ever been to school. They looked at him with a puzzled look because a nomadic (游牧的) lifestyle was the only one we knew. Work was all we were taught to do,” the 27-year-old lawyer Lal shares.

His parents were interested by this “angel” who assured them that a better world lay outside this quarry — a world where their children could play, laugh and learn. They decided to trust Satyarthi. And several days later, Lal went to Satyarthi’s centre for children. Thus began Lal’s second chapter of life.

“My education at Satyarthi’s centre taught me that child labour is a serious problem and children around India are subjected to cruelty under the banner of ‘work’. I was really grateful that I was given a chance at a new life which thousands of children dreamed of. I wanted to give other children the same.”

Since Lal graduated as a lawyer in 2018, he has been working with Satyarthi on cases and practical assistance, and in turn, giving hope to many more children.

3 . FREE ONLINE FIRST AID COURSE

Welcome to our online first aid course. Anyone can take this training online and learn more about lifesaving first aid. We provide this first aid training for no charge.

Simply work your way through our online first aid modules (模块) below. You must be logged in (登录) to access the course material. If you don’t have an account, then please register. Basic online first aid course

Below are the modules for our online first aid course. You do not have to take them in a specific order. However, if you are totally new to first aid, it may help to start at the beginning.

At the end of each module there is a first aid test where you can test your knowledge. Once you’ve completed all the modules, you can download a free first aid certificate (证书).

Please remember to mark all the modules as completed otherwise you will not be able to download your basic first aid certificate. Modules marked as completed will have a green tick next to them above.

Completed the above course? Why not check out our new free online advanced first aid course? This course will build upon the training and content in the basic first aid course above and will help further your knowledge on topics such as:

* Medical conditions

* Minor injuries

* Patient assessment

* Clinical observations

* The roles and responsibilities of a first aider

As always, you will receive a free first aid certificate once you complete the advanced course.

4 . Not unlike the wings of airplanes, the blades (叶片) of wind turbines (涡轮机) need to be kept ice-free in order to function properly. Scientists have now developed an inexpensive method of using drones (无人机) to apply an eco-friendly anti-icing coating (涂层) to those blades.

If too much ice builds up on wind turbine blades, they will turn more slowly, producing less energy. What’s more, if an equal amount of ice isn’t present on all three blades, the turbine’s balance may be thrown off, leading to increased wear and possibly even disastrous failure.

There are anti-icing heating systems that can be built into the blades, but these may be beyond the financial means of many wind farm (风电场) operators. The same can be said for using helicopters to apply ice-prevention chemicals.

Seeking a more economical but still effective alternative, scientists from two branches of Germany’s Fraunhofer research group recently started looking to drones. The research project is known as “TURBO: Temporary coating by means of drones — Icing protection of wind turbines as a case study”.

In the current version of the resulting system, a hexacopter drone is equipped with a small pump that delivers anti-icing liquid. The liquid is sprayed (喷洒) at high pressure — which is just 0. 3 mm wide — producing tiny droplets with a diameter of 100 micrometers.

Using this setup, the drone has successfully been used to apply coatings of the droplets onto the edges of wind turbine blades, even at wind speeds of up to 35 km/h (22 mph). Once solidified (固化/凝固), those coatings prevent ice formation for several weeks before a fresh coating is applied.

The scientists are now seeking industry partners to help commercialize (商业化) the TURBO technology. It could also find use in the maintenance (维护) of power lines, the upper levels of tall buildings, or other things that are difficult to reach by conventional means.

5 . Dad often says that hope is everywhere. In his fifties, he lost his job. But he managed to get the chance of a newspaper delivery. It became a family _________. Dad drove around delivering the papers most weekday mornings. We all helped.

Delivering papers is one of the most _________ jobs you can imagine. I was young, but I always worked. When I was   _______ enough to drive, Dad bought a car that I was _________ to drive to high school. My brothers and sister were all _________ and living away by this time. So I became the No.2 _________ on Sunday mornings. Not only would I _________ the papers, but I would jump into the car and drive a section of the _________. Mike was a hired worker, a year younger than me. We worked with _________ and my parents really trusted us.

The paper delivery, though very hard work, gave me many things. First, it __________ me with my father in a way that I __________ needed. He trusted my driving __________, and gave me directions on how to drive down icy steep streets in winter. I felt I was a __________ member of my family. Besides, I learned to love the early morning sounds of the city, the awesome quiet of __________ neighborhoods, and the relationship that only two teenagers working together could ever __________.