1 . Cheney School is a popular, high performing school located in the heart of Oxford serving a diverse community of students who are eager to learn. The school is looking to add to its bank of exam invigilators (监考人), who will be employed on a casual basis to watch over students taking both mock(模拟) and actual GCSE / GCE exams, as necessary throughout the school year.

Full training will be provided and staff will be contacted before the exam period to discuss the invigilation schedule in relation to their own availability.

We are looking for people who

*have a command of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint

*have effective written communication skills

* are reliable and punctual

*are able to solve problems and keep calm under pressure

*enjoy working as part of a team

We can offer you

*€10.19 per hour

*reduced tuition fees for your kids

*a housing allowance

*shuttle service

If you would like to find out more, please contact Ms Marie-Anne Fischer at mf@cheney.oxon.sch.uk, or by telephone on 01865 5755270.

How to apply: Please download an application form from the school’s vacancy website: http://www.cheney.oxon.sch.uk/lnvigilators.

2 . There are three things you can watch forever: Instagram feeds, YouTube videos and water. Among them, water is definitely something no one argues about, and there are many unusual water attractions that you can find around the world.

Bangkok Floating Markets

There are many floating markets where goods are sold from boats. While modern markets are more popular, floating markets still are a huge attraction for local tourism. Any visitors can purchase local foods and traditional handcrafted (手工的) souvenirs. Bargaining is a part of experience. So, start low and get the price you are ready to pay.

Bregenzer Festspiele

The Bregenz Festival is held every year from July to August in Vorarlberg. It has the world’s largest stage on the water. The performances are different every year but they are usually united by one theme. The decorations are very impressive and are worth seeing.

Marina Bay Stadium

This stadium was built as a temporary solution while Singapore National Stadium was rebuilt. The stadium was used for the opening and closing ceremonies during 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. It was a floating platform where the Formula One Grand Prix event was successfully held.

Archipelago Cinema

Archipelago Cinema is probably one of the world’s most scenic open-air cinemas that floats in the middle of a lake. The cinema was designed by German architect Ole Scheeren, who built it using techniques popular among local people. This cinema stage was built specially for the film festival Film on the Rocks Yao Noi.

4 . Technology is likely to play a big part in reaching its climate goals in the future.

Fusion is the process that fires the sun. But some experts say it could someday power our homes. Fusion happens when the nuclei (核) of two atoms are subjected to extreme heat. This leads to the formation of a new larger atom and large amounts of energy. One problem is the process itself requires a large amount of energy. Developers of the technology haven’t yet performed a fusion reaction that releases more energy than it requires. In addition, running an electric power plant of fusion would require the resulting heat to be contained in an economical way.

Advanced nuclear plants would be smaller than today’s massive nuclear reactors. Experts say they could be used in rural areas and could take over for wind and solar power when the sun goes down or the wind dies. But advanced nuclear reactors are difficult and costly to build. Critics say they would also create more waste. And they would run on uranium (铀), which could make some advanced reactors more appealing to militants (激进分子) seeking materials to make weapons.

Currently, there are 15 direct air capture plants operating worldwide, getting CO directly from the air and puts the gas underground. The costs are currently high. But supporters say those costs will fall as the technology improves. They also say tax breaks for businesses could help the technology. But critics say offering large credits could actually lead to more plants continuing to burn fossil fuels.

Hydrogen (氢) can be mixed with natural gas to make a cleaner-burning fuel. This could power a fuel cell vehicle. Such a vehicle would release environmentally friendly water vapors.

So-called clean hydrogen can be produced using energy methods such as wind and solar. But those methods are more costly than “grey hydrogen”, which is made with fossil fuels. Geothermal power plants capture heat up to 370 degrees Celsius far below the earth’s surface. The heat creates steam that can turn turbines (涡轮机) to produce electricity. But the technology would need to greatly expand to become a major alternative to fossil fuels.

9 . Artificial intelligence is one of the most concentrated industries in the world, which influences education, criminal justice, hiring and welfare, But so far the industry has escapedregulation (管理), despite affecting the lives of billions of people, even when its products are potentially harmful.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sped this up. Many Al companies are now promoting emotion recognition tools (ERTs) for monitoring remote workers. These systems map the “micro-expressions”in people’s faces from their video cameras. Then they predict internal emotional states drawn from a list of supposedly universal categories: happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise and fear. However, there is scientific doubt whether emotional states are accurately detected at all. “It is not possible to confidently infer happiness from a smile, or sadness from a frown,” a 2019 review stated.

Resistance to this highly controversial (有争议的) technology is growing; the influential.

Brookings Institute suggested ERTs be banned completely from use by law. The European Union becomes the first to attempt a proposal to regulate AI, but the draft AI act has its problems. It would ban most “real-time” biometric ID (生物识别) systems — but fails to define what exactly real-time means.

Clearly, we need far stronger protections and controls that address such harmful effects on society. However, too many policymakers fall into the trap of “enchanted determinism”: the belief that AI systems are magical and superhuman — beyond what we can understand or regulate, yet decisive and reliable enough to make predictions about life-changing decisions. This effect drives a kind of techno-optimism that can directly endanger people’s lives. For example, a review in the British Medical Journal looked at 232 machine-learning algorithms (算法) for predicting outcomes for COVID-19 patients. It found that none of them were fit for clinical use. “I fear that they may have harmed patients,” said one of the authors.

Many countries have strict regulations and thorough testing when developing medicines and vaccines. The same should be true for AI systems, especially those having a direct impact on people’s lives.

10 . In a weightless, microgravity environment like space, how can someone with sight or mobility problems navigate in the space station? As scientists continue to push the boundaries of spaceflight and the possibility of human life on other planets, how can we build space infrastructure (基础设施) friendly to all humans？

The Mission AstroAccess project aims to answer these questions, starting with a historic parabolic (抛物线的) flight that took off from Long Bench on Oct. 17, 2021. A group of 12 disabled scientists, students, athletes and artists launched into a zero-gravity environment as a first step. To get a better idea of what is needed for more inclusive (包容的) space travel, AstroAccess plans to conduct a series of follow-on parabolic flights after the first launch. On these flights, a plane flies up to an altitude of around 32, 000 feet and then begins a descent at about 4 miles per second. This quick descent creates a microgravity, weightless effect lasting roughly 30 seconds. Afterwards, the plane climbs back up to a stable altitude, and repeats the process again.

The 12 AstroAccess Ambassadors selected for this first microgravity flight included four blind or low-vision Ambassadors; two deaf or hard-of-hearing Ambassadors；and six with mobility disabilities, all carrying out various tasks in the weightless environment. One of the challenges was seeing whether all members could perform basic safety and operational tasks. The crew also tested whether sound beacons (声信标) could be used for blind members to direst themselves, They are also investigating how American Sign Language will be impacted by microgravity.

“My whole career goal is to make the average person able to go to cuter space, where you don’t have to be a crazy trained astronaut with perfect physical abilities and health to visit cuter space,” said Brenda Williamson, head of the AstroAccess logistics committee. “I grew up on Star Trek, so the idea of exploration is really important.”