The Cambridge Science Festival Curiosity Challenge

Dare to Take the Curiosity Challenge!

  The Cambridge Science Festival(CSF) is pleased to inform(通知) you of the 6^th yearly Curiosity Challenge. The challenge invites, even dares(挑战) school students between the ages of 5 and 14 to create artwork or a piece of writing that shows their curiosity and how it inspires them to explore their world.

  Students are being challenged to draw a picture, write an article, take a photo or write a poem that shows what they are curious about. To enter the challenge, all artwork or pieces of writing should be sent to the Cambridge Science Festival, MIT Museum, 165 Mass Avenue. Cambridge 02139 by Friday, February 8^th.

  Students who enter the Curiosity Challenge and are selected as winners will be honored at a special ceremony during the CSF on Sunday, April 21^st. Guest speakers will also present prized to the students. Winning entries(参赛作品) will be published in a book. Student entries will be exhibited and prizes will be given. Families of those who take part will be invited to the celebration and brunch will be served.

  Between March 10^th and March 15^th, each winner will be given the specifics(详情) of the closing ceremony and the Curiosity Challenge celebration. The program guidelines and other related information are available at: http:// cambridgesciencefestival.org.

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Best of News Design

    The competition invites entries from all magazines and newspapers---daily or nondaily---published anywhere in the world.

How to Enter

    Best of News Design TM Creative Competition is held each year. The Call for Entries is published in print and online in November of the competition year.

    Printed copies of the Call for Entries are mailed in November to anyone who needs a copy. Or, get a PDF copy of the Call for Entries in English here.

    Later this month Society of News Design (SND) will post copies of the Call for Entries in French, German, and Russian as well.

    Each entry requires a small entry fee, paid in U.S. dollars.

Entry Deadlines

    Entries from publications in the United States must be received at Syracuse (N.Y.) University no later than Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2015.

    Entries from publications outside the United States must be received at Syracuse (N.Y.) University no later than Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2015.

    SND will inform winners by e-mail or U.S. mail beginning Saturday, March 1, 2015.Also, SND will list the names of winners on this website in early mid-March.

    Don’t forget to check out our web coverage of judging beginning Saturday, Feb. 8, 2015. Be the first to know what’s happening in Syracuse.

Winners

    Newspapers that win Award of Excellence, Silver Medal, Gold Medal, Judges’ Special Recognition or Best in Show honors receive recognition in several ways:

-Each winner receives a certificate(证书).

-A picture of the winning newspaper and the names of winners are published in the book “The Best of News Design TM”.

-One picture of the winning entry, along with the names of winners and other information, is published on www.snd.org.

-SND publishes a piece of news showing the results of each year’s competition.

Language requirements for all programmes, except Creative Writing

    All teaching for the programmes is in English. We require all applicants whose first language is not English to have one of the following test results:

   Academic IELTS details can be obtained from local British Council offices. The minimum requirement is an overall band score of 6.5 with no less than 6.5 in each of the four elements.

   Applicants with Cambridge CAE require grade A or B. Those with Cambridge CPE require grade C or above. For the new Cambridge English Scale, a minimum of 193 points is required in either CAE or CPE.

   Applicant's Academic IELTS and Cambridge CAE/CPE test results will be directly accessed by our office. In order for us to do this, applicants should supply the following information on their application form:

Academic IELTS:

Test Report Form (TRF) number Cambridge CAE/CPE：

Candidate ID number (this is 3 letters and 6 numbers) and secret number (4 numbers)

   These results should have been achieved in the same sitting, and no more than 2 years before the date of application.

   Language requirements for Creative Writing

   The minimum requirement is an overall Academic IELTS band score of 7.0, with no less than 7.0 in each of the four elements. Applicants with Cambridge CAE require grade A. Those with Cambridge CPE require grade A, B or C. For the new Cambridge English Scale, a minimum of 200 points is required in cither CAE or CPE. These results should have been achieved in the same sitting, and no more than 2 years before the date of application.

   In addition to meeting the above language requirements for Creative Writing, all applicants are required to submit a 300-400 word written piece, explaining their reasons for applying.

   All programmes: notice concerning TOEFL test scores

   Please note： Due to UK Government restrictions, we are no longer able to accept TOEFL test scores.

Answering the Community Needs of Our City

The Silver City Council recognizes that citizens have certain needs. To better meet your needs, we have made several changes to community facilities in 2014. The followings show how we have tried to make your life better.

Transport

☆Three stations for the suburbs have been added to the western train service.

☆20 new buses for the southern line were purchased in January.

☆50 per cent of city bus-stops have been upgraded.

Communication

☆Broadband cable is now available to all parts of the city.

☆All of the new Government buildings are smart-wired for better computer service!

Medical Facilities

☆The new state-of-the-art Nightingale Hospital was opened in June.

☆To overcome a shortage of trained medical staff at Dover Hospital, 10 doctors have been employed from overseas.

☆Some facilities at Station Street Hospital have been upgraded.

Education

☆Textbooks will be free to all primary students in 2014 !

☆Rental for private schools has been reduced.

Protection and Security

☆Extra police now patrol (巡逻 ) the tourist areas.

☆50 new police officers graduated in July and have taken up duties in the city area.

Entertainment / Recreation

☆The new Central Community Building opened in May.

☆5,000 new fiction books were bought for the Silver City Library.

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     Kara L. Miller writes a Washington Post advicecolumn (专栏) on finding your way around the modern workplace. Each week she will answer one or two questions from readers.

      Question:I’m Sam. I work part-time, paid hourly. There are only two employees: me and my boss. I receive no paid holidays or sick time, no health insurance, and one week’s paid vacation. For me, this job is just a job, and the salary I earn doesn’t guarantee a 24/7 on-call mentality.

     From almost the beginning, my boss has freely called me at home, called my personal cellphone, and emailed my personal account during my off-hours and vacation.

      Five years later, it’s still happening despite my having politely asked her several times not to contact me during my non-working hours.

     Each time I ask, she apologizes and stops for a while, but always goes back to the behavior. I never take her phone calls on my cell, but she hasn’t got my point.

     The point is, it is never anything that can’t wait until the next business day! I am ready to lose it!

      Answer:If it won’t cost you your job, call block and email filter (过滤器) are one easy path to inner peace.

     It puzzles me that your boss seems to agree she’s out of bounds, but then continues to contact you.

      Either she occasionally gets enough response from you to make it worth trying, or she can’t help firing off questions on impulse (一时冲动).

      You could ask her, once and for all, whether she’s OK with waiting for responses—in which case her after-hours calls and emails will be answered the next business day—or whether she wants instant answers—in which case, you will be tracking the time you spend responding so you can be paid for it.

Daphne, 

You’re very busy these days. I called you several times, but no one answered. Are you still working in your office at 10 o’clock every night?

Next Sunday is Dad’s birthday. I want to give him a fantastic present, but fantastic things are usually expensive for a poor student like me. I’ll be very happy if you can help me. I think Dad will be glad to get a radio as a birthday present, and the kind of radio I’d like to give him is the most popular one，Mini 3388. It is very small, convenient and will be very useful for Dad. What do you think?

I know you don’t have time to find a good present for Dad. So I’ll go to buy the radio，and you just pay the bill next weekend when you come back home. 

Steven

Chinese New Year for Kids

‘Chinese New Year for Kids’ is a full color paperback book with beautiful Chinese illustrations (插图). This is a hands-on workbook for parents and teachers, written for children from ages 3 to 12 years old, for use in the classroom or at home. Music, physical movement, art, and food all add to the atmosphere of taking an imaginary trip to China during the Chinese New Year.

  The Polar Express

One couldn’t select a more delightful and exciting premise (前提) for a children’s book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. And one couldn’t ask for a more talented artist and writer to tell the story than Chris Van Allsburg.

  The Secret of Saying Thanks

Perhaps you’d like to know a secret, one of the happiest ones of all. You’ll discover it all on your own, maybe when you least expect. If you’ve not yet discovered the secret of saying thanks, it’s waiting for you. The secret can be found in the sunrise that offers promises for the day ahead, or in the gentle shade of a tree sheltering you from the hot rays of the sun.

  The Runaway Pumpkin

When Buck, Billy and their little sister Lily spy the biggest pumpkin they’ve ever seen, they can’t resist (抵制). Buck and Billy try to roll the pumpkin down the hill to show everyone, but it’s too big! Before they know it, it’s rolling out of control down the hillside. It knocks over Grandpa Baxter and makes him think of pumpkin soup. And when Poppa Baxter finally stops, all he can think of is pumpkin bread.

   When you're on the go, your best friend and resource can be your phone. In the age of smart phones, apps are like guiding stars: They can point you in the right direction for a hotel, list expenses, send postcards, and much more. When used together, these apps can be the basic travel tool, placing a wealth of information at your fingertips no matter where you are on the planet. U.S. News Travel has picked the essential travel apps, known for their utility and reliability. Best of all, they cost absolutely nothing.

Trip It

Your Personal Travel Agent

   Be your own travel agent and plan every detail of your trip—from car rental to accommodating restaurants—with Trip It. You can make travel schedule by hand, or simply forward the email confirmations of your flight, rental car, train tickets, and hotels to plans.

Weather Free

Your Go-To Meteorologist(气象学者)

  Stop trying to explain the weather forecast on the evening news (particularly when it's in a foreign language). The Weather Free app informs you (in English) of the climate in various locations. It features the local weather, and other key factors that will inform your decision about what to wear before stepping outside.

Goby

Your Event Guru

  When you're in a foreign city, you sometimes look around and ask: Where are all the people? Goby has the answer. This app pinpoints the neighborhood hot spots (including museums, hotels, eateries, and more) in your neighborhood. But its true value comes in finding nearby events. You'll discover concerts, plays, and more right around the corner.