【推荐1】Why are some people successful and others aren't? What's the secret of success?    1    

Many of Gladwell's ideas appear in his social psychology bestsellr Outliers.    2    Gladwell thinks that this is just an excuse for not trying...and if you really want to be good at something. you have to work at it.“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you re good." Gladwell writes.“It's the thing you do that makes you good."

Central to the book is the“10.000-hour rule". It means that if you want to be among the best in the world, you need to practise something for 10.000 hours.    3    For example, the Beatles played live in Hamburg more than 1.200 times between 1960 and 1964. which is more than 10,000 hours of playing time. And when Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was 13, he was given access to a high school computer (one of the few available in the country) allowing him to practise computer programming for more than (Yes, you guessed it) 10, 000 hours.

The interesting thing is that success has nothing to do with intelligence.    4    He's got an IQ of between 195 and 210 (Albert Einstein's IQ was estimated to have been between 160 and 180). As a boy at school, Langan was able to take an exam in a foreign language he d never studied and pass it after just skim-reading a text book for three minutes. However, Langan never graduated from university and worked in labour-intensive jobs his whole life. This proves that intelligence alone will not lead to success- you need hard work, support, finance and opportunities. Gladwell adds,“No one一not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses一ever makes it alone."

    5    Even after you've put in your 10.000 hours of practice, you still need one other key ingredient - - luck. So, you could be the most amazing guitarist in the world. but unless you re lucky enough to play in front of a record company executive who sees a way of exploiting that talent, you aren't going to be seeing your name in lights.

【推荐2】It’s never too late to earn your college degree. Just ask 94-year-old Hazel Soares.

The woman was one of about 500 students to pick up diplomas (学位证书) at Mills College. “It’s taken me quite a long time because I’ve had a busy life,” said Soares. “I’m finally achieving it, and it makes me feel really good.”

Soares, who has six children and 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, is believed to be the world’s second oldest person to graduate from college. Born in Richmond, Calif. in 1915, Soares said she had wanted to attend college right after she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1932, but that was during the Great Depression. “Unless you had some help, it would have been impossible to go to college,” Soares said. “However I never lost the desire to go.”

Soares married twice, raised six children and worked as a nurse before she retired. After retiring, she decided to return to try to achieve her dream of earning a college education.

She spent six years taking courses before earning her associate’s degree when she was 85. Then she enrolled at Mills College in 2007.

“We are really amazed and very proud of my mom,” said Regina Hungerford, Soares’ youngest child. “The biggest thing that we can all learn is that we’re never too old to do something.” Soares doesn’t plan to relax now that she finally has her degree. The art history major hopes to work as a guide at a museum.

Soares said she doesn’t know the source of her longevity (长寿). No one in her family has lived as long as she has — but she believes it has something to do with eating lots of fresh vegetables.

She hopes others realize that it’s never too late to get a college education. “There’s no reason why you could not go back,” Soares said. “Some people say it’s too late or that there is   much work. They may not realize that once you try it, it’s exciting to go to school.”

【推荐3】When he looked at me, it was clear my father wasn’t sure who I was. And as I looked back at him, I wasn’t sure who he was, either.

My father had just gone through two heart surgeries and 6 days in intensive care. He’d returned to the hospital where he’d worked for 40 years. It was the hospital where all his children had been born. The doctors said that he may have a long period of confusion after the surgeries. And because he’s eighty-six, it may be many months before he returns to normal. It’s also possible he may never be “normal” again.

I sat there in this hospital room, spoon-feeding the man I’ve seen as powerful and capable all my life. It felt like the full circle of life had come around us. It felt good to support him, yet part of me wanted to tell him to “be normal” again. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to accept the full meaning of it: that my father may never be that powerful and capable person again.

Pain and suffering have visited my family, as it will visit all families. And while we hesitate to face pain and suffering, it has great lessons to teach us. Pain and suffering are well outside of the boundaries of our everyday life. When it comes, it breaks these boundaries and turns our world upside down. We become a family with all of the others who have known pain and suffering. And we have another chance to consider what’s truly important in our lives. This crisis will pass, and we’ll all be changed by it. The healing hands of time will do their work. I’m thankful that I’ve told my father everything I’ve wanted to say to him. And I’m thankful to have my family to lean on during this difficult time. We’ll all be challenged by this to show more support, care, and Jove.

This is as it should be. Sometimes, it takes a crisis to remind us of why we’re all here.

【推荐1】It was late one evening. I can’t remember what it was about, but my dad and I had a very big argument when my mom was away. We both said things we didn’t mean, and in the end I said, “I’m leaving.” And he said, “Good. The sooner, the better.”

I threw a few things in a suitcase and closed the door angrily behind me, not knowing where I was going. After walking aimlessly for about 20 minutes, I stopped at a local supermarket. Then my phone rang. It was my mom calling. She said, “Hey, Mary. Where are you？Dad is worried about you.”

“How can he worry about me？I’ve been away for nearly half an hour, but he didn’t call,” I said with annoyance(气恼). My anger returned and I remembered all the hateful things he’d shouted to me. “Listen, Mom. You can tell Dad that I’m fine. I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said and hung up.

I walked around the store, trying to get my thoughts together. By the time I paid for my purchases, it had been much later than I used to be out alone. When I left the supermarket, a large piece of white paper was in front of me. On the piece of white paper were these words: “Please come home! I miss you and I’m worried about you！”

Then a car pulled up beside me. Hanging out of the window was my dad. Beside him, smiling gently, sat my mom. And that’s when I started laughing. I laughed so hard that I cried. Despite my best efforts to run away from home, my father finally managed to track me down. I couldn’t leave now, not with him sitting there with caring eyes.

【推荐2】For several months, Cara has been working up the courage to approach her mom about what she saw on Instagram. Not long ago, the 11-year-old girl discovered that her mom had been posting her photos for much of her life. “I’ve wanted to bring it up. It’s strange to see myself up there, and sometimes there are pictures I don’t like of myself,” she said.

Like most other modern kids, Cara grew up under the influence of social media. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were all founded before she was born. Instagram has been around since she was a toddler. While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams have been organizing an online presence for them since birth. It is a shock to know that details about their lives have been shared online without their                    permission or knowledge. And this has become a common、experience for many teenagers.

Recently a parenting blogger said that despite her 14-year-old daughter’s horror at discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop doing it.

But it’s not just crazy mommy bloggers who share their children’s information on social media. Plenty of average parents do the same. There’s even a special word for it: sharenting (晒娃).Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their prenatal sonogram scans (产前超声波扫描) to the Internet to a study conducted by the Internet-security firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of kids under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.

【推荐3】For years I wanted a flower garden. I would spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together. But then we had Matthew, Marvin, Helen, and the twins, Alisa and Alan. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was tight (拮据的), as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I’d have to say, “ Do you see a money tree in the yard? Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden. Then, one spring morning, on Mother’s Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow (垂柳), because I saw things blowing around on all is branches. Then I put my glasses on — and couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!

I went to have a look. It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. There was also a note among them, “Thank you for your time, Mom. We love you.” Later, my children bought me tools, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.

That was three years ago. My garden’s now very pretty, just like I wanted. When I go out and take care of my flowers, I don’t seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they’ re right there with me.

I live in a city where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short. But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out of my window and think of the flowers, I’ll see next spring in my little garden. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes — every time. I’m still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

【推荐1】Levon Biss was looking at insects from his garden through an expensive microscope he bought for his son. For fun, they unintentionally placed an insect under the lens (镜头). “It is amazingly beautiful!” they both screamed.

The father had been making a career taking photos for ads. But that experience gave him a new direction. Around the world, insect populations are in decline because of habitat loss and climate change. Biss thought that if people could see what he saw through his son’s microscope. they would care more about protecting insects.

So Biss turned to macrophotography: taking close-up pictures of small things, like flowers or insects. His work has attracted attention not just for its unusual beauty but also raises awareness about the need for conservation.

In 2016, Biss showed his first insect project, Microsculpture. The term refers to the features of an insect’s exoskeleton (外骨骼), which develops over time as it adapts to its environment.

Biss’s pictures exhibit the insects in all their microscopic details. Then he blows up the images until the insects become larger than life, some of them as tall as eight feet, namely nearly 2.5 meters. But each image takes weeks to make. He uses a digital camera with a microscope lens. The camera is fixed on a computerized track, which allows Biss to take a shot, then move the camera by seven microns — a distance equals to about 1/10 the thickness of a human hair — for the next shot. In the end, Biss might take 10,000 shots of an insect. A computer combines these small pictures into a single image.

Biss’ s latest exhibition is Extinct and Endangered at the American Museum of Natural History. He selected insects that were extinct or endangered, hoping his photos would serve as a better purpose. “I communicate visually,” he says, “The way I work is through pictures. But I think it’s my duty to shake things up and get people to pay attention.”

【推荐3】Nick Prosser, a 28-year-old New Zealander, has been stuttering (口吃) for as long as he can remember, but he recently discovered that speaking in an Irish accent makes his speech disorder disappear

The young New Zealander claims he discovered the simple cure to his stutter completely by accident, while trying different accents with a friend for fun. When he tried the Irish accent, both he and his friend were amazed that his stutter almost vanished. They were able to have a long conversation without him stuttering at all, which had never happened before. He just couldn’t believe that something so simple could be the cure to a problem that had seriously affected his self-confidence ever since he was a child

“I couldn’t believe it. I had been to so many speech therapists who never suggested this technique, Prosser said

Interestingly, Nick has never been to Ireland, but he believes that speaking in an Irish accent comes naturally for him because of his mother, who comes from an Irish family. He suggests that people suffering from similar speech disorders try looking at their genealogies (家谱) and attempt to speak in an accent associated to them. However, local speech specialist Annette Stock said she had never heard about this technique

“We know as speech language therapists that singing certainly helps with people that have stutters but you can’t just go around singing in your everyday life, Stock said.” I think that this is something that works for, him and that’s fine. But in six months’ time if it is still working I would be saying wow that’s amazing.

So why does the Irish accent make Prosser’s stutter disappear? No one knows for sure, but Ants Haines, who has been Nick’s barber for years, has an interesting theory: he claims that this way, the 28-year-old spends more time thinking how to pronounce the words, which somehow helps

【推荐1】Lisinopril

What is lisinopril? Lisinopril is a medicine to treat high blood pressure. This medicine is only available on prescription. It comes as tablets. It also comes as a liquid for people who find it hard to swallow tablets, but this has to be ordered specially by your doctor.

Important information

To make sure lisinopril is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have:

● Heart, liver or kidney problems

● Diabetes (糖尿病)

● Higher levels of potassium (钾) in your blood

Women who are pregnant can’t take the medicine. It could harm the unborn baby.

How should I take lisinopril?

● Take lisinopril exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow all directions on your prescription label. Your doctor may sometimes change your dose (剂量) to make sure you get the best results.

● Drink plenty of water each day while you are taking this medicine.

● Lisinopril can be taken with or without food.

● Your blood pressure needs to be checked often, and you may need frequent blood tests.

What if I forget to take it?

If you miss a dose of lisinopril, take it as soon as you remember. If you don’t remember until the following day, skip the missed dose. Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten one. If you forget doses often, it may help to set an alarm to remind you.

What should I avoid while taking lisinopril?

● Avoid drinking alcohol, because it can further lower your blood pressure and may increase certain side effects of lisinopril.

● Avoid getting up too fast from a sitting or lying position, or you may feel dizzy. Get up slowly and steady yourself to prevent a fall.

【推荐3】In recent years, teenagers like Greta Thunberg have taken the world by storm, speaking out for what they believe in and proving that young people can change the world.

A new non-profit program named Rise has been created by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, in association with Rhodes Trust. Their aim is to identify 15 to 17-year-olds from around the globe and give them opportunities and resources to help them improve the world. Rise is looking for teenagers with brilliance, integrity （正直诚实），sympathy, determination, and ambition."

To apply, participants have to download an app called Hello World - Rise. For the next eight months, participants will upload videos of themselves and work on the Rise Challenge, a two-month project on anything they are passionate about. This can range from starting a business to conducting scientific research. Five hundred finalists will be selected for an interview and 100 of these young people will be declared winners by summer 2021!

The 100 winners will get many benefits for the rest of their lives. They will get career guidance and financial aid for university and internships, as well as a chance to compete for funding for a social enterprise. Other benefits are a technology package and online courses. Winners will also take part in a residential summit where they will learn leadership and service, explore careers, and be a part of a global community of leaders.

The Rise team believes teenagers can be very effective agents of change. Do you want to make a difference too? If so, consider applying to Rise. But most importantly, remember that you can change the world from anywhere and at any age.