【推荐2】

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564. His father taught music while his mother cared for kids at home. The family was not wealthy, but Galileo’s parents paid for him to go to school.

At first Galileo planned to become a doctor, but he changed his mind. He liked a different kind of science—physics. In Galileo’s time, not much was known about how objects moved. Centuries earlier, a Greek(希腊人) named Aristotle had written down his ideas about movements, and everyone seemed to believe them. Galileo questioned those ideas and did experiments that showed how things really worked. For example, Aristotle thought that a heavier object would fall faster than a lighter one of the same size and shape. No one had ever really tested this idea. It just seemed to be true. Then Galileo came along, dropped two balls from a high tower, and discovered that they hit the ground at the same time!

In later years, Galileo became interested in how the stars and planets move. He watched the sky with a telescope(望远镜) he built himself. Once again, he saw things no one had ever seen before. For example, he saw that the Moon was not smooth. Then he noticed that the Sun had spots that seemed to move. Galileo realized from his observations(观察) that the Earth was moving around the Sun. A Polish (波兰的) scientist named Copernicus had said this recently, but no one believed him. Galileo knew that Copernicus was right. Unluckily, Galileo’s announcement got him into trouble with the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church said that the Earth was at the center of the universe with the Sun traveling around it. This was what people had long believed, but Galileo said it was untrue. So he was sent to prison. He was soon set free, but for the rest of his life he had to stay in his house and yard.

Galileo died in 1642, but his work helped to change the world. He is sometimes called “the father of modern science”, because he showed us how important it is to look carefully at things and to test out ideas with experiments.

【推荐1】If you are asked to chair a meeting, remember the following six golden rules for meeting management.

Always start the meeting on time. If you begin on time, group members who show up late will realize the value of time. Beginning on time shows skill as an effective(有效的) time manager and sets an example for others to follow.

Choose a note-taker. You may need to refer back to something that was discussed during the meeting at a later date. Good record-keeping is a sign of a good meeting manager as well.

Learn to listen. So many times we think we are going to say and, in the process, miss important points that other group members may be contributing(做贡献). Additionally(另外), we often hear only what we want to hear, instead of really listening to other people. Meetings with effective listening are successful meetings.

Keep the discussion on track(轨道). Many times an important topic can get sidetracked in a meeting, especially when everyone has a different opinion about the topic. If an unexpected conflict(冲突) develops once the meeting is in progress, either ask a special group to look into the problem, or ask members involved(卷入) in the conflict to meet with you after the meeting. Doing so will help keep the discussion on track and reduce the chances of wasting group members’ valuable time.

Give everyone an opportunity to be heard. Some people like to control(控制) meetings, while others wait to be asked their opinions. As the leader of the meeting, you need to keep an open mind and make sure everyone feels welcome to contribute and express ideas without criticism(批评).

End on time. If you said the meeting would last no longer than one hour, make sure the meeting lasts for only one hour. Running late with a meeting makes members late for other appointment(约会), increase(增大) the chances that the members will mentally(思想上) leave the meeting and reduces your reliability(可信度) as an effective meeting manager.

【推荐2】A day is made up of hundreds of small decisions. I'll wear this; I'll buy this; I'll have this for lunch; I'll go there at 3 o'clock; I'll reply to this e-mail.

For some people, it's not a big deal. For others, however, making decisions isn't easy. They agonize over what to do, changing their minds back and forth. and second guessing themselves even after the decision has been made.

Emily was in the restaurant with her husband. After several minutes of reading the menu , she said , "Um , let's see. I don't know what to order. Maybe I'll have the burger; no wait, the pasta seems good. Or, maybe the soup and salad. Don, what are you ordering? OK; that sounds good ; I'll have that too. " Don often gets annoyed (恼怒的) .He doesn't understand why she finds the simplest decisions so difficult. He sometimes makes decisions for the two of them. But Emily gets annoyed with him for being so controlling. "But we'd never decide anything if I left it up to you," he argues.

Good decision-making is a skill that comes easily to some people, not so easily to others. Choices are confusing. Choices can make you anxious. They can cost you peace of mind, even after you've made the decision. The skill of good decision-making has become increasingly important. Why? Because we have a lot of choices, both with the simple and the serious things in life.

Decisions force us to close the door on other possibilities. Accept that you can't have it all. You can't order every delicious dish on the menu. And there will be paths not taken, things not experienced. Let the past be. Live in the present where what you do today will make a difference.

It's often good to think through your decisions, but don't overdo it. More thinking is not always better thinking. Too much research may lead to confusion. Sixth sense can help make decisions as good as careful study of endless data(数据) , sometimes even better.

Some decisions don't work out as expected ; this doesn't mean that you made a bad one. You decide to go on a cruise (油轮旅行) . You choose a large and beautiful ship. Everything should work out just right. Only you didn't count on a bug that spread through the ship, making you and your family sick for five clays. You felt terrible for making such a stupid decision. No. You did not make a stupid decision. It's just that sometimes the unexpected happens.

Try to make your decision. After all, it's your special experience.

【推荐1】Confucius was one of the most important people in human history. He taught people to be polite and love each other. His ideas changed people’s life.

Early Life

Confucius was born around 551 B. C. in China. That was over 2,500 years ago. Some say that Confucius was born into a rich family. Others say he was born poor. One thing is clear: Confucius lived during a time of great trouble.

Philosophy(哲学) and Teachings

Different groups in China were fighting. People forgot about good manners. This made Confucius sad. He wanted people to be kind and polite to each other. He believed in the idea of “ren”. That means “loving others”. “People should follow the Golden Rule,” he said. The Golden Rule is “to treat others as you would like to be treated”. He believed that a good leader should treat his followers with care. This would help the leader set a good example. Confucius thought leaders could make people follow the law (法律).

________

Confucius promoted music education. He thought music had a strong influence on people and believed that music could make the things on the earth get on well with each other. So music made it possible for our society to develop well.

Death

Confucius died at the age of 71 or 72. After his death, he was honored as a man of wisdom. His ideas helped shape the Chinese government. Today he is known as one of the most important teachers in Chinese history.

【推荐2】Do you think you are smart? In fact, most smart people share the same traits(特征). These traits include understanding how much they don’t know, high self-control and being very funny. You might think these have nothing to do with intelligence. But in fact there is some scientific evidence(证据) to show that they are closely connected to intelligence.

Knowing how much you don’t know. Smart people are better able to admit(承认) when they don’t know something, according to a study in 2020. The study found that the less intelligent you are, the more you overestimate yourself. In one experiment, for example, researchers asked students to estimate their scores after taking a test. The students with lower scores overestimated their scores. They thought they had done better. Meanwhile, those with higher scores underestimated how many questions they’d gotten right.

High self-control. Scientists have found a connection between self-control and intelligence. In another study, participants(参加者) had to choose between two prizes. They could either get a smaller amount of money at once or a larger amount of money two days later. Only one fourth of the participants chose to get the larger amount of money at a later date. The results showed that these people scored(得分) higher on intelligence tests.

Being really funny. Do smart people have a better sense of humor? Scientists at a university in Holland may think so. One of their studies invited people to write cartoon captions(解说词). And they found that the funnier cartoon captions people wrote, the higher scores they would had on intelligence tests. So they think funny people may have higher intelligence.

【推荐3】He was an old man who fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and ordered the boy to join another boat, which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.

The old man was thin with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.

“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea.“I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.”

The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

“No,” the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”

“But remember how you went eighty-four days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”

“I remember,” the old man said.

“It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”

“I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

“He hasn’t much faith (信心).”

“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?”

“Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer?”

“Why not?” the old man said “Between fishermen.”