Death of science icon

Throughout modern history, there has perhaps never been a scientist as     1     as Stephen Hawking. Whether he was educating the world with his knowledge of the universe or making fun of himself in TV shows like The Simpsons, it’s hard to imagine what the world will be like without Hawking.

On March 14, the British physicist passed away at his home in Cambridge. England. Since then, many people have     2     their condolences on social media including British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web.

Hawking was an icon for many reasons, but he will be best     3     for his work in the field of science. Building on German scientist Albert Einstein’s work. Hawking explained his belief that space started with the Big Bang, and will end with black holes. This     4     kicked off a series of investigations, including into the origin of the universe itself.

His work in science aside, he also managed to overcome many difficulties in his personal life. While studying for a postgraduate degree in cosmology at Cambridge University, he was     5     with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. His illness left him paralyzed and he was told he only had a short time to live. However, as we all know, he went on to become one of the greatest     6     the world has ever known. “I felt it was very unfair— why should this happen to me,” he wrote in his 2013 memoir. “At the time, I thought my life was over and that I would never realize the     7     I felt I had. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life.”

Hawking leaves behind a great     8    . His signature book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, published in 1988, became one of the world’s best-selling science     9    . He may no longer be with us, but Hawking will continue     10     the world for generations to come. As he once said himself. “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet.”

The History of Tea in England

Tea, the most typical of English drinks, is a relative late comer to British shoes. Although the     1     of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium (一千年) BC in China, it was not until the mid-17 th century that the drink first appeared in England.

    2     , it was the London coffee houses that were responsible for introducing tea to England. One of the first coffee house merchants to offer tea was Thomas Garway. He sold both liquid and dry tea to the public as early as 1657. Three years later he issued a broad sheet advertising tea at £6 to £10 per pound, touting (兜售) its virtue at “making the body active and lusty (健壮的)” and “     3     perfect health until extreme old age”.

Tea gained popularity quickly in the coffee houses, and by 1700 over 500 coffee houses sold it. This distressed the pub owners, as tea cut their sales of beer, and it was bad news for the government, who depended upon a     4     stream of revenue (税收) from taxes on liquor sales. By 1750 tea had become the     5     drink of Britain's lower classes.

A 1676 act taxed tea and required coffee house operators to apply for a license. This was just the start of government     6     to control, or at least, to profit from the popularity of tea in Britain. By the mid-18 th century the     7     on tea had reached a ridiculous 119 percent. This heavy taxation had the effect of creating a whole new industry—tea smuggling (走私). Ships from Holland and Scan din a via brought tea to the British coast, then stood offshore while smugglers met them and unloaded the     8     cargo in small vessels. The smugglers, often local fishermen,     9     moved the tea inland through     10     underground paths to special hiding places. One of the best hiding places was in the local church!

A leadership is the most significant word in today's competitive business environment because it directs the manager of a business to focus inward on their personal capabilities and style. Experts on leadership will quickly point out that "how things get done" influences the success of the     1     and indicates a right way and a wrong way to do things. When a noted leader on the art of management, Peter Drucker,     2     the phrase "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things," he was seeking to clarify the     3     he associates with the terms.

When Stephen Covey, founder and director of the Leadership Institute, explored leadership styles in the past decade, he focused on the habits of a great number of highly     4     individuals. His Seven Habits of Highly Effective People became a popular     5     very quickly. His ideas forced a reexamination of the early leadership paradigm (范例), which he observed     6     on traits found in the character ethic and the personality ethic. The former ethic suggested success was founded on integrity, modesty, loyalty, courage, patience, and so forth. The personality ethic suggested it was one's attitude, not behavior, that inspired success, and this ethic was founded on a belief of positive     7     attitude. In contrast to each of these ideas, Covey advocates that leaders need to understand universal principles of effectiveness, and he     8     how vital it is for leaders to first personally manage themselves if they are to enjoy any hope of outstanding success in their work environments. To achieve a(n)     9     vision for your business, it is vital that you have a personal vision of where you are headed and what you     10    . Business leadership means that managers need to "put first things first," which implies that before leading others, you need to be clear on your own values, abilities, and strengths and be seen as trustworthy.

On a broiling afternoon when the men were away at work and all the women napped, I moved through majestic depths of silences, silences so immense I could hear the corn     1    . Under these silences there was a / an orchestra of natural music playing notes no city child would ever hear. A certain cackle from the henhouse meant we had gained an egg. The creak of a porch swing told of a momentary breeze blowing across my grandmother’s yard. As I     2     along a mossy bank to surprise a frog, a     3    splash told me the quarry had spotted me and slipped into the stream. Wandering among the sleeping houses, I learned that tin roofs crackle under the power of the sun, and when I tired and came back to my grandmother’s house, I padded into her dark cool living room, lay     4     on the floor, and listened to the hypnotic beat of her pendulum clock on the wall ticking the meaningless hours away.

I was enjoying the luxuries of a rustic nineteenth-century boyhood, but for the women Morrisonville life had few     5    . Their lives were hard, endless, dirty labor.

For baths, laundry, and dishwashing, they hauled buckets of water from a spring at the foot of a hill. To heat it, they chopped kindling to fire their wood stoves. They boiled laundry in tubs, scrubbed it on washboards until knuckles were     6    , and wrung it out by hand. Ironing was a business of lifting heavy metal weights heated on the stove top.

They scrubbed floors on hands and knees, thrashed rugs with carpet beaters, killed and plucked their own chickens, baked bread and parties, grew and conned their won vegetables, patched the family’s clothing on treadle-operated sewing machines,     7    before the men to start the stove for breakfast and pack lunch pails, polished the chimneys of kerosene lamps, and even found time to tend the flowers that grew around every house. By the end of a summer day a Morrisonville woman had toiled like a serf.

At sundown the men drifted back from the fields exhausted and     8    . They scrubbed themselves in enamel basins and, when supper was eaten, climbed up onto the porch to watch the night arrive. Presently the women     9     them, and the twilight music of Morrisonville began.

The swing creaking , rocking chairs     10     on the porch planks, voices murmuring approval of the sagacity of Uncle Irvey as he quietly observed for probably the ten-thousandth time in his life, “A man works from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.”

Japanese firms encourage daytime naps

Imagine working for an employer who, aware that you’re probably not sleeping enough at night, allows you to down tools and nap as part of your regular work     1     -- and not just forty winks at your desk, but a restorative snooze in a quiet room.

These are some of the measures being used by a growing number of companies in Japan to counter an epidemic of sleeplessness that costs its economy a(n)     2     $ 138 bn a year.

Tech startups have been quickest to     3    the “sleep debt” among irritable and unproductive employees. Last year, Nextbeat, an TT service provider, went as far as setting up two “strategic sleeping rooms” -- one for men, the other for women -- at its headquarters in Tokyo. The aroma-infused rooms     4     devices that block out background noise, allowing workers to stretch out on sofas for a(n)     5     nap. Mobile phones, tablets and laptops are banned.

“Napping can do as much to improve someone’s     6    as a balanced diet and exercise,” Emiko Sumikawa, a member of the Nextbeat board, told Kyodo news agency.

Nextbeat also asks employees to leave work by 9 pm and to avoid doing excessive overtime, which has been     7     for a rising rate of death from overwork.

Japanese workers have more reason than most to submit to （服从）the     8     for a daytime snooze, whether at work or during long commutes.

A survey conducted using fitness trackers in 28 countries found that Japanese men and women sleep, on average, just 6 hours and 35 minutes a night -- 45 minutes less than the international average -- making them the most sleep-deprived of all. Estonians, Canadians, Belgians, Austrians, as well as the Dutch and French, all get a comparatively decent night’s sleep, according to the survey.

The government has also come to appreciate the     9     of a well-rested workforce, with the health ministry recommending that all working-age people take a nap of up to 30 minutes in the early afternoon -- advice     10     embraced by some of the country’s politicians.

Overcoming Obstacles: How Your Biggest Failure Can Lead to Your Success

There’s been a lot written on the theme of failure and how essential it is to success. In a world where     1     is given for people’s accomplishments, failing feels dangerous. The fear of failure can stop people taking risks that might lead to success.

Heidi Grant Halvorson, a psychologist, points out much of success is     2     not on talent but on learning from your mistakes.

About half of the people in the world hold that ability in an area --- be it creative or social skill --- is natural. The other half believes, instead, that someone might have a preference or something --- say painting or speaking foreign languages --- but this ability can be improved through     3     practice or training.

It’s almost impossible to think rationally (理性地) while shouting at yourself, “I’m a failure”. But when you     4     your thinking, you will probably see what you can control --- your behavior, your planning, your reactions --- and change them.

The primary     5     between successful people and unsuccessful people is that the successful people fail more. If you see failure as a monster approaching you, take another look.

Success is as scary as failure. Researchers report that satisfaction grows on challenges. Think about it --- a computer game you can always win is boring; one you can win     6    , and with considerable effort, is fun. In pursuit of success, failure exposes areas that you need to     7    . So the failure serves as a brick wall to test how you apply yourself to     8     your objectives and how much you want them.

There is a way to distinguish whether a failure     9     you to double down or walk away, says Halvorson. If, when things get rough, you remain fascinated by your goal, you should keep going. If what you’re doing is costing you too much time and energy or it’s not bringing you joy, you should give a second thought to the     10     of your goal and even set a new one.

Beauty does mean a lot to women. Millions of dollars is spent worldwide on cosmetics in a(n)    1     to stop the loss of beauty that comes with ageing.

However, women can take care of themselves far-better by taking some Natural Beauty Tips in her daily life.

Drinking at least 8 to10 glasses of water every day helps flush out toxins(排出毒素)from the body that     2     skin and hair.

Eating lots of fruit and vegetables gives the body the     3     vitamins and minerals that help rejuvenate(使年轻；使更新)skin and hair.

A diet rich in Omega 3 fatty acids(fish)helps     4     the body.

Regular exercise helps keep the body fit. A regular 30-minute walk can     5     wonders for your health.

Stress in personal and professional life,     6     of sleep, improper diet and exercise are some of the reasons why the body deteriorate(变坏)before its time. Wearing make-up, as most women have realized today, is not enough to     7     wrinkles(皱纹), dark circles and worry lines on the face.

Natural Beauty Tips, like those mentioned above, help women lead a healthy lifestyle. When the body is healthy and the mind is     8    , it shows on the face. Women must understand that natural beauty comes from within: a happy     9     and smiling face filled with, warmth and laughter.

In the end, ageing is a natural     10    . Nothing can stop the inevitable(unavoidable) designed by Mother Nature. Women who accept this will live happier.

The world is full of many tiny creatures besides insects. There are snails and slugs that creep along the ground, worms that dig holes underground, and many more. Some, like insects,    1    to a huge group of little creatures called arthropods, which also includes spiders and other arachinids, centipedes, and woodlice.

Spiders are found in almost everywhere in the world. They are most plentiful where there is plenty of vegetation, but you can encounter spiders in the darkest cellars and down the deepest mines, as well as high on mountains. Spiders are hunters,    2    mainly on insects and other arthropods though a few large “bird-eating” species, or tarantulas,    3    eat lizards and small rodents. Unlike other hunting animals, spiders    4    have poor eyesight. They usually have eight simple eyes, not the compound eyes of insects, and hunt by “listening” to vibrations in the ground, which they    5    up with their legs. Jumping spiders, with wolf spiders and ogre-faced spiders being    6    , have very keen eyesight.

Different species of spider have different methods of catching prey. Many weave silken nets called    7    . Some are simple tube-shaped webs inside holes, others are elaborate orb webs. The web is usually sticky, so any insects flying into it are stuck fast.

Spiders such as tarantulas and sun spiders destroy their victims with their powerful fangs, but most species use their poisonous    8    to kill or disable their prey. Some spiders, such as the black widow and funnel-web spiders, have a bite so poisonous that it can be fatal to humans.

Not all species of spider make webs. Some catch their preys by    9    a silk net on them. Others, such as the Australian trapdoor spider,    10    their prey from a hole with a carefully-fitting and well-masked flap. Hunting spiders follow their preys secretly and leap on them from a distance.