Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata (奏鸣曲) by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.

    Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable. They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn't even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.

    Samuel can't understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to sun playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me — I hear the notes and can bear them in mind — each and every note,” says Samuel.

    Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can't play it. Samuel says confidently,” It's all about super memory — I guess I have that gift.”

    However, Samuel's ability to remember things doesn't slop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.

    Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn't know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.

    Recently, South Korean star PSY's “Gangnam style” video has been popular on the Internet. It has become most people's favorite music.

In fact, the song has set the Guinness World Record for the most popular video in the history of the Internet. More than two million people have said “like” since the song was on the Internet on July 15.

    PSY's special dance moves and funny horse riding style have attracted many people. Although many people do not understand the language, the video has become the talk of the Internet. The song has come to first place in the music charts in 31 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

    “I just sang for my South Korean fans. I have never expected it to be popular in other countries,” PSY told the reporters on a concert. The song was so popular that a few of South Korean's politicians showed PSY's moves to attract supporters.

    “The song came out in mid-July. It sings about the rich life of South Korea--especially Gangnam in Seoul, where a lot of rich people live.

    Millions of people have watched the video. Many stars, such as Katy Perry, Robbie Williams and Nelly Furtado said that they love the song. These stars performed part of the song at a recent concert.

    Riding high on the success of “Gangnam Style”, PSY was signed by Scooter Braun to Braun's Schoolboy Records, a label distributed by Universal Republic.

    PSY has written many hit songs of varying styles for different singers. Prior to “Gangnam Style” his most famous composition perhaps was Lee Seung Gi's debut(首次亮相) song “Because You Are My Woman”.

    Sometimes the toughest thing about feelings is sharing them with others．Sharing your feelings helps you whether your feelings are wonderful or terrible．Sharing also helps you to get closer to people you care about and who care about you．But how?

    You can't tell your friends what's inside your backpack if you don't know what's in there yourself．Feelings are the same way．Before you can share them with anyone，you have to figure out what feelings you have．

    Making a list of your feelings can help．You can do this in your mind or by writing it out or even by drawing pictures．Is something bothering you? Does it make you frustrated or terrified? Do you feel this emotion only once in a while or much of the time?

    The way a person feels inside is important．If you keep feelings locked inside，it can even make you feel sick! But if you talk with someone who cares for you，you will almost always start to feel better．It doesn't mean your problems and worries magically disappear，but at least someone else knows what's bothering you and can help you find solutions．

    Your mom and dad want to know if you have problems and what's happening in your life．But what if a kid doesn't want to talk with parents? Then find another trusted adult，like a relative or a teacher at school．Maybe this person can help you talk with your parents about your problem or concern．

    Once you know who you can talk with，you'll want to pick a time and place to talk．You can talk publicly in your family．But some kids are more private than others and they will feel shy about sharing their feelings．Then find a quiet place or write it down on a piece of paper．A kid doesn't have to share every feeling he or she has．

    It's carnival season in Europe, a crazy time for parades, mask, music and dance. No one is sure where the tradition exactly comes from. But while its origin remains a mystery, this does not keep people from joining it.

    The Carnival of Binche, the most famous one that is staged in Belgium, has been announced as a masterpiece (杰作) of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The event usually takes place during a Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with performers known as "Gilles" dressed in clown-like costumes, dancing and marching along the streets. During parade, the Gilles throw oranges to the crowd as an act of well-washing and it is considered rude to throw them back.

    Venice is said to be the birthplace of carnivals. In the city, the annual carnival starts 58 days before Easter. It features various brightly-colored and well-made masks. Every year, thousands of visitors go to the city to be part of the festive event.

    The Germans, always considered serious-minded, also have their carnivals. The Cologne Carnival is one of the largest, with Rose Monday as the best part. On Rose Monday Parade, lots of gifts are prepared for the people who join it. For this year, 300 tons of candies and more than 300,000 souvenirs were thrown out of the various nicely-decorated floats (花车) to the crowd.

    The Nice Carnival in the southern French city of Nice lasts two or three weeks from February to march every year. It features floats, music, dance, performances and entertainment activities. The parade of lights and the final day carnival parade are the most exciting parts of the entire event. Compared to the Rio Carnival in Brazil and the Winter Carnival in Quebec, Canada, the Nice Carnival has a special artistic touch, and it is one of the three major carnivals around the world.

    Carnivals were first organized in the Middle Ages. They were supposed to be a time of eating and drinking before the Easter fast (斋戒). Nowadays, they have turned into winter tourism attractions of many European cities.

    In many developed countries, people who have high degrees begin to work longer than those who don't. About 65% of American men aged 62－74 with a professional degree are in the workforce (劳动人口), compared with 32% of men who only finish high school. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well­educated wealthy and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound(意义深远的).

    The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿) translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift (变化) will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling (渐增的) ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.

    Policies are partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Even the better­off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap (获得) rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding (先前的) generation. Technological change may well reinforce (强化) that shift: the skills that complement (补充) computers, from management know­how to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.

Owls and Larks

    Larks are most likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise, according to the old saying.

    But those who are early to bed and early to rise do not always have the upper hand, researchers say. They have found that night owls are generally brighter and wealthier than those able to get up early in the morning.

    Experts from the University of Madrid carried out tests on around 1,000 teenagers and found that those who preferred to stay up late proved the kind of intelligence associated with honored jobs and higher incomes. "Larks" or "morning people", however, often acquired better exam results, possibly because lessons are held at the wrong time of day for night owls. The researchers examined the habits and body clocks of the youngsters to determine whether they liked to stay up late and sleep later in the morning, or preferred to go to bed early and were at their peak in the morning. School performance and inductive(归纳的)intelligence, or problem solving, were measured and academic grades in the major subjects were also taken into account. The results showed that evening types scored higher than morning types on inductive reasoning, which has been shown to be a good estimate of general intelligence and a strong indicator of academic(学术的) performance. They also had a greater capacity(能力) to think conceptually(概念地) as well as analytically. Such abilities have been linked to innovative(创新的) thinking, more admired occupations and better incomes.

    Famous night owls include President Trump, Obama, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley. George W. Bush, who is regularly in bed by 10 p.m., Thomas Edison, Napoleon, Condoleezza Rice, who wakes at 4:30 a.m., and Ernest Hemingway are among those known as larks. Jim Horne, professor of psychophysiology at Loughborough University, said, "Evening types tend to be the more active and creative types, the poets, artists and inventors, while the morning types are the deducers(推导者), as are often seen with civil servants and accountants." A previous study of US Air Force recruits found that evening types were much better at thinking to solve problems than larks.