When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn't a good student,I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as  could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.

    He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When some thing said about you is true, you'll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don't shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.” Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    “Three Apples” changed the world. The first one seduced(诱惑)Eve. The second one awakened Newton. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some famous words from Steve Jobs to share.

    On the character

    I'm the only person I know that's lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

On good design

    That's been one of my mottos－focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex；You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there，you can move mountains.

    On his outlook

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Saying we've done something wonderful when going to bed at night. That's what matters to me.

On your working life

    Your work is going to fill a large part of your life，and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you haven't found it yet，keep looking. Don't settle.

On the importance of death

    No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be，because Death is even likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you，but some day not too long from now，you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

A. It's very character-building.

B. The third one was in the hands of Steve Jobs.

C. This is not a one-man show.

D. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

E. And yet death is the destination we all share.

F. It's really hard to design products by focusing on groups.

G. Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me.

    You are given many opportunities in life to choose to be a victim or creator. When you choose to be a victim, the world is a cold and difficult place. “They” did things to you which caused all of your pain and suffering. “They” are wrong and bad, and life is terrible as long as “they” are around. Or you may blame yourself for all your problems, thus internalizing(内化)your victimization. The truth is, your life is likely to stay that way as long as you feel a need to blame yourself or others.

    Those who choose to be creators look at life quite differently. They know there are individuals who might like to control their lives, but they don't let this get in the way. They know they have their weaknesses, yet they don't blame themselves when they fail. Whatever happens, they have choice in the matter. They believe their dance with each sacred(神圣的)moment of life is a gift and that storms are a natural part of life which can bring the rain needed for emotional and spiritual growth.

Victims and creators live in the same physical world and deal with many of the same physical realities, yet their experience of life is worlds apart. Victims relish (沉溺)in anger, guilt, and other emotions that cause others—and even themselves—to feel like victims, too. Creators consciously choose love, inspiration, and other qualities which inspire not only themselves, but all around them. Both victims and creators always have choice to determine the direction of their lives.

    In reality, all of us play the victim or the creator at various points in our lives. One person, on losing a job or a special relationship, may feel as if it is the end of the world and sink into terrible suffering for months, years, or even a lifetime. Another with the same experience may choose to first experience the grief, then accept the loss and soon move on to be a powerful creative force in his life.

    In every moment and every circumstance, you can choose to have fuller, richer life by setting a clear intention to transform the victim within, and by inviting into your life the powerful creator that you are.

    With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone (克隆) the animal and save the endangered species (物种). That's a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called "Noah's Ark".

    Noah's Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A& M's College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.

    It is estimated that as many as 2,000 species of mammals, birds reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.

    This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.

    The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.

    "The nuclear transfer (核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available (capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem," Kraemer believes. "They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and ifs difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort, adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.

    "They are trying to do something that's never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah's Ark. We're both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there's a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It's a research that is very much needed."

    South Africa is the water-lovers' paradise. Whether you want to be by the sea, on the sea or even under it, there are countless ways to get your ocean experience. Almost all of them are located on South Africa's east coast, where the Indian Ocean keeps water warm.

    Thompson's Bay, Ballito

Drive 40 minutes north of Durban to reach the unique coastal town of Ballito. Popular with holidaymakers, Ballito has a choice of pretty beaches—- and the best for swimming is

    Thompson's Bay. This scenic cove (小海湾)is sheltered from the wind and characterized by its calm waters, interesting rocky outcrops and a fascinating geological hole-in-the-wall. There's a walled tidal pool for those who are nervous to swim in the open ocean, making this spot a particularly good choice for families.

    Umhlanga Rocks, Durban

    Located a 20-minute drive from central Durban, the resort town of Umhlanga is an upmarket getaway for vacationing South Africans and visitors in the know. The main Umhlanga Rocks beach boasts safe swimming waters and endless golden sands, again protected by lifeguards and shark nets. A paved walkway provides direct access to the town's beachfront shops, restaurants and bars.

    Gonubie Beach, East London

    The coastal town of Gonubie is seen by many as a suburb of East London, one of the largest cities of the Eastern Cape. Its picture-perfect beach offers great swimming areas in the open sea. The Gonubie River reaches the sea at this point, too, and offers an alternative bathingspot on days when the surf is bigger than usual. All along the river's green banks, you'll find a series of shaded spots perfect for summer picnics and barbecues.

Every year, thousands of teenagers participate in programs at their local art museums. But do any of them remember their time at museum events later in life? A new report suggests that the answer is yes--and finds that arts-based museum programs are credited with changing the course of alumni's（毕业生的） lives, even years after the fact. 

The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles recently asked researchers to conduct à study to find out how effective their long-standing teen art programs really are. They involved over 300 former participants of four programs for teens that have been in existence since the 1990s. Alumni, whose current ages range from 18 to 36, were invited to find out how they viewed their participation years after the fact. 

Among the alumni surveyed, 75 percent of them thought the teen art program experience had the most favorable impact on their own lives, beating the family, school and their neighborhoods. Nearly 55 percent thought that it was one of the most important experiences they had ever had, regardless of age. And two-thirds said that they were often in situations where their experience in museums affected their actions or thoughts. 

It turns out that participating in art programs also helps keep teens keen about culture even after they reach adulthood: Ninety-six percent of participants had visited an art museum within the last two years, and 68 percent had visited an art museum five or more times within the last two years. Thirty-two percent of alumni work in the arts as adults. 

Though the study is the first of its kind to explore the impact of teen-specific art programs in museums, it reflects other research on the important benefits of engaging with the arts. A decade of surveys by the National Endowment for the Arts found that the childhood experience with the arts is significantly associated with people's income and educational achievements as adults. Other studies have linked arts education to everything from lower dropout rates to improvement in critical thinking skills.