Since my family were not going to be helpful about my taking a cooking job, I decided I would look for one all by myself and not to tell them about it till I'd got a permanent one.

    I had seen an agency advertised in a local paper, so as soon as there was no one about to say “Where are you going?” I rushed out of the house in search of it. I was wildly excited, and as nervous as if I were going on the stage. Finding the place quite easily, I tore up three flights of stairs, and swung breathlessly through a door which said “Enter without knocking, if you please.”

    The simple atmosphere of the office calmed me, and I sat down on the edge of a chair. The woman at the desk opposite looked carefully at me. Then she questioned me in a low voice. I answered softly and started to feel helpless. She wondered why I was looking for this sort of job, so I felt I had to give her the idea of a widowed mother struggling against poverty. But I felt more helpless when she told me that it would be difficult to get a job without experience or references. Suddenly, the telephone on her desk rang. While having a mysterious conversation, she kept looking at me. Then I heard her say:

    “In fact, I've got someone here who might suit.” She wrote down a number, and my spirits rose as she held out the paper to me, saying: “Ring up this lady. She wants a cook immediately. Cook a dinner for ten people tomorrow. Could you manage that, I wonder?”

    “Oh, yes,” say I—never having cooked for more than four. Then I rushed out and called the lady, Miss Cathy. I said confidently that I was just what she was looking for. “Are you sure?” she kept saying. Anyway she decided to employ me and a permanent position if I carried out the promise of my self-praise. I asked her what tomorrow's menu was to be.

    “Just a small, simple dinner: lobster cocktail, soup, turbot mornay, fruit salad and a savory.” In a rather shaken voice I promised to turn up in good time tomorrow and rang off.

    Human brains begin growing and developing at a very young age. They learn from the simplest experiences, which enable your children to be aware of the world. There's no denying that outdoor play helps a lot!

Times when children have to wait for their turns on playground equipment and following the playground rules by sharing, all these form components of a healthy social-emotional development. Young children develop their social-emotional skills through practice and small steps over time.

As parents or caregivers, it is fairly simple to support your child's social-emotional skills. Acts like holding him, touching him, and speaking to him and giving him loving care and attention are all helping factors. When you allow them freedom to play, it is important to follow their interests in helping build their social-emotional skills.

Difficulties in social-emotional skills can often lead to children having trouble when playing with other children. Becoming easily angry or not empathizing (理解) with other children are all signs that may point in this direction. This can in turn lead to them not empathizing with the needs of other children.

    As for the development of cognitive (认知的) skills, these develop through practice and opportunity over time. And while some cognitive skills may be genetic, most are learned through real life situations. In other words, learning and thinking skills can be improved through experiences.

    To enable them to learn, it is important that we are mindful of what our children are interested in. And this realization is only set in place once the child is given enough room and time to grow and explore.

    Depriving children of such experiences can mean that they might struggle with higher- level thinking skills. And while it is normal to keep them safe, we forget that by rushing them and cutting down on play time, we're actually causing more harm than good.

    The researchers say a person loses two months for every kilogram overweight they are— and seven years for smoking a packet of cigarettes a day.

    Unusually, the Edinburgh university team found their answers by analysing differences in people's genetic code or DNA. Finally they think it will show new ways of helping us to live longer.

    The group used the genetic code of more than 600, 000 people who are taking part in a natural experiment. If someone smokes, drinks, drops out of school and is overweight, it can be difficult to identify the impact of one specific unhealthy behavior.

    Instead, the researchers turned to the natural experiment. Some people carry mutations(变异) in their DNA that increase(食欲) or make them more likely to put on weight, so researchers were able to compare those programmed to eat more with those who were not. The research team also found specific mutations in human DNA that alter lifespan (寿命).

    Mutations in a gene (a set of instructions in DNA) that is involved in running the immune system could add seven months of life on average.

    People with a mutation that increased levels of bad cholesterol knocked eight months off lifespan.

    A rare mutation in a gene—APOE—linked to dementia reduced lifespan by 11 months.

    And one that made smoking more appealing cut lives by five months.

    Dr Joshi says that while genes do influence lifespan, “you've got even more influence” through the choices you make. Dr Joshi said, “We hope to discover genes affecting lifespan to give us new information about ageing and construct treatment tor ageing.”

    There are also some disease mutations that clearly affect lifespan and to destructive effect, such as the Huntington's gene. People with Huntington's often die in their 20s.

    However, in order to follow people until the end of their lives, many of the people studied were born before 1940.

From a young age, Michael Platt loved two things: the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and cupcakes. He imagined ways he too could fight for justice. He memorized figures about income inequality and childhood hunger. But he also spent afternoons at his home computer, amazed by YouTube bakers who made perfect cupcakes.

When his parents gave him a pair of Toms shoes for Christmas three years ago, Michael saw a way to connect his twin passions. At age 11, he founded a bakery that operates on the Toms one-for-one model: For every cupcake, cake or cookie that Michael sells, he donates another to the homeless and hungry. Twice a month, he heads to locations to pass out goodies. Michael, now 13, said he especially enjoys handing out cupcakes to kids.

"I know I like cupcakes, but also cupcakes are part of a child's childhood so they should get them," said Michael, noting that he always eats one with whippedicing (打发的糖霜) on his birthday.

Michael calls his baking business Michaels Desserts. He left out the apostrophe (撇号) as a reminder that he is baking for others, not himself. "I always wanted to have a purpose for what I do." he said. "It's all about helping people— not just having a purpose for yourself, but thinking about, 'How does this touch other things? "

When he started the bakery, he knew that he wanted his business to do more than make money. That's why the intention of Michaels Desserts is fighting hunger and giving back, which Michael accomplishes through his giveaways. Michael hopes his cupcakes inspire others to work for social equality.

Sometimes, Michael admits, he grows tired of being in the kitchen. Then he remembers the homeless boy he met once while handing out cupcakes. A couple of days afterward, the boy's father messaged Michael on Facebook to say that his son, encouraged by Michael's example, now desired to become a baker.

"That inspired me," Michael said. He smiled and looked down.

More than 100 scientists traveled to faraway places to collect wild crop seeds in an effort to help battle climate change. The scientists have been likened to the hero of the Indiana Jones movies. Like him, they had to face blood-sucking creatures and fierce tigers. Some-times, they had to use elephants for transportation because they couldn't find any other means of transportation.

A report on the project was published last week. It described the results of a six-year search to collect thousands of wild seeds. The seeds could be important in feeding a growing human population at a time when rising temperatures are affecting crop production in some areas.

The scientists traveled on foot, by four-wheeled vehicles, boat and riding horses and they even rode elephants to reach faraway areas. They collected 4,644 seed samples of 371 wild relatives of 28 crops. Many of those wild relatives are said to be endangered.

The Crop Trust, a nonprofit organization that works to save different kinds of crops, was directing the project. The group was working in partnership with Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens and Millennium Seed Bank. Additional financial support came from Norway. The project is believed to be the largest organized international effort yet to collect and protect crops' wild relatives.

Some relatives of widely grown crops have developed so they can survive usual and severe conditions such as low rainfall, flooding, extreme temperatures and poor soils. Scientists say the wild crops offer a largely unused source of diversity for protecting crops against climate change.

Some crops are threatened because of destruction of forests, conflict and expanded cities. Experts say losing this diversity could endanger food security around the world. A United Nations report says that food supplies are under severe threat. The report notes that the number of animal and plant species are quickly disappearing as the world deals with how to feed a rising population.

Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity (对称) is not conserved. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Wu herself was awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics aroused comparisons to Marie Curie.

Chien-Shiung Wu was born in a town of Jiangsu province, China, in 1912. Wu and her father were extremely close, and he encouraged her interests passionately, creating an environment where she was surrounded by books, magazines, and newspapers. Wu received her elementary school education at Mingde Women's Vocational School founded by her father.

Wu left her hometown in 1923 to go to the Suzhou Women's Normal School No 2, which was fifty miles from her home. In an era when "getting married" was considered the best destiny for women, she carved out a new path for herself through her diligent and earnest approach to learning and her thirst for knowledge.

In 1936, Chien-Shiung Wu went to the United States to pursue further studies in atomic physics. It was during this period of her education that she came to know Oppenheimer, who was teaching in the Physics Department. Under the guidance of renowned physicists such as Oppenheimer, Lawrence, and Segre, Chien-Shiung, Wu successfully completed her studies and her doctoral research. Due to the highly sensitive nature of her work, the details of her research were not revealed until the end of World War II.

In 1984, Chien-Shiung Wu returned to China from the United States. At the age of 72, she made a substantial donation of $250,000 to her hometown to support its development. Later, she also became an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1997, Chien-Shiung Wu passed away. Before her death, she requested to be buried in her hometown of Suzhou. Today, her tombstone in Taicang, Suzhou, bears the inscription: "She was an outstanding global citizen and a forever Chinese."