Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

    Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real talk I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

    Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution.” The whole world became quite! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

    Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster's office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!

    Scientists are debating how to limit their newly-discovered power to change genetic structure (结构). Scientists already modify the genes (基因) of farm animals and agricultural plants to make them more productive or stronger. But now they can also change genes in wild animals and plants. These genes would continue into later generations. For example, it may be possible for scientists to remove from existence the kind of mosquitoes, small flying insects, that carry the Zika virus. They might also be able to permanently remove species (物种) of plants and animals that are damaging to other species.

    In a report published last week, the U. S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) said it supports continued research on this kind of gene control. But it warned that it is not possible to know what will happen when these changed plants and animals are released (释放) into the wild.

    Sixteen biologists, ethicists (伦理学家) and policymakers are on an NAS committee that is examining the issue. They say that there is value to the new technology. But, they say, there is not enough evidence to support the release of modified organisms (生物体) from the laboratory into nature.

    Many people would support stopping mosquitoes and rats from carrying diseases. But scientists say we must understand the possible scientific, ethical, legal and social results of such action before we decide whether to take it. Gene modification is spread through reproduction (繁殖).

    Changed genes will continue to spread as long as an animal or plant continues to reproduce. They cannot be limited to a farm or kept within a country's borders. Scientists are wondering what may happen if a modified organism mates with another species. They are not yet sure how the modified genes would affect the other species. It is possible that those genes could harm those creatures or even lead to their disappearance from our planet.

    A few years ago, a company called Space Marketing came up with a plan to send a mile–long advertisement into space. To advertising agencies (机构), it would have been “a dream come true”. However, advertising standards agencies finally decided not to allow Space Marketing to go ahead with their plans and they were forced to give them up.

    Space may indeed be the final place for advertisers, because on Earth we are already surrounded by advertising wherever we are and whatever we are doing. Apart from the obvious adverts that we see every day on TV, and in newspapers and magazines, there is a whole 'other world' of advertising messages for our attention. There are ads that we see on the side of the bus we catch to work, for example. And what about the logos (商标) we see on the clothing of the people we walk past in the streets?

    Most of the time, we are probably not even aware of (意识到的) these less obvious advertising methods, but that doesn't mean that they don't work. Take 'product placement', for example. You are in a cinema, watching the latest Hollywood movie. Look carefully at the make of car your favorite actor is driving. And what about his watch? Can you see what brand it is? Chances are, you can, and the company that owns the brand is likely to have paid thousands for it to appear in the film.

    So, whether Space Marketing finally succeeds in sending ads into space or not is perhaps less important than it might seem. This would not change a thing. Our everyday lives are already strongly influenced by advertising whether we realize it or not.

    At heart, parents always wish the best for their children, and they work hard for that. Nowadays, we see parents deciding the schools for their little ones before the baby is even born. Once kids starts going to school, some parents want to have a time-to-time update(最新的情况) of their kid's activities. They want to come to their classroom every day, keep an eye on whom they talk to, know the friends they keep, start telling them how to do their jobs, and keep talking to them about everything under the sun. Besides, they send their kids to extra hobby classes, as they want their children to do best in every field.

    When it comes to the education, super mum and dad have all the plans made for their children, and I am sure that they have come up with the best. So, try to fight for the dreams that your parents have seen for you. However, in some cases, it may happen that the kids have some different dreams. Parents sometimes don't even consider the choices of their kids and may force them to do what they wanted to do in life. It's good to plan the future for the children, but leave at least some decisions to them.

    So what should the children do? First, hear out all the plans that your parents have made for you. If you have some different ideas, then sit down and talk to your family about it. Be patient and respect their decisions, but put your plan forth, and make them understand what you want to do and why. Many times, you don't know the difficulties that you may have to face while pursuing your dreams. Ask your parents for suggestions, which will make them feel good and involved. That way, they may support you if you are going on the right path.

    For as long as we've known about it, humans have searched for a cure for cancer. Across the world, countless amounts of time and money have been spend on researching a way to stop the terrible disease.

    But now, it seems like the answer could have been inside our own bodies the whole time.

    Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, a government agency that's responsible for healthcare, approved a new form of gene therapy that could mean the end of a certain type of cancer.

    The therapy allows scientists to 'train” the immune cells of sick patients to fight leukemia – a blood cancer that mostly affects young people.

    The exciting new treatment works by removing healthy immune cells from the patient, known as T-cells, which are then altered to be able to “hunt down” cancer cells.

    The cells are then put back into the patient, before they begin to get rid of the patient's leukemia over time, similar to how the body fights off other illnesses.

    'this is truly an exciting new day for cancer patients,” Louis J. DeGennaro, president of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, said in a news release. Up until now, a drawn-out （持续很久时间的）and painful bone marrow transplant was the only option for many leukemia patients.

    In this procedure, healthy blood cells are taken from a donor and placed into the sick patient, who also has to go through chemotherapy to allow their body to adjust to the new cells.

    But with a recovery rate of around 83 percent–according to a news release published by the FDA–it's hoped that the days of painful trips to the hospital, or even death, are over for leukemia sufferers.

    “We're entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer,” FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in the release.

    “New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold the potential to transform medicine and... our ability to treat and even cure many intractable（难治的） illnesses.”