Unlike most other holidays, the history of April Fools' Day. Sometimes called All Fools' Day, is not as the totally clear. The only point in time that can be agreed on as the beginning of this tradition was 1582,in France. Before that year, the New Year was celebrated for eight days, beginning  on March 25.The reform of the calendar celetxration reached the highest point on April l_With the riform of the calendar under Charles 1X,the Gregorian calendar (公历, 阳历）was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

    However, because in those days communications were not as developed as they are today, many people did not receive the news for several years. Some people refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year on April, These backward people were considered “foots” by other peopk. They were often sent on “fools” errands (徒劳无益的工作)or were made the taragets of jokes.

    This developed, over time, into a tradition of playing a trick on someone on the first day of April. The tradition eventully spread to England and Scotland in the eightreenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the Britain and Francc.April Fools' Day thus developed into an  international fun feast,so to speak,with different nationalities specializing in their own kind of humor at the expense of their friends and families.

    Have you ever found yourself in this situation：You hear a song you used to sing when you were a child-a bit of nostalgia（怀旧）or "blast from the past，"as we say．But it is not a distant childhood memory．The words come back to you as clearly as when you sang them all those years ago．

    Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language．They found that remembering words in a song was the best way to remember even one of the most difficult languages．

    Here is what they did. Researchers took 60 adults and randomly divided them into three groups of 20．Then they gave the groups three different types of "listen-and-repeat" learning conditions．Researchers had one group simply speak the words．They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm，or beat．And they asked the third group to sing the words．

    All three groups studied words from the Hungarian language for 15minutes．Then they took part in a series of language tests to see what they remembered．

    Why Hungarian，you ask ? Researchers said they chose Hungarian because not many people know the language．It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages，such as Italian or Spanish．After the tests were over，the singers came out on top．The people who learned these new Hungarian words by singing them showed a higher overall performance．They did the best in four out of five of the tests．They also performed two times better than those who simply learned the words by speaking them．

    Dr．Katie Overy says singing could lead to new ways to learn a foreign language．The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy 3，or memorable 4，tune 5．

    Dr．Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages．On the University of Edinburgh's website Dr．Ludke writes，"This study provides the first experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning，and opens the door for future research in this area．"

    Recently, people in US education have gotten extremely worried because a new report has shown that American students have a math problem.

    The 2015 Program for International Student Assessment(评估)(PISA) shows math scores in the US getting lower and no improvement in science or reading. PISA tests 15-year-olds from different countries and regions in their math, science and reading skills. About 540, 000 students from 72 countries and regions took part in the assessment in 2015.

    US scores in reading and science were about the same as three years ago, leaving Americans near the middle of the bigger group. But the situation in math is much more worrying. The US average score was 470, below the OECD(经合组织)test average of 490, meaning the US was No. 40 among the 72 countries and areas. It was 12 points lower than in 2012 and 18 points lower than in 2009. So, what is going on with American students' math skills?

    One reason may be that the US does not teach math in enough depth. "Students are often good at answering the first part of a problem in the United States, "said Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at OECD. "But as soon as students have to go deeper and answer the more complicated part of a problem, they have difficulties. "In comparison, many high-performing countries and regions in math teach a lot less but focus in much greater depth,  especially when you look at East Asia, Japan and Singapore, according to Schleicher.

    Another reason may be the fact that many people in the US are unwilling to travel to foreign countries to learn better teaching practices. "One of our biggest challenges in the US is that the teachers are not going out and seeing what high-performing countries do differently, "said Wendy Kopp, who started Teach for America, in a news program.

    Despite what so many people would love to believe，NASA hasn't discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover  (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet's surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

    The thin fragment (碎片)was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA's Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris，” named for where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover's handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself，suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully，those concerns seem to have been unfound.

    In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the unusual object with a tool called the Chem Cam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器)to sniff out the makeup of anything that is pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it's actually just a very thin piece of rock.

    NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan's Chem Cam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris”(PPFOD)，and supposed to be a piece of spacecraft debris fact. In fact it was found to be a very thin slice of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight. Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

    How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris—remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn't falling apart.

    I have been passionate about sewing and fashion design since I was 12. Two years ago, I designed and made a set of outfits from recyclable materials for a charity fashion show. Through this highly meaningful and profound experience, I became sensitized to the importance of protecting and preserving our environment when designing and making fashion items, resulting in my founding an organization to promote eco-friendly design and fashion.

    My interest has led me to research areas of fashion that have environmental implications. For example, some popular clothing stores have announced merchandizing policies designed to improve the environment. For those of us who are eco-conscious, it is incumbent upon us to evaluate whether such policies are just a marketing ploy, or represent genuine efforts to protect our environment.

    Three chain-stores, H&M, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, have been promoting "green" items. After I examined their products, I have concluded that H&M and Urban Outfitters are truly helping the environment with their efforts, while Forever 21 seems to be using the 'go green' trend as a way to sell more products, rather than genuinely help the environment.

    Of these three stores, H&M has the most extensive eco-fashion plans. It is already well on its way to implementing its plans by increasingly blending organic cotton into their garments, as well as putting fully organic cotton items on the market. The store also belongs to the Organic Exchange Organization, which endorses growth of organic cotton. To reduce the substantial harm from non-organic cotton production, H&M is involved with the Better Cotton Initiative. Mindful of the adverse effects of climate change, the store aims to minimize transportation and energy usage. H&M labels their eco-friendly products with an official symbol, the Flower, to represent a production system that is less harmful than most traditional processes. Because of these actions and policies, H&M is already well on its way to making a difference on the environment.

    With its Urban Renewal brand, Urban Outfitter takes a different approach from H&M in promoting eco-friendly fashion. The brand features women's apparel made from strictly environmentally-friendly sources, such as vintage, dead stock, or surplus clothing. Urban Renewal produces fashionable garments, and embraces being eco-friendly through recycling.

    Unlike the other two stores above, Forever 21's eco-fashion efforts fall short; a cynic would say their message is downright misleading. It promotes the "'green" image, and yet many of their supposed eco-friendly products do not help the environment. For example, it sells a "Think Green Tote" that, according to the site, is meant "to send an environmentally friendly message". However, it is made of 100% non-organic cotton which is one of the most damaging fabrics to the environment, mostly because it requires greater chemical intervention compared to organic cotton. Also, the "I Love My Planet Tote" is supposed to "make a positive statement," but is also made of 100% cotton that is not organic. The only tote that is environmentally-friendly is the "H81 Organic Cotton Tote" from Forever 21's Heritage brand, made from 100% organic cotton. Now that Forever 21 has portrayed itself as being "green," it should start "walking the walk."

    A hospital has been forced to ban Pokemon Go players from the site after a monster hub(妖怪枢纽站) was found in the A&E department. Royal Stoke University Hospital discovered that its casualty unit(急诊室) is on the same spot as a Pokemon Go 'gym' —— where players can train their newly caught Nintendo creatures.

    The University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust agreed last week that patients can play Pokemon Go on wards because walking around is healthy. But the Trust has been forced to post a warning on its website about public access to A&E. It said if Pokemon Go becomes a major annoyance it would ask Nintendo—— which decides on the locations of the virtual gyms according to GPS——to have it removed from the premises(道馆).

    Kevin Parker, associate chief nurse, said, "Members of the public who do not need to be at Royal Stoke should not attempt to enter A&E or any other part of the hospital building to play the game. The A&E department is incredibly busy this summer. We want the public to understand that anybody who visits the hospital solely to play the game will provide an unwanted distraction to the important work of the hospital. I'm also aware of various reports in the media of unsafe areas that the game has been played in."

    “Royal Stoke University Hospital is a safe area where gamers can enjoy Pokemon Go." Michelle Harris, the Trust's manager, said the game could still be played by those already in hospital. "We recognize that the Pokemon Go game encourages walking and exercise, which is something that the Trust is equally keen to promote," she said.

    There are a number of "walking routes" established throughout the Trust that can be used to combine walking and playing the game. "Walking just 30 minutes, five times a week, can help reduce the risk of preventable illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease."

    There have been several warnings about the game since its UK release. Last week a group of teenagers in Wiltshire were left stranded almost 100ft underground after they got carried away searching for Pokemon Go characters. The four boys, aged 16 and 17, ended up getting lost and had to wait to get a phone signal before they could call for help. Eventually, they contacted Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue team, who took them to safety. Damien Bence, of the fire and rescue team, said: "Pokemon Go is obviously leading people into dangerous situations."