A new study, conducted by British company Mindlab International, has found that listening to music at work increases accuracy and speed, The Telegraph reported. Perhaps, some parents disagree with this idea, saying, "Switch off the music and concentrate!" Well, if that's the case with your parents, you might now be able to convince them that you have science on your side.

    The company gave 26 participants a series of different tasks for five days in a row, including spell checking, mathematical word problems, data entry, and abstract reasoning. The participants completed these tasks while listening to music or no music at all.

    The results showed that while music was playing, 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work. David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International, told The Telegraph, "Music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their emotional state... they are going to become more positive about the work."

    However, you may have a list of your favorite songs, but not all kinds of music match all homework. For maths or other subjects involving numbers or attention to detail, you should listen to classical music, the study found. In the study, pop music enabled participants to complete their tasks 58% faster than when listening to no music at all. If you are reviewing your English writing, pop music is the best choice, as it is the best kind for spell checking. It cut mistakes by 14%, compared to listening to no music. After finishing your homework, do you often take time to check your answers? Maybe, some dance music is suitable for you.

The Winner's Guide to Success

    Do you know what makes people successful? To find out the answers, an American reporter recently visited some of the most successful people around the world.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Be responsible for yourself

    Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead. In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you're giving away your own power.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Write a plan.

    It's very difficult to try to get what you want without a good plan. It's just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map”, you will enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.

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Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard—even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won't get anything valuable.

Never give up.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.

A. A good plan is like a map to you.

B. It seems to us that everyone knows this, but it is easier said than done.

C. Some people achieve success much later in life because they don't work hard earlier.

D. You're saying, "You have more control over my life than I do."

E. Someone else's opinions of you don't have to become your reality.

F. Be willing to pay the price.

G. Here are some keys to success that they give.

    Scientists have found that human eyes are more likely to be damaged by UV rays (紫外线) while skiing in the snow-covered areas than sitting on the beach, according to a report by the UK newspaper The Telegraph.

    The researchers at Kanazawa Medical University, Japan and American company Johnson conducted the study together. They looked at the effects of light reflection on newly fallen snow on a ski trail (a rough path) in Ishikawa District, northern Japan. They compared the results with the levels of UV rays on a sand beach in southern Japan's Okinawa District They found that on the beach, eyes are exposed to a daily 260 kilojoules (千焦耳) of UV a square meter compared to 658 kilojoules in snow-covered areas. The findings are supported by the Japan Meteorological Agency. According to the agency, the reflection rate of UV light on beaches is often between 10 and 25 percent, compared to 80 percent in lie new snow areas. The amount of light increased 4 percent with a 300-meter rise in height.

    Most of us know that UV rays can harm the skin. That's why we wear sunscreen on our skin before we get out in the suit. But many of us may not realize that UV rays are also harmful to the eyes.

    If your eyes are exposed to large amounts of UV radiation over a short period of time. You may experience a kind of sunburn of the eye, which is harmful. Your eyes will become red and feel a strange feeling. They may be sensitive to light. Fortunately, this is usually temporary and seldom causes permanent damage to the eyes.

    Long-term exposure to UV radiation, however, can be more serious. Scientific studies and researches have shown that exposure to small amounts of UV radiation over a period of many years increases chance of eye damage, which could lead to total blindness.

    When it comes to generation gap (代沟), we usually think of different tastes in music, or pastimes. But now the generation gap is handwriting. After one teacher in Tennessee discovered that she had students who couldn't read what she was writing on the board, she posted it on the Internet saying that handwriting should be taught in schools.

    Others who are against it claim that handwriting has become out of time in our modern world. Typed words have become a main form of communication. Once a practical skill, handwriting is no longer used by most of Americans. It is no longer taught in schools, and some claim that the time that it would take to teach it could be put to better use, for example, by teaching the technical skills.

    But even in today's world there are still plenty of reasons to pick up a pen and write on the paper. In America, signatures (签字) by hand are still often required, for example, signing for a registered letter and buying a house. And original signatures are much more difficult to fake (伪造).

    There is also strong evidence that writing by hand is good for the mind. It makes a different part of the brain active and improves fine moving skills in young children. People are also more likely to remember what they write by hand than what they type, and the process of writing by hand has been shown to stimulate ideas. Not only those, studies have shown that kids who write by hand learn to read and spell earlier than those who don't.

    Yes, we live in a modern world, but we live in a modern world of basic and important values.

    One day a little boy, annoyed by his father's decision for him to become a grocer, decides that he will never grow up. Grocery is a dull job and staying a child is his protest against it. This strange little boy-man, never separated from a tin drum he is always banging, is our hero of the table. It covers three crucial decades of 20th century history. Little Oscar Matzerath will experience love, war and imprisonment in a story that paints an unforgettable picture of Central Europe between 1923 and 1954.

    This is an overview of the story of The Tin Drum, the most famous work by the German Nobel-winning author Günter Grass, who passed away on April 13 at the age of 87. The Tin Drum also established Grass as one of the leading authors of Germany. It also set a high bar of comparison for all of his following works. Just as his best-known fiction is both the story of an individual and of an age, so it is that Grass' life cannot be understood without referring to the history of Germany. He was called "Germany's conscience", because he reminded Germans of a past during the Second World War (1933-1945) that many would have rather forgotten.

    This sometimes made him unpopular. Many Germans did not agree in 1989 when he said that East Germany and West Germany should remain separate, as a united country would be too strong and threaten the world's peace. And Grass was called a hypocrite when he revealed in his memoir

    Peeling the Onion (2006) that he had been a teenage member of the Waffen-SS, the Nazi (纳粹) Party's fighting force. The man who had blamed the actions of others had a less-than-perfect record himself.

    Grass was a man of the pen and the page and also a man with a gift for speaking to the public.

    His writing was noisy and annoying, but one had to listen to it, a little like the sound of the drum banged by his most famous literary creation.

    Everything about nuclear energy seems terrifically big: the cost, construction and decommissioning—and the fears of something going badly wrong.

    The future, however may well be much smaller. Dozens of companies are working on a new generation of reactors that, they promise, can deliver nuclear power at lower cost and reduced risk.

    These small-scale plants will on average generate between 50MW and 300MW of power compared with the 1,000MW-plus from a conventional reactor. They will draw on modular manufacturing techniques that will reduce construction risk, which has plagued larger-scale projects. Supporters believe these advanced modular reactors (AMRs)—most of which will not be commercial until the 2030s—are critical if atomic power is to compete against the rapidly falling costs of solar and wind.

    "The physics hasn't changed. It's about much cleverer design that offers much-needed flexibility in terms of operation," said Tim Stone, long-term industry adviser and chairman of Nuclear risk Insurers, which insures nuclear sites in the UK.

    Since the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in 2011, safety fears have threatened nuclear power. But the biggest obstacle today is economic. In western Europe, just three plants are under construction: in the UK at Hinkley point in Somerset; at Flamanville in France; and at Olkiluoto in Finland. All involve the European Pressurized Reactor technology of EDF that will be used at Hinkley Point. All are running years late and over budget. In the US, the first two nuclear projects under way for the past 30 years are also blowing through cost estimates.

    The UK, which opened the world's first commercial nuclear reactor in 1956, is one of the few western nations committed to renewing its ageing fleet to ensure energy security and meet tough carbon reduction targets. It is seen as a proving ground, by many in the industry, of nuclear power's ability to restore confidence.

    However, the country's agreement with EDF to build two units at Hinkley Point—which together will generate 3.2GW of electricity—has come under severe criticism over its cost. The government is looking at different funding models but said it still sees nuclear power as vital to the country's future energy mix. Small reactors, it believes, have the potential to generate much-needed power from the 2030s.

    A nuclear sector deal, unveiled last month, promised up to ￡56m in funding for research and development into AMRs and attracted interest of start-ups from around the world. The government hopes the funding will give the UK a lead in the global race to develop these technologies, helping to provide energy security while also creating a multibillion-dollar export market for British engineering companies.