I once had a friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the news that he might only live up to six months was a great shock to him, his family, and his friends. However, in spite of the serious illness, he was initially determined to look into all available treatments that might cure or extend his life. I think that when you find yourself in such situations, you tend to look up every possible way for hope of saving your life.

    As months went on and his health grew worse, I noticed an unexpected change in attitude that came over him. He had also been a happy person with a cheerful personality, but rather than give in to discouragement and self－pity, he took comfort in God and humanity. His talks focused on others rather than himself, and he spoke of the afterlife as something he was prepared for, believing that his concerned ancestors, including his mother and father, were there waiting for him.

    During the last few months, weeks, and days of his life, he was kindly cared for by family, friends, his loving wife, who looked after both his physical and emotional needs, and workers from a local hospice (安养院) came to the home to regulate his medication and provide any other needed support. He didn't complain about his fate, and he willingly allowed others to serve him.

    Indeed, one might think why God allows death and suffering in our world, but for me, such experiences taught me to value family more and kindness for others. You often can't learn these important attributes in the lap of luxury, and perhaps, such an experience is the greatest and final gift the illness can give those left behind.

It seems the more time we have, the longer we put off living the life we see in our heads, because we feel like we've got some time to kill.

I know where you think I'm going with this, and I also know you've heard it all before: seize the day, make the most of it, live life to its fullest, and so on. But that's the problem. You've heard it all before. These ideas have their impact and have become a cliché. Luckily, that's not my thing.

The real answers wake something up inside you. They make you think. That's what I want to give you today, the story of Bobby Darin, which wakes you up to the truth.

If you haven't heard of the man, I know you've heard his songs. Among his many hits are Mack the Knife, Beyond the Sea, Dream Lover, and Splish Splash.

    If seven years, Darin had several top ten hit songs, was nominated(提名) for four Grammy Awards (winning two), nominated for four Golden Globes (winning one), and even nominated for an Oscar.

    So what was his secret?

All his life, Darin had a heart condition that developed from a childhood illness. The doctors at the time said he would be lucky to live to 16. In other words, his time was limited. And this was secret. He knew the truth. He knew that we all have such a hard time accepting: Life is short. You can't just say it; you can't just hear it. You have to know it, believe it, and feel it. Because Darin knew his time was limited, he packed as much life as he could into the time he had. But he had an unfair advantage. He knew, without a doubt, his time was limited.

    There was no fooling himself, no putting it off. It was now or never.

Things to Do in Atlanta This Weekend

    Start the year off by experiencing something new this weekend! Here are our favorite events picked for this weekend.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra at Spivey Hall, Saturday

    The music of Glenn Miller has an unusual sound. Combine that with the perfect sound affects at Spivey Hall, and you get a concert that is sure to have your toes tapping. And really, who doesn't love Challanooga Choo Choo?

Garden Lights at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Saturday

    This is the last night for this annual light show at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It is particularly unusual that the magical sound of frogs in the conservatory(温室) is not from a recording. That magic is coming from the real frogs that live there. If it's no too crowded, stop along the way, close your eyes and just listen.

    Children's Workshop: Egyptian Hieroglyphs(象形文字), Saturday

   Does your child dream of becoming a historian when he grows up? If you answer “yes”, you will want to take him to the Michael C. Carlos Museum. Participants will learn how to read and write ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs from Egyptologist Annie Shanley. Children will have an opportunity to discover the meaning of hieroglyphs on tomb reliefs and statues.

Colin Mochrie at Dad's Garage Theatre, Saturday and Sunday

    Set the tone for a great 2017 with laughter. Colin Mochrie comes to Dad's Garage Theatre and brings his lightning-quick creativity and humor.

    If you want to look at all the events happening this weekend, check out our full events calendar.

    Before the invention of hair dryer,vacuum cleaners were being used for the purpose of drying and styling hair. The early vacuum cleaners could draw in air as well as blowing air.So,towards the end of the 19^th century,women used to dry their hair by using a vacuum cleaner.

    In 1890,a French salon owner Alexander F.Godefroy invented the first hair dryer.It blew warm air.However,it was not widely used,mainly because of its large size.

    The first convenient hand-held hair dryer used at home came up in 1920.It weighed over 2 lbs.However,it only produced 100 watts of power,which was not enough to dry the hair.After almost ten years came the gas-heated dryers that were widely used in barber shops.However,these dryers produced heat that was harmful to hair and the air from them made people sick,so they were soon gone.

    Around the 1940s and 1950s,the helmet（头盔）style electric dryers came into being.Curly hairstyles were popular during that time.Therefore,women used curlers and sat under the dryers to set their curls.Later,the curly style began to drop,and so did the popularity of the helmet style electric dryer.

    In the late 1950s,the first workable hair dryer was made.It had a hand-held dryer.It used only 300-400 watts. Ever since the 1950s,hand-held dryers have experienced many changes,in order to become quieter,lighter and smaller.However,how it works largely remains the same.The modem technology has made improvements to the hair dryer,reducing the heat damage to a person's hair.For producing shinier,smoother and healthier hair,dryers have been included with negative ion（负离子）technology that dries hair faster and with less heat.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项 （A 、B 、C  和 D ）中，选出最佳选项。

    The ancient city of Xi'an in China holds many treasures. And last month, archaeologists working there made an important discovery—a buried palace built in the third century B.C. to honor China's first emperor.

    The entire palace measures roughly 2,260 feet long by 820 feet wide. It includes 10 courtyard houses and one main building. Archaeologists found bricks and pieces of pottery at the site of the palace, as well as the remains of walls and roads.

    The palace is part of the massive burial complex of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi. He conquered seven warring kingdoms and united ancient China in 211 B.C.

    Qin Shihuangdi wanted his legacy, or accomplishments, to be remembered forever. So he hired more than 700,000 workers to build his funeral complex in Xi'an. It represents a miniature version of his vast kingdom.

    The complex also includes the world-famous terra-cotta army, a collection of more than 8,000 life-size clay statues. These sculptures represent soldiers, acrobats, and horses from the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-206 B.C.). Scientists have not yet found all these terra-cotta warriors, even though they discovered more of the statues last summer.

    Farmers discovered the complex by accident in 1974. Since then, scientists studying the site have learned a great deal about life in ancient China. But much of the emperor's tomb has yet to be dug up, or unearthed. Many of the artifacts (objects from the past) are so old that scientists cannot preserve them.

    "Archaeologists fully acknowledge that nobody in the world has the technology (to safely dig up Xi'an's treasures) yet," explains Kristin Romey, an expert on Chinese archaeology.

    But as technology improves, archaeologists will keep digging to uncover the rest of the wonders that still lie buried in Xi'an.

    "It's one of the most important archaeological discoveries that's waiting to be made," says Romey, "and we know where it is."

    In the latest romance-drama, Descendants of the Sun (《太阳的后裔》), a handsome soldier Yoo Shi-jin（柳时镇） (Song Joong-ki)(宋仲基) meets the pretty doctor Kang Mo-yeon（姜暮烟） (Song Hye-kyo)（宋慧乔） in a hospital, and he doesn't hesitate to hit on her.

    The dialogue, which takes place early in the first episode( 集）, immediately indicates that this is no ordinary South Korean drama. There's no family feud （不睦）, or love tangles, or guesses and misunderstandings. The 16-episode show is set in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk （乌鲁克）. Song Joong-ki is the leader of a special warfare command unit, while Song Hye-kyo plays a doctor who works for a humanitarian medical organization. Both are sent in the midst of disaster and disease as part of their work with UN peacekeeping troops. Both know and show clearly what they want and what they hate.

    But what stands out the most are Song's skills as a pick-up artist（撩妹技能）.

    Boldness and creativity are the key weapons in his arsenal. When Kang invites Yoo to drink wine with her, Yoo, who is not allowed to drink alcohol as a soldier, says, “There is a way” before kissing her. Forget about the “eighth-episode rule”. This kiss happens in the fourth.

    Humor also does the trick. On their first date in a cinema, Yoo says, “This is the most exciting moment of my life. The moment I am with a beautiful woman before the theater lights go out.” When Kang tries to give Yoo a hard time, Yoo jokes, “I mistook you for a beautiful woman because it's dark.”

    And actor Song Joong-ki, who just came back from two years of military service last May, makes sure he delivers his pick-up lines just right.

    “In Deep Rooted Tree (《树大根深》) and The Innocent Man (《善良的男人》), he [Song Joong-ki] showed he had the steel to play fearless and heartless men – that he could be taken seriously as an actor, despite his pretty face. In Descendants, he hits the emotional core of every scene, whether he has to be bold and amorous, guarded and mysterious, or sad,” said critic Foong Woei Wan in The Straits Times.