When it was announced that Patrick Modiano had won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Oct.9, the Swedish Academy had not yet managed to reach the writer himself to tell him the news. as the Telegraph put it, “It was a curious case of missing personhood in an author whose career had been spent in searching others, within the confines (界限) of a single city.”

    Though the 69-year-old French author has had a successful writing career, only six of his books have been translated into English. One reason for this might be that “Modiano's storylines are as slim as the books themselves”, said the BBC.

    While most of Modiano's works don't run for hundreds of pages, they explore serious subjects. The author's signature themes are Germany's occupation during World War II and the evolution of Paris over the past century.

    Modiano's life has been greatly affected by Nazi Germany's occupation during the war, and his family's connections to it. According to New York-based newspaper Forward, his father survived the war dishonorably. When Paris's Jews were rounded up for deportation(驱逐)to concentration camps, the businessman did not join them but spent the time making money from deals with Nazis on the black market.

    “The novelist has a duty to record the traces of the people who were made to disappear,” French writer Clemence Boulouque, also an expert in Jewish Studies, told The New York magazine.

    In his more than three dozen novels, Modiano has returned again and to the same themes: Jewishness, the Nazi occupation, and loss of identity.

    Paris is another recurring(重复的)theme in Modiano's works .Most of his novels are set in the city , from the rich parts of downtown Paris to more remote suburbs where the characters try to live anonymous protect lives.

    Anne Ghisoli, the director of  Librairie Gallimard, a bookstore in Paris, concluded, “Modiano is a master of writing on memory and occupation, which haunt(萦绕)and inform his works. He is a chronicler(年代记录者)of  Paris ,its streets, and its present.”

    A speech is a wonderful opportunity to inform,persuade or entertain.The best speeches often take on a combination of all three of these components（组成部分）.However,before you can go about the writing of a great speech,it is important to set goals.Goals keep you,your speech and your audience focused.

What a goal is

    In the context of a speech,a goal is the purpose of the speech,and what it hopes to accomplish.For example,the goal of a eulogy（颂歌）might be to celebrate the life of a loved one.The goal of a speech at a political gathering would be to inform the crowd about the political position of a candidate and persuade them to vote and campaign for the candidate in question.

    Why a goal is important

    Without a goal,a speech is without direction.The goal informs the structure and content of the speech.For example,if a speech's goal is to convince people that smoking is bad for them,the speech will be structured with persuasive arguments to back up the goal.A speech with a goal of informing audience will keep the information fair and factual.

    A goal is incredibly important to the speech's ability to connect with an audience.If the speaker is unaware of the goal of the speech,the audience will likely be unaware as well.This severely reduces the effectiveness of the message.

    Besides informing the audience of the content and structure,a speech's goal drives the speaker to greater heights. If a speaker is asked to speak on a specific subject but never establishes the goal,they won't know where to start in the research,organizing and writing of the speech.

    If you have been charged with delivering a speech,establishing a goal can seem difficult at first.There are several things to take into consideration.First,think about who you will be speaking to.The demographic（人口统计）of your audience will likely determine whether you will be able to persuade them or whether they will be able to sit through（一直坐到……结束）.Second,think about the topic itself.If the topic is something controversial（有争议的）,it may worth your while to consider an informative approach to present both sides of the issue.Finally,consider your resources.A speech with an informative or persuasive goal usually requires a great deal of research,and sometimes takes more time to write.

    HandEnergy is an ingenious apple-sized device that charges your phone anytime, anywhere. But what really makes this thing special is the fact that it uses your own personal energy to do it.

    In a time where power-banks and solar-power devices have become mainstream, a device that lets you charge gadgets on the go doesn't sound very special. But while power-banks have to be charged the old fashioned way, and solar panels need the sun to store energy.

    Hand Energy just needs a hand. To get this little guy to produce energy, which it then stores in built-in batteries, all you have to do is hold it in your hand and rotate your wrists.

    To use Hand Energy, users start by winding a starter ring. This transmits a signal to activate the rotor, at which point they can start rotating their wrists to keep the rotor spinning. It might sound hard to believe, but the rotor inside Hand Energy spins at an average speed of 5,000 rotations per minute, transmitting mechanical power to create an electric current, and charging the built-in batteries. To charge a device, all you have to do is hook it up to HandEnergy using a USB cable.

    Hand Energy was successfully crowd funded on Kickstarter, raising over $71,000 in one month, and will be available for the masses in May 2017, at a price of 99 euros. One thing is for sure – it beats paying thousands of dollars on a solar-powered gadget-charging coat.

    For years I wanted a flower garden. But then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was limited, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know.”

Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden. I wasn't sure, though, I mean, gardens do cost money.

Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by. I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches.

    There was a money tree in my yard !It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. There was also a note attached: “IOU eight hours of digging time. Love. Marvin.”

    Marvin kept his promise, too. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed for me. And my other children bought me tools, ornaments, a trellis, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.

That was three years ago. My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted. When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they are right there with me. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes every time.

I'm still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

    It was with heavy hearts that my son and I worked to prepare his car for a milestone journey—the day he moved across the country after twenty years of living under my roof．

    Our work went slowly into the afternoon．The Sunday baseball game came on．Our hometown Cardinals were playing the Atlanta Braves．I overheard bits of the TV broadcast—Atlanta took a two-run lead as we were packing the trunk．After that I became absorbed in glum thoughts about his departure and forgot about the game．Suddenly I heard the door open．“Dad，”he said，“let's watch the game．They're only down by a run．”

    His red-colored eyes instantly told me that he，too，found this to be difficult and wanted to share one last father-son moment．Without hesitation I led the way to the TV set．There，we found the Cards losing 3—1．“Oh，”he said，“they're down two runs．”His voice cracked with doubt．“I thought they were coming back．”“That's fine，”I said，wanting so much to string this moment．“Let's watch anyway．”

    The Cards got to bat last．First a single，and then another．Suddenly the game became very interesting．When David Eckstein parked the third pitch(投球)into the seats，we were transformed，jumping up and down．That's when the magic moment came．The sadness of that day was replaced by the exciting baseball game，something we had done many times together before．

    Then he left．It was a sad day when I helped my son pack and get ready to move away to college．But this moment of joy mixed with sadness made the day，the trip and our life seem so right．

The Domestication （驯化）of Cats

    For centuries, the common view of how domestication had occurred was that prehistoric people, realizing how useful it would be to have animals kept for food, began catching wild animals and breeding （繁殖）them. Over time, by allowing only animals with "tame"（驯养）characteristics to produce their babies, human beings created animals that were less wild and more dependent upon people. Eventually this process led to the domestic farm animals and pets that we know today, having lost their ancient survival skills and natural abilities.

    Recent research suggests that this view of domestication is incomplete. Prehistoric human beings did catch and breed useful wild animals, but specialists in animal behavior now think that domestication was not simply something people did to animals—the animals played an active part in the process. Wolves and wild horses, for example, may have taken the first steps in their own domestication by hanging around human settlements, feeding on people's crops and getting used to human activity. The animals which were not too nervous or fearful to live near people produced their babies that also tolerated humans, making it easier for people to catch and breed them.

    In this version, people succeededin domesticating only animals that had already adapted easily to life around humans. Domestication required an animal that was willing to become domestic. The process was more like a dance with partners than a victory of humans over animals.

    At first glance, the laming of cats seems to fit nicely into this new story of domestication. A traditional theory says that after prehistoric people in Egypt invented agriculture and started farming, rats and mice gathered to feast on their stored grain. Wildcats, in tum, gathered at the same places to hunt and eat the rats and mice. Over time, cats got used to people and people got used to cats. Some studies of wildcats, however, seem to call this theory into question. Wildcats don't share hunting and feeding areas, and they don't live close to people. Experts do not know whether wildcats were partners in their own domestication. They do know that long after people had acquired domestic dogs, sheep and horses, they somehow acquired domestic cats. Gradually they produced animals with increasingly tame qualities.