It was an oral English class and in front of us was standing our teacher Lila Betray, who was a university student from the US. Somehow we came to the point whether any of us could sing an English pop song in front of the class. You know, maybe three or more out of ten Chinese students are shy in class. As a result, there was silence in class for quite a while, which made everybody feel rather embarrassed (尴尬的), including the teacher.

    I was a shy boy. However, just at that moment, a great idea struck me suddenly. “Seize the enjoyment! Seize the chance. Yes, there couldn't be a better chance.” I said to myself. “Why not seize it? Why should I have always to be the guy regretting missing the opportunity just because of shyness? Yes, maybe I should have a try!”

    So, I raised my hand. And I remember that it took me quite a while to think what the song's name was. Though I sang no more than five sentences because of forgetting the lyrics (歌词), their clapping hands told me that I did the job well. Later, I got a gift and I was really happy.

    I think that is one of the most unforgettable moments in my life. Through this experience, I've also got to know that we should believe that we can do the job well, no matter how difficult it seems for us. Just have a little more courage.

    Life-Changing Science Discoveries

    Here's a look at some discoveries that have changed the world. It's impossible to rank their importance, so they're listed in the order they were discovered

Micro-organism

    Before French chemist Louis Pasteur began experimenting with bacteria in the 1860s, people did not know what caused disease. He not only discovered that disease came from micro-organisms, but also realized that bacteria could be killed by heat and disinfectant(消毒剂). This idea caused doctors to wash their hands and disinfect their instruments, which has saved millions of lives.

Penicillin

    Antibiotics are powerful drugs that kill dangerous bacteria in our bodies that make us sick. In 1928, British Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, which he grew in his lab. Without antibiotics, infections like strep throat could be deadly

DNA

    On February 28, 1853, James Watson of the United States and Francis Crick of England made one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history. The two scientists found the structure of DNA. Our genes are made of DNA and determine how things like what color hair and eye we'll have. In 1962, they were awarded the Nobel Prize for this work . The discovery has helped doctors understand diseases and may someday prevent some illnesses like heart disease and cancer.

X-rays

    Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physicist, discovered X-rays in 1895. X-rays go right through some substances, like flesh and wood, but are stopped by others, such as bones and lead. This allows them to be used to see broken bones or explosives inside suitcases, which makes them useful for doctors and security officers. For this discovery, Roentgen was awarded the first-ever Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

    What would you say if we told you that you could learn to speak a new language in only 7 days? Pretty unbelievable right? But how could it be? To find out,we spoke to David-one of our brave Babbel learners—to see how the Babbel app successfully got him speaking Norwegian(挪威语)in just one week.

How much time did you learn each day?

    I didn't need to give my entire life over to learning Norwegian. Each Babbel lesson takes only 15 minutes, and I set myself the achievable aim of finishing three Babbel lessons daily.This took only 45minutes each day.

How did the Babbel app help you learn so quickly?

    The Babbel app has a course plan for beginners that taught me how to make sentences in Norwegian within the first few days. Then I was able to personalize my learning by selecting single-topic lessons on eating, drinking, music, culture, traveling and so on. This allowed me to quickly enlarge my vocabulary!

    This way of learning kept me highly active,and made sure I wasn't bored to tears with grammar practice that we all remember from school!

    “After 7 days I was able to introduce myself in Norwegian,talk about my hobbies and interests, and most importantly,communicating with a native Norwegian speaker in a real conversation and I could even play a joke or two!”

    Would you introduce this app to others?

    Certainly! Babbel has 14 languages to choose from so if you're thinking about brushing up on your German for a business trip, or learning a bit of Portuguese (葡萄牙语) for next year's summer vacation, you'll be happy to hear that you only need an app, 7 days of learning to get you conversational.

Cure for tiredness?

    Staying up late is a potential battle between parents and kids. But the solution could be as simple as changing your meal time.

    Researchers at the University of Surry, UK, found that delaying meals could help change one of the internal body clocks. Besides a “master” clock in the brain, there are clocks in other parts of the body. They are usually synchronized according to factors including light.

During the study, researchers tested 10 participants to examine the effect of changing meal times on their body clocks. The participants were given three meals —breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the first stage, participants received breakfast 30 minutes after waking. Lunch and dinner followed, after 5-hour intervals. In the second stage, each meal was delayed by 5 hours. Right after each stage, blood and fat samples were collected.

    Results showed that later meal times greatly influenced blood sugar levels. A 5-hour delay in meal times caused a 5-hour delay in the internal blood sugar rhythms.

    The discovery showed that meal times are in line with the body clock that controls blood sugar levels.

    This is a small study but the researchers believe the findings could help jet lag sufferers and night-shift workers.

    In a study by the University of Surrey in 2013, researchers explored what happened when a person's body was changed from a normal pattern to that of a night-shift worker's.

    After people work through the night, over 97 percent of the body's rhythmic genes are disrupted（扰乱，使混乱）.

    These findings explain why we feel so bad following a long flight, or after working at night, according to Simon Archer, one of the study's researchers.

    “It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household,” fellow researcher DerkJan Dijk told the BBC.

Changing meal times didn't affect the “master” body clock — the one controlling when we get sleepy — but it can reset the body clock that controls blood sugar levels. This wouldn't necessarily cure jet lag completely, but it might reduce the negative effects.

A study published earlier this year suggested that just a weekend camping trip could be enough to reset our body clocks. And now this latest research shows regular food schedules could play a key part too.

    What makes a building ugly? Everyone's got their own opinion, so it's hard to say. Now, let's take a look at some of the world's worst buildings.

    The Torre Velasca

    The Tone Velasca in Milan is in the centre of Milan (Italy). The tower, which went up in the 1950s, is about 100 metres tall. Its design is actually a modern representation of a traditional Lombard castle, where the lower parts were narrower (狭窄的）than the upper parts.

    The Mirador Building

    The Mirador Building in Madrid (Spain) was created by Dutch studio MVRDV and the Spanish architect Blanca Lleo. The building, which is a block of flats, opened in 2005. There is a large rectangular (矩形的）hole in the upper part of it, which is used by the neighbourhood as a meeting area and playground.

    The Prague TV Tower

    The Prague TV Tower is in Prague (the capital of the Czech Republic). It stands 216 metres high and looks a bit like a tall, thin space ship. Prague is famous for its architectural beauty,so when the tower was put up in 1985 by architect Vaclav Aulicky and engineer Jiri Kozak, many felt it didn't fit in.

    The Longaberger Basket Company

    The Longaberger Basket Company building is in Newark, Ohio (USA). The office block was opened in 1997 and looks like a very large basket. It，s got seven floors and two handles at the top. The handles weigh about 150 tons. It may not be the ugliest building in the world but it's certainly one of the most unusual.

    What's fiercer than a lion? The honey badger (蜜獾), one of the toughest mammals in Africa and western Asia. Honey badgers stand less than a foot high. They are only a couple feet long. They weigh just over 20 pounds. Yet they have a reputation for toughness that is far greater than their size.

    So what makes the honey badger so tough? They have speed, but so do many animals. They aren't stronger than lions, so how do they stop them? The thing that sets the honey badge apart is their skin. Their skin is thick and tough. Arrows, spears, and bites from other animals can rarely go through it. Not only is their skin thick and tough, it is also loose. This allows them to twist and turn to fight back while another animal is attacking them.

    Honey badgers have long, sharp claws. These claws are good for attacking and even better for digging. Honey badgers are some of nature's most skilled diggers. They can dig a nine-foot tunnel into hard ground in about 10 minutes. They love to catch a meal by digging up the holes of frogs and snakes. They also use their digging skills to create their homes. They live in small holes in the ground and defend them fiercely.

    You don't get a reputation like the honey badger by running from danger. The honey badger is a fearless and tireless fighter. They will attack any creature that threatens them, man included. Because of the honey badger's reputation, most predators (食肉动物) avoid them. Some animals use the honey badger's reputation to their advantage. Adult cheetahs (猎豹) have spotted coats, but their kittens have silver manes (鬃毛) and look like honey badgers. Some scientists believe that their coloring tricks predators into avoiding them.

    You might be wondering: "If honey badgers are so tough, how did they get a name that makes them sound like a piece of candy?" The answer makes sense. Since honey badgers have such thick skin, bees rarely harm them. So honey badgers love to attack beehives(蜂窝). Honey badgers run after honey so aggressively that beekeepers in Africa have to use electric fencing to hold them back. There's nothing sweet about that.