Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.

    Born in September, 1987, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies' two daughters. Along with nine other children the parents of whom were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sévigné in Paris.

    Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities (设备) to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgium. Her services were recognised in the form of a Military's Medal by the French government.

    In 1918, Irene became her mother's assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.

    Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity (辐射能). Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia on March 17, 1956.

    Ownership used to be about as straightforward as writing a cheque. If you bought something, you owned it. If it broke, you fixed it. If you no longer wanted it, you sold it or threw it away. In the digital age, however, ownership has become more slippery. Since the coming of smartphones, consumers have been forced to accept that they do not control the software in their devices; they are only licensed to use it. As a digital chain is wrapped ever more tightly around more devices, such as cars and thermostats, who owns and who controls which objects is becoming a problem. Buyers should be aware that some of their most basic property rights are under threat.

    The trend is not always harmful. Manufacturers seeking to restrict what owners do with increasingly complex technology have good reasons to protect their copyright, ensure that their machines do not break down, support environmental standards and prevent hacking. Sometimes companies use their control over a product's software for the owners' benefit. When Hurricane Irma hit Florida this month, Tesla remotely updated the software controlling the batteries of some models to give owners more range to escape the storm.

    But the more digital strings are attached to goods, the more the balance of control leans towards producers and away from owners. That can be inconvenient. Picking a car is hard enough, but harder still if you have to dig up the instructions that tell you how use is limited and what data you must give. If the products are intentionally designed not to last long, it can also be expensive. Already, items from smartphones to washing machines have become extremely hard to fix, meaning that they are thrown away instead of being repaired.

    Privacy is also at risk. Users become terrified when iRobot, a robotic vacuum cleaner, not only cleans the floor but also creates a digital map of the inside of a home that can then be sold to advertisers (though the manufacturer says it has no intention of doing so). Cases like this should remind people how jealously they ought to protect their property rights and control who uses the data that is collected.

    Ownership is not about to go away, but its meaning is changing. This requires careful inspection. Devices, by and large, are sold on the basis that they enable people to do what they want. To the extent they are controlled by somebody else, that freedom is compromised.

How Important Is Fashion?

    Is looking fashionable more important than being comfortable? Many people seem to think so, judging by the things they wear. But fashion is not everything. It is more important to be a healthy and good person.

    People go to great lengths to be fashionable. Some people think they have to have a certain body type, so they go on extreme, unhealthy diets in order to change their bodies. In addition, many women wear uncomfortable fashions, such as high-heeled shoes that create blisters（水泡）, tight body shapers that limit blood flow, and sticky false eyelashes. Men and women alike spend time and money on products that change their natural hair color and use hot irons and blow dryers to curl or straighten their hair. Some people spend several hours a day in front of a mirror. Is fashion important enough to spend so much time and effort on changing how you look like?

    If the purpose of fashion is to make a person feel good, it does not make sense that he or she would go through so much discomfort to be fashionable. Fashion should not come first. People should prioritize（优先考虑）being healthy and positive. What people wear does not indicate anything about their personalities. Instead of spending hours choosing a suit, perhaps you should call your friends and do something together! Instead of going on strict diets and starving, why not eat some healthy foods and then exercise? By doing these things, you can keep a healthy lifestyle and truly grow as a person.

    The next time your brain refuses to recall a simple fact or name, be thankful. That could be a sign that your brain is getting rid of unnecessary information so that it can operate more efficiently, and help you make better decisions.

The researchers say there are numerous neurobiological(神经生物学的)studies conducted on how the brain stores information, a process called persistence (暂留). However, scientists also assumed that our occasional inability to recall facts was due to a are an the brain. In 2013, scientists discovered that as new neurons combine with the hippocampus(海马区)—a region of the brain that plays a significant role in learning and remembering—they overwrite old memories, making them harder to access. There is also evidence that the brain weakens or removes connections between neurons, in which memories are encoded.

    The scientists have a theory on why the brain spends so much energy erasing memories. They say what the brain decides to forget is determined by our daily life. An example is that our brains remember phone numbers according to the need. Instead of storing this irrelevant information that our phones can store for us, our brains are freed up to store the memories that actually do matter for us. They also believe that memorizing too much detail could prevent us from making good decisions.

    So the next time you are unable to recall a seemingly important fact, don't be hard on yourself. Just throw it to your brain's “rubbish can” to make room for information that can contribute to making you smarter! Remember, even Albert Einstein was absent-minded!

    Language learning apps are very popular now and offer opportunities to learn vocabulary and practice grammar. But there has been a discussion about just how effective such apps can be.

    Among the most popular apps are Duolingo and Busuu. A previous research found positive results on the use of them. But it mainly concentrated on studies with learners who had signed up to language courses and these apps worked as an after-class support, so the results were not always reliable. A recent study of 4,095 Busuu users has been carried out aimed to find out if users can actually learn a language with an app.

    Busuu provides learning materials for 12 different languages. It offers special model where some content is available for free while some content is not. We find that its users are an even mix of men and women. More than half consider themselves to be at the beginner level as there is a decrease in users as their language levels go up. Most people use the app because of personal interest, or because they want to study or live abroad. Female users tend to use it less often but for longer periods of time than male users.

    Getting any feedback on Busuu depends on whether your answer is correct or not. While it is helpful, this is not the sort of feedback language teachers prefer, as it does not explain why the answer is right or wrong. In spite of this, feedback in the app is very highly rated.

    More than 92% of respondents state that the app has met their expectations and 86% rate the app as very good or good. In fact, more than 80% of the users surveyed strongly agree that using the app has helped them improve their knowledge of the language they are learning.

    Besides, language learning apps also create an environment where mistakes are only known to the users, and this can address the performance anxiety that many learners suffer from when asked to speak a foreign language. So language teachers should encourage their students to use them to do the grammar work, leaving precious class time for more language communication.

The Greatest show on Earth

    The Olympic Games are the greatest festival of sports in the world. Every four years, many countries send their best sportsmen to compete for the highest honour in sport. As many as 6, 000 people take part in over 20 sports. For the winners, there are gold medals and glory. But there is honour, too, for all who compete, win or lose. That is in the spirit of the Olympics—to take part is what matters.

    The Olympic Games always start in a bright colour and action. The teams of all the nations parade in the opening ceremony and march round the track. The custom is for the Greek team to march in first, for it was in Greece that the Olympics began. The team of the country where the Games are being held—the host country—marches in last.

    The runner with the Olympic torch (火炬) then enters the stadium and lights the flame. A sportsman from the host country takes the Olympic oath (宣誓) on behalf of all the competitors. The judges and officials also take an oath. After the sportsmen march out of the stadium, the host country puts on a wonderful display.

    The competitions begin the next day. There are usually more than twenty sports in the Games. The rule is that there must be at least fifteen. The main events are in track and field, but there are a few days before these sports start. Each day the competitors take part in different sports, like riding, shooting, swimming, and cross-country running. Points are gained for each event. Medals are awarded for the individual winners and for national teams.

    More and more women are taking part in the Games. They first competed in 1900, in tennis and golf. Women's swimming events were introduced in 1912. But it was not until 1928 that there were any track and field events for women. Now they compete in all but half a dozen of the sports. In horse riding, shooting, and boat racing, they may compete in the same events as men.