As a boy, Charles Robert Darwin(达尔文) collected anything that caught his interest: insects, coins and interesting stones. He was not very clever, but Darwin was good at doing the things that interested him.

    His father was a doctor, so Darwin was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, and was planned to follow a medical career. But Charles found the lectures boring. Then his father sent him to Cambridge University to study to be a priest. While at Cambridge, Darwin's interest in zoology and geography grew. Later he got a letter from Robert FitzRoy who was planning to make a voyage around the world on a ship, the Beagle. He wanted a naturalist to join the ship, and Darwin was recommended(推荐). That voyage was the start of Darwin's great life.

    As the Beagle sailed around the world, Darwin began to wonder how life had developed on earth. He began to observe everything. After he was home, he set to work, getting his collection in order. His first great work The Zoology of the Beagle was well received, but he was slow to make public his ideas on the origin of life.

    Later Darwin and Wallace, another naturalist who had the same opinions as Darwin, produced a paper together. Darwin's great book “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”(《物种起源》) appeared. It attracted a storm. People thought that Darwin was saying they were descended from monkeys. What a shameful idea! Although most scientists agreed that Darwin was right, the Church was still so strong that Darwin never received any honors for his work.

    Afterwards, he published another great work, The Descent of Man. His health grew worse, but he still worked. “When I have to give up observation, I shall die,” he said. He was still working on 17, April, 1882. He was dead two days later.

    For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious: the graying of America means jobs, coupled with the aging of the baby-boom generation, a longer life span means that the nation's elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995.The change poses profound questions for government and society, of course. But it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions and in law and business as well. “In addition to the doctors, we're going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers,” says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Gerontology（老年学）.

    Lawyers can specialize in “elder law”, which covers everything from trusts and estates to nursing-home abuse and age discrimination. Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers, 74 million strong, are likely to be the wealthiest group of retirees in human history. “Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with, say, an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money,” one professor says.

    Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was “really bored with bacteria.” So she took a class in gerontology and discovered that she liked it. She says, “I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying.”

    "Iris scan (虹膜扫描), please," the bank's computer voice tells you . You step up and the computer reads your eye, comparing it to the stored file it has of your iris. The images had better match—otherwise you won't be able to get your money.

    Iris scanning and other technologies, such as fingerprint and voice scanning, have appeared in many science fiction movies in the past. Today, these advanced technologies are part of the real world. They are common at work, the bank, the airport, and your local prison. The iris scan, fingerprint scan, and voice scan are all examples of biometrics( 生物测定学) a fast developing area of automatic personal identification technology . Basically, biometrics uses various ways to verify a person's identity, based on the individual's unique characteristics, including fingerprints, voices, irises, body heat patterns, facial images, handprints, signatures and so on.

    Biometrics identification systems have a number of advantages over password systems. The primary advantage is that an individual has to be physically present in order to be identified. Another important advantage is that there are no passwords to remember, forget, lose or steal.

    The voice scan is the simplest and most affordable form of biometrics. It only requires a computer, a microphone and the correct software. The software records a subject's voice and then compares it to a stored voice sample for identification purposes.

    For additional safety, fingerprint and handprint scans can also be employed. Fingerprint scans take the image of a fingerprint and compare it to a stored file of prints. Handprint scans identify the unique features of a hand.

    Iris scans currently give the highest level of accuracy among all the available biometrics systems. Another technology, full facial scans, is currently in use at border crossings and airports. Facial scanning equipment can actually track and identify moving faces within a crowd.

    The potential of biometrics is exciting and encouraging. With continued development, testing, and application, current technologies will become even more effective in the future. Soon, the days of password and car keys will be gone. Just don't leave home without your fingerprints!

    We talk about people being "colour-blind" but very few of us are. Even those who describe themselves as colour-blind are normally just colour lack. A strongly, colour-blind person will still be able to tell 20 different colours, compared to the 100 or so that normal-sighted people see.

    Pingelap, a tiny island in the Pacific, is a beautiful spot but one that has a' genetic trouble. It is known as Colour-blind Island because so many people who live on this remote island can only sec in black and white.

    Not being able to see in colour is bad enough. But one is lander, Herrol, who's a fisherman, also struggles in full sunlight because all he sees is a painful burnt-out image. "I find it difficult to go outside in the sun," he says, "because when it's sunny I cannot see to do my work."

    But if being truly colour-blind is rare, why is it that around 10% of the population of Pingelap live in a totally black and white world?

    Well，we know that in 1780 the population of Pingelap was all but wiped out by a tsunami (海啸). As few as 20 people survived, one of whom was the king. It's believed he had a genetic fault that causes colour-blindness and he passed this fault on to his many generations.

    There is one advantage. Herrol can see well, really well, in the dark. So when it gets dark, Herrol and his friends get in their boats and hunt flying fish. They hang up flaming torches and the fish are attracted to the flames. "This type of fishing is fun," Herrol says, "especially if we catch plenty. So even though it's hard work we enjoy it."

    It is commonly believed that the earliest Chinese paper-cuts appeared during the sixth century. Some scholars believe it was even earlier. Legend has it that during the Western Han Dynasty(206BC-AD24), Emperor Wudi was very sad after one of his favorite concubines, Madame Li, died. A Taoist priest, Li Shaoweng, cut a piece of hemp paper in the shape of Madame Li. When evening fell, the emperor's servants lit candles in his bedroom; the reflection of that paper-cut on the wall made the emperor think about his beloved concubine.

    The Yuxian paper-cut is different from most paper-cuts produced in other regions of China. Paper-cuts from other regions are mostly cut with scissors or knives from single-colored paper, such as red or black paper.

    There are four major procedures to making the Yuxian paper-cut: First, sketch the pattern on the draft paper; second, fasten the draft to the paper to be cut; third, use a knife to carve out the pattern; and fourth, dye (染色) the paper-cut with various colors.

    Precise cutting skills are needed to make a piece of the Yuxian paper-cut, which highlights the craft maker's artistic taste and dyeing skills. That explains the following saying: "The successful making of a Yuxian paper-cut is 30 percent dependent on the maker's cutting skills, and 70 percent on the maker's dyeing skills."

    The traditional Yuxian paper-cut highlights two themes: flowers and characters in Chinese operas. The paper-cut is particularly known for its vivid description of characters in various traditional Chinese operas. In October 2009, the art of Yuxian's paper-cut was added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (非物质文化遗产) established by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).

    Since so much written language we see today comes from a glowing screen, language has begun to change through our interaction with technology. Social media and the Internet have had a rapid and great effect on the English language, and not necessarily for the better. More and more people have found themselves writing in pieces of words and using unclear acronyms(单词首字母) both in written and spoken language.

    How many times have you typed "LOL" in response to a humorous message? Referred to someone as your "BFF"? Exclaimed, "OMG!" during a particularly shocking event? Social media has affected the words we use in our everyday life. Abbreviations and acronyms commonly known as "text talk" have made their way into both spoken and written language. These are becoming increasingly popular as people struggle for brief expressions to meet word limits on social media like Weibo and Twitter. In addition, the speed of the Internet means language is changing faster than ever. You no longer have to be published through physical and traditional means to bring word trends to public attention.

    Many people believe the overuse of these new terms is a passing trend, and nobody will be using them in just a couple of decades. With the change of language, older terms will surely disappear and fall out of style, and newer and more Internet language will take their place.

    But the Oxford English Dictionary thinks the contrary. In 2011, a lot of Internet terms including, "LOL," "BPB," "OMD," and "BFF" were added to the dictionary, making these acronyms official parts of the English language. According to the dictionary writers, these terms aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

    The words you use in everyday life are a reflection of yourself; this is especially true on the Internet with the lack of interaction in real life. With the Internet and social media rapidly getting popular, soon your words may be all you have left. Make them good ones.