Things You Didn't Know About Stephen Hawking

    Even if you don't keep a close eye on new developments in physics, you've probably heard of the famous physicist Stephen Hawking.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    These days, we know Hawking as a brilliant mind whose theories are difficult for a nonscientific mind to grasp. This is why it may come as a shock to learn that Hawking was a slacker when it came to his school studies.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}With a little more effort, he brought those grades up to about average, but not much better. However, from an early age he was interested in how things worked. He has talked about how he was known to take apart clocks and radios. However, he admits he wasn't very good at putting them back together so they could work again.

    Stephen Hawking took a liking to mathematics from an early age, and he would have liked to have majored in it.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}He hoped Stephen would instead study medicine.

    But, for all his interest in science, Stephen didn't care for biology. He has said that he found it to be “too inexact, too descriptive (叙述的)”{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

One problem, however, was that Oxford didn't have mathematics as a major. The result was that Stephen would attend Oxford and major in physics. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}That's why he chose to study universe.

A. His father wanted to send him to Oxford.

B. His father, Frank, however, had different ideas.

C. Actually, he focused on the bigger questions.

D. He would have rather devoted his mind to more precise concepts.

E. In fact, when he was 9, his grades ranked among the worst in his class.

F. However, there're many interesting facts you might not know about him.

G. Both his teachers and peers seemed to understand that they had a future genius.

This year's flu season is pretty scary. To try to minimize the effects, public officials are still urging anyone who hasn't yet gotten their flu shot to get one as soon as possible. However, even if every single person got a shot in the arm, the vaccine(疫苗)— with its excellent 36 percent effectiveness—would not prevent everyone from getting infected with the annoying virus. Knowledge is power, so here's what goes on in your body when you come down with the flu.

    The influenza virus primarily attacks your nose, throat, and the tubes that lead to your lungs. But the flu is so much more than that. Your muscles ache, your head hurts, and your appetite goes down, among other things. To our surprise, almost all of these symptoms have less to do with the virus itself than with your immune(免疫的)response to them. Unfortunately, the very defense you have in place to ge rid of the flu is the reason you feel so painful when you recover.

    The virus usually enters through your mouth, typically by way of your hands. But it takes a few days for symptoms to set in. While this process might cause some harm to your nose and throat, it's nothing major, and nothing like the symptoms that typically accompany a bad or even mild case of the flu.

    The real fun starts when your immune system begins to fight. Your immune system comes in two parts: the innate system and the adaptive. The innate immune system is essentially an all-purpose tool. As soon as your body senses the presence of any injury or invader (入侵者), the innate immune system launches into action by producing tiny proteins called cytokines and chemokines. The cytokines reproduce almost immediately and start to attack the virus. This increase in immune cells creates an serious inflammation(炎症) throughout the body. But the worst is still to come. Meanwhile, the chemokines work with the adaptive immune system to help create T cells. These cells are a special type of white blood cell that works in a much more specific way: They find the influenza virus, identify what's special about it, and create something unique on their surface that finds and destroys similar invaders.

    A simple life means getting rid of many of the things you do so that you can spend more time with people you love and do the things you love.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It's often a journey of two steps forward and one backward.

    Evaluate your time.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}What things do you do from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep? Make a list, and evaluate whether they're in line with your priorities. If not, remove them and focus on what's important. Redesign your day.

    Limit your communications. Our lives these days are filled with a vast flow of communications: email, cell phones, paper mail, Twitter, forums, and more.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Instead, set a limit on your communications: only deal with emails at certain times of the day. Limit phone calls to certain times too. It is the same with other communications. Set a schedule and stick to it.

    Try living without a car. OK, this isn't something I've done, but many others have.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Walk, bike, or take public transportation. It reduces expenses and gives you time to think. A car is also very complicated, needing not only car payments, but insurance, maintenance, repairs, gas and more.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}If you rid your home of stuff, you might find you don't need so much space. I'm not saying you should live on a boat (although I know some people who happily do so), but if you can be comfortable in a smaller home, it will not only be less expensive, but easier to maintain, and greatly simplify your life.

A. Have a place for everything.

B. How do you spend your day?

C. It's something I would do if I didn't have kids.

D. They can take up your whole day if you let them be.

E. However, getting to simplicity isn't always a simple process.

F. Most people don't know what “enough” is, and thus they keep buying more.

G. Consider a smaller home.

    It is sometimes possible to fix a water damaged cell phone. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. The longer you wait, the more likely the phone is unrepairable.

    As soon as you notice your phone has dropped into water, you should take a cloth to wipe it off. Additionally, you should take out the SIM card and battery. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    If you put your water damaged cell phone back together and it won't turn on, it is likely that some water has gotten down inside the phone. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. You can remove the battery and SIM card from the phone once again and place all three components into a bowl filled with rice. This may work because rice is very absorbent.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If the rice method either did not work, you can take the phone apart and lay all its pieces outside in direct sunlight for several hours. The heat from the sun may completely dry out the inside and outside of the phone and its parts. If it is raining or the sun is not out, you can use a blow dryer on low heat to get the same results.

    If all of your attempts at repairing your phone are unsuccessful, you will likely have no choice but to take it to your cell provider or to a place that repairs cell phones to get it fixed. Unless your phone is very valuable, the cost of repairing the phone might be higher than what you paid for it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. It may be beneficial to meanwhile purchase insurance from your cell phone provider.

Friends play an important part in our lives, and although we may take friendship for granted, we often don't clearly understand how to make friends. While we get on well with a number of people, we are usually friends with only a very few — for example, the average among students is about 6 per person. In all the cases of friendly relationships, two people like one another and enjoy being together, but beyond that, the degree of intimacy between them and the reasons for their shared interests vary greatly. As we get to know people, we take into account things like age, race, economic condition, social position, and intelligence. Although these factors are not of great importance, it is more difficult to get on with people when there is a marked difference in age and background.

Some friendly relationships can be kept on argument and discussion, but it is usual for close friends to have similar ideas and beliefs, the same opinions and interests — they often talk about "being on the same wavelength". It generally takes time to reach this point. And the more intimately involved people become, the more they depend on one another. People who want to be friends have to learn to put up with annoying habits and to stand differences.

In contrast with marriage, there are no friendship ceremonies to strengthen the association between two people. But the supporting and understanding of each other that results from shared experiences and emotions does seem to create a powerful bond, which can overcome differences in background, and break down barriers of age, class or race.

A recent study by UK researchers has shed light on a phenomenon termed "plant blindness," which contributes to the widespread but mistaken belief that plants are perceived as less vibrant or alive compared to animals.

It was not established that plant blindness is an innate trait; instead, the root cause appears to be the significantly diminished interaction with the natural world in societies that have become highly urbanized. The research indicates that a decrease in prior exposure to plants leads to a cycle of inattention.

Urban cultures exhibit a well-documented incidence of plant blindness. Children are often observed to regard plants as less significant than animals, especially during their early years, and they have difficulty recognizing a diverse range of plant species. Both educators and students have reported varying levels of knowledge about plants, with primary school teachers lacking a background in science being particularly affected. In contrast, older individuals tend to possess greater plant knowledge, likely due to their increased participation in outdoor activities.

Thirty-five studies have concluded that the process of urbanization or modernization has had a negative impact on people's understanding of plants. The value of plant gathering has diminished due to an increased reliance on urban services and a cash-based economy. Additionally, the time available for outdoor activities has been curtailed by work and school commitments. These factors have also reduced family time, which in turn has adversely affected the oral transmission of plant knowledge to younger and older family members.

Stagg has suggested that rather than a cognitive impediment to the visual recognition of plants, individuals residing in highly industrialized nations suffer from a lack of attention to plants due to a reduction in relevant exposure.

To disrupt the cycle of plant inattention, Stagg emphasizes the importance of exposing people to diverse ecosystems and demonstrating the direct benefits of plants to humans, as opposed to the indirect benefits derived from their industrial use or advantages to distant, traditional communities. Engaging with edible and practical plants in local settings can be instrumental in this regard. The level of botanical knowledge among younger generations is directly linked to their perception of the usefulness of such knowledge in their lives.