George Bernard Shaw(1856,07-1950,11) was an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist. During his career Shaw wrote more than sixty plays. He was uniquely honored by being awarded both a Nobel Prize(1925) for his contribution to literature and an Oscar(1938) for Pygmalion. Shaw was a free-thinker, defender of women's rights, and advocate of equality of income.

    George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, where he grew up in something close to genteel poverty. His father, George Carr Shaw, was in the wholesale grain trade. Lucinda Elisabeth Shaw, his mother, was the daughter of a landowner. She was 16 years younger than her husband. George Carr was a drunkard -his example made his son become a teetotaler(禁酒主义者). When he died in 1885, his children and wife did not attend his funeral. Young Shaw and his two sisters were brought up mostly by servants. Shaw's mother eventually left the family to teach music, singing in London. When she died in 1913, Shaw confessed to Mrs. Patrick Campbell: "I must write to you about it, because there is no one else who hates his mother."

    Boy and man, he was always bitterly opposed to schools and teachers, saying "Schools and schoolmasters, as we have them today, are not popular as places of education and teachers, but rather prisons and turnkeys in which and by whom children are kept to prevent them disturbing and chaperoning (陪伴) their parents."

    Three-quarters of a million tourists flock to the primitive, white beaches every year—but this booming industry has come at a price. When foreigners left the government struggling to cope with a stream of rubbish, their answer was to turn one of these islands into a dumping ground. Clouds of sharp, poisonous smoke rising from open fires, piles of rubbish made up of plastic bottles, crisp packets and consumer junk. It's a far cry from the white sands, crystal-clear waters and gently swaying palm trees that we associate with the Maldives（马尔代夫）, the beautiful paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean.

    Of its 200 inhabited islands, which are spread across an area of 35,000 square miles, 99 are dedicated resorts. Three-quarters of a million tourists visit every year—more than double the domestic population. Of these, over 100,000 travel from the UK. The capital, Malé, is four times more densely populated than London. Given these facts, it's hardly surprising that the Maldives on which has a waste disposal problem.

    What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever fix eyes. Four miles west of Malé is the country's dumping ground, Thilafushi—or Rubbish Island as it has simply become known.

    The country dumps upwards of 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day, a figure attributed largely to the tourist industry on which the chain of islands relies. Each visitor generates 3.5 kg of waste per day.

    Now, the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island, which is too late, due largely to an increase in the number of waste boats “fly-tipping”（非法倾倒）directly into the sea, fed up with waiting seven hours or more to offload their cargo.

    When you go to St. Petersburg, the number of attractions can seem overwhelming. If you're short on time, or just want to make sure to hit the highlights, these are the top must-see sights in St. Petersburg.

    The Hermitage Museum

    The Hermitage Museum is one of the most important sights to see for any visitor to St. Petersburg. There you can see lots of different paintings of old masters inside the Hermitage. Prepare to come face-to-face with classic Western artists.

    The Russian Museum

    The Russian Museum holds one of the largest collections of Russian art in the world. View Russian art creations through the ages, from Byzantine (拜占庭)-style icons to the Socialist Realism of Stalin's times.

    Kizhi Island

    Kizhi Island is an open-air museum of wooden buildings from the Karelia Region of Russia. These impressive structures are made without any nails (钉子) — the wood fits together with joints and grooves (沟槽).

    Peterhof

    Peterhof is as beautiful as it is fun. You'll be charged for admission (门票), but go to Peterhof when the fountains (喷泉) are working — during the day in the summer. They are shut off in winter as well as in the evenings.

    The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood

    Love it or hate it, the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood is an attractive must-see sight. The beautiful look may make your eyes brighten, and the paintings inside the church will make you say “Wow!”

    The Bronze Horseman Statue

    The Bronze Horseman is a part of Russian Culture and a symbol of St. Petersburg. Made famous by Alexander Pushkin (普希金), this statue of Peter the Great sitting on his horse can truly show Peter the Great's influence on the Russian idea of greatness.

    For twenty years, I saved all my college course notes and textbooks: that's a lot of paper.  Worse, it wasn't easy to carry them around—and trust me, they weren't light — on at least seven moves. Yet I never once looked at them. They sat in our basement, covered in a thick layer of dust. If books and papers could wonder, they'd wonder why they were still under our stairs after all those years. What were my plans for them? When would the Big Day come?

    Well, the Big Day eventually did arrive; only it was different than expected. My wife, always more accepting changes than I am, finally convinced me to clear out the entire mess.

    The pain I experienced was also unexpected. I didn't feel nostalgia(怀旧的), or suffer pains for long-lost magical moments of my education. No, what hurt me was to come across those terrible papers I'd written, reminders of poor study habits, immaturity(不成熟), and an embarrassing lack of comprehension. It was great to get rid of them. I won't have to carry those dusty, filthy(脏兮兮的) things on our next move. But it was also a clearing of personal history. Initially, I struggled with this. My books, my notes, and my papers were primary source materials, documenting an important time in my life. To clear them out was to clear out the truth. What I've learned since taking this leap is that the lesson is more important than the truth. I feel as if much of my real education during my college years isn't in the documents but now in me. So I am glad to free myself of this physical burden of carrying them around. And what's better is that I don't need to look back on those painful moments. They belong to the past.

    You might want to consider doing something similar, either under the stairs of your basement or in your mind. Not so long ago, a very smart person created a new holiday—Discardia!—to be celebrated four times a year. It's a great idea, and every time I clear things out, I feel better physically and psychologically. Discardia's slogan is “Let go of everything that doesn't make your life awesome!” What is the personal rubbish piling in your life? Clear it out and make your life awesome.

    About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film­studio (影棚) to take part in a crowd­scene. Although our “act” would last only for a short time，we could see quite a number of interesting things.

    We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene，setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie­camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in “snow”. Two more fans were turned on，and a “strong wind” blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.

    The next scene was a complete contrast (对比). The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen (幕). An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

    Since it was our turn next，we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film “stars”！

    A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.

    The Robot Activity Support System or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.

"RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected," said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

    Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.

    RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.

    "While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising," Minor said. "The next step in the research will be to test RAS' performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot."