Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone­faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had read carefully, hoping to hide myself. “What could be causing everyone to act this way？”

    Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice: flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails，my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

    Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly class, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear，“My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

    Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re­dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not fair, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster's office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my opinion to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!

    One of the greatest gifts one generation can give to other generations is the wisdom it has gained from experience. This idea has inspired the award-winning photographer Andrew Zuckerman. He interviewed and took photos of fifty oversixty-fiveyearsold all over the world. His project explores various aspects of their lives. The photos and interviews are now available on our website. Click on the introductions to read the complete interviews.

    Let us now have a culture of peace.——Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Spain Federico Mayor Zaragoza obtained a doctorate in pharmacy (药学) from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1958. After many years spent in politics, he became Director General of UNESCO in 1987. In 1999, he created the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, of which he is now the president. In addition to many scientific publications, he has published four collections of poems and several books of essays.

    Writing is a discovery.——Nadine Gordimer, South AfricaDue to a weak heart, Nadine Gordimer attended school and university briefly. She read widely and began writing at an early age. She published her first short story at the age of fifteen, and has completed a large number of works, which have been translated into forty languages. In 1991, Gordimer won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

    Jazz is about the only form of art today.——Dave Brubeck, USADave Brubeck studied music at the University of the Pacific and graduated in 1942. After World War Ⅱ he was encouraged to play jazz. In 1951, he recorded his first album(专辑). Brubeck's 1959 album has become a jazz standard. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.For more figures CLICK HERE.

    Hollywood's only Chinese-American superhero has stirred up heated debate on social media after she spoke out against discrimination in American show business.

    Chloe Bennet, a Chinese-American actress who stars in Marvel's trending TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., explained on social media why she changed her last name from Wong to Bennet, arguing that Hollywood is “racist” and wouldn't cast her with a last name that made them “uncomfortable.”

    “Changing my last name doesn't change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin, or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese,” replied Bennet.

    Bennet's remarks come after Ed Skrein stepped down from his role as Major Ben Daimion in the upcoming Hellboy movie for fear that his participation would be “whitewashing” a character of Asian descent(后裔).

    Racial barriers have been an essential problem in Hollywood. According to research conducted by the University of Southern California in 2015, nearly three-quarters of all characters in the top 100 films of 2014 were white, while only 5.3 percent of Asian artists can share the same privilege. In another report released in 2017, only 3.4 percent of over 1,000 surveyed films had an Asian director.

    “Asian artists can hardly stand out in Hollywood. Most roles starred by Asians are fixed and stereotyped, as if all Asians are good at math and martial arts. There is an invisible discrimination lurking(潜伏) in show business, as the difference of your skin color may bring disparity in your income and opportunities,” said Alex She, a New York-based Chinese-American photographer and movie maker.

    Bennet's experience has led to heated debate on both Chinese and foreign social media.

    Confidence is a skill that many folks want to master, but have a hard time acquiring. Have you ever wondered why? Possibly you were born confident. You were talked to negatively as a child or maybe you were rejected many times. Whatever the case is{#blank#}1{#/blank#} But how to boost your confidence?

    Begin to act as if you are confident. Act as the person you would want to be like{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Surround yourself with people who you think are confident and have high value. You will learn so much from observing other confident folks.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}One of the most areas that you need to pay attention to is your self-talk. Your thoughts about your capabilities and self-worth need to be positive and encouraging. Whenever you notice you think negatively, pause and take a moment, and shift your focus to something that can help you feel better about yourself.

    Go after your goals. If you are really serious about building self-confidence, you need to identify your goals and go after them. The more you add to your accomplishments, the more confident you will feel about your abilities and skills{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    By using these steps to boost your confidence{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Always stay positive.

B. Improve your self-talk.

C. Begin to think and behave like them.

D. This requires you to know what a confident person looks like.

E. you will be on the path to improving your self-esteem (自尊) and self-worth.

F. You'll begin to trust your inner self more and appreciate yourself more.

G. you should know you can improve your self-esteem and build confidence.

    A telescope, called Gaia, is being designed by astronomers in Europe, and it couldn't be more different from Pan-STARRS, which is another telescope being designed. While Pan-STARRS will be looking for asteroids (小行星) and comets headed for Earth, Gaia will be looking at our entire galaxy (银河系).

    Gaia is designed to draw a map of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Just as a map of your town gives you a picture of where things are located, Gaia's map of the galaxy will tell astronomers where the stars are. Over five years, Gaia will observe (观察) about a billion stars and other objects in our galaxy. Each object will be observed about 70 times.

    Gaia will be sent into space connected to a rocket. It contains two telescopes, each focused at a different angle (角度). These two telescopes act like Gaia's “eyes”. The reason why humans can see things in 3D is that we have two eyes focused on the same object, at slightly different angles. By using two telescopes like eyes, Gaia can produce the first 3D map of the positions of the stars it views.

    Gaia, which is to be sent into space, will be a powerful telescope. If you were to use it on Earth, for example, you could stand 600 miles away from your best friends and still get a clear picture of their hair.

    Gaia is one of more than a dozen telescopes being designed by scientists right now. The next generation of telescopes will reveal new parts of our universe that will seem surprising. The universe, with all its planets, stars and other strange objects, is a puzzle with pieces that we can see by using powerful telescopes.