Margaret Hilda Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister and served three terms in office. She is one of the greatest political figures of 20^th century Britain.

    Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England She studied chemistry at Oxford University and was made chairwoman of the Oxford University Conservative Association(保守党协会). In 1951, she married a wealthy businessman, Denis Thatcher, with whom she had two children.

    She often stated that she was brought up very strictly, "I owe everything in my life to two things: a good home, and a good education. My home was ordinary, but good in the sense that my parents were passionately interested in the future of my sister and myself. At the same time, they gave us a good education—not only in school, but at home as well. "

    In 1970, Thatcher was appointed secretary for Education and Science. Five years later, she challenged Heath for the leadership of the Party and, to the surprise of many, won. In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives came to power and Thatcher became Prime Minister.

    In foreign affairs, Thatcher had a close political and personal relationship with US president Ronald Reagan. She was nicknamed the "Iron Lady" by the Soviets. She visited China four times and made a great contribution to Hong Kong's returning to China.

    Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in 1990. She remained in the House of Commons until 1992. In the same year, Thatcher was made a Baroness(贵族) by the queen and became a member of the House of Lords.

    Reading Thatcher's whole life, it seems that she always knew what she wanted, and then she would put all her efforts into it to live her dream. She had a quick mind and an even quicker tongue. Her sense of self confidence and ambition(雄心) ruled her life from the time she was a small child, through her Oxford years and during her early years in politics.

Some people are very careful about everything they do. On the other hand, some people, especially teens, do things without thinking too much about the results. Why is this? 

Anna, a psychologist uses computer games to find out why some people are more likely to take risks. In one game, players are asked to click(点击) on a balloon on a computer screen. Every time they click, the balloon gets bigger. The bigger the balloon is, the larger the prize will be. But if the balloon gets too big, it'll be broken and the player will get nothing. 

Anna found that when teens played this game, a part of their brain called the striatum (纹状体) would become more active. It makes teens want to win. Another part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex (前额皮质), helps them control their decision-making process. 

It turns out that young people have more striatums and less prefrontal cortexes, which affects their ability to make careful decisions. You might have already guessed that teens break more balloons during the game than adults – mainly because they like to take risks more and don't take the time to think carefully. 

"The teen brain is like a car with a very strong engine, " Anna said. "Its brakes (刹 车) just don't work as well. "

Most people have a favorite color，but how people feel about colors depends on their culture. This can be very important to people in business that sell products all over the world. They might choose a color because they think it is exciting or attractive，but in another country that same color could be used to give a sad message. Look at these examples: 

If you ask someone in Britain what the right color is for a bride（新娘） to wear，the answer will be white In China and other eastern countries，happiness and prosperity（繁荣）. ▲In Britain，red is used as a sign of danger. Road signs and warning labels（标签） are often in red. In eastern cultures

In Egypt，yellow is the color linked to death. In Britain and other western cultures，death and funerals（葬礼），but in many eastern countries white is the color most people connect with death and funerals. 

Many people like the color orange because it is bright and exciting. Some advertisers will not use orange in their advertisements because they believe it suggests that the products are cheap and perhaps not of good quality. 

In a word，colors have different meanings in different cultures. We should learn to choose the proper color in some special situation. 

Colours can affect（影响）our feelings（感受），so knowing something about colours can help us find the right colours in our rooms.

It is easy to see red in Chinese rooms. It means happiness（幸福）. But if your bedroom is red, you may not sleep well. It's an active colour and makes us want to play sport.

Orange is a good choice（选择）for a dining room. People like having dinner and talking together in an orange room.

If you are a student，ask your parents to paint your study（书房）yellow. Yellow can help you think fast. You may be more confident（更自信的）.

You probably don't know that many of the walls of the rooms in the hospitals are blue. Why？Because blue can make sick（生病的）people feel quiet. They can have a good rest and become well soon. So use it    in your bedroom and you can have a good sleep.

Does it seem that the things you say often cause offense(冒犯) ? If so, maybe people think that your English isn't polite. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}!

◆"I'm afraid I can't" VS "NO."

It can be difficult to refuse an invitation from a friend. Simply saying "No." would sound impolite. The next time you have to refuse an invitation, you can say, "I'm afraid I can't. 

◆ {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

If someone does something you don't like, would you like him to stop? To get the good result, instead of shouting "Stop talking on your phone in the cinema!", ask him politely by saying "Would you mind not using your phone in the cinema, please?"

◆"Can you pass me. . . ?" VS "Give me..."

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}, so it's sometimes difficult to get what you want without causing frustration(懊恼). Change words that sound like commands(命令), such as "Give me the newspaper." with a request like "Can you pass me the newspaper?"

◆"Could you give me five minutes?" VS "Go away."

You're really busy at work, but your co-worker needs your help. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, just saying "Go away." is certainly not proper. Instead, keep everyone happy by using the words "Could you give me five minutes?"