“Beating is a sign of affection, cursing (骂)is a sign of love.” Many may not expect to hear the words of the old Chinese saying in these modern times—with parents wealthier and better educated than they have ever been—but experts say they still ring true.

    Today, it seems, Chinese parents are more likely to send their children to pre­college military academies in the United States in the hope that some tough love will pave the way to success.

    “Good education doesn't mean letting your children enjoy privileges, especially our boys.” said Song Wenming, an entrepreneur (企业家)in Jinhua' East China's Zhejiang province. “They should be raised in tough conditions to know what to fight for in the future.”

    In August, Song sent his 17­year­old son to Valley Forge Military Academy (VFMA) in Pennsylvania. And he is far from alone, even though it takes a lot of money—around $48,000 per year—to send a child to a strict military school.

    Statistics show that an increasing number of Chinese students have been registering with such academies .

    A few years ago, there were no Chinese students at Valley Forge. Today, there are 28.“All of the Chinese students at Valley Forge came from wealthy families; some of them were spoiled.” said Jennifer Myers, director of marketing and communications at the school.

    Song's only son, Song Siyu, had a rocky start during his first six weeks at the school. The teenager said he went to the school voluntarily but did not expect it to be as difficult.

    Now, three months later, he has perfected the art of taking a bath in 35 seconds, finishing a meal without looking at his food, and making his bed with precision. He can even take criticism, no matter how unreasonable.

    “The training is hard but I know it is good for self­development of individuals.” said Song Siyu. “The endless training and scolding are just ways to build up our character; they are not personal .”But his enthusiasm is not universal. Ten of the 13 Chinese students who joined the academy this year have transferred to other schools. But for those who stick with it, there is a reward for all the hard work.

    In the 1880s, Mark Twain managed his own publishing company. He also became interested in various investments（投资）, especially a kind of typesetting machine. He lost almost $200,000 in investments in the machine between 1881 and 1894. Also, his publishing company declared bankruptcy（破产）in April 1894. Thus, in January 1895, Mark Twain found himself publicly shamed by his inability to pay his debts.

    Mark Twain finally recovered from his financial difficulties, through his continued writing and a successful lecture tour in 1895 and 1896. During this much-publicized tour, Twain lectured in such places as India, South Africa and Australia. By the time he returned, he had become an international hero. Twain enjoyed this attention, and his habits of smoking cigars or a pipe and wearing unusual white suits contributed to his showy image. He also made use of his position as a public figure to criticize the US foreign policy.

    Although he was recovering from his financial problems by 1898, Mark Twain had begun to experience tragedy（悲剧）in his personal life. Suzy, his oldest daughter, died of meningitis （脑膜炎）in 1896, while her parents and sister Clara were abroad. In 1903, Mark Twain sold the beloved house in Hartford, which had become too closely associated with Suzy's death. His wife, Olivia, who had developed a heart condition, died on June 5, 1904. His youngest daughter, Jean, died on Dec.24, 1909.

    Every country may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming". We should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true.

    Perhaps the most inconvenient fact is the lack of global warming for well over 10 years now. This is known to the warming establishment, as one can see from the 2009 "Climategate" email of climate scientist Kevin Trenberth: "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is an irony that we can't." But the warming is only missing if one believes computer models where so-called feedback involving water vapor and clouds greatly amplifies the small effect of CO2. The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant and it is a key component of the biosphere ( 生物圈)'s life cycle. Plants get better growth with more of it and part of the increase of agricultural yields in the past century certainly came from additional CO₂ in the atmosphere.

    Although the number of the scientists who are publicly opposed to the claim is growing, many young scientists secretly say that while they also have serious doubts about the global-warming message, they are afraid to speak up for fear of not being promoted or worse.

    Why is there so much passion about global warming? There are several reasons, but a good place to start is the old question "Cui bono?", or the modern update, "Follow the money". Alarmism (危言耸听) over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research, and thus those people who benefit from this fiercely defended their dogma (信条) and the privileges it brought them.

    Every country should support rational ( 合理 的) measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that turn away resources from real needs and are based on alarming but shaky claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.

Courage is a quality that everyone has, but it sometimes disappears because of bad experiences or memories.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}So, how can people build courage? By identifying the source of any lack of courage and actively changing your behaviour, you can build courage. 

Determine your specific fears. People are often unwilling to admit that they are afraid of something. In order to begin building courage, you need to determine your specific fears.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}This may help you to work out a plan to overcome them and build your courage. 

Recognize your courage. Just as it's important to identify your fears, you should also recognize that you also have courage in many situations. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It can help you to figure out how to apply this quality to situations that cause fear. It can also help develop your behaviour and build courage.

Develop a practical plan to build your courage. Once you've identified your specific fears and recognized situations where you exhibit courage, make your plan to build your courage and update it when necessary. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The reason for that is it helps you be on track if you have difficulties and see your progress over time.

Avoid comparing yourself with others. Every person is different and comparing yourself with other people can minimize your self-confidence. Focusing on yourself is essential to building your confidence and courage.

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Two characteristics of courageous people are that they not only have confidence, but also they believe in their ability to succeed and overcome fears. By developing and projecting confidence in yourself, you set yourself on the path to building and maintaining courage. 

A. Part of building your courage is taking risks.

B. Embrace the positive and avoid the negative.

C. Make a list of your fears as you figure them out.

D. Having a clear strategy you can follow is important.

E. Take the time to acknowledge that you are courageous.

F. Have confidence and believe in your ability to be courageous.

G. Showing courage is necessary to succeed in many situations in life.

Scholars in quest of demystifying the enigmatic depths of the subaquatic cosmos have been bestowed with a trove of invaluable data, courtesy of a conglomerate of international experts who have compiled a compendium delineating the fauna that emit or are anticipated to emit acoustic waves beneath the waterline.

Under the aegis of Audrey Looby, a luminary from the University of Florida, the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds consortium, in unison with the World Register of Marine Species, has meticulously chronicled 729 species of marine mammals, aquatic vertebrates, and invertebrates that generate either active or passive auditory signals. Furthermore, the register encompasses an additional 21,911 species presumed to be potential sources of sound.

"Given that the aquatic expanse envelops more than 70% of the Earth's terrestrial envelope, the majority of our planet's ecosystems are submerged, and it is a prevalent misconception that the majority of these aquatic entities exist in an auditory vacuum. The recently unveiled exhaustive digital repository, which catalogues the known sound-producing creatures, is unprecedented and has the potential to transform the domains of marine and aquatic science," elucidated the team of investigators.

"The act of eavesdropping on the subaquatic symphony can unveil a plethora of insights regarding the species that orchestrate these sounds and serves a multitude of applications, from the stewardship of fisheries, the detection of invasive species, to the appraisal of the imprint of human activity on the environment," remarked Looby, who is also the co-architect of FishSounds, a repository that curates a spectrum of research records on the acoustic emissions of fish.

The research of this collective was disseminated in the annals of Scientific Data and featured contributions from 19 scribes hailing from six distinct nations. "Comprehending the modalities of interaction between marine species and their environs is of paramount global significance, and the unrestricted availability of this dataset marks a monumental stride towards this aspiration," proclaimed Keran Cox, an affiliate of the investigative cadre.

"The majority of individuals are acquainted with the vocalizations of cetaceans or marine mammals, yet are frequently astonished to discover that a multitude of fish and invertebrates also utilize sound as a medium of communication," Looby stated. "Our database serves to exemplify the ubiquity of sound production in the subaquatic realm across a diverse array of creatures, yet our understanding remains in its infancy, with much yet to be uncovered."

The periodic table of elements is a common sight in classrooms，campus hallways and libraries. The mode periodic table arranges the elements by their atomic numbers and periodic properties（周期性）. Several scientists worked over a century to assemble the elements into this format. 

In 1789，French chemist Antoine Lavoisiertried grouping the elements as metals and nonmetals. Forty years later，German physicist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner observed similarities in physical and chemical properties of certain elements. He arranged them in groups of three in increasing order of atomic weight and called them triads，observing that some properties of the middle element，such as atomic weight and density，approximated the average value of these properties in the other two in each triad. 

A breakthrough came with the pu blication of a revised list of elements and their atomic masses at the first international conference of chemistry in Karlsruhe，Germany，in 1860. They concluded hydrogen would be assigned the atomic weight of 1 and that the atomic weight of other elements would be decided by comparison with hydrogen. For example，carbon，being 12 times heavier than hydrogen，would have an atomic weight of 12. 

In 1869，Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev created the framework that became the moder periodic table，leaving gaps for elements that were yet to be discovered. Mendeleev predicted the properties of some undiscovered elements and gave them names such as"eka-aluminum"for an element with properties similar to aluminum. Later "eka-aluminum"was discovered as gallium. 

German chemist Lothar Meyer produced a version of the periodic table similar to Mendeleev's in 1870. He left gaps for undiscovered elements but never predicted their properties. The Royal Society of London awarded the Davy Medal in 1882 to both Mendeleev and Meyer. The later discovery of elements predicted by Mendeleev verified（证实）his predictions and his periodic table won universal recognition. In 1955 the 101st element was named mendelevium in his honor. 

On UNESCO website，it wrote，"The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is more than just a guide or catalogue of the entire known atoms in the universe；it is essentially a window on the universe，helping to expand our understanding of the world around us. "