赛达写作素材搜集

名人生平
Bill Gates	When Bill Gates made his decision to drop out from Harvard, he did not care too much of the result. Gates entered Harvard in 1973, and dropped out two years later when he and Allen started the engine of Microsoft. Many people did not understand why Gates gave up such a good opportunity to study in the world’s No.1 University. However, with size comes power, Microsoft dominates the PC market with its operating systems, such as MS-DOS and Windows. Now, Microsoft becomes the biggest software company in the world and Bill Gates becomes the richest man in the world.
Thomas Edison	We can learn from the experience of the great inventor Thomas Alva Edison that sometimes a series of apparent failures is really a precursor to success. The voluminous personal papers of Edison reveal that his inventions typically did not spring to life in a flash of inspiration but evolved slowly from previous works.
Mother Teresa	Mother Teresa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, dedicated the majority of her life to helping the poorest of the poor in India, thus gaining her the name "Saint of the Gutters." The devotion towards the poor won her respect throughout the world and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She founded an order of nuns called the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India dedicated to serving the poor. Almost 50 years later, the Missionaries of Charity have grown from 12 sisters in India to over 3,000 in 517 missions throughout 100 countries worldwide.
Diana Spencer	Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, is remembered and respected by people all over the world more for her beauty, kindness, humanity and charitable activities than for her technical skills.
Nelson Mandela	Mandela, the South African black political leader and former president, was awarded 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to antiracism and antiapartheid. Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the centre of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality.
Beethoven	Beethoven, the German Composer, began to lose his hearing in 1801 and was entirely deaf by 1819. However, this obstacle could not keep him from becoming one of the most famous and prolific composers in art history. His music, including 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, several senates and so on, forms a transition from classical to romantic composition.
George Bush	On January 16, 1991, President Bush ordered the commencement of Operation Desert Storm, a massive U.S.-led military offensive against Iraq in the Persian Gulf. In late 1992, Bush ordered U.S. troops into Somalia, a nation devastated by drought and civil war. The peacekeeping mission would prove the most disastrous since Lebanon, and President Clinton abruptly called it off in 1993.
Jimmy Carter	President Carter's policy of placing human rights records at the forefront of America's relationships with other nations contributed to a cooling of Cold War relations in the late 1970s. In 1980, for the first time in seven years, Fidel Castro authorized emigration out of Cuba by the country's citizens. The United States welcomed the Cubans, but later took steps to slow the tide when evidence suggested that Castro was using the refugee flight to empty his prisons.
Neville Chamberlain	In 1938, British Prime Minister Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact with Adolf Hitler, an agreement that gave Czechoslovakia away to Nazi conquest while bringing, as Chamberlain promised, "peace in our time." Eleven months after the signing of the Munich Pact, Germany broke the peace in Europe by invading Poland. A solemn Chamberlain had no choice but to declare war, and World War II began in Europe.
Winston Churchill	In the early 1930s, Conservative M.P. Winston Churchill issued unheeded warnings of the threat of Nazi aggression from his seat on a House of Commons backbench. With German tanks racing across France, Churchill spoke to the British people for the first time as prime minister, and pledged a struggle to the last breath against Nazi conquest and oppression. In the summer of 1940, the democracies of continental Europe fell to Germany one by one, leaving Great Britain alone in its resistance to Adolf Hitler. The Nazi leader was confident that victory against Britain would come soon, but Churchill prophesied otherwise, telling his countrymen that the Battle of Britain would be "their finest hour."
Bill Clinton	In 1994, President Clinton authorized a military operation to overthrow Haiti's military dictators and restore its democratically elected leader. On the eve of invasion, bloodshed was prevented when former president Jimmy Carter brokered an agreement with Haiti's leaders in which they pledged to give up power.
Dwight D. Eisenhower	On June 5, 1944, the supreme Allied commander ordered commencement of the D-Day invasion, the largest combined sea, air, and land military operation in history. Eisenhower told the 3 million men of the Allied Expeditionary Force, "The eyes of the world are upon you!" In 1956, Israel, Britain, and France invaded Egypt in protest of its nationalization of the Suez Canal. The U.S.S.R. and the United States, both vying for greater influence in the Middle East, forced the three nations to end their occupation of the strategic canal.
Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret	During the Battle of Britain, the children of King George VI delivered a radio address to British children who had been evacuated abroad. Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, like their parents, weathered the dark days of World War II in Britain.
Gerald Ford	Nine days before the fall of Saigon, President Ford spoke on the resignation of South Vietnamese President Thieu. Soon after, the United States launched a massive helicopter evacuation of tens of thousands of anticommunist South Vietnamese and the last few Americans remaining in the country.
Mohandas Gandhi	In 1931, Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, was released from prison to attend the London Round Table Conference on India as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress.
Gorbachev	As leader of the U.S.S.R., Mikhail Gorbachev was a great force for peace, even at the cost of the Soviet government's downfall after 74 years in power.
Adolf Hitler	A few days before his occupation of the Sudetenland, a confident Hitler addressed a Nazi rally at Berlin's Sportpalast stadium, and reassured the crowd that if war came with Britain and France the German Wehrmacht would be victorious.
Pope John Paul II	In 1995, the pope addressed the United Nations on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Reaffirming his support of the ideals and goals of the U.N., he praised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called for the U.N. to become the moral center of a family of nations.
Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon	In a defining moment of the Cold War, Vice President Nixon and Soviet leader Khrushchev engaged in an impromptu debate about the merits and disadvantages of capitalism and communism. The exchange, which took place in Moscow in front of a replica of a suburban American kitchen, was known as the "Kitchen Debate."
Douglas MacArthur	On September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the most destructive war in human history officially came to an end as representatives of the Japanese government and military signed their country's unconditional surrender. After clashing with President Truman over war policy, MacArthur was relieved of his command of U.N. forces in Korea and returned to the U.S. for the first time since before World War II. Given a hero's welcome, he addressed a joint meeting of Congress, where he declared, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."
Richard Nixon	In 1973, after five years of talks, the United States and North Vietnam reached a peace agreement to end U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Two years later, Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces and Vietnam was unified under Communist rule.
Ronald Reagan	In 1984, Reagan called for an international ban on chemical weapons. Six years later, President Bush and Soviet leader Gorbachev would sign a historic agreement to cease production and begin destruction of both nations' sizable reserves. In 1987, during a visit to Berlin, the president made a dramatic plea to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall. Two years later, Berliners would do so on their own accord.
Franklin D. Roosevelt	The day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress, and proclaimed December 7 "a date which will live in infamy." With only one dissent, Congress granted his request for an official declaration of war against Japan. Two months before his death, Roosevelt met Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin for the last time at Yalta in the U.S.S.R. The "Big Three" leaders discussed military considerations in the war against Germany and Japan, and compromised on their visions of the postwar world order.
Tito	In 1963, Tito, the independent-minded communist leader of Yugoslavia since 1945, visited the United States during a tour of the Americas.
Harry Truman	Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, President Truman warned Japan of further atomic attacks until it surrendered. When no answer came, he authorized the dropping of a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Six days later, Japan surrendered. In 1949, Truman signed the North Atlantic Treaty with 10 European nations and Canada--establishing the NATO military alliance.
Columbus	It took Columbus, the Italian explorer in the service of Spain who determined that the earth is round, over 3 months to sail from Europe to America. However, we can do so by air within one day.
Rabbi Meir	Rabbi Meir, a second-century scholar, admonished his disciples to look not at the pitcher but as its contents because, he stated “Many a new pitcher has been found to be full of old wine.” This was his way of emphasizing the importance of the distinction between form and idea, and of stressing that the integrity of an idea is more important than the form of its expression.
达尔文	The theory of evolution is one of the great intellectual revolutions of human history. When Darwin published his famous On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, members of the religious community, as well as some scientific peers, were outraged and protested. However, Darwin's idea was eventually accepted and had drastically changed our perception of the world and of our place in it.(原文)   Hundreds of years ago, people were confused with the complexity of different species of the world, and believed that species were created by the mysterious God. However, Darwin did not believe so. After several years' study, he eventually demonstrated that species, however complex seemingly, all evolved by natural selection from simple and preliminary conditions. Darwin's theory revealed the simple principle of the world, and thus became a revolution of human beings.(复杂理论的简单性)   For example, when Darwin published his famous research results "Origin of Species", the book encountered lots of controversies. On the one hand, the members of the religious community, as well as some scientific peers, stubbornly held their belief that each organism and each adaptation was the work of the creator, and were outraged about Darwin’s ideas. On the other hand, some insightful scientists tended to acknowledge Darwin' researches. Eventually the theory of evolution defeated the traditional belief, and now is reverenced as one of the greatest intellectual revolutions of human history.(个人不被时代承认)
布鲁诺	In Bruno's era, the religious community was in charge of the social thinking, and many people believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Regardless of a long period of imprisonment, Bruno claimed that the universe is infinite, which outraged the religious community, and Bruno was sentenced to death eventually.
Stephen Hawking	Hawking is certainly the most famous physicist in history who has not won the Nobel Prize. This is because the Swedish Royal Academy demands that an award-winning discovery must be supported by verifiable experimental or observational evidence. Hawking's work, to date, remains unproved.（没有获得过诺贝尔奖，诺贝尔奖需要证实理论才可以）   Hawking has made his reputation by investigating, in great detail, one particular set of problems: the singularity and horizons around black holes and at the beginning of time. The idea that the universe had a specific time of origin has been philosophically resisted by some very distinguished scientists.(霍金受到过反对)   Hawking is probably the most famous living scientist. His book, A Brief History of Time, is available in paperback and has sold in excess of 10 million copies(传播自己的思想)
贝多芬	Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, composer to ever live. Most people are familiar with a few of his works, if nothing more than the beginning of the Fifth Symphony, the Finale of the Ninth Symphony and the "Moonlight" Sonata.(简介)   Beethoven, the German Composer, began to lose his hearing in 1801 and was entirely deaf by 1819. However, this obstacle could not keep him from becoming one of the most famous and prolific composers in art history. His music, including 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, several senates and so on, forms a transition from classical to romantic composition.(耳朵失聪坚持创作)   The fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony is a setting of Schiller's poem Ode to Joy, an optimistic hymn championing the brotherhood of humanity.   Beethoven, one of the greatest composers and musicians, created many symphonies. Astonishingly, he produced his most famous symphony, Chorus, with complete deafness. How could he manage it? It must be the prominent imagination that stimulated him to struggle and thrive, thus he can even listen in spite of no hearings.(兴趣的作用)   When his finale of Ninth Symphonies, Chorus, was played, the audience were deeply moved and clapped for his greatness for five times until the police stopped them.*(被承认)   When Beethoven had no idea about the finale of his symphonies, he was suddenly struck by the "Ode to Joy" by Schiller. Inspired from the hymn championing the brotherhood of humanity, Beethoven' heart was fraught of passion and courage, regardless of his entire deafness. Eventually, when Beethoven completed his great works, Chorus, and had it played in the concert, all the audience were completely attracted and moved by the striking and passionate symphony, and acclaimed even five times in reverence of Beethoven.(交叉的作用)
达芬奇	Leonardo da Vinci trained as a painter during the Renaissance and became a true master of the craft. His amazing powers of observation and skill as an illustrator enabled him to notice and recreate the effects he saw in nature, and added a special liveliness to his portraits.(简介)   He had a keen eye and quick mind that led him to make important scientific discoveries, yet he never published his ideas.   He was a gentle vegetarian who loved animals and despised war, yet he worked as a military engineer to invent advanced and deadly weapons. He was one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance, yet he left only a handful of completed paintings.(通才)   All in all, Leonardo believed that the artist must know not just the rules of perspective, but all the laws of nature. The eye, he believed, was the perfect instrument for learning these laws, and the artist the perfect person to illustrate them.(艺术家创造的源泉)   Even a master like Leonardo was forced to sell out in order to support himself(也有穷的时候)
康德	It's extremely hard and obscure. This is because its ideas are radical and difficult, and because Kant is a careful philosopher. recognize this book as what it is - one of the most important contributions to a scholarly field ever. They're for specialists and scholars, and are written in a language that is appropriately technical to that task.(简介)   Kant, the founder of classical mentalism, wrote his great work The Critique of Pure Reason quite obscurely, and even the most outstanding contemporary philosophers would not be able to understand it. However, the book is now acknowledged as the prerequisite books for those who major in philosophy. (难懂的作品也会得到承认)
莫奈	Monet's famous work "Impression: Sunrise" was not understood initially, since it seems peculiar for a large amount of blue was used as the major color for sunlight. However, this work eventually earned its reputation and had led to the name for impressionism.(难懂的作品也会得到承认)   Monet did not find acclaim and wealth to later in his life and at times suffered through extreme poverty. Success also allowed him some degree of freedom in his work.(艺术家很贫穷)

 
 
 

生物&医学
1348: Black Plague	The bubonic plague killed one third of Europe's population between 1348 and1350, making it the most deadly epidemic since the sixth century. With no cure   available, and no clue as to what caused the disease, many believed it was God's punishment for sinful behavior. The plague had a massive effect on every aspect of society: serfs were freed, the labor force was decimated, and cultivation of food ceased. Doctors were forced to think of medicine in a new way, leading to the rise of the scientific theory.
1628: Harvey discovers circulatory system	Dr. William Harvey, an English physician, made medical history when he published his discovery that blood, driven by the pumping of the heart, is constantly on the move throughout the human body. This disproved the previous medical wisdom that the heart's main purpose was to keep blood warm.
1882: Germs proven to cause disease	In 1864, Louis Pasteur amazed the scientific community by proving that microorganisms live in the air. Years later, German scientist Robert Koch announced his findings that specific microorganisms can be linked to specific diseases in what is now known as the "germ theory of disease." His discovery instantly improved physicians' ability to diagnose and treat patients, as well as expanding human understanding of cleanliness as a means to prevent disease.
1928: Fleming discovers penicillin	Scottish physician Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered the ability of molds to destroy sickness–causing bacteria, when he noticed that mold growing on a staphylococcus culture had killed parts of the culture. Penicillin, the antibiotic derived from mold, allows doctors to easily treat patients for a variety of ailments previously considered incurable, including pneumonia, tetanus, gangrene, and scarlet fever as well as more mundane illnesses like respiratory and ear infections.
1543: Anatomy 101	Andreas Vesalius took the medical community by storm by revealing the true skeletal and muscular structure of humans for the first time and correcting more than 200 errors in the common thinking among doctors of the day. Unfortunately, his contribution was tarnished in his own time by the legal and moral taboo against the dissection of human bodies—Vesalius's main source of research.
1796: Smallpox vaccine	English doctor Edward Jenner stumbled upon a way to prevent smallpox when he noticed that milkmaids who had developed cowpox didn't get the dreaded disease. His resulting vaccine, made from the cowpox virus, virtually wiped out smallpox, which had killed more than sixty million Europeans in the eighteenth century. His vaccine also gave credence to the science of immunology, leading to the development of vaccines for other deadly diseases, including diphtheria, polio, and measles.
1866: Mendel's Law of Heredity	Through his work crossbreeding different varieties of the garden pea, Austrian monk Gregor Mendel advanced the idea that traits are transferred from parents to progeny by way of distinct units and formulated mathematical laws governing the inheritance of these traits. Mendel's "law" was eventually proven true for both plants and animals. His findings were rediscovered in the early twentieth century, allowing farmers to reproduce positive traits in plants and create healthier, stronger crops of food.
1914: Birth Control	Margaret Sanger sparked the birth control movement with the publication of The Woman Rebel, in which she encourages women to view conception as a choice rather than an obligation. In 1923, her tireless efforts resulted in the establishment of America's first legal birth control clinic, which served as a contraceptive dispensary and research facility under the auspices of the American Birth Control League (one of the groups that eventually morphed into Planned Parenthood). The birth control movement has had far-reaching, worldwide implications, from women's rights to population control to the sexual revolution.

 
 
 

科学&发明
Early 1300s: Gunpowder first used in Europe	Although gunpowder is believed to have been invented in China as early as the ninth century, it wasn't until the early 1300s that it was first used in battle in Europe. A relatively simple mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter, gunpowder has been making the world's wars more deadly ever since.
1522: First circumnavigation of the globe completed	In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan and a crew of 237 men and five ships set out on a voyage to claim the Spice Islands as the property of Spain. Although Magellan himself was killed while trying to convert a native Philippine chief to Christianity in 1521, one ship and the remainder of his crew, by then eighteen men, completed the voyage around the world and returned to Spain on September 8, 1522.
1859: Darwin's Origin of Species	Charles Darwin shocked the world with his theory of evolution as proposed in Origin of Species. He explained that, over time, species adapt to their environment in order to survive and then pass along these acquired traits to future generations in a process known as "natural selection." Although his ideas are widely accepted today, the notion that species could have evolved from an entirely different species caused outrage from those believing that all living creatures were created by God.
1492: Columbus lands in America	Although Leif Ericson was reportedly the first to land in America in 1000, his voyage ultimately brought about little change to the continent. On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew landed in what is now part of the Bahamas. With him, he brought about European colonization and slew of changes: Christianity, disease, guns, and horses to name a few.
1543: Copernicus disputes earth is center of universe	Nicolaus Copernicus may have tried to avoid public outrage by waiting until the year of his death to publish On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres, but he was the first person to propose that the sun, and not the earth, was at the center of the universe. Later, Johannes Kepler argued the orbital paths of planets were actually elliptical, not circular, and in 1610, despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church, Galileo Galilei used his telescope to prove that the earth does, in fact, revolve around the sun.
1666: Newton's Law of Gravity	In 1666, after watching an apple fall from a tree, Isaac Newton realized that the force holding any object to the Earth is the same as the force holding the moon and planets in their orbits. He created a mathematical equation that defined the gravitational pull between two objects. In essence, our bodies pull on the Earth just as the Earth pulls on our bodies. However, since we weigh so much less than the Earth, we do not affect its motion at all.
1905: Einstein's Theory of Relativity	In 1905, Albert Einstein concluded that if the energy of motion could change mass, mass itself could become energy. The relationship between mass and the energy is described in what is probably the most famous equation in science, E=mc2 (Energy = mass x speed of light squared).
1957: First satellite launched	The successful launch of Sputnik-1 on October 4, 1957, indicated to the world that the Soviet Union had taken the lead in space exploration. It also caused fear that this technology would allow the Soviet Union to launch nuclear weapons into space. In response, the United States established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), embarking on a quest to the moon where Neil Armstrong took his revolutionary first steps in 1969.
计算机科学	In study of up to date deep-sub micrometer semiconductor technology, for example, physics helps to explain quantum effect which tends to be more and more dominant in the device behaviors; materials science plays crucial role in device packaging and photoresist; and mathematics enhances the abilities of simulating software which help predict the characteristics of the integrated circuits before the chips are put into production.   Moreover, recently computer science research is increasingly related with more other disciplines, such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, linguistics, and even psychology, in the applications of biochip, voice recognition, artificial intelligence and so on.
海王星Neptune 的发现	After the planet Uranus had been discovered, a Cambridge mathematician, Adams, predicted the existence of an unseen planet, to account for the fact that Uranus was being pulled slightly out of position in its orbit. According to Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation, Adams attributed this pull to the gravitational effect of an unknown body, and calculated its position. One year later (September 1846), this new planet, Neptune, was discovered, and its position was quite in accordance with the prediction.   From the fact that planet Uranus was a bit pulled out of its normal orbit, some mathematicians logically reasoned the existence of a new planet, Neptune, and even precisely calculated its position according to Newton's theory of universal gravitation in 1845. One year later Neptune was discovered just around the predicted position.
哈雷彗星的发现	After thoroughly comparing several comet observation records, Halley eventually found the similarities of the periods of some records. He further induced that these records actually refer to a unique comet, Halley' comet, and predicted that the comet would appear again after another period of 76 years. (理论对实践的指导) after several year's careful observation and thorough calculation, Halley predicted that the comet appeared in 1682 was periodic and it would return after 76 years in 1758. Halley passed away fifteen years ago before his prediction was confirmed.(个人的伟大难以被承认)
克隆	Clone, one of the most astonishing and challenging biomedical techniques, is thought to be quite promising in gene savings. However, human cloning s is not only dangerous technically but also perilous to the morality and ethics, thus many ethicists, religious, political leaders, and others call for to banning human cloning for reproductive purposes and even any purpose. Nevertheless, some scientists, in spite of moral and ethical standards, insists on doing experiments on cloning humans stealthily.   The clone of human beings has been criticized by many scientists, politicians, and moralists, and even banned by some governments, for it is not only dangerous technically, but most importantly, is in defiance of our social morality. If the clone of human beings is carried out, our current moral systems may be overturned and thus the society would be in disorder.
心脏专家	A patient who suffers from heart disease may go to hospital for advice. If the physician who examines the patient has never met the illness before, he may be perplexed and ask for suggestion from a skillful doctor who is a cardiologist. It is possible that the cardiologist can find the key pathogeny at the first glance and give the correct treatment in a short time.
科技对人们生活的改变	Obviously, nowadays we can never imagine living in a world that there is no cars for traveling to offices, no televisions for watching TV shows, no cellular phones for communications with our family, and so forth. Technological advancement has knitted the world to be a seamless web of information and phone lines, in which people are able to get the requisites much more easily than ever before. When we are at work, we surf the internet for suggestions and information; when we are hungry, we call an express delivery service; when we feel tired, we book an airplane ticket to Hawaii for weekends.   It seems a paradox that our efficiencies are much higher than ever before while our leisure time is increasingly diminishing, but it is actually the reality. The greater our mobility, the more our destinations each day; the more time-saving facilities we use, the more activities we try to attend each day; with more convenient access to information, we try to assimilate more of it each day. Nowadays we are forced to do more by the superiors, the competitors, or even by ourselves. Fortunately, we have more opportunities and choices than our predecessors, but at the same time, unfortunately, we have to confront with much more challenges and suffer from much more pressure. Therefore, people may be not able to enjoy their leisure time much in such an increasingly competitive society, consequently resulting in some serious social problems, such as unemployment, resentment, high suicide rate, anti-social behaviors, and so forth.
伦琴发现X射线	In 1895, when Wilhelm Roentgen was working in darkened room, trying to determine the penetrating power of cathode rays, he noticed that a faint light appeared. These rays had special penetrating power to pass through various substances, and they are the very X-rays which comprehensively utilized in medical services and scientific researches.
Penicillin	In 1928, Alexander Fleming left some unwashed plates containing some bacteria in his lab while he was on holiday. When he came back, he found that a mold was all over the plate and all the bacteria were dead. This amazing mold, Penicillin, could inhibit the growth of many deathful bacteria, and was later comprehensively used in medical treatment.
二战中利用人 来做实验 (科技和道德)	Although scientific research has produced substantial social benefits, it has also posed several troubling ethical problems. Public attention was drawn to reported abuses of human subjects in biomedical experiments, especially during the Second World War. The physicians and scientists who had conducted biomedical experiments on concentration camp prisoners were judged guilty in trials.

 
 
 

发明创造
1879: Incandescent lamp	In 1879, after more than 1,000 trials and $40,000, Thomas Edison introduced an inexpensive alternative to candles and gaslight: the incandescent lamp. Using carbonized filaments from cotton thread, his light bulb burned for two days. These bulbs were first installed on the steamship Columbia and have been lighting up the world ever since.
1903: First powered flight	Orville Wright took off in the first powered flight in history in 1903 with the help of his brother, Wilbur. By 1905, the Wright brothers had completed the first practical airplane for public use. Since the advent of airplanes, the world has experienced a rapid merging of cultures, ideas and resources.
1908: Ford's Model T	At $850, the world's first automobile proved to be an invaluable bargain for farmers and city dwellers alike. And with Henry Ford's introduction of the revolutionary assembly line, the volume of sales increased dramatically, bringing the cost of the Model T, also known as the "Tin Lizzie," to just $525.
1712: Newcomen's steam engine	Although each separate component of a modern steam engine had already been invented by the year 1712, the first person to tie all of these elements together was Thomas Newcomen, an English blacksmith. The steam engine not only provided an immense source of power and energy, but, along with James Watt's improvements in 1769, also paved the way for the Industrial Revolution and the move from an agrarian society to life in a city.
1876: Telephone	Not realizing the full impact it would have on society, Alexander Graham Bell introduced the first telephone to an amazed audience at America's Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Within a year, Bell had installed 230 phones and established the Bell Telephone Company, which was later transformed into AT&T. In 1997, 643,000,000,000 calls were made by people in the United States alone.
1901: Wireless transmission of a signal	On December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the Morse code letter "s" across the Atlantic from Cornwall, England, to St. John's, Newfoundland. This demonstration of wireless transmission eventually paved the way for today's complex global (and interglobal) communications, including radio, radar, and even signals from other planets.
1926: First public demonstration of television	On January 26, 1926, John Logie Baird displayed television for the first time in public at a department store in London. This was the first major step in the advancement of television since Paul Nipkow received a patent on his proposal for a mechanical television system in 1883. By 1993, there were 215 million television sets in the United States alone.
1947: Silicon chip	After ENIAC, the first computer, was invented in 1946, researchers sought a more practical way to perform highly complex calculations. In 1947, three engineers (John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain) demonstrated that it was possible to selectively control the flow of electricity through silicon. This discovery led to the creation of microprocessors and has since paved the way for today's high-speed, efficient computers.
1596: Flush toilet	British nobleman John Harington devised the first flushing "water closet," which featured a wooden seat with a cistern and a valve for flushing. However, it wasn't until the nineteenth century when extensive sewage systems were introduced, that the flush toilet became as popular as the outhouse, the chamber pot, and the secluded tree.
1834: Refrigerator	Modern refrigeration was invented by Jacob Perkins, a Massachusetts native residing in London. Perkins's patented machine closely resembles today's refrigerator: a compressed fluid - ether for Perkins, Freon for us - evaporates to cool goods, then re-condenses. Today, fewer than one percent of American homes lack this cool convenience.
1854: Elevator	Elisha Graves Otis demonstrated the world's first safe elevator at an 1854 New York City fair. Like other elevators, Otis's invention ran up and down on a rope coiled around a power-driven drum. However, when Otis had his assistant cut the supporting rope, the public saw Otis's real innovation: a spring that set iron teeth into secure notches when tension in the rope slackened.
1498: Toothbrush	In 1498, the Chinese invented the toothbrush, a row of bristles mounted at right angles to a straight handle. Society has enjoyed cleaner teeth and brighter smiles ever since.
1582: Gregorian calendar	In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII boldly changed the course of history and of timekeeping when he instituted the present-day Christian calendar. The Gregorian calendar chopped ten days off the previously-used Julian calendar, which had been the standard since 46 BC, and switched New Year's Day from March to the first of January. The still-active Gregorian calendar is not quite accurate: it runs twenty-six seconds fast per year.
1714: Mercury thermometer	Daniel Fahrenheit, a German physicist working in Holland, invented the mercury thermometer. This invention was a more accurate temperature gauge than the alcohol-filled thermometer which was popular at the time. Fahrenheit's thermometer had three fixed points: water's freezing point, its boiling point, and the temperature of human blood. This temperature scale is still in use today.
1886: Coca-Cola	John Pemberton, an Atlanta druggist, invented the famous carbonated blend of coca leaf and kola nut in 1886. Pemberton originally marketed his drink as "French wine of Coca - an ideal Nerve Tonic and Stimulant," but today 606 million people choose Coke "just for the taste of it" every day.
美国的火星车	The twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, has successfully launched on the surface of Mars this year. The rovers have started their mission of looking for signs of past water, which would be helpful for further determination whether life ever arose on Mars.
建大坝	when the government plans to build a dam, experts from different disciplines may be aggregated to discuss about the plan. In the discussion, it is quite possible that those experts may have contrasting points of view. The hydrologist claims that the dam would be significant in combating drought and flood; the geologist concludes that the project may be infeasible as earthquakes are frequent in this region; the economist infers that the project must be quite helpful to solve the problems of electric power deficit, and the local economics would benefit much; and the ecologist and archaeologist may disagree with the project, because building such a dam may be perilous to some species and historic relics in the ambient regions.   Perhaps the region chosen by the hydraulician is the habitat of many rare species, and thus the project would probably cause species extinction; or in the ambient region there are many priceless historic relics, which may be damaged by the project.
哈勃望远镜	With the help of the Hubble space telescope, we can get more close to the universe and observe the stars, planets, nebulas, galaxies much more conveniently.
3M公司的偶然发现	A researcher working for 3M, a materials company, had planned to make the world greatest glue. However, in the research he found the world’s worst glue, a sticky substance that never sticks. This glue is one of the best things 3M ever invented.

 
 
 

政治&政府
1787: Philadelphia Convention published the U.S. Constitution	The signing of the constitution is an unqualified benchmark in United States, and world, history. The constitution's four most important contributions were (1) the electoral process, (2) a system of checks and balances, (3) federalization combined with state control, and (4) protection of individual rights
1804: Napoleon declared himself emperor of France	Almost sixteen years after the French Revolution, monarchy returned to France when Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor; thereafter he was known simply as Napoleon. His Napoleonic Code was a sort of compromise between the aristocratic regime and the revolutionary's egalitarianism, remnants of which are still law in Europe today. He built the largest European empire since the Romans.
1917: Lenin led Bolshevik Revolution	Led by Vladimir I. Lenin, the Bolshevik Revolution finalized the end of Czarist Russia and formed a new nation, the Soviet Union. Lenin moved the capital to Moscow, abolished private property, suppressed organized religion, and nationalized business and industry. He also set the model for totalitarianism in the twentieth century and was an impassioned advocate of the Marxist-Leninist system, which he successfully exported to nearly half the world.
水门事件	Consider also less egregious examples, such as President Nixon's withholding of information about his active role in the Watergate cover-up. His behavior demonstrated a concern for self- interest above the broader interests of the democratic system that granted his political authority in the first place.
克林顿丑闻	The sexual scandal of President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky is not only a shame of them, but also in defiance of the societal moral standards based on love, honor, honesty, and duty. Clinton's reckless and immoral behavior and its public dissemination had reinforced the publication of sexual acts over the internet, radio, and television, and would inextricably aggravate the wrongdoings of the adolescence.
法西斯制度	In an autocratic society, people are not only encouraged but actually coerced into suppressing individual personality; and indeed these people are afraid to think and behave differently—not for fear of being excluded but rather for fear of punishment and persecution by the state. The modern Communist and Fascist regimes are fitting examples. Every society has its own bundle of values, customs, and mores which most of its members share.

 
 
 

哲学&思想
1088: The first university	The first university with the authority to grant degrees arose in Bologna, Italy from student guilds and societies of scholars seeking protection from an intolerant church and government. Universities in Paris and Oxford were formed shortly thereafter, creating largely secular and democratic centers of learning that began to challenge the beliefs of the church and state, and nurture the development of human thought.
1897: The birth of psychoanalysis	German psychologist Sigmund Freud revolutionized the process of psychoanalysis for the treatment of mental illness. He popularized the concepts of anxiety and repression and introduced the idea of early childhood development of sexual feeling. Although his ideas are highly controversial and impossible to prove, terms such as "Oedipus complex" captured the collective imagination and equipped psychoanalysts with a new school of thought.
Immaturity	The immaturity of young children may deter them from making moral discrimination about harmful actions committed against or others. Many scientific research prove that young children do not take into account the intentions of a person committing accidental or deliberate harm and that it is difficult for young children to differentiate between unforeseeable and foreseeable, and thus preventable harm.
爱因斯坦与波尔 关于相对论的争论	One need look no further than the famous Einstein-Bohr Debate on determinacy - indeterminacy of quantum theories. On one hand, Einstein believed that quantum physics would eventually be replaced by a more determinate theory. Bohr, on the other hand, accepted the finality of the probability-based quantum theory. Their debate brought about chaos theory, which finally solved the debate by proposing wave-particle duality. When viewed from this perspective, the Einstein-Bohr debate evaporates. Depending on which part of the spiral we look, Bohr or Einstein will appear correct.
批评的作用(理证)	Receiving criticism can be a direct path to making yourself look good. Everyone is subject to it, from the person in the mailroom to the CEO of the organization. No one likes it, but everyone would be wise to hear it with an open mind. You can learn more about how to improve in your work and life through criticism than through many other channels.   Most criticism is intended to help you do your job, even live your life, better. It is meant to be useful and constructive. Some criticism is unfair, unjust and unkind. It is not meant to help you improve in any way; it is intended to hurt you, make you angry and wreck your day. Don't let it. The smart person treats all criticism in the same objective way, learning from it what he or she can and discarding the rest. The foolish person allows himself or herself to be manipulated into being angry or responding defensively, thereby losing whatever benefit he might have gained, and looking unprofessional and undignified in the process.
个人主义	Individualism holds that every person is an end in himself and that no person should be sacrificed for the sake of another. Collectivism holds that the needs and goals of the individual are subordinate to those of the larger group and should be sacrificed when the collective good so requires.   Individualism holds that the individual is the unit of achievement. While not denying that one person can build on the achievements of others, individualism points out that achievement goes beyond what has already been done; it is something new that is created by the individual. Collectivism, on the other hand, holds that achievement is a product of society. In this view, an individual is a temporary spokesman for the underlying, collective process of progress.   In fact, the concept of individualism does not make sense in the absence of other human beings. Individualism and collectivism are contrasting views of the relationship between the individual and the group. Individualism is called ``individualism'' not because it exhorts the individual to seek a life apart from others, but because it asserts that the individual, and not the group, is the primary constituent of society.   Egoism vs. altruism A true individualist wants the best for himself, so he seeks out the best, no mater who is the source. To the individualist, the truth is more important than any authority, including himself.   The first confusion is to confound altruism with kindness, generosity, and helping other people. Altruism demands more than kindness: it demands sacrifice. The billionaire who contributes $50,000 to a scholarship fund is not acting altruistically; altruism goes beyond simple charity. Altruism is the grocery bagger who contributes $50,000 to the fund, foregoing his own college education so that others may go. Parents who spend a fortune to save their dying child are helping another person, but true altruism would demand that the parents spend their money to save ten other children, sacrificing their own child so that others may live.   We are taught that ``selfishness'' consists of dishonesty, theft, even bloodshed, usually for the sake of the whim of the moment.   Reason is individualistic. No person can think for another; thought is an attribute of the individual. One can start with the ideas of another, but each new discovery, each creative step beyond the already known, is a product of the individual. And when an individual does build on the work and ideas of others, he is building on the work of other individuals, not on the ideas of ``society.''
成功和失败	Winners & Losers The word “winner” and “loser” have many meanings. When we refer to a person as a winner, we do not mean one who makes someone else lose. To us, a winner is one who responds authentically by being credible, trustworthy, responsive, and genuine, both as an individual and as a member of a society.   Winners do not dedicate their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be; rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretence and manipulating others. They are aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable. Winners do not need to hide behind a mask. Winners are not afraid to do their own thinking and to use their own knowledge. They can separate facts from opinions and don’t pretend to have all the answers. They listen to others; evaluate what they say, but come to their own conclusions. Although winners can admire and respect other people, they are not totally defined, demolished, bound or awed by them. Winners do not play “helpless”, nor do they play the blaming game. Instead, they assume responsibility for their own lives.   If you want to learn the secrets of success, it seems perfectly reasonable to study successful people and organizations, but studying successes without also looking at failures tends to create a misleading — if not entirely wrong — picture of what it takes to succeed. But the performance of any given firm is influenced by many random events beyond the control of managers
乌托邦	Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1516. The work was written in Latin and it was published in Louvain (present-day Belgium). Utopia is a work of satire, indirectly criticizing Europe's political corruption and religious hypocrisy.   Aristotle's ideas of aesthetics, justice and harmony are present in the Utopian's philosophy. In the 1800s, the rise of urban industrialization triggered the proliferation of Utopian projects (agricultural communes), all of which failed.   Utopia became the project of creating an ideal society apart from the demoralizing city. These Utopian projects were especially popular in Britain, France, and New England. The Utopian celebration of common property and dependence upon extensive state planning are the groundwork for communism and socialism as presented in Marx and Engels' written works.

 
 
 

历史&战争
1066: Norman Conquest	In 1066, William, duke of Normandy (later William I), led a force of 6,000 men from northern France to defeat King Harold of England in the Battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest destroyed England's tie to Scandinavia, instead bringing it into close contact with Western Europe. Within England, Norman French became the language of literature and of both the court and upper classes, and had a great effect on the development of the English language.
1775-1781: American Revolutionary War	The Thirteen Colonies' successful war of independence from Great Britain led to the creation of the United States and the establishment of the modern democratic style of government. The Revolution had a great influence on liberal thought throughout Europe, inspiring revolutions in France, and later, in Spain's American colonies.
1861-1865: American Civil War	The American Civil War erupted when southern states seceded from the Union in order to form their own nation. The North's ultimate victory preserved the Union, abolished slavery, and granted citizenship to newly freed slaves. The Civil War also marked the economic and political ascendancy of the rapidly industrializing states of the North.
1939-1945: World War II	World War II involved every major power in the world and was the costliest war in history. The conflict resulted from the rise of totalitarian, militaristic regimes after World War I. Modern methods of warfare, including the first use of nuclear weapons--together with Germany's attempt to exterminate entire religious and ethnic groups (particularly the Jews)-- killed tens of millions. Political consequences included the reduction of Britain and France to powers of lesser rank, the birth of the United Nations, and the beginning of the Cold War.
1095-1192: Crusades (One through Three)	The Crusades, profoundly altering European history, were a series of attacks organized by Western Christians in order to take control of the holy city of Jerusalem from Muslim powers. Although they generally failed in their chief purpose, the Crusades exercised an immense influence on Western civilization by bringing the West into closer contact with new ways of living and thinking--stimulating commerce, giving fresh impetus to literature and invention, and increasing geographical knowledge.
1799-1815: Napoleonic Wars	With Napoleon in a position of absolute power, France fought the shifting alliances of other European nations for territory. France enjoyed a short domination over most of Europe, during which Napoleon instituted many administrative and legal reforms. After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's empire disintegrated, stimulating movements for national unification.
1914-1917: World War I	The underlying causes of World War I were the imperialist, territorial, and economic rivalries of the great powers. It was the advent of "total war," in which civilians became legitimate targets, and use of modern weaponry made the war one of the bloodiest in history, with an estimated ten million killed. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles changed the face of Europe and the Middle East while the harsh terms imposed on Germany set the stage for World War II.
1950-1953: Korean War	The conflict between communist and non-communist forces in Korea was the first war fought under international authority (the United Nations) and the first post-nuclear war. Ending in a stalemate, the Korean War clarified the lines of the Cold War between democracy and Communism and intensified the arms race between the United States and Russia.
历史观点	A universal view of history and the perception of present situation mutually sustain one another. As when see the totality of the past, so we experience the present. The deeper understanding we acquire in the past, the more sagacious decisions we make in the present.
德国对二战的教训	In world war two, the chauvinism in Germany led to great disaster not only to the Germans but also to the people of whole Europe. Fortunately, the government of Germany leant from the history that chauvinism would be harmful, and thus takes effective actions to restrict the resurgence of Nazism in all of the aspects of society.
以色列复国	In the reestablishment of Israel, the Bible played a crucial role. It is common that we humans have a basic psychological need for individual identity, which we define by our unique traditions, rituals, mores, beliefs, languages and especially history. Therefore, when a nation's history are neglected or even abandoned, the result is a diminished sense of pride, dignity, and self-worth of the people.

 
 
 

艺术
Music / literature / Movie
1955: Rock and roll	With his speedy, spiced-up version of rhythm and blues, Chuck Berry combined all the essential ingredients of rock 'n' roll and delivered them to the mainstream audience. Juiced up with double-string guitar licks and a witty lyricism that appealed to postwar youth, his sassy and energetic Maybelline skyrocketed to number five on the Billboard charts. Elvis Presley burst upon the scene shortly thereafter - adding the moves, charisma, and sensuality that caused nationwide hysteria. Rock 'n' roll was born.
1387: Tales from the trail	Geoffrey Chaucer begins work on The Canterbury Tales--the story of a storytelling contest amongst a group of pilgrims traveling to a shrine in Canterbury. Chaucer's exploration of the young Middle English language profoundly influenced the development of English literature; his tales, ranging from the terrifyingly bleak to the raucous and bawdy, exhibited a keen perception of the human condition.
1795: Sense and Sensibility	Jane Austen expanded the novel's range in subject matter as the first to write about average people in everyday situations. Although not the first novelist (Defoe, Richardson, and Fielding beat her to it), her writing exhibited a shrewd mastery of the form. Austen's works have had mass appeal, proving that daily life for women at the close of the eighteenth century was every bit an adventure and a battlefield.
指环王	In the fantasy film "The Lord of the Rings", by turning the developing 20th century's struggle with industrialization and war into a tale about an unlikely alliance of good souls battling an encroaching evil, the director synthesizes the traditional and the modern.(简介)   To find examples one need look no further than the success of fantasy film "The Lord of The Rings", one of the most renowned films in the year 2004. This outstanding film, which won all 11 Oscar awards that it was nominated, is understandable to most people as a tale about an imaginative alliance of good souls battling against a frightful evil, and may be further interpreted as struggle of humans with industrialization and war. The success of "The Lord of The Rings" is no doubt the representative of such great artistic works.(容易被接受；反应现实)
Architecture
1260: The gothic cathedral	Consecrated in 1260, the massive Chartres Cathedral in France marked the highpoint of gothic architecture. Its towering spires could be seen from twenty miles away, and innovations such as tall arcades, a narrow triforium, and a cavalcade of flying buttresses pushed the boundaries of architectural possibility. A popular pilgrimage destination in the Middle Ages, the Chartres Cathedral seemed to embody the popular conception of God at that time--dwarfing, unreachable, and unknowable.
1883: First steel framed structure	A new cathedral is born on the cusp of the twentieth century— the skyscraper. The Home Insurance building in Chicago contained the first fireproof steel frame, but the Woolworth building in New York City combined several new technologies, including a set of concrete piers delving into the bedrock below the waterline, portal arches, and high speed elevators. Mies Van der Roe carried the skyscraper to a whole new aesthetic level using metal and glass to give the monoliths an ethereal sense of lightness and spaciousness.
The Potala Palace	The Potala Palace is Tibet’s cardinal landmark and a structure that deserves a place as one of the wonders of eastern architecture. The Potala palace was built by Songtsen Gampo, the first king of Tibet, in the 7th century. The roof and many other parts of the Palace were decorated by pure gold, which was contributed by the Buddhist in Tibet. Since its construction, the Potala Palace has been the home of each successive Dalai Lamas, the religious leader of Tibet. This building dedicates not only to religious belief but also to the accommodation place—over a thousand Lamas live in it today. Shaped by the people of Tibet, the Potala Palace has a far-reaching influence on the Tibetan’s religion as well as every day lives.
Bank of China Tower	Besides religious impact, buildings represent our intellectual and business behavior. Take Bank of China Tower as an example. It is located at No. 1 Garden Road, central Hong Kong. The tower itself is 315 meters high, and the unique style and spectacular appearance has made it one of the most distinguished buildings in the world. The BOC tower is a masterpiece of the world famous American-Chinese architect Mr. I.M.Pei. The inspiration of the design is derived from the elegant poise of bamboo. Now, the BOC tower is a symbolic of strength, vitality and growth, representing also the Bank’s commitment to the rapid development of Hong Kong and to servicing the community. The BOC tower has not only recorded a glorious page in the construction history of Hong Kong but also highlighted the new phases of expansion in Hong Kong.
Big Bell	Constructed in the Victory Age, the Big Bell is now the biggest bell in the world and is still one of the important parts of the English lives.

 
 
 

商业
The collapse of Barings Bank	Mr. Lesson was accused of losing 1.3 billon dollars as a result of a risky derivative investment with the potential of a 27-billon gain. The collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 has been one of the most spectacular events in the banking world in recent years. Banks solvency and liquidity can be significantly threatened if speculative trading in financial derivatives is guided by a lack of adequate internal and external controls. There is evidence that such reasons are responsible for the failure of Barings in February 1995.
Offering stock options to employees	Recently, many multi-national companies, such as Cisco and Yahoo, stimulate the employees’ morale by offering stock options to their employees. Stock option provides a chance for employees to become the shareholders of the company. As the result, the interest and profit of the company is tightly connected with the employees’ interest and income.
PRP contracts	Many firms adopt “Profit-Related-Pay” contracts (PRP contracts) and pay wages at levels that vary with firms’ profits. Many studies suggest that firms adopting PRP contracts show productivity per worker higher than that of their competitors who used more traditional contracts. The reason behind is that PRP contracts greatly change individual workers’ relationships to the firm, connecting their interest with firms’ interest.
The need for communication and coordination	The greater the division of labor in an economy, the greater the need for communication and coordination. This is because increased division of labor entails a larger number of specialized producers, which results in a greater number of disruptions of supply and production.
Hiring applicants with broad background	An employer looking for long-term employees may be better served by hiring applicants with broad background. By way of their more general education, these applicants have acquired a variety of general and transferable skills. They may be more suitable than their business-background colleagues to solve general management problems, deal with business associates from different cultures and view issues at a variety of aspects. In general, the employees with broad background can accustom to changes more quickly than their business-majored colleagues.
Daimler Chrysler	Daimler Chrysler, one of the most successful automobile companies in the world, contributes significantly to the local employment of Stuttgart, Germany.
Philip Morris	Philip Morris, the largest tobacco company in the world, has been sued by government and many other groups for producing products that are harmful to health. The fines and legal fees that have resulted from the legal attacks against the company have cost the company substantial amounts of money.
Bayer	Bayer, one of the largest pharmaceutic companies in the world, announced that the company would cease production of one of its major products, because of the hazardous ingredients it contained. By doing so, the company suffers great loss on profitability, but gains strong public support and understanding, which can contribute to the long-term success of the company.
Mitsubishi Motors	Mitsubishi Motors had concealed significant defects in the break system of Pajero, one of the company’s major products, before apologized to public. Hundreds of car accidents were directly caused by the break error. Thus, the company suffered a great goods return, losing not only the market share but also the confidence of consumers.
Henry Ford	Henry Ford’s factory was so efficient that by 1926 a new “model-T” cost only $310, one-third the price of the original 1908 model.
Toshiba	Discriminating services may cause misunderstanding and unpleasant result. The best example is Toshiba, one of the largest Japanese companies. In 2000, the Company announced that among notebook computers it produced, one model had serious defect. Users in North America could choose either replacements with an upgraded model or full refund. However, no such offer for users in China. Chinese users were outrage at the company’s discrimination and refused to use any of Toshiba’s notebook computers. What the company lost is not only the temporary revenue but also the consumer’s confidence, which contribute to the long-term success of the company.
The goal of private corporation	Compared with government officers, private corporation managers must pay more attention to efficiency and effectiveness of their decisions. Normally, maximizing profitability is not the primary goal of government owned enterprises and governmental planning, so that many unrealistic decisions may be resulted. It is the hidden reason that many government owned enterprises become profitable after the privatizations.
SEGA	Traditionally, the first firm to commercialize a new technology has benefited from unique opportunity to shape product definitions, forcing followers to adapt to a standard or invest in an unproven alternative. Today, however, the largest payoffs may go to companies that lead in developing integrated approaches for successful mass production and distribution. For example, SEGA, producer of Saturn, was the first company to develop home video game machine commercially, but Sony Entertainment INC., producer of Play Station, proved to be more successful at forming strategic alliance with other producers and distributors to manufacture and market its hardware and software. Because consumers had more choices on Play Station’s games, they seldom bought SEGA Saturn. By the end of the 1990’s, Play Station dominated the home video game market while SEGA Saturn was no longer in production.
Financial and Economic Crisis	The financial crash of October 1987 and the Asia Economic Crisis in 1998 demonstrate that the world’s capital markets are more closely integrated than ever before and that events in one part of the global village may be transmitted to the rest of the village—almost instantaneously.
Automation	The fact that in many corporations employees are being replaced by automated equipment in order to save money does not mean our lives are becoming worse. After all, it is the automation that boosts the industrial revolution, which in turn, creates thousands of hundreds more positions than in the past. If the corporations cannot improve its profitability, many more people will lost their jobs ultimately.
International economic environment	As the economic role of multinational, global corporations expands, the international economic environment will be shaped increasingly not by governments or international institutions, but by the interaction between governments and global corporations.
CSR policy	Traditionally, people think that companies are set up for making profit, not for saving our planet. Today, however, more and more multinational companies adopt the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy (CSR policy). These companies pay more attention to the social problems, from employee minimum wage to environment issues. On the one hand, these companies do not want people to protest in front of the office buildings; on the other hand, a good public image does help the companies promote their products to consumers.
Interview	The interview is an essential part of a successful firing program because with it, job applicants who have personalities that are unsuited to the requirements of the job will be eliminated from consideration.
制度	One need look no further than the collapse of Enron, once the biggest energy firm in America. Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, encouraged the employees to take action without notifying their bosses. Gradually, the employees tended to be in defiance of the normal company regulations, and could freely, maybe arbitrarily, do as they wished to, leaving the authorities of the managers in the dust. Obviously, when the behaviors of the employees were out of control, the efficiencies of the companies would be lowered.

 
 
 

能源
OPEC	OPEC is one of the best examples. OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is an international organization of eleven developing countries that are heavily reliant on oil revenues as their main source of income. Since oil revenues are so vital for the economic development of these nations, they aim to bring stability and harmony to the oil market by adjusting their oil output to help ensure a balance between supply and demand. In the long run, the stabilized out-put help to cease the problem of over-refining and over utilization of oil energy.
International cooperation	Nowadays, developed countries already masters the technology of using more efficiency and economical energy resources, such as water and solar energy, while the traditional and wasted energy still dominates in the developing countries. International cooperation enables the technology transfer between developed countries and developing countries and devotes to the benefit of entire human beings. A worldwide leader can speed up the decision-making progress and enhance the solidarity among the member countries.

 
 
 

社会事件
Violence on TV programs	Television programs and movies that depict violence among teenagers are extremely popular. Given how influential these media are, we have good reason to believe that these depictions cause young people to engage in violent behavior. Hence, depictions of violence among teenagers should be prohibited from movies and television programs, if only in those programs and movies promoted to young audiences.
教员要关注 社会/工业界 发展	It is beneficial for a professor who teaches Electronic engineering to be active in industrial world as well. Therefore, he can always keep conscious about the major difference of research directions in industrial world and academic world, and he can refine his courses in time to make it keep pace with the industrial advancement. Consequently, the students can learn more practical knowledge and instructions from the faculty, and benefit themselves when they step into society after graduation.
AIDS艾滋病问题	Africa and the developing world are facing an HIV/AIDS crisis equated by the U.S. surgeon amounts to the plague that decimated Europe in the fourteenth century.   As available pharmaceuticals are quite expensive, it is impossible for millions of infected people in developing countries to accept existing AIDS treatments, and thus they are sentenced to preventable deaths.   The U.S. should cancel the foreign debts of the poorest countries, give up the intellectual property rights, and give a license to WT0 to produce the essential medicines and distribute them widely to those in need in the developing world.   Finally, it should be reiterated that although access to essential medicines is of critical importance, much more must also be done to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to improve treatment of those infected.
NBA总决赛	The Lakers left the court in pieces. Karl Malone kept his head down, Shaquille O'Neal absently slapped a few high-fives and Kobe Bryant jogged in late, encased in his own thoughts. The Detroit Pistons defeat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA Finals this year. The stunning victory is the triumph of teamwork over talent and collaboration over celebrity.
剽窃	For example, students might attempt to paraphrase to convey information obtained from research but fail to cite their sources. Or they might fail to identify passages as quotations when they are conducting research for a writing project and later treat the passage as though it were a paraphrase. In still other cases, students will knowingly attempt to pass off the work of other writers as their own.(剽窃的类型)   Students often feel the need to cheat or plagiarize when they don't understand an assignment or concept or when they don't have the time to adequately prepare for turning in an assignment . Offering ample time in class for questions or doing one-on-one conferences outside of class with students can help alleviate this feeling. However, students often cheat and plagiarize because it's easy or they think they won't get caught.(剽窃的原因)
Renaissance	During the era well-known as the Renaissance, Europe emerged from the economic stagnation of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of financial growth. Also, and perhaps most importantly, the Renaissance was an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and political thought turned in new directions.
恐怖主义	As we face the threat of war and terrorism, the economic downturn, and our own personal struggles and losses, we may need additional help coping from time to time.   The heinous on September 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York is a disaster. Any act of international terrorism is a threat to international peace and security and should be condemned.   All states should prevent the financing of terrorism, deny safe haven to terrorists, and cooperate under a common set of obligations in the fight to end international terrorism.
政治丑闻	The collapse of Enron is the biggest crash in corporate history. This is not just an isolated financial scandal. Enron made a large number of donations to Bush and the Republicans in exchange with the government's support in energy policy.
安乐死	One need look no further than the application of euthanasia. To deprive other's lives is widely recognized as illegal and criminal behavior; however, euthanasia is not crime but benevolence. From time to time some patients are hopeless as their diseases are cureless at that time, they can not bear the afflictions of the disease any further, and their family are also on the brink of collapse mentally and economically. Therefore, peaceful death is the most helpful choice both to the patients and to their family. Under this circumstance, the doctors should help their poor patients with euthanasia, and these behaviors should never be judged guilty.
Purchase of Alaska	March 30, 1867 In 1867, Seward, Secretary of U.S., agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7 million. At the time, the public thought Seward was crazy to spend so much on a piece of land that was mostly unexplored. Ultimately, buying Alaska proved to be a very good move. The discovery of gold and petroleum in Alaska ended people’s debate.
马丁路德金和种族歧视	Martin Luther King's contributions to our history place him in this inimitable position. In his short life, Martin Luther King was instrumental in helping us realize and rectify those unspeakable flaws which were tarnishing the name of America.   In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean subjugation and humiliation by the police and the legal system. Beatings, imprisonment and sometimes death were waiting for those who defied the System.   Hope in America was waning on the part of many Black Americans, but Martin Luther King, Jr. provided a candle along with a light.   Today Black Americans have federal legislation which provides access and legal protection in the areas of public accommodations, housing, voting rights, schools, and transportation.   On December 10, 1964, Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
环境恶化	Deforestation caused by indulgent cutting, animal extinction due to endless hunting can only be forestalled by public education on the importance of these areas. For instance, the depletion of atmospheric ozone, which has waned the Earth to the point that it threatens the very survival of the human species. Also, we are now learning that early-cutting the world's rainforests can set into motion a chain of animal extinction that threatens the delicate balance upon which all animals--including humans--depend.

 
 
 

名人名言
主题	出处	内容
逆境     坚持	Robert Collier	In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat there is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.
	Ralph Waldo Emerson	No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves.
	Mother Teresa	To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it
	Henry Ford	Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs
	Winston Churchill	Never, never, never, never give up.
	Albert Einstein	In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
	孔子Confucius	Our greatest glory is not in never falling，but in rising every time we fall.
努力与成功	Ann Landers	Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.
	Crassus	Those who aim at great deeds must suffer greatly.
	Thomas Edison	There is no substitute for hard work.
	Leo Tolstoi	The strongest of all warriors are these two- Time and Patience.
	Thomas Jefferson	I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work... the more I have of it.
	Robert Collier	Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
	Ray A. Croc	Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.
实际经验与间接经验	You’ll learn more about a road by traveling it... than by consulting all the maps in the world.
动机与结果	Vince Lombardi	Winning isn’t everything... but wanting to win is.
	John F. Kennedy	We choose to go to the moon and other things , because they are easy, but because they are hard.
	Thucydides	The strong do what they will. The weak do what they must.
为人态度	John Wooden	Talent is God given--Be Humble. Fame is man given-- Be Thankful. Conceit is self given --Be Careful.
行动	Theodore Roosevelt	Do what you can , with what you have , with where you are.
	Publilius Syrus Maxim	No one knows what he can do till he tries.
	Terence	There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly.
	Thomas Fuller	A wise man turns chance into good fortune.
	William Hazlitt	Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater.
	Aughey	Lost time is never found again.
	William Penn	No pains, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall , no glory; no cross, no crown.
	Will Rogers	Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over... if you just sit there.
	Opportunity rarely knocks on your door. Knock rather on opportunity’s door if you ardently wish to enter.
成功与失败	Vince Lombardi	It’s not whether you get knocked down. ...It’s whether you get up again.
	Winston Churchill	An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
	Henry Ford	Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.
	Thomas Edison	I start where the last man left off.
热情（年轻/年老）	Ralph Waldo Emerson	Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
信心	James Allen	The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.
	Samuel Johnson	Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
	Voltaire	No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.
	Napoleon	Victory belongs to the most persevering.
细心	Euripides	Leave no stone unturned.
计划与工作	Norman Vincent Peale	Plan your work for today and every day; then work your plan.
理想与现实	What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of a man can achieve.
勤奋	Benjamin Franklin	Plough deep while sluggards sleep.
	Thomas Edison	Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Useful Quotations
目标	Henry David Thoreau	In the lone run men hit only what they aim at.
幸运	Emily Dickinson	Luck is not chance... It’s toil... Fortune’s expensive smile is earned.
想象力	Albert Einstein	Imagination is more important than knowledge.
挑战	Walter Begehot	The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
机会与准备	Abraham Lincoln	I will prepare and some day my chance will come.
信心与事实	Henry Ford	Whether you think you can or think you can’t -- you are right.
English Proverb	Where there’s a will there’s a way.
	There is no failure excepting no longer trying.
	Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity