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　　Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time．

　　Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about．I know this from personal experience．

　　E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings．My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were，but I spend fewer of them at the office．This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool．

　　The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends．Say you do something fun -see a great movie perhaps and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it．If you call each one, you may be tired of telling the story．

　　With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested．They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to．They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience．

　　E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away．More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college．

　　We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch．They don’t take the place of any of the old ways．

　　The ＄11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like "I never do anything right" into positive ones like "I can succeed．" But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right?Is there power in positive thinking?

　　Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect：it can simply highlight how unhappy they are．

　　The study's authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better．If you tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you're just underlining his faults．In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled．When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written．

　　In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students' self-esteem．The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes．Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell．When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, "I am lovable．"

　　Those with low self-esteem didn't feel better after the forced self-affirmation．In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren't urged to think positive thoughts．

　　The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy(心理治疗)that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than fight them．In the fighting, we not only often fail but can make things worse．Meditation(静思)techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective．Call it the power of negative thinking．

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　　Events Calendar

　　TUESDAY

　　Landscape Pests(害虫)

　　Learn to identify, control and prevent seasonal landscape-disease and landscape-pest problems at the workshop, 3∶30 pm.－5 pm．Tuesday at the US National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave NE, Washington．＄15; registration required．

　　202-245-4521 or www．usna．usda．gov．

　　THROUGH AUGUST 3

　　Horticultural(园艺的)Art

　　Watercolours, pen-and-ink drawings and coloured-pencil pieces by the Brookside Gardens School of Botanical(植物学的)Art and Illustration will be on display at the exhibit Botanic 2007：The Art and Science of Plants at Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, 1800 Glenallan Ave, Wheaton, through Aug．3．Free．301-962-1400 or www．brooksidegardens．org．

　　THROUGH SEPTEMBER 9

　　Botanical Art

　　Visit Patterns in Nature, an exhibit by Amy Lamb featuring photographs of flowers, leaves and other botanical life, at the US Botanic Garden Conservatory(温室)，West Orangerie, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, through Sept．9．The conservatory is open 10 am.－5 pm．Daily．Free．202-225-8333．

　　THROUGH OCTOBER 8

　　Botanic Garden Exhibit

　　Celebrating America’s Public Gardens is on view through Oct．8 at the US Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington．The exhibit, on the Conservatory Terrace and in the National Garden, features displays of 20 public botanic gardens across the country．Hours are 10 am.－5 pm．Daily．Free．202-200-8956．

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　　TV talk shows dominate daytime television．And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style．But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows．

　　Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”．The contents on his show are as surprising as possible．For example, the show takes the forever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate to a different level．Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives．

　　Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction．The show is mainly about the improvement of society and the quality of life．Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbours．

　　Compared with Oprah, the Jerry Springer looks like poisonous waste being poured into society．Jerry ends every show with a “final word”．He makes a small speech about the main idea of the show．Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable．

　　Clear as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone．The show’s main viewers are middle-class Americans．Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tougher problems．The Jerry Springer show, on the other hand, has more of connection with the young adults of society．These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drugs．They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation(开发，挖掘)．

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　　Reality television is a type of television programming which, it is claimed, presents unscripted(无剧本的)dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people rather than professional actors．It could be described as a form of artificial or “heightened” documentary．Although the type has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the current explosion of popularity dates from around 2000．Reality television covers a wide range of television programming formats(格式)．Two reality series － Survivor and American Idol － have been the top-rated series on American television for an entire season．

　　Critics say that the term “reality television” is somewhat improper and that such shows frequently portray an adapted and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in unusual locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen manipulated(操控)through editing and other post-production techniques．

　　Part of reality television’s appeal is due to its ability to place ordinary people in extraordinary situations．For example, on the ABC show, The Bachelor, an ordinary male dates a dozen women at the same time, travelling on extraordinary dates to different places．Reality television also has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities(名人), outwardly in talent and performance programmes such as Pop Idol, though frequently Survivor and Big Brother participants also reach some degree of celebrity．

　　Some people say that the name “reality television” is an inaccurate description for several styles of programme included．In competition-based programmes such as Big Brother and Survivor, and other special-living-environment shows like The Real World, the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out．Producers specifically select the participants, and use carefully designed challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviours and conflicts．Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word “reality” to describe his shows; he has said, “I tell good stories．It really is not reality TV．It really is unscripted drama．”

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　　Can you remember the first time you learned to ride a bike or drive a car? Learning these skills changed your life forever and opened up new horizons．Learning about computers can be like learning how to ride a bike or drive a car．Once you have invested the time to master the skills, you will never go back to the old days．The new technology is simply too convenient and too powerful．

　　Technological developments through the years have enabled us to do more with less effort．We have continuously looked for better ways of doing things．Each invention and new development has allowed us to extend our capabilities．Today we see one of the most dramatic technologies ever developed－the computer．It extends the capabilities of our minds．

　　Computers have saved organizations millions of dollars．Furthermore, these same computer systems have opened up new opportunities that would have gone undiscovered or neglected．The computer may multiply what we can do, and the return on investment is high．The growth of computer usage is surprising．On the other hand, the computer can do serious damage．Invasion of privacy, fraud(欺诈), and computer-related mistakes are just a few shocking examples．

　　The computer is like a double-edged sword．It has the ability to cut us free from some activities, but it can also cut deep into profits, personal privacy, and our society in general．How it is used is not a function of technology．It is strictly a function of how people decide to use or misuse this new technology．The choice is yours, and only through a knowledge of computer systems will you be able to avoid the dangers while enjoying the many, many benefits of the computer age．

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　　Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to “think and concentrate”．Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived of cigarettes through a series of tests．

　　In the first test, each subject sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96．In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well．

　　The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one．Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine(尼古丁), active smokers were faster than deprived smokers．

　　In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers．

　　The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it．Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing．Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details．

　　“As our tests became more complex,” sums up Spilich, “non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins” He predicts, “smokers might perform adequately at many jobs-until they got complicated．A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity．”

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　　Clearly if we are to participate in the society in which we live, we must communicate with other people．A great deal of communicating is performed on a person-to-person basis by the simple means of speech．If we travel in buses, buy things in shops, or eat in restaurants, we are likely to have conversations where we give information or opinions, receive news or comment, and very likely have our views challenged by other members of society．

　　Face to face contact is by no means the only form of communication and during the last two hundred years the art of mass communication has become one of the dominating factors of contemporary society．Two things, above others, have caused the enormous growth of the communication industry．Firstly, inventiveness has led to advances imprinting, telecommunications photography, radio and television．Secondly, speed has revolutionized the transmission(传输)and reception of communications so that local news often takes a back seat to national news, which itself is often almost eclipsed by international news．

　　No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority．In the last century the wealthy man with his own library was indeed fortunate, but today there are public libraries．For years ago people used to flock to the cinema, but now far more people sit at home and turn on the TV to watch a programme that is being channeled into millions of homes．

　　Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information．The modem communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information, education and entertainment．The printing, broadcasting and advertising industries are all involved with informing, educating and entertaining．

　　Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very valuable to the individual and to the society of which he is part,the vast modem network of communications is open to abuse(滥用)．However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse, and there is no turning back．

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　　After numerous false starts and broken promises, and nearly 184m gallons of crude oil gushed into the ecologically rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was at last brought under control on July 16．So far, both the long – term effects of the oil spill have been studied comprehensively．

　　According to the report by Friends of the Earth US, in the 85 days of the leak, 1,387 birds, 444 sea turtles, and 53 mammals were found dead in the Gulf．Nonetheless, the damage yet to be revealed will be far worse than a few dead birds and tar balls along 500 miles of coast．Dolphins, whale sharks and sea turtles numbers will almost certainly have been hit hard, and some populations may not ecover for years．Fish and shrimp – breeding habitats will have been hit．Deep coral ceefs, which can take centuries to grow, may also have been affected．

　　The oil that gushed also added to natural oil and gas leaks into Gulf waters．These occur all the time from the sea bed, and the US Department of Energy estimates that there may be 5,000 active “seeps” in the northern Gulf alone．One researcher calculated in 2000 that 500,000 barrels of oil-84m gallons-naturally gets into the Gulf each year, but is never cleaned up．

　　The Gulf is also heavily polluted by nitrogen(氮)and phosphorus(磷)from fertilisers and livestock waste washed down the vast Mississippi river from farms and industry．Every year, a massive oxygen-starved region known as the "dead zone" develops off the coast of Louisiana in which nothing can live．Last month, the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)said it expected this year’s "zone" to be between 6,500 and 7,800 square miles, the 10th largest ever．No one knows yet how the oil spill may affect it．

　　Fish will have suffered, but paradoxically the US government’s decision to ban commercial fishing from 88,000 sq miles of the Gulf during the clean-up in order to safeguard human health could actually help regenerate depleted fish stocks．The Gulf is one of the most overfished seas in the world, with many species in serious decline and some fisheries near collapse．

　　One wild card yet to be played is a major hurricane tearing through the Gulf of Mexico, Rough seas will hamper(防碍)efforts to finally seal the well and clean up the oil．The associated storm surges could also drive oil over barriers and further onto coastal land and into sensitive habitats．But the raging(狂暴的)of a storm could also break up the oil slick(浮油), allowing the bacteria that break it down to act more rapidly．