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　　Traditional surgical procedures require surgeons to make large incisions(切口)in a patient's body in order to gain access to the organs inside．It was once common for heart surgeons, who perform highly specialized and complex procedures, to make long incisions in a patient's chest and then split the breastbone to reach the heart．Patients who undergo surgery are often at the risk of infection, as bacteria can infect the cut in the skin．In addition, there is often a lengthy recovery period．

　　A surgical technique known as “keyhole surgery” has become common in recent years．In general, the surgeon will make a couple of small incisions around the area where the operation is going to be performed．Tubes are pushed into the holes, and a tiny camera is put into the body．The camera is attached to a large monitor screen and the doctor can see it while performing the operation．In addition to the camera, doctors also push their tiny surgical instruments through the tubes．The awkward part of keyhole surgery is that it is counterintuitive; that is to say, if a surgeon wants to move the tool to the left, he or she must push it to the right．

　　Another new machine called the “Da Vinci Surgical System” has been tested in hospitals in the US．Unlike keyhole surgery, this robot's moving parts are designed to copy man's hand and wrist movement, thus providing better control and sensitivity．Sitting at a console(控制台)a few feet from the patient, the surgeon can control the instruments by moving highly sensitive pads．The area of the body is enlarged on a screen, which gives surgeons a view similar to that of a traditional surgical procedure．

　　The Da Vinci Surgical System has been welcomed as revolutionary by many surgeons．Patients with serious illness must undergo major surgery, but the smaller incisions typically mean a shorter recovery time．On the downside, some operations have taken up to fifty minutes longer because surgeons are inexperienced at using the new technology．As surgeons become more familiar with the machines, the time needed for surgical procedures is likely to decrease．

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　　Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another．Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open．People here change jobs and move houses quite often．As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly．So it's normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal．

　　On the other hand, there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long–term relationships are more important．A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business．But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society．

　　To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first．On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it's no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don't want to answer．

　　Cross-cultural differences aren't just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them．All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place．This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with．

　　Some societies have “universalist” cultures．These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way．“Particularist” societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society's unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person．So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person．

　　This difference can cause problems．A traveler from a particularist society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalist culture．The Indian traveler has too much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family．He expects that the check–in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him．The check–in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn't be fair to the other passengers．But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don't have his problem．

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　　If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong．Haven't you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

　　According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power．Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter．This is the area of the brain which processes information．It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles．

　　The study also found the earlier people learn a second language, the greater the effect is．

　　A team led by Dr．Andrea Mechelli, from University College London(UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English．They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals(通两种语言的人)”, who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners．

　　Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language．But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was．

　　“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists．

　　It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn．

　　Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills．

　　“Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,” he said, “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas．”

　　The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34．Reading, writing and comprehension were all tested．The results showed that the earlier they started to learn, the better．“Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists．

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　　He's an old cobbler(修鞋匠)with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me, “I haven't time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street．He'll fix them for you right away．”

　　But I had my eyes on his shop for a long time．Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman(手艺人)．“No．” I replied, “The other fellow can't do it well．”

　　“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys－without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys．They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair．

　　My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled．He wiped hands on his blue apron(围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week．”

　　I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf．

　　“See what I can do?” he said with pride．“Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work．”

　　When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me．He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange dusty felt hat, his funny accent and his pride in his craft．

　　These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption rather than a way to realize their abilities．In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done．

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　　“It hurts me more than you,” and “This is for your own good．” There are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework．

　　That was before we entered the “permissive period in education” in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school．The schools and the educators made it easy on us．They taught that it was all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy．We stopped making our children do homework．We gave them calculators, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation．

　　Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we've made a terrible mistake．One such teacher is Sharon Clomps who says of her students－“so passive”-and wonders what has happened．Nothing is demanded of them, she believes．Television, says Clomps, contributes to children's passivity．“We're talking about a generation of kids who' ve never been hurt or hungry．They have learned somebody will always do it for them, instead of saying ‘go and look it up', you tell them the answer．It takes greater energy to say no to a kid．

　　Yes, it does．It takes energy and it takes work．It's time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work．It' s time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, to tell them it hurts you more than them but it' s for their own good．It's time to start telling them no again．

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　　Desert ants on their expeditions for food use clues to lead themselves in the homeward direction, but with few landmarks in the poor land, scientists have wondered how the insects always take the most direct route and know exactly how far to march．

　　The new study shows that counting their steps is an important part of the scheme．

　　Over the years, scientists have proposed several theories for how ants find their way home．One is that they do it like honeybees and remember visual clues, but experiments showed ants can travel in the dark．Another theory is that because ants run at a steady pace, they could time how long it took them to get to and from．Other studies have shown that once ants find a good source of food, they teach other ants how to find it．

　　The ant “pedometer” technique was first proposed in 1904, but it remained untested until now．Scientists trained desert ants to walk along a straight path from their nest entrance to a feeder 30 feet away．If the nest or feeder was moved, the ants would break from their straight path after reaching the expected spot and search for their goal．

　　Try that on stilts．They glued stilt-like extentions to the legs of some ants to lengthen stride．The researchers shortened other ants' stride length by cutting off the ants' feet and lower legs, reducing their legs to stumps．

　　The ants on stilts took the right number of steps, but because of their increased stride length, marched past their goal．Stump-legged ants, meanwhile, fell short of the goal．After getting used to their new legs, the ants were able to adjust their pedometer．

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　　Mom was a teacher most of her life．When she wasn't in the classroom, she was educating her children or grandchildren：correcting our grammar; starting us on collections of butterflies, flowers or rocks; or inspiring a discussion on her most recent “Book of the Month Club” topic．Mom made learning fun．

　　It was sad for my three brothers and me to see her suffering in later years．At eighty-five, she suffered a stroke and she went steadily downhill after that．

　　Two days before she died, my brothers and I met at her nursing home and took her for a short ride in a wheelchair．While we waited for the staff to lift her back into bed, Mom fell asleep．Not wanting to wake her, we moved to the far end of the room and spoke softly．

　　After several minutes our conversation was interrupted by a sound coming from across the room．We stopped talking and looked at Mom．Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly trying to communicate with us．We went to her side．

　　“Whirr,” she said weakly．

　　“Where?” I asked．“Mom, is there something you want?” “Whirr,” she repeated a bit stronger．My brothers and I looked at each other and shook our heads sadly．

　　Mom opened her eyes, sighed, and with all the energy she could master said, “Not was, say were!”

　　It suddenly occurred to us that Mom was correcting brother Jim's last sentence．“If it was up to me…”

　　Jim leaned down and kissed her cheek．“Thanks, Mom,” he whispered．We smiled at each other-remarkable teacher．

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　　Today's children are the “result” of the modern society．Our parents have jobs that keep them busy almost all day long．They only have a free day in a week．This doesn't allow them to keep an eye on their children．

　　On the other hand, the modern society gives more freedom to the children than they could “handle”．As a child, you don't know how to grow up by yourself until you reach a certain age．That is why you need school and parents to be by your side all the time．If you don't have either of them you may make a lot of mistakes．The social system of the modern society is very lenient especially with the children．

　　Most of the children today are rebels(判逆者)．They are rude．They are given too much freedom by their families．This is their parent's mistake．They ought to know that the freedom they give to their children is misunderstood．

　　For example it is a bad thing for a 17-year-old child to go out in the evening on weekends．Parents are also guilty of the way their children show up in the street or at school．The same guilt belongs to the teaching system as well．Pupils shouldn't be allowed to dress like they were on a fashion presentation at school．

　　Another important fact we can think of regarding the freedom of children is their free will of spending money．Parents shouldn't allow their children to spend money on whatever they want．

　　I think children are given too much freedom not only by their parents, but also by the society．The latter is more to be blamed!