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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    On the basis of cultural relativism, the values of artistic works are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

    History has seen the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries. Unique works of this kind are different from today's popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

    In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because “the general principles of taste are uniform(不变的) in human nature, “the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

    Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

    Many Years ago three soldiers,hungry and tired of battle,came upon a small village.The villagers,suffering a bad harvest and the many years of war,quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three in the village square, shaking their heads and sighing,"Well,we are starving."The soldiers communicated with each other quietly and then the first soldier turned to the villagers.“Your poor fields have left you nothing to share,so we will share what little we have: the secret of making soup from stones.”

    Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was built to the village's greatest pot,and then the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones.

    “Now this will be a fine soup,”said the second soldier,"but a handful of salt and some parsley（香芹）would make it wonderful!"Up jumped a villager,crying “What a piece of luck!I've just remembered where some has been left!”

    And off she ran,returning with parsley.As the pot was boiling,the memory of the villagers improved: soon carrots,beef and cream had found their way into the great pot.They ate and danced and sang well into the night, thrilled about the feast and their new-found friends.In the morning the three soldiers awoke,finding all the villagers standing before them.At their feet lay a bag of the village's best bread and cheese.“You have given us the greatest gift,”said an elder,“and we shall never forget.”The third soldier turned to the crowd,and said,“There is no secret,but this is certain: people working together can accomplish great things.”At last the light dawned on villagers.Off the soldiers wandered,down the road.

    The morning had been a disaster. My tooth was aching. And I'd been in an argument with a friend. Her words still hurt: “The trouble with you is that you won't put yourself in my place. Can't you see things from my point of view?” I shook my head stubbornly—and felt the ache in my tooth. I'd thought I could hold out till my dentist came back from holiday, but the pain was really unbearable. I started calling the dentists in the phone book, but no one could see me immediately. Finally, at about lunchtime, I got lucky.

    “If you come by right now,” the receptionist said, “the dentist will fit you in.”

    I took my purse and keys and rushed to my car. But suddenly I began to doubt about the dentist. What kind of dentist would be so eager to treat someone at such short notice? Why wasn't he as busy as the others?

In the dentist's office, I sat down and looked around. I saw nothing but the bare walls and I became even more worried. The assistant noticed my nervousness and placed her warm hand over my ice-cold one.

When I told her my fears, she laughed and said, “Don't worry. The dentist is very good.”

    “How long do I have to wait for him?” I asked impatiently.

    “Come on, he is coming. Just lie down and relax. And enjoy the artwork,” the assistant said.

    “The artwork?” I was puzzled.

    The chair went back. Suddenly I smiled. There was a beautiful picture, right where I could enjoy it: on the ceiling. How considerate the dentist was! At that moment, I began to understand what my friend meant by her words.

What a relief!

    Here's a selection of festivals for tourists to the United States in summer.

    San Francisco Silent Film Festival

    Films at this odd cinematic event have a variety of musical accompaniments,including piano and violin.It includes some classic silent movies.If you want to see them all,you can buy a festival pass.

    May 29 to June 1; www.silentfilm.org

    Union Street Festival

    This popular street fair stretches out over six blocks of the city,in the fashionable shopping area of Union Street.This year,there's beer,wine tasting and more separate themes—fashion,cuisine,tech,local,craft,and health and fitness.

    June 7 to 10; www.unionstreefestival.com 

    North Beach Festival

    This is San Francisco's oldest street party,with live entertainment,delicious food and arts and crafts.Situated in the Little Italy district,known for its associations with the "Beat Generation",festival goers are guaranteed plenty of good Italian food.There is also as the “blessing of the animals”,a San Francisco tradition which takes place at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi (610 Vallejo Street) at 2 pm on both days of the festival.

    June 14 to 16; www.sfnorthbeach.org

    Stern Grove Festival

    This is the oldest free summer arts festival of its kind in the United States.It includes a wide variety of acts,from the local symphony orchestra to well known artists such as Smokey Robinson.

    Sundays from June 22 to Aug 24; www.sterngrove.org

    Andreea, 18, from Romania, sent a photograph of the view from her window and included a brief (简短的）apology: “Sorry, this picture is plain and boring. No one would like it.”

    At home in New Jersey, US, Coreen Burke, 16, clicked on the same image in her inbox. She saw a village with its old houses, and a distant chimney puffing smoke.

    “Isn't this amazingly different from my country?” she thought to herself.

    Burke saw potential in that photo. She posted it to her blog, Outside My Window，which features a daily snapshot (快照）of someone's window view from different people around the world.

    The concept (理念）is simple: We can all relate to the act of staring through a pane of lass (一块玻璃)，onto the scene on the other side,

    “Maybe if we understood the way people from all over the world live,” she added, “we would get along better than we have been lately.”

    On the sit，Can see Frederic's window in the south of France, looking out on sailboats anchored in a tranquil  harbor(宁静的港湾).0r Virginia's view in Canada, a winter scene with trees laced in white.

    Like most high school students, Burke has yet to travel the world. But she hopes to someday collect many stamps in her passport,starting in Greece and India. In the meantime, however, she's devoting herself to her website.she posted the first window view from Switzerland, a sunset captured (拍摄）by an 18-year-old.Then others came flowing in by email, up to seven a day, from as far as Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

    Contributors are marked on a map on her bedroom wall: A blue dot indicates (表示）their country and a pink dot shows their city, if they provide it. The most responses have come from Europe - Estonia, Poland, Italy, Germany and Sweden, to name a few. She is crossing her Angers that she 11 receive a photo from Africa or Antarctica, which are unrepresented so far.

    And while Burke's become a cyber crusader (斗士）for appreciating the beauty outside our own windows, it will probably come as a surprise to learn that she doesn't actually have a window in her own bedroom. But with the views out of other people's she can enjoy whenever she wants to, she surely doesn't mind.