Something about the four World Famous Statues

    The Little Mermaid

    The statue The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbor at Langelinie in Denmark. Tourists visiting for the first time are often surprised by the relatively small size of the statue. The Little Mermaid is only 1.25 meters high and weighs around 175kg. designed by Edvard Eriksen, the statue was erected in 1913 to commemorate（纪念）the fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The poor lady has lost her head several times but each time it has been restored. Copenhagen officials announced that the statue may be moved further out in the harbor, as to avoid further vandalism(故意破坏)and to prevent tourists from climbing onto it.

    David Statue

    David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture sculpted by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504. The 5.17 meter marble statue portray the hero after his victory over Goliath, Michelangelo chose to represent David before the fight contemplating(沉思)the battle yet to come. To protect it from damage, the famous statue was moved in 1873 to the Accademia Gallery in Florence in Italy, where it attracts many visitors. A replica was placed in the Piazza della Signoria, at the original location.

    Great Sphinx

    Located at the Giza Plateau near Cairo in Egypt, the Great Sphinx is one of the largest and oldest statues in the world, but basic facts as who was the model for the face, when it was built, and by whom, are still debated. It is the largest monolithic(独块巨石的)statue in the world although it is considerably smaller than the pyramids around it. Despite conflicting evidence and viewpoints over by the years, the traditional view held by modern Egyptologists at large remains that the Great Sphinx was built in approximately 2500 BC by the Pharaoh Khafre, the supposed builder of the second pyramid at Giza.

    Statue of Liberty

    The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people France to celebrate the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, stands upon Liberty Island and is one of the most famous symbols in the world. It represents a woman wearing a stole, a radiant crown and sandals, trampling a broken chain, carrying a torch her raised right hand and a tabula ansata tablet in her left hand. The construction of the statue was completed in France 1886 until the jet age, it was often one of the first glimpses of the United States for millions of immigrants.

    It used to be mostly the military that used small, unpiloted aircraft, called “drones.” The little planes were very costly. But as they have dropped in price more people have begun to use them. Rescue workers and farmers are among the new users. Moviemakers are using drones to film from the sky. Historians use them when they explore ancient buildings. Rescue workers use them to look for people. And now farmers are using them to watch over their crops.

    Romain Faroux is a French businessman who starts companies. His father was a farmer. He believed drones could help farmers. He helped create a company that developed a small drone that could be controlled by people on the ground. They called it “Agridrone.” It uses a special “optical sensor” to examine crops. He says the technology used is similar to that used by smartphones-except it has wings.

    A computer program directs the drone to fly over the crops. The sensor on the drone records four different-colored “bands” of sunlight that are reflected off the crops.

    Jean-Baptiste Bruggeman is a farmer. He says the drone flies over his crops at different times of the season. He says this provides a lot of information about his crops. He says the drone pictures show him the exact amount of fertilizer the crops need. He says it also shows exactly where the fertilizer is needed. Some areas of a field may need more than others.

    As a result, Mr. Bruggeman says there is reduced nitrogen from the fertilizer after the harvest. This helps nature. Romain Faroux says farmers use information gathered by the Agridrone to place fertilizer only in areas where it was needed. Before they used the drones, farmers would put the same amount of fertilizer everywhere.

    Drones also save time because farmers can examine up to three hectares in about a minute.

    Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Many people are afraid to speak out for their rights. Dr Robert Albert, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, and Talk Back thinks it's because their self-respect is low.

    But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people help themselves. They offer "assertiveness training" courses A. T. for short. In the A.T. Course people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to help themselves without hurting other people.

In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear. A group taking an A. T. Course will help the shy person to lose his fear. But A. T.uses an even stronger motive— he needs to share. The shy person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect. If someone you face is more "important" than you, you may feel less of a person. You start to doubt your answers to problems. You can get to feel good about yourself. And once you do you can learn to speak out.

    How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush and it lets you track your performance on your phone.

    The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

    The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don't forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you're brushing long enough. “It's kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” says Thomas Serval, the French inventor.

    The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for example, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart and fun,” Serval says.

    Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.

    The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, from $99 to $199, and the U.S. is the first target market.

    "Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣橱）?" Jessica asked. "A skeleton in the closet?" her mother paused thoughtfully, "Well, it's something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad's family had been arrested for stealing a horse. It would be a skeleton in his family's closet'. He really wouldn't want any neighbor to know about it."

    "Why pick on my family?" Jessica's father said with anger. "Your family history isn't so good, you know. Wasn't your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?" "Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners." Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now," Jessica cut in before things grew worse.

    After dinner, the house was very quite. Jessica's parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica's closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor, Jessica's mother sank into a faint（晕倒）, walking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.

    "What happened? Where am I?" she asked. "You just destroyed the school's skeleton, Mum," explained Jessica, "I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad." Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. "They are both crazy," she thought.

    I've come back to check on a baby. Just after dusk I'm in a car down a muddy road in the rain, past rows of shackled (戴镣的) elephants, their trunks swinging. I was here five hours before, when the sun was high and hot and tourists were on elephants' backs.

    Walking now, I can hardly see the path with my phone's flashlight. When the wooden fence post stops me short, I point my light down and follow a current of rainwater across the floor until it washes up against three large, gray feet. A fourth foot twisted above the surface, tied tightly by a short chain and choked by ring of metal spikes (尖刺). When the elephant gets tired and puts her foot down, the spikes press deeper into her ankle.

    Meena is four years and two months old, still a child as elephants go. Khammon Kongkhaw, her caretaker, told me earlier that Meena wears the spiked chain because she tends to kick. Kongkhaw has been responsible for Meena here at Maetaman Elephant Adventure, near Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, since she was 11 months old. He said he keeps her on the spiked chain only during the day and takes it off at night. But it's night now.

    I ask Jin Laoshen, the Maetaman worker, why her chain is still on. He says he doesn't know.

    Maetaman is one of many animal attractions in and around tourist-crowded Chiang Mai. Meena's life is set to follow the same track as many of the roughly 3,800 captive (被捕获的) elephants in Thailand. When Meena is too old or sick to give rides—maybe at 55, maybe at 75, she'll die. If she's lucky, she'll get a few years of retirement. She'll spend most of her life on a chain.