If you thought helicopter parents were too much, wait till you learn about “lawnmower (割草机) parents”. These are the next generation of helicopter parents, who take over-parenting to the next level. Rather than staying overhead in the air, these parents actively prepare the way for their children to succeed, cushioning every bump along the way.

    Their goal is to create a soft, even surface onto which their child will proceed, free from harm and worry. They get involved before problems reach their child, sometimes even going to immoral lengths, such as writing college papers for a child who's running out of time.

    One teacher told the Irish Times: “These days you would often hear from a mother or father insisting their child be put in the top math class, for example. Self-esteem (respect) is the buzzword (popular word). They feel it would harm their child's confidence. The irony is their self-esteem would be damaged far more by sending them into a class where they can't catch up with others.

    It's not children who are out of control. It's parents. There will come a point when these children won't have parents on which to depend, and then how are they going to function? It's frightening, too, to imagine these children becoming adults and attempting to raise families of their own. They would hardly be capable of teaching independence, confidence, work ethic, and discipline to their own children if they've never learned it themselves.

    At the end of the TIME article, Gibbs shared a wonderful quote from writer D.H. Lawrence, written in 1918: “How to begin to educate a child. First rule: leave him alone. Second rule: leave him alone. Third rule: leave him alone. That is the whole beginning.

    Are you interested in hi-tech products? Here are some that you might find at the market pretty soon.

    CX-1

    Tired of dragging your bag through busy airports? Then you might want to consider CX-1. The smart suitcase uses facial recognizing software to follow its owner as he / she is checking in or heading to the gate. Though CX-1 can only move at a speed of up to seven miles per hour, a tiny tool enables owners to keep track of the suitcase's location. It is expected to be sold on the market by late 2018.

    Aibo

    Sony's latest version of the Aibo robotic dog is almost as fun as the real thing—but much less work. The pet dog can recognize its owner, obey several commands, and even recall the behavior that pleases its master the most. Aibo can also learn new tricks, take photographs, and over time, develop its own unique personality.

    Forpheus

    Forpheus, an “athletic” robot developed by Japanese technology company Omron. It teaches users how to play ping-pong. The 10-feet-tall machine uses a camera and artificial intelligence to track the ball's speed and can predict the ball's direction correctly. The smart Forpheus can also quickly test its player's abilities and adjust the playing level, making the game fun.

    Black Box VR

    Though many people determine to go to the gym once a week, few reach their goal. Black Box VR wants to change that by turning hard exercise into fun video games. Using it, gym users will find themselves fighting enemies, including big creatures—all while getting exercise.

    The digital revolution is both launching us into a no-handwriting future, and also sending us backwards in time to when the spoken words ruled. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

    "I don't think kids should be assessed on their ability to master cursive(草书). It's not something that they are going to use much in their lives as they grow older. It's not something most of us adults use in our lives today. " Anne Trubek, an author, suggests that schools offer handwriting or cursive as an elective or art class in the future.

    "Focus on how to teach kids to express their ideas, how to organize their thoughts, how to make arguments" she says. "The forming of the letters are less important. And there are certainly many ways to individualize what you write beyond the way you've circled the 'I' or crossed your 'T'."

    "This myth that handwriting is just a motor skill (运动技能) is just plain wrong," Virginia Berninger said. "We use motor parts of our brain, motor planning, motor control, but what's very critical is a region of our brain where the visual and language come together and actually become letters and written words."

    "A lot of people are very stubborn about the importance of handwriting, but at the same time will admit they never write themselves," Trubek says.

    Trubek suggests, however, that handwriting keeps some value – for now. " For us today, in the 21st century America, handwriting represents something individual and unique about a person. It doesn't always mean that in previous times in history, and it won't always mean that in the future, but right now for us we relate our sense of self to our handwriting."

    In films, dads change from cruel men to loving souls. Here is a list of good and bad movies dads.

    Atticus Finch in To kill a Mockingbird(知更鸟)

    GOOD DAD : A man whose wife has died with a young family and a busy job as a lawyer, Gregory Peck's character in the 1962 film is one of the great heroes of American cinema Firm but fair he teaches his children respect and human decency(正派). Harper Lee's novel gets a respectable transposition(转变)to film, thanks to Gregory Peck's perfect performance.

    Jack Torrance in The Shining

    BAD DAD: When Jack Torrance, his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, escaped from the cold winter to the Overlook Hotel we know that Jack has hardly been a model father. But when Jack becomes extremely angry and tries to murder his family with an axe, Danny used his intelligence to defeat him and left him to freeze to death.

    George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life

    GOOD DAD: James Stewart's character is a father-of-four who is saved from the edge of suicide (自杀)and realizes his positive effect on others' lives. Much of the film is unpleasant, with George shouting at his children as he faces financial problems. But finally the lovable father realizes the worth of his own life, the value of friendship and the importance of being a loving dad.

    Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back(帝国大厦)

    BAD DAD: When the unfriendly cyborg(半机器人)told Luke Skywalker that he was his father ,the son's reaction says it all: “No! No!” It's hardly a joyful welcome to the family. For most of his son's life, Darth Vader has been an absent dad—and he has just cut off Luke's hand. You can understand why Father's Day cards might not be available.

Scientists have discovered a bit of hand-made string (线绳) that's around 50,000 years old in Neanderthal remains. The first Neanderthal remains were found in the Neander Valley in Germany, which is where the name comes from. Neanderthals may have lived mainly in caves and made stone tools, but recent discoveries have given hints that Neanderthals developed some advanced skills that people used to think impossible. For example, Neanderthals knew how to make glue from the bark (树皮) of a tree.

Now, scientists report they've found a piece of string on a stone tool made by Neanderthals. Before this, the oldest known piece of string was one made by humans about 19,000 years ago. The string is about a quarter of an inch long. Almost all things made from plants during that time have broken down and disappeared, so it's very special to find this bit of string.

The scientists don't know whether the string was attached to the tool. But that doesn't interest them as much as the fact that Neanderthals knew how to make string. Bruce Hardy, the lead scientist on the project, says that knowing how to make string was meaningful for humans. "We wouldn't really be here today without that technology," he says.

Making string is a very arduous process. This string was made from the inside bark of an evergreen tree. To make string that is strong enough, the string must be made of several smaller fibers twisted (缠绕) together in a special way. For the Neanderthal string, several fibers needed to be twisted together into something like yarn. Then three pieces of yam needed to be twisted together in the opposite direction to make the final string.

The scientists aren't sure what the string was used for, but they say that string like. the bit that was found could be used to make bags, baskets, traps, or other things. The researchers also suggest that because Neanderthals needed to make pairs and count fibers to make the string, the bit of string may also tell us something about the kinds of math that Neanderthals could do.

One of the interesting things about languages is the way they change over time. In English, everything from spelling to vocabulary has 1  major changes over the years. In fact, to a modern speaker, the English of 1000 years ago looks like a 2  language!

The history of English dates back around 100 years. At that time, groups of Europeans 3  England, bringing their language with them. It developed into old English. Later in 1066, English was invaded by the Normans from France. The language went through an important shift leading to what we now call Middle English. Over the next 500 years, the language underwent 4  shifts, leading to modern English. As the language has developed over time, many things about it have changed.

5 is one of the most obvious areas. For example, in old English, people say "hus" and "mus". Now, we say house and mouse. These days there are many differences in the way English is pronounced in the U.S., India and elsewhere. When people live in groups separated by great distances, the 6 of change can be fast.

Vocabulary changes happen even more quickly. English has grown by borrowing words from languages such as French, Spanish and 7 , 8 . This often happens with types of 9 -for example, "tofu". Then there is slang which enters and 10 the language every year! Thirty years ago, one often heard people saying "groovy", meaning great. These days you rarely hear the word 11 on old TV shows or movies.

Because English is spoken by so many people worldwide, it really is an exciting time for the language. Just as American and British versions are always changing, so are versions 12  in Canada, 13  and elsewhere. At the same time, an entirely new version of English is appearing on the Internet with whole new 14  and writing styles. In a way, learning English is a never-ending process, even for native speakers! The atmosphere is as much a part of the earth as 15  its soil and water of its lakes, rivers and oceans.