The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap (间隙) with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person's needs.

    Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what maybe implied (暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

    Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

    Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient's silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing (治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

    Are you interested in students in other countries: Do they also have so much homework like you?What do they do in their spare time?

    On April 8,a report came out on the lives of high school students in China,Japan,South Korea and the US.It surveyedaround 6,200 students from the four countries last year.You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who study hardest?

    Chinese students spend the most time studying.Nearly half of Chinese students(48.6%) spend more than two hours on their homework every day.That's much more than students of the US(26.4%),Japan(8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleep most often in class?

    Japanese students fall asleep in class most often.About 45% of them said they sometimes sleep in class.In South Korea,it's 32%;in the US,21%;and 5% in China.

    Who are the most distracted（分心的）?

    American students are the most active in class,but also the most distracted.64.2% said they chat with friends in class;46.9% said they eat snacks in class;and 38.9% said they send emails or read storybooks in class.

    What do they do after school?

    In their spare time,most Chinese students study or surf the Internet.Most American students go out to play with their friends.Most Japanese students do physical exercise.Most Korean students watch TV.

    From the loss of wildlife to rising sea levels, we're all well aware of the problems that climate change could cause.

    But while it may seem like such issues won't affect most of us directly，it looks like future generations could grow up without something that many of us now take for granted: chocolate.

    According to an essay published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, changes to the climate in the regions that produce cacao - the plant from which chocolate is produced - may mean that it will soon become extinct.

    Most of the world's cacao grows in countries close to the equator，with over half of it growing in the African nations of Ghana and Ivory Coast.

It's predicted that by 2050, climate change will have accelerated the rate at which temperatures in these countries rise, making it extremely difficult for cacao to grow there.

    The problem doesn't lie in increased heat, however，but in lower humidity (湿度)，as it's believed that rainfall will stay at the same level if the temperature rises.

    “In other words, as higher temperatures squeeze more water out of soil and plants, it's unlikely that rainfall will increase enough to offset the moisture (含水量) loss,” Michon Scott, the essay's author, wrote.

    To help fight this problem, researchers from Berkeley University in the US are working on changing the DNA of cacao plants to allow them to survive in dryer conditions by using gene editing technology, according to US News.

    In the meantime, US company Mars, one of the world's biggest manufacturers of chocolate products, announced in January that it would spend $1 billion to help reduce the effects of climate change.

    “This is a world issue, and it requires everyone to work together,” Mars spokesperson Barry Parkin told Business Insider.

    The message here is that if we all do our part, we may be able to prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change. Or if we're unlucky, chocolate will become a thing of the past.

    Pastime is a bi-monthly magazine for curious young minds. Many of the topics we write about won't be covered in the classroom. All the articles are written in a lively style, and each one is paired with drawings by some of the country's most talented artists.

    History focuses on archaeological (考古的) sites around the world where archaeologists work to unearth important finds.

    World includes stories about daily life, folk tales, and history and traditions of the people and places.

    Sport includes nutrition tips, information about up-and-coming young athletes, and sports events.

    Art stimulates a child's cultural life, from film to theatre through to writing and music.

    On top of all that, Pastime is packed with items to stimulate a youngster's imagination, including pages of puzzles and a step-by-step guide to creating their own impressive-looking drawings.

    In every issue, we review the latest books top authors write for youngsters. There are also short works of fiction written especially for Pastime by some of our best writers.

    We know that children at this age are dealing with many emotions and sometimes difficult feelings, so we have a personal advice page to reply to questions dealing with personal and moral problems.

    Unlike many of today's throwaway comics, Pastime is written and designed to be kept and treasured. We know children love going online — but we also know how much they enjoy holding a printed magazine in their hands, and the excitement they get when each new issue drops through the letterbox personally addressed to them.

    Subscription

    Pastime is published six times a year. An annual subscription costs just £20 and makes a great gift for any child aged eight to twelve.

    To order by phone: Dial 1-800-821-0156 and use Offer Code WEBSAVE86 for print-only subscriptions.

    You can cancel at any time for magazines that haven't shipped yet.

    Nowadays six Amazon Scout delivery robots rolled out in a pilot program in Snohomish County, Wash. The robots carry meals, groceries and packages to homes and offices in this region just north of Seattle. They have appeared on the sidewalks of London, Beijing and other cities and communities worldwide. These machines must overcome pedestrian legs, naughty dogs and broken pavement, which raises some questions.

    These services are gaining attraction as a growing number of city residents expect immediate or scheduled delivery for just about everything. Between 2017 and 2018 online retail sales in the U.S. increased by 16 percent. On the final step of all these deliveries, called the last mile, humans on bicycles, motorized scooters (电动车) or large delivery trucks typically deliver packages. All the vehicles compete for space on busy urban streets. "Deliveries are trending upwards in all crowded city centers, and if city and state leaders don't start thinking about creative solutions like robot deliveries, we can expect even worse traffic jams," says Paul Mackie, director of a transportation policy research center in Arlington.

    A study by this center found 73 percent of delivery vehicles in Arlington were parked outside of authorized areas, often blocking bike lanes and crosswalks. By moving the last step of deliveries from the road to the sidewalk, cities could reduce traffic jams and solve the parking problem entirely, Mackie says.

    Companies such as Amazon are not developing this delivery technology simply to clear up urban traffic. Self-driving vehicles and sidewalk robots could cut down last-mile delivery costs in cities by as much as 40 percent, according to a 2018 report by a consultancy firm. A delivery robot can cost thousands of dollars to manufacture, and most currently require human management and conservation. But in the long run companies that use autonomous delivery vehicles in the next several years could end up saving billions of dollars, the report stated.

According to a new research,the more people in a country who have a particular gene(基因),the happier the nation will be.This DNA is known as the FAAH gene.People with a particular version of it tend to be cheerier souls.There is a link between levels of the FAAH gene and the number of people who say they are very happy.

Sweden—one of the happiest countries in the world—also has lots of happy DNA.Ghana,Nigeria,Mexico and Columbia all come out near the top in the happiness league,and have high rates of the gene.In contrast,the people of Iraq,Jordan and China are among the least likely to rate themselves as very happy and also have the lowest level of the FAAH gene.

However,wealth and health are found to have little effect on happiness.The finding could help explain why some of the world's poorest nations are also the happiest.In addition,the FAAH gene and an optimistic attitude would not always go hand in hand.For example,Russians and Estonians score very low in happiness,despite having the right happy DNA.

Professor Michael Minkov said,"The climate condition is associated with the nation's happiness.We can notice the high occurrence of the FAAH gene in tropical(热带的) areas in the Americas and Africa.And the occurrence of the gene around the Mediterranean Sea is much lower than that in Northern Europe."

The social experts say that genetics is not the only determinant(决定因素) of happiness.The economic and political difficulties in some nations also contribute to the very low happiness scores.Nations that are not blessed with the right DNA aren't necessarily miserable.