Forgiving(原谅) someone who has hurt you or let you down is never an easy thing. Several new studies, however, say that it could have a lot of health benefits. When you think of forgiveness, you probably don't think of it as being a health or medical problem. Studies from Stanford University, on the other hand, show that something like anger(愤怒) can change your well-being.

    When cartoon book characters like the Incredible Hulk get angry, they change colors and often gain special power. In the real world, anger is less obvious and may be more dangerous. That's why Professor Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, say holding on to anger and hatred(仇恨) can harm your physical and mental health. Two new studies seem to show the same idea. The studies find that people who are able to forgive feel less stress, less back pain, and less unhappiness. They also have fewer headaches, lower blood pressure and fewer problems on sleeping.

    So it doesn't matter if your anger is caused by the traffic or other things. Learning to let it go is important. Skills such as deep breath or thought can help. Or just ask yourself if it's worth hurting yourself by staying angry with someone else.

    Forgiveness doesn't mean that you simply accept what happened and say it's OK. Instead, it's a way of making peace with yourself about what happened in the past.

    Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Therefore, I take weekly trips to COSTCO to get supplies. About a month ago, I finished loading up the car and was about to leave, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully.

    It was a receipt(收据) from the State Motor Vehicle Division, recording the owner's payment of her Vehicle's Registration fees. At first I thought that I could find the owner. So I waited there for about an hour. Although the receipt had been borne (由……携带) on the wind, where in the busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owner? I looked over the receipt for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag(牌照)or telephone number. I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the name of the owner and pocketed the paper. I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the receipt in an envelope and send it to the owner first the next morning.

    By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy woman containing a handwritten message and a gift card. In the letter, the woman explained how the wind snatched(夺去) her receipt from a pocket in her car's passenger door. She had searched everywhere for quite some time before giving up.

    It felt great to know I'd helped someone avoid a loss by doing something that at first glance(一瞥) seemed little or even unimportant.

    A nation's humor is linked to the historical development of the country. How funny somebody finds a certain thing depends on many things including ages, personal experiences, levels of education and locations. Therefore, humor is something that is not always transferable (可转移的) in another country.

    What about when both countries speak the same mother tongue? Does that mean they will then share the same sense of humor, or can differences still take place? Let's take the example of Britain and America. Time and time again, people say that Brits and Americans don't "get" each other's sense of humor. It is often argued that one of the most common differences between the British and American sense of humor is that Americans don't understand irony (反话). Simon Pegg explores this topic in depth in his article What Are You Laughing At? He concludes that this statement isn't true and I agree with him.

    In fact, Brits use irony on a daily basis while Americans don't. I think Americans understand British irony (most of the time anyway); what they don't understand is the need to use it so frequently. When Americans use irony, they tend to say that they are "only kidding". They feel the need to make a joke more obvious than Brits do. Maybe this comes from a fear of offending (冒犯) people.

    The American sense of humor is generally more slapstick (闹剧的) than that in Britain. I think this arises from a cultural difference between the two. Their jokes are more obvious and forward, a bit like Americans themselves. British jokes, on the other hand, tend to be more subtle. This may stem from the fact that British culture is more reserved (矜持的) than American culture.

How to Appreciate Art

Unlocking the meaning behind a work of art is one of the many joys of viewing and collecting. But how do you appreciate art and actually interpret it?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

Look at the art

        {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, but it's more than quickly glancing at the art and drawing a conclusion. Before stepping back and taking the artwork in, take a moment to identify the artwork's basic qualities：

Is it a painting or sculpture?

Is the texture (质感) rough or smooth?

Does it appear chaotic (混乱的) or organized?

All of these are elements the artist chose when designing the artwork, so they need to be considered. 

Identify the art and artist

Knowing when or how the artwork was made reveals more information. Take for example the famous Guernica (1937) by Pablo Picasso, knowing Picasso composed the painting in response to the bombing of the town of Guernica during the Second World War leads to understanding its anti-war ideas. Even if the historical context of an artwork is not apparent, knowing the year of its creation offers an idea as to the broader events taking place at the time.         {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

   {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

Use what you observed in the first two steps to think about meanings the artwork could have. Many artists have specific meanings behind their art, but also encourage viewers to come up with their own understandings. In this way, there is no "right"answer that must be reached to unlock the painting's mysteries.

Discover your tastes

Just remember one important fact: You don't have to look at everything. For instance, if you dislike abstract art, skip the abstract. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, so don't be afraid to stop and observe something outside of your tastes.

The next time you are admiring a work of art, keep these techniques in mind, and its meaning may unfold before your eyes.
 

A. Think about the meaning

B. Maintain your own opinions

C. Viewing the art seems like an obvious first step

D. However, keeping an open mind is always encouraged

E. Applying these techniques to every work of art you come across may seem confusing

F. Looking at and understanding art is all about taking the time to view, identify and think

G. In all cases, learning something about the artist undeniably adds to the appreciation of art

A Non-Credit Courses The Pre-College Program offers non-credit courses. Students will experience college-level courses even by some of our college's leading experts and will receive written feedback(反馈) on their work at the end of the course. Pre-College students will also receive a grade of satisfactory/ unsatisfactory and a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the program.

All non-credit courses start from 9:00 a. m.—11:30 a. m. daily and may-have additional requirements in the afternoons or evenings.

Course 1: Case Studies in Neuroscience

●June 11— July 2

●Leah Roesch

Using student-centered, active-learning methods and real-world examples, this course is designed to provide a fuller understanding of how the human brain works.

Course 2: Psychology of Creativity

●June 15—— June 28

●Marshall Duke

Why are certain people so creative? Is it genetic (遗传的), or a result of childhood experience? Are they different from everyone else? This popular psychology course highlights the different theories of creativity.

Course 3: Creative Storytelling

●June21—— July 3

●Edith Freni

This college-level course in creative storytelling functions as an introduction to a variety of storytelling techniques that appear in different forms of creative writing, such as short fiction and playwriting.

Course 4: Sports Economics

●July 19—— August 1

●Christina DePasquale

In this course we will analyze many interesting aspects of the sports industry: sports leagues, ticket pricing, salary negotiations(协商 ), discrimination(歧视), and NCAA policies to name a few.