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.

    Drive through any suburb in the U.S. Today, and it's hard to miss the recycling bins that have become companions to America's trash cans. Recycling has become common, as people recognize the need to care for the environment. Yet most people's recycling consciousness extends only as far as paper, bottles, and cans. People seldom find themselves facing the growing problem of e-waste.

    E-waste rapidly increases as the techno- fashionable frequently upgrade to the most advanced devices, and the majority of them end up in landfills (垃圾填埋地). Some people who track such waste say that users throw away nearly 2 million tons of TVs, VCRs, computers, cell phones, and other electronics every year. Unless we can find a safe replacement, this e-waste may get into the ground and poison the water with dangerous toxins (毒素), such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Burning the waste also dangerously contaminates the air.

     However, e-waste often contains reusable silver, gold, and other electrical materials. Recycling these materials reduces environmental problems by reducing both landfill waste and the need to look for such metals, which can destroy ecosystems.

    A growing number of states have adopted laws to ban dumping e-waste. Still, less than a quarter of this waste will reach lawful recycling programs. Some companies advertising safe disposal in fact merely ship the waste to some developing countries, where it still ends up in landfills. These organizations prevent progress by unsafely disposing of waste in an out- of- sight, out- of- mind location.

    However, the small but growing number of cities and corporations that do handle e- waste responsibly represents progress toward making the world a cleaner, better place for us all.

    Are anger problems should also be recognized as an illness like depression and anxiety? Anger is largely viewed as a secondary emotion — one caused by other emotions. People are thought to be angry because they are sad, anxious or stressed. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Today, though, a growing number of mental health experts think that anger is a serious problem that needs its own treatment.

    To tell the difference between "normal" anger and "anger problem" is difficult. After all, everyone gets really mad from time to time. Experts point out a few ways.

    Disordered anger, as it is sometimes called, tends to be of greater intensity (强度). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} An example: While most people would get upset if a driver cut them off, someone with disordered anger might try to chase down the car and force it off the road.

    And in cases of disordered anger, the person gets angry more frequently and his/her anger lasts longer.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} But people with anger problems often stay angry for days, weeks or even years; their feelings of anger don't disappear over time.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Disordered anger often damages people's lives. "It interferes (干扰) with people's relationships and their jobs," says Raymond Chip Tafrate, a US psychologist. "Even their health is affected."

    Anger clearly increases the risk of certain health problems, as many studies have shown. When people are angry, their hearts beat faster and their blood pressure goes up. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Experts suggest that people with an anger problem take anger-management programs. The programs teach people to control their responses to stressful situations through the use of relaxation techniques. The programs sometimes also include life-skills training to help bring down stress and remove angry feelings.

A. Anger takes away people's joy in life.

B. Consequences are also important to consider.

C. The anger buried inside him rises to the surface.

D. For most people, angry feelings disappear quickly.

E. Over time, these changes will have bad effects on the body.

F. In the past, many doctors didn't accept the idea that anger could be a problem all on its own.

G. It takes very little to set off a person with an anger problem, and their responses are very strong.

    No one can deny that buttons are an important clothing device. But, can they rise to the level of art? Organizers of an exhibit in New York City think so.

    Peter Souleo Wright organized “The Button Show” at Rush Arts Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Eleven artists used the small, ordinary objects to create sculptures, portraits and wearable art. Some of the works are political, some are personal and others are just fun.

    Wright said each artist reimagines and repurposes the buttons to make art. “What I tried to do with this show,” he said, “was to look at artists who were promoting that level of craft.”

    He said he wanted the button art to be comparable to a painting “because of the amount of detail and precision in the work.”

    Artist Beau McCall produced “A Harlem Hangover”. It looks like a wine bottle that fell over on a table. A stream of connected red buttons hand over the side, like wine flowing down. Similar red button form a small pool on the floor.

    McCall layers buttons of different shapes and sizes to create the bottle. The stitching that holds them together is also part of the artistic design.

    For San Francisco-based artist Lisa Kokin, buttons are highly personal. After her father died in 2001, she created a portrait of him using only buttons. That memorial to her father led to other button portraits, including those of activists Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez.

    Others use buttons for details. Artist Amalia Amaki of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, placed them on and around old photographs. Los Angeles artist Camilla Taylor attached buttons to three large sculptures that look like headless animals with long, narrow legs.

    “The Button Show” ends at March 12. The Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation paid for the exhibition. The foundation was created in 1995 by the Simmons brothers: artist Danny, hip-hop producer Russell and rapper Rev. Run. The foundation seeks to bring the arts to urban youth and to provide support for new artists.

    A recent documentary produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has caused a stir in China and in the UK.

    The documentary, titled Are Our Kids Tough Enough? focuses on five Chinese teachers who are sent to teach 50 UK teens at a school in Hampshire.

    The teachers instruct the students for a month. The pupils are then tested, and the results are compared to the ones of those who have continued in the regular UK education system. The idea is to see if the Chinese method improves academic performance.

    The Chinese teachers use their own teaching methods but receive strong resistance from the students. A clip from the documentary online shows some problems, with Chinese teachers calling their students lazy and lacking in discipline, while the students say the high pressure and harsh teachers are driving them crazy.

    This has aroused a new debate in both China and the UK, with some arguing the teenagers need more regulation and discipline. Others say Chinese methods encourage rote learning (死记硬背) instead of independent thinking. For instance, Chinese language teachers should do more than pass on knowledge about words and characters. They should inspire students, helping them feel the sentiment from Chinese literature. This is a higher level of teaching.

    Yang Dongping, dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, says, "The Chinese teaching methods are designed to strictly train the majority. Foreign teaching methods, however, are more natural and relaxing, and designed to inspire students' interest in learning. Education methods are based on culture. That is why a successful education method in one place may not work that well when simply 'transplanted' into another place."

    Yang Dongping says, "The documentary does reflect some problems rooted in traditional Chinese teaching methods. Nobel prize winner, Yang Zhenning, gave a very fair comment on this issue. He said the Chinese-style education method works for most ordinary qualified students effectively, helping them reach high standards. However, it may weaken the training for high-potential outstanding students."

Benefits and Problems of Genetic Engineering

    Plant breeding is the science of changing the characteristics of plants in order to produce desired ones. Genes in a plant are what determine what type of characteristics it will have. Plant breeders try to create a specific outcome of plants and potentially new plant varieties by changing the genes of the plants through breeding, which is making new plants from parents of different varieties or species.

    Actually, plant breeding has been practiced for thousands of years, since near the beginning of human civilization. It is practiced worldwide by individuals such as gardeners and farmers and by professional plant breeders employed by organizations such as government institutions, universities, crop-specific industry associations or research centers. They have crossbred plants to create the new types of plants that are, for example, bigger, stronger, or more attractive.

    Crossbreeding can take such a long time, however, and it is inaccurate. Now, we can change exact sections of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), so the process is more accurate and faster. But people all over the world are arguing about its benefits and disadvantages. Some people use the technology to produce desired characteristics of plants and animals. Other people are concerned that the genetically engineered plants may harm the environment and worried that they may be dangerous for people to eat.

    There are many reasons for changing plants in this way. International development agencies believe that breeding new crops is important for ensuring food security by developing new varieties that are higher yielding(高产的), disease resistant, drought tolerant or regionally adapted to different environments and growing conditions. For example, some genetically engineered plants can live through frost or draught. As a result, famers can make more profit because fewer plants will die.

    Some genetically engineered plants are more nutritious. They have less fat, taste better or stay fresher than non-genetically engineered plants. This will allow people to buy better-quality fruit and vegetables.

    Some genetically engineered plants can resist natural pests such as viruses or insects. This reduces the amount of chemical needed to kill pests, which is helpful to the environment.

    However, genetically engineered plants can cause unexpected problems. Genetically engineered plants that resist pests may pass on that characteristic to a wild relative. This may cause the wild plant to spread fast, because pests are not naturally killing it.

    Genetically engineered plants can also harm animals. A type of corn has been developed which kills a species of insect that destroys it. The pollen (花粉) from this corn, however, can also kill monarch butterflies—the most beautiful of all butterflies, which do not harm the corn.

    To ensure the most adapted varieties are identified, advocates of organic breeding now promote the use of direct selection for many desired characteristics.

    Genetic engineering is a very new science and we have a lot to learn about the good it can do and the damage it can cause. The main concern is that not enough tests are being done to ensure it is safe.