Shaking hands, American style

    People often shake hands in the United States. American men shake hands with other men. American women often shake hands with men, and sometimes they shake hands with other women. Adults shake hands with children. And some people even teach their dogs to shake hands! {#blank#}1{#/blank#} How do they shake hands just long enough? Just hard enough? Here are four little rules to remember.

1）Use your right hand.

2）Use good eye contact(眼神交流). Look at the person in the eye while you are shaking hands.

3）Don't shake too long.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Then let go and pull your hand back toward you.

4）{#blank#}3{#/blank#} When a handshake is weak, Americans think the person may not be a hard worker or a good leader. When a handshake is too strong, Americans think the person is too rough(粗鲁) or has bad manners.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They shake hands when they meet for the first time. They shake hands to say congratulations. They shake hands when they meet after not seeing each other for a while. And they often shake hands when they say good-bye. In business, shaking hands shows agreement and honesty.

    Handshakes are good everywhere.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} So make sure to shake plenty of hands.

A. Offer you hand first.

B. Shake for no more than three seconds.

C. How do people shake hands correctly?

D. Don't shake too strongly or too weakly.

E. It is not polite to refuse a person's hand.

F. When do people in the United States shake hands?

G. Make sure your hands aren't sweaty when you do this.

    Some people have the feeling that nothing can be done about their poor reading ability(能力）. They feel hopeless about it. Can you learn to read better or must you agree that nothing can be done about it?

    To be sure, people are different. You cannot to do everything as well as certain other people do. All the students in a class tried out for basketball, some would be very good players; others would be very poor; and many would be in between. But even the very poor players can become much better players if they are guided in the right way, and with plenty of practice. It is the same with reading. Some seem to enjoy reading and to read well without any special help. Others find reading a slow and tiring job. In between, there are all degrees of reading ability.

    Many experiments have shown that just about every poor reader can improve his reading ability. In these experiments, the poor readers were given tests of reading ability. After some of the causes of their poor reading were discovered, they were given special instruction and practice in reading. After a few months, another test of the same kind was given. In nearly all cases, these people had raised their reading scores.

    In many countries, authority is seldom questioned, either because it is highly respected, or because it is feared. Because rank has been important in certain societies for a long time, people have been trained never to question those in authority. For example, children are not expected to question their teachers in school. It may be considered improper for young businessmen to suggest ideas that differ from those of older, more experienced members of the business.

    In other countries, including America, children are trained to question and search for answers. When a child asks a question, he will often be told to go to the library and find the answer for himself. By the time students reach the age of 14 or 15, they may be developing exciting new ideas in all fields of science and arts. To encourage such creativity, there are many national prizes offered to students every year for their scientific discoveries and artistic accomplishments.

    This interest in questioning and searching may be considered by some people as bad for young people's manners, that young people lack respect for authority. This impression may be created when visitors notice young Americans asking questions and arguing with older people. However, this is because many Americans have a different attitude toward authority than may exist in other areas of the world. In a work or business situation, ideas are freely and openly discussed and argued. It is important to remember that it is the person's ideas that are being questioned, not the individual himself. The two are quite separate. The purpose of the searching, questioning, and arguing is to find the facts in a particular situation, and therefore a solution, so that the work of the business can progress in the most effective manner possible.

    As was mentioned earlier, you may notice the same questioning in social conversations. Although some individual may think that Americans are rude because of the direct manner with people, they are merely trying to learn more about your ideas.

    As any plane passenger will confirm, a crying baby is almost impossible to ignore, no matter how hard you try. Now scientists believe they may have worked out why. A baby's cry pulls at the heartstrings(扣人心弦) in a way while other cries don't, researchers found.

    Researchers found that a baby's cry can trigger unique emotional responses in the brain, making it impossible for us to ignore them—whether we are parents or not. Other types of cries, including calls of animals in great pain, fail to get the same response—suggesting the brain is programmed to respond specifically to a baby' cry.

    A team of Oxford University scientists scanned the brains of 28 men and women as they listened to a variety of calls and cries. After 100 milliseconds—roughly the time to blink(眨眼)—two parts of the brain that respond to emotion lit up. Their response to a baby's cry was particularly strong. The response was seen in both men and women—even if they had no children.

    Researcher Dr Christine Parsons said, “You might read that men should just notice a baby and step over it and not see it, but it's not true. There is a special processing in men and women, which makes sense from an evolutionary view that both men and women would be responding to these cries.” The study was in people who were not parents, yet they are all responding at 100ms to these particular cries, so this might be a fundamental response present in all of us regardless of parental status.

    Fellow researcher Katie Young said it may take a bit longer for someone to recognize their own child's cries because they need to do more “fine-grained analysis”. The team had previously found that our reactions speed up when we hear a baby crying. Adults performed better on computer games when they heard the sound of a baby crying than after they heard recordings of adults crying.

    Note taking

    Note taking as an accommodation is available only to students who have documented disabilities and are registered with Queen's University Accessibility Service(QSAS). Note taking is approved for students with disability-related functional limitations that makes it difficult for them to access academic information presented in class.

    There is a wide range of reasons why students may require note taking as an accommodation, including students with:

    •hearing loss, who may have difficulties hearing the instructor while writing notes at the same time

    •vision loss, who may have difficulties seeing information presented on overhead screens

    •mental health conditions or attention-related disabilities, who may have difficulties attending to orally-presented information while taking notes

    •learning disabilities, who may have difficulties recording notes when information is presented orally

    •physical disabilities, who may have motor or pain related difficulties

    Accessibility advisers consider a student's description of their need for note taking along with information contained in their disability documentation and the type of course in approving note taking as a formal accommodation.

    Online Note Taking Portal(门户网站)

    QSAS is in charge of the exchange of notes taken by student volunteer note takers and students registered with QSAS via our secure online note taking portal.

    The pages in this section provide information for students with disabilities, volunteer note takers and instructors on requesting note takers, signing up to be a volunteer note taker and assisting QSAS with recruiting volunteer note takers.

    If you are a student seeking note taking accommodation please click here to read the Starting Your Accommodation information.

How to keep yourself safe from new virus?

After a new-type coronavirus was detected in viral pneumonia cases in Central China's Wuhan city three months ago, more cases have been reported in recent days. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}:

⒈ Wear masks outdoors

●Wearing a mask is one of the most effective ways to protect you from getting infected.

●Make sure to wear it properly by tightening up the nose clip and pulling the bottom of it over your chin.

●{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, a mask is also needed to prevent you from spreading germs to others.

⒉ Cover your coughs and sneeze with tissue

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, or you can cough or sneeze into your sleeve, but avoid covering with your hands directly.

⒊ {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Wash your hands with soap and running water thoroughly for at least 15 seconds.

● Before eating and after using the toilet

● After returning home

● After touching trash or garbage

● After contacting with animals or handling animal wastes

⒋ Strengthen your immune system and exercise regularly

● Exercise regularly is one of the most important ways to help you stay away from catching any infections.

● Make sure that shared spaces have good air flow and avoid going to crowded places such as hospitals, railway stations and airports. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

● Seek prompt medical attention if you have symptoms of fever and respiratory infection.

● Avoid close contact with people who have flu or cold-like symptoms.

●{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Avoid contact with wild animals or farmed livestock without any protection.

A. If your hands are not visibly dirty

B. Eat thoroughly cooked meat and eggs

C. Wash your hands frequently and properly

D. Protect yourself and others from getting sick

E. Wear a mask if transport or movement is necessary

F. If you're not feeling well or have symptoms of fever

G. To prevent catching the infection, here's what you can do