In the 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia, one scene shows an American newspaper reporter eagerly snapping photos of men robbing a damaged train. One of the robbers, Chief Auda abu Tayi of the Howeitat clan, suddenly notices the camera and snatches it. “Am I in this?” he asks, before smashing it open. To the dismayed reporter, Lawrence explains, “He thinks these things will steal his virtue. He thinks you're a kind of thief.”

As soon as colonizers and explorers began taking cameras into distant lands, stories began circulating about how native peoples saw them as tools for black magic. The “ignorant natives” may have had a point. When photography first became available, scientists welcomed it as a more objective way of recording faraway societies than early travelers' exaggerated accounts. But in some ways, anthropological(人类学的) photographs reveal more about the culture that holds the camera than the one that stares back. Up into the 1950s and 1960s, many ethnographer(人种学者) sought “pure” pictures of “primitive” cultures, routinely deleting modern articles for daily use such as clocks and Western dress. They paid men and women to re-enact rituals or to pose as members of war or hunting parties, often with little regard for truthfulness. Edward Curtis, the legendary photographer of North American Indians, for example, got one Makah man to pose as a whaler with a spear in 1915 — even though the Makah had not hunted whales in a generation.

    These photographs reinforced widely accepted stereotypes that native cultures were isolated, primitive, and unchanging. For instance, National Geographic magazine's photographs have taught millions of Americans about other cultures. As Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins point out in their 1993 book Reading National Geographic, the magazine since its founding in 1888 has kept a tradition of presenting beautiful photos that don't challenge white, middle-class American conventions. While dark-skinned women can be shown without tops, for example, white women's breasts are taboo. Photos that could unsettle or disturb, such as areas of the world torn apart by war or famine, are discarded in favor of those that reassure, to conform with the society's stated pledge to present only “kindly” visions of foreign societies. The result, Lutz and Collins say, is the display of “an idealized and exotic world relatively free of pain or class conflict.”

    Lutz actually likes National Geographic a lot. She read the magazine as a child, and its lush imagery influenced her eventual choice of anthropology as a career. She just thinks that as people look at the photographs of other cultures, they should be alert to the choice of composition and images.

    A beautiful and very successful actress (女演员) was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colours.

    It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter's bill (帐单). At the bottom of it were these words: “ Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance : 3 pounds,” with this note: “ After 5 p.m. I get 15 shillings (先令) an hour instead of 10 shillings.”

British Women Writers in different periods of time

The English Renaissance

    The English Renaissance began in the later part of the fifteenth century and lasted until the 1660s. Among the most famous women writers of this period is Aphra Behn, who is seen as the first professional woman writer in English. She wrote a number of plays that dealt with topics such as racism and slavery. A good example is Oroonoko published in 1688. Aphra Behn's works include also the plays The Amourous Prince, The Town Fop, The Dutch Lover and her only tragedy, Abdelazer.

The neoclassical period

    Among the well-known women in Bristish literature during the neoclassical period, from 1660 to the end of the eighteenth century, is Anne Finch. She wrote poetry and tried to express all that she saw and experienced. Two other women are recognized for their contribution to neoclassical British literature: Mary Astell and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Mary Astell was a philosopher and a feminist writer. She is best known now for her theories on the education of women.

The Romantic period

    Jane Austen is one of the most famous women writers that worked during the Romantic period (1798-1832). Her works include several novels, most of which focus on marriage as a way for young women to secure social standing and economic security. Her most famous novels are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Another famous woman writer from the English Romanticism is Mary Shelley. She is the author of Frankenstein, History of Six Weeks Tour and The Last Man.

The Victorian period

    The Victorian period, between the 1830s and 1900, was the time when the Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell lived and wrote. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte produced many British literary classics. Charlotte's novels include Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette and The Professor. Mary Anne Evans adopted the male pen name George as she wanted to set herself apart from the feminine genre of cookbooks and domestic moral tales. Her most famous novel is The Mill on the Floss published in 1860.

    Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.

    While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.

    The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn't just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.

    Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.

    Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company's "Oshbot" robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product's location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.

    The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. "We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us," said Breazeal.

    If you ever have the desire to break out into song—in the shower, in the car, maybe at your neighbor's karaoke night—you should embrace it whole-heartedly. This ancient art not only makes you feel good, it can also improve your well-being, reduce your feelings of pain, and even extend your life.

    Using your voice to sing, rather than simply carryout a conversation, offers unique benefits because singing affects our bodies. Also, studies link singing with a lower heart rate，decreased blood pressure and reduced stress according to Patricia Preston-Roberts, a music therapist. She uses song to help patients who suffer from a variety of problems.

    Singing, particularly in a group, seems to benefit the elderly particularly well. As part of a three-year study examining how singing affects the health of those fifty-five and older, a Senior Singers Chorus was formed by the Levine School of Music in Washington, D. C. The seniors involved in the chorus, as well as seniors in two separate arts groups about writing and painting, showed significant health improvements compared to those in the control groups (控制组).Obviously, the arts groups reported thirty fewer doctors' visits, fewer eyesight problems, less depression, and less need for medication.

    Even lead researcher Dr. Gene D. Cohen, director of the Center on Aging at George Washington University, was surprised at how big an effect the seniors' arts participation had on their health. Cohen said, “The average age of all the subjects was eighty. This is higher than life expectancy. So, if an effect were to be achieved, one would ordinarily expect to see less decline (下降) compared to the control group. The fact that there was so much improvement in many areas was the surprising factor." The seniors also noticed health improvements and they reported feeling better both in daily life and while singing.

    The part of the brain that works with speech is different from the part that processes music. “People seem to enjoy doing something jointly with other people. There are a lot of facts that being socially involved is good for people with dementia (老年痴呆).”Ballard said.

    The arts are showing up as a treatment tool in hospitals across the country. If you are thinking of volunteering, singing at a hospital may be a good choice—not only for the patients, but also for yourself.

    On one of her trips to New York several years ago, Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner. They settled in at a comfortable East Side cafe and within minutes, another customer was approaching their table.

    "Hey, aren't you from Mississippi?" the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by a stranger. "I'm from Mississippi too."

    Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty's table. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.

    "They began telling me all the news of Mississippi," Welty said. "I didn't know what my New York friends were thinking."

    Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty's new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi.

    "My friends said: ‘Now we believe your stories,'" Welty added. "And I said: ‘Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.

    Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty's people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets beside her house, from conversations overheard on a bus.

    It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. However, she continues to walk into life and notes the vivid life. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story, yet she quickly takes out a notebook and write something fantastic under her point of pen.