How would you like to have been born without any ability to feel pain? There are such people. One of them is being studied by doctors at a hospital in New York City. He is a 22-year-old clerk who really does not know the meaning of pain. But he wishes he did.

    Not long ago a packet of matches flared up(骤然烧起) in his hand. Luckily the burn was not serious. It caused large blisters(水泡) but still did not bother him. He said the burn felt like a fly crawling(在……上爬行) on his fingers. It has been the same story as far back as he can remember. He has never had headaches or sore(疼痛的) muscles. Bee stings, cuts and bruises(疼痛的) do not hurt.

    Being free from pain is not as wonderful as you may think. The young man has had to have rotted teeth pulled because he never felt toothache warnings. A sudden attack of appendicitis(阑尾炎) could be deadly. Life without pain is as risky as trying to run a cruise ship without fire alarms.

    It was New Year's Eve. Everyone in the city was getting ready for the three-day celebration, including the gardener of the king's garden.

    There was a large group of monkeys living in the garden. They always followed the advice of their leader, the monkey king.

    The gardener wanted to celebrate the New Year's holiday, just like everybody else, so he decided to hand over his duties to the monkeys.

    He went to the monkey king and said, "My honorable friend, would you do a little favor for me? New Year is coming. I wish to celebrate it. So I must be away for three days. Here in this lovely garden. There are plenty of fruits and berries and nuts to eat. You and your subjects may come and eat as much as you wish. In return, please water the young trees and plants while I'm gone."

The monkey king replied, "Don't worry, my friend! We will do a terrific job! Have a good time!"

    The gardener showed the monkeys where the buckets were kept. Feeling confident, he left to celebrate the holiday. The monkeys called after him, "Happy New Year!"

    The next day, the monkeys filled up the buckets, and began watering the young trees and plants. Then the king of the monkeys addressed them,"It is not good to waste water. Therefore, pull up each young tree or plant before watering. Inspect（检查）it to see how long the roots（根）are. Then give more water to the ones with long roots, and less water to the ones with short roots. That way we will not waste water, and the gardener will be pleased!"

    Without a second thought, the other monkeys followed their king's orders.

    Meanwhile, a wise man was walking by the garden. He saw the monkeys pulling up all the lovely young trees and plants, measuring their roots, and carefully pouring water into the holes in the ground. He said, "Oh foolish monkeys, what do you think you're doing to the king's beautiful garden?"

    They answered, "We are watering the trees and plants, without wasting water! We were commanded to do so by our king."

    The man said, "If this is the wisdom of the wisest among you — the king — what are the rest of you like? Intending to do a worthwhile deed, your foolishness turns it into disaster!"

    In the depths of the French Guianese rainforest, there still remain unusual groups of indigenous(土著的)people. Surprisingly, these people live largely by their own laws and their own social customs. And yet, people in this area are in fact French citizens because it has been a colony of the French Republic since 1946. In theory, they should live by the French law. However, their remote locations mean that the French law is often ignored or unknown, thus making them into an interesting area of “lawlessness” in the world.

    The lives of these people have finally been recorded thanks to the effects of a Frenchman form Paris called Gin. Gin spent five months in early 2015 exploring the most remote corners of this area, which sits on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, with half its population of only 250,000 living in its capital, Cayenne.

    “I have a special love for the French Guianese people. I have worked there on and off for almost ten years,” says Gin. “I've been able to keep firm friendships with them. Thus I have been allowed to gain access to their living environment. I don't see it as a lawless land. But rather I see it as an area of freedom.”

    “I wanted to show the audience a photographic record touching upon the uncivilized life,” continues Gin. “I prefer to work in black and white, which allows me to show different specific worlds more clearly.”

    His black-and-white pictures present a world almost lost in time. These pictures show people seemingly pushed into a world that they were unprepared for. These local citizens now have to balance their traditional self-supporting hunting lifestyle with the lifestyle offered by the modern French Republic, which brings with it not only necessary state welfare, but also alcoholism, betrayal and even suicide.

    He met her at a party. She was outstanding; many guys were after her, but nobody paid any attention to him. After the party, he invited her for coffee. She was surprised! In order not to appear rude, she went along.

    As they sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything and she felt uncomfortable. Suddenly, he asked the waiter, "Could you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee."

    They stared at him. He turned red, but when the salt came, he put it in his coffee and drank. Curious, she asked, "Why salt with coffee?" He explained, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing on the sea. I could feel it salty, like salty coffee. Now every time I drink it, I think of my childhood and my hometown. I miss it and my parents, who are still there."

    She was deeply moved. A man who can admit that he's homesick must love his home and care about his family. He must be responsible. She talked too, about her far away hometown, her childhood, her family. That was the start to their love story.

They continued to date. She found that he met all her requirements. He was kind, warm and careful. She thought she would have missed the catch if not for the salty coffee! So they married and lived happily together. And every time she made coffee for him, she put in some salt, the way he liked it.

    After 40 years, he passed away and left her a letter which said:

    My dearest, please forgive me my life-long lie. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous that I asked for salt instead of sugar. Sweetheart, I don't exactly like salty coffee. But as it means so much to you, I've learned to enjoy it. Having you with me was my greatest happiness. If I could live a second time, I hope we can be together again, even if it means that I have to drink salty coffee for the rest of my life.

    The Renaissance marks a period of human awakening. In this article we are going to explore the inventions during this period which have helped change the life and progress of mankind.

    Clock

    The first mechanical clock was invented in the early 1300's. Galileo, an Italian scientist, discovered the pendulum (钟摆) around 1602. The pendulum greatly improved the movement of the hands of a clock. The average error with the pendulum varied only by seconds each day. Before this the error was from 10 to 15 minutes a day.

    Eyeglasses

    In the late thirteenth century, paintings first appeared with people wearing or holding eyeglasses. From these paintings, we know that eyeglasses were invented in Italy. Around 1300 the Venetian Glassmaker's Guild made it illegal for cheap glasses to be made. By 1352, eyeglasses were only worn by well-educated rich men. In 1456, the invention of the printing press allowed books to become widespread. Once people owned books, reading glasses began to be seen in the hands of common people. In 1623, the Spanish invented the first graded eyeglasses.

    Flush toilet (抽水马桶)

    Sir John Harrington, godson to Queen Elizabeth, made the first flush toilet for himself and his godmother in 1596. He was teased by his friends and never made another one.

    In 1775, Alexander Cummings reinvented the flush toilet more commonly called the water closet. Two years later in 1777, Samuel Prosser applied for and received a patent for it.

    Wallpaper

    In 1496, the first paper factory came into operation in England. English artists soon make wallpaper for decoration. For the next 200 years England was a large producer of wallpaper for Europe. Before wallpaper was invented, only wealthy people could afford to decorate the walls of their houses.

    Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son. Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. "The door to his room is always shut." Joanna noted.

    Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. "She used to sit in my arms on the sofa and talk with me," said Mark. "Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which."

    Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what's on their minds. "In fact, parents are first on the list." said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. "This completely changes during the teen years." Riera explained. "They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last."

    Parents who know what's going on in their teenagers' lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental (思想的) break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.