French surgeons have performed what they said on Wednesday was the world's first partial face transplant— giving a new nose, chin and lips to a woman attacked by a dog.

    Specialists from two French hospitals carried out the operation on a 38-year-old woman on Sunday in the northern city of Amiens by taking the face from a brain-dead woman, who had hanged herself just hours before the operation. Her family agreed on the operation.

    “The patient is in an excellent state and the transplant looks normal,” the hospitals said in a brief statement after waiting three days to announce the pioneering surgery.

    The woman had been left without a nose and lips after the dog attacked her last May, and was unable to talk or chew properly. Such injuries are “extremely difficult, if not impossible” to repair using normal surgical techniques, the statement said.

    The statement did not say what the woman would look like when she had fully recovered, but medical experts said she was unlikely to resemble the woman who had been the source of her new face.

    The operation was led by Jean-Michel Dubernard, a specialist from a hospital in Lyon who has also carried out hand transplants.

    Skin transplants have long been used to treat burns and other injuries, but operations around the mouth and nose have been considered very difficult because of the area's high sensitivity to foreign tissue.

    Teams in France, the United States and Britain had been developing techniques to make face transplants a reality.

    There was a short-term risk for the patient if blood vessels became blocked, a medium-term danger of her body rejecting the new skin and a long-term possibility that the drugs used could cause cancers.

    Experts say that although such medical advances should be celebrated, the transplant had thrown up moral（道德的）and ethical(伦理的) issues. Little is known about the psychological effect of the transplant.

    Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything they want to know. The teacher's job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.

    It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to memorize some facts or a formula (公式). It is usually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo didn't get anything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind.

    The reason for their success is that they knew how to study. They read books that were not taught at school. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.

    Above all, they knew how to use their brains.

    Fitbit Charge

    A special cut-off, just $39.99!

    Come and get one!

    Energize your day with Charge—an advanced activity wristband that tracks your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, floors climbed and active minutes. Stay connected throughout the day with real-time fitness statistics and Caller ID on the OLED display. And when the day is done, it automatically monitors your sleep and sets a silent, shaking alarm. Whether you're at the office or on the go, Charge wirelessly syncs (同步) your statistics to your smartphone and computer to help you find the motivation you need to achieve your goals.

    DETAILED INFORMATION

    Size: Small fits 5.5"--6.5", Large fits 6.5"--7.7". Refer to this sizing guide to be sure you get the right fit.

    Activity Tracking -- Accurately track all-day statistics like steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, stairs climbed, and active minutes.

    See daily statistics, time of day, and exercise mode with a bright OLED display.

    Auto Sleep + Silent Alarm — Monitor your sleep automatically and wake with a silent alarm.

    Caller ID — Get call notice right on your wrist when your smartphone is nearby.

    Access real-time run statistics like time, distance, and pace to stay on track.

    Sync statistics wirelessly and automatically to your computer and over 150 leading smartphones.

    See compatible (兼容的) iOS, Android, and Windows phones.

    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

    How do I reset my tracker?

    If your tracker is not responding, it may be fixed by restarting.

    1 Plug your charging cable into the USB port and insert your tracker into the charging cable.

    2 Insert a paperclip into the small pinhole on the back of the charger.

    3 Press on the pinhole for 3—4 seconds.

    Your tracker will now be reset. Take your tracker out of the charger and insert it back into the wristband.

    How do I charge my tracker?

    Your tracker battery lasts for about 5 days. To charge it, remove the tracker from the band and place it in the charger until all 5 lights are solid.

    If you have more questions, you may log in and post your questions here. We will solve your problems as soon as possible.

    A family is a collection of people who share the same genes but cannot agree on a place to pull over for lunch. Ed and I, plus his parents and sister Doris and eight-year-old niece Alisha, are on a road trip to Yosemite. Ed wants Subway, I want. In-N-Out Burger, Doris wants Sonic. In the end, we compromise on McDonald's, where Alisha will get an action figure.

    It's a three-hour drive to Yosemite, but we're taking a little longer, as we're working in a tour of Highway 80's public restrooms. As the saying goes, "Not one bladder（膀胱）empties but another fills." Many of these restrooms belong to gas stations. I prefer them to the high-tech ones on planes.

    We get back on the road. Ed is driving now. When all the tabloids（小报）have been read, the travel has grown tedious and anyone under age 12 asks "Are we there yet?" at ever-shortening internals. Just outside Manteca, California, we stop for coffee. At a Starbucks checkout, Ed buys a CD of Joni Mitchell's favorite musical picks. The hope is that it will have a calming effect.

    As we pull back onto the highway, it starts to pour. Then something amazing happens. As we climb the mountain, the rain turns to snow. The pines are spotted with white. We're struck dumb（说不出话）by the scene outside. For a solid 15 minutes, everyone forgets about their bladder, their blood sugar and the temperature. Alisha has never seen snow, so we pull over to make snowmen and catch snowflakes on our tongues. Then Ed realizes we need tire chains, and we have to turn back and drive 30miles to Oakhurst. "Good," says Doris. "There was a very nice restroom there."

    Bored? Lonely? Out of condition? Why not try the SPORTS CENTER?

    TENNIS

    Indoor and outdoor courts. Coaching from beginners to advanced. Children only. Mornings.

    SKIING

    Gentle slopes. 3 levels instructors at weekends and Fridays. Daytime practice.

    8-year-old upwards.

    SWIMMING

    2 pools, heated, Olympic length.

    Women: Tuesday and Thursday.

    Men: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

    Children: Saturday.

    GOLF

    9 hole practice course. Professional Coaching. Lessons must be booked in advance in daytime. Evening practice. Minimum age — 9 years.

    GYMNASTICS

    Maximum age —18 years.

    Children aged 5-10. Mondays and Wednesdays. 4:00-6:00 p.m.

    10—18 year olds. Friday evenings.

    AND MANY MORE

    Table Tennis, Snooker (台球), Darts (标枪), Café (all day), Bar (lunch time and evenings), Nursery (weekdays and weekends, not evenings).

    Centre open 10:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. Daily.

    Interested? More details, call 800-1234-5678.

    The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my husband of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cook book and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time. I started on it as soon as Doug left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Doug loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough (生面团）covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work. I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Doug got home, we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in out rubbish bin. Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast(酵母) made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. I had to admit what the living thing was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed(尴尬) by the whole thing—Doug or me.