Our brains work in complex and strange ways.There are some people who can calculate the day of the week for any given date in 40,000 years,but who cannot add two plus two.Others can perform complex classical piano pieces after hearing them once,but they cannot read or write.

    Dr.J.Langdon Down first described this condition in 1887.He called these people idiot savants.An idiot savant is a person who has significant mental impairment（损伤）,such as in autism（孤独症，自闭症）or retardation.At the same time,the person also exhibits some extraordinary skills,which are unusual for most people.The skills of the savant may vary from being exceptionally gifted in music or in mathematics,or having a photographic memory.

    One of the first descriptions of a human who could calculate quickly was written in 1789 by Dr.Benjamin Rush, an American doctor.His patient,Thomas Fuller,was brought to Virginia as a slave in 1724.It took Thomas only 90 seconds to work out that a man who has lived 70 years,17 days,and 12 hours has lived 2,210,500,800 seconds. Despite this ability,he died in 1790 without ever learning to read or write.

    Another idiot savant slave became famous as a pianist in the 1860s.Blind Tom had a vocabulary of only 100 words,but he played 5,000 musical pieces beautifully.

    In the excellent movie Rain Man,made in 1988 and available on video cassette,Dustin Hoffman plays an idiot savant who amazes his brother played by Tom Cruise,with his ability to perform complex calculations very rapidly.

    Today we more clearly recognize that the idiot savant is special because of brain impairment.Yet not all brain impairment leads to savant skills.Some studies have shown that people who have purposeful interruption of the left side of the brain can develop idiot savant skills.However few people wish to participate in such experiments.There are many excellent reasons for not undergoing unnecessary experimentation on one's brain.The term idiot savant is outdated and inappropriate.Virtually all savants have a high degree of intelligence and are thus not idiots.

    When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.

    People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems ­­blurry. Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near-sighted. People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm's length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.

    Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people's eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.

    Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object's relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distances as people with two eyes.

    Worldwide, the most people willing to return your mobile phone if you've lost it are to be found in Slovenia, and the fewest in Malaysia. This finding is the result of an interesting study in 32 of the world's largest cities. Altogether, researchers 'lost' 960 new mobile phones. They got back 654 of them，or 68 percent. Prague came in at number eight. There, 23 out of 30 people who were willing to return the mobile phone.

    It wasn't a traditional study. Two researchers carefully chose different places such as areas with high crime(犯罪)and busy downtown shopping areas, to “lose” the phones. When one of the researchers dropped a phone, the other would keep watching from a distance. The honest finders tried their best to find the owner with the help of the address book in the phone. They were told why the study was done and asked why they acted the way they did.

    It was found that the busier the place where the researchers dropped the phone, the greater the chance of it being returned. Another interesting finding was that women were generally more likely than men to return the phone. Researchers also found that most people still have a sense of honesty. “Crime is simply not good behavior (行为), ”said an expert. “People want to trust others, and want to be trusted.”

Protect Children from Cyber-bullying

    When you think about bullying, you might think of a child being bullied by another in the schoolyard. As more young people have access to computers and cell phones, traditional bullying has gone digital, which has not yet gained awareness in Chinese parents.

    Cyber-bullying, first invented by Canadian educator Bill Belsey, is the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in an intentional, repeated, and unfriendly manner. It involves threatening text messages, the spread of online rumors on social networking sites, and intentionally keeping someone out of an online group. Cyber-bullying is at an all-time high in the US. According to a study from the US Department of Justice, more than 43% of teenagers report being victims（受害者）of cyber-bullying.

    Compared to face-to-face bullying, cyber-bullying is considered to have a worse emotional effect on the victims, and kids could feel more desperate and depressed. Severe, long-term or frequent cyber-bullying can leave victims at greater risk for anxiety, depression, and other disorders. Research says that cyber-bullying victims were almost twice as likely to have attempted suicide compared to youths who had not experienced it.

In traditional schoolyard bullying, at least home is a safe place for the victims. But cyber-bullying is endless—it could happen anytime. Moreover, in the digital world, bullying is much easier, as a bully can pick on people with a much lower risk of being caught.

    Actually, cyber-bullying has become a worldwide issue. In the US, as several teens committed suicide because of cyber-bullying, some schools set rules to punish cyberbullies. Laws to punish cyber-bullying have been introduced in some states. In China, cyber-bullying is still considered by many parents and educators as a problem that involves physical contact. However, as cell phones and laptops are becoming common equipment for teenagers, social interactions have increasingly moved from personal contact to virtual contact. Cyber-bullying is spreading faster than expected.

    For schools and parents, safety rules should be set in the virtual world for kids, such as telling them not to let out anything to a stranger. Active steps should be taken to make the public aware of the seriousness of this problem, because it would be too late to take measures after tragedy strikes.

    How can we reduce the risk?

    There are four general approaches to dealing with volcanic dangers. We can try to keep the danger from occurring—often an impossible task. We can try to change its path or reduce its impact on existing development. We can take steps to protect future development. We can also do our best to have disaster response plans in place before they are needed.

    Removing the Threat

    Clearly, there is no way to stop an eruption. We can, however, attempt to reduce the eruption's effects by strengthening structures, for example, building protective works such as walls to make lava (熔岩) flow away from developed areas. Such efforts can be and have been successful, but are of limited use in a large-scale eruption.

    Planning for the Future

    Protecting future development from volcanic dangers is a simple task. Before building houses, we should judge the risk. If the risk seems too great, a safer location should be found. This type of planning is very effective, but all too often, people are drawn to the lush(葱郁的)，rolling land of a quiet volcano.

     Disaster Preparedness (预案)

    When a volcano comes to life, a few weeks may not be enough time to avoid a tragedy. Planning is the key to saving lives. Well before the warning signs occur, people must be educated about volcanic dangers. Escape plans must be in place. Communication between scientists, officials, the media, and the general public should be practiced. Emergency measures must be thought out and agreed upon.

    If you doubt the importance of these efforts, take another look at past volcanic tragedies, such as the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. Communication failures left the town of Armero unprepared for escape. When a deadly mudflow came down the slope (斜坡), 21,000 people—90 percent of the town's people—died.

    Have you ever complained, "I remember reading it, but I can't remember what it said? " then you should try the SQ4R reading method.

    S = Survey. The first step is to take a few minutes skimming the chapter. Don't read it yet, just look at topic headings, key words, and read the summary.

    Q = Question. As you prepare to read the chapter, turn the first topic into a question or two. As you read, seach for the answer. This will help you organize your reading-find the parts that answer your question, give an example, consist of related information or that may answer a later question. Most importantly, this gives you a reason to read the next paragraph.

    R = Read. Read in short "bites" (部分), then determine how that answers question(s) you originally posed (提出). Often as you read other questions will arise.

    R = Recite. Now can you answer your question(s) in your own words? If you can't, reread the material to find the answers or determine if you need to change the question. You are rehearsing (重复，默诵) for the time when you will need o know the answer. A good technique for rehearsing answers is to briefly jot down (草草记下) the key words that remind you of the essence of the answer without writing down every detail.

    R = Relate. Most of us try to relate what we are reading to what we already know. It is always easier and more satisfying to remember information that is personally meaningful. Everything has a context. Some information may take more reflection before you are able to grasp its relationship with what you already know while other information may simply require more research, to understand how it fits with other data.

    R = Review. One way to minimize memory decay (衰退) and to store the material you have studied firmly in your mind is by reviewing it. After you finish reading the entire chapter, skim back over it and any note you made.

    Effective studying requires effective reading. Rather than getting "intellectual indigestion" while reading straight through a chapter, instead you should stop to survey, question, read, recite, relate, and review so as to improve your reading comprehension.