D

      The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap(间隙)with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person's needs.

        Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what maybe implied(暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.

        Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.

Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient's silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing(治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.

    Did you know that the position(位置) you choose to sleep in says something about what kind of person you are?

    A study of 1,000 British people has been done by Chris Idzikowski, a British professor and director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service in the UK. It looked at the six most common sleeping positions and which personalities tend to match them. Have a look:

    ⒈Fetus (胎儿) position – This is the most common sleeping position. About 41 percent of the participants said they sleep in this position. These sleepers may appear to be strong but they are usually sensitive (敏感的) and shy. The more they curl (蜷缩) up, the more worried they are.

    ⒉Log position (树干睡姿) – This is the second most common position. People who sleep like a log are usually stubborn.

    ⒊Yearner position (向往型睡姿) – This position says that you are open-minded and eager (急切的) to face challenges.

    ⒋Soldier position – These sleepers lie on their backs with their arms down and close to the body. They are usually reserved and quiet.

    ⒌Freefall position – People who sleep in this position are outgoing (外向的) but feel a lack of control in their lives. This is the least comfortable position.

    ⒍Starfish position – People who sleep like this are good listeners, helpful, and uncomfortable being the center of attention.

    The Mokoko tribe (部落) lived on the wrong side of the island of two faces. The two sides, separated by a great cliff (悬崖), were like night and day. The good side was watered by rivers and was filled with trees and abundant food, while on the wrong side there was hardly any water or plants, and wild beasts crowded together. The Mokoko had the misfortune of having always lived there, with no way to cross to the other side. Their life was hard and they lived in permanent terror of the beasts.

    Along the edge of the cliff separating the two sides, a skinny but strong tree grew, with which they could build two poles. There was no doubt that the tribe would choose the great chief and doctor to use the poles. But when the two of them were given their chance to make the jump, they didn't dare to. They thought that the pole could break or it would not be long enough. They put so much energy into these thoughts that they gave in.

    But into that tribe were born Nam and Ariki, a pair of young hearts. One day, they decided to take up the poles. Nobody stopped them, but everyone did try to discourage them, trying to present how dangerous the jumping was, using a thousand explanations.

    "And what if what they say is true?" wondered the young Naru.

    "Don't worry. I am a bit scared too, but it doesn't look so difficult," replied Ariki, ever determined.

    "But if it goes wrong, it will be a terrible end," continued Naru, undecided.

    "Perhaps the jump will go badly. But staying forever on this side of the island surely won't work out well either."

    "You're right. Let's do it tomorrow."

    And on the next day, Naru and Ariki jumped to the good side of the island. When taking up the poles, while feeling their desire, the fear hardly allowed them to breathe. And while flying through the air, helpless and without support, they felt that something must have gone wrong and death awaited them. But when they landed on the other side, they thought the jump really hadn't been so bad after all.

    Navarathri, which is celebrated throughout India, falls in September or October. On the first three days, people pray (祈祷) to the goddess Durga, the protector who destroys all evil. The next three days they pray to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Then, also for three days, they look to Saraswathi, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. The tenth and final day of the festival is for the goddess Durga. On this day many years ago, Durga killed the evil buffalo-headed monster, Mahishasura.

    My daughter and I took out the models of the gods and goddesses that we had stored away last year. Soon the room was littered with all kinds of dolls. We usually buy at least one new doll every year. On the tenth day, the dolls are carefully put away. If a doll is too damaged to be shown, it is never thrown away. Instead, it is put deep into the seas.

    In our hallway six long wooden steps are set up. First, we spread a thick white cloth over the steps. Now it's time to put the dolls on the steps carefully. Every year, the gollu is different. Sometimes — as the collection grows — there is no space to fit all of the dolls on the steps. Smaller dolls can also be placed on the floor.

    Every night there are prayers, music, dancing, and a large meal for many people. In northern India, the children sing songs while doing the dandiya raas, a traditional dance. Every dancer also has two wooden sticks — called dandiya — that he or she uses to make a sound in time to the lovely music. Dancing the dandiya raas helps people think of the true meaning of Navarathri — togetherness, laughter, and fun!

    Fred Rogers was a curious man, six feet tall and without pretense (虚伪). He liked to pray, to play the piano, to swim, and to write, and he somehow lived in a different world than I did. We became friends for some 20 years, and I made lifelong friends with his wife, Joanne. I remember thinking that it seemed as if Fred had access to another realm (领域) like the way pigeons have some special magnetic compass that helps them find home.

    Fred died in 2003, somewhat quickly, of stomach cancer. He was 74. "Just don't make Fred into a saint (圣人)," That has become Joanne's refrain (叠句). 91 now, still full of energy, she lives alone in the same roomy apartment, in the university section of Pittsburgh, that she and Fred moved into after they raised their two boys. Throughout her 50-year marriage to Fred, she wasn't the type to hang out on the set or attend production meetings. That was Fred's thing. He had his career, and she had hers as a concert pianist. For decades she toured the country with her college classmate, Jeannine Morrison, as a piano duo; they didn't retire the performance until 2008.

    "If you make him out to be a saint, people might not know how hard he worked," Joanne said. Disciplined, focused; a perfectionist — an artist. That was the Fred she and the cast and crew knew. "I think people think of Fred as a child-development expert," David Newell, the actor who played Mr. "Speedy Delivery" McFeely, told me recently. "As a moral example maybe. But as an artist? I don't think they think of that." that was the Fred I came to know. Creating, the creative impulse (冲动), and the creative process were our common interests. He wrote or co-wrote all the scripts for the program — all 33 years of it. He wrote the melodies. He wrote the lyrics. He structured a week of programming around a single theme, many of them difficult topics, like war, divorce, or death.

    I don't know that he cared whether people saw him as an artist. He seemed more intent (急切的) that people not see him at all. The focus was always on you. Or children. Or the tiny things. It was hard to see Fred.

    I like you just the way you are. One day he told me where that core message came from. His grandfather, Fred Brooks McFeely, who like the rest of the Rogers family lived in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. "He was a character," he said. "Oh, a lot of me came from him."

    His grandfather represented a life of risk and adventure, the very things Fred's boyhood lacked. He was a lonely kid, an only child until he was 11, when his sister came. He was bullied. Here comes Fat Freddie! He was sickly. He had asthma. He was not allowed to play outside by himself. He spent much of his childhood in his bedroom.

    He had music, and he had puppets to keep himself amused. He didn't need much. He was expected to fill his father's shoes, become his business partner at the brick company. "My dad was pretty much Mr. Latrobe," he told me. "He worked hard to accomplish all that he did, and I've always felt that that was way beyond me. And yet I'm so grateful that he didn't push me to do the kinds of things that he did or to become a miniature (缩小的) version of him. It certainly would have been miniature."

    Fred wanted to be like his grandfather. "He taught me all kinds of really neat stuff!" he told me. "I remember one day my grandmother and my mother were telling me to get down, or not to climb, and my grandfather said: ‘Let the kid climb on the wall! He's got to learn to do things for himself!' I heard that. I will never forget that. What a support that was. He had a lot of stone walls on his place." "I think it was when I was leaving one time to go home after our time together," Fred told me, "that my grandfather said to me: ‘You know, you made this day a really special day. Just by being yourself. There's only one person in the world like you. And I happen to like you just the way you are."

The weather in Texas may have cooled since the recent extreme heat, but the temperature will be high at the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this month as officials debate how climate change is taught in Texas schools.

Pat Hardy, who agrees with the views of the energy department, is resisting proposed changes to science standards for pre-teen pupils. These would emphasize the significance of human activity in recent climate change and encourage discussion of reduction measures.

Most scientists and experts sharply argue against Hardy's views. "They casually view the career work of scholars and scientists as just another misguided opinion," says Dan Quinn, senior communications strategist at the Texas Freedom Network, a non-profit group that monitors public education. Such debates reflect fierce discussions across the US and around the world, as researchers, policymakers, teachers and students step up demands for a greater focus on teaching about the facts of climate change in schools.

A study, looking at how state public schools across the country address climate change in science classes, gave barely half of US states a grade B+ or higher. Among the 10 worst performers were some of the most populous states, including Texas, which was given the lowest grade (F) and has a huge influence because its textbooks are widely sold elsewhere.

Glenn Branch, the center's deputy director, cautions that setting state-level science standards is only one limited norm in a country that decentralizes (使分权)decisions to local school boards. Even if a state is considered a high performer in its science standards, "that does not mean it will be taught", he says.

Branch points out that, even if a growing number of official guidelines and textbooks reflect scientific consensus (共识) on climate change, unofficial educational materials that convey more biased(带有偏见的) perspectives are being distributed to teachers. They include materials sponsored by libertarian think-tanks(智库) and energy industry associations.