Before birth, babies can tell the difference between loud sounds and voices. They can even distinguish their mother's voice from that of a female stranger. But when it comes to embryonic learning(胎教), birds could rule the roost. As recently reported in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, some mother birds may teach their young to sing even before they hatch(孵化)。New-born chicks can then imitate their mom's call within a few days of entering the world.

    This educational method was first observed in 2012 by Sonia Kleindorfer, a biologist at Flinders University in South Australia, and her colleagues. Female Australian superb fairy wrens were found to repeat one sound over and over again while hatching their eggs, When the eggs were hatched, the baby birds made the similar chirp to their mothers—a sound that served as their regular “feed me!”call.

To find out if the special quality was more widespread in birds, the researchers sought the red-backed fairy wren, another species of Australian songbird. First they collected sound data from 67 nests in four sites in Queensland before and after hatching, Then they identified begging calls by analyzing the order and number of notes. A computer analysis blindly compared calls produced by mothers and chicks, ranking them by similarity.

    It turns out that baby red-backed fairy wrens also emerge chirping like their moms. And the more frequently mothers had called to their eggs, the more similar were the babies' begging calls. In addition, the team set up a separate experiment that suggested that the baby birds that most closely imitated their mom's voice were rewarded with the most food.

    This observation hints that effective embryonic learning could signal neurological(神经系统的) strengths of children to parents. An evolutionary inference can then be drawn.“As a parent, do you invest in quality children, or do you invest in children that are in need? ”Kleindorfer asks. “Our results suggest that they might be going for quality. ”

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    Scotland has long been characterized as a land of romance. It contains ruins of many ancient castles and abbeys，and there is an attractive beauty in its mountains，long deep valleys，and ribbon lakes.Each year those things attract a great number of tourists.

    Numerous islands line the coast.In the north are two large groups，the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.Close to the west coast are the Inner and Outer Hebrides groups，and the islands of Arran and Bute.

    The land may be divided into three regions: the Highlands in the north，the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands.

    The Highlands are wild and picturesque(如画的)． A long valley called Glenmore crosses the Highlands from southwest to northeast.

    In the south of the Highlands are the Grampian Mountains，highest in the British Isles. Ben Nevis，the highest peak，rises to 1,243 meters.Ben Lomond rises from the shore of Loch Lomond，Scotland's largest freshwater lake.

    The Central Lowlands run from southwest to northeast and the greatest length is nearly 145 kilometers.The soil here is fertile，and there are four coalfields underlying the area.In the east is Edinburgh，Scotland's historic capital city，and in the west is Glasgow. Almost 90 percent of Scotland's population live in the Lowlands.

    In the Southern Uplands, the hills are generally less than 600 meters high. Their rounded or flat tops are often capped with dark peat(泥炭). Along the slopes are plants like grass and heather(石南花).

    When we do something, we all have our own plans. Some people are born planners. I can't claim (宣称) to be one of that kind of people. Most of the time, I try to at least expect what might go wrong. I have taken to making lists and, although I'm not yet achieving perfection, I usually manage to achieve goals. But there are times when even the best plans do not succeed. All that is left then is to smile and to make or do something using whatever is found.

Hanukkah (光明节) came early this year, perhaps too soon after Thanksgiving to allow us to prepare well. During the first night of Hanukkah, the Hanukkah candles were nowhere to be found in the entire Dallas area where we lived. Birthday candles wouldn't work! The tall long thin candle fell in small drops. "What would our ancestors do?" I thought. "What shall I do now? That's where ingenuity comes from. Don't be nervous and worried. Never let missing candles spoil a family celebration." Later what we did find was a bag of tea lights. The long, silver bread tray became the base for our tea lights. The younger ones were wide-eyed and happy as Grandpa lit the first tea light and all recited the blessing. We sat at the dining table, happy to be together and the food was plentiful.

    No matter how imperfect it is, the fact that families gather to share a special event, an event that has held meaning for so many generations of families, is the meaning itself and forms the important part of the observance (仪式). What we need to remember, and to carry with us, is the knowledge that togetherness is much better than all other concerns.

    About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio(影棚) to take part in a crowd-scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.

    We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real (that it made us feel cold).

    The next scene was a complete contrast (对比). The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen(幕).An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

    Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film "stars"!

    Michelle Kwan was born on July 7, 1980, in Torrance, California. The daughter of Hong Kong immigrants (移民), Kwan watched her older brother play ice hockey as a kid. She began skating when she was five, and entered and won her first figure skating competition at seven. She won the world title in the 1994 World Championships at the age of 13, and earned a spot as an alternate (候补者) for the 1994 Olympic Games. Kwan went on to capture the world title in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003.

    At the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998, Kwan was believed to win gold, but ended up with a disappointing silver medal when fellow US skater Tara Lipinski surprisingly took first place. Shortly before the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, Kwan, who was then the reigning world champ, surprisingly fired both her choreographer (编舞者), Lori Nichol, and longtime coach, Frank Carroll. Once again, she failed to get the gold medal when she finished third behind Irina Slutskaya of Russia and US skater Sarah Hughes, who took first.

    As a student at the University of California at Los Angeles, Kwan has continued to compete since her defeat (战败) in Salt Lake City. In February 2006, she was unable to take part in the Olympic Games in Torino, Italy because of a serious injury. Though Michelle Kwan did not compete during the 2006－2007 figure skating season, she has turned down an offer to work for NBC Sports and says she is not retiring.