Music for Humans and Humpback Whales   

    As researchers conclude in Science, the love of music is not only a universal feature of the human species, but is also deeply fixed in complex structures of the human brain, and is far more ancientthan previously suspected.

    In the articles that discuss the field of bio-musicology, the study of the biological basis for the creation and appreciation of music, researchers present various evidence to show that music-making is at once an original human "business", and an art form with skillful performers throughout the animal kingdom.

    The new reports stress that humans hold no copy right on sound wisdom, and that a number of nonhuman animals produce what can rightly be called music, rather than random sound. Recentin-depth analyses of the songs sung by humpback whales show that, even when their organ would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same choices relating to sounds and beauty, and accept the same laws ofsong composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere.

    For example, male humpback whales, who spend six months of each year doing little else but singing, use rhythms (节奏) similar to those found in human music and musical phrases of similar length—a few seconds. Whales areable to make sounds over a range of at least seven octaves (八度音阶), yet they tend to move on through a song in beautiful musical intervals, rather than moving forwards madly. They mix thesounds like drums and pure tones in a ratio (比例) which agrees with that heard in much western music. They also usea favorite technique of human singers, the so-called A-B-A form, in which a theme is stated, then developed, and then returned to in slightly revised form.

    Perhaps most impressive, humpback songs contain tunes that rhyme. "This suggests that whales use rhyme in the same way we do: as a technique in poem tohelp them remember complex material," the researchers write.

    Recently, I learned firsthand why it's a bad idea to judge people prematurely (过早地).

    I'm a nursing supervisor, and my job is to evaluate workers' performances at the hospital.

    Kenny was a new employee. After weeks' probation (试用), I had to admit that he was clean, punctual and efficient.

    But he had this self-assured and energetic presence. He was a large man, both physically and socially — he was independent and strong. I worried that our hospital, which demanded teamwork, was not right for such a personality.

    We had a patient named Mary. At 94 years old, Mary was weak. She had outlived her husband and sisters.

    Mary had an obsessive (强迫性的) belief that someone had taken her purse. She searched for it all the time. Unless tied to her wheelchair, she would go through the door onto the street mindlessly searching and never giving up. She was often sitting in her wheelchair in the hallway, where she stopped everyone who came near.

    “Can you lend me a comb?” she would ask. “I've lost mine. It was in my red purse. Where is my purse?”

    Every day it was the same. We all knew Mary didn't have a purse, but we would answer: “Sure, if I see your purse I'll bring it back.”

    One afternoon, I saw Kenny walking down the hall with a grocery bag. He walked toward Mary in her wheelchair. He pulled out a red purse.

    Mary's old hands flew up to her face in a gesture of wonder and joy, and then flew out hungrily like a starved child taking bread. Mary grabbed the red purse. She held it for a moment, and then pressed it to her breast, rocking it like a baby.

    Kenny leaned over, unzipped the purse open and showed Mary a comb inside. Tears of joy poured down Mary's face.

    Instead of paying lip service like the rest of us, Kenny had made Mary's problem his problem. I had been wrong about Kenny.

    Does your local high school have a student newspaper? Only 1 in 8 of New York's public high schools has student newspapers – and many of those are published just a few times a year. A few more are online, which can leave out poorer schools.

    Rebecca Dwarka, an 18-year-old senior who works for her student paper said, “Facebook is the new way of finding out what happened. Nobody wants to actually sit down and read a whole article about it. This makes a 'whole article' sound a little like a long sentence in lonely places.”

    I am not nostalgic about high school student newspapers and never worked for mine. I put out what was then called a personal magazine with a group of friends because we wanted to write about peace, war and rock 'n' roll without school officials warning us not to make jokes about the local officials.

    School newspapers are in decline because students now find out what happened on social networking websites. This is a little discouraging because it proves that for millions of Americans, journalism is becoming a do-it-yourself thing. Every citizen can be a reporter.

    When something happens, we look for social media messages. Facebook posts and Tweets have become the means by which citizens and reporters can prove, deny, pass on stories and express opinions without the press' challenging, researching or slowing the message.

    But truly good journalism is a craft, not just a blog post. It requires seeing something carefully and it uses an eye for details to help prove a larger view. And even journalism that conveys an opinion tries to be fair. If school newspapers begin to disappear, I hope there are other ways for students to learn that.

    A Harvard study of their graduates over thirty years found that there were only a small percentage (3%) of them who actually wrote down their goals-and these were the most successful! You can be certain that every one of those students had repeatedly heard the value of goal setting. Yet only 3% actually wrote down their goals consistently. Imagine what you can do if you both write down your goals and, then, focus on them consistently, until they are accomplished!

    What is it that causes the "New Year's Resolution Syndrome"? People make resolutions, work hard at them for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, and then forget them. Next year, they make the same New Year's resolutions. That is the syndrome. So why do so many people do it?

    They may be making goals that are too global, and too unrealistic. The elephant analogy (比喻) is still the best one I know of to illustrate good goal setting. "How do you eat an elephant? One spoonful at a time." So it is with goals. Make spoon size goals and accomplish them easily. Once you've mastered this, get a bigger spoon!

    You may have too many people in your life who consciously or subconsciously are unwilling or unable to support you to reach your goals. Surround yourself with people who want you to have what you want for yourself. Support each other and you'll all achieve your highest goals.

    We must be careful not to confuse busyness with progress. Be selective about how you use your time and what you focus on. Success often comes when you know what to leave out, rather than what to include in your life.

    Goal setting is like the pig and chicken who were out for a walk in town early one morning. The chicken became really excited when she saw a sign that said "Ham & Eggs, $2. 99". She said to the pig, "Look, we've got double billing again." The pig grunted and said, "That's all right for you to say. For you, it's all in a day's work. For me, it's total commitment." Goal setting is all in a day's work. Goal achievement is total commitment.

    It has been a year since I found out my friend had passed away. I still store his phone number, even though I know calling the number will never reach him again. I feel like if I deleted (删除) his phone number, it would mean he was really gone.

    Over the past few years, we have planned to travel together just to see the dolphins in the sea. However, for some reasons it didn't happen, yet I always took his calls over the years. We shared a lot of interests.

    When I knew that he had been diagnosed (诊断) with a very serious illness and was in hospital, I remembered sending messages to him. I did not receive a message back, so I left a voicemail. A week later, I sent him a message once again. However, I still didn't get a reply. I thought he was busy. During the next several months I was very busy, too. Suddenly, in that mid-summer, I received a short message: "Sorry, Marlynn, He has passed away."

    I was very sad and surprised at the words. I was very sad and regretful. I regretted that I let the months pass without trying again. I worked with many people who had also lost their best friends. The sadness is often unspeakable. There is guilt (内疚), helplessness and sadness that is difficult to put into words.

    Now I try to be grateful for the times and memories we have. I realize the best thing that we can do is value the ones we love.

    Finding a suitable name for a baby is a big deal in China. When picking out a Chinese name, parents usually select two or three characters that have a carefully thought out meaning, but when deciding on an English name, many of them struggle. That's where Jessup and her company, Special Name, come in. In the last few years, Jessup has helped name 677,900 Chinese babies, and earned over $400,000 in the process, more than enough to pay her college fees.

    Jessup came up with the idea for Special Name in 2015, after accompanying her father on a business trip to China. One of her dad's business partners, a Mrs. Wang, asked her to help choose an English name for her daughter. Jessup felt honored and quickly realized the importance of choosing a proper name in Chinese culture. The woman wanted people to be surprised by the things her daughter could achieve, so Jessup suggested the name "Eliza" after the character Eliza Doolittle from the play Pygmalion. Mrs. Wang seemed delighted with Jessup's choice. "If Mrs. Wang needed this service, maybe other parents would as well," Jessup thought.

    After returning to UK, Jessup borrowed ￡1,500 from her parents and paid a web designer to build a website, She then spent her free time filling up a database(数据库)with around 4,000 English names, associating them with five major personality characteristics, like honesty and optimism.

    In the beginning, Jessup offered the service for free to promote the website, but later, she started charging fees. The business is almost completely self-sufficient, requiring only a small team in China that manages technical operations. She updates the database each month, allowing her to focus full-time on studies.