Researchers from France and Italy discovered that Canadian parents are less strict with their children than mothers and fathers in France and Italy.

    “Our most important finding was the difference between Canadians and the others,” said Professor Michel Claes, the lead author of the study. “Canadians focus on independence and negotiation. On the other hand, Italians, for example, exercise more control. We found Canadians seem to focus on negotiation in case of a conflict.”

    Claes said Canada, France and Italy were selected for the study because they share important cultural and social factors. “We chose French­Canadians because they share the same language as France, and originally came from France and share certain values. Italy was included because it was considered to have similar, strong and important family values,” he explained.

    The researchers examined the emotional ties between parents and their children by questioning 1,256 students aged 11 to 19 years old.

    Canadian students reported less control and more free actions, according to the study. Italian parents were stricter and French parents were somewhere in the middle.

    Claes explains that the differences lie in education in Canada, France and Italy.

    “North America has its own educational values, which promote individualization. Tolerance and comprehension are encouraged. Italy, on the other hand, promotes respect of authority, control, and the need for permission.” he said.

    Children from all three countries described their mothers as warm and communicative. Italian and Canadian children had similar feelings about their fathers, and reported high levels of emotional ties. But French fathers were generally thought by their children to be more distant and cold.

    “We were surprised by this,” Claes admitted.“It seems as though the relationships between French mothers and their children were becoming closer over time, while fathers maintain a form of distance and coldness, which is more of a source of conflict in France than in the other countries.”

    Liverpool, my hometown, is a special city. It is so unique that in 2004 it became a World Heritage（遗产）Site.

    I recently returned to my home city and my first stop was at a museum on the River Mersey. Blanketed in mist（薄雾），Victorian architecture rose from the banks of the river, responded to the sounds of sea-birds, and appeared unbelievably charming. When I headed toward the centre, I found myself surrounded by buildings that mirror the best palaces of Europe. It is not hard to imagine why, on first seeing the city, most visitors would be overpowered by the beauty of the noble buildings, which are solid signs of Liverpool's history.

    As if to stress its cultural role, Liverpool has more museums and galleries than most cities in Britain. At Walker Art Gallery, I was told that it has the best collections of Victorian paintings in the world, and is the home of modern art in the north of England. However, culture is more than galleries. Liverpool offers many music events. As Britain's No. 1 music city, it has the biggest city music festival in Europe, and its musicians are famous all over the world. Liverpool is also well-known for its football and other sports events. Every year, the Mersey River Festival attracts thousands of visitors, making the city a place of wonder.

    As you would expect from such a city, there are restaurants serving food from around the world. When my trip was about to complete, I chose to rest my legs in Liverpool's famous Philharmonic pub（酒馆）. It is a monument to perfection, and a heritage attraction itself.

    Being a World Heritage Site, my home city is certainly a place of “outstanding universal value”. It is a treasure house with plenty of secrets for the world to explore.

    Whenever we see a button, we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the “on/off” button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the “close” button on a lift.

    Many people are in the habit of pressing the “close” button because they don't have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts' “close” buttons are a complete scam(骗局), at least in the US-the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press.

    It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys.

    But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren't completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control.

    “Perceived (能够感知的)control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being,” Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor, said, “having a lack of control is associated with depression.”

    Experts have revealed that a lot of buttons that don't do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats(温度调节器) because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workspace.

    But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little “white lies”, they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.

    “That habit is here to stay,” John Kounios, a psychology professor, said“Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I've got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?”

    When we think of leadership, we often think of power and strength. But leadership today is not about forcing others to do things. If this is even possible, it is short-term, and tends to backfire. If you order someone to do something against their will, they may do it because they feel it a must, but the anger they feel will do more harm to them in the long term. They will also experience fear.

    Fear causes the thinking brain to shut down, making the person unable to function at his or her best. If they connect you with this emotion of fear, they will become less productive around you, and you will have ended up in not only shooting yourself in the foot, but possibly making every good employee or partner unable to work effectively. Fear has no place in leadership.

    The way we influence people in a lasting way is by our own character, and our understanding and use of emotion. We can order someone to do something, which may be part of the workday; or we can employ him or her at the emotional level, so they put their heart fully into the projects and provide some of their own creation. Today's work place is all about relationships.

    People work harder in a positive environment where they're recognized and valued as a human being as well as a worker. Everyone produces just a bit more for someone they like. Leaders understand the way things work. They know the payment is not the only most inspiring factor in the work life of most people.

    The true strength of leadership is an inner strength that comes from the confidence of emotional intelligence – knowing your own emotions, and how to handle them, and those of others. Developing your emotional intelligence is the best thing you can do if you want to develop your relationships with people around you, which is the key to the leadership skills.

    Over the past 10 years, developments in technology have moved the dream of personal fling vehicles closer to reality. The British company Malloy Aeronautics has developed a model of its flying bicycle. The company says its Hoverbike will be a truly personal flying vehicle.

    The company's marketing sales director Grant Stapleton says the Hoverbike is able to get in and out of small spaces very quickly and can be moved across continents very quickly because it can be folded and packed.

    Safety was the company's main concern when developing the Hoverbike. The designers solved this problem by using overlapping rotors(重叠旋翼) to power the vehicle. With adducted rotors(内转旋翼) the rider immediately not only protects people and belongings if he were to hit them, but if the rider ever were to crash into somebody or something, it's going to bring the flying vehicle out of the air. The company is testing two models of the Hoverbike.

    In New Zealand, the Martin Aircraft Company is also testing a full-size model of its personal flying device, called Jetpack. It can fly for more than 30 minutes, up to 1,000 meters high and reach a speed of 74 kilometers per hour.

    Peter Coker, one officer from the company said Jetpack “is built around safety from the start.” In his words, “Reliability(可靠性) is the most important part of it. We have safety built into the actual structure itself, very similar to a Formula One racing car.”

    Jetpack uses a petrol-powered engine. It also has a parachute(降落伞) that can be used if there should be an emergency(突发事件). It opens at very low altitude(纬度) and actually saves both the flying vehicle and the pilot in an emergency.

    Mr. Coker says Jetpack will be ready for sale to the public by the end of 2019. He adds it'll have a price of about $200,000.