He says the problem with teachers is, “What will a kid learn from someone who chose to become a teacher?” He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

    I decide to bite my tongue instead of biting his and stop myself from reminding the other dinner guests that it's also true what they say about lawyers—that they make money from the misfortune of others.

    “I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor,” he says to me. “Be honest. What do you make?”

    I wish he hadn't asked me to be honest, because now I have to teach him a lesson.

    You want to know what I make?

    I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

    I can make a C+ feel like a great achievement and an A－ feel like a failure.

    How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best?

    I make parents tremble in fear when I call them: I hope I haven't called at a bad time, I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.

    Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?”

    And it was the bravest act I have ever seen.

    I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.

    You want to know what I make?

    I make kids wonder.

    I make them question.

    I make them criticize.

    I make them think.

    I make them apologies and mean it.

    I make them write, write, write.

    And then I make them read.

    I teach them to solve math problems that they once thought impossible.

    I make them understand that if you have brains then you follow your heart and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you teach them a lesson.

    Let me make this simple for you, so you know what I say is true;

    I make a great difference! What about you?

    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.

    Whatever life threw at us each year, our family had one tradition at Christmas: our dog Pepper opened our presents for us.

    Last year, everyone made it home for a Christmas get-together. However, it couldn't feel perfect because Pepper's health was becoming worse. Her life had already been longer than we expected—she was fourteen and yet her mind was still sharp. Her love for life made us feel better. But her body could not keep up with her mind.

    Probably it was Pepper's last Christmas, so we decided to make sure she would enjoy it. On Christmas Eve, we each prepared presents for her.

    Soon, Pepper selected her first Christmas gift. She turned the present, just as she was a young dog once more. She pulled the paper off the dog treat before she chewed (咀嚼) it slowly. Our family was so happy.

    Pepper saw the remaining three presents, and then turned to mom as if asking, “May I open another?”

    “Go ahead, girl!” Mom encouraged.

    For the next few minutes, Pepper opened each of her Christmas presents. While she did, she reminded us of the joy of being together. Our family felt as a whole-not because we were in the same room or city, but because our love brought us together.

    Pepper passed away after Christmas. Her peaceful passing made us tearful. Her passing was also a celebration of life, because she gave my family so much love and laughter.

    I still treasure Pepper's final Christmas gift. She taught me that no matter where we each spend the holidays, the smallest act of sincere giving can unite our family through our love. For me, that knowledge is the longest-lasting gift of all.

    Research finds out why some people are constantly under attack from the bloodsucking insects while others walk free.

    For those unfortunate enough to feature highly on the mosquito hit list, summer nights can be synonymous with mosquito bites. Yet others hardly ever get bitten. So how do the bloodthirsty insects select their victims?

    The insects' tastes may seem arbitrary. However, research shows that when mosquitoes make their choices between potential victims, it all comes down to scent (气味).

    “Mosquitoes are attracted by carbon dioxide and heat, which everyone gives off. But mosquitoes are also attracted by certain scents,” says Karl-Martin Vagn Jensen, the head of research at the Department of Agricultural Science at Arhus University.

    According to Jensen, it has not yet been confirmed exactly what the scents in question are. But research does indicate that some scents are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.

    “All the lab employees rubbed petri dishes (培养皿) against their stomachs. In that way, their scents were put on the dishes, which were then put in a container full of mosquitoes,” he says. “The mosquitoes repeatedly landed on some of the petri dishes, but didn't go anywhere near the others.”

    Perhaps taking inspiration from popular fiction, there are also those who consider garlic as an excellent repellent (驱虫剂) against the winged bloodsuckers. According to the researcher, this strategy may not be entirely fruitless. “As far as I know, there is no scientific proof that eating garlic works. But there may be something to the theory that it's possible to mask scent with garlic,” he says. The only reliable method of protection against mosquitoes is to use repellents that are sold over the counter. It contains some smells that can confuse the mosquitoes. When the mosquito comes closer, it uses smell, heat and carbon dioxide to decide whether to bite. But if it is confused by a repellent, it will never get that far.

    The hemlock(铁杉) trees along the Wappinger Creek, New York, look healthy. However, scientist Gary Lovett says the white balls which provide protection for the bugs are created by a tiny insect. It's hard to believe the tiny bug could kill a tree. However, trees can end up with millions and millions of the pests. When there are that many, it ends up killing the tree.

    The bug from East Asia is slowly killing trees across the USA. The trouble－making bug is just one of many invasive(入侵的) pests that have slipped into the United States. They can hurt other living things in their new home.

    Many invasive pests arrive on wooden pallets piled inside shipping containers. They support and separate goods, and keep them from sliding around. Invasive pests often tunnel into the pallets.  How can we stop pests from riding on pallets? Lovett says new rules are needed. The companies that make pallets don't want more rules. Congress has added an amendment(修正案) in the 2018 Farm Bill to try and prevent this problem. However, Lovett is not hopeful it will make much of a difference. Pallets are checked by inspectors. Many are sprayed with bug－killing pesticide. "I believe in the system，" said Brent McClendon, president of The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association. He also said shipping containers are checked very carefully.

    Still, each year 13 million containers are shipped to the U.S. Each is full of wooden pallets. Lovett says: "Inspectors can't possibly check everything. All it takes are a few bad pallets; we should get rid of wooden pallets." He believes pallets should be made of plastic or eco－composite wood. Eco－composite wood is a mix of wood fiber and plastic. Insects cannot hide into it. One problem is that these choices cost more. They may be worth the extra money, though. Invasive pests cost the U.S. $5 billion a year. Trees don't just die in forests. They also die in cities and our yards. Then, they need to be replaced. That costs money, too.

    Self-driving cars have been backed by the hope that they will save lives by getting involved in fewer crashes with fewer injuries and deaths than human-driven cars. But so far, most comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have been unfair. Crash statistics for human-driven cars arc gathered from all sorts of driving situations and all types of roads. However, most of the data on self-driving cars' safety have been recorded often in good weather and on highways, where the most important tasks are staying in the car's own lane and not getting too close to the vehicle-ahead. Automated cars are good at those tasks, but so are humans.

    It is true that self-driving cars don't get tired, angry, frustrated or drunk .But neither can they yet react to uncertain situations with the same skill or anticipation of an attentive Unban driver. Nor do they possess the foresight to avoid potential dangers. They largely drive from moment to moment, rather than think ahead to possible events literally down the road.

    To a self-driving car, a bus full of people might appear quite similar to an uninhabited field. Indeed, deciding what action to take in an emergency is difficult for humans, but drivers have sacrificed themselves for the greater good of others. An automated system's limited understanding of the world means it will almost never evaluate (评估)a Situation the same way a human would. And machines can't be programmed in advance to handle every imaginable set of events.

    Some people may argue that the promise of simply reducing the number of injuries and deaths is enough to support driverless cars. But experience from aviation(航空)shows that as new automated systems are introduced, there is often an increase in the rate of disasters.

    Therefore, comparisons between humans and automated vehicles have to be performed carefully. To fairly evaluate driverless cars on how well they fulfill their promise of improved safety, it's important to ensure the data being presented actually provide a true comparison. After all, choosing to replace humans with automation has more effects than simply a one-for-one exchange.