The cultures of the East and the West really distinguish each other a lot. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The origin of the eastern cultures is mainly from two countries: China and India. Both of the two cultures are developed by rivers—the Yellow River in China and the Hindu River in India. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

When the two mother rivers gave birth to the Eastern culture, another famous culture was brought up on the Mesopotamian Plain-the Mesopotamian Civilization. This civilization later on developed into the cultures of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Like the Chinese culture, the European culture also crossed waters. When the British settled down in America, their culture went with them over, the Atlantic Ocean. So the American culture doesn't distinguish from the European culture a lot.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Take the language system for example. In the East, most languages belong to the pictographic language while the Western languages are mostly based on the Latin system. Other causes like human race difference counts as well. But what's more, due to the far distance and the steep areas between the East and West, the two cultures seldom communicate until recent centuries. So they grew up totally in their own ways with almost no-interference (干扰)from the other.

The differences are everywhere. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But different cultures make the world of 21st century more colorful. The cultural gap should not be the obstacle to the civilization of human being. It ought to be the motivation of our going farther.

    Once, Buddha was walking from one town to another with some of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his followers, “I am thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake there”.

The follower walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing the lake right at the edge of it. As a result, the water became very muddy, very dirty. The follower thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?!” So he came back and told the Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink”.

    So, the Buddha said, let us take a little rest here by the tree. After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same follower to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The follower obediently (顺从地) went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.

The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the follower and said, “See, you let the water be and the mud settled down on its own. You got clear water. It didn't require any effort”.

Our mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time and it will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. We can judge and best decisions of our life when we stay calm.

    In 2016, three viruses made news, and they present difficult problems for health officials in the New Year. One virus threatens babies in many parts of the world. Another has reappeared in an African nation. And a third is one of the deadliest viruses of modern times. The three viruses are Zika, polio and HIV. However, in 2016 scientists and researchers from all over the world worked to make progress against those viruses and to develop better ways to control them.

    The spread of the Zika virus caused public health officials in many nations to put in place strong measures to control its spread.

    Brazil, which hosted the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, was hit hard by the virus. Health officials warned pregnant women against traveling to the sporting event. Zika is usually a mild illness. It is so mild that most people who are infected do not know they have it. However, in the past two years in the Western Hemisphere, Zika has been linked to babies being born with extremely small heads. This condition is called microcephaly. The international medical community found that this link to birth defects makes Zika a very dangerous virus.

    Zika first appeared in Uganda more than 60 years ago. It is spread by mosquitos and by sex. The virus recently appeared in Brazil. Then cases appeared in other countries to the North. Cases were reported in the United States in the southern state of Florida. Health officials in Texas are also concerned the virus might be spreading there.

    Doctors can only advise women to be careful. They advise women not to travel to areas where the virus is spreading, to avoid mosquito bites or to delay pregnancy. Currently there is no vaccine against Zika. However, one could be available by 2018.

    The impression you make at the beginning of an interview is very important. Employers often decide to hire someone in the first three minutes of the interview. They judge you by your appearance, attitude and manners.

    A friendly smile when you walk into the room is important. A smile shows a confident and positive attitude. When you introduce yourself, make eye contact with the interviewer. Some interviewers offer a handshake. Others don't.

    Try to be as natural as possible. But pay attention to your body language. The way you sit, walk, gesture, use your voice and show feelings on your face is all part of your body language. It makes the interviewer know how you feel about yourself and the situation you are in. Are you feeling positively about yourself？Your abilities? Your interest in the job？

    Speak clearly and loudly enough. Show interest and enthusiasm in your voice. When you speak, look at the interviewer. Also, don't say negative things about yourself, or former employer.

    Listen to questions carefully. If you don't understand a question, ask the interviewer to repeat or explain:

    "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch that."

    "Almost everyone is nervous in a job interview. Interviewers know that. They don't expect you to be totally calm and relaxed. But they expect you to try to control your nervousness. They expect you to show confidence in your ability to do the job.

    At the end of the interview, thank the interviewer for her or his time. It's a good idea to send a short thank-you letter right after the interview, or deliver it by hand.

    Phone the company if you have not heard anything after one week. Ask if they have made a decision about the job.

Good luck!

    Many automobile makers present their newest designs at car shows around the world. Many designers seek to create the car of the future. One device that is popular among car manufacturers(生产商) is an autopilot. Autopilot permits a car to drive itself without human control.

    A recent car show in Geneva, Switzerland also presented other possible designs, including cars manufactured in 3-D printers.

    Rinspeed is a Swiss design company. It showed a vehicle based on the US electric car Tesla Model S, but the Rinspeed car includes a large television and an espresso coffee maker.

    Frank Rinderknecht is the CEO of Rinspeed. He says he does not want to just sit and watch the steering wheel(方向盘) turn as he rides in a car with autopilot.

    "I want to ride; I want to sleep, relax, watch movies, news, anything else. So that's the vision which we have. One day on the boring motorway traffic, you just do anything which makes your life better," said Rinderknecht.

    One of the most interesting ideas presented at the show is a car built on a 3-D printer. The German engineering firm EDAG designed the car. The body of the vehicle called "Genesis" is printed in one piece from a material called thermoplastic(热塑性塑料).

    Christoph Horvath is spokesman for EDAG.

    "To create a car without the use of any tool. This would be a real revolution for the industry," said Horvath.

    EDAG says it based its design on a turtle shell. The company says the design provides the right amount of strength and firmness.

    Other automakers did not look so far into the future. Czech automaker Skoda presented its "Vision C" model vehicle. The car has an environmentally friendly natural gas engine.

    Jo Davidson is a company spokeswoman. She says the car releases very low levels of the pollutant gas CO₂. Ms Davidson says the "Vision C" plans to be launched in two years.

When adult humans meet a baby, many can't help speaking in a higher-pitched (更高音的) and sing-song y voice. This shift, known as parentese, is not unique to humans. It has also been observed in animals like monkeys and gorillas. Now, scientists are adding one more species to that list: bottle-nose dolphins.

Dolphins are intelligent animals that live and hunt in groups. They communicate in a unique way: Every individual produces its own signature sound that acts much like an ID card, usually by its first birthday. But how does each come up with its distinctive whistle? For babies, it might have something to do with listening to Mum. To solve this mystery, researchers examined the sounds mother dolphins make.

Scientists studied 34 years' worth of recordings of sounds made by 19 female bottle-nose dolphins. When the mother dolphins were near their young, they continued to make their signature sounds, but at a higher frequency. They also used a wider range of frequencies than they did when their babies were not nearby.

This discovery suggests that using these modifications, mother dolphins assist their young in learning how to produce these calls themselves. Since baby dolphins often spend some years with their mothers before living on their own, it makes sense that this adaptation would help them learn to communicate. At the very least, the higher-pitched whistle likely gets the babies' attention. "It's important for a baby to know, ‘Oh, Mum's talking to me now,'" says marine biologist Janet Mann.

This kind of research could help us understand how language developed in humans. "It is absolutely essential to have basic knowledge about other species and how they communicate," says Mann. "I would be really interested to see whether dolphins also change their sounds when interacting with babies of others, which is what happens in humans."