Many parents have learned the hard way that what sounds like open communication is often the very thing that closes a youngster's ears and month. One common mistake is The Lecture, the long monologue that often starts with “When I was your age….” Eighteen-year-old Kelly calls lectures “long, one-side discussions in which I don't say much.”

    Kids reflexively（条件反射地） shut down in the face of a lecture. Their eyes glaze over(呆滞), and they don't register any incoming information. Listen to 13-year-old Sarah describe her least favorite times with her mom and dad. “First, they scream. Then comes the ‘We're so disappointed' speech. Then the ‘I never did that to my parents' lecture begins. After that, even if they realize how ridiculous they sound, they never take it back.”

    Lines like “When you have children of your own, you'll understand” have been seriously said by parents since time immemorial. But many of our expert parents, like Bobby, a registered nurse and mother of three, feel that by falling back on clichés（陈词滥调） to justify our actions, we weaken our position.

    Since kids are creatures of the here and now, the far-off future has no relevance to them. Therefore, good communicators like Bobby suggest, “Give specific reasons for your actions in present language: ‘I'm not letting you go to the party because I don't think there will be enough adult supervisions（监护）.'”

    Betty, who lives in Missiouri, uses an indirect approach. “I find that warnings are accepted more readily if I discuss a news article on a subject I am concerned about. My husband and I talk about it while our children absorb the information. Then they never think I'm preaching.”

    This really helped when Betty's kids began driving. Instead of constantly repeating “Don't drink; don't speed,” she would talk about articles in the paper and express sympathy for the victims of a car crash. Betty made no special effort to draw her kids into the conversation. She depended on a teen-ager's strong desire to put in his opinions-especially if he thinks he isn't being asked for them.

    Science fiction writers create imaginary worlds. The way things work in your imaginary worlds will be based on actual science. So it's important for you to be familiar with the scientific principles and inventions that are related to your creation. For example, if you're writing about human living on a planet with zero gravity, then you need to know the effects of zero gravity on the human body.

    Then you have to figure out the exact rules of your imaginary worlds. And you have to follow them. If humans are able to breathe underwater in Chapter 1, your character can't drown in a swimming pool in Chapter 3. The issue here is maintaining your readers' trust. That means the readers are willing to pretend along with you. If you start out with an ordinary detective novel and then throw in someone breathing underwater in the 6th chapter, you will pull the readers out of their imagination. The same thing happens if you change the rules halfway.

    Part of your preparation work for the novel is to map out its worlds in great detail. You should decide the following issues: the history of the world, the geography, what possibilities it offers, how everything works in this new reality, and how all of these factors affect the way your characters think, feel, and react to things. You don't have to tell your readers all the rules in the first chapter. But you have to let readers know enough to understand what's going on. This also allows you to work out logical problems and contradictions before you start writing.

    When you are writing, remember to make it feel real. You are inviting readers to visit a new world. They will want to be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste what it's like. Whether your novel is about a world without disease or an undiscovered planet, help your readers feel like they're actually there.

    Where to stay in Boswell? The following are some choices for you:

    First Hotel. 222 Edward Road. Tel. 414-6433. Number of Rooms: 120.

    Price: Single: $ 25; Double $ 35;

    Special attractions: Air conditioned rooms, French restaurant, Night club, Swimming pool, Shops; Coffee shop and bar, Telephone, Radio and TV in each room, close to the city center.

    Fairview Hotel. 129 North Road. Tel. 591-5620. Number of Rooms: 50.

    Price:  Single:$ 12; Double: $ 18;

    Special Attractions: Close to the airport, Telephone in each room, Bar, Restaurant, Garage, Swimming-pool.

    Orchard Hotel. 233 Edward Road. Tel.641-6641. Number of Rooms: 150.

    Price:  Single: $ 15; Double: $ 20;

    Special Attractions: Facing First Hotel, European restaurant, Coffee shop, Dry-cleaning, Shops, TV, Night-club.

    Osaka Hotel. 1264 Venning Road. Tel. 643-8206. Number of Rooms: 180.

    Price:  Single: $ 30; Double: $ 50.

    Special Attractions: Air-Conditioned rooms, Japanese and Chinese restaurant, Shops, Swimming pool, Large garden.

    A recent study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore(NUS)has found a clear link between the color of a taxi and its accident rate. An analysis of 36 months of detailed taxi, driver and accident data from two fleets of yellow and blue taxis in Singapore suggested that yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis. The higher visibility (能见度)of yellow makes it easier for drivers to avoid getting into accidents with yellow taxis, leading to a lower accident rate.

    The study was led by Prof Ho. To test whether there was a causal relationship between the color of a taxi and the number of accidents the taxi had, the research team analysed data collected by the largest taxi company in Singapore. The researchers found that yellow taxis have about 6.1 fewer accidents per 1,000 taxis per month.

    The researchers also studied the economic effect of changing the color of the entire fleet of taxis to yellow. The Singapore taxi company involved in the study owns about 16,700 taxis in a ratio(比例) of one yellow to three blue taxis. If a commercial decision is made to switch from blue to yellow taxis, 76.6 fewer accidents would occur per month or 917 fewer accidents per year. Assuming an average repair cost of $1,000 per car and a downtime of six days, switching the color of all taxis to yellow could produce an annual savings of $2 million.

    “We are eager to continue to validate(证实) the findings of our study by looking at the use of yellow in other types of public transport, such as school buses. For instance, we hope to compare the accident rates of yellow school buses against other colors to find out if yellow is indeed a safer color for school buses. Besides, we are also interested to look at private-hire vehicles and do a comparison of the accident rates of vehicles that are of different colors,” explained Prof Ho.

    The first day my new teacher walked into our school in Spanish Harlem, I burst out laughing. Ron Clark was this young white guy from North Carolina who talked with a funny Southern accent(口音). He said he used to be a singing waiter. I thought, who is this guy? He's a complete joke.

    It was 1999 and I was in the fifth grade at New York City's P.S. 83. I guessed I'd spend most of the year in the headmaster's office. I'd always been a troublemaker. I'd get shouted at, and then the teachers would give up on me. I thought that's what would happen with Ron Clark.

    I was wrong. That first week, I kept laughing at him. He pulled me out to the hallway and said I'd better shape up(表现好). "Tamara," he said, "you're a smart kid. You can do better."

    He told me I was a natural leader and that I'd go far in life if I started studying hard. I was mad at first, but then something happened: I began to respect him. There were 29 students in our class, and it didn't take long for us to realize that Ron Clark was no ordinary teacher.

    Like most teachers, he had lots of rules: Treat each other like family. Don't cut in line. But the real difference was how concerned he was. Mr. Clark ate with us in the lunchroom instead of going to the teachers' day-room. At first, my friends and I were thinking. What is he doing?

    He asked us what was going on in our lives. Between classes, he came outside with us, and we taught him how to jump rope. When it snowed, Mr. Clark, who'd never seen snow before, threw us with snowballs, and we threw him back.

    Before coming to P.S. 83, he taught at Snowden Elementary in his hometown, Belhaven, North Carolina. His parents were DJs(流行音乐节目主持人)at dance clubs, so he grew up with music and energy. He wanted a life of adventure, he told me, but his mom encouraged him to ask for a position at Snowden when one of the teachers passed away. Mr. Clark ended up loving it. He came to Harlem because he'd seen a TV show about our troubled schools and the lack of qualified teachers. He wanted a challenge. Boy, did he get one.

    In recent years I have had two very good roles on television: Florence, the wisecracking maid on the series The Jeffersons, and Mary, the mother who holds things together on 227. But 17 years ago, in 1972 when I was just getting started in theater work, I thought I'd never make it as an actress. For that matter, I couldn't even hold my life together or afford a home of my own.

    Back then I had about as much self-confidence as a chicken in a fox's nest. I was recovering from surgery and had been off work for six months from my job as a United Airlines reservations agent. I'd had some bit parts in local theater groups, but those came and went, not leading to anything bigger.

    Worse, as a single mother with three youngsters, I had no place to live. My children were staying with their father while I recovered in an aunt's apartment. Lying in bed, staring hopelessly at the wall, I didn't know what to do or where to turn.

    Then one Sunday morning I aimlessly turned on the television set, and there were actor Robert Young and his wife talking about their faith. I sat right up in bed. They said, "When one door closes, a better one opens," Well, I wasn't going to just sit staring at the closed one. So I got up and trudged (跋涉) on. Even if my shoes wore out, I decided, my faith wouldn't.

    Later, when I began filling small parts in television productions, that self-confidence showed. I'd always done my best to play the role as I thought the director wanted, but now I found myself freer to interpret it, I was more natural, more me.