Asked to picture an electric guitar, most people will immediately bring to mind Leo Fender's most famous model—the Stratocaster. Upon its introduction in 1954, the Stratocaster not only redefined(重新定义) the sound of American music, but also immediately became an astonishing piece of design. Many musicians found Fender's first model, the Telecaster, clumsy, so he simply improved the instrument, making its shape fit a player's body. For Fender, form followed function as naturally as morning followed night.
You can learn more about electric guitars from The Birth of Loud. Ian S. Port's book is a vivid account of the careers of Fender and his main competition, Les Paul, the star guitarist. The book explores the two men's rise with extraordinary skills and authority.
Although they would be forever linked in their fame, they were in many ways opposites. Fender was silent and could often be found working in his laboratory until late at night, while Paul was a showman, a musical and technical whiz(奇才) who was one of the biggest stars before the age of rock' n' roll pop. What they shared was that they both dared to try out crazy ideas. They were" untrained men who could build or fix almost anything", Port observes.
This book reflects Port's ability to marry an anecdotal writing style to a musician's ear. Describing sound is extraordinarily difficult. I myself have played electric guitars designed by Fender and Paul for many years, and Port's descriptions of their different sounds are the most accurate I have ever read. Port's writing skills are shown clearly when he describes Hendrix's famous performance of" The StarSpangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969, which pushed rock guitar playing to a height it may never again reach. Port wisely ends his book here. The story of these instruments is the story of America from 1945 to the 1960s：loud, cocky(自大的), aggressively new.
This July my husband and I decided to move both our kids, aged 14 and 10, from their previous schools to a new international school that's located in our neighborhood. It wasn't an easy decision. We knew switching schools would be a challenge for our kids.
Put two kids in the same situation and they react and feel differently. Nina, outgoing and talkative, has no problem making new friends and adjusting to(适应) the new school. It took her less than a week to say, "This school is great. I like it. "Everywhere she goes, she's surrounded by friends. It took Michael months to say, "I guess this is fine. "Before that, he complained about everything. He's sensitive and quite hard on himself. Words of encouragement need to be told on a daily basis.
To make our children comfortable before, during, and after the move, we included them in our plan from the beginning. They're big enough to take part in decisionmaking activities. We researched, compared, and asked questions. We listed everything about their old schools and the new one, and we discussed every item. We were open with them from the start. Our kids knew what was going on and what was about to happen. They had time to prepare themselves. They trusted us.
Communicating with their new teachers was also important. For the first three months, we kept an eye on our children's academic(学业的) performance and their social life. If we discovered a drop in their grades or any unusual behavior, we were quick to arrange appointments with their teachers. We don't aim to be helicopter parents, but it doesn't mean we let them go completely. Balancing this role is hard—the older the kid, the harder it gets—but it's not impossible. The key is to listen first, and act second.
What kinds of rooms are your favorite spots for studying？We are going to guess that they are probably not painted bright red or yellow. But maybe they should be. Imagine. You are suddenly asked to prepare for an exam. You have two rooms to choose from. One is a pale blue, and the other is a bright red. Which one do you settle into for study？Is one going to get your brain fired up for learning, or let you relax into a best state of concentration?
According to researchers at Curtin University in Australia, it might be best to camp out in the bright red room when you are looking to store information. It might sound strange, since we often think of pale rooms—soft blues or light greens—as relaxing, or even reassuring(令人安心的). And they seem to be：The Curtin University study showed that pale colors made participants feel more relaxed and calm, while bright colors increased heart rate. But calming and relaxing, it turns out, may not always be the best environment for deep concentration or knowledge gaining. Reading comprehension(阅读理解) was much better in the bright rooms than in the paler rooms. Although participants reported that they generally preferred the pale rooms to study in as an approach to relax into work, the researchers saw just the opposite—that the brightcolored rooms seemed to lead to greater concentration.
While this might seem only surprising, the finding gets into a rather controversial area of psychological(心理学的) study. The YerkesDodson Law says that a little bit of stress is good for achieving best performance, while too much stress negatively affects it. The higher heart rate and the reports of the bright colors creating a heavy atmosphere might just suggest that a little stress was good for the brain.
The term" liberal bubble"(自由泡沫) suggests that people usually surround themselves with those who hold similar opinions to them. Think about your own social media platforms(社交媒体平台)—who your Facebook friends are, and who you follow on Instagram and Twitter. You probably share a lot of opinions with most, if not all, of them. However, if you're used to everyone agreeing with you all the time, it becomes difficult to have a good conversation with someone who disagrees.
The world is full of experiences, realities, and history. It would be naive(幼稚的) to believe that only your views are correct. We should always make space for the possibility that someone who looks different might have something valuable to offer the world. Carefully listening and being curious about different perspectives, in most cases, can help build bridges instead of walls. We all benefit when we listen carefully—even if we finally conclude that we disagree.
The world we live in is increasingly divided, especially on social media, which means that for most, the only opinions we hear are ones that agree with our own thoughts. So how can we have productive discussions with people who think differently than us？First, follow people who don't look like you on social media. Follow people with different skills. Follow people of many different nationalities. Just reading their daytoday thoughts, in addition to seeing their bigger moments, will help you learn about worlds you didn't even know. It'll help you understand where people are coming from when they do or say something you might push back on at the beginning. As far as having productive discussions, don't try to win others over to your side. Just listen to each other. Respect your differences. Another way is to join a club or organization where many people have different views and are willing to debate with love.
By thinking and using habits like great scientists, we can learn how to change our way of thinking and come up with new ideas.
Constantly ask questions. One thing that curious young children always do with their parents is ask questions. "Why is the sky blue?" "Why does a dog bark?" Scientists also constantly ask questions. You have to continue asking questions if you want to keep learning.
Share your results. Scientists often find solutions after knowing the findings of other scientists' experiments. In study, share your results with your classmates and you can learn from others' results.
You're rarely ever going to get something perfect on the first try. When you don't get it right, learn from it. To a scientist, failures or any negative result is not a bad thing.
Challenge assumptions(设想). Scientists like to challenge conventional thoughts. They do it by experimenting with the assumption and then test it to see if the results are true. Make basic assumptions about your work or personal life and then find a way to experiment with them to see if your assumptions are really true.
A. Work with others.
B. We all should do the same thing.
C. Accept failure and then learn from it.
D. Kids do this because they want to learn.
E. Here are some habits that can help you think like a scientist.
F. For scientists, it's important to share the results of their findings.
G. Proving something is wrong is just as useful as proving something is right.
Sometimes, big ideas come in small packages. That's 1 for Bryan Ware, the founder of the nonprofit organization, The Crayon(蜡笔) Initiative, which 2 the crayons children use at restaurants to give to children in need.
One night Ware was out to 3 with his family when he took notice of a box of crayons on the table. His son picked them up and colored on the tablecloth happily. There was nothing 4 about those things to most people. But seeing the crayons sparked(激发) something in Ware.
Ware knew that most of the crayons at restaurants were 5 after the first use. So he convinced the restaurants to hand over their 6 crayons, and meanwhile he tried to know where he could send the crayons to kids who needed them. After research, Ware decided to work with local 7 to bring the crayons to young patients.
Ware wanted to make sure each kid got a full set of 8, but because of budgeting issues, most only received one or two colors during their stay. Then he created packs with eight various colors. "These are 9 because the kids can use them to make superheroes and fairies, "Ware says.
So far, The Crayon Initiative has donated over 20, 000 packs of crayons to 38 hospitals, but it's the impact, not the 10, that matters to Ware.
"It's as important as the medicines for patients 11 it makes them get rid of the pain, "Ware says. He recently received a 12 from a family whose daughter had unfortunately passed away.
"It was a picture of a plastic pencil box. It was what she 13 around throughout the hospital, "Ware says. "Whatever examination she had to undergo, it was the little box of stuff that made her 14. "These kinds of stories make the 15 all worthwhile to Ware.
On Monday, Nevada bus driver, Mike Blair, handed an elderly man a bottle of cool water from his lunchbox after he (acute) noticed signs of dehydration(脱水).
"It was terribly hot out there, "Blair recalled." Seeing this gentleman (suffer) in the fierce heat, I decided to help. "After Blair assisted him in getting on the bus, he (seat) the man next to the air conditioner before reaching into his lunchbox a bottle of cool water. It only took ten minutes for the man (recover). As he was getting off the bus, the (strange) expressed thanks to Blair, adding that he was 92 years old.
Another passenger took a picture of the moment and posted online. As the post (share) far and wide, it gained lots of attention on social media. Within hours, the post received over 60, 000 (like).
Blair said he did was nothing special. "We are all brothers and sisters. I think anybody would have done that in my situation, "said Blair." Hopefully this will touch people's hearts so they will do something kind as well."
"Are you crazy? You finally retired! Why would you want to work in the hospital again?" My friends couldn't understand why, after forty years of nursing and four of retirement, I would return to nursing. Actually, I didn't understand either. Tired of the pressure of the job, I had eagerly and joyfully retired with no plans to practice nursing again.
Then one day a friend who was also a retired nurse told me how much she loved being a part of the Volunteer Registered Nurse program. "You help nurses care for patients at the bedside, "she said, "and the best part is that you do so at your own speed."
She directed me to the program at our local hospital, and after completing lots of paperwork and a few classes, I was excited about getting back to the bedside. On my first day, after basic training, I stepped onto the surgical(外科的) floor to be welcomed with smiles and hellos from the staff. I checked with the charge nurse to see who needed my help the most or if there was a particular patient requiring some extra care.
She smiled, "I am so glad to see you. I can't believe you are here to help me. "Taking a deep breath, she added, "Mr. Jones needs a bath and some extra attention. He is so disappointed he's not going home today."
I proceeded(前往) to the patient's room to see a sad man staring out of the window.
I gave him my biggest smile. "Hi, I'm Mary, a volunteer RN and I'm here to take special care of you this morning."
I asked if he would like to take a shower and he shook his head.
"Taking a shower and putting on clean pajamas(睡衣) may make you feel better, "I encouraged.
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He agreed and walked to the shower.
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I felt I had made a small difference.
