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　　Why I Don’t Spare “Spare Change”

　　“Poor but honest．” “The deserving(值得帮助的)poor．” These words always come to my mind when I think of “the poor”．But I also think of people who, perhaps through alcohol or drugs, have ruined not only their own lives but also the lives of others in order to give way to their own pleasure．Perhaps alcoholism and drug addiction really are “diseases”, as many people say, but my own feeling－based．Of course, not on any serious study－is that most alcoholics and drug addicts belong to the “undeserving poor”．And that is largely why I don’t give spare change to beggars．

　　But surely among the street people there are also some who can rightly be called “deserving”．Deserving what?My spare change?Or simply the government’s assistance?It happens that I have been brought up to believe that it is proper to make contributions to charity, but if I give some change to a beggar, am I making a contribution to charity and thereby helping someone, or, am I perhaps simply encouraging someone not to get help?Or, maybe even worse, am I supporting a cheat?

　　If one believes in the value of private charity, one can either give to needy people or to charitable organizations．In giving to a beggar one may indeed be helping a person who badly needs help, but one cannot be certain that one is giving to a needy person．In giving to an organization, on the other hand, one can feel that one’s money is likely to be used wisely．True, facing a beggar one may feel that this particular unfortunate person needs help at this moment－a cup of coffee or a sandwich－and the need will not be met unless I put my hand in my pocket right now．But I have come to think that the beggars whom I meet can get along without my spare change, and indeed perhaps they are actually better off for not having money to buy alcohol or drugs．

　　I know nothing about these beggars, but it’s my impression that they simply prefer begging to working．I am not generalizing about street people．I am talking about the about whom I actually meet．That’s why I do not give “spare change, ” and I don’t think I will in the future．

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　　November not only marks the publication of Toni Morrison’s eagerly anticipated(期待)eighth novel, Love, but it is also the tenth anniversary of her Nobel Prize for Literature．Morrison is the first black woman to receive a Nobel, and so honored before her in literature are only two black men：Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist, in 1986;and Derek Walcott, the Caribbean-born poet, in 1992．But Morrison is also the first and only American-born Nobel prizewinner for literature since 1962, the year novelist John Steinbeck received the award．

　　Like Song of Solomon, Love is a multigenerational story, revealing the personal and communal legacy of an outstanding black family．As Morrison scholars will tell you, Love is the third volume of a literary master’s trilogy(三部曲)investigating the many complexities of love．This trilogy began with Beloved?(1988), which deals with a black mother’s love under slavery and in freedom．Jazzy(1993), the second volume, tells a story of romantic love in 1920s Harlem．This latest novel looks back from the 1970s to the 1940s and 50s．

　　The emotional center of Love is Bill Cosey, the former owner and host of the shabby Cosey’s Hotel and Resort in Silk, North Carolina, described in the novel as “the best and best-known vacation sport for colored folk on the East Coast”．We get to know Cosey through the memories of five women who survive and love him：his granddaughter, his widow, two former employees, and a homeless young girl．

　　The latest novel, Love, had been described in the promotional material from her publisher as “Morrison’s most accessible work since Song of Solomon”．This comparison to her third novel, published in 1977, was an effective selling point．

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　　LONDON Thursday July 26(Reuters)－Eddy missed his girlfriend Anna so much he flew back to Britain from Australia to propose(求婚)to her．The problem is she did the same in the opposite direction．

　　He and Anna even managed to miss each other when they sat in the same airport waiting room in Singapore at the same time to wait for connecting flights．

　　Anna, heartbroken when she arrived at Eddy’s Sydney flat to find he had flown to London, told The Times：“ It was as though someone was playing a cruel joke on us．”

　　“He is the most romantic person I have ever known．I think our problem is that we are both quite impulsive(冲动的)people．We are always trying to surprise each other．”

　　After an 11 000-mile flight across the globe, she was greeted by Eddy’s astonished roommate asking what she was doing there．

　　Eddy, a 27-year-old engineer, had taken a year off to travel round Australia．But he was missing Anna, a 26-year-old secretary, so much he got a job on a Sydney building site(工地)and started saving for a surprise．

　　He then flew home to Britain and went to her flat armed with engagement(订婚)ring, wine and flowers．

　　“I really missed Anna and I’d been thinking about her all the time．I was so excited when she phoned me from Australia, ”he said．

　　Eddy then asked Anna to marry him on the phone．“ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but I accepted, ” she said．

　　Anna was given a tour of Sydney by Eddy’s friends before going back home．Eddy had to stay in Britain for two weeks because he could not change his ticket．

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　　One of the greatest killers in the Western World is heart disease．The death rate(率)from the disease has been increasing at an alarming speed for the past thirty years．Today in Britain, for example, about four hundred people a day die of heart disease．Medical experts know that people can reduce their chances of getting heart disease by exercising regularly, by not smoking, by changing their diets, and by paying more attention to reducing stress in their work．

　　However, Western health-care systems are still not paying enough attention to the prevention of the disease．There is a need for more programs to educate the public about the causes and prevention of heart disease．Instead of supporting such programs, however, the U．S．health-care system is spending large sums of money on the surgical(外科的)treatment of the disease after it develops．This emphasis on treatment clearly has something to do with the technological advances that have taken place in the past ten to fifteen years．In this time, modern technology has enabled doctors to develop new surgical techniques．Many operations that were considered impossible or too risky a few years ago are now performed every day in U．S．hospitals．The result has been a huge increase in heart surgery．

　　Although there is no doubt that heart surgery can help a large number of people, some people point out that the emphasis on the surgical treatment of the disease has three clear disadvantages．First, it attracts interest and money from the question of prevention．Second, it causes the costs of general hospital care to rise．After hospitals buy the expensive equipment that is necessary for modern heart surgery, they must try to recover the money they have spent．To do this, they raise costs for all their patients, not just those patients whose treatment requires the equipment．The third disadvantage is that doctors are encouraged to perform surgery－even on patients for whom an operation is unnecessary－because the equipment and exert skills are there．A government office recently stated that major heart surgery was often performed even though its chances of success were low．In one type of heart surgery, for example, only 15 percent of patients improved their conditions after the surgery．However, more than 100 000 of these operations are performed in the United States every year．

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　　Scientists have created a tomato that can grow on salty water．The plant is the first crop of its kind ever produced in the world．

　　Its significance can not be overestimated(过高估计)．The new technology can help mankind solve the problem of feeding its ever-growing population．It is estimated that by 2050 the world population will rise to more than 9 billion, an increase of 3 billion over 2000．Each day 240 000 more people are born, ready to be fed like the rest of us．

　　Unfortunately, not all the land on Earth can be used to grow crops of humans．About 24．7 million acres of land is lost to agriculture each year because the land has become too salty．The main cause of the problem is irrigation．When farmers water their crops, salts in the water also enter the soil．Over time, salts such as sodium and calcium build up to such a point that they severely harm the growth of crops．Salts destroy most plants’ ability to draw up water through their roots．

　　But, the new type of tomato produced by American and Canadian scientists can store salts in its leaves so that the fruit doesn’t taste salty．Researchers hope this technology will enable areas of poor-quality land to become productive some day．And they can feed some of the world’s growing population．

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　　Success or failures of employees in the workplace can be traced to what kind of father they had, a psychologist argues in a new book．

　　In The Father Factor, Stephan Poulter lists five styles of fathers－super-achieving, time-bomb, passive, absent and warm-hearted－who have powerful influences on the careers of their sons and daughters．

　　Children of the “time-bomb” father, for example, who explodes in anger at his family, learn how to read people and their moods．Those abilities make them good at such jobs as personnel managers or negotiators, he writes．

　　But those same children may have trouble feeling safe and developing trust, said Poulter, a clinical psychologist who also works with children in Los Angeles schools．

　　“I’ve seen more people hit their heads on what they call a glass ceiling or cement wall in their careers, and it’s what I call the father factor,” Poulter said in an interview．“What role did your father have in your life?It’s this unknown variable that has this huge influence because we’re all sons and daughters．”

　　Styles of fathering can affect whether their children get along with others at work, have a team spirit, worry too much about their careers, burn out or become the boss, Poulter writes．

　　Even absent fathers affect how their children work, he writes．

　　Those children may be overachievers, becoming the person their father never was, or develop such anger toward supervisors or authority figures that they work best when they are self-employed, he writes．

　　Poulter co-authored an earlier book on mothers and daughters called Mending the Broken Bough．The Fatehr Factor is set for release next month by Prometheus Books．

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　　Language learning begins with listening．Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners．Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child．Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture or by making questioning noises．

　　Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties．It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on．But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language．It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store．This self-imitation(模仿)leads on to deliberate(有意的)imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people．The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech．

　　It is a problem we need to get our teeth into．The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world．Thus the use at seven months of “mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed(不予考虑)as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes．Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself, I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds．

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　　Sixteen years ago, Eileen Doyle’s husband, an engineer, took his four children up for an early morning cup of tea, packed a small case and was never seen or heard of again．Eileen was astonished and in a state of despair．They had been a happy family and, as far as she knew, there had been nothing wrong with their marriage．

　　Every day of the year a small group of men and women quietly pack a few belongings and without so much as a note or a good-bye close the front door for the last time, leaving their debts, their worries and their confused families behind them．

　　Last year, more than 1200 men and nearly as many women were reported missing from home－the highest in 15 years．Many did return home within a year, but others rejected the past completely and are now living a new life somewhere under a different identity．

　　To those left behind this form of desertion is a terrible blow to their pride and self-confidence．Even the finality of death might be preferable．At least it does not imply rejection or failure．Worse than that, people can be left with an unfinished marriage, not knowing whether they will have to wait seven years before they are free to start a fresh life．

　　Clinical psychologist Paul Brown believes most departures of this kind to be well planned rather than impulsive．“It’s typical of the kind of personality which seems able to ignore other people’s pain and difficulties．Running away, like killing yourself, is a highly aggressive act．By creating an absence the people left behind feel guilty, upset and empty．”

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　　My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite：“You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”

　　Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money．

　　In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity(实物)that could be carried, or stolen．Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside．If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable(难以穿透), the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol dwelt in the popular attitude toward money．

　　But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed．Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used;money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit．A deficit(赤字)economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination．The banker no longer offers us a safe：he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers．It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy walled bank．

　　Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers．From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion(人们的说法)begins．

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　　In a recently published book, I came across some exercises with interesting names such as fishbone diagrams, lotus flowers and clustering．As I used these exercises in my classes, I noticed that students were interested．They said more and wrote more．They enjoyed expressing their ideas and sharing them in groups．They were no longer passively waiting for the bell, but actively taking part in the lesson．I find that creativity can act as a way to increase participation and improve fluency．

　　Creativity has become a popular word in recent years．Scholars in arts, psychology, business, education and science are all working to get a deeper understanding of it．Robert J．Stemberg is a creativity specialist and Yale professor of psychology．He defines creativity as “the ability to produce work that is both new(original)and appropriate(applicable to the situation)”．This definition is useful, as we want our students to use language in a new way and to use it correctly and properly．Most scholars say there are two types of creativity：big “C” creativity and small “c” creativity．Big “C” creativity refers to genius level thinking that results in artistic masterpieces and scientific breakthroughs．Small “c” creativity refers to everyday level thinking that can be used in any situation our emphasis is on the latter．While it goes without saying that any of our students could go on to be the next Picasso or Edison, our aim is to help students produce more ideas and use language in a new way．