There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work, just as we expect them at least to understand that the internal-combustion engine has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons     1     (drive). For people should have some basic idea of how the things that they use do     2     they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer’s impact on society. But that is not what is meant     3     computer literacy. Computer literacy is not a form of literacy; it is a trade skill that should not be taught as a liberal art.

Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct activities. A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow     4     free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from saying that all ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have chosen programming as a career. While programming can be lots of fun,     5     while our society needs some people who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repair and violin-making.

Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult, and it gets easier all the time as programs become more “user-friendly”. Let us assume that in the future     6     is going to have to know how to use a computer to be a competent citizen. What does the phrase learning to use a computer mean? It sounds like “learning to drive a car”, that is, it sounds     7     there is some set of definite skills that, once     8     (acquire), enable one to use a computer.

In fact, “learning to use a computer” is much more like “learning to play a game”, but learning the rules of one game may not help you play     9     second game,     10     rules may not be the same. There is no such a thing as teaching someone how to use a computer. One can only teach people to use this or that program and generally that is easily accomplished.

On average, American kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more than they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such     11     activities as soccer and ballet. Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time. All in all, however, children’s leisure time     12     from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%.

“Children are affected by the same time crisis that affects their parents,” says Sandra Hofferth, who     13     the recent study of children’s timetable. A(n)     14     reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. Nevertheless, children in both double-income and “male bread winner” households spent     15     amounts of time interacting with their parents, 19 hours and 22 hours     16    . In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.

All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. “Play is a(n)     17     way a child explores the world and learns about himself,” says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School. Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week     18     in it.

The children     19     spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing “free time” watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might     20     as good news. If they’re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren’t replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let’s face it, who’s got the time?

It looked like a typical business meeting. Six men, neatly dressed in white shirts and ties filed into the boardroom of a small Jakarta company and sat down at a long table. But instead of ______ files or hearing reports, they closed their eyes and began to meditate, consulting the spirits of ancient Javanese kings. Mysticism touches almost every aspect of life in Indonesia and business is no ______. One of the meditators said his weekly meditation sessions are aimed mainly at bringing the peace of mind that makes for good decision-making. But the insight gained from mystic communication with spirits of wise kings has also helped ______ the profits of his five companies.

Mysticism and profits have come together since the 13th century introduction of Islam to Indonesia by Indian Moslem merchants. Those devout traders, called ‘Wali Ullah’ or ‘those close to God,’ energetically spread both trade and religion by ______ their appeals to the native mysticism of Java. Legends ______ magic power of foreknowledge to the Wali Ullah. These powers were believed to be gained through meditation and ______.

Businessman Hadisiko said his group fasts and meditates all night every Thursday to become closer to God and to contact the spirits of the great men of the past. ‘If we want to ______ someone at the managerial level, we meditate together and often the message comes that this man can’t hold onto money or he is ______. Or maybe the spirits will tell us he should be hired.’ Hadiziko hastened to add that his companies also hold modern personnel management systems and that formal ______ are essential for a candidate even to be considered. Perspective investments   are also considered through mystic meditation. ‘With the mind relaxed and open, it is easier to be ______ in judging the risk of a new venture. Meditation and contact with the wisdom of the old leaders sharpens your own insight and intuition. Then you have to apply that intuition to the information you have and work hard to be successful.’ Mystic meditation helped ______ a business slide his companies experienced in the mid-1980. Operating with normal business ______, he lost more than $ 3 millions in that year alone. Meditation brought back his peace of mind. Putting the right persons in the right jobs and gaining confidence in his business decisions were the keys to a turning around that has brought ______ and profitability. The mysticism in Handspike’s boardroom is part of a growing movement in Indonesia called Kebatinan – the ‘search for the inner self.’

One of his managers, Yusuf Soemado, who studied business administration at Harvard University, compared the idea of mystic management to western system of positive thinking. “Willpower and ______ mind are recognized as important factors in business. Such ______ as psycho-cybernetics, Carnegie’s think and growth rates, or the power of positive thinking are western attempts to tap the same higher intelligence that we contact through meditation,” he said.

If the salinity of ocean waters is analyzed, it is found to vary only slightly from place to place. Nevertheless, some of these small changes are important. There are three basic processes that cause a change in oceanic salinity. One of these is the subtraction of water from the ocean by means of evaporation--conversion of liquid water to water vapor. In this manner, the salinity is increased, since the salts stay behind. If this is carried to the extreme, of course, white crystals of salt would be left behind.

The opposite of evaporation is precipitation(降水), such as rain, by which water is added to the ocean. Here the ocean is being diluted(稀释) so that the salinity is decreased. This may occur in areas of high rainfall or in coastal regions where rivers flow into the ocean. Thus salinity may be increased by the subtraction of water by evaporation, or decreased by the addition of fresh water by precipitation or runoff.

Normally, in tropical regions where the sun is very strong, the ocean salinity is somewhat higher than it is in other parts of the world where there is not as much evaporation. Similarly, in coastal regions where rivers dilute the sea, salinity is somewhat lower than in other oceanic areas.

A third process by which salinity may be altered is associated with the formation and melting of sea ice. When seawater is frozen, the dissolved materials are left behind. In this manner, seawater directly beneath freshly formed sea ice has a higher salinity than it did before the ice appeared. Of course, when this ice melts, it will tend to decrease the salinity of the surrounding water.

In the Weddell Sea, off Antarctica, the densest water in the oceans is formed as a result of this freezing process, which increases the salinity of cold water. This heavy water sinks and is found in the deeper portions of the oceans of the world.

The world has always had to face water-based natural disasters, such as tsunami and hurricanes. In an interview, Water Management Monthly talks to Dan Smith, who works in ‘disaster mitigation’ for a government ministry.

‘Disaster mitigation means attempting to minimize the impact of natural disasters both before and after they happen. My department and work in two specific areas in order to try and do this: risk reduction and risk analysis. They are both equally crucial in disaster mitigation.’

‘Risk reduction means many things. It is not just referring to big engineering projects like dams. Often, small community projects can be the most effective means of risk reduction. The main way floods can be prevented is by the construction and maintenance of earth wall defences, or levees. These block the progress of rising water.

However, even the best levees can’t protect against the destructive power of a tsunami. In this case, early-warning systems are lifesavers. They can let people know as early as possible if there is likely to be flooding.’

‘Firstly, risk analysis concerns flood mapping, where we identify the parts of the country which are at most risk from flooding. Secondly, there is mitigation planning, which means helping local communities plan for when disaster strikes. Thirdly, we make sure that the country’s dams all work properly and are safe. Although many people criticize dams because of their environmental impact, there are many benefits to them too, such as hydroelectricity, irrigation, water storage, water sports and, of course, flood control. In terms of a cost-benefit analysis, we are definitely ahead.’

‘Definitely. We are constantly developing new flood-prevention solutions. An example of one such measure can be found in the UK, with the Thames Barrier. This is an enormous engineering project designed to prevent London from flooding.’

‘Flood prevention does not have to be expensive. Sandbags, for example, can be a highly effective way of stopping flood water.’

Psychology has a new application in the field of medicine. Many doctors, together with their patients, are looking for alternative methods of treatment of physical problems. In large hospitals, modern therapy seems to focus on the physical disease. Patients may feel they are treated like broken machines. Some doctors have recognized this as a problem. They are now using psychological therapy, in which the patient is working with the doctors against the disease with the help of medicine. The patient does not wait for the medicine and treatment to cure him or her, but instead the patient joins in the fight.

The doctor knows that a disease affects a patient’s body physically. The body of the patient changes because of the disease. He is not only physically affected, but also has an emotional response to the disease.

Because his mind is affected, his attitude and behavior change. The medical treatment might cure the patient’s physical problems, but the patient’s mind must fight the emotional ones. For example, the studies of one doctor, Carl Simonton, M. D., have shown that a typical cancer patient has predictable attitudes. She typically feels depressed, upset, and angry. Her constant depression makes her acts unfriendly toward her family, friends, doctors, and nurses. Such attitudes and behaviors prevent recovery. Therefore, a doctor’s treatment must help the patient change that. Simonton’s method emphasizes treatment of the “whole” patient.

The attitude of a cancer patient receiving radiation therapy, an X-ray treatment, can become more positive. The physician who is following Simonton’s psychological treatment plan suggests that the patient imagine that he or she can see the tumor in the body. In the mental picture, the patient “sees” a powerful beam of radiation like a million bullets of energy. The patient imagines the beam hitting the tumor cells and causing them to shrink. For another cancer patient, Dr. Simonton asks him to imagine the medicine going from the stomach into the bloodstream and to the cancer cells. The patient imagines that the medicine is like an army fighting the diseased cells and sees the cancer cells gradually dying and his blood carry away the dead cells. Both the medical therapy and the patient’s positive attitude fight the disease.

Doctors are not certain why this mental therapy works. However, this use of psychology does help some patients because their attitudes about themselves change. They become more confident because they use the power within their own minds to help stop the disease.

Another application of using the mind to help cure disease is the use of suggestion therapy. At first, the doctor helps the patient to concentrate deeply. The patient thinks only about one thing. He becomes so unaware of other things around him that he is asleep, or rather in a trance (催眠状态). Then the physician makes “a suggestion” to the patient about the medical problem. The patient’s mind responds to the suggestion even after the patient is no longer in the trance. In this way, the patient uses his mind to help his body respond to treatment.

Doctors have learned that this use of psychology is helpful for both adults and children. For example, physicians have used suggestion to help adults deal with the strong pain of some disease. Furthermore, sometimes the adult patient worries about her illness so much that the anxiety keeps her from getting well. The right suggestions may help the patient to stop being anxious. Such treatment may help the patient with a chronic(慢性的) diseases. Asthma (哮喘) is an example of a chronic disorder. Asthma is a disease that causes the patient to have difficulty in breathing. The patient starts to cough and sometimes has to fight to get the air that he or she needs. Psychology can help relieve the symptoms of this disorder. After suggestion therapy, the asthma patient breathes more easily.

Physicians have learned that the psychological method is very useful in treating children. Children respond quickly to the treatment because they are fascinated by it. For example, Dr. Basil R. Collison has worked with 121 asthmatic children in Sydney, Australia, and had good results. Twenty-five of the children had excellent results. They were able to breathe more easily, and they did not need medication. Another forty-three were also helped. The symptoms of the asthma occurred less frequently, and when they did, they were not as strong. Most of the children also felt better about themselves. Doctors have also used suggestion to change habits like nail-biting, thumb-sucking, and sleep-related problems.

Many professional medical groups have accepted the medical use of psychology and that psychology has important applications in medicine.