The brain of an insect isn't very big. But insects are somehow still able to make lots of important decisions. Bees, ants and roaches(蟑螂) build hives(巢穴)with thousands of workers doing specialized work. The jobs are done without a head or even a plan. How do insects manage this?

    To solve the mystery, scientists in Belgium spent months building robotic roaches and then putting them among real roaches. The final goal of the research is to find out how the simple behavior of individuals gives rise to a collective decision. The roach is a good starting point for trying to answer the big question because its social system is simple enough for scientists to study.

    The first step was to build robots that real roaches would accept as their own. Although the robotic roaches don't look much like the real thing, they have similarities with them in three key ways: they naturally head toward dark areas, they are influenced by the behavior of other roaches, and even more importantly, they smell like roaches.

    The next step was getting the robotic and real roaches to work together on common tasks. In experiments, the robots would collectively head towards a dark place, copying the behavior of natural roaches. That got the researchers wondering: if you program the robotic roaches to go woward the lighted place, would the real roaches follow, going against their natural instincts.(本能) ?

    They will – it turned out. Many of the real roaches followed the robots to a lighter shelter. But influence turned out to be a two- way street. On occasion, the real roaches were able to override the programming of the robot roaches and get them to turn into dark hiding places. Being social creatures, both the robotic and natural roaches were paying attention to and following the example set by others.

    In theory, it would be possible to create a robot that could influence collective decision-making in humans. To do this, researchers would have to invent a robot that people would accept. Fortunately, the technology isn't there yet.

    In the 1600's when the Spanish moved into what later was to become the southwestern United States, they came across the ancestors of the modern-day Pueblo, Hopi, and Zuni peoples. These ancestors, known variously as the basket makers, the Ancient ones, had lived in the area for at least 2000 years. They were an advanced agricultura people who used irrigation to help grow their drops.

    The Anasazi lived in houses constructed of earth and wood. Anasazi houses were originally built underground and were entered from the roof. But around the year 700 A. D., the Anasazi began to build their homes above ground and join them together into multistoried complexes, which the Spanish called villages. Separate underground rooms in these villages—known as kivas or holy places—were set aside for religious ceremonies. Each kiva had a fireplace and a hole that was believed to lead to the underworld. The largest villages had five stories and more than 800 rooms.

    The Anasazi family was ruled by women. The sacred objects of the family were under the control of the oldest female, but the actual ceremonies were conducted by her brother or son. Women owned the rooms in the village and the crops, once they were harvested. While still growing, crops belonged to the men who, in contrast to most other Native American groups, planted them. The women made baskets and pottery; the men wove cloth and made jewelry.

    Each village had two chiefs. The village chief dealt with land arguments and religious affairs. The war chief led the men in fighting during occasional conflicts that broke out with neithboring villages and directed the men in commnity building projects. The political and social organization of the Anasazi made it almost impossible for outer groups to conquer them.

    The interview is an important event in the job-hunting process, because the 20 or 30 minutes you spend with the interviewer may decide whether or not you get the particular job you want. Therefore, it is important to remerber that your purpose during the interview may differ from that of the potential employer. You want to make yourself stand out as a whole person who has personal strengths and should be considered the right person for the job. It is encouraging to know that the interviewer's task is not to embarrass you, but to hire the right person for the job.

    Remember, job hunting is very competitive. Anything you can do to improve your interview techniques will be to your advantage. The following suggestions may help you land the most important job.

    Your goal in this interview is to make sure your good points get across. The interviewer won't know them unless you point them out , so try to do this in a factual and sincere manner.

    Don't say anything bad about your former employers. If you have been fired from a job and the interviewer asks about it, be honest.

    Show the interviewer that your are interested in the company by asking questions. Ask about responsibilities, working conditions, promotions opportunities and benefits of the job you are interviewing for.

    If at some point you decide the interview is not going well, do not let your discouragement show. You have nothing to lose by continuing a show of confidence, and you may have much to gain. It may be real, or it may be a test to see how you react to adverse conditions.

    Some interviewers may bring up salary early in the interview. At this time, you may indicate that you are more interested in a job where you can prove yourself that a specific salary. This politely passes the question back to the interviewer. If possble, you should negotiate for salary after you have been offered a job and have completed the paperwork.

    Eight years ago, when Kyle Amber was five years old, he came face-to-face with a huge problem: His brother, Ian, ten, was diagnosed with leukemia(白血病). Their parents, Laurie and Henry, were spending much of their1with him in hospital. Kyle often felt alone and 2

    What could a kindergartner do? Not much, it seemed.3, Kyle was determined. He looked around and saw lots of kids being4for cancer and decided he could help them by helping the hospital, which was trying to5money for bone-marrow(骨髓)transplant.

    But how? Since Kyle's grandfather was in the printing business, he6bring decorative cards for Kyle, who7with the idea of selling them8. He made a large sum of momey-$80-for the hospital. His next9was a candy sale at this school, Palmetto Elementary, and it has turned into an annual10.

    And then people in Miami read about his efforts and were inspired to11to donate more money and toys, and things just snowballed.

    Within a year Kyle's idea turned into an official fund-raising organization called Kids That Care Cancer Fund. Today it is one of the12organizations in the country run by kids and13kids. It's hard to estimate just14the group has collected, says Laurie, but it is more than $100,000. As the Mayor of Miami wrote to Kyle, “ Your efforts have made a remarkable15in the lives of many suffering from this disease.”

    Never once has Kyle thought of16, because the smiles of the kids are too important. “ Basically, the entire feeling that you get is very17,” he explains. Helping other kids has taught him to be less18. And there's another thing he learns for sure: “ There is19going to be a time when you're going to have a very hard barrier,” he says. “20you overcome that, you can do anything.”