0606
For some educators, there is nothing wrongwith fun and games.A group called the Education Arcaderecently held a
conference in Los Angeles todiscuss the future of educational games,and it brings together international game designers,publishers, teachers and policymakers.The Education Arcade commenced tothe Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, near Boston.Professors cooperated with the Microsoft Companyto create what they called the Games-to-Teach Project.The group began to explore techniques touse technology in teaching and learning.They worked
with game designers to develop ideas abouthow mathematics and science couldassociate with game playing.The group recently announced thata ¡°Games for Learning¡± statement will be placedon some products.The goal is to help people
find games thatare recreational but will also teach.The Entertainment Software Association saysapproximately 50% of all Americansat age six andolder play computer and video games.Sales of such gamesin the United States grew 8% last
year,to $7 000 million.Experts say developing a successful computer gamecan take millions of dollars and years of work.They say many companies are not willing to invest thatmuch money and time in educational gameswhen other
kinds sell better.Still, companies have been creating systemslike hand-held educational devices made by LeapFrog.And new educational role-playing gamesare being developed on the basis of the results fromrecent surveys and related
research. For example,M.I.T. is developing a game so that players willget to experience the American Revolution online.
0612
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are.Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-oldcould understand addition and subtraction.Now, British research psychologist Graham Schaferhas discovered that infants can
learn words foruncommon things long before they can speak.He found that 9-month-old infants could be taught,through repeated show-and-tell,to recognize the names of objects that were foreign to them,a result that challenges in some ways
the received wisdom that,apart from learning to identify thingscommon to their daily lives, children don't begin tobuild vocabulary until well into their second year.¡°It's no secret that children learn words,but the words they tend to know
are words linked tospecific situations in the home, ¡±explains Schafer.¡°This is the first demonstration that we can choosewhat words the children will learn and thatthey can respond to them with an unfamiliar voicegiving instructions
in an unfamiliar setting.¡±Figuring out how humans acquire languagemay shed light on why some children learn to readand write later than others, Schafer says,and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems.What's
more, the study of language acquisitionoffers direct insight into how humans learn.¡°Language is a test case for human cognitive development,¡±says Schafer. But parents eager to teach their infantsshould take note£ºeven without being
taught new words,a control group caught up with the other infantswithin a few months. ¡°This is not about advancing development,¡±he says. ¡°It's just about what children can doat an earlier age than what educators have often thought.
0706
Nursing, as a typically female profession,must deal constantly with the false impressionthat nurses are there to wait on
the physician.As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.We do not have any legalor moral obligation to any physician.We provide health teaching, assess physicalas well as emotional problems,coordinate patient-related
services,and make all of our nursing decisions based uponwhat is best or suitable for the patient.If, in any circumstance,we feel that a physician¡¯s orderis inappropriate or unsafe,we have a legal responsibility to questionthat
order or refuse to carry it out.Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.The emotional and physical stress, however,that occurs due to odd working hoursis a
prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.It is sometimes required that we work overtime,and that we change shifts four or five times a month.That disturbs our personal lives,disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,and isolates us
from everythingexcept job-related friends and activities.The quality of nursing careis being affected dramatically by these situations.Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,as experienced nursesfinally give up trying to change
the system.Consumers of medically related serviceshave evidently not been affected enough yetto demand changes in our medical system.But if trends continue as predicted,they will find that most critical hospital carewill be provided by
new, inexperienced,and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
0712
1If you are like most people,you've indulged in fake listening many times.You go to history class,sit in the third row,and look squarely at the instructor as she speaks.But your mind is far away,floating in the clouds of pleasant
daydreams.Occasionally you come back to earth:The instructor writes an important termon the chalkboard,and you dutifully copy it in your notebook.Every once in a while the instructor makes a witty remark,causing others in the class
to laugh.You smile politely,pretending that you've heard the remarkand found it mildly humorous.You have a vague sense of guilt thatyou aren't paying close attention.But you tell yourself that any material you misscan be picked up
from a friend's notes.Besides,the instructor's talking about road construction in ancient Rome,and nothing could be more boring.So back you go into your private little world,only later do you realizeyou've missed important information
for a test.Fake listening may be easily exposed,since many speakers are sensitive to facial cuesand can tell if you're merely pretending to listen.Your blank expressionand the faraway look in your eyesare the cues that betray you
inattentiveness.Even if you are not exposedthere's another reason to avoid fakery:It's easy for this behavior to become a habit.For some people,the habit is so deeply rooted thatthey automatically start daydreamingwhen a speaker begins
talking onsomething complex or uninteresting.As a result,they miss lots of valuable information.
0806
I'm interested in the criminal justice system of our country.It seems to me that something has to be done,if we're to survive as a country. I certainly don't knowwhat the answers to our problems are.Things certainly get complicated in a
