注意：每空一词。

    A recent study points out a so-called “gender-equality paradox(性别平等悖论)”: there are more women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in countries with lower gender equality. Why do women make up 40 percent of engineering majors in Jordan, but only 34 percent in Sweden and 19 percent in the U.S.? The researchers suggest that women are just less interested in STEM, and when liberal Western countries let them choose freely, they freely choose different fields.

    We disagree.

    From cradle to classroom, a wealth of research shows that the environment has a major influence on girls' interest and ability in math and science. Early in school, teachers, unconscious prejudice push girls away from STEM. By their preteen years, girls outperform boys in science class and report equal interest in the subject, but parents think that science is harder and less interesting for their daughters than their sons, and these misunderstandings predict their children's career choices.

    Later in life, women get less credit than men for the same math performance. When female STEM majors write to potential PhD advisors, they are less likely to get a response. When STEM professors review applications for research positions, they are less likely to hire “Jennifer” than “John,” even when both applications are otherwise identical—and if they do hire “Jennifer,” they pay her $4,000 less.

    These findings make it clear that women in Western countries are not freely expressing their lack of “interest” in STEM. In fact, cultural attitudes and discrimination are shaping women's interests in a way that is anything but free, even in otherwise free countries.

    “Gender-equality paradox” research misses those social factors because it relies on a broad measure of equality called the Gender Gap Index (GGI), which tracks indicators such as wage difference, government representation and health outcomes. These are important markers of progress, but if we want to explain something as complicated as gender representation in STEM, we have to look into people's heads.

    Fortunately, we have ways to do that. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a well-validated tool for measuring how tightly two concepts are tied together in people's minds. The psychologist Brian Nosek and his colleagues analyzed over 500,000 responses to a version of the IAT that measures mental associations between men/women and science, and compared results from 34 countries. Across the world, people associated science more strongly with men than with women.

    But surprisingly, these gendered associations were stronger in supposedly egalitarian (主张平等的) Sweden than they were in the U.S., and the most pro-female scores came from Jordan. We re-analyzed the study's data and found that the GGI's assessment of overall gender equality of a country has nothing to do with that country's scores on the science IAT.

    That means the GGI fails to account for cultural attitudes toward women in science and the complicated mix of history and culture that forms those attitudes.

SM Card Cutter

Change regular SM cards to smaller SIM cards.

    Did you know you can cut a regular size phone SIM card to a smaller size SM card and it will still work?This tool will help you do it.Just stick a SIM card in it,press it down like a stapler(订书机).A perfectly shaped smaller SIM is there.I've used it many times when swapping SIMs from one phone to another.

03/7/17-Mark Frauenfelder

Profi Cheese Slicer

    Uses a thin wire to slice up to medium-hard cheeses in four inch sections.

    I may own every cheese slicer ever made.I prefer a wire type cheese cutter so I can cut slices that work well on a piece of bread and sandwich.

    This cheese slicer is great for both tasks.It even has adjustable tension on the two cutting wires.A point of information: I did break a wire cutting a very hard piece of cheese with black pepper.Good news,the wire is replaceable,and I was able to purchase new wires to fix it.Maybe best to use on softer cheeses.Lessons learned.But, highly recommended for every other use except for those extremely hard cheeses.

03/6/17-Kent Bames

Ash Bucket(桶子）

Bucket with lid keeps your fireplace(壁炉）clear of ashes.

    I purchased this ash bucket recommended by my friend and have found it invaluable.Previously I had an old bucket that got left outside and usually filled up with rain and became a mess to clean.This ash bucket has a raised bottom and thermal insulation(隔热层）to prevent any accidental hot coals in your ash to damage your floor or cause a fire.You can store this bucket indoors since the lid is nice and tight.

03/3/17-Seth Wilson

    “打造人类命运共同体”是快速发展的中国“内和乃求外顺，内和必致外和”的逻辑延伸，是中国作为一个对世界负责任的“利益攸关者”的“利益诉求”，也是世界欢迎一个崛起的大国的最重要理由。

    众所周知，现代化起源于数百年前的文艺复兴运动。它把“人”从“神”的束缚中解放出来，把生产力从封建社会的束缚中解放出来，使人类迎来了现代文明的曙光，但“福兮祸之所伏”。自文艺复兴以来，近代大国经济的发展，都是以工业化和城市化为基本模式，必然导致对煤、石油和天然气等不可再生资源的大量需求，以及对市场不断扩张的需求。近代西方世界在崛起的过程中，靠坚船利炮圈占土地、奴役他人、肆意掠夺，虽造就了西方世界的繁荣，但也埋下了与世界其他地区的仇恨的种子。文艺复兴推动建立了以世界市场为基础的现代世界体系，但这个体系无疑延续了传统的帝国式殖民体系。延续到今天，就是复杂多变的国际秩序、世界极大的发展差距。尤其是现代工业文明彻底打破了自然的和谐与宁静，全球性生态危机相继出现。生态性、社会性的灾难，很多都是人类自身活动的失范造成的。

    资本主义生产方式的资本私人占有与生产社会化的内在矛盾，外化为世界体系的剧烈动荡。二战后，这个世界体系的中心区域重新整合：从西欧到美国，形成美国独霸世界的格局。同时，这个世界体系之外，崛起了一股强大的与之对抗的力量——苏联及社会主义阵营。但这两个体系的冷战因苏联解体而告终。其结局说明，文艺复兴推动生产力发展产生的世界体系，是建立在资本运行的劳动分工和世界市场的基础上的。只要这个基本结构及其运行机制仍然是由资本主义生产方式主导的，超越它的世界体系就建立不起来。后冷战时代的冲突也显示，这种动荡与冲突并未因冷战的结束而消失。以伊斯兰复兴运动为背景的伊斯兰激进主义运动，成为对抗西方世界和“现代性”的“文明冲突”。霸权主义与恐怖主义，相生相克，又相克相生。

    文艺复兴极大地解放了人，但人又付出了极大代价：人被神化、异化。人类文明的交汇已走到量变到质变的临界点，人类呼唤一场新的文明复兴。它要继续解放人类，但也要把过度膨胀的人改变成和谐的人。它要继续促进发展，但要实现各国的相互尊重、平等相待、合作共赢、共同发展。它要保障人类的安全，但也应该实现可持续的安全与发展。这一次新的文明复兴，要落实到建设“命运共同体”上。

    中华民族在实现民族复兴的进程中，肩负着推进这场新的文明复兴的时代使命。英国著名历史学家汤因比说过，“避免人类走上自杀之路，现在各民族中具有最充分准备的，是两千年来培育了独特思维方法的中华民族”。这种“独特思维方法”就是天人合一，仁者爱人，以和为贵，和而不同。其核心是“和”，“礼之用，和为贵。先王之道，斯为美”。这种“斯为美”的文文化，这种推陈出新的文化，这种促进建设“命运共同体”的文化，正是今天中国文化走出去的新招牌和精气神。

（选自《人民论坛》，有删改）