In the United States, elementary education begins at the age of six. At this stage nearly all the teachers are women, mostly married. The atmosphere is usually very friendly, and the teachers have now accepted the idea that the important thing is to make the children happy and interested. The old authoritarian(要绝对服从的)methods of education were discredited(不被认可)rather a long time ago so that many people now think that they have gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction. The social education of young children tries to make them accept the idea that human beings in a society need to work together for their common good. So the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition throughout most of this process. This may seem curious, in view of the fact that American society is highly competitive: however, the need for people sociable in this sense has come to be regarded as one of the functions of education. Most Americans do grow up with competitive ideas, and obviously quite a few as criminals, but it is not fair to say that the educational system fails. It probably does succeed in most people sociable and ready to help one another both in material ways and through kindness and friendliness.In the United States, elementary education begins at the age of six. At this stage nearly all the teachers are women, mostly married. The atmosphere is usually very friendly, and the teachers have now accepted the idea that the important thing is to make the children happy and interested. The old authoritarian(要绝对服从的)methods of education were discredited(不被认可)rather a long time ago so that many people now think that they have gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction. The social education of young children tries to make them accept the idea that human beings in a society need to work together for their common good. So the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition throughout most of this process. This may seem curious, in view of the fact that American society is highly competitive: however, the need for people sociable in this sense has come to be regarded as one of the functions of education. Most Americans do grow up with competitive ideas, and obviously quite a few as criminals, but it is not fair to say that the educational system fails. It probably does succeed in most people sociable and ready to help one another both in material ways and through kindness and friendliness.In the United States, elementary education begins at the age of six. At this stage nearly all the teachers are women, mostly married. The atmosphere is usually very friendly, and the teachers have now accepted the idea that the important thing is to make the children happy and interested. The old authoritarian(要绝对服从的)methods of education were discredited(不被认可)rather a long time ago so that many people now think that they have gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction. The social education of young children tries to make them accept the idea that human beings in a society need to work together for their common good. So the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition throughout most of this process. This may seem curious, in view of the fact that American society is highly competitive: however, the need for people sociable in this sense has come to be regarded as one of the functions of education. Most Americans do grow up with competitive ideas, and obviously quite a few as criminals, but it is not fair to say that the educational system fails. It probably does succeed in most people sociable and ready to help one another both in material ways and through kindness and friendliness.That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me. As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets. About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk. Suddenly I wasn’ t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back where I’ d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fif minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, "Alisa Camacho" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. "Is this what you’re looking for" he asked, holding up a small square shape. It was nearly 3 A. M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’ t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me. As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets. About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk. Suddenly I wasn’ t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back where I’ d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fif minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, "Alisa Camacho" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. "Is this what you’re looking for" he asked, holding up a small square shape. It was nearly 3 A. M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’ t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me. As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets. About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk. Suddenly I wasn’ t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back where I’ d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fif minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, "Alisa Camacho" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. "Is this what you’re looking for" he asked, holding up a small square shape. It was nearly 3 A. M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’ t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me. As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets. About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk. Suddenly I wasn’ t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back where I’ d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fif minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, "Alisa Camacho" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. "Is this what you’re looking for" he asked, holding up a small square shape. It was nearly 3 A. M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’ t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me. As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers. Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets. About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk. Suddenly I wasn’ t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back where I’ d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fif minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, "Alisa Camacho" I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. "Is this what you’re looking for" he asked, holding up a small square shape. It was nearly 3 A. M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’ t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.It is difficult to imagine what life would be like without memory. The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions, the basis for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory. Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use. It not only includes "remembering" things like arithmetic(算术)or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves. Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed(嗅出)something suspicious in the grain pile. Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines. Computers, for example, contain devices for storing data for later use. It is interesting to compare the memory storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being. The instant access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000 "words"—string of alphabetic or numerical characters—ready for instant use. An average U. S. ager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English. However, this is but a fraction of the total amount of information that the ager has stored. Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the ager can recognize on sight. The use of words is the basis of the advanced problem-solving intelce of human beings. A large part of a person’ s memory is in terms of words and combinations of words. But while language greatly expands the number and the kind of things a person can remember, it also requires a huge memory capacity. It may well be this capacity that distinguishes humans, setting them apart from other animals.It is difficult to imagine what life would be like without memory. The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions, the basis for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory. Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use. It not only includes "remembering" things like arithmetic(算术)or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves. Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed(嗅出)something suspicious in the grain pile. Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines. Computers, for example, contain devices for storing data for later use. It is interesting to compare the memory storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being. The instant access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000 "words"—string of alphabetic or numerical characters—ready for instant use. An average U. S. ager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English. However, this is but a fraction of the total amount of information that the ager has stored. Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the ager can recognize on sight. The use of words is the basis of the advanced problem-solving intelce of human beings. A large part of a person’ s memory is in terms of words and combinations of words. But while language greatly expands the number and the kind of things a person can remember, it also requires a huge memory capacity. It may well be this capacity that distinguishes humans, setting them apart from other animals.
By saying "Getting a bank loan... is like going through the eye of a needle" , the writer emphasizes______.