(北京市海淀区教师进修学校 特级教师 何贵国老师 友情提供)

(1)
Shortly after starting university, I joined some new friends on a trip to Vancouver. It was the first time I’d left the United States.
At the border, a guard asked how long we would stay in Canada. Knowing it would be after midnight when we returned, I asked, “How late will we be able to cross the border?” “Any time, ma’am,” the guard replied. “We never close Canada.”

(2)
Living near a prestigious medical school, I’m used to being around well-to-do doctors and medical types. I didn’t realize how jaded ‘d become until I was walking with my son and passed by a shiny new BMW. The license plate read SNOBDR.
“Isn’t that just like those guys up there at the hospital to have a vanity plate that reads ‘Snob doctor’ ? ” I said.
My son quickly brought me back to earth. “Dad,” he told me, “ the owner’s snowboarder.”

(3)
After bumping his head on our stereo cabinet, my 11-year-old son, Seth, required stitches. While the doctor was administering a local anesthetic to Seth’s head, I started to feel faint, so the nurse offered me a chair.
My son winced with every stitch, and the nurse told him it was OK to cry. On the way home, my husband asked Seth if he had heard the nurse tell him it was OK to cry. “I hear her,” Seth replied, “but I thought she was talking to Mum.”

(4)
Whenever I have to leave a phone message, I become flustered. So I carefully rehearsed what I had to say to a contractor, then dialed the phone, took a deep breath and spoke slowly and clearly. There! I thought as I hung up, I did it ! But then I recalled the last line of my message:” Please call me after six. Thank you very much. Amen.”

(5) Software for free
There’s no such thing as a free lunch Software, that’s a different story. Linux programs, including web browsers and word processors, are developed from openly available computer codes and have long been available online, no charge. Is it time to switch over the save?
“á quick answer would be that Linux is not quite right for the average user just yet,” says William Ku, who owns Mynasoft, a Singapore Linux-solutions firm.
It all comes down to how computer-savvy you are. You have to install Linux products into new computers yourself, and most Linux software is less user-friendly than commercial versions.
But the effort can pay off, Ku says. “Once you have worked out the technology, you have access to free software for life !” Linux support groups such as linuxusers org are plentiful on the Web.

(6) Putting the home in homework
We want our children to do their homework, but are we going enough to help ? “Parents shouldn’t just tell kids to do homework ,” says William Corey, headmaster of the Brent International School in Subic Bay Philippines. “They should also provide the right atmosphere.”
Some ways to help your kids get their schoolwork done :
● Set up a quiet comfortable study area away from the television, loud music and telephones.
● Pay attention to what your children are doing. Even if they don’t need help with homework, they don’t need help with homework, they will appreciate knowing that you are interested. Praise them for a job well done.
● Never use homework as punishment, or refer to it in negative terms. Make it one of the most interesting parts of the day.
● If your child has a heavy workload, break it up into smaller tasks, giving praise and rest time between each assignment.
● Keep in contact with teachers to make sure that all homework is being brought home and done properly.

(7) Healthy ways to manage your anger
Put it in writing --- The process of writing forces you to organize your thoughts , to think clearly, to use your head rather than lose it. In addition, if the incident that set you off occurred at work, “you develop a businesslike way to handle the issue,” says Mary McLaughlin, president of Emotional Education Services in Syracuse, New York. If things come to a head , you’ll have a paper trail.
Do a cost-benefit analysis --- “Ask yourself, “Is getting angry going to buy me anything ?” says McLaughlin. You may have to let it go, which is not the same as suppressing the anger, she adds. “ You’re taking a moment to make an intelligent choice about how you will behave.”

(8) All in a Day’s Work
●　When our firm received an order from a furniture dealer for 100 pillows, we checked our records and discovered that the dealer had an overdue account. We notified the client that the order would not be processed until the overdue payment was taken are of. The reply we received was “Please cancel order. Can’t wait that long.”

●　I’m the MANAGER of a fitness equipment shop. An old man came in one day and wanted to try one of our elliptical machines. I was concerned he might fall , so I said, “Put your foot on the lower pedal and get on it like a horse.” “A horse ,” he quipped, “would never get on one of these.”

●　Shortly after I had my car repaired, the mechanic who fixed it asked me to bring back. I watched as he opened the bonnet and removed a tool he had left behind. In a conspiratorial voice I said, “If you were a surgeon, I’d sue for malpractice.” “Yeah, but if I was a surgeon,” he replied, “I’d charge you for having to go back in.”

●　When we worked for the security department of a large retail store, my duties included responding to fire and burglar alarms. A side door of the building was wired with a security alarm because it was not supposed to be used by customers. Nevertheless, they found the convenience of the exit tempting. Even a sign with “Alarm will sound if opened” in large red letter failed to keep people from using it. One day , after attending to a number of shrieking alarms, I placed a small handmade sign on the door that totally eliminated the problem: “Wet Paint.”

(9)
A newspaper is a medium that tells the news of the day and other things. There are good newspapers and bad newspapers. You can know more and be more interesting. If you read a good newspaper each day. A good newspaper should have well-trained and reliable people working for it. One of the important people on the newspaper staff is the reporter. It’s the reporter’s job to be sure that the facts are checked before they are printed. Some reporters do not always bother to do this. A newspaper should give current news as it happens. It should report the facts of this news as reliably as it can. A newspaper may also give some comments on the news, which can help you work out the news of the day may affect you.
Not all newspapers, however, do what they are meant to do.

(10)
Keeping fit is an important thing of our life. A fit person who has good health is definitely more efficient in carrying his task either as a student in a school, a worker in an office or even a housewife at home. There are different ways to keep fit. It is necessary to observe a well-balanced diet daily. Different kinds of food has different functions in building up and maintaining our bodies. Other ways to keep fit is by exercising regularly. Learning how to relax our bodies is certainly an effected way to keep fit.

(11) The Internet
The spread of information over the Internet --- the World Wide Web – has happened only recently, and a new vocabulary is developing to describe technological developments. A special vocabulary is needed for the Internet.
It falls into two main groups: new words and phrases created especially for the Internet , and old words being used in a new way.

(12) Little Information Obtained from the Internet
Only 2% of the survey say the Internet is their main source for science and technology information compared with 53 % in America. Currently only 21 million Chinese people have the access to the Internet.
The first reason may be that computers remain a luxury item for most Chinese. Secondly, many people lack the necessary skills to find information using a computer, for example, the ability to write using pinyin or the often complex input methods for Chinese character. Lastly, some people consider computers not to be a worthwhile investment, in terms of financial returns.

(13)
The World Trade Organization (WTO), founded on January 1, 1995, aims to encourage international trade to flow as freely as possible, making sure that trade agreements are respected and that any disputes can be settled.
In the five years since its founding, the WTO has become well-known as one of the world’s
most powerful economic organizations, taking its place alongside the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The WTO, with its head office in Geneva, has 135 members with 30 more waiting to join.

(14) France
General information
France is bordered on the north by Belgium and Dutchy of Luxembourg; on the east by the Federal Republic of Germany ; on the southeast by Switzerland, Italy, and Monaco ; and on the south by Spain. In the west and north, winters are generally cool and summers are mild. Southern France and Corsica have a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters. Precipitation is frequent all year ; most areas record 20 to 40 inches (50-100 cm) average rainfall in late autumn or early winter. Clothing needs are similar to those in Washington, D.C.

(15) Switzerland
Switzerland is located in central Europe. Neither Bern nor Zurich has great extreme of hot or cold weather. Rain is common in winter and summer, and snowfalls are frequent in winter. Humidity is high during spring and fall. Average summer temperature in Bern is 60F(16C), winter 33F (1C). Zurich temperature are usually a few degrees lower.

(16)
Very frequently people like to make others believe or do something against their will. Even a baby also tries to have adults’ attention to what he wants although he/she may not be able to follow what the adults want him/ her to do. Adults always want to make a child accept their opinions, but there’s often a disagreement between them. Once a child has found what the parents said or did is right, he/she may respect them and do as what they say later on. But adults do not always do things right even though children often believe their parents. Children have to discover when their parents are right and when they are not.

(17)
If anyone asks you how he can get the best view of New York, you can recommend that he take a boat trip around Manhattan. There is no better way to spend a few hours than to take such a trip. Unfortunately, many people who stay in New York all their lives do not realize how much beauty their city has, simply because they have nearer seen it properly. Surely one of he most beautiful sights in the world is the view of New York’s skyscrapers rising several hundred feet into the air. That view is especially breath-taking early in the morning, when the harbor is at its best; yet, few New Yorkers have ever seen it.

(18) Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history. Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the earth forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger. Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger.

(19)
Venice, a city on water, is built on 118 islands and linked by many canals and more than 400 bridges. In Venice, boats are used instead of cars. Public boats are as convenient as public buses in other countries. People will not only go to and from work by boat, but also go and visit friends and relatives by boat. However, visitors to Venice prefer to take a small wooden boa. The boatman, while rowing the boat, sings. The songs spread out with the ripples in water. All these remind people what a happy and comfortable life they have in Venice.

(20) Big Country
On a tour of Australia, our guide illustrated the problems of traveling in such vast areas. He had been driving down a dirt road looking for a small farm and asked a local for directions. “Continue down this road until you come to an oil drum,” the man said. “Turn left and the farm is down that road.”
It was 155 kilomtres before he reached the oil drum and another 86 to reach the farm.

(21)
–What are your own personal goals as a father ?
- I just want to be there for my children, because my dad wasn’t there for me. And if I’m not there in body, then in phone messages or in letters. I want my children to have love in their life when they are young, to know the true meaning of love. (RD—face to face with Pierce Brosnan at home with the best-looking dad in Hollywood)

(22) Royal Family
I was in the kitchen one day, trying to reach the baking powder on the top shelf of a cabinet. Being only 150 centimeters tall, I had to stretch, but still couldn’t grab the box.
Fortunately, I have two very tall sons who I often call on to come to my rescue.
“Hey, Brian!” I yelled to my second son, who was in the living room. “Will you get your tallness in here an get this for me?”
“Sure, Mum,” he remarked as he bounded into the kitchen. “But next time, I prefer the title ‘Your Highness.’ ”

(23) Walk, Don’t run
You want to get healthy. You know you need to exercise more. But if you are not ready to grunt through an hour of pumping iron or kickboxing, don’t despair. There’s growing agreement among exercise researchers that the intense physical activities offered by most health clubs are not the only – or even the preferable – path to better health. Indeed, the best thing for most of us may be to just go for a walk.
Yes, walk. At a reasonably vigorous clip (five to six kilometers per hour) for half an hour or so, maybe five or six times a week. You may not feel the benefits all at once, but the evidence suggests that over the long term, a regular walking routine can do a world of preventive good.
Walking, in fact, may be the perfect exercise. For starters, it’s one of the safest things you can do with your body. It’s much easier on the knees than running and doesn’t trigger untoward side effects.
Regular physical activity is probably as close to a magic bullet as we will come in modern medicine. If everyone were to walk briskly for 30 minutes every day, we could cut the incidence of many chronic diseases by 30 to 40 per cent.
Walking is also a great way to lose body fat, so even if you don’t lose any weight ,your body will have a healthier composition. Most people find they have to walk at least an hour a day to shed kilo.

(24)
Driving with my two young boys to a funeral, I tried to prepare them by talking about burial and what we believe happens after a person dies.
The boys behaved well during the service. But at the grave I discovered my explanation weren’t as thorough as I’d thought. In a loud voice , my four-year-old asked, “Mum?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“What’s in the box?”

(25) Nap Power
If your boss catches you sleeping at work, tell her that it’s all in the name of productivity.
Thirty people in a Harvard University study were tested four times a day on how quickly they could process information. They were shown flashing imagines of diagonal lines on a screen and asked to identify which direction they were slanted. The performance of the ten people who stayed awake the entire day declined by50 per cent, while the people who napped for an hour in the early afternoon did as well on their last test as on their first. Even those who napped for half an hour did better than the ones who did not sleep. The other technique that helped? Doing something else. Participants who were shown a slightly different image for the last test saw their scores bounce back to their original levels.

(26) The Write Stuff
Asians are spending more time at the computer. According to a recent government survey, 60 per cent of Singaporeans now have computers in their home. But all that keyboard time shouldn’t kill good penmanship. Kids, in particular, should be encouraged to write by hand. Here are a few ideas to help you and your family write right.
● Keep stationery, pads and good quality pens and pencils – including fun colored ones –around the house to make writing more inviting.
● Forget repetitive writing drills. Ask them to write wish lists or to help with the shopping list.
● Write a letter by hand. E-mail is fast and easy, but a written letter is more meaningful. Taking time to write a letter shows you care.
● When traveling, have kids pick out and write postcards back home.
● Keep a diary or journal. In addition to fine-tuning handwriting skills, it provides an important keepsake for years to come.

(27) All in a day’s work
One of my responsibilities in the office where I work is to set the alarm each evening.. If it goes off, the security company calls, and I have to go to the office to reset it.
Late at night I got one of those calls. As I was getting ready to go, my husband , who had been half asleep, groggily said, “You’re not going down there by yourself at this hour!”
Just as I was thinking how thoughtful he was, he added, “Take the dog with you.”
(28) All in a day’s work
As A PSYCHOLOGIST, My first job was working in a small clinic. One of my patients was a pleasant woman who needed emotional support because of some recurring health problems.
After six months of treating her, I was really impressed with my work. In one session, my patient was reviewing her career and personal accomplishments over last 50 years as a way to boost her self-esteem.
Suddenly she paused and looked at me. What she said next quickly brought my ego back in line.
“Honey,” she asked sweetly, “what was it again that you do for a living?”

(29) All in a day’s work
In the office where my wife , June ,works, one of her duties is to answer her boss’s phone. One day the boss’s wife dialed his cell phone by accident. “Why didn’t June pick up for you?” she asked her husband.
“Be glad he didn’t,” June heard him reply. “You just dialed the cell phone I wear on my belt.

(30)
Our town had gone for weeks with little or no rain. The TV weatherman, on his computerized map , was pointing out a thunderstorm 80 kilometers away. He placed his cursor over the region and clicked to zoom in on the storm. Watching, my son Roger shook his head and said, “I sure wish he would click on that storm and drag it over here.”

(31)
When we moved cross country, my wife and I decided to drive both our cars. Nathan, our eight –year-old, worriedly asked, “How will we keep from getting separated?”
“We’ll drive slow so one car can follow the other,” I reassured him. “Yeah, but what if we get separated ?” he persisted. “Then I guess we’ll never see each other again,” I quipped.
“OK,” he said, “I’m riding with Mum.”

(32) Road Show
At the airport seeing our daughter off, my husband and I met a colleague of mine. She was leaving for a short holiday and had planned to park her car at the airport. However, the forecast was for extremely cold weather and she was afraid that the vehicle wouldn’t start when she returned.
I offered to drive it home, but when I reached her street, I realized I didn’t know which house was hers. Then inspiration struck: I drove up and down the street pressing her garage-door opener until the right door lifted.

(33) Blush Hour
With five minutes left to catch my train but no bus in sight, I had no choice but to catch a lift to the station. Luckily, a Japanese businessman in a black Mercedes pulled over.
“Are you going past the station?” I asked, leaning in through his window. He didn’t answer, so I assumed his English wasn’t very good and repeated the question. He seemed to understand and let me into his car.
“Thank you so much for the lift,” I said at the station. “I hope I haven’t taken you out of your way.”
“Actually,” he said in perfect English,” I was parking.

(34) All in a day’s work
One day I was late for work and was pulled over by a police officer. The officer noticed that my shirt had the same name of a local secondary school on it. “I teach maths,” I explained.
He smiled and said, “OK. Here’s a problem. A teacher is speeding down the highway at 25 kilometres over the limit. At $12 for every kilometers over the limit, plus $40 court costs, plus the rise in her insurance, what is her total cost?”
I replied, “Taking that total , subtract the low salary I receive, multiplied by the number of kids that hate maths, then adding to that the fact that none of us would be anywhere without teachers, I’d say zero.”
He handed me back my licence, “Actually, maths was never my favorite subject. Please slow down.”

(35)
Ralph was on is way home from work one night when, to his horror, he suddenly realised that he’d completely forgotten his daughter’s birthday.
He rush to the toy shop and asked the manager, “How much is the Barbie in the window?”
“Which one?” the manager asked. “We have Workout Barbie for $19.95, Malibu Barbie for $19.95, Soccer Barbie is $19.95, Cinderella Barbie is $19.95, and Divorced Barbie is $375.”
“Hold on,” Ralph said. “Why is Divorced Barbie $375 when all the other Barbies are only $19.95?”
“Well,” said the shop manager, “Divorced Barbie also comes with Ken’s car, Ken’s house, Ken’s boat, Ken’s dog, Ken’s cat, Ken’s furniture…”

(36) Eating less meat?
A well-planned vegetarian diet has many health benefits to offer. Perhaps that’s why , in recent years, the number of vegetarians seems to be on the rise. Many people , including growing numbers of teenagers and young children, “go veggie ” by simply pushing their steak aside to dine on the remaining garnishes – perhaps potato salad, a roll or three, and a bowl of lettuce backstroking in dressing. This can be great news if you have stock in starch and fat; bad news if you eat like this. A doctor said, “Plenty of vegetarians eat a healthy, well-planned diet. But plenty of others don’t do their homework. And that can get them into trouble.”

(37) Educated Consumer
My six-year-old nephew, Julian, likes to strike up a conversation with everyone he meets. On a short road trip, I stooped to pay a toll. As I pocketed my change, Julian leaned forward. “Thank you!” he yelled to the toll collector. There was no reply.
Thinking he hadn’t been heard, he repeated his comment but was again met with silence. As I pulled away, he called out, “We don’t have to shop here, you know!”

(38) Parental Discretion Advised
I was driving my seven-year-old daughter and her friend home from Girl Scouts when the country-music station we were listening to began playing a song called “Lonely Women Make Good Lovers.” Thinking how inappropriate it was for my young passengers, I switched stations only to have my daughter say, “Dad, that’s a great song. Please change it back!”
Not wanting to make a scene, I did as she asked and was happily surprised when she told her friend, “Isn’t that a great song – ‘Only Women Make Good Mothers’? ”

(39)
My nine-year-old nephew and I were watching what I thought was a suitable movie on TV when suddenly a male character asked a female: “Why do you work as a lady of the night?” In a sultry voice she replied, “Because I like to find $300 on my pillow.”
“Wow!” my nephew commented. She must have had a huge tooth!”

(40)
My friend’s son graduated from secondary school. So I sent a card to congratulate him. I enclosed some money and scribbled some words of wisdom inside.
He sent me a note back saying, “Thank you for the gift. Also thank you for the advice. My mum always told me that you are full of it .”

(41) Legitimacy by UN Is Required for Using Force on Iraq: UN Chief
United Nations Secretary-general Kofi Annan said disarming Iraq is “an issue not for any one state, but for the international community as a whole.” “When states decide to use force, not in self-defense but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations Security Council.”
安南表示对伊拉克动武需要联合国授权
联合国秘书长安南表示：解除伊拉克武装不是某个国家的问题，而是整个国际社会的问题。安南说：“动用武力如果不是为自卫，而是为了解决对国际和平与稳定构成广泛威胁的问题， 那么在这方面，联合国安理会授权的合法性是无可代替的。”

(42) 经典演讲 《葛底斯堡演说》--- 亚伯拉罕? 林肯
87年前， 我们的先辈在这个大陆上创建了一个新国家。 她孕育于自由之中，奉行一切人生来平等的原则。
目前我们正在进行一场伟大的内战， 以考验这个国家，或者任何一个孕育于自由和奉行上述原则的国家是否长久存在下去。我们来到这里把这战场上的一部分奉献给那些为国家生存而捐躯的人们作为他们的最后安息之地。我们这样做是完全适合的、恰当的。
但是从更广泛的意义上来说，我们不能奉献，不能圣化，不能神化这片土地。那些曾在这里战斗过的人，活着的或死去的，已经圣化了这片土地，远非我们的微薄之力所能扬抑。 世人极少会注意或长久记得我们今天在这里所说的话，但是勇士们在这里做过的事将永远不会被忘记。倒是我们，活着的人，应该把自己奉献给曾在里战斗的勇士们如此崇高推进的未竟事业。倒是我们应该在这里把自己奉献给留在我们面前的伟大任务：从这些光荣的死者身上我们汲取更多的献身精神来完成他们精诚所至的事业； 我们在这里下定决心不让死者白白死去；这个国家，在上帝的保佑下，将获得自由的新生。这个民有、民治、民享的政府将与世长存。

The Gettysburg Address
——By Abraham Lincoln

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a large sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men , living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add to detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us: that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly revolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
背景介绍：葛底斯堡战役是美国南北战争中的决定性战役，北方军队经过浴血奋战，大获全胜。为纪念在战役中牺牲的勇士们，修建了葛底斯堡公墓。在落成典礼上，亚伯拉罕? 林肯的演说只有短短3分钟，却充满着真挚的感情，哀痛而振奋，沉重而自豪，堪称演讲中的经典之作，也是当今美国中学生的必读之篇。

（43）经典演讲 《我们的希望》—乔治?布什
美国同其他国家一起欢迎中华人民共和国的代表乔副外长、黄大使以及他们的同事来到联合国。
在他们来到这里以后，联合国将更能反映世界当前的现实情况。我们希望，他们的到来将对这个组织协调各国行动的能力做出贡献。
在最后几周内，一些原则问题使大会产生意见分歧，大家对这些问题有很深的感受，并为解决这些问题做了艰苦的奋斗。我们不应该因为这些分歧忽略了我们大家 ---包括美国在内 --- 几乎都同意的主张，即：中华人民共和国加入联合国的历史时刻来到了。
美国人民同伟大的中国人民有着长期的友好关系。美国相信，只要重新献身于联合国宪章的原则，我们就能朝着实现世界和平和正义的方向前进。在这里，我们将和抱有共同愿望并愿意为实现这一希望而合作的人，一同做出不懈的努力。
背景介绍：乔治?赫伯特?沃克?布什（1924-- ），美国前驻联合国首席代表、美国前总统。本文是他在1971年11月15日的联大全体会议上代表东道国欢迎中国代表团的讲话。

Our Hope
--- George Bush

The United States joins in welcoming to the United Nations the representatives of the People’s Republic of China, Vice-Foreign Minister Chiao, Ambassador Huang and their colleagues.
Their presence here makes the United Nations more reflective of the world as it now exists and we hope that it will contribute to the organization’s potential for harmonizing the actions of nations.
The issues of principle that divided the General Assembly in recent weeks were deeply felt and hard fought. Those differences should not obscure the proposition on which nearly all of us, including the United States, agreed: that the moment in history has arrived for the People’s Republic of China to be in the United Nations.
The United States, whose people are linked by long ties of friendship with the great Chinese people, is confident that with renewed dedication to the principles of the Charter we can move toward peace and justice in the world. We shall not cease to work here with all who share that hope and who wish to co-operate in its realization.

(44) Water Shortage
Serious water shortage hit Nampula Province, northern Mozambique, where about 3 million people are in urgent need of drinking water. According to the provincial authorities, the water supply system in the province can only meet the demand of one third of the population. Most of the population in the province, especially that living in the rural areas are facing increasing difficulties in obtaining drinking water.

(45) Weather Analysis
Following a south-moving weak cold front, northerly winds of 4 to 5 degrees blew through North China, areas between the Yellow and Huaihe river basins and the northwest provinces yesterday. The wind will continue today with the same force, and the Bohai and Yellow Seas can expect northerly winds of 6 to 7 degrees. Meanwhile, slight snow will fall in the Northeast China’s Liaoning Province and the Shangdong Peninsula. A spell of wet weather with drizzle has been watering the areas south of the Yangtze River basin in the last 4 or 5 days. Today, the overcast skies and drizzle will affect the central and southern parts of the region, South China’s provinces and the southwest Yunnan-Guizhou Platean. Fortunately, it will be over soon.

(46)
Compared with candles and oil-lamps, gas illumination was 12 times stronger. But electricity really change the night: one electric bulb provided 100 times more light than a candle or oil lamp. Night was becoming what it is today – an artificially illuminated extension of the day.

(47) Slip Knots
My longtime boarder was moving out, and I needed an advertisement posted at the local university. A friend agreed to design one on her computer and stick it up on the campus bulletin board.
I went out of town for a couple of days, and when I got back, I found a number of strange messages on my answering machine. Deciding I had better check out my ad, I went over to the university. And there it was: “Room and Broad, $400 a month.”

(48) Life’s Like That
While I was dining out with my children, a man came over to our table and we started talking. He asked where my kids go to school. I told him we home-school them. With a raised eyebrow he asked if my husband is the sole breadwinner for our family.
I said no, I also work --- out of our home.
Then, noticing our two-month-old son, he mentioned that his daughter had just had a baby, and he wondered what hospital our son was born in. “He was born at home,” I answered.
The man looked at me, then said, “Wow, you don’t get out much, do you ?”

(49) Life’s Like That
There was a spate of robberies in our neighborhood and the police had increased patrols in the area. Given the situation, my neighbor, who had parked his bike on the road one night, was pleasantly surprised to find it intact the next day. Wanting to express his gratitude, he went to the police station, parked his bike outside, and walked in to thank the inspector for the vigilance. When he came from of the station, his bike was missing ！

(50) Life’s Like That
Determined to lose weight, I decided to join a fitness class that met three times a week. But despite my pleas, my husband Keith refused to join me.
As the weeks went by, I lost enthusiasm and my excuses for missing most of the classes became more and more creative. One morning, after I’d skipped yet another exercise session, Keith said, “If I’d known you were going to miss this many classes, I’d have joined with you.”

(51)
Researchers are beginning to understand what we lose by giving up sleep. Earlier studies showed that people who stayed awake for days could recover quickly, leading experts to believe there were few long-term health consequences. But recent research has begun to home in on today’s reality: what happens to people who shortage their sleep needs a little almost every day?

(52)
All in a Day’s Work
My father had promised my mother he would close his shop early to be home in time for their 25th-anniversary celebrations. The party was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and when he still hadn’t appeared, Mum called him in a panic. Dad quickly locked up and hurried home.
A few minutes after he arrived, he received a phone call, grabbed his coat and rushed out again to the shop. When he got there, he found two police cars and a crowd gathered outside. In his haste to get home, he had locked a customer inside the shop.

(53)
Life Sayings
Weak is strong
“There’s nothing stronger in the world than gentleness.”
___ Han Suyin (Chinese-born British writer)
A steady drip of water turns a rock into a pebble. The sea gradually turns pebbles into sand. The flow of a river carves the Grand Canyon. It may take a small river a long time to carve the Grand Canyon, but the result is beautiful. Being gentle can achieve some things that being tough and strong, cannot. A kind word lifts someone’s spirits to the skies. Gentleness, mercy and tenderness --- these are powerful force in the world and in our relationships. If you don’t know your own strength, try being gentle.
“世上最强的力量是温柔”
--- 韩素英 （英籍华人作家）
持续不断的水滴将坚硬的岩石变为卵石。海水的反复冲刷把卵石磨成沙粒。 河流的雕琢造就了世界闻名的大峡谷。小河对大峡谷的雕琢也许经年累月，却创造力出了奇景。可见温柔可以成就的，强硬、粗暴却不一定能做得到。一句善意的话常常带给人极大的鼓舞。温柔、宽容、体贴 --- 无论在物质世界还是在人际关系中都是巨大的力量。如果你还不知道自己力量的存在， 何不试试以温柔待人？