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　　The scene in the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow, where global warming could soon turn the global climate(气候)into a new ice age may never occur, according to new research．

　　The next ice age could be 15 000 years away, say European scientists who last month announced a continuous record of 740 000 years of climate data(数据)obtained from the Antarctic ice．

　　Scientists from 10 nations have now almost completely drilled through a 3000-meter depth of ice high in the Antarctic mainland．They figure out that the area where summer temperatures can fall to -40℃, has at least 900 000 years of snowfalls, kept as neatly as the growth rings of a tree．And the ice and air caught in each layer(层)have begun to answer questions about the climates in the past．

　　The results show that there have been eight ice ages in the past 740 000 years and eight warmer periods．And by comparing the pattern of global condition today with those of the past, the researchers reported in Nature that the present warm period could last another 15 000 years．

　　Research suggests that there is a very close connection between greenhouse gas levels and global average temperatures．It also shows that carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)levels are the highest for at least 440 000 years．

　　“If people say to you：the greenhouse effect is a good thing because we would go into ice age otherwise, our data say no, a new ice age is not hanging over our heads,” said Eric Wolff from the British Antarctic Survey．“Now we have eight examples of how the climate goes in and out of ice ages…and you can learn what the rules are that go into the climate models that tell us about the future．”

　　Scientists found that whenever temperatures rose in the frozen record, so did carbon dioxide level．“In 440 000 years we have never seen greenhouse gas get as thick as it is today,” said Dr Wolff．

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　　Lack of parent willpower may contribute more to juvenile obesity than under-exercising or overeating．

　　Research suggests that having overweight parents is a big influence(影响)upon a child’s weight, with one study finding that children with overweight parents were four times more likely to be overweight themselves．

　　The findings add heat to an already fierce political debate(争论)over childhood obesity．The Prime Minister, John Howard, last week decided that ＄116 million be used for programs to deal with obesity, while the Opposition Leader, Mark Latham, recently announced that his party would move to protect children from unhealthy food advertisements．

　　Clare Collins, a senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle, believes such programs will definitely fail unless they influence the way of life of whole families．“If we can’t get parents to take action against their own weight problems, then we can’t expect to influence their kids,” she said．

　　However, Professor Louise Baur from the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, doubts whether adult education programs offer any solution to weight problems．“Many parents know they need to lose weight and they know it influences their kids, but they lack the willpower to do anything about it．”

　　The 10-year study of 150 American children found two-thirds of children with overweight parents became overweight．Only one in six children whose parents were of average weight became overweight．

　　The president of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, Associate Professor Gary Wittert, said parents needed help in doing their job and the Opposition Party’s policy(政策)might be on the right track．

　　“We know that driving without a seat belt is unsafe, so we make law against it,” he said．“Obesity is a major public health concern, so why shouldn’t we change the law regarding unhealthy food ads?”

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　　Handshaking, though a European practice is often seen in big cities of China．Nobody knows exactly when the practice started in Europe．It is said that long long ago in Europe when people met, they showed their unarmed(无武器的)hands to each other as a sign of good will．As time went on and trade in cities grew rapidly, people in cities began to clap each other’s hands to make a deal or to reach an agreement．This practice was later changed into shaking hands among friends on meeting or leaving each other．“Let’s shake(hands)on it” sometimes means agreement reached．

　　Do the Europeans shake hands wherever they go and with whomever they meet? No．Sometimes the Chinese abroad reach out their hands too often to be polite．It is really very impolite to give your hand when the other party, especially when it is a woman, shows little interest in shaking hands with you and when the meeting does not mean anything to him or her．Even if, for politeness, he holds out his unwilling hand in answer to your uninvited hand, just touch it slightly．There is generally a misunderstanding(误解)among the Chinese that westerners are usually open and straightforward, while the Chinese are rather reserved(保守的)in manner．But in fact some people in western countries more reserved than some Chinese today．So it is a good idea to shake hands with a westerner only when he shows interest in further relations with you．

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　　In 1837, the historian Carlyle made the first recorded use of the word “queue”(排队)．He spoke of the French and their “habit of standing in a queue”．Forty years later Paris was the best place to wait in line．

　　However, queuing became popular in Britain too．The Second World War was the golden age of queuing, and people joined any line in the hope that it was a queue for something to buy．This was the source of many Second World War jokes：

　　Shopkeeper to customer：Excuse me, Miss, are you pregnant(怀孕)?

　　Customer：Well, I wasn’t when I joined the queue．

　　Today, according to research in America, we(in Britain)can spend up to 5 years of our lives queuing as compared to twelve months looking for things we have lost．But things may be changing．Many people no longer have the patience to stand in a queue．The law of the jungle(丛林)has begun to operate at bus stops, with people using their arms to push others out of the way．

　　One way to make life easier is to introduce “queue management”．Customers at supermarket cheese counters can now take a ticket with a number which appears on a screen when it is their turn．And while they wait for their number, they can do a bit of shopping．

　　In some booking offices there is also a system telling customers how long they may have to wait before they are served．

　　One of the latest technical progress is the use of an electronic scanner(电子识别器)which can read all the contents of your shopping basket or trolley in just a few seconds．If these become popular, queuing in supermarkets may become a thing of the past．

　　But some people just like queuing．One man queued all night for Harrods famous January sale, and then returned home for breakfast at nine o’clock the next morning without going into the shop．

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　　Three months after the government stopped issuing(发放)or renewing permits for Internet cafes because of security(安全)concerns, some cafe owners are having financial(经济的)concerns of their own．

　　The permits were stopped suddenly three months ago by the government until new safeguards could be put in place to prevent misuse of the information superhighway, but for cafe owners it’s a business breakdown with no fix in sight．

　　“I handed in a request to open up an Internet cafe and received the conditions,” said the businessman Obeidallah．“I rented a place in the Sharafiah district at SR 45 000 and prepared the place with equipment that cost me more than SR 100 000．When I went to the local government after finishing everything, I was surprised to find that they’d stopped issuing permits for Internet cafes．”

　　Having an Internet cafe without Internet is much like having a coffee shop without coffee．“I’m avoiding closing the place, but it’s been more than three months with the situation ongoing as it is,” Obeidallah said．“Who will bear the losses caused by the permit issue?”

　　The decision took many cafe owners by surprise．“I asked to open an Internet cafe, and I was handed a list of all the things that were needed to follow through, such as a sign for the place, filling out forms,” said Hassan Al-Harbi．

　　“I did all that was asked and rented a place．And after the Haj vacation I went to the local government and they surprised me, saying that there are new rules that forbid the issuing of any more Internet cafe permits and that one can’t even renew his permit．I’ve lost more than SR 80 000,”Al-Harbi added．

　　As for the government, officials say a method to deal with it is on the way, but security concerns come before profit(赢利)．

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　　Fred was born in a rich family．His father had a big company and he had four brothers．He was the strongest of them five but he did not like to use his head．Of course he could not pass the examinations．

　　Suddenly the war broke out．Young men were called on to join the army．His father thought for a long time and at last decided to send him to the military camp(军营)．Soon after that he was sent to France where they fought with Germans．The young man hated the life in the camp．They could not be supplied with enough food and had to live in the cold and wet houses, sometimes they had to sleep on the hard ground and he was often afraid to be shot．He usually remembered the life in his country and tried to leave the camp．

　　Once he made an excuse in order not to the front．Another soldier whose name was Bob reported the captain about it．Fred was punished for it．He hated Bob and the captain very much．In a fight he hurt the captain and he was sent to the court(法庭)at once．

　　“Have you hurt the captain, Fred?” asked a judge．

　　“Yes, I have, sir, ”answered the young man, “but it was a fortuitous(偶然的)accident．”

　　“Oh?” the judge said in surprise, “Why?”

　　“The captain was standing just in front of Bob while I was shooting at the young soldier．So I hurt him by mistake．”

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　　Finding a suitable place to live is not easy for a student who first arrived in a strange place．I was lucky because I had booked a dormitory with the school before I arrived．It was a flat with seven independent rooms and a shared bathroom and kitchen．All of my flatmates are all students from Britain．I thought I was lucky to be part of this flat with these energetic young men．However, I found myself unhappy with them only a few days after I stayed there．These young people seemed never to be quiet．Usually they would not come back until late into the night．They even played football in the room whenever they like, whether it’s early morning or late night．Worse still, they always had parties．Those loud music and laughter made me sleepless the whole night．Finally, I had no choice but to ask the authority to move me to another flat where most of the students were international students pursuing their master degrees．They were older in age and held heavier study burdens．So they were quieter．

　　My advice for those who want to study in the UK is to get in touch with the International Student Accommodation Service of your school first and tell them to arrange for you to share a flat with graduates before you come here．

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