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　　My friend, Emma Daniels, spent the summer of 1974 traveling in Israel．During her month-long stay in Jerusalem she often went to a café called Chocolate Soup．It was run by two men, one of whom－Alex－used to live in Montreal．One morning when Emma went in for coffee, while chatting with her new friend Alex, she mentioned that she had just finished the book she was reading and had nothing else to read．Alex said he had a wonderful book she might like, and that he’d be happy to lend it to her．As he lived just above the café, he quickly ran up to get it．The book he handed to Emma just minutes later was Markings, a book by a former Secretary-General of the United Nations(UN)．?

　　Emma had never read it, nor had she ever bought a copy．But, when she opened it up, she was floored to see her own name and address in side the cover, in her own handwriting(笔迹)．It turned out that the summer before, at a concert back in Montreal, Emma had met a Californian who was in town visiting friends．They decided to exchange(交换)addresses, but neither of them had any paper．The man opened up a book he was carrying in his backpack(背包)and asked Emma to write her name and address inside．When he returned to California, he left the book behind in Montreal,

and his friend Alex kept it．When Alex later moved to Jerusalem, he took the book along．

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　　For a small town, Manhattan, Kansas has some big surprises．And one of them is the Holiday Inn Hotel, with rooms built around a swimming pool and a friendly atmosphere(气氛)．

　　The Holiday Inn is where Manhattan people often go for a special party or a night out．A lot of them choose to eat in the bright-lit restaurant near the pool．And many of them will be served by Ellen Logan, who has worked as a waitress here for more than two years．

　　Ellen, like most of the waitresses, is also a student．She comes from Nebraska, but she’s planning one day to be a veterinary surgeon, and to care for small animals．But in order to support herself at college, she works twenty hours a week at the Holiday Inn．

　　Ellen soon learned what every waitress finds out．Your best friend has a good pair of shoes．She paid forty-five dollars for hers, much more than she would usually spend．She’s discovered something else too．You don’t have to know much about food to be a good waitress, but you do have to know a lot about people．

　　“A lot of business people always stay here when they come to Manhattan, ”she explains．“They like you to recognize them and remember their favourite dishes．But some couples come for a night out together．They just want to be left alone．Then there are people who can’t make up their minds．They look down the menu and say, ’What do you suggest?’So I ask them how hungry they are．If they say, ’Not very’, I suggest the salad bar, with soup, salad, bread, and a fruit plate．But if they say they’re very hungry, I suggest a Kansas Strip Steak, with potatoes or rice．You get salad and bread as well．It’s very nice．Real good value．”

　　Ellen may get tired feet sometimes, but at least she’s learning too much about people．She’ll probably become a good animal doctor, but if she finds she doesn’t like it, she can become a psychologist(心理学家)instead．

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　　Minh Pham was born in Vietnam．He left there when he was 21 years old．Minh has been in America for almost two years．There is still much he does not understand about America．

　　Once, Minh was in a supermarket．He saw an old man and an old woman．They wanted a box of cereal(麦片)．The box was on a high shelf．The man and the woman couldn’t reach it．Minh saw a stepladder．He got on the ladder and got the box．He handed it to the elderly couple．They thanked him．

　　“Where are your children?” asked Minh．“Why don’t they help you buy food?” “Our children have their own lives, ”said the man and the woman．“We like to be independent．”Minh doesn’t think this is right．In his country, children help their parents．Minh gave the elderly couple his phone number．He told them to call him if they needed help．One night they asked Minh to dinner, but they never asked him for help．

　　One day, Minh was walking with a Vietnamese friend．The two men were going to a movie．

　　Minh wanted to go to a restaurant first．Minh took his friend’s hand．He pulled him towards the restaurant．People on the street stared at Minh．In Vietnam, friends often hold hands．Minh found that the people in America are not used to men holding hands．

　　Minh Pham is going through a process(过程)known as resocialization．Socialization(社会化)is the process in which a person learns to live in a society．Everyone goes through this process．Minh went through it when he lived in Vietnam．But the Vietnamese way of life is rather different from the American way of life．When Minh came to America, he had to learn a new way of life．He had to learn how to live in a new society．Minh has learned a lot about American life in two years．He still has a lot to learn．The process of resocialization can take many years．

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　　NEW YORK－About one fifth of US colleges and universities don’t require the standard entrance exams(升学考试), known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT)(学业能力倾向测试)and American College Test(ACT), for many high school applicants(申请者)．

　　Fair Test, a Cambridge, Massachusetts group that supports less trust on testing, said last week it counted 383 out of 1788 four-year schools that don’t want entrance exams at all．

　　The last Fair Test count managed three years ago proved 280 schools that don’t require entrance tests．The total rose for two reasons：more colleges dropped the exams, and the others clarified(澄清)their admission rules．

　　The Fair Test survey follows last month’s call from the University of California to end the SAT admission requirement．President Richard Atkinson wants students judged by what they have learned, not how they have scored．

　　Last June, the elite(优秀人才)women’s school, Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, declared applicants no longer need submit(呈交)scores from the SAT test of reasoning．

　　Some high schools also are questioning the role of admission tests．Still the exams aren’t going away．Even as some colleges give up entrance tests, others are using or replacing them．Some are giving scores less weight, asking instead for essays(论文), references and out-of-school activities．

　　The non-profit(非赢利的)College Board, which owns the SAT, notes the majority of colleges and universities still demand a test score for applicants．The SAT and ACT were established decades ago by colleges and universities as a way of predicting(预告)a student’s success．

　　Critics(批评家)have long attacked the test as unfair, mainly because whites tend to do better than other groups．

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　　Canadian millionairess Belinda Stronach lost her bid for the Conservative Party leadership on Saturday．

　　Economist Stephen Harper was chosen to lead the newly-merged right-wing party and will face off against Prime Minister Paul Martin’s liberals in the national election in a few weeks’ time．He got 50 percent support, easily defeating Stronach and former Ontario cabinet minister Tony Clement．

　　But for the 37-year-old Stronach, heiress to the car parts giant Magna International, this is a beginning rather than an end．Despite being a new comer to politics, she drew much attention during the campaign．

　　In 2002, Stronach was rated one of the world’s most powerful women by Fortune magazine with US ＄600 million to her name．At the time she was president and CEO of Magna International,

　　the world’s seventh-biggest auto parts manufactures, which was founded by her father．

　　Stronach first joined the company board aged 23．In 1990, she married Don Walker, her father’s former assistant, and the pair became Magna’s power couple, with Walker rising to the rank of CEO in 1994．They had a son and daughter, now 12 and 10, before splitting in 1995．

　　Stronach has since married and divorced Johann Olav Koss, the Norwegian Olympic speedskater, and most recently was seen on the arm of former US president Bill Clinton providing tabloid gossip from Los Angeles to Frankfurt．Admirers describe Stronach as a younger, prettier version of Hillary Clinton．

　　Stronach replaced Walker as CEO in 2001 and became president of the company the following year．She resigned from both posts in January in order to compete for the leadership of the Conservative Party．

　　Stronach’s defeat came despite spending millions of dollars on consultants and political advisers．But she says she will run for a seat in Parliament, ruling out both a return to Magna and a holiday．

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　　A university graduate described as a “respectable and intelligent” woman is seeking professional help after being convicted of(证明有……罪)shoplifting for the second time in six months．

　　Ana Luz, recently studying for he PhD, has been told she could end up behind bars unless she can control the desire to steal from shops．

　　Luz, who lives with her partner in Fitzwilliam Road, Cambridge, admitted stealing clothes worth ￡9.95 from John Lewis in Oxford Street, London, on March 9．

　　Phillip Lemoyne, prosecuting(起诉), said Luz selected some clothes from a display and took them to the ladies’ toilet in the store．When she came out again she was wearing one of the skirts she had selected, having taken off the anti-theft security alarms(防盗警报装置)．

　　She was stopped and caught after leaving the store without paying, Mr．Lemoyne said．

　　He added that she was upset on her arrest and apologized for her actions．

　　Luz, 28, was said to have been convicted of shoplifting by Cambridge judges last October, but Morag Duff, defending, said she had never been in trouble with the police before that．

　　“She is ashamed and embarrassed but doesn’t really have any explanation why she did this,” Miss Duff said．“She didn’t intend to steal when she went into the store．She is at a loss to explain it．She is otherwise a very respectable and intelligent young lady．She went to her doctor and asked for advice because she wants to know if there is anything in particular that caused her to do this．”

　　Judge David Azan fined Luz ￡50, and warned：“You’ve got a criminal record．If you carry on like this, you will end up in prison, which will ruin your bright future you may have．”

　　Luz achieved a degree in design at university in her native Spain, went on to a famous university in Berlin, Germany for her master’s degree and is now studying for a PHD at Cambridge University, UK．

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　　Canada is one of the few nations in the world to have two official languages：English and French．There are 10 provinces in the country but only one of these－Quebec is known as“French Canada”．This is because it was founded by French explorers while British adventures discovered the rest．

　　Canada left the British empire(帝国)in 1867 to become an independent country, and English and French have been recognized as the official languages ever since．

　　Most people speak English as their first language and the two national television networks broadcast in English throughout the country．Apart from in Quebec and a few places on the east coast, French television is very rare．

　　The same goes for traffic signs and menus, for example．Outside of Quebec, there are only a few places where you’ll see traffic signs in French．In restaurants, it’s almost impossible to find French on the menu unless you are in the heartland(中心地带)of French Canada．However, all products sold in Canada must, by law, have labels(标签)and instructions in both languages．

　　In Canada’s English speaking provinces, official bilingualism(双语)means that students can choose to complete a special French language course．Under this programme, they are taught most of their subjects in French．

　　If a student begins the course in kindergarten(幼儿园)or Grade One, it is likely that all their lessons will be in French．However, if they start at junior high school, 25 per cent of the teaching will continue to be in English．

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　　The first reality TV show in the world was called Expedition Robinson and it was shown in Sweden in 1997．Half the population of the country watched the final event and a new kind of TV program was born．Two years later in Holland, the first series of Big Brother was filmed．Again, it was a great success and the final program was watched by 15 million people．Now more than 20 countries around the world have Big Brother or Expedition Robinson on their TV screens．The ordinary people who take part in the programs are known by millions of people in their own countries and reality TV has become big, business．

　　For the TV producers, reality TV is a dream to come true because many of the programs cost nothing to make．At some point, the television viewers(观众)are asked to telephone the program to vote or to apply to take part in the show．It is the cost of these telephone calls that pays for the shows．One of the most popular shows is Pop Idol．In the show, a group of attractive young people are made into pop stars．TV viewers vote for their favorite person on the show．The winner makes a record and millions of copies of the record are sold．His or her pictures are published on the covers of magazines or on the front pages of newspapers, and then, they are quickly forgotten．

　　But not everyone is happy about reality TV．In Portugal, two TV channels got into trouble because they showed too much of the personal lives of the people in the shows．In France, reality TV is called “rubbish TV ” and the TV studios of Big Brother were attacked three times in one week．In Greece, Big Brother was described as “against human rights and civilization”．

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　　Scientists used to explore(探测)on the surface of the ocean．Now they are exploring below the surface, too．They want to know about ocean water and the plant and animal life deep in the ocean．

　　In 1934 the scientist William Beebe dived 3000 feet below the surface in a hollow steel ball．In 1935 August Piccard dived 10 330 feet．In 1960 his son Jean dived to a depth of 35 800 feet．

　　All these early dives were deep．But the divers could not stay down for very long．They had to come back up to the surface after a few seconds．Scientists needed to stay down longer to study life below surface．Gradually they succeeded．Cousteau, a Frenchman, was able to keep men down to a depth of 36 feet for one month and to a depth of 90 feet for a week．

　　Now scientists are developing even better equipment．With this new equipment, men can stay below the surface for days or even weeks．In 1962 Cousteau set up a research station 35 feet below the surface．Then, in 1964, he set up another station on the ocean floor of the Red Sea．This was the first undersea station to operate without help from the surface．

　　Many countries are now studying undersea living．The former Soviet Union has an undersea laboratory in the Crimean Sea．The United States has a laboratory 50 feet down on the ocean floor off the Virgin Islands．In 1970 five men lived there for two weeks．Then a team of five women scientists stayed in the laboratory．Next came other teams of men．All were there to explore the ocean depths and to make plans for the use of its resources．Scientists hope to find enough mineral, vegetable, and animal wealth there to provide food for the entire world．

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　　You’ve probably heard a lot about the Internet, but what is it?

　　The Internet is a computer network that uses the telephone system to link together millions of computers around the world．

　　Maybe that doesn’t sound exciting, but once you’re connected to the Internet, there are lots and lots of different things you can do．You can send electronic messages or “E-mail” to your friends(as long as they’re on the Internet too), or you can sort(挑出, 拣出)through all sorts of information on something called the World Wide Web．

　　You don’t need to know how the Internet works in order to use it, but if you understand the basics, it may help you solve any technical problem you have－and of course you can impress your friends with your Net knowledge!

　　You may think that your telephone is just for talking．But as long as you have the right equipment, you can use a telephone line to transmit computer data(数据)as well as sounds．If you plug your computer into the telephone system it can receive information from and send information to other computers(as long as they are plugged into the telephone system too)．

　　Computer data is made up of electronic signals(讯息)．A computer language called TCP/IP

　　(which stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, if you like to know these things)is used to move computer data around the Internet．Many of the links, for example, those which send out computer data across the Atlantic Ocean, are special fiber optic cables(光导纤维电缆),

　　fiber optic cables use light to send out information．They can carry a lot more data than an ordinary telephone line and they send it a lot faster!