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　　Astronaut Jim Voss has enjoyed many memorable moments in his career, including three space flights and one space walk．But he recalls with special fondness a decidedly earthbound(为地球引力所束缚的)experience in the summer of 1980, when he participated in the NASAASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program．Voss, then a science teacher at West Point, was assigned to the Marshall Space Flight Center’s propulsion(推进)lab in Alabama to analyze why a hydraulic fuel pump seal on the space shuttle was working so well when previous seals had failed．It was a seemingly tiny problem among the vast complexities of running the space program．Yet it was important to NASA because any crack in the seal could have led to destructive results for the astronauts who relied on them．

　　“I worked a bit with NASA engineers, ” says Voss, “but I did it mostly by analysis．I used a handheld calculator, not a computer, to do a thermodynamic(热力学的)analysis．” At the end of the summer, he, like the other NASA-ASEE fellows working at Marshall, summarized his findings in a formal presentation and detailed paper．It was a valuable moment for Voss because the ASEE program gave him added understanding of NASA, deepened his desire to fly in space, and intensified his application for astronaut status．

　　It was not an easy process．Voss was actually passed over when he first applied for the astronaut program in 1978．Over the next nine years he reapplied repeatedly, and was finally accepted in 1987．Since then he has participated in three space missions．The 50-year-old Amy officer, who lives in Houston, is now in training for a four-month mission as a crew member on the International Space Station starting in July 2000．

　　Voss says the ASEE program is wonderful for all involved．“It brings in people from the academic world and gives NASA a special property for a particular period of time．It brings some fresh eyes and fresh ideas to NASA, and establishes a link with our colleges and universities, ”Voss explains．“There’s an exchange of information and an exchange of perspectives that is very important．”

　　For the academic side, Voss says, the ASEE program also “brings institutions of higher learning more insight into new technology．We give them an opportunity to work on real-world problems and take it back to the classroom”．

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　　Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy．Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs．Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs．Even judges are softer on attractive defendants．But in the executive(主管的)circle, beauty can become a liability．

　　While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman．

　　Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success．

　　Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck．

　　All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives．Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes．

　　Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualifies required．

　　This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently, ” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates．She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness．The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices．They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them．

　　The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes．

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　　Super Girl is Time Magazine Hero

　　“Super Girl” winner Li Yuchun, with her tomboy style hair and a shy smile, appears on the cover of the latest edition of Time Asia Magazine, issued on Monday, as one of the 25 Asia Heroes of 2005．

　　Six people from China were on the Asia Hero list, including actress Zhang Jingchu who played the heroine in the Silver Bear Award winning movie “Peacock” at this year’s Berlin Film Festival and Taiwan dance artist Lin Hwai-min who founded the Cloud Gate Dance Theater．

　　The other Asia Heroes are from Japan, India, Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea, including volunteers who helped search for missing people in last year’s havoc(浩劫)caused by tsunami．

　　Time said the 21-year-old Li, a pop singing major at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, has become a new pop icon for her boyish charm and unconventional personality．

　　Li polled more than 3．5 million votes via cell phone text messages at the finals of “Super Girl”, the Chinese version of “American Idol”．

　　The gala finale attracted about 400 million viewers, nearly one-third of China’s population．

　　According to the magazine, the influence brought by the “Li Yuchun phenomenon” goes far beyond her voice in China．Her “attitude, originality and a proud androgyny(雌雄同体)” are challenging the country’s traditional customs．

　　Time said actress Zhang, “with her taste for traditionally inspired dress and her reverence(尊敬)for ancient Chinese aphorisms(格言)”, may be a perfect ambassador for China．

　　Described by Time as “Asia’s synthesizing(综合的)dance genius, ” dancer Lin’s outdoor performance in Taipei could attract an audience of more than 60 000．

　　It is the fourth continuous year the magazine has elected Asia Heroes．

　　The listed heroes are considered brave, courageous, persistent and can encourage locals．

　　Last year, Athens Olympics champion Liu Xiang and prima ballerina Tan Yuanyuan from China were on the list．

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　　★The regular use of messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana(大麻)．Psychologists say that sending/receiving messages or looking through the many menu options(选择)your mobile phone has lowers a person’s IQ by almost 10 points．British researchers have named this situation “info mania”．Instead of fixed on what they are doing, people’s minds are constantly focused on reacting to the technology surrounding them．This means they don’t pay full attention to the work they are paid to do．The report also added that the brain can not do so many things at once．If you try to do too many things mistakes begin to occur．And while modern technology can have huge benefits, too much use can be damaging not only to a person’s mind, but to their social life．

　　★The more television 4-year-old children watch, the more likely they are to become bullies(欺人者)later on in school, a newest U．S．study said．At the same time, children whose parents read to them, take them on outings and just generally pay attention to them are less likely to become bullies, said the report from the University of Washington．Researchers also found gaps in learning and understanding such things as social skills early in life makes it more difficult for children to relate with other children．Watching violence on television leads to aggressive behavior．

　　★You could soon be able to add your favorite perfume(香味)to your e-mails．UK net provider Telewest Broadband is testing a system to let people send e-mails over the Internet with sweet smell．It has developed a kind of hi-tech air freshener that plugs into a PC and sprays a smell linked to the message．Telewest says it could be used by supermarkets to attract people with the smell of fresh bread or by holiday companies seeking to stir up images of sun-kissed beach．

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　　Arabs consider it extremely bad manners to start talking immediately．Even the busiest government official always takes extra time to be polite and offers refreshments．No matter how busy you are, you should make time for this．

　　The conference visit is a way of doing business throughout the Arab world．Frequently you will have to discuss in the presence of strangers, who may or may not have anything to do with your business．

　　Do not be surprised if your meeting is interrupted several times by people who come into the room unannounced,whisper,or speak softly to the person with whom you are talking, and leave．Act as though you do not hear,and never show displeasure at being interrupted．

　　When an Arab says yes,he may mean“maybe”．When he says maybe,he probably means “no”．You will seldom get a direct “no”from an Arab because it is considered impolite．Instead of “no”,he will say “Inshallah”,which means “if God is willing”．On the other hand,a smile and a slow nod might seem like an agreement,but in fact,your host is being polite．An Arab considers it impolite to disagree with a guest．

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　　The first people to drink tea were the Chinese because the bush grew wild all over the south of their country．They liked the taste,and found that the drink refreshed(使……振作)them．

　　People living in Europe first learned about tea growing and drinking from a book printed in Italy in 1599．The writer claimed(声称)that tea was a wonderful medicine!Although people in Europe knew about tea in 1599,it was another fifty years before the first cargo(货物)of tea from China reached Holland．

　　A few years later,tea was brought overland from China to Russia．The long difficult journey had to be made over mountains and across deserts．

　　The new drink reached England in 1657．It was sold at one of the coffee house．Only the very rich could afford to drink it．

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How Do People Plan Their Life？

　　The story of King Midas is not true．No man could really touch the things around him and make them turn to gold．It could be wonderful if we could turn things into gold as in the story．But the “magic touch”, the life without work is seldom part of life in an everyday world．

　　It costs money to do the things you want to do and to buy the things you want to buy．In order to give a present for a birthday you must first earn the money before you have any to spend．Your home, your food,and your clothes are basic needs．Everyone needs these three things．Many other things we want are really luxuries．Basic needs and luxuries together form our standard(标准)of living．Many of the things we feel we “need” in our homes would be regarded as luxuries to other people in other parts of the world．

　　Have you ever helped plan a family budget(预算)?If you know you have to balance the whole money the family have earned, you should pay for gas, electricity,water and your house．You should also plan for holidays and other special uses．At the same time you should have some of your money to be saved．

　　How people earn their money and how they spend their money is an important aspect of the study of economics．

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Does Everyone Benefit？

　　NEW YORK－America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history．Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen,and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings．

　　But just a short walk from Manhattan’s skyscrapers,George Brown sits on the sidewalk,cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel．

　　Brown is homeless－one of the 2．3 million people in the US who end up on the street．

　　During the day,Brown collects aluminium cans and sells them for five cents a piece．At night, he sleeps on the street．

　　“I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that,” said the 62-year-old former construction worker．

　　Brown admits he’s had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine,but he said he still wants a more stable(not likely move)housing arrangement．

　　He could afford it just with the money he earns collecting cans and small pieces of metal,if only truly low-in-come housing were available．

　　However,he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York．

　　With the strong economy and unemployment down, beautiful housing is being built to meet demands．

　　US report shows the rent in New York City rose more than 27 percent between 1984 and 1999, from US ＄549 to US ＄700 a month．

　　One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up．

　　The majority of people who experience homelessness really just need some affordable? housing help．

　　But few housing companies have been built for the poor．Many small apartments in the city now rent for US ＄1500 a month or more．

　　Brown,the homeless New Yorker,said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her．She is angry at his drinking and won’t allow it in her house．

　　Smiling,he said he also has seven grandchildren whom he’d like to see more often．

　　“All I’ve got to do is to clean up my act，” he said．

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　　Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own．The US is well known for jazz(爵士乐),which has gained world-wide popularity．

　　In contrast to classical(古典的)music, which follows formal European traditions, jazz is natural and free-form．It is full of energy, expressing the moods, interests, and feelings of the people．It has a modern sound that makes people very excited．In the 1920s jazz sounded like America．And so it does today．

　　The origins of this music are as interesting as the music itself．Jazz was produced by American blacks, who were brought to the Southern States as slaves．They were sold to plantation owners(种植园主)and forced to work long hours in the cotton and tobacco fields．This work was hard and life was short．When a Negro died, his friends and relatives formed a group to carry the body to the cemetery．

　　A band often went with them．On the way to the cemetery the band played slow and sad music．But on the way home the mood changed．Spirits lifted．Everybody was happy．Death had removed one of their members, but the living were glad to be alive．The band played happy music, which made everyone want to dance．It was an early form of jazz．

　　Music has always been important in their lives．Coming mainly from West Africa, the black men who were brought to America already possessed a rich musical tradition．This music centered on religious ceremonies(宗教的仪式)in which dancing, singing, clapping and stamping(顿足)to the beat of a drum were important forms of musical expression．As these people settled in to their fields, they made up work songs．Singing made the hard work go faster．

　　Another musical form that helped to develop jazz was the blues．Blues songs always describe something sad－an unhappy love affair, a money problem, bad luck．To this day, the expression “feeling blue” means being sad．

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　　Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the United States today because it is about simple but strong human feelings and events－love,sadness,good times,and bad times．It tells real-life stories and sounds the way people really talk,as life becomes more complicated(复杂的)it is good to hear music about ordinary people．

　　Country music,sometimes called country-western,comes from two lands of music．One is the traditional music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States．The other is traditional cowboy music from the west．The singers usually play guitars, and in the 1920s they started using electric guitars．

At first city people said country music was low class．It was popular mostly in the South．But during World War Ⅱ,thousands of Southerners went to the Northeast and Midwest to work in the factories．They took their music with them．Soldiers from the rest of the country went to army camps in the South．They learned country music．Slowly it became popular all over the country．

　　Today country music is also popular everywhere in the United States and Canada－in small towns and in New York City,among black and white,and among educated and uneducated people．About 1200 radio stations broadcast country music twenty-four hours day,English stars sing it．In British English,and people in other countries sing it in their own languages．The music that started with cowboys and poor southerners is now popular all over the world．