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We are used to the idea of aging in ourselves．We are so used to this that it comes as a surprise to find that there may be some animals that do not age．Sea anemones(海葵)are an example．Some have been kept for nearly a century without showing any signs of lifelessness．Some kinds of sea worms can even “grow backwards”．If kept in the dark and given nothing to eat, they get steadily smaller．They finally end as a ball of cells looking rather like the egg from which they came．Under good conditions the ball will turn back to a worm and start growing again．One could probably keep them growing and ungrowing again and again．

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　　Oceanography(海洋学)has been defined as“The application of all sciences to the study of the sea．”

　　Before the nineteenth century scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between．Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant(不情愿的)to go to sea to further his work．

　　For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone to ask what lay under the surface．The first time that the question“What is at the bottom of the oceans?”had to be answered with any commercial consequence(商业影响)was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed．The engineer had to know the depth profile(起伏形状)of the route to estimate(估计)the length of cable that had to be manufactured．

　　It was to Maury of the US Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853, for information on this matter．In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings(测深)were taken to investigate(调查)the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans．Later, some of his findings aroused(引起)much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea．

　　The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent(永久的)and reliable．At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea．

　　Within a few years oceanography was under way．In 1872 Thomson led a scientific expedition(考察), which lasted for four years and brought home thousands of samples from the sea．Their classification and analysis occupied scientists for years and led to a five-volume report, the last volume being published in 1895．

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　　One Sunday, Mark decided to go sailing in his boat with his friend Dan, but Dan happened to be away．Dan’s brother John offered to go instead though he did not know anything about sailing．Mark agreed and they set out to sea．

　　Soon they found themselves in a thick fog．Mark was sure they would be hit by a big ship．Fortunately he saw a large buoy(浮标)through the fog and decided to tie the boat to it for safety．As he was getting onto the buoy, however, he dropped the wet rope．The boat moved away in the fog carrying John, who did not know how to use the radio．He drifted(漂流)about and was not seen until twelve hours later．

　　Mark spent the night on the buoy．In the early morning he fell asleep．He was having a bad dream when a shout woke him up．A ship, the Good Hope, came up and he climbed onto it and thanked the captain．The captain told him that John had been picked up by another ship and the ship’s captain had sent out a message．“Without the message I would not have found you on the buoy,”he said．

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　　An ichthyologist is a scientist who studies fish．Most people who do this job say they love their work because it is very rewarding and varied．They work not only inside a laboratory, but also out in the field．Fieldwork includes traveling to rivers, oceans and lakes in order to collect information and specimens(样本)．Reading, writing and speaking are also very important to the job．Fish scientists need to read the research of other scientists．They must be able to write up their own research clearly so that others can follow it．They also need to be able to give lectures about their findings, so that they can spread knowledge．

　　Ichthyologists who wish to specialize can choose any one of three areas of study．The first area is aquaculture(水产养殖)．This involves the study and practice of fish farming and management．Because it is a rather new study, there are very few job opportunities available．However, as there is so much to discover, many see it as an exciting area for a new ichthyologist to enter．The second area is fisheries science, which means working with a team of scientists to find out more about different fish species．The third area is about the protection of natural fish populations．This is very important today, given that many fish species are in danger of dying out because of the actions of humans．

　　To become a successful fish scientist, you need to have a curious mind and be able to work on your own．You also need to be able to handle equipment and perform experiments; but most importantly, you must love fish．To become an ichthyologist, you will need to train at a university to pass a Bachelor of Science degree．For this, you will need to be good at mathematics, physical science and biology．Then, you will need to study for another year to complete an honours degree in ichthyology．This honours degree contains coursework about all aspects of fish．You also need to complete a research paper．

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The Currier and Ives printing house was founded by National Currier in 1834．James Ives joined the printing house as an assistant eighteen years just after marrying Currier’s sister, and became one of the owners in 1957．The pair showed an unusual ability to tell what the American public would rush to buy in the way of cheap art, and actually hundreds of thousands of prints from as many as 7000 different pictures were turned out and sold from the printing house’s shop in lower New York by street sellers and over shop counters throughout the country and even in Europe．Though in the course of time Currier and Ives hired some of American finest artists, art value could certainly not be counted among the printing house’s real aims．Some time after it went out of business in 1907,the prints enjoyed new popularity as some people’s collection, and the rare examples brought thousands of dollars in the 1920s．

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　　In the 1960s,people asked about your astrological sign(星相)．In the 1990s,they wanted to know your website(网址)．These days, having a web address is almost as important as a street address．Your website is an electronic meeting place for your family, friends and potentially, millions of people around the world．Best of all, you may not have to spend a cent．The Web is filled with all kinds of free services and all it takes is some time and creativity．

　　Think of your home page as the starting point of your website．Like the table of contents of a book or a magazine, the home page is the front door．Your site can have one or more pages, depending on how you design it．

　　While web pages vary greatly in their design and content, most use a traditional magazine layout(版面设计)．At the top of the page is a banner(大标题)GRAPHIC．Next comes a greeting and a short description of the site．Pictures, texts, and links to other websites follow．

　　Before you start building your site, do some plans．Think about whom the site is for and what you want to say．Next, gather up the material that you want to put on the site．Draw a rough layout on a sheet of paper．

　　While there are no rules you have to follow, there are a few things to keep in mind：

　　If you are too ambitious(雄心勃勃的)at the beginning, you may never get the site off the ground．You can always add to your site．

　　Most people don’t like to read a lot of text online．Break it into small pieces．

　　Most people connect to the Internet with a modem(调制解调器)．Since it can take a long time to download large image files, keep the file sizes small．

　　Don’t put any material on your site unless you are sure you can do it legally(合法地)．Learn the Net’s Copyright Article for more about this．

　　Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start building．Learning the Net Communities provides tools to help you build your site．

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　　No one can believe that the over 6300-kilometer Great Wall might disappear some day．Believe it or not, the Great Wall is being destroyed by people．Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty, is still perfect, but about 80 percent is in danger．The Great Wall can be called “great” mostly because of its amazing length．But we should realize that the length was made up of one brick at a time．If we do nothing to save the Great Wall, it will become a series of separate wasteland rather than a historic site．

　　The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2000 years．It began in the rule of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty(221 BC-206 BC),and lasted into the Ming Dynasty．The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared．People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu, because they have been open to tourists for many years．But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten．

　　Few local people knew the 3-metre-high walls made of earth and stones beside them are part of the Great Wall．The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind human．

　　The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses, sheep corrals and pigsties．Some were taken away to build roads．Bricks carved with people’s names are put away as remembrances．Rubbish is spread over the battlements．The bricks can be sold for 15 yuan per tractor load．Those who destroyed and are destroying the Wall know its name, but are not clear about its cultural meaning．It will take a long time to let them know this．The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Wall but also dug out the entire base．

　　It is necessary to protect the Great Wall．First of all, the officials should be aware of the importance of the Great Wall．Young Chinese should know more about the nation’s great civilization and learn to love it．

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　　Material culture refers to the touchable, material “things”－physical objects that can be seen, held, felt, used－that a culture produce．Examining a culture’s tools and technology can tell us about the group’s history and the way of life．Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the music-culture．The most vivid body of “things” in it, of course, are musical instruments．We cannot hear for ourselves the actual sound of any musical performance before the 1870s when the phonograph was invented, so we depend on instruments for important information about music-cultures in the remote(faraway in time)past and their development．Here we have two kinds of evidence：instruments well-kept and instruments pictured in art．Through the study of instruments, as well as paintings, written documents, and so on, we can explore the movement of music from the Near East to China over a thousand years ago, or we can outline the spread of Near Eastern effect to Europe that resulted in the development of most of the instruments in the symphony orchestra．

　　Sheet music or printed music, too, is material culture．Scholars once defined folk music-cultures as those in which people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research shows each other’s influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain and America．Printed versions limit variety because they are likely to standardize any song, yet they encourage and force people to make new and different songs．Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on musicians and, when it becomes widespread, on the music-culture as a whole．

　　One more important part of music’s material culture should be singled out：the effect of the electronic media-radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and video cassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments．This is all part of the “information revolution”, a twentieth-century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth．These electronic media are not just limited to modern nations; they have affected music-cultures all over the world．

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　　Some building designers are thinking about building whole cities under glass domes(圆顶)in the desert．Of course, those heating and cooling systems(系统)will be necessary to control the climate in the domes．However, there will never be any rain or snow, and temperature will always be comfortable．

　　Perhaps everyone will live in high vertical(垂直)cities that are so large that they can contain all the necessities of life．Since vertical cities will use less land than horizontal(水平的)cities, and provide homes for people, they will be practical for small countries that have large population．

　　Another idea that will be helpful to small countries and island countries is the floating city．Monaco has already built homes, stores, and offices on the water of the Mediterranean Sea．And a Japanese designer has suggested a plan for constructing buildings on bridges over Tokyo Bay．

　　There are some people who think we will go back to living in caves．But the caves of future will be very different from the caves of the Stone Age．Computers will control light and climate．Farms and parks will be on the land over the cave city．When people want to go to the country or a park, a short ride in a lift will take them there．

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As a young man, Walt Disney was eager to be an artist．One day he took along some of his pictures and went to a newspaper office in order to find a job there．But they showed no interest in his pictures．His friends tried to encourage him．Disney did not lose heart．He kept on drawing pictures．His family was poor and he used to sit in the family garage and drew pictures there．One day a mouse came into the garage and played on the floor．Disney stopped drawing and watched the mouse．The mouse came towards him, so he gave it a piece of bread．Then the mouse came and sat on the table．Day after day the mouse came back and was given more bread．In this way, the artist and the mouse became good friends．