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　　A thief who dropped a winning lottery ticket (彩票) at the scene of his crime has been given a lesson in honesty．His victim, who picked up the ticket, then claimed the ￡25000 prize, managed to trace him, and handed over the cash．The robbery happened when maths professor Vinicio Sabbatucci, 58, was changing a tyre on an Italian motorway．Another motorist, who stopped to “to help”, stole a suitcase from his car and drove off．The professor found the dropped ticket and put it in his pocket before driving home to Ascoli in eastern Italy．

　　Next day, he saw the lottery results on TV and, taking out the ticket, realized it was a winner．He claimed the 60 million lire (里拉) prize．Then he began a battle with his conscience．Finally, he decided he could not keep the money despite having been robbed．He advertised in newspapers and on radio, saying: “I’m trying to find the man who robbed me．I have 60 million lire for him ―― a lottery win．Please meet me．Anonymity (匿名) guaranteed．”

　　Professor Sabbatucci received hundreds of calls from people hoping to trick him into handing them the cash．But there was one voice he recognized ―― and he arranged to meet the man in a park．The robber, a 35 - year - old unemployed father of two, gave back the suitcase and burst into tears．He could not believe what was happening．“Why didn’t you keep the money?” He asked．The professor replied: “ I couldn’t because it’s not mine．” Then he walked off, spurning the thief’s offer of a reward．

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　　Pulling heavy suitcases all day in the summer is hard work, especially when you’re a thin 14 - year - old．That was me in 1940 － the youngest and smallest baggage boy at New York City’s Pennsylvania Railway Station．

　　After just a few days on the job, I began noticing that the other fellows were overcharging passengers．I’d like to join them, thinking, “Everyone else is doing it．”

　　When I got home that night, I told my dad what I wanted to do．“You give an honest day’s work,” he said, looking at me straight in the eye．“They’re paying you．If they want to do that, you let them do that．”

　　I followed my dad's advice for the rest of that summer and have lived by his words ever since．

　　Of all the jobs I've had, it was my experience at Pennsylvania Railway Station that has stuck with me．Now I teach my players to have respect for other people and their possessions．Being a member of a team is a totally shared experience．If one person steals, it destroys trust and hurts everyone．I can put up with many things, but not with people who steal．If one of my players were caught stealing, he'd be gone．

　　Whether you’re on a sports team, in an office or a member of a family, if you can’t trust one another, there’s going to be trouble．

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　　Shopping is not as simple as you may think! There are all sorts of tricks at play each time we reach out for that particular brand (品牌) of product on the shelf．

　　Colouring, for example, varies according to what the producers are trying to sell．Health foods are packaged (包装) in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colours．Ice cream packets are often blue and expensive goods, like chocolates, are gold or silver．

　　When some kind of painkiller was brought out recently, researchers found that the colours turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective．Eventually, it came on the market in a dark blue and white package－blue because we think of it as safe, and white as calm．

　　The size of a product can attract a shopper．But quite often a bottle doesn’t contain as much as it appears to．

　　It is believed that the better - known companies spend, on average, 70 per cent of the total cost of the product itself on packaging!

　　The most successful producers know that it’s not enough to have a good product．The founder of Pears soap, who for 25 years has used pretty little girls to promote (推销) their goods, came to the conclusion: “Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius (天才) to sell it．”

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　　Increasingly, Americans are becoming their own doctors, by going online to diagnose their symptoms(症状), order home health tests or medical devices, or even self-treat their illnesses with drugs from Internet pharmacies(药店)．Some avoid doctors because of the high cost of medical care, especially if they lack health insurance．Or they may stay because they find it embarrassing to discuss their weight, alcohol consumption(消费) or couch potato habits．Patients may also fear what they might learn about their health, or they distrust physicians because of negative experiences in the past．But playing doctor can also be a deadly game．

　　Every day, more than six million Americans turn to the Internet for medical answers-most of them aren't nearly doubtful enough about what they find．A 2002 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 72 percent of those surveyed believe all or most of what they read on health websites．They shouldn't．Look up“headache”, and the chances of finding reliable and complete information, free from a motivation for commercial gain, are only one in ten, reports an April 2005 Brown Medical School study．Of the 169 websites the researchers rated, only 16 scored as“high quality”．Recent studies found faulty facts about all sorts of other disorders, causing one research team to warn that a large amount of incomplete, inaccurate and even dangerous information exists on the Internet．

　　The problem is most people don't know the safe way to surf the Web．“They use a search engine like Google, get 18 trillion choices and start clicking．But that's risky, because almost anybody can put up a site that looks authoritative(权威的), so it'd hard to know if what you're reading is reasonable or not,”says Dr．Sarah Bass from the National Cancer Institute．

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　　Since my retirement from teaching music in 2001, I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist．I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my father died, so perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father, or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him．In any case, I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes(风景画) much influenced by Krenkel and St．John for five years．

　　For some strange reason, I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolors again, but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth, who quickly became my favorite artist．I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolors to be the closest to how I thought good watercolors should look．So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting．However, watercolors remained my first choice, and I think I did my best work there, showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions．

　　Art is now together with my piano playing and reading．There is a time for everything in my world, and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do．As Confucious once said,“At seventy I can follow my heart's desire．”

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　　The flag, the most common symbol of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient．With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country．

　　The national flag as we know today is in no way a primitive(原始的)artifact．It is, rather, the product of thousands of years'development．Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction．

　　Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats．Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers．People's food supplies were similarly vulnerable．Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests．Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another．

　　Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire．The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable．Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems(图腾) before carrying them into battle．They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves．

　　These flags developed very slowly into modern flags．The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked：The king of China around 1000 B．

C．was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him．This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe, where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag．

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Tragedy at the Circus

　　In yesterday's circus(马戏团)show, a tiger suddenly attacked its trainer and had to be shot dead．As the circus packed up and left, circus officials said the show would go on, even without tigers．However, the officials can't simply turn a blind eye to the ethical(道德的) problems left behind．Even before this tragedy, animal rights activists protested against keeping wild animals in unnatural conditions and forcing them to suffer for the profit(利润)of circus organizers．

　　It is now time for us to take effective steps to make sure that circus animals are treated properly．

Circus Safe for Animals

　　Our circus recently suffered a most tragic event in its history．While we are thankful for the pity from the public, we are also astonished by the opinion expressed in“Tragedy at the Circus．”

　　First, our performing animals are not taken from the wild．As to the ethical problems, we always believe humans and animals can-and should-live together nicely．To us, the performing animals are representatives of their species, and our circus is one of the only places left willing to support this special role of performing animals in the existence of the species．Those who argue that circus life is harmful to animals show little knowledge of these facts．Life in the“wild”is unsafe, but a continuous struggle for existence．To overlook these realities is the greatest fault against the animal kingdom．

　　This circus has proven that animals are stronger and smarter than we could imagine．Within the circus is a joyful atmosphere for both animals and humans：people are educated, and species saved．

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　　When a storm is coming, most people leave the area as quickly as possible and head for safety．But there are a few people who will get into their cars and go straight for the center of the storm．These people are willing to risk being killed by floods or 100-kilometer-an-hour winds for the excitement of watching the storm close up．

　　“Storm chasing(追逐)”is becoming an increasingly popular hobby in the Midwest of the United States, where there are frequent storms between March and July．A storm chaser begins the day by checking the Internet for the latest weather reports, and then drives up to 1,000 kilometers to where the storm will be and waits for it to develop．

　　Although anyone can do it, storm chasing is extremely dangerous．The power of a big storm can throw a cow into the air or destroy a whole house in seconds．Storm chasers are also often hurt in accidents caused by driving in a heavy rain．If you are a beginner, it is much safer to join a group for storm-chasing vacations during the storm season．

　　Even then, storm chasing is not all adventure and excitement．“Storm chasing is 95% driving,”says Daniel Lynch, who spends most of his summer storm-chasing．“Sometimes you can sit around for hours waiting for something to happen, and all you get is blue sky and a few light showers．”

　　However, for storm chasers, it is all worth it．“When you get close to a storm, it is the most exciting sight you will ever see in your life,”says Jasper Morley．“Every storm is an example of the power of nature．It is the greatest show on Earth．”

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　　Mother was born in 1887．By the time she was 13, seven more children filled the family’s New York City apartment, and she went to work as a department store messenger girl．The job paid three dollars for a 48-hour week．She walked two miles back and forth each day to save the five-cent bus-fare, and at night went to secondary school and later a city university．Eventually she worked her way up to buyer．

　　She and my father got married when they were nearly 40．A few years after their marriage, my parents fulfilled their dream of owning a home．To Mother, Buckingham Palace, the Venice canals and Shangri-La were all wrapped up in that six-room brick house in the Bronx．Then the Depression set in．Father’s pub began to lose money, their savings declined to nothing．Daddy had to let the assistants go and began working 20-hour days and one morning in 1936 he didn’t wake up．Mother was left with three children and a mortgage(抵押贷款)．

　　Mother bore her grief and carried on．It was impossible to get a job in those times, so Mother came up a solution．A sign,“Furnished Rooms”, was tacked onto the door, beginning a parade of people into our lives for the next five years．

　　One I remember fell two weeks behind in his rent and tried to tiptoe(踮着脚走)out at dawn．Unfortunately for him, Mother, who was always rearranging things, had moved the furniture the night before, and he tripped over a repositioned lamp．Mother rushed out to find him sprawled on the floor．“If you didn’t have the money, you should have told me,”she said．“God knows, I can understand that．”He left with two dollars pressed into his hand．”

　　All those things happened long ago but they are always fresh in my mind．And Mother is always in my heart．

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