As the basic building materials of communication, words communicate meaning, but as we have seen, the meanings of words are very much influenced by culture．Meaning is in the person, not in the word, as each person is the prodect of a particular culture that passes on shared and appropriate meanings．Thus, if we want to learn to communicate well in a foreign language, we must understand the culture that gives that language meaning．Culture gives meaning and provides the context for communication, and the ability to communicate allows us to act out our cultural values and to share our language and our culture．

　　But our own native language and culture are so much a part of us that we take them for granted．When we travel to another country, it’s as if we carry along with our passports, we view the new environment using our own culture as the standard, and although unintentional, our ways of thinking and acting often get in the way of our understanding other languages and cultures．The ability and willingness to change lenses(视角)when we look at a different culture is both the cure and the prevention for such cultural blindness．Studying a new language provides the opportunity to practices changing lenses when we also learn the context or the culture to which it belongs．

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　　It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible．Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel．It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter．

　　Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense．It takes the most cool–headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving．On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting．A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic conditions．But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough．Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it．

　　However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous．Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time．The same goes for encouraging old ladies to dross the road wherever and whenever they want to．It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies．

　　An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings．Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let along master the roadmanship．Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give–and–take from all road users．It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart．

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　　As China develops, the Internet’s presence is inescapable(不可避免的)．But some get addicted to the Internet．13–year old Xiao Yi paid the high price for his trouble．He rode an elevator to the top of a 24–storey building and then jumped to his death．His suicide note explained he wanted to enter another life to meet the characters from the online games he played constantly, sometimes days in a row．“He had a kind of fixation．”Xiao Yi’s father says,“He threw himself into ad imaginary world．”

　　Internet addiction got attention in China when stories such as Xiao Yi’s popped up in China state–run press．Internet addicts died from exhaustion after spending days online or murdered others in search of virtual(虚幻的)possessions．Public anger over these incidents spurred the opening of China’s first Internet addiction treatment center．

　　The clinic’s treatment might seem cruel．But it’s a popular choice for worried parents．

　　“Ever since our door’s opened, every bed has been full．”Says the center’s director．20 at a time come for medical treatment and counseling．They are also kept busy with activities, designed to take their attention away from the attraction of computers．

　　“I’m confident this will work or I wouldn’t have come here,”explains this college student．Critics aren’t so sure．Some argue the government is exaggerating concerns about Internet addiction as an excuse to ban Internet cafes and game sites．But for China’s estimated 2 million Internet addicts, the temptation of the wired would is a real problem．

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　　If parents bring up a child with the aim of turning the child into a genius(天才), they will cause great damage to him．A ccording to several leading educational psychologists, this is one of the biggest mistakes which some parents make．Generally, the child will understand very well what the parents expect, and will fail．Unrealistic parents’ expectations can cause great damage to children．

　　However, if parents are not unrealistic about what they expect their children to do, but are hopeful in a sensible way, the child may succeed in doing very well–especially if the parents are very supportive to their children．

　　Michael Li is very lucky．He is very fond of music and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and arranging private piano and violin lessons for him．They even drive him 50 kilometers twice a week for violin lessons．Although Michael’s mother knows very little about music．Michael’s father plays the trumpet(小号)in a large orchestra．However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling．

　　Michael’s friend, Wiston Chen, however, is not so lucky．Although both his parents are successful musicians, they set too high a standard for Wiston．They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him in every piano competition held．They are very unhappy when he doesn’t win．“When I was at your age, I used to win every competition I entered．”Wiston’s father tells him．Wiston is always afraid that he will disappoint his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy．

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　　The high noise of modern life may affect speech and language development in the very young, according to a study that found the auditory(听觉的)parts of the brains of young mice are slower to organize properly in the presence of continuous sounds．

　　Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, reared a group of rats in an environment of continuous background noise and found that their brain circuits that receive and interpret(解释)sound did not develop at the same rate as animals that were raised in a quieter environment．

　　Edward F.Chang and Michael Merzenich, co-authors of the study appearing in the journal Science, said that the continuous noise delayed the organization of auditory neurons(神经细胞)during a critical two-to-three-week period after the rat pups were born．

　　For rats not exposed to the noise, the auditory cortex(皮层)neurons during this period gathered into a smaller area and began developing a selective response to sounds．

　　But for the noise-exposed rats, this organization was slowed, causing a delay in the development of the ability to discriminate(辨别)specific sound tones．The researchers said it took three or four times longer for the rats raised in a noisy environment to reach the basic bench marks(基准)of auditory development seen in the rat pups not exposed to noises．

　　Although the rat is not a perfect model for what happens in humans, the authors note, the study does suggest that high levels of noise might possibly affect some language learning in babies．

　　“These findings suggest that environmental noise, which is commonly preasent in contemporary child-rearing environments, can potentially contribute to auditory and language－related development delays,”the authors wrote in Science．

　　The authors noted that although the brain development was delayed in rats exposed to the noise, their brains did eventually mature(成熟的)normally．

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　　Although the women’s rights movement in the United States in thought of as a recent development, its beinnings date back over one hundred and seventy years．At that time women were dependents in the eyes of the law, and they did not have the rights of adults．A woman had no property rights, even over what she had got it from her mother or father or over any wages that she earned．Decisions about family matters and about the children were made by her husband, the“head of the family”．

　　The first public protests against the low position of women were made in the 1830’s．In 1848 the leaders of this movement(some of whom were antislavery activities as well) assembled the first Women’s Rights Convention, demanding equality．In this struggle as well as in the long, hard fight for women’s vote, those who took part in the activities were laughed at and insulted．They were said to be immoral, and their ideas were considered dangerous to society．

　　Nevertheless by 1900 women had won the right to vote in several states; and in 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted them the right to vote throughout the United States．By the time many women were attending college, and increasing numbers were entering professions which had before been forbidden to women．A little number of women even held high academic and government positions．In spie of all this progress,“career women”were largely restricted(受限制)teaching, nursing, and office work．

　　The women’s Liberation movement, which developed during the 1960’s, has focused on economic rights such as“equal pay for equal work”．In addition some groups have stressed psychological and social equality．The main purpose of Women’s Liberation to free women from the restricted role which society has given to them．It seeks to enable them to choose between a career and the home－or to choose the two．it claims that society as a whole would benefit if every person were allowed to develop his or her abilities and use them to the full．Women’s Liberation believes that the statement in the United States Declaration of Independence,“all men are created equal”realy means．“all human beings are created equal”．

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　　Catherine Destivelle is rock star．She loves rock, but she can’t sing or play the guitar!She is a rock climber and a big star in France and Italy．She is the most famous woman climber in the world because she climbs without ropes．She climbs in many countries but most often in the French Alps near Chamonix, where she lives．She started climbing near her home in Paris when she was five．Then, at fourteen, she joined the French Alpine Club to learn more, but immediately she climbed better and more quickly than the older members of the club．She won her first competition in Italy in 1995．

　　Three years ago she found a new route up the Dru Moun-tain near Chamonix．The climb took eleven days and for four days the snow was so heavry that she could not move．Last year other climbers tried to follow the new Destivelle Route, but they failed．They are going to try again this year．

　　People always ask her about her climbing．She says,“I climb because I’m in love with mountains．I like touching the rock and reading the face of the rock．I like it a lot．I felt at home on the side of a mountain．I prepare well before I go, so I’m never worried．”

　　Catherine chooses new mountain from books-like buying from a shopping catalogue(目录)!“I see a nice mountains and I go to climb it!”Her next mountain is in Pakistan．She is going there next mounth：“It’s much bigger than the Dru, so it’s going to take longer to climb．An American climber, Jeff Lowe, is coming with me to help．”

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　　If you go to Brisbane, Australia, you can easily get a small book called“Discover Brisbane”free．The book tells you almost everything in Brisbane：the restaurants, the shops, the cinemas, the streets, the buses, the trains, the bank, etc．Here is something about banks on page 49：

　　ANZ Banking Group

　　Cnr, Greek & Queen Sts　　　　　228 3228

　　Bank of New Zealand

　　410 Queen Street　　　　　　　　221 0411

　　Bank of Queensland

　　229 Elizabeth Street　　　　　　　229 3122

　　Commonwealth Banking Group

　　240 Queen Street　　　　　　　　237 3111

　　National Australia Bank Ltd

　　Westpac Banking Corp

　　260 Queen Streen　　　　　　　　227 2666

　　Banking Hours are Mon-Thurs 9∶30 am to 4 pm．

　　Fri.9∶30 am to 5pm．All banks close Sat．&Public Holidays．

　　Australia a decimal currency with 100 cents to the Dollar．

　　Notes available are：$100, $50, $20, $10, $5．

　　Gold conis are：$2 &$ 1．

　　Silver coins are：50, 20, 10&5．

　　Copper coins are：2&1 cent．

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　　BEIJING－Beijing is to spend up to us $20 billion to change the Chinese capital into a 21th century one for the 2008 Olympics．

　　The government managed to host the 2008 games．The general aim is for Beijing to have the same environmental standards as Paris, London or Washington by 2008．

　　Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to pipe natural gas to the city’s home, taking away dirty coal buring gradually while 60, 000 buses will be changed to liquefied(液化的)gas．

　　The money also will be used for relocating the polluting factories and building green belts．By 2008 around 90 percent of Beijing’s waste will be treated, compared to only 40 percent at present．

　　Olympic officials have already announced that around 50 large projects are being dealt with to improve traffic congestion and cut down pollution．They include construction of Beijing’s first light railway, a 40.5-kilometer line which is expected to be completed in 2005．

　　Beijing, besides, plans to build an 82.25-kilometer-long subway to add to the existing 53 kilometres．Nine major roads will be rebuilt or widened．

　　Beijing also plans to build a 70-meter-wide green belt aong the waterways to protect water quality as well as increase the green areas．

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　　Turning on the TV, a wonderful scene comes to your eyes－a group of men, tall, strong and handsome, and women, young, beautiful and attractive, too．Together they eat in the finest restaurants, traveling everywhere around the world by luxurious(豪华的)planes and pleasure ships．They are models．

　　Do you envy them?What sort of life are models leading?Is it a wonderful life for a young lady or a young man?

　　A few models are well-known actors or actresses who can make a lot of money only by showing themselves off in commercials．But the majority of them are just curious to see what it is like．They’d like to be models just because they are attracted by what they imagine－models earn a lot of money and lead a glorious life．This is true for those who are very successful．However, most models find it difficult to get work．Very few can earn enough to live on, and for all models their expenses are high．Their agents claim about 20％of the earnings, and no model will get very far without a clever agent．Besides, they have to buy good clothing．They also have to pay to travel to interviews and reach the places where the work is to be done．

　　Interviews for a model job are known as cattle－markets in the modeling world, and not without a good reason．A top model can choose his or her work, demand and receive high fees told has his or her expenses paid．But for most models, the situation is quite different．An agent or employer inspects each model much as a farmer inspects cattle at a market．Intelligence qualifications and personal characteristics count for little(无足轻重)against good looks and tight figures．For all except the very few lucky ones, the life of a model is a continual search for work, trying to sell himself or herself in the face of fierce competition and, sometimes, not particularly moral standards on the part of some employers．

　　Immigration officials at airport look suspiciously at a girl whose passport shows her occupation as“Model”, and these are men and women of considerable experience of the world．It comes no surprise to find that some models prefer to put“Secretary”or“Businessman”as their jobs in their passports．

　　Modeling is a changeable world with great rewards for a tiny minority but not for the majority．

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