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　　Many visitors to the United States find that the fast pace at which people move is very troubling．One’s first impression is likely to be that everyone is in a rush．City people always seem to be hurrying to get where they are going．And they are very impatient if they are delayed even for a brief moment．

　　At first this may seem unfriendly to you．But drivers will rush you; shopkeepers will be in a hurry as they serve you; people will push past you as they walk along the street．You will miss smiles and brief conversations with people when you shop or dine in a restaurant．Do not think it is because Americans are in such a hurry that they are unfriendly．Life is often much slower outside the big cities, which is true in other countries as well．

　　Americans who live in cities such as New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, often think that everyone is equally in a hurry to get things done．But when they discover that you are a stranger, most Americans become quite kindly and will take great care to help you．Many of them first came to the city as strangers and they remember how frightening a new city can be．If you need help or want to ask a question, choose a friendly looking person and say, ”I’m a stranger here．Can you help me?”Most people will stop, smile at you, and help you find your way or answer your questions．But you must let them know that you need help．Otherwise they are likely to pass you by, not noticing that you are new to the city and in need of help．Occasionally, you may find someone too busy or perhaps too rushed to give you aid．If this happens, do not be discouraged; just ask someone else．

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　　Vegetable may aid the brain

　　A study suggests certain vegetables such as broccoli(花椰菜)and spinach(菠菜)might help older women keep their minds sharp．

　　Researchers have discovered that women in their 60s who eat more green leafy vegetables show less signs of mental decline over time, reported Wednesday’s CRI online．

　　They gave participants a bundle of tests measuring memory, oral ability and attention．The study didn’t include men, but researchers say a similar diet would likely have the same results．

　　Eating fish can cut risk of heart rhythm disorder

　　US scientists have found that eating fish can reduce the risk of deadly heartbeat disorders．They say baked fish can effectively reduce the risk of atria fibrillation(心房纤维性颤抖)among older men and women, reported Tuesday’s CRI online．

　　Researchers say in their 12 years of research among 4,800 people over the age of 65 ,they found those who ate fish one to four times per week had a about 30 percent lower risk compared with those who ate fish less than once a month．They say the pmega-3 fatty acids in fish can reduce the risk of a range of heart disorders and is vital to brain development and function．

　　More than 2 million Americans are affected by atria fibrillation, a chronic(慢性的)condition that causes shortness of breath and an inability to exercise．

　　Red wine may extend life

　　US scientists have found that a mixture that makes red wine a healthy drink may also hold the secret to a longer life．They say antioxidant(抗氧化剂)in wine acted on fruit flies and worms in the same way as a method known to extend the life of many animals, which is by sharply limiting how much they eat．CRIENGLISH．com reported Thursday．

　　Limiting calories has been shown to make animals such as dogs and monkeys live longer, but they are often tired and lose productivity．

　　The researchers will begin testing the mixture in mice, which are considerably closer to humans biologically．

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　　There is no doubt about it．The best way to learn new words is to do it unconsciously．I don’t mean while you’re unconscious．I mean while you are unconscious of the fact that it is sinking in．

　　That is how I learnt the 30,000 words in my vocabulary by living in an English-speaking world, mother tongue．I just pick them up．But some of them may be misunderstood．Now, to misunderstand does not mean not to understand．To misunderstand is to understand but incorrectly．

　　The 5% mislearnt of all the words we“know”will be the least frequently used words, as the more frequently used words are less likely to be mislearnt．Some of the misunderstandings may live with all our lives, without knowing that we got them wrong．

　　Many English teachers think that this natural method of learning words in one’s own mother tongue can be used for a second language learning．They teach their students how to play the Guessing Game．“There is no time to look up in your dictionaries all the new words you come across ,”they will say．“You have to practise guessing what the word means from the context．”

　　This method of guessing in a second language learning does not work．It may succeed in many cases, but results in hundreds or thousands of wrongly-guessed meanings of words．

　　And what’s more, there are more separate meanings than there are words themselves．Our learners’ dictionaries usually have many meanings．A good dictionary is what makes self-learning possible．

　　Don’t guess!Look it up!

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　　Nathaniel Heatwole isn' t a terrorist．He' s a 20-year-old college student who just wanted to make a point about airline security．He aimed to show how easily someone could smuggle(偷带)weapons onto an airplane．

　　In mid-September, Heatwole hid box cutters, bleach(漂白粉), matches, and modeling clay(橡皮泥)that look like plastic explosives in the bathrooms of two Southwest Airlines planes．The items were discovered nearly a month later during airplane maintenance inspections in New Orleans and Houston．

　　In an e-mail to the Transportation Security Administration, Heatwole claimed responsibility for smuggling the item aboard in his carry-on luggage．Heatwole, a student at Guilford College in Greensboro, N．C．, had made his point．Now federal law enforcement authorities have a different point to make．

　　Heatwole was charged on October 20 with smuggling weapons onto a commercial airliner．The crime is a felony(重罪)for which Heatwole could face up to 10 years in prison．Heatwole claims he just wanted the government to improve airline safety．His intentions may have been good．Nevertheless, he broke the law．Now he faces the same penalty(处罚)that a terrorist might．

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　　Hello, children and parents．Thank you all for coaling to this meeting．I' d like to start by confirming that we will receive some money from the government for our school trip to Indonesia．We will receive approximately $ 1,300 per child, which will reduce the overall cost to you．

　　Now that we are sure to get the money, it is time to do some serious planning．We are sure that the trip will be very exciting for the children, especially if they have not traveled overseas before．There are many benefits to having some exposure to different places and cultures．Your children will be able to learn a lot about other people and cultures on this trip．

　　Leanne is with us tonight．Leanne, where are you?Put up your hand, Leanne, so that the people can see who you are．Thank you．Leanne went on the trip last year and will be happy to tell you of her experiences and answer any questions you might have．We will hear from her a bit later in the meeting．

　　We only have five months to organize the trip．From past experience I can tell you that this time will go very quickly!So we need to start organizing the trip．

　　This is the agenda for tonight' s meeting：

　　Passport：when and how to apply for one Schedule：what places we will visit Health matters：what precautions you need to take, plus any special needs that yourchild may have Studying：description of the school and type of lessons your child will attend Money：paying for the trip, plus how much money your child should take Hotel：where we will be staying Clothing and personal items：what your children should take with them Are there any other items that you would like to place on the agenda?

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　　Many students are planning field trips as spring draws near．Fourteen-year-old Zhou Liqun is busy digging holes(洞)along rivers．The girl and her "One Piece of Paper Team" are planting trees to improve the environment．

　　They collect waste paper to sell for trees and have set up websites(网站)to spread the message of connections between humans and nature．"We want to make environmental protection everyone's habit, " says the girl．"Even a piece of paper matters．"

　　Eager to join Zhou in such meaningful work? Now you are offered advice on what to do．Last month, measures for public participation(参与)in environmental protection were published by the State Environmental protection Administration(SEPA，国家环保总局)．the special measures are expected to change the light rain of the past into a storm of environmental protection．

　　Last year's Songhua River pollution acted as an alarm(警报)to Chinese people．According to SEPA officials, environmental pollution has become serious, and will continue so for the next 15 years．

　　A recent survey showed that though most Chinese people care about environmental problems, they don't put their concerns into practice．One reason is that they don't know how．So the newly published measures present information about how to report environmental problems and how to join in the battle against pollution．

　　Actually there is much you can do in daily life．Buy less to reduce waste．Don't throw away things before you have made the most use of them．Use electricity, water and gas only when necessary．Switch them off when you don't need them．

　　Everyone can participate in making the planet suitable for future generations; Why not join in and make our world more fantastic?

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　　People with less education suffer fewer stressful days, according to a report in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior．

　　However, the study also found that when less-educated people did suffer stress it was more severe and had a stronger effect on their health．

　　From this, researchers have concluded that the day-to-day factors that cause stress are regular．Where you are in society determines the kinds of problems that you have each day, and how well you will cope with them．

　　The research team interviewed a national sample of 1,031 adults daily for eight days about their stress level and health．People without a high school diploma(毕业文凭)reported stress on 30 percent of the study days, people with a high school degree reported stress 38 percent of the time, and people with college degrees reported stress 44 percent of the time．

　　‘‘Less advantaged people are less healthy on a daily basis and are more likely to have downward turns in their health．”leading researcher Dr．Joseph Grzywacz of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said in a prepared statement．“The downward turns in health were connected with daily stressors(紧张刺激物), and the effect of daily stressors on their health is much more damaging for the less advantaged．”

　　Grzywacz suggested follow-up research to determine why less-educated people report fewer days of stress when it is known that their stress is more acute and chronic(急性和慢性)．

　　“If something happens every day, maybe it’s not seen as a stressor”Grzywacz says．“Maybe it is just life．”

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　　Do you have any strong opinion on co-educational or single-sex schools?

　　A supporter of co-educational schools would probably say that schools should be like the societies they belong to．In Hong Kong, men and women mix socially on a day-to-day basis．In many fields men are even likely to have female bosses．It is, therefore, desirable that boys and girls grow up together, go to school together, and prepare themselves for a society that does not value sexual separation．

　　Some would go on to argue further that growing up with members of the opposite sex is important for personal development．Regular contact can remove the strange ideas about the opposite sex and lead to more natural relationships．Single-sex conditions are seen as leading to more extreme opinions, and possibly even as encouraging homosexuality(同性恋), though there is no proof that this is the case．

　　Those who are against co-education often also fix their attention on the sexual side．Some parents fear that close contact with members of the opposite sex is dangerous for teenagers．They want their children to be attentive to their studies．Such parents feel un- comfortable with modern ways and the free mixing of the sexes．

　　A stronger argument comes from research into school results．Girls grow up earlier than boys．tend to be more orderly and are likely to be better at languages．In a mixed class, boys who might do well in a single-sex class become discouraged and take on the role of troublemaker．Certainly in the UK this situation has greatly alarmed(惊动)the government for it to be encouraging co-educational schools to have some single-sex classes．In the UK the best schools are all single-sex, strongly suggesting that co-education is not the best answer．This may, however, not be as simple as it looks．It may simply be that the famous old schools that attract the best students happen to be single-sex, rather than that being single-sex makes them better schools．

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　　When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station．When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to fred a place to sleep on the street．But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship(奖学金)and gain entry to Harvard University．And her amazing story has inspired a movie, "Homeless to Harvard：The Liz Murray Story", shown in late April．

　　Liz Murray, a 22, year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination．Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents．There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house．Liz was the only member of the family who had a job．Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old．The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life．Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it．

　　Liz went back to school．She threw herseff into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless．At night, she lived on the streets．"What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being．I had only．experienced a small part of the society．" She wrote in her book Breaking Night．

　　She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on．She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe riving environment, to encourage herself that "next to nothing could hold me down"．She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University．But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS．"I love my parents so much．They are drag addicts．But I never forget that they love me all the time．"

　　Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is "as simple as making a decision"．

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　　Holiday Inns and McDonald’s both saw unmatched growth in the 1960s．their growth opened another direct business operation－franchising(特许经营)．

　　These operations have the same general pattern．The franchisor, the parent company, first establishes a successful retail(零售)business．As it expands, it sees a profit potential in offering others the right to open similar business under its name．The parent company’s methods and means of identification with consumers are included in this right．The parent company supplies skill, and may build and rent stores to franchisees．For these advantages the franchisee pays the franchisor a considerable fee．However, some of the advantages and disadvantages are different．

　　By extending a “proven” marketing method, a parent can profit in several ways．First, the franchisee’s purchase price gives the parent an immediate return on the plan．Then the sale of supplies to the franchisee provides a continuing source of profits．As new businesses are added and the company’s reputation spreads, the value of the franchise increases and sales of franchises become easier．The snowballing effect can be dramatic．Such growth, too, brings into play the economies of scale(规模经济)．Regional or national advertising that might be financially impossible for a franchisor with 20 franchises could be profitable for one with 40．

　　The parent, then, finds immediate gains from the opportunity to expand markets on the basis or reputation alone, without having to put up capital or take the risk of owning retail stores．Added to this advantage is a less obvious but material one．Skilled, responsible retail managers are rare．People who invest their capital in franchises, though, probably come closer to the ideal than do paid managers．In fact, the franchisee is an independent store operator working for the franchisor, but without an independent’s freedom to drop supplies at will．Of course the factory’s costs of selling supplies are less．But also certainly the franchisee buying goods that have had broad consumer acceptance will not casually change supplies, even when the contract permits．If the hamburger is not what the customer expected, they may not return．Having paid for the goodwill, the franchisee won’t thoughtlessly destroy it．

　　Franchising may give you the idea that as a franchisor, you need only relax in the rocking chair．Franchising, however, has problems to be solved．

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