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　　Long before the white man came to America, the land belonged to the American Indian nations．The nation of the Cherokees lived in what is now the southeastern part of the United States．After the white man came, the Cherokees copied many of their ways．One Cherokee named Sequoyah saw how important reading and writing was to the white man．He decided to invent a way to write down the spoken Cherokee language．He began by making word pictures．For each word he drew a picture．But that proved impossible-there were just too many words．Then he took the 85 sounds that made up the language．Using his own imagination and an English spelling book, Sequoyah invented a sign for each sound．His alphabet proved amazingly easy to learn．Before long, many Cherokees knew how to read and write in their own language．By 1828, they were even printing their own newspaper．

　　In 1830, the U．S．Congress passed a law．It allowed the government to remove Indians from their lands．The Cherokees refused to go．They had lived on their lands for centuries．It belonged to them．Why should they go to a strange land far beyond the Mississippi River?

　　The army was sent to drive the Cherokees out．Soldiers surrounded their villages and marched them at gunpoint into the western territory．The sick, the old and the small children went in carts, along with their belongings．The rest of the people marched on foot or rode on horseback．It was November, yet many of them still wore their summer clothes．Cold and hungry, the Cherokees were quickly exhausted by the hardships of the journey．Many dropped dead and were buried by the roadside．When the last group arrived in their new home in March 1839, more than 4,000 had died．It was indeed a march of death．

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　　Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in Bangladesh．The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21．Hundreds more are missing or feared dead．

　　The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhakfi as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country．The government has since banned all ferries and other boats from traveling at night during the April-May stormy season．One of the ferries，MV Mitali，was carrying far more people than it was supposed to．About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300，police said．The second ferry carried about 100 passengers．

　　“The number of deaths is certain to rise．”said an official in charge of the rescue work．“No one really knows how many people were on board the ferry or how many of them survived．”Ferries in Bangladesh don’t always keep passenger lists，making it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board．Besides the ferry accidents，at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes．falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats．Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh，as are boating accidents．Ferry disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people．Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of safety measures, too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions．Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh．It is a country covered by about 230 rivers．Some 20,000 ferries use the nation’s Waterways every year．And many of them are dangerously overcrowded．Since 1977, more than 3,000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents．

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　　Anti-bird flu contingency(意外事故)measures, including a proposal to separate poultry from humans and a series of traffic and logistics(后勤)measures will be discussed at the Legislative Council’s Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene Panel meeting next month．Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Dr York Chow says the contingency plan would come into force if an outbreak occurred near Hong Kong．

　　Speaking on a radio talk show this morning．Dr Chow said the separation of poultry from humans policy, which will be determined after a decision whether to set up a central slaughtering(屠宰)house or several regional ones, would be based on the demand for live chickens．

　　He pointed out that at present there were 30,000 live chickens imported from the Mainland and 30,000 supplied locally．If this demand persisted, there would be no central slaughtering house or wholesale point that could handle such an amount and regional slaughtering houses could be the choice．

　　He added that building of regional slaughtering houses took time, but stressed the need to study the views of the public and the sector before a final decision was made．

　　Regarding avian flu vaccination(种痘)for humans, Dr Chow said it was still being developed．He added that it may not be reliable in the case of an outbreak as records show vaccination can only offer 5% protection against a virus．

　　He said Hong Kong had more experience and expertise than neighbouring territories in the fight against viral outbreaks, and was willing to offer them help．He added there was no“boundary”for infectious diseases and close cooperation among different countries had to be maintained to fight against a possible outbreak．

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　　Institutional construction is needed to guarantee public participation in environmental protection, says a commentary in Dazhong Daily．An excerpt follows．

　　The State Environment Protection Administration(SEPA)last week released a set of guidelines on public participation in environmental impact(影响)assessment, encouraging direct involvement from the general public in the country’s environmental affairs．

　　This is the first official document on public involvement in the environmental sector, which will make government decisions in the sector more transparent and democratic．Last year, a series of environment issues plunged SEPA into an administrative accountability(问责)storm．The issues include a construction project that could lead to an ecological disaster in the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, water pollution in the Songhua Rive and disputes over the construction of a dam on the Nujing River．Then came the“environment impact assessment storm,”which showed the efforts made by the government in this aspect．

　　Although there are some articles on public involvement in the Environment Impact Assessment Law, they are very ambiguous and not practical．The temporary measures give specific arrangement procedures．It gives recognition and respect to the public rights to environment participation, and also shows the government’s open mind for better environment participation．But such a right of participation is still partial in the assessment stage．There is still a lack of arrangements in the policy-making and law-enforcement phases．

　　In a modern society, every citizen has a right to live in a good environment．Citizens should be able to participate based on their rights t know．Marking such temporary measures is a good way to realize citizens'right to participate．But more should be included, such as citizens'rights to participate in law-making, policy-making and law-enforcement．There should be an open mechanism to provide environment information, and a democratic system encouraging the public to participate in decision-making concerning the environment．

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　　Happy birthday!Do birthday really make people happy?Of course they do．Birthday celebrate the day when we were born．Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggest another year of growth and maturity(成熟)-or so we hope．We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older．Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well．For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud．For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process．But growing old?That is a different story．

　　Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented(以年轻人为中心)American culture．Most Americans like to look young, act young and feel young．As the old saying goes, “You’re young as you feel．”Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather than how many years old．People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom．But Americans seem to favor those that are young, or at least“young at heart”．

　　Many older Americans find the“golden years”to be anything but golden．Economically,“senior citizens”often struggle just to get by．Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income．Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference．Older people may suffer from poor nutrition, medical care, and housing．Some even experience age discrimination(歧视)．American sociologist Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets．She was often treated rudely-even cheated and robbed．However, dressed as a young person, she received much more respect．

　　Unfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fast．Why?People are living longer．Fewer babies are being born．And middle-aged“baby boomers”are rapidly entering the group of the elderly．America may soon be a place where wrinkles(皱纹)are“in”．Marketing experts are ready noticing this growing group of consumer．

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　　Thousands of people began pouring into Pennsylvania from other states．They wanted to buy lottery tickets．The tickets cost only $0.9 each．But that small spending could bring them a reward of $90 million．That was the second largest lottery jackpot(积累奖金)in history．

　　More than 87 million tickets were bought for the Pennsylvania lottery drawing．Those who bought tickets had to choose seven numbers from 1 to 80．The chance of winning was one in 9.6 million．But that little chance certainly didn’t affect ticket sales．In the last few days before the drawing, tickets were selling at the unbelievable rate of 500 per second．

　　Experts say many people buy lottery tickets because they just want to have a piece of the action．Others say the lottery is a stock market for poor people．It allows them to dream about wealth they’ll probably never have．

　　But many people believe lotteries are no better than legalized(合法化的)gambling．Some critics note that most people who play are poor and may not be able to afford the tickets．There are also many addicts who take the game seriously．They may pour their life savings into lottery tickets．Some clubs have been formed to help them kick the habit．

　　Politicians like lotteries because they provide money that would otherwise have to come from new taxes．The profits from lotteries are usually used to pay for education or programs for senior citizens．But critics say this arrangement just allows states to legalize vice(恶习), under the name of social progress．No matter whether you regard state lotteries right or not, you cannot refuse to accept their extreme popularity with many Americans．

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　　Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, the Five Friendlies will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace-and blessings from China-to children all over the world．

　　Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, the Five Friendlies also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals-the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow-and the Olympic Flame．

　　Each of the Friendlies has a rhyming two-syllable name-a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China．Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow．

　　When you put their names together-BeiJing Huan Ying Ni-they say “Welcome to Beijing,”offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of the Five Friendlies as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games．

　　The Five Friendlies also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China．In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature-the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky-all stylistic rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation．

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　　In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life．Now this is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters who have never been close by during of the birth a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member．

　　Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes．When they get sick, we send them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit terminally(晚期的)in patients-even when those patients are their parents．This deprives(剥夺)the dying patient of family members during the last few days of his life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience．

　　Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed about 500 terminally in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit, not just to them but to the members of their families as well．We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential(潜在的)outcome．

　　It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients'communication in order to truly understand their needs, fears and fantasies(幻想)．Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly, and frankly about their trouble．Many of them shared with us their great need to be informed, to be kept up-to-date on their medical condition and to be told when the end was near．We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to cope with the coming of detach and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance before death．

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　　In October, 1961, at Crowley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, an old, deaf gentleman named William E, Hoy stood up to throw the first ball of the World Series, Most people at Crowley Field on that day probably did not remember Hoy because he had retired(退休)from professional baseball 58 years earlier, in 1903．However, he had been an outstanding palyer and the deaf people still talk about him and his years in baseball．

　　William E．Hoy was born in Houckstown, Ohio, on May 23, 1862．He became deaf when he was two years old．He attended the Columbus Ohio School for the deaf．After graduation, he started playing baseball while working as a shoemaker．

　　Hoy began playing professional baseball in 1886 for Oshcosh(Wisconsin)of the Northwestern League, In 1888, he started as an outfielder(外场手)with the old Washington Senators．His small figure and speed made him an outstanding base runner．He was very good at stealing bases during his career．In the 1888 major league season, he stole 82 bases．He was also the Senator’s leaded．On June 19, 1889, he threw out three batters(击球手)at the plate from his outfield position．

　　The arm signals used by judges today to show balls and strikes began because of Hoy．The judge lifted his right arm to signal that it was a ball．

　　For many years, people talked about Hoy’s last ball game in 1903．He was playing for Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast Winter League．It was a memorable game because Hoy made a wonderful play which won the game．It was a very foggy night and, therefore, very hard to see the ball．In the ninth inning(棒球的一局), with two men out, Hoy managed to catch a fly ball to make the third out in spite of the fog．Los Angeles defeated their opposition and won the game．

　　After he retired．Hoy stayed busy．He ran a dairy farm near Cincinnati for 20 years．He also became a public speaker and traveled giving speeches．Until a few years before his death, he took 4 and 10 mile walks several mornings a week．On December 15, 1961, William Hoy died at the age of 99．

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　　Sport not only is physically challenging, but it can also be mentally challenging．Criticism(批评)from coaches, parents, and other teammates, as well as pressure to win can create an excessive(过度的)amount of anxiety or stress for young athletes．Stress can be physical, emotional(情感的), or psychological(心理的), and research has indicated that it can lead to burnout．Burnout has been described as dropping or quitting of an activity that was at one time enjoyable．

　　The early years of development are critical years for learning about oneself．The sport setting is one where valuable experiences can take place．Young athletes can, for example, learn how to work together with others, make friends, and gain other social skills that will be used throughout their lives．Coaches and parents should be aware, at all times, that their feedback to youngsters can greatly affect their children．Youngsters may take their parent's and coaches’criticisms to heart and find a flaw(缺陷)in themselves．

　　Coaches and parents, should also be careful that youth sport participation(参与)doesn't become the work for children．The outcome of the game should not be more important than the process of learning the sport and other life lessons．In today’s youth sport setting, young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves and the sport．Following a game, many parents and coaches direct their attention on the outcome and find fault with young people’s performances．Research indicates that positive(主动的)reinforcement(加强)motivates and has a greater effect on learning than criticism．Again criticism can create high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout．

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