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　　TAIWAN pop star Elva Hsiao(萧亚轩)，27, released her new single “Elva is Back” on October 19．The song will only be released online for paid downloads, with no recorded copies．Her new album will arrive in stores in December．

　　Hsiao continued her contract(合约)with Warner Music after a two-year absence from the pop scene．The singer has recorded 30 songs in the last two years, but none of them were released．

　　HONG Kong actor Andy Lau(刘德华)will star in the film “Three Kingdoms：Resurrection of the Dragon”(《三国之见龙卸甲》)．The movie will be a war story describing the life and achievements of general Zhao Zilong in the Three Kingdoms period．

　　The film will shoot in China from March 2007．

　　BRAZILIAN international striker Kaka, 24, scored a goal and helped AC Milan club beat Anderlecht 1-0 in the Champions League last week．Kaka hoped the win would prove to be a turning point for the Italian side in the season．“This will help us in the Champions League and the Italian championship” he said．

　　Before the Anderlecht match, AC Milan had drawn their previous four matches –three of them in Serie A-and had only scored one goal．

　　CHINA won their first women’s team title at the world gymnastics championships(体操世锦赛)last Wednesday in Denmark．The US came second and Russia won the bronze medal．

　　“I’m very satisfied with the performance and I think the Chinese team is number one．This is the Chinese gymnasts’ best performance,” said He Ning．

　　China’s men’s team also took gold last Tuesday．

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　　Growing up across the street from each other in Twin Falls, Idaho, Lisa Fry and Paula Turner never doubted that their friendship would last forever．But after Fry married, moved to New York City and had a baby, her letters to Turner suddenly went unanswered．“Do you think I’ve somehow offended her?” Fry asked her husband．

　　Turner, meanwhile, had convinced herself she was no longer important to Fry．“She’s got a family now,” she told herself．“We’re just too different to be as close as before．”

　　Finally, Fry picked up courage to call her old friend．At first, the conversation was awkward, yet soon they both admitted that they missed each　other．A month later, they got together and quickly fell into their old habit of laughing and sharing their secrets．

　　“Thank goodness I finally took action,” Fry said．“We both realized we were as important to each other as ever．”

　　There are many good reasons to cherish our friendship．Some years ago, a public-opinion research firm, Roper Starch Worldwide, asked 2,007 people to identify one or two things they cherished most．Friends far outranked homes, jobs, clothes and cars．

　　“A well-established friendship carries a long history of experience and interaction that defines who we are and keeps us connected,” said Donald, the executive officer of the Western Psychological Association．“It is heritage we should protect．”

　　Ironically, Brant R．Burleson, a professor at Chicago University, said, “The better friends you are, the more likely you’ll face conflicts．And the outcome can be exactly what you don’t want-an end to friendship．”

　　However, the good news is that most troubled friendship can be mended．

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　　Life on earth depends on water ,and there is no substitute for it．The current assumption is that our basic needs for water－whether for drinking, agriculture, industry or the raising of fish will always have to be met．Given that premise(前提)，there are two basic routes we can go：more equal access to water or better engineering solutions．

　　Looking at the engineering solution first, a lot of my research concentrates on what happens to wetlands when you build dams in river basins, particularly in Africa．The ecology of such areas is almost entirely driven by the seasonal changes of the river－the pulse of the water．And the fact is that if you build a dam, you generally spoil the downstream ecology．In the past, such problems have been hidden by a lack of information．But in the near future, governments will have no excuse for their ignorance．

　　The engineers’ability to control water flows has created new kinds of unpredictability too．Dams in Africa have meant fewer fish, less grazing and less floodplain(洪泛区)agriculture－none of which were expected．And their average economic life is assumed to be thirty years．Dams don’t exist forever, but what will replace them is not clear．

　　The challenge for the future is to find new means of controlling water．Although GM technology(转基因)will allow us to breed better dry-land crops, there is no market for companies to develop crops suitable for the micro-climates of the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa．Who is going to pay for research on locally appropriate crops in the Third World?

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　　Football is, I believe, the most important game in England：one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this．Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting for one side or the other．

　　To a stranger, one of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have．He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams．He has pictures of them and knows the results of large numbers of matches．He will tell you who he expects will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times his age．

　　Most schools in England take football seriously－much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all that are important, and games are left for the children themselves．In England, it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy’s mind with facts in classroom, it also means the training of character by means of games, especially team games, where they boy or girl has to learn to work with others for the team instead of working for himself alone．The school therefore plans games and matches for its pupils．Football is a good team game; it is good for both the body and the mind．That is why it is every school’s game in England．

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　　Recently a committee of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington released a report．It confirmed that world temperatures increased about six-tenths of a degree Celsius in the last one hundred years．The report also confirmed evidence that the level of carbon dioxide in increasing．

　　The best information about climate in the past comes from tests of ice many kilometers deep in Antarctica and Greenland．These tests show that levels of carbon dioxide today are the highest ever measured．These findings have led scientists to believe that carbon dioxide is a major cause of climate warming．

　　Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when fuel is burned．Oil ,coal and wood are all fuels that release the gas．When biological waste breaks down ,it also releases carbon dioxide．

　　However ,plants use carbon dioxide in the process called photosynthesis．This process provides food for almost all life on Earth．Some groups that support burning oil and coal want to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere．They oppose international efforts to control carbon dioxide．

　　Some scientists believe that forests and trees are able to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air．Some groups even suggest that an increase in carbon dioxide could cause plants to grow faster．

　　A recent study in North Carolina found that more carbon dioxide in the air could cause trees to grow faster．But the researchers found the effect appears to last for only three years．Another study showed that much of the carbon dioxide that is taken in by trees in released within three years．The study noted that leaves released carbon dioxide when they fall from trees and break down in the soil．Plants also naturally release carbon dioxide through the process of respiration．

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　　Expanded use of computer technology ,development of stronger and lighter materials ,and research on pollution control will produce better, “smarter” automobiles(汽车)．In the 1980s the ides that a car would “talk” to its driver was science fiction; by the 1990s it had become reality．

　　On board navigation was one of the new automotive technologies in the 1990s．By using the satellite-aided global positioning system(GPS), a computer in the automobile can pinpoint the car’s location within a few feet．The onboard navigation system uses and electronic compass ,digitized maps, and a display screen showing where the car is relative to the destination the driver wants to reach．After being told the destination, the computer locates it and directs the driver to it, offering alternative routes if needed．

　　Some cars now come equipped with GPS locator beacons(信号灯)，enabling a GPS system operator to locate the vehicle ,map its location and ,if necessary ,direct repair or emergency workers to the scene．

　　Gars equipped with computers and cellular(蜂窝)telephones can link to the Internet to obtain constantly updated traffic reports ,weather information, route directions ,and other data．Future built-in computer systems may be used to automatically get business information over the Internet and manage personal affairs while the vehicle’s owner is driving．

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　　There are three ways you can go about writing a resume：You can rely solely in your memory; you can dust off (重新使用)a previous resume and add something new to it ;or you can create a new resume from a permanent personal data record．If you don’t have a personal data record, prepare one now．There are four topic areas for which you will need to record details．

　　Education

　　List the schools ,colleges ,and universities you have attended or are attending．Start at junior high school and record the name of each school, the address and telephone number ,the dates you were there．

　　Work Experience

　　－Full name ,address ,and telephone number of the company or organization, and full name and title of each supervisor(主管)you worked for．

　　－The dates you started and finished employment．

　　－Your job title ,or titles if you held several position．

　　－Your specific responsibilities and duties for each position．

　　－Any special skills you learned on the job．

　　－Special praise you reserved ,or results you achieved．

　　Social and Academic Activities

　　－Membership in a club ,society ,or group ,particularly noting your responsibilities as an active participator or committee member．

　　－Participation in community activities．Particularly describe any executive(主管的)or administrative positions you have held ,with special responsibilities and dates．

　　－Involvement in a technical society on a local or national level ,with particular mention of any conferences you have held, with special responsibilities you have presented or published．

　　－Involvement in hobby activities．

　　－A wards you have received for any activities you have been involved in．

　　References(推荐人)

　　The names of people you feel are best fitted to speak on you behalf．

　　For each person ,write down：

　　－Full name ,profession title, place of employment ,job position．

　　－Employer’s address and telephone number．

　　－Home address and telephone number．

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　　Kids!Come have a ball!Or 60,000 of them!There’s a new type of business franchise that is appearing in shopping malls and neighborhoods across America offering pay-per-use indoor playgrounds ,which feature toys ,games ,supervised fun and a workout that doesn’t break the family bank．

　　As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and dirty, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe supervised activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop youngsters’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around 5$ an hour．“Playgrounds are dirty ,not supervised,” says Dick Guggenheimer ,owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N.Y., part of Kansas City-based chain, “We are indoors; we are padded(铺上软垫)；parents can feel their child is safe”．

　　In order to satisfy the need of two-earner families ,the new franchise stayed open in the evenings ,long after traditional public playgrounds have grown dark and unusable．However these new playgrounds are not meant to be day-care centers．Parents are expected go stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off．But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services．At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special supervised programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner．If there is a problem ,Mom and Dad are called．

　　The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-earner families and two-hour commutes; play with their kids．That ,at least ,is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates．

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　　In sports the sexes are separate．Women and me do not run or swim in the same races．Women are less strong than men．That at least is what people say．Women are called the weaker sex, or ,if men want to please them, “the fair sex”．But boys and girls are taught together at schools and universities．There are women who are famous Prime Ministers, scientists and writers．And women live longer than men．A European woman can expect to live until the age of 74, a man only until he is 68．Are women’s bodies really weaker?

　　The fastest men can run a mile under 4 minutes．The best women need 4.5 minutes．Women’s times are always slower than men’s ,but some facts are a surprise．Some of the fastest women swimmers today are teenager girls．One of them swam 400 meters in 4 minutes 21.2 seconds when she was only 16．The first “Tarzan” in films was an Olympic swimmer ,Johnny Weissmuller．His fastest 400 meters was 4 minutes 59.1 seconds, which is 37.9 seconds slower than a girl 50 years later!This does not mean that women are catching men up．Conditions are very different now ,and sport is much more serious．It is so serious that some women athletes are given hormone injections．At the Olympics a doctor has to check whether the women athletes are really women or not．It seems sad that sport has such problems．Life can be very complicated when there are two separate sexes!

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　　Making an advertisement for television often costs more than a movie．For example, a two－hour movie costs ＄ 6 million to make．A TV commercial can cost more than ＄6 000 a second．And that does not include cost of paying for air time．Which is more valuable, the program or the ad?In terms of money－and making money is what television is all about－the commercial is by far the more important．

　　Research, market testing, talent, time and money－－all come together to make us want to buy a product．No matter how bad we think a commercial is, it works．The sales of Charm went up once the ads began．TV commercials actually buy their way into our head．We, in turn, buy the product．

　　And the ads work because so much time and attention are given to them．Here are some rules of commercial ad making．If you want to get the low middle－class buyer, make sure the announcer has a though, manly voice．Put some people in the ad who work with their hands．If you want to sell to upper－class audience, make sure that the house, the furniture, and the hair style are the types that the group identifies(认同)with．If you want the buyer feel superior to the character selling the product, then make that person so stupid or silly that everyone will feel great about himself or herself．

　　We laugh at commercials．We don’t think we pay that much attention to them．But evidence shows we are kidding ourselves．The making of a commercial that costs so much money is not kid stuff．It’s big, big business．And it’s telling us what to think , what we need, and what to buy．To put simply, the TV commercial is a form of brainwashing．

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