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　　A spirit of adventure, curiosity about different cultures and the desire for a challenge can e found in young people everywhere．More and more students in China are backpacking around the country．

　　According to the China Youth Travel Service, Hainan, Dalian, Zhangjiajie and Qingdao were among the most popular sports for young Chinese backpackers last year．Backpacking allows the traveler a greater sense of independence．

　　“I can no longer put up with the instructions of a tourist guide,”said Huang Ye, a 19－year－old college student in Beijing．“They are always driving you to places that you do not want to go to and trying to make you buy local souvenirs．”

　　Huang likes to travel as a backpacker．She prefers an independent trip that she took with two friends to Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province．There, they chose some scenic spots to visit and avoided the masses of tourists．

　　Backpackers see the difficulties of such travel as a challenge．Living on bread and water for days on end, wearing the dame clothes over and over again and carrying a heavy bag on their backs while climbing a mountain are all character－building experiences．

　　But perhaps the greatest challenge that a backpacker faces is not a physical one, but mental．They may face loneliness if they travel alone．

　　Chen Xuewei, 21, suffered when he took off around China last year．“I felt very lonely at the beginning of my journey．A walkman didn’t make me feel better, but rather heightened the sense fo loneliness I felt．I even called up my friends to tell them that I wanted to give up and go back to Beijing,”he recalled．But he kept going．He started to make friends and appreciate the local customs．He took lots of photos to record his trip and now he is glad he stuck it out．

　　Backpackers generally find themselves to be mature after their experiences．“Their travel logs(旅行日志)track their development as people．”“When I feel frustrated, I read my travel log again,”said Tang Weifeng, a postgraduate at Beijing University．“By reading it, I get a sense that I am better off now than I was when I wrote those words by the light of a torch．”

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　　Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history．

　　Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way．Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the earth forever．Hundreds more are on the danger list today．About 170 kinds in the United States alone arte considered in danger．

　　Why should people care?Because we need animals．And because once they are gone, there will never be any more．

　　Animals are more than beautiful or interesting or a source of food．Every animal his its place in the balance of nature．Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems．

　　For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks(鹰), the farmer’s stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice．Why?Because hawks eat rats and mice．With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice multiplied(繁殖)quickly．

　　Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals．Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem．And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger．

　　Quite a few countries have passed laws．These laws forbid the killing of any animal or plant on the danger list．Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing．

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　　In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a great bridge connecting New York with Long Island．However, bridge experts through–out the world though this was an impossible achievement and told Roebling to forget the idea．It was not practical．

　　Roebling though about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done．He just had to share the dream with someone else．After much discussion and persuasion(劝说)he managed to make his son Washington, a bridge engineer, believe that the bridge could in fact be built．

　　The project stard well, but an accident on the site took the life of John Roebling．Washington was in jnjd and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk, talk or even move．

　　Everyone felt that the project should be deserted since the Roebling were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built．Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever．He tried to inspire and pass on his eagerness to some of his friends．

　　It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up．Suddenly an idea hit him．All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make use of it．By moving his finger, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife．

　　He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again．Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do．It seemed foolish, but the project was under way again．

　　For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed．Today the Grand Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as an honor to his determination not to be defeated by conditions．

　　Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination．

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　　For some time past, it has been widely accepted that babies－and other creatures－learn to do things because certain acts lead to“rewards(报酬)”,and there is no reason to doubt that this is true．But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early time, had to be directly connected to such basic physiological(生理的)“drives”as thirst or hunger．In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise．

　　It is now clear that this is not so．Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except success in sight．

　　Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to“reward”the babies and to teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other．Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response(回答)with clear signs of pleasure．So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided．He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement“turned on”some lights－and indeed that they were able to learn some more turns to bring about(产生)this result, for example, two left or two right, or even to make as many as three turns to one side．Papousek's light experiment was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the light closely although they would“smile and speak”when the light was on．Papousek concluded that it was not the sight of the lights which pleased them．It was the success they were achieving in solving the problem, in mastering the skill, and then there is a basic human nature to make sense of the world and bring it under control．

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　　Perhaps you will visit New York one day．You might be a student there．Here is some advice．Get a good map of the city．It will also have subway and bus maps．Remember the directions－uptown, downtown, east and west．Feel the excitement of New York．Have fun!

　　NEW YORK CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

　　Address：90 East 42nd Street, N．Y．100017

　　Telephone：6871300

　　TIMES SQUARE INFORMATION CENTER

　　Address：43rd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway

　　Telephone：5938983

　　TRAVELERS' AID SOCIETY

　　Address：204 ast 39th Street, N．Y．10016(central office)

　　Telephone：6790200

　　TRAVEL INFORMATION：NEW YORK SUBWAYS AND BUSES

　　Telephone：330123

　　OTHER TELEPHONE NUMBERS

　　The weather：WE 61212．The time：ME 71212

　　Emergency(Police, Fire, or Ambulance)：911 or“0”for operator

　　A doctor：8971000

　　USEFUL BOOK

　　Seeing New York; The official MTA Travel Guide, published by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority．

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　　Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16,1775, and died on July 18,1817．She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously(匿名)．

　　But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many famous local people and visitors．She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806, Bath was her home．Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath．The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels．Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced(增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street．Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bath in her life and work．

　　The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society．After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts．Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy．

　　You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen's Bath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath．The tour lasts about one and a half hours．The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped．

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　　Ever since news of widespread food recalls caused by a carcinogenic dye broke, there has been confusion(混淆)over possible links to the country of the same name, but Sudan officials say there is no connection whatever．

　　Sudan1 is a red industrial dye that has been found in some chilli powder, but was banned in food products across the European Union(EU)in July 2003．

　　Since the ban was put in place, EU officials have been striving to remove some food products from the shelves．So far 580 products have been recalled．

　　Last week Sudan's Embassy in the United Kingdom asked the Food Standards Agency(FSA)for clarification of the origin of the dye's name．

　　Omaima Mahmoud Al Sharief, a press official at Sudan's Embassy in China, explained the purpose of the inquiry was to clear up any misunderstanding over links between the country and the poisonous dye．

　　“We want to keep an eye on every detail and avoid any misunderstanding there,”she said．“Our embassy to Britain asked them how the dye got that name and whether the dye had something to do with our country．But they told us there was no relationship．”

　　The FSA, an independent food security watchdog in Britain, received a letter from the Sudanese embassy last week．

　　“They asked us why the dye is named Sudan, however, we also do not know how it got the name,”she said．“People found the dye in 1883 and gave it the name．Nobody knows the reason, and we cannot give any explanation before we find out．”Sudan dyes, which include Sudan1 to 4, are red dyes used for colouring solvents(溶剂), oils, waxes, petrol, shoe and floor polishes．They are classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer．

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　　As is known to all, the organization and management of wages and salaries are very complex．

　　Generally speaking, the Accounts Department is responsible for calculations of pay, while the Personnel Department(人事部)is interested in discussions with the employees about pay．

　　If a firm wants to adopt a new wage and salary structure, it is essential that the firm should decide on a method of job evaluation(估价)and ways of measuring the performance of its employees．In order to be successful, that new pay structure will need agreement between Trade Unions and employers．

　　In job evaluation, all the requirements of each job are defined in a detailed job description．Each of those requirements is given a value, usually in“points”, which are added together to give a total value for the job．For middle and higher management, a special method is used to evaluate managers on their knowledge of the job, their responsibility, and their ability to solve problems．

　　Because of the difficulty in measuring management work, however, job grades for managers are often decided without reference to an evaluation system based on points．

　　In attempting to design a pay system, the Personnel Department should compare the value of each job with those in the job market．It should also consider economic factors such as the cost of living and the labor supply．

　　It is necessary that payment for a job should vary with any differences in the way that the job is performed．Where it is simply to measure the work done, as in the work done with the hands, monetary encouragement schemes are often chosen; for indirect workers, where measurement is difficult, methods of additional payments are employed．

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　　The following form shows the result of a survey(调查)of parents from five countries, who were asked why children are important to them．They were required to choose three main reasons from seven dealing with personal interests, family relations and social responsibility(责任)．Each number in the form is the percentage(％)of parents who chose that particular item(项)as one of their three reasons．Therefore, the most common for Japanese parents are strengthening family ties(Item D, 51％), learning from the experience(Item E, 60％), and raising responsible citizens(Item, G 45％)．

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　　SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND－A British teaching union famous for strange ideas has supported a plan to employ dogs as classroom assistants．

　　At the yearly conference of the Professional Association of Teachers in Southport, northwest England, one person suggested properly trained dogs be able to keep order in primary schools．They can round up lost children and protect those who experience unfortunate“accidents”．Wendy Dyble, a Sheetland Islands woman who teaches children up to age seven, made it clear to her fellow friends that she was not“barking mad”．They obviously believed her, supporting her idea by 16 votes to 13, with a total of 63 abstentions(弃权)．

　　She said big dogs could help round up children, keep them in line, lick up the milk they spill on the floor and provide the extra eyes that a teacher needs to keep order．“A big dog would also be helpful for stopping flights and look for lost property, like gym shoes or dolls,”Dyble said at the conference．“The dog will also be useful in sniffing out(find out)smells that children do not own up to,”she added．“It would be nice for the teacher not to have to go round sniffing each child to find the criminal．”

　　The idea was welcomed by the Dog Defense League but less by bigger teaching unions．A spokesman for Education Secretary, David Blunkett, who is blind, said his guide dog was always popular with pupils when he visited schools．The Professional Association of Teachers, with around 35,000 members, is the smallest teaching union in Britain．It has an honor for occasional strange ideas．

　　Earlier this week, its yearly conference here suggested stopping exams because they lead to stress and introducing selection at the age of 12 based on physical coordination(调整)and manual(手工的)skill．

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