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Chinese President Hu Holds Telephone Talks With Bush

　　Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday spoke over phone with George W．Bush about international cooperation to cope with the ongoing global financial turmoil(动乱)．

　　The leaders exchanged ideas about the planned international financial summits and strengthening international cooperation to stabilize the financial markets．

　　Bush said the United States hopes to make joint efforts with the international community to seek measures to overcome the crisis and maintain the stability of the world economy．

　　Hu, for his part, said China has noted the measures taken by the U．S．government to stabilize the domestic financial market．The measures are conducive to the stability of the world economy and financial markets, Hu said．

　　The Chinese government has taken a series of important measures to tackle the financial crisis and maintain the stability of financial and capital markets, as well as ensure steady economic growth, he added．

　　The government of China will continue to assume a responsible attitude toward the Chinese people and people of other countries, and to work closely with the international community to maintain the stability of the global economy and financial markets, President Hu said．

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2008)

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　　This March is a busy month in Shanghai．There's a lot to do．Here are the highlights．

　　Enjoy real American jazz from Herbie Davis, the famous trumpet player．He's coming with his new 7-piece band, Herbie's Heroes．Herbie is known to play well into the early hours, so don't expect to get much sleep．This is Herbie's third visit to Shanghai．The first two were sold out, so get your tickets quickly．

　　Take your partners and get ready to dance till you drop．Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn．Instructors will demonstrate the dances．The live band, Gordon Stroppie and the Weefrees, are also excellent．

　　There are 120,000 pieces on show here．You can see the whole of Chinese history under one roof．It' s always interesting to visit, but doubly so at the moment with the Egyptian Tombs exhibition．There are lots of mummies and more gold than you've ever seen before．Let us know if you see a mummy move!

　　Sushi is getting really big in Shanghai．In Japan, it' s become an art form．The most famous Sushi 'artist' is Yuki Kamura．She' s also one of the few female chefs in Japan．She'll be at Sushi Scene all of this month．

　　For a full listing of events, see our website．

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　　Humans are social animals．They live in groups all over the world．As these groups of people live apart from other groups, over the years and centuries they develop their own habits and ideas, which from different cultures．One important particular side of every culture is how its people deal with time．

　　Time is not very important in non-industrial societies．The Nuer people of East Africa, for example, do not even have a word TIME that is in agreement with the abstract thing we call time．The daily lives of the people of such non-industrial societies are likely to be patterned around their physical needs and natural events rather than around a time schedule(时间表)based on the clock．They cook and eat when they are hungry and sleep when the sun goes down．They plant crops during the growing seasons and harvest them when the crops are ripe．They measure time not by a clock or calendar(日历),but by saying that an event takes place before or after some other event Frequently such a society measures days in terms of“sleeps”or longer periods in terms of“moons．”Some cultures, such as the Eskimos of Greenland measure seasons according to the migration of certain animals．

　　Some cultures which do not have a written language or keep written records have developed interesting ways of“telling time”．For example, when several Australian aborigines(土著)want to plan an event for a future time, one of them places a stone on a cliff or in a tree．Each day the angle of the sun changes slightly．In a few days, the rays of the sun strike the stone in a certain way．When this happens, the people see that the agreed-upon time has arrived and the event can take place．

　　In contrast(成对比),exactly correct measurement of time is very important in modern, industrialized societies．This is because industrialized societies require the helpful efforts of many people in order to work．For a factory to work efficiently(well, quickly and without waste)，for example, all of the workers must work at the same time．Therefore, they must know what time to start work in the morning and what time they may go home in the afternoon．Passengers must know the exact time that an airplane will arrive or depart．Students and teachers need to know when a class starts and ends．Stores must open on time in order to serve their customers．Complicated(复杂的)societies need clocks and calendars．Thus, we can see that if each person worked according to his or her own schedule, a complicated society could hardly work at all．

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　　The next time you try for a high-ranking post, you could let your possible boss listen to a recommending(推荐)phone call“made”by US President George W．Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair．

　　Of course, neither of them could really do that for you-you would just“borrow”their voices．

　　AT&T labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds of a human voice that it can recreate voices and even bring the voices of long-dead famous people back to life．

　　The software, which turns printed text into speech, makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person's voice to say things that the person never actually said．

　　Possible customers for the software, which is priced in the thousands of dollars, include telephone call centers, companies that make software that reads digital files aloud, and makers of automated voice devices(装置)．The advances raise several problems．Who, for example, owns the rights to a famous person's voice?(Some experts even believe that new contracts(合同)will be drawn that include voice-licensing clauses．)

　　And although scientists say the technology is not yet good enough to commit fraud(假冒), would the synthesized(合成的)voices at last be able to trick people into thinking that they were getting phone calls or digital audio recordings from people they know?

　　Even Mr Fruchterman, one of AT＆T lab's possible first customers, said he wondered what the new technology might bring．“Just like you can't trust a photograph any more．”he said,“you won't be able to trust a voice either．”

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　　Traveling can be a way to gain life experiences, especially during spring break－a week long school vacation in the United States．But what if you’re a student and don’t have enough money for a trip?Don’t worry．Here are some useful suggestions．

　　●Save：this probably is the most important preparation for traveling．Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you'll have more choices about where to go and how to get there．

　　●Plan ahead：don't wait until the last minute to plan your trip．Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice, giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security(安全)and savings．

　　●Do your homework：no matter where you go, research the places you will visit Decide what to see．Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants．

　　●Plan sensibly：write down what you expect to spend for food and hotels．Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything．

　　●Travel in groups：find someone who is interested in visiting the same places．By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences．

　　●Work as you go：need more money to support your trip?Look for work in the places you visit．

　　●Go off the beaten path：tourist cities may be expensive．You may want to rethink your trip and go to a lesser-known area．Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights．

　　●Pack necessary things：the most important things to take are not always clothes：remember medicine in case you get sick and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant．

　　●Use the internet：the net can help to save money．Some useful websites include www.travelcity.com, www.bargains-lowest fare.com and www.economic travel.com．

　　By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel．Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime．

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　　We continue our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States．Now we move on to college life once you are admitted to a school．The first thing you need to value is a place to live．Housing policies differ from school to school．Students might have to live in a dormitory, at least for the first year there．

　　Dorms come in all sizes．Some have suites．Six or more students may line in one suite．Other dorms have many rooms along a common hallway, usually with two students in each room．Many students say dormitories provide the best chance to get to know other students．Also, dorms generally cost less than apartments or other housing not owned by the school．

　　Most colleges and universities offer singe-sex dorms, but usually males and females live in the same building．They might live on the same floors and share the same common bathrooms．They may live in the same room only if they are married．

　　Edward Spencer is the associate vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg．He says it is important to understand the rules of the building in which you will live．He advises students to ask questions before they decide about their housing．For example, if a student requires a special diet, will the school provide it?How much privacy can a student expect?Will the school provide a single room if a student requests one?And what about any other special needs that a student might have?

　　Virginia Tech, for example, had a ban against candles in dorms．But it changed that policy to let students light up candles for religious purposes．The university also has several dorms open all year so foreign students have a place to stay during vacation time．

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　　Many things－genetics, environment, the food you eat, illness, sleep, even the seasons－influence your emotional state．But at the heart of it is how you regard yourself．If you have a healthy level of self-esteem, you not only cope with life’s challenges better than people with low self-esteem, but you’re probably more content, confident, and successful．You’re probably also healthier．Studies show that positive self-esteem actually helps inoculate(为……做预防)people against depression and anxiety, conditions that may present increased risk of everything from colds to heart diseases．

　　Most people’s good sense of worth is rooted in their childhood－in the early approval(认可)of their parents, teachers, and friends．But as we get older, most of us judge ourselves by our sense of how effectively we’re managing in the world, especially in the areas of love and work．Our ability to love and to be loved can give us a sense of purpose and deep fulfillment．We can also find satisfaction and pride in work-related accomplishments and the people we meet and work with can reinforce our sense of self and our role in life．Once midlife comes along, however, our self-esteem can take a turn in response to changes in our lives．Marital(婚姻的)relationship may change, children may leave home , and we may begin to scale back our work as we approach retirement．Of course, the view in the mirror may not be what it used to be, either．

　　If you find your self-esteem eroding a bit, try to build it up again．As the saying goes, it’s better to try something and fail than to be successful at not trying anything．Focus on goals that are linked to activities you’re really interested in, so you’ll enjoy a sense of purpose and gain pleasure from the pursuit(追求)whether or not you achieve your goal in full．

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　　Kids are far better than adults at learning how to speak multiple(多样的)languages．Research now shows that very young infants might have some of the best language skills of all．

　　A new study suggests that babies between 4 and 6 months old can tell the difference between two languages just by looking at the speaker’s face．They don’t need to hear word．Sometimes between 6-8 months of age, babies raised in homes where just one language is spoken lose this ability．Babies from bilingual(双语的)homes, on the other hand, keep the face-reading ability until they’re at least 8 months old．

　　Researchers in Canada studied 36 infants from English-speaking families．Twelve of the babies were 4 months old, 12 were 6 months old, and the rest were 8 months old．Each baby sat on his or her mother’s lap and watched video clips of a woman talking．The woman was fluent in both English and French．In some clips, she read from a storybook in English．In other clips, she read in French．In all of the videos there was no sound．

　　After watching clip after clip of the woman reading in just one language, the babies eventually started to look away, apparently because they were bored．The researchers then showed the babies a new silent clip of the woman reading a story in the other language．At that point, the 4-month-olds and 6-month-olds started looking at the screen again．The 8-month-old, by contrast, paid no attention．That suggests that a baby’s ability to distinguish between languages get lost before 8 months of age．

　　“Visual information about speech may play a more critical role in language learning than previously expected,” says researcher psychologist Whitney．It’s not yet clear, she adds, which part of the speaker’s face babies are looking at for clues．Next, scientists want to see whether babies can match faces with the voices of foreign-language speakers．If babies can do this, the scientists would then like to know if this ability also declines(下降)toward the end of the first year of life．

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　　I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem with my mom, and I never have a father．I have friends who ended up in jail or pregnancy．But Mr．Clark wouldn’t let that happen．Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, our whole fifth-grade class’s scores rose in math and reading．In sixth grade, I entered the gifted program, and Mr．Clark was the teacher．I felt so lucky to have him for a second year!

　　None of us were surprised when Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2004 Teacher of the Year．When he learned he’d won, he said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award．But when it came time to draw names, Mr．Clark said,“You’re all going．”

　　He got donations to fly all 37 of us out to Disneyland in California and put us at the Hilton．We were there for three days．People were amazed, but Mr．Clark really cared about us．There’s no way I can imagine most teachers doing that．No way．But he saw something in us that nobody else saw．

　　On graduation day ,there were a lot of tears．We didn’t want his class to end．In 2005, he moved to Atlanta, but we always kept in touch．He started giving speeches about education and wrote a best-selling book based on his classroom rules．

　　In 2007, Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It’s now my dream to start a group of women’s clubs one day, helping people from all backgrounds．

　　I’m about to become a senior at Harlem Renaissance High School．My grades are beautiful now, and I’m hoping to go to law school eventually．This fall, Mr．Clark will be opening the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, a school for kids who have potential but aren’t reaching it, kids who are like I was－until Mr．Clark came along．

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　　Willie Stewart still remembers his first day of kayaking through the grand Canyon．He was getting bounced around in the roughest white water he had ever seen．There was nothing the river threw at him．

　　There he was in a 40-pound boat, with only a few months of training and one arm．Tied to his left shoulder was a prosthetic limb(假肢)that he’d had for just about a week．The plan was to paddle(划)for 20 days over 227 miles of the roughest white water in the United States．It was one of the most remarkable adventures that the Grand Canyon had ever seen．

　　It started with a casual phone call in the spring of 2005．A good friend, Mike Crenshaw, finally got a permit from the National Park Service to lead a private party of 16 boaters down the Colorado River that coming August．He had a slot(位置)open for Willie,“Was he interested?”

　　“It was the chance of a lifetime,”Stewart said．He had been waiting years for this trip to happen．“How could I refuse?”

　　But before they set off, Stewart had a couple of things to take care of．He had to get a white-water kayak, learn how to use it, and get an arm．

　　For most of his life, the rugged 45-year-old man has lived with only his right arm．He lost his left arm in a horrible accident when he was 18.Stewart was doing a summer construction job in Washington, D.C．The trailing end of rope he was carrying got twisted in an industrial fan．Before he could react, the fan reeled in the rope tight and cut his arm just above the elbow．

　　He became a bitter young man, angry at the unfairness of what had happened ,and often got into fights．In time, he learned to channel his rage into sports．He joined a rugby team, established a reputation as a fearless player and eventually was elected captain．His days of rage long gone, he found peace and purpose in his life．

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