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　　Alfred Korzybski believes that all human beings lead a kind of double life．First, people live in an internal(内在的)world of ideas, feelings, etc．The happenings in this world are patterns of events in the human nervous system．Secondly, people live in a world outside their skins, the external(外内的)world of “reality”, The happenings in this world are patterns of events best known to science．

　　The first world, the patterns of events inside our skins, Korzybski called the INTENSIONAL area．The second, the patterns of events outside our skins, he called the EXTENSIONAL area．Think for a moment about the two worlds in which you live．Look, for example, at the following diagram：

　　Thinking along these lines, Alfred Korzybski began to see what was wrong with the great number of people：they confused intensional events with extensional“reality”．He believed that too many people mistake the events in their own nervous systems for events in the outside world．When they get lost in a strange city, more often than not they are angry at the map they use．In fact, it's the maps of words in their heads that are to blame．

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Sunnyfield

Independence

　　Looking to work for an organization that supports and cares about people?

　　Sunnyfield is a large not-for-profit organization with a person centred approach to providing services to people with disabilities．Sunnyfield supports people to enable them to achieve their goals, dreams and to live more independent lives．

　　Sunnyfield has Full Time, Part Time roles available in Accommodation Services; we offer you flexibility(灵活性)and variety in hours and locations．You must have a driving licence．

　　If you would like to be part of a growing organization with the opportunity to develop your skills and career opportunities join us at our free information session to be held at 185 Allambie Road, Allambie Heights on Saturday 6 May at 10 am．

To reserve your seat contact Martha

Phone：(02)89778820

E-mail：hr@sunnyfield.com.au

www.sunnyfield.com.au

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One blue sky above us,

One ocean lapping at our shore,

One earth so great and round,

Who could ask for anything more?

Pete Seeger

　　In fact, nobody has the right to ask for anything more．If we humans fail to keep a balance between our needs and the needs of the natural world, our great round Earth will no longer be fit to live on．

　　There are many reasons for keeping this balance．

　　For one, if we continue to over-fish the seas, certain species will disappear．The kinds of fish that we humans catch feed on smaller ones, and if all these killers disappear, the smaller fish will overwhelm(泛滥)the sea．Edible(可食的)fish－as well as many fishermen's livelihoods－will disappear．

　　And if we continue to clear land, cutting down trees, the animals, which use trees as a food source and for shelter, will suffer from a disturbance．Many of them will eventually die out．

　　Since we love the beauty and grace of deer and moose running in our woods, protection against over-hunting is also a must．If hunters break our laws and kill animals when it is not time, then these species won't be there any more－for beauty or hunting．

　　Finally, if man keeps polluting and littering the waters－fresh and salt－nonbiodegradable substances(非降解物质)will build up and make the water unfit to support underwater lives．Again, many people who make their living from the sea will no longer be able to．

　　We need this balance to keep the beauty of our world for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren．For if that beauty disappears, everything man can hope to achieve will be lost forever．

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　　I went online to check my pay was in my bank account(账户)．To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, a company I'd never worked for had also paid me! I know I'd have been beside myself if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person．Easier said than done．

　　The bank couldn't help as it “wasn't a bank problem．” The human-resource department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn't have enough details．I rang the bank again．Thankfully I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for．

　　I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel．I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he'd tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error．He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves．

　　We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me．Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his．I never had any intention of keeping Daniel's pay but red tape(烦琐手续)made it difficult to do the right thing．It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do－admit a mistake has occurred and fix it．

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　　The other day at the supermarket, I saw a naughty child of about six crying loudly, falling to the floor and refusing to move．All the while the troubled mother was trying to persuade him to behave well but failed．A little smack(掴，打)on his bottom would have done the job, I thought．

　　Teenagers also cause discipline(纪律)problems．As a teacher I had a 16-year-old student who had fallen in love with a waiter at a fast-food restaurant．In fact, she had left home to stay with him．So we decided to put her in the school hostel．She refused．When she heard her mother begging her to stay in the hostel she turned round and said：“Why don't you stay in the hostel if you like it so much?”

My palms were itching to slap her for being so rude but the poor mother continued to cajole her, hoping that gentle persuasion would work wonders．It did not．The last I heard, she had run away from home again．

　　The list goes on and on．Could it be that today's parents are softer and believe that they must not rod(棍棒惩罚)their children for fear of the bad result? Or do they actually believe that the children will get rid of the bad habits and behave well naturally as they grow older? I beg to disagree．I believe it is the parents’ duty to discipline the children even at a young age．

　　My children who are now adults will prove the fact that I used the rod when I thought it necessary．Later when they went abroad, they related to their British university friends on how they were disciplined．Their friends abroad were filled with horror and told my daughter that I could be charged for child abuse(虐待)．However, my daughter showed great respect for me when she told them that she would not be where she was today if not for my strict discipline．

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　　Human beings have always been fascinated by twins．Romulus and Remus, Jacob and Esau, Mary-Kate and Ashley．

　　As children, many of us imagine having a twin：a permanent playmate, a partner in trouble, someone who'd love us unconditionally．Somewhere out there is someone who is exactly like us! What would it feel like to look into a face exactly like our own?

　　And what if she suddenly appears in my life? That's essentially what happened to Brooklyn writer Paula Bernstein．I'd known Paula slightly for years; she wrote a lovely essay for Redbook many years ago refuting(驳斥)the persistent belief that all adoptees want to search for their birth parents．Her adoptive family was her family, she wrote; her adoptive mother was her mother．But then, out of the blue, an adoption agency called her and told her about the identical twin sister she didn't know she had．Her sister, Elyse Schein, wanted to meet her．

　　I met them for coffee at Café Mogador, three years after their first meeting．Now 38, they have different haircuts, have made different choices in hair color, do their makeup differently．But they clearly look alike, with thick hair, upturned noses．They quickly discovered they had the same childhood habit of sucking their middle fingers, the same adult habit of forgetfully typing their thoughts on an invisible keyboard while thinking．Both edited their high school newspapers and studied film in college．Paula wrote film criticism; Elyse became a filmmaker．They both collected Alice in Wonderland dolls and kept them in the boxes．

　　They're now regulars at Café Mogador．The women's journey from strangers to sisters has clearly been rocky．But as they got to know each other, and struggled to piece together their history, their search united them．

　　“For me, the search began when I reached the age when my adoptive mother died,” Elyse said．I realized that my birth mother could be dead．Time was passing．I was ready to solve the mystery that had shadowed my life．” Elyse had always felt a part of her was missing．“I'd felt so different from my adoptive family．” she said．

　　Paula was raised in a more typical Jewish intellectual family, and was at first a little threatened by Elyse's appearance in her life．“My first response was both fear and excitement．The moment we met, I felt I was meeting my long-lost best friend．I could tell her anything．And then as that first excitement wore off, I thought, oh my God, I've committed to a long-term relationship with a stranger．I wished we hadn't been separated, but also that I hadn't been contacted．What would it mean to be in each other's lives?”

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　　In March of 1895, Charles Francis Jenkins, a young government clerk in Washington entered into an agreement with Thomas Armat, a fellow student at the Bliss School of Electricity．Their aim was to develop a motion picture device(设备)．

　　Jenkins had already invented a device for viewing motion pictures which he called the Phantoscope, based on the Edison Kinetoscope．With this experience the two were able to work quickly and by 28 May 1895 the two had developed a projecting version of the Phantoscope and applied for its patent．

　　That September, the two travelled to Atlanta with their invention and gave a public demonstration at the Cotton States Exposition．Although no evidence remains regarding the quality of their projections or the success of the show, one can guess that it was well received as shortly after this event the partnership broke up with each party claiming the invention to be their own work．

　　After the split the two worked independently on improving the Phantoscope．Jenkins had his version of the projecting Phantoscope ready by the first week in November 1895 making the first public demonstration on December 12 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia．

　　At the same time, Armat, upon perfecting his version, approached well-known entrepreneurs(企业家)Raff and Gammon who were excited by what they saw and approached Edison with the intention that he develop the machine．

　　Edison agreed and in February 1896 the Armat projecting Phantoscope was renamed the Vitascope and the name of ‘Edison’ was added for, as Raff and Gammon explained, effective popularization of the device．

　　The first theatrical exhibition took place on April 23 1896 at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in Herald Square, New York City．The film that made the greatest impression on the audience that day was Robert Paul and Birt Acres “Rough Sea at Dover”．

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　　The first harvest means the death of the crops as grain is gathered, and the thanksgiving of the people to the goddesses who provided them with life sustaining grains．

　　Late July and Early August mark the middle of summer and the beginning of the harvest season．Famine(饥荒)was common during July as the previous years harvest supplies were almost totally used up．Harvesting grains in August ensured the continuance of life and was recognized by many cultures as a time of thanksgiving．

　　In ancient Rome the grain goddess Ceres was honored on the first harvest called Ceresalia in her honor．Our modern word cereal comes from her name．Other goddesses celebrated at first harvest are Demeter, Persephone, Venus, and the Corn Mother．Many Native American tribes honor the Corn Grandmother during the Festival of Green Corn．It was held during the full moon when the corn was ready to be harvested．The celebration lasted for several days and was a time to be thankful and a time of forgiveness．

　　Lughnasadh was a happy time regarded as the first of three harvest festivals．Lughnasadh honors the god Lugh, and his foster-mother Taillte who died clearing the fields of Ireland for agriculture．In Old Irish Lunasa means “August．” The Celts celebrate this day from sunset of August 1 to sunset on August 2 as the wake of Lugh, the Sun-King whose light began to decline after the summer solstice(夏至)．At this time oaths(誓言)were taken and contracts were signed．

　　This day was known to the Saxons as Lammas, or loaf-mass, a time when grains were harvested and baked into bread．The grain was harvested, giving its life so that people might live．The grain was made into bread, and the bread was symbolic of the gods．Christians later adopted this holiday as a day when bread, made from the first fruits of the harvest, was brought to the church to be blessed．

　　August is a time to reflect on the past year, on things that have come to fruition and things that failed．A time to let go of regrets and say farewell to things that have passed and preserve all the fruits that have been gathered to hold onto for future memories．

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　　The British government has decided to wipe out obesity through a new strategy－by offering fat people cash．

　　According to the latest measure, employers will be urged to set up competitions with money, other rewards for people who refuse junk food in favour of healthy eating and living．

　　And those who will lose the maximum amount of pounds will earn the biggest prizes, reports the Telegraph．

　　One competition, called The Biggest Loser, has a 130-pounds gift in store for the participant who loses the most weight in eight weeks．

　　The announcement comes after experts estimated that most of the population in Britain would be obese by 2050 unless urgent action is taken and the related rise in ill health would cost the 50 billion pounds a year．

　　According to ministers, giving people cash to fight overweight will help avoid larger costs associated with treating cancer, heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病)caused by obesity．

　　The government said that it wants to make Britain the first major nation to cancel the rising tide of obesity．

　　And the important strategy－Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives－is their solution to the problem．

　　The strategy will start a series of projects run through a Well@work scheme led by British Heart Foundation, which will offer rewards to workers who lose weight．

　　Another key focus for the strategy is to control rising obesity among children．

The government has set itself a target of reducing the proportion of overweight and obese children to 2000 levels by 2020．

　　There will also be a “Walking into Health” campaign, aiming to get a third of the population in England walking an extra thousand steps－around a kilometer－every day by 2012．

　　“We will look at using financial measures, such as payments, and other rewards, to encourage individuals to lose weight and sustain that weight loss, to eat more healthily, or to be consistently more physically active,” officials said．

　　The UK Government is investing 372 million pounds over three years to realize the strategy and annual progress reports will be published．

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　　*Thomas Jefferson could read Greek, Latin, French and English．

　　*John Quincy Adams used to get up two hours before sunrise to go skinny dipping in the Potomac River．

　　*Andrew Jackson was the only president to ever kill a man in a duel(决斗)．

　　*Franklin Pierce was arrested for running over a woman while driving his carriage in Washington, DC．The charges were later dropped．

　　*Ulysses S．Grant was arrested for speeding while driving a horse and buggy in Washington, DC．He had to pay a fine of ＄20 and walk back to the White House．

　　*Benjamin Harrison was so afraid of electric lights that he used to have White House staff turn them on and off．

　　*Warren G．Harding once lost all the White House china gambling, on one hand of cards．

　　*Franklin Delano Roosevelt's mother forced him to wear dress until he was five years old．

　　*Lyndon Baines Johnson used to go through the White House at night turning lights off that were not needed．He didn't want to waste the taxpayers’ money．At fifteen he ran away from home and traveled to California where he worked as a grape picker and auto mechanic．

　　*Gerald Ford also loved golf, but spectators had to watch carefully because the President was known for hitting people on the head with his wild shots．

　　*Ronald Reagan announced Chicago Cubs games for WHO radio in Des Moines．Later he became a famous movie and television actor．

　　*George Bush was the captain of the baseball team at Yale University．

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