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　　There lived a king who liked art．One day an artist offered to paint the most beautiful picture in the world on the wall of his palace．

　　So the king said, " All right, you may work on one of the walls in the new hall．"

　　Just then, another artist said, "Please allow me to work on the opposite wall．I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall．Moreover, I shall do so without looking at his work．I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so the either of us cannot see the other．"

　　Everyone in the king's court, including the king and the first artist was surprised．So the king decided to give the man a chance．

　　The following day, a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work．The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil and water．But the second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day．

　　A month later the first artist said that his work was completed and invited the king to come．So the king sent the message to the second artist, saying he was coming to see their works that evening．

　　After seeing the first artist's wall, the king was very impressed with the painting and gave him a huge sum of money as a reward．He then asked for the curtain to be opened up．

　　The same painting was seen on the opposite wall too! It was exactly like the one on the first wall．But this man had not seen what was going on, on the other side of the curtain．“How have you managed to do this?” asked the king．

　　The man said simply, "It's very easy．I just polished the wall every day! "

　　It was a wall made of white marble．The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror．The reflection of the painting across the room showed up in it!

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　　Everybody hates rats．But in the earthquake capitals of the world－Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey－rats will soon be man’s new best friends．

　　What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue(营救)dogs．Why? Because they can smell people．Dogs save lives．They help rescuers to find living people．But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces．So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives－the rat．

　　How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people．When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal(信号)．This is sent with a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals．When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive．The rat has smelled that person．

　　Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better．Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “‘Robot’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around．Rats are good at that．” Rats can also see in the dark．They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!

　　The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic．A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe．” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building(but only after an earthquake, of course)．

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　　One morning last summer Joyce Andrews made some sausage sandwiches for her husband’s lunch．There was one sausage left over．Mrs．Andrews didn’t care for them herself, and so she gave to last one to Henry, their little dog, Henry ate it up quickly．

　　During the morning the dog got ill．He wouldn’t stop shaking his head, and couldn’t stand properly．Joyce thought, “He’s eaten something that didn’t agree with him．Maybe that sausage very bad…” She suddenly remembered her husband’s lunch．She ran to the telephone and called Jim at office．

　　“Jim, I hope you haven’t eaten any of those sandwiches yet．”

　　“You have? Two? Well, listen－don’t eat any more．I gave Henry the last sausage, and now he’s ill．Go to the doctor, Jim．”

　　“What? You feel all right? No, Jim, don’t take a chance with your health．I’m sure the sausages are bad．Please go!”

　　“Yes, Jim．Tell him about the dog．Get some medicine．”

　　Jim came back after work and went to bed．“I had a very unpleasant hour at the doctor,” he told Joyce, “and the medicine made me very sick．”

　　The next morning Jim was fine．Henry seemed quite fit again, too．At eleven o’clock milkman came with the milk．

　　“Morning, Mrs．Andrews,” the milkman said, “How’s your dog this morning? I’ve been thinking about him…”

　　“Have you? Well, he seems all right now, but…”

　　“Yesterday morning he and I had a little accident．He jumped up at me, and I dropped a bottle of milk on his head．”

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　　Even today, a man with good manners will politely open the door for a lady, help her put on her coat when necessary and see her safely to the door of her home after a date．

　　When a man takes a woman out for dinner, it is considered polite to help her with her chair when she gets up or sits down．On a crowded train or bus, it is altogether proper for a man to offer a woman his seat, especially if she is old or carries a baby．

　　Even when it comes to shaking hands, ladies come first．It is considered impolite for a man to extend(伸手)his hand to a woman for a handshake upon first greeting．This remains the woman’s choice．If a woman does not extend her hand to the man first, then the man shouldn’t offer his．

　　Not only do ladies come first, but if a lady is the wife of the president, she is called the “First Lady”．Women continue to break new “first” categories(目录)by entering into fields of social service which were once considered only for men．America has had a first woman Secretary of State in the person of Madeline Albright and a “first” woman president may not be far off in the future．

　　It is true that the Women’s Liberation Movement has put women on an equal footing with men in jobs and career opportunities．It is also true that many women today prefer to be treated the same as men in every way．Yet, with their new freedom and social equality, no woman seems to be against the rule of “ladies first”．

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　　Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you knew was in trouble－and was he? Have you ever dreamed something that came true later? Maybe you have ESP(超感觉的知觉)．

　　ESP stands for Extrasensory Perception．It may be called a sixth sense．It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away．

　　Here’s an example．A woman was ironing clothes．Suddenly she screamed, “My father is dead! I saw him sitting in the chair!” Just then, a telegram came．

　　The woman’s father died of a heart attack．He died sitting in a chair．

　　There are thousands of stories like this one on record．Scientists are studying them to find out what’s behind these strange mental messages．Here’s another example－one of hundreds of dreams that have come true．

　　A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and a carriage came by．The driver said, “There’s room for one more．” The man felt the driver seemed dead, so he ran away．The next day, when the man was getting on a crowded bus, the bus driver said, “There’s room for one more．”

　　Then the man saw that the driver’s face was the same face he had seen in the dream．He wouldn’t get on the bus．As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into flames．Everyone was killed!

　　Some people say stories like this are coincidences．Others, including some scientists, say that ESP is real．From studies of ESP, we may someday learn more about the human mind．

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　　EVENTS(赛事)

　　A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27(Sat．& Sum．)．At 5：30am, the riders will leave Tian'anmen Square and ride the first 35 kilometers as a training leg．Then the next 55 kilometer leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive(竞争性的)part of the tour．The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli．

　　The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaibe, covering a distance of 20 kilometers．Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper．Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside．At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing．

　　Cost：200 Yuan　Telephone：4675027

　　The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26．The club has four national team players．Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Romario ho has promised to play for at least 45 minutes．

　　Ticket prices：60,100,150 Yuan

　　Time/Date：4：30 pm, August 26(Sat．)Telephone：5012372

　　The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26-27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base．More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it．A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing．Free for spectators(观众)．

　　Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou．

　　Time/Dates：9-12 am, August 26 and 27

　　Telephone：7143177, 7144850, Wang Zhenghua

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　　It is often difficult for visitors to understand Americans lack of desire for privacy(隐私)．They are not a nation of walled gardens and closed gates．Their yards normally run into one another without fences, they often visit one another’s homes without being invited or telephoning first, they leave their office doors open while they work．

　　Their lack of desire for privacy probable results from their history as a nation．America is a big country．There have never been walled cities in the United States, nor was there the need for Americans to protect themselves from neighboring states．During the early years, America had so few settlers that neighbors were very important, they were not to be shut out by doors and fences．Neighbors offered protection and helped in the hard work of settling the land`．They depended upon each other．

　　From the nation’s early history has come the desire for openness rather than privacy．Visitors will notice this desire in a number of small ways, there may be rooms in American homes that do not have doors or that have glass walls．If you notice that people forget to close your door when they leave your room, do not think that this is rude, help them to learn that you would like it to be closed, or else become used to new ways．In either case, be patient with the differences．

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　　At 50 I was the first woman to travel alone to the North Pole．But what should I do to celebrate my 60th birthday? What else, but a journey at the opposite end of the world, Antarctica．I began my almost 400-mile journey on November 1st, 1997,a few days before my birthday．I walked and skied alone．My dog team were not with me to pull my sled．Another journey of challenge and danger was about to begin．

　　The first days the weather was very good．The wind was icy but not very strong and there was bright sunshine 24 hours a day．But changes were just around the corner．On the third day I was struggling through stormy weather and during the nest week the wind grew stronger and I found myself spending a whole day in my tent．

　　I had traveled only two hours one day when the winds increased so much that I had to put my tent up before the winds became too strong．Within a few minutes the winds increased to a howling storm that threatened to blow me and the tent away, but none of that happened．

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　　Mrs．Green’s telephone number was 2345, and the number of the cinema in her town was 2346, so people often made a mistake and called her when they wanted the cinema．One evening the telephone bell rang and Mrs．Green answered it．A tired man said, “At what time does your last film begin?”

　　“I’m sorry,” said Mrs．Green “ But you have the wrong number．This is not the cinema”

　　“Oh, it began twenty minutes ago?” said the man．“I’m sorry about that, good-bye．”

　　Mrs．Green was very surprised, so she told her husband．He laughed and said, “the man’s wife wanted to go to the cinema but he was feeling tired．So he telephoned the cinema．His wife heard him, but she didn’t hear you．Now they will stay at home this evening．And the husband will be happy．”