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The Waltz

　　“This indecent(不文雅的)foreign dance was introduced at the English court on Friday…We trust it will never again be tolerated in any moral English society．”(The Times, 1816)

　　The waltz was the first court dance since Shakespeare's time where the couple were allowed to spin round holding each other very closely．The fact that it was labeled “immoral” or even “obscene(下流的)” no doubt helped to make people think it was rather shocking fun．

　　The waltz originated in Germany from the energetic folk dances of the country people．By the mid 18th century the smart town people were trying it and very soon, it had spread throughout the rest of Europe, although parts of Germany and Switzerland banned it completely! In Vienna the waltz became very fast, with the couples racing each other seven or eight times round the ballroom floor, until they were in a state of collapse．So the police decided to forbid the extreme forms of the dance, as it was creating a public disturbance．

　　However, it was also in Vienna that Lanner and Strauss made their fortunes as bandleaders and composers．Strauss' son, John Strauss established himself as the “waltz king” in Vienna．Chopin complained that classical music was being ignored in favor of the waltz．He also complained that pieces by Mozart and Beethoven were being“waltzified”to please the public taste．But this did not lower its popularity, which still continues even today．

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　　I had just gone to bed after a very hard day when the phone rang．It was an eccentric(怪癖的)farmer．I had never met him before although I had often heard people talk about him．He sounded quite nervous and he had been talking for a minute or so before I understood anything．Even then all I could make out was that someone called Milly had had a very bad accident．I hadn't the slightest idea who she was but I obviously had to go．

　　It had been snowing heavily that day and I didn't know the way．I had been driving for at least an hour when I finally found his place．He was standing there, waiting for me．It seemed Milly had died．“She meant more to me than anyone…even my own wife!” he said．I could see that he had been crying．I thought something terrible had taken place, a possible scandal(丑闻)．I was even more shocked when he told me he had put her in the barn(厩)．“I wouldn't leave her out in the cold!” he said．

　　Milly had clearly been a secret lover of his．I was about to tell him he could not expect me to cover anything up when he opened the barn door．He lifted his candle and I saw a dark figure on the ground．“She was such a good cow!I wouldn't let anyone but a doctor touch her!”he said, and burst into tears again．

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　　Elephants don't forget－at least, female(雌性的)elephants don't．Elephant families are matriarchal．And the social knowledge gained by the oldest females is the key to a family group's survival(生存), according to a study published in April by Karen McComb, a biologist at Sussex University in England．

　　Elephants announce their presence by making a deep, long sound, a practice referred to as contact calling(联络呼叫)．An unfamiliar call may mean that an elephant from outside the family group is nearby．A stranger can cause trouble, interrupting feeding or disturbing the young．So an elephant matriarch signals the family to gather around her; then they all lift their trunks in the air to smell the unfamiliar caller．False alarms can disturb the group and take time and energy away from feeding, so survival may depend in part on getting it right．

　　Working with Cynthia Moss, who founded the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya 30 years ago, McComb tested the social knowledge of 21 Amboseli elephant families with matriarchs 27 to 67 years old．She played recordings of contact calls to each family and found that the oldest matriarchs were much better at picking out unfamiliar calls．In fact, a group with a matriarch in her fifties was several thousand times more likely to form into a group upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call than when hearing a familiar call．However, families with younger matriarchs were less than twice as likely to gather together upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call as compared with a familiar call．And they gathered together a lot．Moreover, the social knowledge of older matriarchs translated into favourable results：Families with older matriarchs produced more baby elephants in each female reproductive year．

　　This finding shows how difficult it is to protect the oldest members of elephant families．As elephants age, they continue to grow larger, as do their much wanted tusks(象牙)．So the older－and wiser－a matriarch is, the greater the chance she will be killed．About 800 000 elephants have been killed by people in the past 20 years．

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　　Tales From Animal Hospital

　　David Grant

　　David Grant has become a familiar face to millions of fans of Animal Hospital．Here Dr Grant tells us the very best of his personal stories about the animals he has treated, including familiar patients such as the dogs Snowy and Duchess, the delightful cat Marigold Serendipity Diamond．He also takes the reader behind the scenes at Harmsworth Memorial Animal Hospital as he describes his day, from ordinary medical check-ups to surgery(外科手术)．Tales From Animal Hospital? will delight all fans of the programme and anyone who has a lively interest in their pet, whether it be cat, dog or snake!

　　￡14.99 Hardback 272pp Simon Schuster

　　ISBN 0751304417

　　Isaac Newton：The Last Sorcerer

　　Michael White

　　From the author of Stephen Hawking：A life in Scienc, comes this colourful description of the life of the world's first modern scientist．Interesting yet based on fact．Michael White's learned yet readable new book offers a true picture of Newton completely different from what people commonly know about him．Newton is shown as a gifted scientist with very human weaknesses who stood at the point in history where magic(魔术)ended and science began．

　　￡18.99 Hardback 320pp Fourth Estate

　　ISBN 1857024168

　　Fermat's Last Theorem

　　Simon Singh

　　In 1963 a schoolboy called Andrew Wiles reading in his school library came across the world's greatest mathematical problem：Fermat's Last Theorem(定理)．First put forward by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in the seventeenth century, the theorem had baffled and beaten the finest mathematical minds, including a French woman scientist who made a major advance in working out the problem, and who had to dress like a man in order to be able to study at the Ecole Polytechnique．Through unbelievable determination Andrew Wiles finally worked out the problem in 1995．An unusual story of human effort over three centuries, Fermat's Last Theorem will delight specialists and general readers alike．

　　￡12.99 Hardback 384pp Fourth Estate

　　ISBN 1857025210

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　　Increased population increases the need for natural resources and also increases waste products．Making a new useful product out of a waste product decreases our need for natural resources．Recycling means using something over again after it has been used once．

　　Have you ever seen a piece of recycled paper?About one third of all the paper products made each year are made from waste paper．For example, recycled paper is usually used to make paper sacks．Recycling paper, such as newspapers, reduces the number of trees that must be cut each year to make new paper．

Each person wastes a lot of solid waste．In the United States, the average is eight kilograms of waste each person each day．Most of the waste is garbage and rubbish．Finding places to dispose of solid wastes is a major problem．

　　In many cities, solid wastes are collected and the rubbish is burned in incinerator plants．Air pollution control devices are used to prevent pollution．Heat produced in the burning may be used to generate electricity．Waste that is not burned is taken to a dump．One kind of dump for the disposal of solid wastes is a sanitary landfill．This method involves burying the wastes and bulldozing soil over them．Parks, baseball fields, airports, and other developments may be built on completely filled landfills．

　　Recycling solid wastes decreases our need for methods of disposal．The metal in broken cars can be recycled and made into new steel．Worn out rubber tires can be turned into new ones and used again．Plastics and other rubber products can be recycleD．Metal cans and glass bottles can also be recycled．Increased recycling can help meet the increased demand for natual resources．

　　By recycling resources, people imitate nature．Elements important to life are naturally recycleD．Nothing lasts forever．Wood decays, iron rusts, and concrete is worn away by wind and rain．All natural resources used by people eventually go back into the air, water, and earth．

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　　If there is no difference in general intelligence between boys and girls, what can explain girls' poor performance in science and mathematics?

　　It seems to be that their treatment at school is a direct cause．Mathematics and science are seen as subjects mainly for boys, and therefore, as girls become teenagers, they are less likely to take them．Interestingly, both boys and girls often regard the subjects for boys as more difficult．Yet it has been suggested that girls do not take mathematics courses, not because they are difficult, but for social reasons．Girls do not want to be in open competition with boys because they are afraid to appear less feminine(女性的)and attractive．

　　However, if we examine the performance of boys and girls who have taken mathematics courses, there are still more high achieving boys than there are girls．This difference appears to be world wide．Biological explanations have been offered for this, but there are other explanations too．

　　Perhaps the difference which comes out during the teenage years has its roots in much earlier experiences．From their first days in kindergarten, boys are encouraged to work on their own and to complete tasks．Facts show that outstanding(杰出的)mathematicians and scientists have not had teachers who supplied answers．

　　Besides, there can be little doubt that teachers of mathematics and science expect their boy students to do better at these subjects than their girl students．They even appear to encourage the difference between boys and girls．They spend more time with the boy students, giving them more time to answer questions and working harder to get correct answers from them．They are more likely to call on boys for answers and to allow them to take the lead in classroom discussion．They also praise boys more frequently．All of this seems to encourage boys to work harder in science and mathematics and to give them confidence(信心)that they are able to succeed．

　　Such a way of teaching is not likely to encourage girls to take many mathematics and science courses, nor is it likely to support girls who do so．When it comes to these subjects it seems certain that school widens the difference between boys and girls．

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　　Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station．The railway owes me ￡12, ”she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office．“You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night．So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel．It cost me ￡12．”Harry was worried．He remembered selling the woman a return ticket．“Come into the office, Madam, ”he said politely．“I'll just check the Jersey time table for May 22nd．”

　　The woman and her little girl followed him inside．She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered．There was no sailing on May 22nd．How could he have made such a careless mistake?He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day．Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child．“You look sunburnt, ”he said to her．“Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”

　　“Yes, ”she answered, shyly．“The beach was lovely．And I can swim too!”

　　“That's fine, ”said Harry．“My little girl can't swim a bit yet．Of course, she's only three…”

　　“I'm four, ”the child said proudly．“I'll be four and a half．”

　　Harry turned to the mother．“I remember your ticket, Madam, ”he said．“But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you?”“Er, well——”the woman looked at the child．“I mean…she hasn't started school yet．She's only four．”

　　“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam．A child's return ticket to Jersey costs…let me see…￡13.50．So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.50．The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office．

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World Wide Web

　　The World Wide Web is a part of the computer Internet system．A recent study shows that more than thirty-million computer users link(连接)to the communications system called the Internet．The study shows that most of these people are using the World Wide Web．

　　Computers are linked with the Internet．The Internet is a communications system that permits many millions of computers to send and receive information．The World Wide Web is an important part of the Internet system．People use the Web to search for news, products and educational information．They may play games, buy books, records or other products or plan a holiday trip．These World Wide Web areas are called Websites．

　　Before the World Wide Web existed, information on the Internet was mostly written．Now, the Web provides the same written information but also includes sound, color pictures, television pictures and movies．

　　In 1993, a computer user could only link with 130 Websites, and it was difficult to link a computer with a Website．In 1994, computer scientists made it much easier to do．Today there are millions of Websites．Many more are being added each day．

　　The World Wide Web Consortium(国际性协议)is an international group．It is headed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control in France and Keio University in Japan．The Consortium includes more than 275 smaller computer organizations．These groups work together to improve how information is offered on the Web．

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　　In many businesses, computer largely replaced paperwork, because they are fast, and do not make mistakes．And they are honest．Many banks say that their business is “untouched by human hands” and therefore safe from human temptation(诱惑)．But they have no thought that the growing number of computer crimes(犯罪)show they can be used to steal．

　　Computer criminals(罪犯)don't use guns．And even if they are caught, it is hard to punish them because there is often no proof．A computer cannot remember who used it．It simply does what it is told．The head teller at a New York City bank used a computer to steal more than one and a half billion dollars in just four years．No one noticed this because he moved the money from one account(账户)to another．Each time a person he had robbed questioned the balance in his account, the teller said it was a computer mistake, then replaced the missing money from someone else's account．This man was caught only because he was a gambler(赌徒)．

　　Some workers use the computer's power to punish their bosses they consider unfair．Recently, a large company fired its computer record assistant for reasons that were connected with her personal life rather than her job．She was given thirty days notice．In those thirty days, she robbed out all the company's computerized records．

　　Most computer criminals have been common workers．Now police wonder if this is “the tip of iceberg”．As one official says, “I have the feeling that there is more crime out there than we are catching．What we are seeing now is all so poorly done．I wonder what the real experts are doing the ones who really know a computer works．”

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　　England football captain David Beckham may leave Spanish club Real Madrid and return home to save his marriage, a UK newspaper reported．

　　Beckham's celebrity wife Victoria has broken her promise to join him in Spain with kids Brooklyn, 4, and Romeo, 1, because the 29-year-old is busy with her music career, according to News of the World．

　　The paper claims the England captain phoned a close friend to say he is thinking about joining the newlyrich Chelsea club to keep his family together．Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has already spent 112 million pounds(US $187 million)on big football games, and he may want to add Beckham to his lineup．

　　“Victoria is working on her solo career, so she won't be moving over here permanently(长久地)at the moment,”Beckham reportedly told his friend．“I really miss her．I love her so much and miss my kids and have been thinking about finishing my football career back home．” Beckham, believed to have rented a 4.5 million pound(US $7.5 million)house in Madrid, has run up a 433 000-pound(US $723 110)bill in three months at a five-star hotel．But in the past three weeks Victoria has spent just five days there．

　　“Chelsea is an option－possibly within two years．I'm playing the best football of my career but my marriage means everything to me．I don't know what to do,”Beckham is reported to have said．

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