Cannes will rock to the sound of a cancan dance this year when Moulin Rouge by the Australian director Baz Luhrmann opens the French film festival(电影节)in May．The musical stars Nicole Kidman as a singer, and John Leguizamo as the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautree．It will be competing for the palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize．The festival runs to May 21．

　　The American actor Tommy Lee Jones, 54, has married his longtime girlfriend, Dawn Maria Laurel, 36, in a private wedding in San Antonio．“It wasn’t a big to-do,”said Fred Biery, a U．S．District Judge who performed the service．He refused to discuss things further．“These are very private people,”he said．

　　Loretta Lynn is being treated for a very bad cold in Tennessee and will miss several appearances．The country singer, 65, was admitted to a hospital near her home in Hurricane Mills．“She is in good condition, but the doctors are watching her closely,”a spokeswoman said．

　　The French-Algerian singer Enrico Macias was named a United Nations peace messenger．Enrico joins eight other people who act as goodwill envoys(使者)for the United Nations, among them are the writer Elie Wiesel and the basketball player Magie Johnson．

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　　The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party．The time printed on the invitation was 7∶30 p. m．Jane went off with her husband, expecting a merry evening of wine, food, and song．

　　By 9∶45,everybody was having great fun, but no food had appeared．Jane and David were restless．Other guests began whispering that they, too, were starving．But no one wanted to leave, just in case some food was about to appear．By 11∶00, there was still no food, and everyone was completely off their heads．Jane and David left hungry and angry．

　　Their experience suggests that the words on the printed invitations need to be made clearer．Everyone reads and understands the invitations differently．Most of us would agree that 6∶30－8∶30 p.m．means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8∶00 p.m．or 8∶30 p.m．means possible dinner, but 9∶30 p.m．and any time thereafter means no food, eat beforehand, roll up late．

　　But this is not always the case．If asked to a students’ party at 6∶30 p.m., it is normal for guests not to appear before midnight, if at all, and no one cares．Being the first to arrive－looking eager－is social death．When my mother asked to a party for 6∶30, she likes to be there, if not on time, then no later than seven．My age group(late thirties)falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we’re young．We’re probably closer to student-time than grown-up time．

　　The accepted custom at present is confusing(混乱的)，sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every part that precious element(成分)of surprise．

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　　It’s not the flashiest car in the world．Not even close．But the 1971 Volkswagen named Helios can do something most cars can’t ：run on solar energy－energy from the sun’s light and head!

　　Joshua Bechtold, 14,and the other students at the Riverside School in Lyndonville, Vermont, worked many months to get Helios ready．They named their car after Helios, the sun god in Greek mythology(神话)．

　　The 4-year-old Tour de Sol encourages the use of “green”, or environmen-tally friendly, cars to help reduce pollution and save energy．It’s not a race．Cars are judged on fuel efficiency(耗油量)rather than speed．In the week-long event, 44 cars took the 350-mile tour from Waterbury, Connecticut, to Lake George, New York．Of the 23 student cars, Helios was the only one built by middle school students．

　　A teacher drove Helios, but the children talked with people wherever they stopped along the road．“That was my favorite part,” says Anna Browne,15．“We explained how the car runs．”

　　Due in part to old, inefficient batteries(电池)，Helios finished fourth－out of four－in its kind, the sun-powered class．“We were there for the fun of it,” Anna says, “We’re proud of Helios,”says Ariel Gleicher, 14．“It’s a car that’s good for the environment．”

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　　My first reaction was annoyance．It was Friday afternoon, and I was within an hour of finishing my work for the week．As I was leaving, a nurse brought me one more patient message．The statement read：“Mrs．Jones called to say that she has had blurred vision(视觉模糊)ever since her medical test this morning．”I smiled．Suddenly our tests were causing eye problems．

　　This week my patients had questioned everything．My patient with high blood pressure had stopped coming to her treatment on the advice of an Internet chat room．A woman who had a mental problem was substituting(用……代替)St．John’s word for her medication．Now Mrs．Jones was imagining problems．I rolled my eyes．

　　My second reaction was worry．As I looked through her record, I tried to figure out why she would have blurred vision, but nothing in her record explained the new problem．She’s probably just anxious, I thought．Still, she wouldn’t have called if she had been all right．I picked up the phone．

　　What I next felt can only be described as delight．Before I made the call, the nurse ran in：Mrs．Jones called．Her vision is fine．Turns out she picked up the wrong glasses when she left the office．The X-ray technician has been having the same problem．I let out a laugh．Mrs．Jones had been right．Her vision had been blurred．Now we know why．

　　Finally I felt shame．I came to realize what Mrs．Jones had taught me．I had first known she was wrong, that her anxiety had clouded hex judgment．Instead, my medical training had clouded mine．Now I feel thankful that Mrs．Jones figured it out before I made a mistake about our relationship．Patients come to me for my help．They pay me to listen, diagnose(诊断), treat and talk．That suggests trust; I must remember that, and trust them too．

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　　Rome had the Forum．London has Speaker’s Corner．Now always–on– the–go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill．

　　Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners．Just talk．

　　Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, “Talk to Me．” they attract conversatio-nalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits．

　　They don’t collect money．They don’t push religion(宗教)．So what’s the point?

　　To see what happens, said Liz．“We simply enjoy life with open communication(交流)．”

　　Shortly after the September 11,2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip．They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return．

　　“It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said．“We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories．People will talk to us about anything：their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything．”

　　Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take．She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went．

　　Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease．“That was very heavy on my mind,”Marcia said．“To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good,”she explained．

　　To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year．A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters．

　　They may plan more parties or try to attract more people to join their informal talks．Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something they say they’ll consider．

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　　Shanghai：Car rentals(出租)are becoming more and more popular as an inexpensive way of taking to the roads．Business people, foreigners and families alike are making good use of the growing industry．

　　The first car rental firm opened in Shanghai in 1992 and now 12 car rental players are in the game, with more than 11,500 cars in their books．

　　The largest player－Shanghai Bashi Tourism Car Rental Center offers a wide variety of choices－deluxe sedans, minivans, station wagons, coaches．Santana sedans are big favorite．

　　Firms can attract enough customers for 70 percent of their cars every month．This figure shoots up during holiday seasons like National Day, Labor Day and New Year’s Day, with some recording 100 percent rental．

　　The major market force rests in the growing population of white-collar employees(白领雇员)，who can afford the new service, said Zhuang Yu, marketing manager of Shanghai Angel car Rental Co．

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　　People realize that, although animals may not have the same intelligence(智力)as human beings, they are smart enough to learn certain things．

　　Dogs are extremely useful as companions for blind people．When a dog has been properly trained, he will always lead his blind master in the right direction and keep him out of danger．For example, seeing-eye dogs learn never to cross a busy road when cars are coming, even if their master ordered them to do so．

　　Horses are also able to learn many things．Horses that are used for guard or police duty must learn never to be frightened of noises, traffic, and other disturbances．Racing horses are able to run much faster than other horses, but they are also quite high strung(易紧张)．Therefore, it is necessary for those people who train them to be very patient and understanding．

　　The moving pictures and television can use trained animals too．Some animals, such as monkeys and foxes, are easy to film．All you have to do is make a trail in front of the camera by dragging something that smells good to the animals over the ground．Big animals, such as lions and tigers, can be photographed as they bound happily back to their families and dinner．If a movieactor is nearby, the well-trained animal will pay no attention to him．However, the audience may imagine that the actor escaped a terrible death by the skin of his teeth．

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　　It is said that in the United States much has been told that anyone can become rich and successful if he works hard and has some good luck．

　　Yes, when one becomes rich he wants people to know it．And even he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is．That's what“Keeping up with the Joneses”is about．The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American by the name of Arthur Momand．Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things to keep up with their neighbours：they try to look as rich and as successful as their neighbours．He saw the funny side of it and started to write a number of short stories．He called it“Keeping Up with the Joneses”, because“Jones”is a very common name in the United States．“Keeping up with the Joneses”came to mean keeping up with the people around you．Momand's series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years．

　　People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses．That is one reason why they read“right”books, go to the“right”universities and eat in the“right”restaurants．

　　Every city has an area where people want to live because others will think better of them if they do．And there are“Joneses”in every city on the world．But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses, because no matter what one does, Mr．Jones always seems to be ahead．

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　　Children have their own rules in playing games．They seldom need a referee(裁判)and rarely trouble to keep scores．They don't care much about who wins or loses, and it doesn't seem to worry them if the game is not finished．Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be directly compared．They also enjoy games that move in stages, in which each stage, the choosing of leaders, the pick-up of side, or the determining of which side shall start, is almost a game in itself．

　　Grown-ups can hardly find children's games exciting, and they often feel puzzled at why their kids play such simple games again and again．However, it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons．He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person, and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid．He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn．He can be confident, too, in particular games, that it is his place to give orders, to pretend to be dead, to throw a ball actually at someone, or to kiss someone he has caught．

　　It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control．Every one knows the rules, and more importantly, everyone plays according to the rules．Those rules may be childish, but they make sure that every child has a chance to win．

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　　Tom Smith was a writer．He wrote stories for magazines．One evening he could not find an end for a story．He sat with his typewriter in front of him, but he had no ideas．So he decided to go to the cinema．

　　When he came back, he found that he had a visitor．Someone had broken into his room．The man had had a drink, smoked several of Tom's cigarettes(香烟)and had read his story．The visitor left Tom a note(便条)：

　　“I have read your story and I don't think much of it．Please read my suggestions(建议)and then you can finish it．By the way, I am a thief(贼)．I am not going to steal(偷)anything tonight．But if you become a successful writer, I will return!”

　　Tom read the thief's suggestions．Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story．He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his thief to return．Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story near his typewriter．

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