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　　Students who say they never or hardly use dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes．The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either．The ones who look up every new word do not read fast, therefore they do not have time to read much．Those who use small, bilingual(使用两种语言的)dictionaries have the worst problems．Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as a translation of English．But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English．

　　The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but who do not use them too often．When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context(上下文)．Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand．They use dictionaries more for writing．If they are not sure how to spell a word, or can't divide it into syllables, they use a dictionary．Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form or a verb might have an unusual past form, they check these in a dictionary．

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　　The film“Titanic”received 14 nominations(提名)for the 70th Academy Award(奖)and it is not the only one that has been given such an honour．The following is a list of films receiving 12 or more Academy Award nominations and the number of Oscars they ended up winning：

　　“Titanic”(1997), 14 nominations, eleven awards．

　　“All About Eve”(1950), 14 nominations, six awards．

　　“Gone with the Wind”(1939), 13 nominations, eight awards．

　　“Mary Poppins”(1964), 13 nominations, five awards．

　　“Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”(1966), 13 nominations, five awards．

　　“Forrest Gump”(1994), 13 nominations, six awards．

　　“On the Waterfront”(1954), 12 nominations, eight awards．

　　“Ben-Hur”(1959), 12 nominations, eleven awards．

　　“My Fair Lady”(1964), 12 nominations, eight awards．

　　“Dances with Wolves”(1990), 12 nominations, seven awards．

　　“Schindler's List”(1993), 12 nominations, seven awards．

　　“The English Patient”(1996), 12 nominations, twelve awards．

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　　In the United States the most popular form of folk dancing since the earliest days has been square dancing．In early times, when men and women worked in groups to build a barn(building where animals are kept)or harvest crops, they danced when the work was done．The music came from a violin from the most part, but if there was no one to play the instrument, clapping was used to produce the rhythm(loud and soft sound made in a certain order)by which to dance．The early settlers danced in a store, in a barn or in a farm kitchen．

　　A square is formed by four couples who stand facing the centre of the square．Each couple stands on one side of the square, the boy on the left and the girl on the right．

　　The caller is an important part of the dance since he tells the dancers which steps to do．If the dancers do not know the steps he teaches them．It takes time to learn to be a good caller, and good callers are always in demand．

　　These are the names of some of the steps the dancers do：Form a square; Circle; Honour your partner; Promenade(Walk about slowly); Wing your partner; Form a star．There are many more．As the caller tells the dancers what to do next, they move to form the pattern he calls．

　　Large or small numbers of people can dance at one time．Sometimes 800 or 1，000 people may be dancing at the same time．Or there may be only one square of eight people．

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　　Like many people you may be dreaming of a career as a rock and roll star．There are two ways to go about getting one．First there is the traditional way．Find some friends and form a group．Learn to play the guitar or the drums．Write your own songs．Spend hours arguing about the band name．Then go out on the road．

　　The next step is to spend a year or two touring．If you are good enough, the crowds will get bigger．In the end an artist from a record company may come to a show．If he or she likes you, there may be a deal．This is the route traditionally followed by bands in the music industry．Success means fame and wealth．And failure gives you some interesting stories to tell your children．

　　Over the last few years a different path to success has become known．Boy bands like Boyzone and girl bands like the Spice Girls don't come together on their own．They are created by managers and record companies．Their image is strictly controlled．Professional song writers usually write their music．This is a convenient(现成的)arrangement and the public seems to love the result．

　　Though boy and girl bands have become very popular recently, there is a long tradition of making music in this way．In the early 1960's an American businessman called Berry Gordy founded Motown Records．Motown is short for“motor town”．The record company was based in the city of Detroit, where thousands of African-Americans had moved to work in the car industry．They brought with them a cultural tradition of writing and performing music．This style later became known as“soul music”．Berry Gordy was a diamond miner．He took raw talent from the street and polished(打磨)it until it shone．Motown stars were not just given songs to sing．They were also taught how to dress well and speak properly．

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　　Beijing, China's cultural center, is making its theatres and music halls more popular with ordinary people by reducing ticket prices and organizing more colorful performances．

　　Attending a performance or concert at weekends should no longer be a luxury, said Zhang Heping, director of the Beijing Municipal(市政府的)Cultural Bureau, at the government department's yearly work conference．Zhang put into a number of changes last year to increase audiences, such as designing some low-cost performances, the most popular of which was a show called“Open the Door of the Music”, aiming at students on summer vacation．

　　Previously(先前), performances had tickets priced at above 100 yuan－more than one tenth of the average monthly salary of a Beijing resident．But the low-cost shows would limit prices between 5 yuan and 30 yuan．

　　Zhang said it was wrong to believe that few people remained interested in cultural performances．“Tickets had simply been out of most people's reach,”Zhang said．More than 10 Beijing professional performance bodies have gradually been taken off government funding(投资)in recent years and have been left to fend for themselves．Zhang said“less profit, more audience”is better than“no profit and no audience”．

　　Beijing has planned to become an international city, but needs first-class cultural performances as well as first-rate infrastructure(基础设施)．Zhang also emphasizes the importance of large-scale(大型)activities, promising to organize more of them this year like open-air concerts performed by various amateur(业余)groups．

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LET YOUR LOVE FOR ANIMALS LIVE ON

　　As someone who loves animals, you care about what will happen to them in the future．CSIA has been treating sick and injured animals since 1938．It's hard to imagine what would happen to the hundreds of thousands of pets who need us every year if we no longer existed．

　　But in fact, we simply could not continue if it wasn't for a very special kind of gift people like you leave to us in their wills(遗嘱)．

　　Can we depend on your kindness too? If you haven't already done so, please consider including a gift to CSIA in your will．For free information on now to go about it, please call our help line on 08008421950．Your love for animals can live on with a gift in your will to CSIA．

　　CSIA for pets in need of vets(兽医)．

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　　Here in the hills were buffaloes．I had even, in my very young days-when I could not live till I had killed one of each kind of African animal－shot a bull out here．Later on, when I was not so interested to shoot as to watch the wild animals, I had been out to see them again, but twice I had to go back without success．

　　But one afternoon as I was having tea with some friends outside the house．Denys came flying from Nairobi and went over our heads westwards; a little while after he turned and came back and landed on the farm．I drove down to the plain to bring him back, but he would not get out of his plane．

　　“The buffaloes are out feeding in the fields,”he said,“come out and have a look at them．”

　　“I cannot come,”I said,“I have got tea-party up at the house．”

　　“But we will go and see them and be back in a quarter of an hour,”he said．

　　This sounded to me like the suggestions that people make to you in a dream．So I went up with him．It did not take us long to see the buffaloes from the air; we counted them as they peacefully mixed and separated on the open ground closed in bushes．There was one very old big black bull, and a number of young ones; if a stranger had come near to them they would have heard or smelt him at once, but they were not prepared for something from the air．They heard the noise of our machine and stopped feeding, but they did not seem to be able to look up．In the end they realized that something very strange was about; the old bull first walked out in front of the others．Suddenly he began to go down the valley side and after a moment he broke into a run．The whole group now followed him, rushing hurriedly down into the bushes．In a small wood of how trees they stopped and kept close together．Here they believed themselves to be out of sight．We flew up and away．It was like having been taken there by a secret unknown route．

　　When I came back to my tea-party the teapot on the stone was still so hot that I burned my fingers on it．

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　　The next time you try for a high-ranking post, you could let your possible boss listen to a recommending 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 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 at the thousands of dollars, include telephone call centers, companies that make software that reads digital files aloud, makers of automated voices devices．The advances raise several problems．Who, for example owns the rights to a famous person's voice?(Some experts even believe that new contracts 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 knew?

　　Even Mr．Fruchterman, one of AT ＆ T lab's possible first customers, said he wondered what the new technology right 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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　　Dangerous Creatures

　　Some beach creatures are wonderful-like dolphins, but others are dangerous．Find out more about the dangerous ones－puffer fish, blue ringed octopus, and stingrays．The blue ringed octopus is not a very big creature but it is very dangerous．

　　These octopuses are found all around the coast of Australia．They often lie in rock pools close to shore．The blue ringed octopus is usually a dull color but it shows its bright blue rings when it is in danger．If it is taken out of the water it is able to bite a person and poison them．If this creature bites someone they will feel numbness(麻木)around the mouth, face and neck．

　　Puffer Fish

　　Puffer Fish are found in all Australian seas．They are very easy to catch but must not be eaten because their flesh and internal organs contain a poison．

　　Anyone who does eat the flesh can become sick very quickly．They may even stop breathing．

　　The Blue Bottle

　　The Blue Bottle is found in most Australian waters．Blue Bottles float lightly on the surface of the water but their tentacles(触须)can be as long as 10 meters．

Blue Bottles are much less dangerous than some other jellyfish but they can give a swimmer a bad sting(刺)if the swimmer accidentally touches them．

　　Stingrays

　　There are many different kinds of stingrays in Australian waters．They usually swim and feed on bottom of the sea．Accidents can happen if people stand on them or try to pick them up．Stingrays have a sting on their tail．These stings have poison on them．If someone is stung, the wound can easily become infected．

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　　Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings．

　　The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities．It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines．Such noises are added to natural sounds．These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves．

　　Decibels(分贝)measured in water are different from those measured on land．A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears．In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety-five would have the same effect．

　　Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels in oceans．They have observed that noises at the level can frighten and confuse whales．

　　A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that louder noises can seriously injure some animals．The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing．This seriously affected the whales' ability to exchange information and find their way．Some of the whales even died．The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected．

　　Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels．They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research．

　　Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals．However, many scientists suspect(认为……是可能的)that noise is a greater danger than they believed．They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean．

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