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　　There is an endless supply of stories about sleepwalkers(梦游者)．Persons have been said to climb on roofs, solve mathematical problems, write music, walk through windows, and do murder in their sleep．

　　In Revere, Massachusetts, a hundred policemen searched for a lost boy who left his home in his sleep and woke up five hours later on a strange sofa in a strange living room, with no idea how he had got there．

　　At the University of Iowa, a student was reported to have the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and walking three quarters of a mile to the Iowa River．He would take a swim and then go back to his room to bed．

　　An expert on sleep in America claims(声称)that he has never seen a sleepwalker．He is said to know more about sleep than any other man alive, and during the last thirty-five years he has lost a lot of sleep watching people sleep．He says．“Of course, I know that there are sleep-walkers because I have read about them in the newspapers．But none of my sleepers ever walked, and if I were to advertise for sleep walkers for an experiment, I doubt whether I could get many takers．”

　　Sleepwalking, however, is a scientific reality．It is one of those strange things that sometimes look quite like the fantastic(怪诞的)．Doctors say that sleepwalking is much more common than is generally supposed．Many sleepwalkers do not try to find help and are never recorded．

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　　Buying insurance(保险)is a way in which people can protect themselves against large losses(损失)．Protection against fire is one kind of insurance．Large numbers of people pay small sums of money to an insurance company(公司)．Although thousands of people have paid for fire insurance, only a few will lose their homes by fire．The insurance company will pay for these homes out of the small sums of money it has collected．

　　The first modern fire insurance company was formed in London, England, in the 1740s．A great fire had just destroyed most of the city, and people wanted protection against further losses．The first company grew rapidly．Some other companies were founded in other areas．

　　Benjamin Franklin helped form the fist fire insurance company in America in 1752, and then a new kind of insurance for farmers was suggested．The new insurance would provide protection against the loss of crops from storms．

　　Later on another new insurance company was started in America．This company, which offered(办理)life insurance, collected small sums of money regularly from many different men．If a man died, his family was given a large sum of money．

　　Over the years, insurance companies have offered new kinds of insurance protection．The new kinds of insurance cover losses from such accidents as car and plane crashes(坠毁)．Today, most people have some kind of insurance．

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The National Zoo's annual Pumpkin(南瓜)Stomp

　　It only takes a few seconds for three-year-old elephant Kandula to jump on his first pumpkins(南瓜)．He smells them with his trunk, raises one leg and the crowd goes wild．This is the National Zoo's annual Pumpkin Stomp in Washington held in October each year．

　　More than 100 pumpkins are donated by Maryland and Virginia farmers each fall for the elephants．The elephants eat the entire pumpkin, rind(外壳)and all．It's a way for local farmers to get rid of their extra pumpkins after Halloween, and the keeper Galloway said it's a good exercise for the elephants, both mentally and physically

Tomato festival

　　A bloody“Tomato Battle”is held annually in August in a small town in Spain．A large crowd gathers in the square and nearby alleys eagerly awaiting the opening of the battle．As soon as the opening bell sounds at 12∶00 noon, the crowd rushes towards six trucks full of tomatoes．People pick up tomatoes and begin wildly throwing these“red bullets”toward friends and strangers in the crowd．The center of the city soon becomes a red sea of tomatoes．After about an hour, the supply of tomato ammunition(军火)runs out and the bloody tomato battle is officially ended．The event is held each year, attracting tourists from all over the world．

Songkran Water Festival

　　Thailand's most celebrated festival is the Songkran Water Festival．It is an old belief that the mythical serpents(蛇)brought on rain by drawing water from the seas．The more they drew, the more rain there would be．So, one might believe that the Songkran customs of throwing water is actually a rain-making idea, but it seems that the Thais don't really bother about the way they celebrate Songkran－they just do it for having a great time!

　　Young people pour scented water into the hands of elders and parents as a mark of respect while seeking the blessing of the older people．

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A Sad Love Story

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Festivals and Celebrations

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　　Speakers of different languages not only describe(描述)the world differently but think about it differently too, according to a new study．

　　Researchers used a cartoon cat to study how language was reflected(反映)in the gestures people made．

　　Dr Sotaro Kita of the University of Bristol's Department of Experimental Psychology(心理学), showed the cartoon to a group of native English, Japanese and Turkish speakers and then watched their gestures as they described the action they had seen．

　　He found speakers of the three different languages used different gestures to describe the same event, which appeared to reflect the way the structure of their languages expressed that event．

　　For example, when describing a scene where the cat swings(摇摆)on a rope, the English speakers used gestures showing an arc(弧形)orbit and the Japanese and Turkish speakers tended to use straight gestures showing the motion but not the arc．

　　Dr Kita suggests this is because Japanese and Turkish have no proper verb to express the English meaning “to swing”．

　　While English speakers use the arc gesture as their language can readily express the change of location and the arc-shaped orbit, Japanese and Turkish speakers cannot as easily express the idea of movement with an arc orbit so they use the straight gesture．

　　Dr Kita said,“My research suggests that speakers of different languages make different images of the same event in a way that matches the expressive possibilities of their own language．In other words, language influences spatial(空间的)thinking at the moment of speaking．”

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　　Imagine What China's Cities Will Be Like in the Future

　　Leaders in many Chinese cities are hoping to turn the areas where they live into “digital(数字化的)cities”．They have already begun stepping up efforts to get city construction companies to use digital information and network technologies．

　　So far, 120 cities have set up information systems in city planning management offices．

　　Over the next five years, Wang Guangtao, deputy mayor(副市长)of Beijing, says the city's government will start applying(应用)information technology to build the structure of a “digital Beijing”．Beijing will continue efforts to set up a high-speed broadband network(宽带网络)，push e-government(政府上网)and e-commerce(电子商务), and create an environment(环境)for imagination in IT．

　　The projects will help people in their daily lives．For example, the e-govenment project will enable people to use digital technology to find and use government information and services freely and quickly．Information will include leisure(休闲), education, work and home life．

　　Guangzhou, with one million Internet users, is one of the first Chinese cities to apply information technology to banking, medical and real estate(房地产)management areas．Guangzhou mayor Lin Shusen says that in the future every person who lives in that city will be able to use the computer network．

　　In Daqing, a primary oil production base in the northeast of China, deputy mayor Wang Hongen says the city will also aim to build “degital of fields”．

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　　Many countries of the world have natural parks．These parks provide the public with the opportunity(机会)to view animals in surroundings as near as possible to their natural habitat(栖息地)．

　　With this in mind, Hong Kong opened Ocean Park in 1977．The park lies in a site which juts(突出)out into the South China Sea．It is one of the largest ocean parks in the world．The park site of Lowland shows all kinds of plants and a large number of animals and birds．Education is the main aim of the attractions in this part of the park．Much can be learned about the animals by watching them and attending the shows that take place at set times each day．

　　The Headland site shows marine(海洋的)life．There are all kinds of fish here．At Wave Cove, where a machine creates waves up to one meter high, visitors can observe marine birds and animals living together．The greatest attraction, however, is the Ocean Theatre．In a large show pool, trained dolphins, sea lions and a killer whale delight people with a variety of tricks．

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　　The plan：turn Mars into a blue world with streams and green fields, and then fill it with creatures(生物)from the earth．

　　This idea may sound like something from a science fiction(科幻小说)，but it is actually being taken seriously by many researchers．This suggested future for the “red planet”will be the main topic for discussion at an international conference hosted by NASA(美国宇航局)this week．Leading researchers as well as science fiction writers will attend the event．It comes as NASA is preparing a multibillion-dollar Mars research programme．

　　“Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction,”said Dr Michael Meyer, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology(太空生物学)．“Now, with scientists exploring the reality, we can ask what the real possibilities of changing Mars are．”

　　Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money would be needed to achieve this goal．

　　“We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet,”said Paul Murdin, of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK．

　　Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident(自信)they will find Martian life forms．Europe and America's robot explorers have found proof that water, mixed with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet．

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　　London－“Everyone else has one!”Lucy declared to her parents, trying to get a mobile phone as a gift for her 14th birthday．Her parents gave in．

　　Curious to know how her daughter would use the phone, the mother, followed Lucy to the school bus in the morning．The bus seats 20, of whom half have a mobile phone．One rings and several adolescent(青少年)owners fumble(摸索)with their bags．

　　Many parents have just come to realize that the mobile phone is not longer only for traveling business-men－it is as likely to be found in school bags．

　　The mobile phone seems to have become something essential for today's teens in Britain, according to a survey(调查)published last week, by NOP, leading market research company in Britain．Research found that 66 percent of 16-year-old kids now have access to a mobile phone．

　　The mobile phone has been turned into a secret messaging service by teen users．They are talking on the mobile and their parents are not able to eavesdrop on the second line．

　　The interview with 2,019 young people aged 7 to 16 found that they favor the text messaging services because they offer a secret way of keeping in touch．The days of secret notes in the classroom are dying out．

　　For example,“cu”means “see you”;“lol”means “laugh out loud”; and“2nite”is an abbreviation(缩略语)of“tonight”．All these are based on shorthand phrases used on the Internet．

　　Many schools have banned(禁止)students using mobile phones．

　　Scientists believe children are especially vulnerable(易受伤害的)to the mobile radiation(放射线)．

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