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　　During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the London District of Southward was prospering(繁荣), and a very important and far reaching development was taking place at an area lying just beside the church now known as Southward Cathedral(大教堂)．The Rose Theatre, the Swan, the Hope Playhouse and the Bear Garden, were set up here along with the famous Globe Theatre, in which Shakespeare acted．

　　William Shakespeare(1564～1616)was an English poet and playwright whose works are considered the greatest in English literature．He is honored in Southward Cathedral today by the modern memorial window in the south aisle(通道)．The window was designed by Christopher Webb in 1954, after an earlier window had been destroyed in the war, and describes characters from Shakespeare’s plays．Below it is a figure of Shakespeare, carved by Henry McCarthy in 1912, set against a background of seventeenth century Southward in relief(浮雕), showing the Globe Theatre, Winchester Palace and the Tower of St．Savior’s Church．This memorial was provided by public support and was finished in 1911, and every year a birthday celebration, attended by many great actors and actresses, is held here in honor of Shakespeare’s genius．Shakespeare’s brother Edmund was buried here in 1607, and although the position of Edmund’s grave is unknown, he is honored by a marked stone．

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　　Whitman was one of the most original and inspiring American poets, well known for his art and his role as a poet．He devoted himself to poetry praising the native American experience．As America’s first epic poem, Leaves of Grass ran nine editions with more than 400 poems all written in free forms, that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme．The tide implies rebirth, renewal, or green life．As Whitman once said, “Leaves of Grass was the outcropping of my own emotional and other personal nature - an attempt, from first to last, to put a person, a human being freely, fully and truly on record．”

　　For Whitman, science, democracy(民主)and spirituality(灵性)were the three things that underlay the structure of modern poetry．Whitman tried to combine the world of science, the democracy and the spiritual feeling of life into one, into his poetry．For Whitman, the poetic form should be free．Therefore, he threw aside the traditional form and had his own form．Both the form and content of his poems are revolutionary．With its frequent use of oral language and everyday events, his poem represented a turning point in the history of American poetry - poetry fashioned out of specially American experience in a clearly American idiom．Whitman’s unique poetic creation has developed a very significant tradition in American poetry．

　　In his poems, he celebrated new America rather than regretted it．He was against slavery, idolized(崇拜的)Lincoln, supported strikes, and combined the ideal of the common people and that of the ragged individual．

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　　Language as a System of Symbols of all systems of symbols(符号), language is the most highly developed．It has been pointed out that human beings, by agreement, can make anything stand for anything．Human beings have agreed, in the course of centuries of mutual(相互的)dependency, to let the various noises that they can produce with their lungs, throats, tongues, teeth, and lips systematically stand for certain happenings in their nervous systems．We call that system of agreements language．

　　There is no necessary connection between the symbol and that which it stands for．Just as social positions can be symbolized by feathers worn on the head, by gold on the watch chain, or by a thousand other things according to the culture we live in, so the fact of being hungry can be symbolized by a thousand different noises according to the culture we live in．

　　However, obvious these facts may appear at first glance, they are actually not so obvious as they seem except when we take special pains to think about the subject．Symbols and the things they stand for are independent of each other, yet we all have a way of feeling as if, and sometimes acting as if, there were necessary connections．For example, there are people who feel that foreign languages are unreasonable by nature：foreigners have such funny names for things, and why can’t they call things by their right names? This feeling exhibits itself most strongly in those English and American tourists who seem to believe that they can make the natives of any country understand English if they shout loud enough．Like the little boy who is reported to have said：“Pigs are called pigs because they are such dirty animals, ” they feel the symbol is inherently(内在地)connected in some way with the things symbolized．

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　　Little is actually known about African-American artist Robert Scott Duncannon．Robert was born in 1821 in Fayette, New York．He was the son of freed slaves from Virginia．

　　One day, in 1848, a stern-looking(表情严肃的)man walked into Robert’s gallery with a strange request．The man, Charles Avery, wanted Robert to paint a picture of his copper mine in Northern Michigan．Robert took a trip to the Lake Superior area．Excited by the natural beauty of the place, he made many sketches of shining lakes and blue mountains．These were the scenes he’d always dreamed of painting, and he suddenly realized that his greatest paintings would be large landscapes．Robert had long admired the works of Frederic Church, Thomas Cole, and the other Hudson River School painters．They were inspired by the beauty of nature．Now he felt moved by the romantic glory of America’s wild places．

　　In 1850 Robert moved back to Cincinnati．He set up a studio and began working as an full-time artist．he got an offer from Nicholas Longworth, an important Cincinnati lawyer, to decorate(装修)his mansion(公寓)with large wall paintings．It was the toughest and a big job that Robert had ever attempted．

　　Two years later, when the murals(壁画)were complete, visitors were amazed．Each of the eight murals was nine feet tall and seven feet wide．Each was enclosed in its own frame that looked so real, viewers had to touch them to believe whether they were true or not!

　　In Cincinnati in 1866, artists, black and white, clamored(要求)to set up studios near Duncannon’s．They wanted to learn his techniques, and Robert welcomed them all．His old dream of unconditional acclaim as a master artist had finally come true．

　　Sadly, at the height of his career, Robert’s physical and mental health began to fail．In 1870 he was in a state of near collapse．Often he was too weak and confused to paint at all．It’s possible that Robert may have had a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork or stress．Some people now believe his illness may have been caused by the paint he used in his early house-painting days．Paint then had a great deal of poisonous lead in it．Too much lead in the body can cause odd behavior and, eventually, even death．But nobody knew that then．

　　A few months later， Robert’s condition improved, and he returned to work．For a while everything seemed fine．Then one day in October 1872, while hanging paintings for a new exhibition in Detroit, he collapsed．He died on 21st, December．Robert was remembered as “the best landscape painter in the West”．

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　　Watercolor(水彩)is the oldest painting medium．It dates back to the early cave dwellers(居住者)who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colors found in the earth, with water．

　　Fresco(壁画), one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolor．It is created by mixing pigments(颜料)and water and applying these to wet plaster．Of the thousands of people, who stand under Michelanglo’s heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few are aware that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world．

　　The invention of oil painting of the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century led to a decline in fresco painting and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly as a medium for doing preliminary sketches or as a tool for study．It was not untilthe eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters reinstated(恢复)watercolor as a serious art form．The English have a notorious love for the outdoors and also a great fondnessfor small pictures．

　　The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until, in the twentieth century, the United States passed England as the center for watercolor, producing such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth．

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　　Hsieh, a never-say-die young man, has mastered the technique of painting by holding the paintbrush in his mouth．When he was sixteen, Hsieh had a terrible electrical accident．Both of his arms and the lower part of his right leg were cut off．He also lost sight in his right eye．But Hsieh didn’t lose his heart．He decided to learn art, and took the first difficult steps toward changing his life．

　　“At first, I tried to hold a pen in my mouth．But I couldn’t control it,” Hsieh said, “Finally, after trying over and over again, I learned to write my own name．”

　　Learning to paint was even more difficult．At first, every brushstroke he made caused deep cuts in his mouth．It was extremely painful．But Hsieh didn’t let the pain discourage him．“Instead, I held the paintbrush even tighter, ” Hsieh explained in a firm voice．“I knew if I gave up, it would not only be the end of my painting, but also the end of my struggle for a better life．“ No matter what the obstacle(障碍)is, Hsieh always manages to find the bright side of a situation．

　　Hsieh works hard to inspire others．He is a tireless lecturer, giving about four hundred formal speeches a year! “If a person like me can lead a happy life,” Hsieh explained, “Why would regular people feel unhappy? It doesn’t always take two arms to achieve your dreams．All it takes is a warm heart．”

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　　“Who made your T-shirt?” A Georgetown University student raised that question．Pietra Rivoli, a professor of business, wanted to find the answer．A few weeks later, she bought a T-shirt and began to follow its path from Texas cotton farm to Chinese factory to charity bin(慈善捐赠)．The result is an interesting new book, ?The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy(经济)．?

　　Following a T-shirt around the world is a way to make her point more interesting, but it also frees Rivoli from the usual arguments over global trade．She goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner．In China, Rivoli shows why a clothing factory, even with its poor conditions, means a step toward a better：are for the people who work there．In the colorful used-clothing markets of Tanzania, she realizes that, “it is only in this final stage of life that the T-shirt will meet a real market, ” where the price of a T-shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color．Rivoli’s book is full of memorable people and scenes, like the noise, the bad air and the “muddy-sweet smell(泥土香味)of the cotton．” She says, “Here in the factory, Shanghai smells like Shallowater, Texas．”

　　Rivoli is at her best when making those sorts of unexpected connection．She even finds one between the free traders and those who are against globalization．The chances opened up by trade are vast, she argues, but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check．True economic progress needs them both．

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　　Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid．At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air．But does a baby have this understanding?

　　To see whether babies know objects are solid, T．Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion(视觉影像)of a hanging ball．His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch, and then to show them the illusion．If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements．All the 16-to-24-week-old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there．

　　Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence．We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back．But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?

　　Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old．In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen．

　　When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear．If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train．This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence．But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case．The researcher substituted(替换)a ball for the train when it went behind the screen．The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train．But the 16-week-old babies did not seem to notice the switch(更换)．Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence”, while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object．

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　　When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble－a word game－against herself, I knew I had to do something．My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against．I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it．After all, it had taken 15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker．Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home．And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers．

　　It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me．I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything．She has been the one teaching me all my life; to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad．Now it was my turn to give something back．

　　It wasn’t easy at the beginning．There was so much to explain and to introduce．Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook．After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字处理)．This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑战)to her, so I gave her some homework．I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces．

　　“Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she said．

　　“No, of course not,” I said．“They already know how to use a computer．”

　　My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period．Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应)．For as long as I remember,

　　and time I called, my mother would answer, Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years．

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　　May 5, 1884

　　Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby．He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times．

　　May 9, 1754

　　Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon(漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces, with the words“Join or Die” printed under the picture．

　　May 11, 1934

　　The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result years of drought(干旱), blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington D．C．

　　May 19, 1994

　　Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s, died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64．

　　May 24, 1844

　　Samuel F．B．Morse laps out the first message, “What Hath God Wrought, ” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington D．C．, to Baltimore, Md．