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　　The English language is changing, and fast, thanks to the rapid progress of technology．We all have a choice：we can either bury our heads in the sand and spend the rest of our lives wishing Shakespeare were alive and well, or we can embrace(拥抱)the new English, enter into the spirit of the Internet age and call it “weblish”．

　　“You can’t avoid it, for the simple reason that whenever a new variety of language comes along, it inevitably impacts(冲击)on the language as a whole, ”says Dr．David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics(语言学)at the University of Wales in Bangor, whose book “Language and the Internet” has just been published．

　　The trouble with keeping up with the new English is not so much that there are so many new words but that the old words no longer mean what we thought they did．In the past, if someone said they did not have Windows, you would have to suppose they lived in a cave．These days, it is probably because they use a Mac(which is a computer, not a raincoat)．Spam is as disliked as it ever was, but whereas it once meant an unappetizing(没有食欲的)canned meat, it now stands for unwanted “junk” email．Spellings are changing, too．Not only is text－messaging playing “hvc wth vrbs” [havoc(混乱)with verbs], but the conventions of email communication place little emphasis on “perfect spelling”．

　　Weblish loves to see nouns happily become verbs(“Please bookmark this site”), and verbs become nouns(“Send me the download”)．Verbs and prepositions are regularly thrown together to become new nouns or adjectives(dial－up, logon, print－out, pull－down, upload), while others are created from simply pairing nouns：cyberspace, ethernet, Internet, hyperlink, metatag, netspeak．

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　　LONDON－British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced a growing rebellion over his leadership on Wednesday after reports he planned to stay in office until mid-2007 prompted seven former loyalists to quit their posts．

　　A junior minister and six government aides, part of a group of once-loyal Labour lawmakers now calling for Blair to step aside, resigned saying an urgent change of leader was needed to revitalise the Labour Party’s flagging fortunes．

　　The departures came the day British newspapers reported that Blair planned to quit on July 26, 2007, after more than a decade in power-effectively kick-starting a battle for leadership of his ruling Labour Party and the country．

　　Blair, 53, winner of a record three consecutive elections for Labour, has seen his popularity slide after a series of government scandals over sleazes and mismanagement, as well as controversy over wars in Iraq and Lebanon．

　　Finance Minister Gordon Brown is widely expected to take over and several political figures urged the two to map out a plan to ensure a smooth transition of power and avoid months of government paralysis．

　　Two senior ministers and Blair allies have said this week the prime minister would be gone within a year．

　　There has long been a vocal wing of hardline Labour left-wingers who are opposed to Blair’s move to the centre ground of British politics since he was first elected in 1997．

　　The latest doubters all first entered parliament in 2001 and have loyally backed his reforms and policies．But now they fear that unless Blair goes, Labour will lose the next general election, expected in 2009．

　　“DISLOYAL, DISCOURTEOUS AND WRONG”

　　Junior Defence Minister Tom Watson was the highest ranking Labour lawmaker to quit on Wednesday．

　　“I share the view of the overwhelming majority of the party and the country that the only way the party and the government can renew itself in office is urgently to renew its leadership, ” he said．

　　But Blair immediately said he had planned to sack Watson anyway, calling him “disloyal, discourteous and wrong” in signing a letter, along with 14 other previously loyal members of parliament, calling for the prime minister to quit．

　　Jaqcui Smith, the chief whip responsible for keeping parliamentarians in line, told Sky News：“Many of my colleagues are concerned that we have an orderly transition．”

　　“Bundling the most successful Labour prime minister out the back door in the next few weeks isn’t how we’re going to do that, ” she added．

　　Bets poured into bookmakers on Wednesday on whether Blair would quit this year or next, who will replace him and if the opposition Conservatives will win the next general election．

　　Opinion polls put Labour well behind the Conservatives, who have been revived by their new youthful leader, David Cameron．

　　Newspapers splashed summer 2007 departure dates across their front pages, saying Blair had caved in to increasing pressure from Labour parliamentarians demanding a clear timetable．

　　The Sun tabloid said Blair would step down as Labour leader on May 31－less than a month after his 10th anniversary in office－and resign as prime minister eight weeks later after an election to choose a party leader．

　　Blair’s Downing Street office described the reports as “speculation” but did not deny them．

　　Blair won his first term on May 1, 1997．A decade in power would leave him more than a year short of Margaret Thatcher’s record as the longest-serving leader in more than a century．

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　　In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition．Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity．Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people．

　　I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied(依赖)on how well they performed at tennis and other skills．For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs．In their single-minded pursuit(追求)of success, the development, of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten．

　　However, while sonic seem to be lost in die desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude．In a culture which values only die winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition．Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society．Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail．They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success．By not trying, they always have an excuse：“I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try．” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot．Such a loss would be a measure of their worth．Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves．Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others．Both are afraid of not being valued．Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve(缓解)can we discover a new meaning in competition．

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　　Let us say there is something you don’t know how to do．

　　In the past of you were determined to learn, you might have called a friend or relative, taken a night class or walked down to the local library for a research term．But now a host of websites are springing up to provide free practical advice on these subjects and actually anything else you can think of．

　　In one sense, these “how-to” sites represent(表明)a part of the growing world of online learning．This tradition found one of its earliest forms in the FAQs －or Frequently Asked Questions files－that began on Usenet, the Internet’ s global discussion group．These FAQs, many of which still circulate(go round continuously), took a specific subject－and explained it to complete novices．

　　But “how-to” sites take the FAQs idea in a somewhat different direction by addressing subjects that aren’t necessarily related to discussion forums(论坛)．These sites take the style of a written tutorial(teaching period)and a tone of friendly advice．Possibly the biggest and best known of these sites is learn2．com(www．learn2．com)．It offers nearly 1000 free tutorials and adds new ones frequently for a job interview．

　　At ehow．com(www．ehow．com)you can learn how to train for your first marathon, how to buy a vacation home, or how to make a movie in eight steps．

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　　Jonathan James looks like just another kid about to graduate from high school．But this 19-year-old Swede is anything but ordinary, from the computer in his parents’ home he helps the US Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI)find out the world’s most wanted cyber criminals(网络犯罪分子)．

　　Jonathan first made headlines when he and another Swede, Fredrik Bjoerck, found out the maker of the “Melissa” virus(病毒)in March 1999．He came to the aid of the FBI again on May 7, finding out the suspected(嫌疑的)sender of the dangerous “I LOVE YOU” virus．The suspect was caught in Manila on May 8．

　　Jonathan’s special skills are in hot demand as officials around the world express alarm at the “virtual” crimewave．In between studying for final exams, hanging out with friends and refereeing his younger brother’s football matches, the quiet, gentle teenager also gives lessons on e-security(电子安全)to large companies．He reads a lot and exchanges information with other computer experts to know much about the latest tricks of the hacker(黑客)trade．

　　Many companies have already tried to employ him, but he is not interested at the moment．Instead, he plans to begin law school in the autumn at Sweden’s Uppsala University and start up his own e-security company．

　　Although he works with the FBI now, his family insists he’s just “a regular kid”．“Jonathan is a great kid, he has his friends and he does a lot more than just play with the computer, ” his little sister Tessa said, adding that he helps the FBI because “he likes to help”, not because he’s looking for fame and recognition．

　　When the world was hit by the “Love Bug” virus, Jonathan was too busy preparing a speech on e-security to look into the problem．“Finally on May 7, I had some free time, so I began looking．” Within a few hours, he had found the suspect and e-mailed his method and results to the FBI．He said his work on the “Melissa” virus, which took three weeks to solve, was a big help in finding the suspect so quickly．

　　“This time I knew exactly where to start, I knew what to disregard and what to look at．”

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　　Modern society cannot well do without the contribution that women can make in the professions and other kinds of work．There is a serious shortage of nurses and teachers, to mention only two of the occupations followed by women．It is a waste to give years of training at public expense only to have the qualified teacher or nurse marry after a year or two and be lost forever to her profession．The training, it is true, will help her in her duties as a mother, but if she continued to work, her service would be more widely useful．Many factories and shops, too, are largely staffed by women, many of them married．While here the question of training is not so important, industry and trade would be seriously short of staff if married women did not work．

　　We can see then that there are good reasons for regarding it as desirable that married women should have some occupation outside the home．However, there are serious objections．Schools do not keep children occupied the whole day and school holidays are long．The mother’s working day will almost certainly end well after the school day and her holiday will not begin at the same time as her children’s．There will be therefore a period when children are not taken care of unless a substitute for the mother can be found, or unless it becomes more generally possible for women to work part-time．There seem to be some grounds for believing that there is more bad behavior among the children of working mothers than among those of mothers who stay at home, but more evidence is required before we can be certain of this．What we can be certain of, however, is that many more will continue to do so．

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　　The country’s top trade union has called on all foreign companies operating in China to establish union branches．

　　The All-China Federation of Trade Unions(ACFTU)urged foreign companies to follow the example of Wal-Mart, which has initiated a process of setting up unions in all its stores throughout the country, reported the Xinhua News Agency．

　　At a pace of close to one a day, the US retail giant has established union branches in all 62 of its China outlets, since the first one was formed at Wal-Mart’s Jinjiang, Fujian Province, store on July 29．

　　The move was hailed as a “historic breakthrough” by the ACFTU, with Wal-Mart finally giving up its passive resistance to trade unions and agreeing to full co-operation in establishing branches in its stores．

　　ACFTU Vice-President Xu Deming called on unions to learn from the experience and set up more branches in foreign companies, especially those that rank in the top 500 list．

　　Notably, Xu slammed multinationals such as Foxconn, Kodak and Dell for their long time refusal to allow the establishment of trade unions, and called on unionists at all levels to make the establishment of branches at those companies bases in China “breakthrough goals”．

　　Xu said resistance from foreign companies sprung from their lack of understanding of the status and function of Chinese trade unions, which they consider opponents．

　　“A trade union should unite and organize employees, boosting the development of a company, guarding employees’ rights and maintaining harmony in the workplace, ” said Xu．

　　“Our experience with Wal-Mart shows that as long as foreign companies’ apprehension can be dispelled, they will support our work and take a positive and active attitude．”

　　Sixty per cent of the more than 150 000 foreign invested companies in the country are expected to have their own trade unions by the end of this year, Xu predicted．

　　(China Daily 10/14/2006 Page 2)

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　　Larry King：I’m having this conversation with you on a computer, and I’m wondering if e-mail is going to replace the post office in the future．

　　Bill Gates：E-mail won’t replace the post office, but it will replace a lot of paper the post office carry around today．

　　King：Tell me how a computer will be used in the average home thirty years from now．

　　Gates：You’ll have lots of thin flat screens covering the walls of your house and you’ll carry a hand-held device(装置)around with you．The screens will feed whatever visual information you want－live video from a place in the world you like, an art reproduction．

　　King：What happens when the power goes out?

　　Gates：We’re very dependent today on electricity and we still will be in years．If there’s a power failure, you won’t get much work done, although battery technology will improve enough that short power failures won’t necessarily shut down all of your computers．

　　King：Are we going to get television and news and entertainment from the Internet rather than from cable TV in the house?

　　Gates：News and entertainment will be delivered from the Internet to cable television and telephone connection in our homes．We’ll access this information using a variety of devices, some of which will be like today’s televisions．

　　King：Will a person be able to work in the future without having any computer skills?

　　Gates：There will still be jobs for people without computer skills, but a smaller percentage than exist today．The amount of the workforce that lacks computer skills will decrease as people not having those skills get retrained or retire．Most young people have computer skills or at least an enthusiasm(热情)to get them．

　　King：Describe an office in the future．Telephone?Fax machine?Conference room?Will there be an office building?

　　Gates：The key element of the office of the future is that it will have lots of flat screens, just like your house will．And these screens are going to be everywhere once they get thin enough, cheap enough, and high enough in quality．You’ll carry around a lightweight screen the way you carry a wallet or cellphone or newspaper today．

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　　In October 1961 at Crowley Field in Cincinnati Ohio, an old deaf gentleman named William E Hoy stood up to throw the first ball of the World Series．Most people at Crowley Field on that day probably did not remember Hoy because he had retired from professional baseball 58 years earlier in 1903．However he had been an outstanding player and the deaf people still talk about him and his years in baseball．

　　Hoy was born in Houckstown Ohio on May 23, 1862．He became deaf when he was two years old．He attended the Columbus Ohio School for the deaf．After graduation he started playing baseball while working as a shoemaker．

　　Hoy began playing professional baseball in 1886 for Oshkosh(Wisconsin)of the Northwestern League．In 1888 he started as an outfielder(外场手)with the old Washington Senators．His small figure and speed made him an outstanding base runner．He was very good at stealing bases during his career．In the 1888 major league season he stole 82 bases．He was also the Senators’ leading hitter in 1888．Hoy was clever and he threw right-handed and batted left-handed．On June 19, 1889 he threw out three batters at the plate from his outfield position．

　　The arm signals used by judges today to show balls and strikes began because of Hoy．The judge lifted his right arm to show that the pitch was a strike and his left arm to signal that it was a ball．

　　For many years people talked about Hoy’s last ball game in 1903．He was playing for Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast Winter League．It was a memorable game because Hoy hit a wonderful ball which won the game．It was a very foggy day and therefore very hard to see the ball．In the ninth inning(棒球的一局)with two men out, Hoy managed to catch a fly ball to make the third out in spite of the fog．Los Angeles defeated their opposition and won the game．

　　After he retired Hoy stayed busy．He ran a dairy farm near Cincinnati for 　　　　 years．He also became a public speaker and traveled giving speeches．Until a few years before his death he took 4-10 mile walks several mornings a week．On December 15, 1961 William Hoy died at the age of 99．

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　　Antigua and Barbuda is the 32nd independent(独立的)nation in Latin America．It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 700 kilometers from South America, between Dominica on the west and Guadeloupe on the southeast．Antigua is the main island, on which is its capital Saint John．The other two islands are Barbuda and Aedonda．The total area is about 441 square kilometers with a population of 80 thousand．Antigua was first discovered by Columbus in 1493．It was named after a Spanish church in Seville．The Spanish and the French had tried to settle in the place but were not successful．It later fell into the British hand and became a colony for more than three hundred years．It declared independence on November 1, 1981．Its main agricultural products are cotton and sugar-cane．But about one third of its national income is from tourism．English is the language spoken in the country．

　　The United Nations accepted it as its 157th member state on November 11, 1981．