London——Laura Spence has excellent grades, a place at Harvard University and a US $25,000 a year scholarship．The British Government says that is scandal(丑闻)．

　　Not because the 18-year-old girl is going to Harvard, but because she was rejected by Oxford University．Her case makes people talk about the long-running problems about elitism(精英主义)in British education．

　　“I think it’s a scandal if a child has to go to Harvard rather than getting into Oxford, don’t you?”Education Secretary David Blunkett said on May 26th in an interview on BBC radio．

　　British Treasury chief Gordon Brown said in a speech on May 25th it was“an absolute scandal”, a girl with those grades was turned down by Oxford’s Magdalen College．He noted that Spence comes from Monkseaton in northeastern England, where people sometimes complain they get fewer chances than people living in the richer, more populous south．

　　Oxford and Cambridge University now take the majority of their students－53 percent－from publicly funded schools．Elite(精英)private schools such as Eton and Harrow account for the other 47 percent, even though they serve only 7 percent of secondary students．

　　A BBC reporter had seen notes of Spence’s interview at Magdalen．“As with other comprehensive school pupils, she’s low in confidence and difficult to draw out of herself in spite of being able to think on her feet,”the BBC quoted the notes as saying．Still, the notes concluded that Spence“will be an excellent doctor．”

　　“It appears as if some of our institutions have admissions procedures which may be because of absurd prejudices against children from comprehensive schools…are not giving these children a fair crack of the whip”, Education Minister Wicks told the BBC．

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　　Material Girl no more?Madonna says writing children’s books is more satisfying than being a movie star．

　　Her book, The English Roses, went on sale on September 15th, appearing in 100 countries and in 30 languages as the first in her series of tales for children．The pop diva(女歌唱家), whose only book until now was the 1992 photo essay titled“Sex”, said she wrote the books to teach children some of the life lessons she’s learned over the years．

　　“The most fun that I’ve had of all the things I’ve done successfully has been to write these books．A lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m not doing it to become more famous, and I’m not doing it to become richer．I’m doing it because I want to share something I know with children．”

　　Hours after its release, the 48 page book was already No．8 on Amazon, com’s sales list．The first print is 1 million copies worldwide, with more than 750,000 in the United States．The English Roses is about a friendship shared by four girls and their mutual(共同的)envy of a beautiful classmate, with illustrations(插图)by fashion artist Jeffrey Fulvimari．

　　“There is one life-giving force in the world,”Madonna declared．“When we disconnect from this life-giving force, that’s when we bring pain and suffering into our lives．Each of the stories has to do with different ways you disconnect from God．”Madonna also said she was deeply affected by the experience of raising two children, Lourdes, 6, and Rocco, 3．The English Roses is the latest among a growing number of celebrities written children’s books．

　　The next book in the series,“Mr．Peabody’s Apples,”will be out in November．Each tale is set in a different time and place and has new characters and different illustrators．

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　　Net Library is a library that lends out digital books．It treats a digital like a paperback copy．It charges libraries per book per copy and gives publishers a cut of the total income．

　　From the consumer’s point of view, this means that if more than, five people want the latest Danielle Steel romance novel, other people who request that book will get a message saying the title can’t be found．

　　It’s a model many publishers seem to have embraced．More than 350 gave the company rights to hand out their digital works, and McGraw-Hill Corporation and Houghton Mifflin Corporation have put money in the company．The California public libraries and about 1, 800 others across the US are trying out the Net Library service．

　　Some librarians criticize the New Library model．Stanford University librarian Michael Keller argues that the company is creating an unnatural fear of digital woks, which is contrary to the ideas of the Internet．

　　Keller and some other librarians argue for the e-book vision set forth by E-Brary．E-Brary is starting a service that lets us users read books for free．

　　But it will charge about 25 cents a page when a person tries to print out material or copy and paste it into a different file or tries to download copy onto a computer．

　　Christopher Warnock, chief executive of E-Brary, believes most consumers won’t want to buy entire books, only the parts that interest them．

　　“There’s not really a lot of good in owning an electronic file and having to store it and manage it．It doesn’t make sense.”he said．

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　　Despite bankruptcies, lay off and tighter consumers spending, a few female led businesses in Japan are developing well．

　　Shizue Hamada, 52, set up a business in 1991 with eight other housewives to care for the elderly and the physically disabled．

　　It wasn’t long before the Tasukeai Yui(mutual-aid group)earned a reputation for its excellent service．It now employs 200 staff and has 300 million yuan(US $2.4million)in annual sales．

　　The woman said their business has been successful because they provide what customrs really want．

　　These entrepreneurs are making use of a revitalized and healthy demand for everyday basic items．

　　Bread, for instance, is in high demand．Business woman Meiko Tanaka, 26, started selling high-quality bread over the Internet in 2000．“Bread is cheap,”she said．“We might as well eat the bread baked using the the highest-quality ingredients．”

　　Five women-former office workers in their late 20s－have started the“OL Food Bureau of Investigation”to review restaurants on the Internet．OL means young office lady．It’s a common nickname in Japan．

　　Business is increasing rapidly．Membership for their online magazine has reached 26, 000．Their non-professional comments seem to carry a lot of weight with consumers．This month the five women will be appearing on Japanese TV．

　　What all these female entrepreneurs have in common is a strong belief in their likes and dislikes, and confidence is their own sensibilities．

　　They find gaps in the market and fill them with products and services that they like or want．

　　Japanese women headed nearly 6 percent of all businesses in Japan at the end of June-up from 4.5 per cent in 1999．

　　These female led micro businesses are playing an increasingly large role in the economy by plugging the gap between supply and demand．

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　　In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye．Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong．

　　Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network．They will publish a full-length record, titled“The True Idol”on April 6．

　　The idol is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley．He did a version of Ricky Martin’s“She Bangs”on the television show“American Idol 3”, on January 27．The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people．In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act．

　　Hung’s response?“I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all．”That’s good, because any common person would have found plenty to regret：The off-key singing．The blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high．The terrible dancing．The hips jerking(摇摆)to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet．It was, by all accounts, bad．

　　But, it was this very bad act that sold well．

　　Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way：“Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried．That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America．”

　　Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big．Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks．Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno-music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station．

　　So, what does Hung think of this?

　　“There were all these people saying things about me．A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean．”

　　Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour(魅力)or to accept it．Returning to normal hasn’t been easy．

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　　How the iron of tomorrow(the first Self Clean Iron)can change your lifestyle today?

　　General Electric introduces the iron of tomorrow．The iron can clean itself．Inside where irons get dirty．Because it cleans itself each and every time you empty it．

　　How?With a push of a magic blue button．

　　The magic blue button

　　The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this iron is the blue button on the side．It’s marked“Self Clean”．Push this blue button, and you can wash out loose mineral deposits that remain and block up inside．Push this button, and you’ve made life a lot easier．

　　Less chance of brown spots

　　Sure, Self Cleaning Iron is going to cut down on brown spots．(Those ugly spots that happen on nice, cleanly pressed clothes.)Because a Self Cleaning Iron becomes clean each time you press that magic blue button．

　　Steams much longer

　　Common sense tells you that if you’ve an iron that blocks less often it has to stay younger for a long period of time．In other words, it steams much longer．That’s another joy of owning General Electric’s Self Cleaning Iron．

　　What does it mean to you?

　　Today you are doing so much more than just running a house and running after the kids．You’re working．You’re going to school．It’s all part of your lifestyle．The iron can change that lifestyle．By giving you less trouble before you iron．If we can make it easier for you to be a better wife, a better mother, a better house maker, we want to．The new Self Cleaning Iron is another one of Home-Makers from General Electric．

Lifestyle．

We’re with yours．

GENERAL ELECTRIC

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　　“Time is a problem for children,”states a news report for a new Swiss watch．Children in some countries“learn time slowly”because“they don’t wear watches”and“parents don’t really know how to teach them time．”The children grow up with this handicap and become adults and then can’t get to work on time．Is there an answer to this problem?Of course it’s the Flik Flak, made by a famous Swiss watch company．

　　The Flik Flak is being marketed as something teaching watch for children aged 4 to 10．The watch itself does not teach children how to tell time, of course; it merely“takes their imagination”by presenting the“hour”hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the“minute”hand as a tall blue boy named Flik．Flik points to related“blue”minutes on the dial, while Flak points to“red”hour numbers．The characters and colors combined with parental help, are supposed to teach young children how to tell time．

　　The watch comes equipped with a standard battery and a nylon band(尼龙表带)．Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flik Flak, calls it“childproof：if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine．”The product is being sold in select department stores in Europe, Asia and the United States for a suggested price of $25．Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing to tell time; it’s quite another for them to be on time．

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　　On September 22, 1986, Jay Brunkella, a police-officer in the Rogers Park district in Chicago, was shot during a drug arrest and died．Shortly afterwards, fellow officer Ken Knapcik, a 20-year veteran(老警官)of the force, returned home after work to find a note from his 15-year-old daughter on the dining table．

　　Dad．This poem came directly from my heart．I love you so much!It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have．I wrote this to express how much I love you and how much lost I’d be without you．Laura．P．S．Hey, let’s be careful out there．

　　Titled“The Ultimate Cop”, Laura’s poem was dedicated“To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts．And especially to my dad．”It was about a police-officer’s daughter who sees on the night time news that her father has been shot．Part of poem：“Daddy, my Daddy, can you hear me cry?Oh, God, I need my Daddy, please don’t let him die．”

　　Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem．“It took me several minutes,”he said．“I’d get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on．I was weeping．She had never told me she was scared．”He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers．“I’ve never seen so many grown men cry．Some couldn’t finish it．”

　　Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in the pocket of his police jacket．He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift．“I don’t want to be out there without it．”he said,“I’ll probably carry it with me forever．”

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　　While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states-at least in getting people off welfare．It’s estimated that more than 2 million people have left the rolls since 1994．

　　In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County have been cut in half．But 70 percents of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour．The result：The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent-twice the national average．

　　For advocates(代言人)for the poor, that’s an indication that much more needs to be done．

　　“More people are getting jobs, but it’s not making their lives any better,”says Kathy Lairn, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and policy Priorities in Washington．

　　A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down．

　　But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory．

　　“Welfare was a poison．It was a toxin(毒素)that was poisoning the family,”says Robert Rector, a welfare reform policy analyst．“The reform is changing the moral climate in low-income communities．It’s beginning to rebuild the work ethic(道德观), which is much more important．”

　　Mr．Rector and others argued that once“the habit of dependency is cracked,”then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards．

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　　Unless we spend money spotting and preventing asteroids(小行星)now, one might crash into Early and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists．

　　Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids(流星)that race across the night sky．Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don’t threaten us．But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth．

　　Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now．Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks．By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we’ll have a way to change its course．

　　Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons．But the cost wouldn’t be cheap．Is is worth it?Two things experts consider when judging any risk are：(1)How likely the event is; and(2)How bad the consequences if the event occurs．Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500 000 years．Sounds pretty rare-but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world．“If we don’t take care of these asteroids, they’ll take care of us,”says one scientist．“It’s that simple．”

　　The cure, though, might be worse than the disease．Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth?“The world has less to fear from doomsday(世界末日)rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against it,”said a New York Times article．

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