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　　Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas．I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend．While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas．

　　I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car．I stopped and wondered what I should do．A car pulled up behind me．It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station．They said they would take me to my friend’s．We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card．

　　I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me．Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them．Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful．

　　Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning．In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池)was dead．Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership－a shop selling cars－was right next door．I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom．

　　“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble．They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it．They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks．I received a letter back from one of the salesmen．“No one had ever taken the time to write me and say thank you, and it meant a lot, ”he said．

　　“Thank you”－two powerful words．They’re easy to say and mean so much．

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　　Next to the Castle lies The Hub, home of the Edinburgh International Festival and one of the most talked about spots in town．Our cafe opens every day for mouth-watering lunches, snacks and fine dining．Come in and enjoy the atmosphere of The Hub or watch the world go by from our beautiful terrace．

　　The Hub, Castlehill, Royal Mile, Edinburgh．Open every day from 9∶30 a. m. till late．

　　Tel：0131 473 2067 www．Thehub-edinburgh．com

　　Enjoy being “A Farmer for a Day”．Join in delivering and feeding our spring babies-bottle feeding sessions twice daily．Fun for all family．Horse Rides, BMX Bikes Cross Country Course, Tractor through 600 acres, New Adventure Playground, Nature Trails．Full details on website．

　　Open：May-Oct．Wednesdays to Saturdays and daily during school holidays 11 a. m. 5 p. m．

　　Tel：01797 260256/260321 www．Farmworld0-rye．Co．uk

　　Are you curious, creative and energetic? Are you interested in the new media? Are you between 12 and 19 years of age? Then Join Multimedia 2006 is for you!

Your challenge will be to build a team and develop a multimedia presentation in English based on one of three different topics．You can register(报名)between May 1 and June 15, 2006 and will have to turn in your entry before September 15, 2006．

　　The rewards are wonderful ￡150 000 in prize for schools and the chance to attend a European student camp－plus new experiences, an opportunity to make friends throughout Europe!

　　For further information and registration forms go to：www．Siemens．Com join．Multimedia．

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　　Dr．Hausman is a hair detective．Once a mountain lion killed a thirteen-year-old boy．The town offered a reward of thousand dollars for anyone who would kill the lion．

　　One day an excited hunter came to the town to say that he had killed the mountain lion．As proof that he had killed the right animal, he showed a ball of human hair．He said he had taken the hair from the stomach of the mountain lion．

　　However, another hunter soon showed up to claim(索要)the reward．He too had a ball of human hair that he said he had taken from the dead lion’s stomach．The town did not know which man to pay．Maybe neither one had killed the right mountain lion．To settle the argument, they decided to turn the whole thing over to Dr．Hausman．

　　Dr．Hausman studied the hair and reported that the second hunter should be paid．The hair in the stomach of the mountain lion he had killed matched the hair of the boy．The whole town was relieved to know for sure that the killer had been found．

　　There are other kinds of detectives who do not wear a uniform, like Hausman, but solve endless mysteries every year．There is, for example, the dust detective．Tiny bits of dust stick to your clothes, your fingernails, your hair, or your shoes．They catch in your nose and in your ears．They tell where you have been and what you have done lately．The dust detective often helps catch a criminal by proving that he has been on the scene of the crime(罪案)．

　　Then there is the wood detective．By studying a piece of wood he can tell what kind of tree the piece of wood came from．He can tell where it was grown, and how old it is．He can even tell you what the weather was like at a certain place the year Columbus landed in America．The growth rings on a tree tell him．

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　　BEIJING, July 29－Chinese films “Black Eyed” and “Exiled” will vie for the Golden Lion awards at the 63rd Venice Film Festival, which is scheduled to open in Lido on August 30．

　　“Black Eyed” by Taiwan director Tsai Ming-liang

　　centers on a group of tramps in Kuala Lumpur．The movie enters the competition session together with Hong Kong gangster flick “Exiled” by Johnnie To．

　　Taiwan actor Lee Kang-sheng from “Black Eyed” and the lead actor from “Exiled”, Anthony Wong, will compete for the honor of the best actor．Many Hollywood stars are also in the running for this award, including Ben Affleck and Adrien Brody for “Hollywoodland”, Anthony Hopkins for “Bobby”, as well as Hugh Jackman for “The Fountain”．

　　Taiwan actress Chen Shiang-chyi, who co-stars in “Black Eyed” is in competition for the best actress award．She is up against many experienced competitors, including the lead actresses of “Bobby”, Sharon Stone and Demi Moore, and Rachel Weisz for “The Fountain”．

　　Mainland Chinese film “Banquet” and Jackie Chan’s “Project BB” will be screened at the event．Taiwan film “Do Over” is entered in the Critic’s Week section of the Venice Film Festival．

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　　Turning on the TV, a wonderful scene comes to your eyes－a group of men, tall, strong and handsome, and women, young, beautiful and attractive, too．Together they eat in the finest restaurants, traveling everywhere around the world by luxurious planes and pleasure ships．They are models．

　　Do you envy them? What sort of life are models leading? Is it a wonderful life for a young lady or a young man?

　　A few models are well-known actors or actresses who can make a lot of money only by showing themselves off in commercials．But the majority of them are just curious to see what it is like．They’d like to be models just because they are attracted by what they imagine－models earn a lot of money and lead a glorious life．This is true for those who are very successful．However, most models find it difficult to get work．Very few can earn enough to live on, and for all models their expenses are high．Their agents claim about 20％ of the earnings, and no model will get very far without a clever agent．Besides, they have to buy good clothing．They also have to pay to travel to interviews and reach the places where the work is to be done．

　　Interviews for a model job are known as cattle-markets in the modeling world．A top model can choose his or her work, demand and receive high fees and has his or her expenses paid．But for most models, the situation is quite different．And agent or employer inspects each model much as a farmer inspects cattle at a market．Intelligence, qualifications and personal characteristics count for little against good looks and tight figures．For all except the very few lucky ones, the life of a model is a continual search for work, trying to sell himself or herself in the face of fierce competition and, sometimes, not particularly moral standards on the part of some employers．

　　Immigration officials at airport look suspiciously at a girl whose passport shows her occupation as “Model”, and these are men and women of considerable experience of the world．It comes no surprise to find that some models prefer to put “Secretary” or “Businessman” as their jobs in their passports．

　　Modeling is a changeable world with great rewards for a tiny minority but not for the majority．

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　　Think about this：people wearing clothes from their own countries．They walk around, grouped by country．They say “Happy United Nations Day”in different languages．

　　Sounds like a UN meeting? Well, not really．It’s a meeting of students and teachers at the Beijing BISS International School! BISS teaches lessons in English．

　　On Wednesday, about 400 students from more than 40 countries got together to celebrate UN Day at BISS! They were also there for the tenth birthday of the school．

　　BISS students had a day of fun! All of them became stars．They sang, danced and even acted in short plays．“I love UN Day．We have so many different things to see and hear, and different foods to try! ” said Elliott, a Grade 7 boy from New Zealand．Yeon Park is a 14-year-old Korean girl．“I love making friends from different countries,” she said．“They can teach me many new things．” But she didn’t have any friends at first because she didn’t speak good English．“I learned quickly．My teachers let us learn by playing games．” Ian, 14, is a boy from Malaysia．He had many ways to talk with his foreign friends．“When I couldn’t use English, I drew pictures or made signs,” he said．

　　Many students think the best thing about the day is the food! Parents brought food from their countries to school for lunch．There was Japanese sushi(寿司), Canadian apple pies(派)and even African bread!

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　　The Gloria Barron Prize honors American young people from 8 to 18 who have shown leadership and courage in public service．Each year ten winners each receive ＄2000 to support their higher education or their service work．

　　Ellie Wen, 18, was volunteering at a community center in Los Angeles．The center was set up to help immigrant(移民的)families．She happened to meet adults in an EFL(English as a Foreign Language)class．“When I saw them struggling hard, I wondered how people in poor countries could learn English, ” Ellie said．

　　So she started a Website, “Repeat After Us”, where people can listen to English and practice their accents．Volunteers have helped Ellie record more than 6600 texts, including Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”．

　　Hard work pays off．There were so many times that Ellie was discouraged, but she stuck to it．The Website crashed early on, and all the recordings were lost．But volunteers worked together vigorously to start over, and the visitors returned to the site．

　　“Just follow your idea and know that the world is so kind．Even if you do have trouble, people will help you,” Ellie said．

　　“I was really excited the first month, when we had 49 visitors, ” she said．Now, more than 480 000 people from all over the world have visited the site．“I get e-mails from China, Egypt, India, and Brazil．They say, ’Thank you so much for this resource, we’ve been waiting for it for so long!’” Ellie loves knowing she is helping so many people．

　　Gloria Barron Prize winners like Ellie are enthusiastic about the work they do．And they encourage others to join in if they see a need．Anybody can be negative, but it takes somebody brave to be positive．Are you the brave one?

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　　African-American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is the world’s most powerful celebrity(名人), according to Forbes(福布斯)magazine．It placed Winfrey at the top of the annual ranking of the 100 people with the biggest pull(影响力)．

　　Winfrey, 51, draw 30 million viewers weekly in the United States．Her talk show reaches 112 countries．She earned US＄225 million over the past 12 months to rank second in celebrity riches．The annual Forbes list gives most weight to annual earnings．But it also looks at the celebrity’s presence on the Internet and in the media．“After 21 years, her exciting chat show still rules the airwaves,” the magazine said．

　　Winfrey is most popular with her popular talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show”．She can always attract the superstars and let them open up to her intimate interviewing style．Winfrey’s approach appears to be simple．She is in a pursuit(追求)of self-improvement and self-empowerment．This has proved to be just what people, especially women, want．

　　Winfrey often talks about her personal secrets on her show．That pulls in viewers．For example, she made it known that she had been sexually abused as a child, and has spoken freely of her struggle with her weight．

　　Her success has not just been on the screen．Her media group includes a women’s TV network and websites for women．Her work has extended to social change．In 1991, she did a lot of work for the National Child Protection Act．She testified before the US Senate to establish a national database(数据库)of dangerous child abusers．The then President Bill Clinton later signed the “Oprah Bill” into law．

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　　Most of us use the telephone several times a day to talk with friends or make social arrangements．These calls are usually quite easy and require little planning．

　　Using the telephone for business purpose is different．In any organization the person on the telephone represents the company and gives an impression of the firm to the outside world．

　　If you want to ensure good public relations, you need to master effective telephone techniques．

　　You should try to give an impression of an efficient, friendly, progressive company eager to give good service．

　　Choose the right time．Consider the cost, urgency and convenience．When calling overseas you need to consider the time difference．

　　Check the number．A great deal of money is wasted each year on dialing wrong numbers．

　　Plan your call．Make a list of points and questions to be raised．

　　Be prepared．Gather any files, papers or information that may be needed during the call．It is unprofessional to have to say “Hold on while I look for that．”

　　If you have to ask a caller to hold on, keep going back and assuring him or her that you will be as quick as possible．

　　Avoid interruptions．Call at a time when you are unlikely to be distracted．

　　Be courteous, polite．Make time for suitable greetings like “How are you today, Jim?” and “Did you enjoy your holiday?”

　　Put a smile in your voice．Remember, your caller can’t see you, so use intonation to try to sound confident, decisive, helpful and interested．

　　Check your notes．Look back at your notes to ensure that you have covered everything and quote figures and other data correctly．

　　Obtain feedback．Make sure that caller understands the message correctly, especially deadlines and actions that are involved．

　　Be courteous．Finish by thanking the caller for his or her time and trouble．

　　Make notes．Let it become a habit to make notes of the call and place them in an appropriate file．

　　Take actions．If you need to send a letter of confirmation or inform someone in your organization about any details of the call, do some immediately so that you do not forget important points．

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How the United Nations Tries to Keep the Peace

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