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　　Almost every family in America or England buys at least one copy of a newspaper each day．Some people buy as many as two or three different papers．

　　Why do people read newspapers?

　　Newspapers supply us with news about events in our home towns, in our country, and in other parts of the world．Today we can read about important things that took place in foreign countries on the same day they happened, even in countries far away．But hundreds of years ago news of things took months or even years to travel from one country to another．In those times, news was often passed from one person to another and never entirely true．Newspapers today supply us with more than just what happened in our country or in other countries．If we want to know what the weather will be like, we can read the weather reports．If we want to find out what films are being shown, or what plays or concerts we can go to, we can look in the newspapers．

　　In many countries people put notices in newspapers if they are trying to get a job, hunting for a house or rooms that they can rent, or even looking for a person who is lost．

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A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading．It is remarkable first for what it contains：the range of news from local crime to international politics, from sport to business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features(特写)as well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre and music．A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it：never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next．A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in．What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality(时事性), its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now．But immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient(短暂的)value．For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper：what each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and sequence, his own newspaper．For all these reasons, reading newspaper efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading．

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　　Chinese culture researchers will use modern computer and video technologies to set up a national audio and video database for Chinese traditional operas．The database was made by the Chinese Academy of Arts, together with provincial-level art research institutes across the country．They hope to protect the nation’s traditional operas, according to Wang Wenzhang, president of the academy．

　　The influence of foreign cultures in China has caused great challenges for the survival(生存)of Chinese traditional operas．There were 367 types of traditional operas in China at the end of 1950’s, but the number has dropped to 267 in 2004．

　　“If we do not take practical measures to protect the traditional operas that are still alive, some of them will disappear very soon,” said Liu Wenfeng, deputy(副职)director of the research institute of traditional Chinese operas at the academy．Liu, who was in charge of the project, said the academy was planning to spend one and a half years in setting up the database．

　　The academy has so far collected more than 40 000 records of traditional operas, 15 000 hours of audio recordings and 2000 hours of video recordings of Chinese traditional operas．Such a collection will be very helpful for setting up the database, according to Liu．“However, what the academy possesses includes only those materials related to major traditional operas, such as Peking Opera and Kunqu, ” said Liu, adding that the traditional operas popular among small groups of people were not included．“That is why we are asking the provincial-level art research institutes to take part in the project so that more local operas could be found and included in the database, ” said Liu．

　　“Thanks to modern computer technology, these materials will be finally turned into digital products and put on the Internet, ” he said．“Once the database is completed, all of the materials will be provided for Internet users at home and abroad．Such a practice will be very effective in promoting(促进)exchanges between Chinese and overseas researchers,” Liu added．

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　　If you’re in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you．As a director, I suggest, I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go．In the 1986 movie Nothing in Common, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman．The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max’s hopelessness about being out of work．I was looking for some ways that would allow Max to show his feelings．Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened．What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Out of fear I decided to direct by suggestion, and I sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene．“So Max is sad, right?” I said．

　　Gleason nodded．“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with his name on them－the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?” Gleason nodded．“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”He was silent for a moment．“Why don’t I throw them overboard?”

　　I stood up and turned toward the crew．“Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea．Let’s shoot it．” After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile, “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?” You and your team can discover the answers to problems together．When there are no prizes or gold stars for those who get the solution first, you’ll all benefit when everything turns out right．

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　　There are several explanations for why the circle is divided into 360 parts．Probably the best explanation is connected with the Babylonians(巴比伦人)．

　　Many, many centuries ago, large distances were measured in the Babylonian mile．The Babylonian mile equaled about seven of our miles．Because of its length, the time needed to travel the Babylonian became a measure of time．One day was said to be twelve Babylonian time-miles．

　　About one thousand years before Christmas, the Babylonians began keeping records of star movements．They needed a way to record how much time passed between the moment they first saw a star and then observed it again．They used the Babylonian time-mile as their measure of time．

　　In order to have small units of time, the Babylonians divided their time-mile into thirty parts．The Babylonians believed that each trip around the sky was a circle．One complete trip around the sky, they reasoned, took one day．

　　You already know that one day was the same as twelve Babylonian time-miles．Since each time-mile was divided into thirty parts, the circle trip around the sky was 12×30, or 360 parts long．That is how there came to be 360 degrees in a circle．

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　　Your body, which has close relations with the food you eat, is the most important thing you own, so it needs proper treatment and proper nourishment(营养)．The old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away．” is not as silly as some people think．The body needs fruit and vegetables because they contain vitamins．Many people take extra vitamins in pill form(丸剂), believing that these will make them healthy．But a good diet is made up of nourishing food and this gives all the vitamins you need．The body doesn’t need or use extra vitamins, so why waste money on them?

　　In the modern western world, many people are too busy to bother about eating properly．They throw anything into their stomachs, eating hurriedly and carelessly．The list of illnesses caused or made worse by bad eating habits is frightening．

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　　The food we eat seems to have a great effect on our health．Although science has made big steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat．Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of human illness is related to food and forty percent of cancer is related to food as well．

　　That food is related to illness is not a new discovery．In 1945, some researchers realized that things commonly used to keep colours in meats and other food additives(添加剂)caused cancer．Yet, these additives remain in our food, and it is difficult to know which things on the wrappings of foods are helpful or harmful．The additives which we eat are not all so direct．Farmers often give penicillin to their animals, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of cows．Sometimes similar things are supplied to animals not for their health, but just to make a profit．

　　The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to get a higher price on the market．Although some countries have tried to control such things, the practice continues．

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　　Milk was one of the main human foods long before history was written．It will probably remain one as long as there are animals that give milk．The old word “milk” came from Sanskrit(梵文), one of the oldest languages known to man．A very old picture of milking, which was drawn five thousand years ago, has been found．

　　In the past, years long ago, people got their milk from their own animals．But in modern times new inventions made the milk industry a big business．In 1851 Gall Borden found a way to take some of the water from milk．This made milk keep longer．Four years later, Louis Pasteur introduced a way to kill the bacteria(细菌)in milk．Next a special milk bottle was made．This was followed by the invention of machines that could fill bottles with milk．These discoveries had a great effect on the milk industry．They meant that milk could be stored longer．

　　Some people believe that milk drinking will become less popular than it has been．But remember how long milk has been an important food and think of the many ways in which it is useful．It seems safe to say that the milk industry will always be important．

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　　Since I took office I’ve done everything in my power to protect our children from harm．We’ve worked to make their streets and their schools safer, and to give them something positive to do after school before their parents get home．We’ve worked to teach our children that drugs are dangerous, illegal and wrong．

　　Today, I want to talk to you about the historic opportunity we now have to protect our nation’s children from an even more deadly threat：smoking．Smoking kills more people every day than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, drugs and fires combined．Nearly 90 percent of those smokers lit their first cigarette before they turned 18．Consider this：3000 children start to smoke every day illegally, and 1000 of them will die sooner because of it．This is a national tragedy(悲剧)that every American should be honor-bound to help prevent．For more than five years we’ve worked to stop our children from smoking before they start, launching(发动)a nationwide campaign(运动)to educate them about the dangers of smoking, to reduce their access to tobacco products, and to severely restrict(限制)tobacco companies from advertising to young people．If we do these, we’ll cut teen smoking by almost half over the next five years．That means if we act now, we have it in our power to stop 3 million children from smoking and to save a million lives as a result．