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　　I hear many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling．I wish it were so．At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents．You should be learning to stand on your own two feet．But take a good look at the present rebellion．It seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents．Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at one another’s hands for reassurance．

　　They claim they want to dress as they please．But they all wear the same clothes．They set off in new directions in music．But somehow they all end up huddled round listening to the same record．Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it．They have come out of their cocoon(蚕茧)－into a larger cocoon．

　　It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way．Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market．These days every teenager can leam from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be．And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children．All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path．

　　But the barrier is worth climbing over．The path is worth following．You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party．You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records．You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates．Well, go to it．Find yourself! Be yourself! Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are．That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts．

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　　“I would almost rather see you dead, ”Robert S．Cassatt, a leading banker of Philadelphian, shouted when his twenty-year-old eldest daughter announced that she wanted to become an artist．In the 19th century, playing at drawing or painting on dishes was all right for a young lady, but serious work in art was not．And when the young lady’s family ranked among the best of Philadelphia’s social families, such an idea could not even be considered．

　　That was how Mary Cassatt, born 1844, began her struggle as an artist．She did not tremble before her father’s anger．Instead, she opposed(反对)him with courage and at last made him change his mind．Mary Cassatt gave up her social position and all thought of a husband and a family, which in those times was unthinkable for a young lady．In the end, after long years of hard work and perseverance, she became America’s most important woman artist and the internationally recognized leading woman painter of the time．

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　　TAIBEI－Increasing numbers of Taiwanese students are joining the island’s “China rush”, seeking education on the Chinese mainland．

　　According to official Chinese figures, the number of Taiwanese students admitted into college and postgraduate programs on the mainland totaled 461 in 1996, 928 in 1997 and 839 in 1998．Although no latest-official numbers were available, Netbig．com said this number had risen between 30 to 50 percent annually in the past two years with well over 1, 000 entering mainland campuses last year．

　　The Internet site, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, provides education service and information on Chinese mainland colleges and universities．“Many Taiwanese believe a Chinese education giving more knowledge about the people and culture in the mainland will increase their chances in Chinese job market, ”Netbig．com vice-president Ingrid Huang said．“I believe it will give me hands-on experience in the business filed in the Chinese mainland and a better understanding of the Chinese mainland people, ” said Lydia Chang, a 19-year-old majoring in journalism at Shenzhen University．Chang plans to go on to get a master’s degree in business administration in Shanghai, which she says offers the best environment for such studies．

　　A journalism graduate student, surnamed Liu, at the National Taiwan University said he would like to study law on the Chinese mainland since there will be better career prospects now that more Taiwanese companies are going there．

　　Some business executives were sending their children to study in the Chinese mainland．“They hope the children could build up connections which could later become useful in their business operations．”said Yang Ching-yao, professor of the Chinese mainland studies．A Netbig．com survey showed the campuses favoured by Taiwan students included Beijing, Qinghua and Renmin universities in Beijing, and Jinan and Zhongshan universities in Guangzhou．The most popular studies were law, business and Chinese medicine．

　　At present, Chinese in Taibei doesn’t recognize diplomas earned in the Chinese mainland nor help with any inquiries about studying there．But recognizing the trend, education authorities are giving a final form to a policy accepting certificates from selected universities．

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　　For many the only way to enjoy Ireland’s fantastic and breathtaking scenery is to take to the open road on a motoring holiday．It’s true to say that motoring can still be a pleasure on roads so empty of the traffic you are used to．You can choose your own route or let us suggest one or two．You can pre-book all your accommodation or just go as you please．You can choose your accommodation from good quality hotels in coast or country, village or city, guesthouses, town and country homes or farmhouses throughout the island．Naturally we will supply you with a good quality map to help you around．

　　Our Value Motoring holiday includes a wide selection of hotels and guesthouses．All hotels are fully licensed and certain guesthouses(as indicated)are also licensed．Bed and full Irish breakfast for 2 or 6 nights is indicated in your holiday price．Hotel and guest-house gradings are shown by a figure in brackets after the name of each of the places．Facilities available are also shown after the grading．You may choose to travel on a Go As You Please or a pre-booked basis．On a Go As You Please holiday only the first night is booked for you in advance．For the rest of your holiday you book ahead as you travel(hotel reception will help)using the information lists we provide．A slight note of caution in July and August it is advisable to book 2 or 3 days ahead．If you prefer to plan your holiday in advance then we will pre-book all accommodation for you．Just complete the booking form carefully using hotel codes indicated．If your first or second choice is not available we will book an alternative in the same place．

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　　Take care about those who use the truth to deceive．When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can make a false impression．For example, someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery．It was great．I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”

　　This guy is a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not．We then discovered that he bought two hundred tickets, and only one was a winner．He is really a big loser! He didn’t say anything that was false, but he intentionally left out important information．That’s called a half-truth．Half truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest．

　　Untrustworthy candidates in political campaigns often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks another term．One of her opponents runs an ad saying, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true．However an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs．”

　　Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths．It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An ad might boast(吹嘘), “Nine out of ten doctors recommend Yucky Pills to cure nose pimples．It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Corporation．”

　　This kind of trick happens too often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well．

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　　CATHY：26, 1.63 m, 52 kg, post-graduate, open-minded and hard-working, has 1 year’s working experience as translator, good computer skills．Job wanted：English or Chinese tutor, English secretary, or translator．Contact BP：66996-500786, or get me by xay@citiz．net, or call my home number 6272-9840．

　　MARK：26, graduate, majoring in tourism management．Good command in English, familiar with Win98, Microsoft Office, Photoshop and pagemaker．Two years experience in five star hotel management and two years experience in newspaper ad designing．Seeking：media and ad-related opportunity．Contact：mobile 13603232450; E-mail：shanghaigal@hotmail．com．

　　MICKRY：male, 23, working in Shanghai, major in English and graduated from Dalian University of Foreign Language．Good command of English, esp．in oral English．Seeking：part-time as Chinese tutor for foreigner or foreign child．You can count on me there about Chinese teaching．Contact：62289983(Tel); 627492470(fax)．

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　　Animation means making things which are lifeless come alive and move．

　　Since earliest times, people have always been astonished by movement．But not until this century have we managed to take control of movement, to record it, and in the case of animation, to retranslate it and recreate it．To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector(放映机)．

　　In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible．You can make the characters do exactly what you want them to do．

　　A famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in America in the early nineteen twenties．Felix was a wonderful cat．He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back．

　　Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry．The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928．Popeye the Sailor and his girl friend Olive Oyo were born at Max Ficischer in 1933．

　　But to be an animator, you don’t have to be a professional(专业人士)．It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all．All you have to do is to draw directly onto an empty film and then run the film through a projector．

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　　The Oscars, or to give them their proper name, “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards of Merit”, are awards given to people who work in specific areas of the film industry．

　　Actors and directors, costume designers and songwriters, make-up artists and sound engineers, among others, all have the chance to win an Oscar．

　　The awards themselves are small statuettes(小雕像), around ＄34 cm tall and weighing just over 3.5 kg．The golden statuettes are all the same－they show a man(with no clothes on)holding a sword and standing on a reel of film．

　　Sadly for the winner, the statue is not solid gold, but just gold-plated．In actual value it is only worth around ＄ 250．However, although the statuette itself is not worth very much, winning one can be worth millions of dollars to the film studios．

　　Winning an Oscar means that the world-top film makers like your work．It is the best publicity any film can get．If a film can have “Academy Award Winner” under its title, many more people will go to see it．

　　The Academy was first formed in May 1927, and the awards have been given every year since then．This ceremony, when the awards are presented to the winners, is the high-light of the Hollywood calendar．It is the most glamorous(富有魅力的)and star-studded(星光灿烂的)evening of the whole year, and is shown on television in 90 countries around the world and watched by over 500 million people．

　　Everyone who is famous in the film world attends the awards ceremony．Most arrive in huge limousine, wearing wonderful clothes．The Oscar ceremony is the night when Hollywood really is as glamorous as it appears．

　　For the first few years of the Academy, the Academy Awards themselves were simply called “The Statuettes”．There are various stories which explain why they were at last given the nickname “Oscars”．The most popular is that the Academy librarian, Margaret Herrick, exclaimed when she saw the golden statuette, “He looks just like my Uncle Oscar!” and the name stuck．Whatever the reason is, it is certainly easier to say “Oscar”, than to say “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards of Merit”, so the little golden man is now on a first-name basis with everyone．