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　　Filmfest DC has been bringing movies from around the world to Washington DC for twenty years．This twelve-day event takes place in movie theatres all over the city．Thousands of local movie fans enjoy the latest examples of international cinema．

　　The festival celebrated its twentieth year with a special opening of a night party．Visitors saw a new British starring actor Gabriel Byrne, who was also a special guest that night．He talked about his successful movie and how it was made．The movie is about a young British boy growing up in Africa in the 1960s．Mr．Byrne said that filming in Swaziland and learning about that country were one of the best experiences in his career．

　　Filmfest DC movies dealt with two main subjects this year．One theme was the cinema of Brazil．Filmfest DC officials say Brazil is currently producing many energetic and creative movies．Audience enjoyed ten examples of new Brazilians movies and true-life documentaries．

　　Another theme of the festival was hip-hop music．This kind of music started in America, but its influence and sounds have traveled all over the world．

　　Several movies explored hip-hop culture in countries like Morocco and Senegal．One movie is called La Fabri-K．It tells about a group of hip-hop musicians from Cuba．The musician said their songs helped express how young people feel in Cuba．The songs talk about social problems such as racial identity．

　　Filmfest DC also showed new movies from the United States．One movie is called Akeelah and the Bee．It tells the story of Akeelah, a young girl with special talent for spelling．

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　　Blogs(博客)are the place where young people go to reveal their souls, to vent(发泄), and even to gossip．

　　Many people enjoy the freedom in blogging．Some, however, find that putting one’s life online can have a price．Some students in America got suspensions because on their blogs they posted threatening words to their teachers．

　　Recent surveys found that nearly a fifth of teens who have access to the Web have their own blogs．And 38％ of teens say they read other people’s blogs．By comparison, about a tenth of adults have their own blogs and a quarter say they read other people’s online journals．

　　With the development of the Internet, more and more people will be engaged in blogging．

　　In another survey, 79％ of teens agreed that people at their age aren’t careful enough when giving out information about themselves online．Besides, careless blogging can also affect blog viewers．When you are angry or frustrated, your blog is the first place you turn to．The words you post then may not be rational which you may regret later．To minimize the negative effect, change the permission setting and make such posts “private” so that only you can read them．

　　As long as you are careful with what you post, blogging is a great means of staying in touch with friends and displaying one’s creative works．

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　　If there is a building which symbolizes a country－such as the Eiffel Tower for France and Sydney Opera House for Australia, then it has to be the Taj Mahal for India．

　　It was set up by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653 in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal．From the time they got married, they wouldn’t be separated．She followed him to wars, advised him on affairs of state, and was loved by his people for her good work．But she died in 1631 during childbirth．The emperor was heartbroken and had the Taj Mahal built as a sign of his love．

　　It took more than 20 years for the Taj Mahal to be built．Workers were brought in, not only from all over India, but also from Central Asia too．A total of 20, 000 people worked on the building．

　　In 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill, and in 1658 his son Aurangzeb, imprisoned(囚禁)his father and seized power．Shah Jahan stayed in prison until his death in 1666．He was finally buried there with his wife he could never forget．

　　The Taj Mahal is definitely worth more than a single visit．As it is built with white marble stones, its character changes in different lights．It looks more beautiful at sunrise and sunset．At sunset, for example, the color of the Taj changes from white to yellow, then to pink．As the moon rises, it turns a silvery white．

　　To show respect to the Taj, tourists are asked to take off their shoes during their visit．

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　　“Evening Paper!”

　　The hoarse(沙哑)voice of the newsvendor echoes(回响)across the busy street．It is only just afternoon, yet “evening” papers are on sale! It is just one example of the curious world of newspapers．Morning papers “go to bed” at night; evening papers go to bed during the early day! “ Going to bed” is the way the world of newspapers talks when it means that a paper is being printed．

　　“Evening Paper!”

　　Have you ever thought of all the men and machines involved in producing those sheets of newsprint? From all parts of the world news comes in by telephone, telegraph, radio, and every way man has of communicating．Much of this news is collected by news agencies, vast hires of busy workers who receive the news items and send them out to the papers．

　　Other news comes into the newspaper office from reporters．What a hopeless tangle of information a newspaper office seems! And yet, out of all this jumble and rush, and bustle, our newspapers appear with unfailing regularity．No matter what happens the paper must be on sale on time．

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　　Britain is a popular tourist place．But tours of the country have pros and cons．

　　Good news

　　Free museums．No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities．

　　Pop music．Britain is the only country to match the US on this score．

　　Black cabs．London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night．

　　Choice of food．Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants．

　　Bad news

　　Poor service．“It’s a part of the image of the place．People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced, ” says Professor Tony Seaton, of London University’s International Tourism Research Center．

　　Lack of languages．Speaking slowly and clearly may not get many foreign visitors very far, even in the tourist traps(圈套)．

　　Rain．Still in the number one complaint(抱怨)．

　　No air-conditioning．So that even splendidly hot summers become as unbearable as the downpours．

　　Overpriced hotels．The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark．

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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-mile．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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Bonjour China！

　　Do you ever think about taking a holiday in France? What about taking a tour of China? To save your time and money this National Day holiday, France has come to you．

　　On October 10, 2004, French President Jacques Chirac will come to Beijing to open the Year of France．From October to next July, China will play host to many displays of French culture．

　　Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other big cities will hold French events．They will cover science, technology, education, construction, literature(文学), music, dance and drama(戏剧)．

　　“The art, music and food of France always make me think French are romantic and good at mixing art with life, ” said Qing Pei, a Senior 2 from Shanghai Qibao High School．

　　“I know that Chinese people describe France as romantic．It is true, but France is far more than that．”said Alain Lombard, the general director of Year of France in China．“Hopefully we can show people more about France, beyond romance, fashion and impression paintings(印象派绘画), ” he added．

　　For boys interested in planes the aerial display team of the French Air Force, the Patrouille de France(法兰西轻骑兵特技飞行队), will perform a show in Beijing Nanyuan Airport on October 7．As one of the top aerial acrobatic(特技飞行)teams in the world, they plan to perform a stunt(绝活)by drawing a huge French flag above the Tian’anmen Square with colorful smoke．

　　Fans of fashion, design and art from the romantic country, should get to the “Design of France” exhibition．Opening on October 10 in Beijing, the exhibition will show 2, 220 works, including architecture, decoration, transportation, daily necessities, furniture and clothes．It will tell how design in art and industry has influenced French people’s lives in the 20th century．

　　If you are a traveler, go and see the exhibit “Getting Close to France”, which will run in Beijing and Shanghai．It provides an hour-long visual(视觉的)computer tour around France．

　　Take action right now boys and girls, and you could have a wonderful holiday with a French flavor．

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　　Beibei：Beibei stands for the blue Olympic ring．Among the five, she is known to be gentle and pure, strong in water sports．In China, fish and water mean harvest．So Beibei brings us wishes of prosperity．

　　Jingjing：Jingjing shows the sign of the black Olympic ring．He is childlike and outgoing．Jingjing is good at weight sports．His headdress says that humans get on well with nature．

　　Huanhuan：Huanhuan stands for the red Olympic ring．He is in the center and carries the Olympic spirit．He is the most warm hearted and outgoing of the five．He does well in all ball games．

　　Yingying：Yingying is an antelope(藏羚羊)．He stands for the yellow Olympic ring．Yingying is smart and moves quickly．Like all antelopes, he is strong in track and field events．The antelope is one of the first animals put under protection in China．Choosing the antelope as 2008’s summer Olympic Games’ mascot shows that China wants a green Olympics．

　　Nini：Nini stands for the green Olympic ring．She is a happy and lovely swallow．Nini is good at gymnastics．Her image comes from kite designs, an old art style in China．Nini’s golden wings stand for the sky．She brings good luck wherever she flies．

　　Why do all the mascots look like children? Because children are the future of the world．To be more interesting, if you put all their names together, they become “Beijing welcomes you” in Chinese．