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　　China National Acrobatics Circus

　　China National Acrobatic Circus was the first State-level acrobatic troupe of New China and has won lots of gold medals in various well-known international acrobatic contests in places such as Monaco, France, Hungary, Russia and Italy．Now the star-studded casts are exhibiting the charm and elegance of the most professional comprehensive acrobatic art every night．Integrating superlative juggling, unicycling, balancing and jumping through hoops with the finest ancient Chinese dancing, the award-winning variety show will amaze you at every turn．

　　Time/Date：19∶15－20∶30，every evening

　　Location：Universe Theatre, 10 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Dongcheng District

　　(100 metres north of Poly Plaza )

　　Tel：6502－3984，6502－2649，6416－9893

　　Fax：6500－2743 Concerts

　　Light tunes：The light Music Troupe of the China National Song and Dance Ensemble is to stage a concert．Programmes include the Japanese work “The Spring of the Northern Nation,” Strauss’“the Blue Danube Waltz,” as well as songs by vocal soloists, “The Same Song,” “Beautiful Spanish Maidens,” “Memories” and others．

　　Time：2∶30 pm, April 6

　　Place：Concert Hall of China National Library, Zhongguancun Nandajie

　　Tel：8854－5731

　　Kung Fu Show

　　The 70-minute performance displays dazzling skills of mysterious Chinese kung fu in a hero-plus-beauty story．Fifty kung fu masters amaze the audience with bare-handed practice, one-to-one competing and weapons practice．

　　Presented by Beijing Detian Shunyi Culture Development Co．

　　Venue：XinRong Theatre (Xuanwu District)．

　　Time/Date：19∶30, nightly

　　Tel：8354－0774，8354－0755

　　Exhibition

　　Art show：The Wanfung Art Gallery is hosting a joint art exhibition featuring about 50 realistic watercolour works by artists Jiang Chun from Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, Huang Youwei from Beijing and Yu Jiantao from Dalian, Liaoning Province．The exhibition runs until April 8．

　　The three artists have tired in different ways to combine the concepts and techniques of traditional Chinese paintings and those of watercolours．

　　Time：9 am－5 pm until April 8

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　　Internet shopping is a new way of shopping．Nowadays, you can shop for just about anything from your armchair．All you need is a computer which is linked to the Internet．Shopping on the Internet is becoming increasingly popular．In the United States, people spent over US $2．5 billion on Internet shopping in 1998．This figure is expected to reach US $ 11 billion by the year 2004．

　　People can shop for a variety of products on the Internet．Physical products include items such as books, CDs, clothes and foods．These types of products are the most common purchases through the Internet．You can also buy information products such as on-line news or magazine stories, or you can download computer software through the Internet．Services such as booking airline tickets, reserving hotels or renting cars are also available on the Internet．You can also go shopping on the Internet for entertainment services and take part in on-line games．

　　Internet shopping offers a number of benefits for the shopper．The most important advantage is convenience．You can shop when you like as the on-line shops are open 24 hours a day and you don’t have to queue with other shoppers at the checkout counters．Secondly, it is easy to find what you are looking for on the Internet．Even out-of-print books may be ordered on line．Finally, it is often cheaper to buy goods through the Internet, and you can tell the shop exactly what you want．

　　The main disadvantage of Internet shopping is that you cannot actually see the products you are buying or check their quality．Also, many people enjoy shopping in the city and miss the opportunity to talk to friends．Some people are worried about paying for goods using credit cards, so Internet companies are now finding ways to make on-line payment safe．

　　Internet shopping is sure to become more and more popular in the years ahead CY．It promises to change the way we buy all kinds of things－from tonight’s dinner to a new car．

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　　Shundagarh is a village on India’s east-facing coast．It is a village of simple mud and grass houses built on the beach just above the waterline．The Khadra Hills rise immediately behind the village, to a height of one hundred and fifty meters．A simple, good-hearted old man, whose name was Jalpur, farmed two small fields on the very edge of these hills．From his fields he could see the fishing boats that traveled up and down the coast．He could see the children playing on the sands ; their mothers washing clothes on the flat stones where the Shiva River flowed into the sea ; and their fathers landing the latest catch or repairing nets and telling stories that had no end．

　　All Jalpur owned in the world were the clothes he wore day in and day out, the miserable(蹩脚的)hut that he slept in at night, a few tools and cooking pots －and his fields．The corn that he grew was all that made life possible．If the weather was kind and the harvest was good, Jalpur could live happily enough －not well, but happily．When the sun was fierce, and there was little or no rain, then he came close to the line between life and death．

　　Last year the weather had been so kind, and the harvest promised to be so good, that Jalpur had been wondering whether he could sell all that he had and live with his son farther up the coast．He had been thinking about doing this for some years．It was his dearest wish to spend his last days with his son and his wife．But he would go only if he could give ; he would not go if it meant taking food out of the mouths of his grandchildren．He would rather die hungry than do this．

　　On the day when Jalpur decided that he would harvest his corn, sell it, and move up the coast, he looked out to sea and saw a huge wave, several kilometers out, advancing on the coast and on the village of Shundagarh．Within ten minutes everyone in Shundagrarh would be drowned．Jalpur would have shouted, but the people were too far away to hear．He would have run down the hill, but he was too old to run．He was prepared to do anything to save the people of Shundagarh, so he did the only thing that he could do：he set fire to his corn．In a matter of seconds the flames were rising high and smoke was rising higher．Within a minute the people of Shundagarh were racing up the hill to see what had happened．There, in the middle of his blackened cornfield, they found Jalpur ; and there they buried him．

　　On his grave, they wrote the words：Here lies Jalpur, a man who gave, living：a man who died, giving．

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　　Phillip Island Penguins(企鹅)

　　The Little Penguin has called Phillip Island home for untold generations．Get to Phillip Island in plenty of time to watch a summer sunset at Summerland Beach－the stage is attractively set to see the Little Penguin leave water and step onto land．

　　·Leave Melboume at 5:30pm for a direct journey to Phillip Island

　　·Sec the Gippsland area－Guinness Book of Records place for the world’s longest earthworm(蚯蚓)

　　·Journey along the coastal highway around the Bay with French Island and Churchill Island in the distance

　　·Cross the bridge at San Remo to enter Phillip Island－natural home for Little Penguins and many animals

　　·Take your place in special viewing stands(看台) to watch the daily evening performance of the wild Little Penguins

　　Join a group of up to 15．This guided tour goes to an attractive, quiet beach to see Little Penguins．You can see penguins at night by wearing a special pair of glasses．

　　Adult(成人) $60．00Child $30．00

　　More personalized wildlife viewing limited to 130 people providing closer viewing of the penguin arrival than the main viewing stands．

　　Adult $25．00

　　Child $12．50

　　Join a group of only 5 in the comfort of a special, higher－up viewing tower．Gain an excellent overview of Summerland Beach．

　　Adult Isyrs+$50．00

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　　Since my retirement(退休)from teaching music in 2001,I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist．I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my lather died, so perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father, or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him．In any case, I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes(风景画)much influenced(影响)by Krenkel and St．John for five years．

　　For some strange reason, I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolors again, but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth, who quickly became my favorite artist．I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolors to be the closest to how I thought good watercolors should look．So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting．However, watercolors remained my first choice, and I think I did my best work there, showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions．

　　Art is now together with my piano playing and reading．There is a time for everything in my world, and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do．As Confucius once said, “At seventy I can follow my heart’s desire．”

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　　A study of English learning problems was carried out among a total of 106 foreign students．It shows that most students considered understanding spoken English to be their biggest problem on arrival．This was followed by speaking．Writing increased as a problem as students discovered difficulties in writing papers that they were now expected to hand in．Reading remained as a significant(显著的)problem．

　　The information gained helped up in determining where special attention should be paid in our course．Although many students have chosen to join the course with a reasonable motivation(动机),we considered it important to note what seemed to encourage interest．Nearly all the students have experienced some kind of grammar－based English teaching in their own country．To use the same method would be self－defeating because it might reduce motivation, especially if it has failed in the pest．Therefore a different method may help because it is different．

　　Variety of activity was also seen as a way of maintaining(保持)or increasing motivation．Several years ago we had one timetable that operated throughout, but we soon found that both the students and the teachers lost interest by about halfway through the ten weeks．This led up to a major re－think, so finally we brought it into line with the expressed language needs of the students．

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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 get 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 him 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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　　Most people think of racing when they see greyhounds(灰狗) and believe they need lots of exercise．They can actually be quite lazy! Greyhounds are good at fast races but not long－distance running．They do need regular exercise but they like to run for a short burst and then get back on the bed or a comfortable seat．Another misunderstanding is that greyhounds must be aggressive(好斗的) because they are big in size．In fact greyhounds love people and are gentle with children．

　　Greyhounds can live for 12－14 years but usually only race for two or three years, and after that they make great pets．They don’t need a lot of space, don’t make a lot of noise, and don’t eat a lot for their size．

　　Normally, greyhounds can be as tall as 90 cm．There is, however, a small－sized greyhound, which stands only 33 cm．Greyhounds come in a variety of colors．Grey and yellowish－brown are the most common．Others include black, white, blue, red and brown or a mix of these．

　　Greyhounds have smooth body coats, low body fat and are very healthy．Because they’re slim(苗条的)they don’t have the leg problems like other dogs the same height．But they do feel the cold．Especially since they would much rather be at home in bed than walking around outside．

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　　The smell of chocolate sends brain waves “wild” and relaxes people at the same time, according to experts．

　　No other smell tested on volunteers had such a strong effect ,Neil Martin ,an expert at London’s Middlesex University, said．

　　“Chocolate was quite a star performer in the experiment,” Martin said．“It seemed to make the brain go quite ,scientifically, wild．”

　　He added: “We found that they found it pleasing and they found it very relaxing．”

　　About 20 volunteers were asked to sniff(嗅)smells including chocolate ,strawberry, garlic ,spearmint, baked beans, coffee and rotting meat．

　　They sat in specially designed smell－proof rooms ,wore clouded glasses and had ear plugs so they had to keep their minds on the smells presented to them．

　　Volunteers were not told what smells they were going to get ．While they sniffed, Martin’s group measured their brain activity．Chocolate weakened brain waves known as theta waves, which are connected with attention ,Martin said．

　　“This seems to be the one involved with attention．The more complex a task you do, the more of this brain wave there is,” he said．

　　Martin said it was not clear why chocolate alone should have such an effect．

　　“One reason is that you are thinking about chocolate ,maybe baking cakes or sweets ,and because of that you don’t pay much attention to your environment and it relaxes you,” he said．

　　“Or perhaps somehow the emotional center of the brain is made active－but this would not explain why other pleasant smells did not have the same effect,” he added．

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　　The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation．

　　All high school graduates ought to go , because college will help them earn more money ,become “better” people ,and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don’t go．

　　But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone．And now that close to half our high school graduates are attending, those who don’t fit the pattern are becoming more and more ,and more obvious．College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students get in the way of each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the competition for admission to graduate school．Others find no interest in their studies ,and drop out－often encouraged by college administrators．Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves－they are spoiled and they are expecting too much．

　　But that is a condemnation(谴责)of the students as a whole ,and does not explain all campus unhappiness．Others blame the state of the world, and they are partly right．We’ve been told that young people have to go to college because our economy cannot take in an army of untrained 18－year－olds ．But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer take in an army of trained 22－year－olds, either．

　　Some adventuresome educators and campus watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best, the proper ,the only place for every young person after the completion of high school．We may have been looking at all those surveys upside down ,it seems ,and thinking of the rosy glow of our own remembered college experiences．Perhaps college does not make people intelligent, ambitious ,happy, liberal, or quick to learn things－maybe it is just the other way round ,and intelligent ,ambitious, happy, liberal ,quick－learning people are only the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place ．And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful whether they had gone to college or not．This is heresy(异端邪说)to those of us who have been brought up to believe that if little schooling is good ,more has to be much better．But opposite evidence is beginning to mouth up．

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