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　　These days, if you still think the cellphone is just for talking, you’ll get laughed at．Yes, it’s true, voice-only handsets have become out of date．Today’s do-it-all mobiles have a lot in common with the computer．The only difference may be that they fit in your pocket and you pay by the minute to use them．Some of the things a cellphone can do for you will be available this year：

　　Cellphones that let you use the Web have been around for years．So, what’s new?Well, faster third-generation(3G)networks that let you surf at anywhere．This then allows a carrier to send video, music, and games to your phone．Possible choices are from LG Electronics VX 8000 and Motorola V1150．

　　The problem with most Cellphone MP3 players is that they hold only a handful of songs．But, that’s about to change．Sony Ericsson’s new W800i can hold around 150 songs in its 500 MB memory．And Samsung’s SPH-V5400 even comes with a 1.5 GB hard drive．Mobile phones may eventually replace mini-MP3 players, especially for teens．

　　Camera cellphones are not new either．But, most of them have limitations： around 1–megapixel(百万像素)．But new technology has made 2-megapixel units more common, and 3-megapixel units are showing up soon．Some 2-megapixel models, like Sony Ericsson’s K7501, offer limited zoom and focus controls．Others, like LG’s recent A7110, can even capture 30 minutes of full motion video．

　　You say you like“watching TV”?That’s what Samsung MM-A700 wants to give you．The new model lets users watch popular TV programmes-for a fee．Other choices are Nokia’s 6620, Sanyo’s MM7400 and NEC’s N940．The NEC model lets you watch public TV －no fee．

　　The above are just a handful of what you’ll see in the coming months．Further down the road, your mobile phone may play a host of other roles, such as mobile credit card, position locator．

　　So what is there that a cellphone can’t do?

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　　Smoking is a habit that’s closely linked to certain times and places．If you break these links, you can break the habit．The best way of doing this is to avoid the situations where you want a cigarette, If you can’t avoid them, then you will have to fight off the temptation(诱惑)．Sit down and think about when and where you usually have a cigarette．For example, do you always have one after breakfast?After other meals?In breaks at work?When you are watching television?With friends in the pub 7 Once you stop smoking, these times and places are going to be the danger spots, so work out how you are going to deal with them．

　　It will also help if you can make new habits to break the old one of smoking．So plan some new activities to replace smoking－things to draw away your attention, things to do with your hands, and different ways to deal with tensions．

　　Some people find it helps if they cut down on cigarettes before they actually give up．It’s one way of preparing for the day you stop for good．But don’t look on cutting down as an alternative to giving up, and don’t do it for more than a couple of weeks at the very most．The danger is that you go back to smoking more than you did before．

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　　There are so many different plastic cards that adults have to carry around－library cards, savings cards for different banks, credit cards, just to name a few…．So why not have one card to replace them all?

　　Scott Barnhill, an 11-year-old fifth-grade student in the US, has come up with an idea for a“Security One Card”．

　　Sound smart?The US Patent(专利)Office thought so, and it approved a patent for his idea in April．

　　Here’s an example of how Barnhill’s idea would work．

　　Let’s say you have the three cards mentioned above．Instead of carrying them all, you could have just one by having additional magnetic strips(磁条)added to it．

　　The magnetic strips can be added to any plastic card, even a blank one．

　　Companies could add their information to one of the strips．For instance, you could ask a library to add a strip to your bankcard．

　　Barnhill has a lot of hobbies, including designing websites．He got the idea at the age of 9 when he saw his father using a keycard to enter their hotel room．He thought,“The hotels are wasting money-with the key cards．”So, instead of using a hotel-issued key card, guests could use their credit cards－if the hotel added a special magnetic strip, At check-out(退房)，the strip would simply be removed．

　　Now that he has his patent, his next step is a letter-writing campaign to get support from major credit card companies．

　　“I’m going to be writing letters to credit card companies to ask if they can co-operate．I hope they’ll give me money ever), time someone puts a strip on the back of another card, or every time the idea is used,”Barnhill said．“I’ll write the letters and see what they say．If they say no, I’ll ask someone else, another credit card company．”

　　He is hoping to make money from his patent and has decided it would be better to collect royalties(专利使用费)if the idea takes off rather than sell his patent．

　　“The ATM person who invented that sold it outright(全部的4)，and if he'd chosen royalties he'd get tike 2 cents for every transaction(交易)and he'd be a billionaire now,”Scott said．

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　　Every kid wishes to be an adult, But now as grown-ups, some adults find they cannot leave childhood behind．They become“kidults”(kid＋adult)．Being a kidult has become a lifestyle choice among young people across Asia．

　　Some kidults collect toys they once played with．Hello Kitty, Garfield, and Snoopy have many adult fans around the world．It is not unusual to see a 20-something woman with a big, Garfield shaped cushion on her sofa or a Hello Kitty mobile phone accessory(配饰)．

　　Other kidults still enjoy children’s stories and fairy tales．For example, Bloomsbury even published the Harry Potter novels with an adult cover．That way, no one else on the subway will know that an adult is actually reading a children’s book!

　　“Kidults can be like vitamins to society．Adults who value their childhood and hold on to pure, child-like emotion may be needed in such a rough and dry society,”said Lee Sojung, professor of Foreign Studies at Hankuk University(韩国外国语大学)．He added that kidult culture may fill the generation gap between adults and kids．It could give children and their parents books, movies, and cartoon shows to enjoy together．He may be right．

　　Tim Greenhalgh, a professor, explained that some kidults just refuse to grow up．They value childhood because life in a busy and stressful city frightens them．Kiduhs would like to forget their age and openly show their fear of society and adulthood．

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　　Are you tired of looking for love in all the usual places?Nowadays, millions of lonely singles are now going online instead．The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the world’s most popular matchmaker, With so many singles online, dozens of dating sites like Yahoo Personals and Match.com arc helping singles find that special someone．Around the world, from America to China, love is now rely much online．

　　Singles are flocking to the Internet mainly because their busy lifestyles leave them little time to look for a significant other．Using dating sites is quick and convenient．They can“meet”a lot more people online than they could by hanging out at a club．Besides, many singles say the regular dating scene has just led them from one bad experience to another and are ready to try something else．They also appreciate the first distance of online dating, which allows them to hide themselves until they are ready to meet someone face to face．Dating sites also make it easy to avoid someone you are not interested in．In the real world, however, ignoring someone you don’t like can be embarrassing．

　　Despite all the advantages, online dating also presents its own set of problems．People aren’t always who they claim to be in their online profiles．For instance, someone who tells you he is“hand some, successful and single”might turn out to be homely, unemployed and married．Safety is another concern．You are just as likely to find a criminal online as you are Mr．or Miss Right．

　　Even so, supporters of online dating see things in a positive way．In their opinion, singles can safely play the online dating game with a little common sense．Online dating experts recommend following a few safety tips：

　　Guard your personal information．Never give out your personal information online．This includes your last name, phone number, home address and place of work．

　　Watch for red flags．Do any of the people you are chatting with make disrespectful comments?Do they try to control you?Do they give false information about themselves?If so, forget them!

　　Meet in a safe place．When meeting someone in person, choose a public location with other people around．Follow these tips and you might be able to find the person of your dreams．

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　　CHANGCHUN, China-President Hu Jintao was the surprise guest in the last multi-sports Games to be hosted in the country before the 2008 Olympics with the opening ceremony of the 6th Asian Winter Games on Sunday．

　　Altogether, more than 1,100 athletes and officials from different countries and regions-including 160 from China and a single skier from Palestine-have registered to take part in the Games, which run until February 4．

　　“Today for the first time representatives of all 45 OCA members are with us which is a great achievement for the organizing committee．”said Olympic Council of Asia(OCA)chief Ahmad Al-Sabah．

　　China dominated the main Asian Games in Doha in December but their winter athletes, who have won just four of their country’s 114 Olympic gold medals, are unlikely to do the same．Unsurprisingly, the loudest cheers were reserved for the Chinese party but there were also warm welcomes for the Hong Kong, Macao and Chinese Taipei athletes．

　　Japan, which has entered 100 athletes, topped the medals table at the last Games on home soil．Their delegation also received plenty of applause despite being in city which served as the capital of the puppet state of Manchukuo after the Japanese army invaded China in the 1930s．

　　The North and South Korean athletes marched together under the same flag just as they did in Doha, although they will compete separately．South Korea were second in the medals table in 2003 and will need to continue their traditional dominance of the short-track speed skating to retain that position from the Chinese．

　　There has been a lack of snow at the Beidahu ski resort near Changchun, but organizers have used artificial(人造的)snow to make up the shortfall．

　　China will be banking on such stars as freestyle skier Han Xiaopeng, who surprised everyone at Turin in 2006 to win China’s first－ever Olympic skiing medal, and women’s 500-meter short track skating Olympic champion Wang Meng．

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　　Doctors say anger can be an extremely damaging emotion, unless you learn how to deal with it．They warn that anger can lead to heart disease, stomach problems, headaches ,emotional problems and even cancer．

　　Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel from time to time．Some people express anger openly in a calm reasonable way．Some burst with anger, and scream and yell(咆哮)．But others keep their anger inside．They can not or will not express it．This is called repressing anger．

　　For years many doctors thought that repressing anger was more dangerous to a person's health than expressing it．They said that when a person is angry, the brain releases the same hormones(荷尔蒙)．They speed the heart rate, raise blood pressure, or sugar into the blood, etc．In general the person feels excited and ready to act．

　　Some doctors say that both repressing and expressing anger can be dangerous．They believe that those who express anger violently may be more likely to develop heart disease ,and they believe that those who keep their anger inside may face a greater danger of high blood pressure．

　　Doctors say the solution is learning how to deal with anger．They say the first step is to admit that you are angry and to recognize the real cause of the anger, then decide if the cause is serious enough to get angry about．If it is, they say,”Do not express your anger while angry．Wait until your anger has cooled down and you are able to express

yourself calmly and reasonably．”

　　Doctors say that a good way to deal with anger is to find humor in the situation that has made you angry．They said that laughter is much healthier than anger．

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　　Sam Trafton was my violin teacher and what he said during one of my lessons often came back to me years later．

　　One day he asked me how much practicing I was doing, I said three or four hours a day．

　　“Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?”

　　“I try to．”

　　“Well, don’t,”he shouted．“When you grow up, time won’t come in long stretches．Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them, five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks．Spread the practice through the day, and the violin playing will become a part of your life．”

　　When I was teaching at Boston, I wanted to write a novel, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings．For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time．Then I remembered what Sam had said．During the next week I conducted an experiment．Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so．To my surprise, at the end of the week I had finished a chapter．Later on I continued my novels by the same piecemeal method．Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, every day there were unoccupied moments that could be caught and put to use．I even took up violin-playing again, finding that the short moments of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and violin practice．

　　There is an important trick in this time－using formula：you must get into your work quickly．If you have but five minutes for writing, you can’t afford to waste for chewing your pencil．You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes．Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize．

　　I admit I have never learnt how to let it go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes．But life can be counted on to supply interruptions．Sam Trafton has had a great influence on my life．To him I owe discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge in without delay．

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　　Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas．But some people think we buy too much．They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day．They don’t want anyone to go shopping on that day．

　　Buy Nothing Day is November 29．It’s 25 days before Christmas．It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping．At this time, we see ads in Newspapers and on TV telling us to“buy, buy, buy!”

　　The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia．Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day．In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures．The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys．This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up in costumes to tell people that we buy too much．

　　In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day．They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day．They asked restaurants in the neighbourhood to donate the food．They made posters and talked to other students about it．The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29．The students at high school liked the idea of this new tradition．Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day!

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　　The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller．Everybody called him“the FC”for short．He made all the decisions about money．Robert needed some more．That was why he had to see him．The two men did not get on very well．In fact, they had always disliked each other．

　　“Your request is out of the question,”the FC said．Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow．He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programs．

　　“And why do you want to do that?”the FC asked sharply．Again, Robert almost lost his temper．“Because more and more people are listening to my department's programs．There's great demand for them,”he answered．

　　The FC did not seem to believe him．But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programs．The FC became less confident．Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it．

　　The FC looked at it in silence．The figures proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it．“Well,”he finally said,“I may have made a small mistake．”Robert noticed the word“may”．He got up to leave．But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all．

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