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　　IT is always hard for a small fish to live in a big pond．Pluto’s recent departure(离开)from the classical planet family clearly proves that size really matters．

　　Astronomers voted on August 24 to create the first scientific definition of the word“planet”, and Pluto obviously didn’t make the cut．It turned out to be only a “dwarf planet”(矮行星)．

　　After weeks of heated debate, over 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries voted on the definition of a“planet”at a conference of the International Astronomical Union(IAU)．According to the definition, a planet must have a clear neighborhood around its orbit(轨道)．Pluto has widely been considered a planet since its discovery in 1930．Unfortunately, it has a special orbit which overlaps with Neptune’s．It is all because, compared with Neptune, Pluto is very small．It is attracted by Neptune’s gravity when the two planets get closer．

　　According to IAU．a“dwarf planet”should have an orbit around the Sun．It will not have a clear neighborhood around its orbit, and must not be a satellite．The new classification means that the science textbooks will have to be updated．The solar system is now made up of the eight“classical planets,”together with a number of dwarf planet．The classical planets are：Mercury; Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune．The debate over Plates status started in 1992．After an advanced telescope was sent into space, astronomers started to find a belt of objects, which lies beyond Neptune．The belt contains nearly 1,000 objects, including Pluto．As they continued the exploration, scientists recently discovered at least 41 dwarf planets at the edges of the solar system．There are at least two objects of a similar size to Pluto．

　　It seems that even if the IAU had kept Pluto’s status as a planet, the classical theory of nine planets in the solar system would have had to be changed, but the other way around．More dwarf planets of a similar size to Pluto would join the family of planets．Scientists will probably find many more dwarf planets．

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　　Read the following two advertisements and answer the questions below：

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　　Allen：I’ve never been a big fan of the bears, especially the vacation show．On my last trip to Disneyland(1999)we passed it by, because we didn’t want to spend the time on something we didn’t really enjoy．If we’d known it would be closed by our next visit, I’m sure we would have watched it one more time．I was just making the point that it wasn’t until Disney announced the closing that this feeling suddenly sprang(弹跳)up for the Country Bear show at Disneyland．

　　But I think the idea of keeping some attractions open forever regardless of the number of visitors it gets is a mistake．We all have great memories of the Bears, but clearly very few kids today(or I should say families today)are making those same memories from this show．That may be a sad fact, but it’s a fact．For whatever reason, the show doesn’t pull in the numbers．Isn’t it right to use the Country Bear space to bring in more popular attraction so that more kids today can make those magic memories of an attraction they like?Otherwise aren’t we just telling kids today that they“have to”make great memories of the Bears, when it’s obvious that the kids themselves are not enjoying the Bears like we did．

　　Roger：I am very disappointed that they have decided to retire the Country Bear Playhouse．I remember going to the show as a child, and still enjoyed it as a teenager, and now young adult．It is true that there aren’t a lot of shows left at DL and with this one closing even less．Being at DL does require a lot of walking, and it is nice to have a few attraction that are a place to sit and enjoy a good show．I understand that DL has to develop, but there has to be some history to the Disneyland that Walt Disney first designed．There should be some parts of DL that just never go away and this is one of them．By the time I have children it looks like there won’t be any attractions that I can say．I went to as a child at the rate they are going．

　　Now the Bears are leaving．What I want to say is：stop trying to compete with everyone!DL is the best, because of attractions like the Country-Bears．If DL insists on destroying all of its magic to make way for the latest, well, then it might as well be just another theme park．

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　　When people advise your children to“get an education”, they tell you only half the truth．What they really mean is to get just enough education to give manpower for your society．

　　Get a high school diploma, at least．Without that, you are occupationally(职业上)dead, unless your name happens to be George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison and you can successfully stop study in primary school．

　　Get a college degree, if possible．With a BA(学士学位), you should start to find a job．You have to put on the brakes now．If you do go for a master’s degree, make sure it is an MBA and only from a first-class university．Otherwise, the famous law of diminishing(报酬递减律)begins to work．

　　Do you know; for example, that long-distance truck drivers make more money a year than full professors(正教授)?Yes, each driver was paid ＄28,000 in 1997 while a full professor managed to get ＄27,930．

　　A PhD is the highest degree you can get, but except in few specialized filed such as physics or chemistry, where the degree can quickly by turned to industrial or commercial aim, you are facing a not very bright future．There are more PhDs unemployed in this country than in any other part of the world by far．

　　If you became a PhD in English or history or political science or languages or－worst of all-in philosophy, you take the risk of becoming over-educated for our national demands．

　　Thousands of PhDs are selling shoes, driving taxis, vomiting on tables and filling out applications month after month, and then may be taking a job in high school or college with the pay much less than a door-keeper makes．

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　　Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it．I mean the teenager problem．Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal．

　　I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways．One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman．I saw him last week when I called round．Sprawling himself(懒散地躺)on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me．His mother was ashamed．“I don't know what to do with him these days,”she said．“He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him．”

　　He hasn't forgotten them．He' s just decided that he' s not going to use them．She confessed(坦白)that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor．

　　Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say,“I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly．”One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school．The other has left home．

　　“Where did we go wrong?”her parents are now very sad．Probably nowhere much．At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents．

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　　One of the traditions which is now a necessary part of Christmas is that of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus．According to the modern legend, he is a magical figure who visits all the children of the world during the night before Christmas Day, leaving presents which they find the next morning．He flies through the night sky in a sledge pulled by reindeer, and enters houses by climbing down chimneys．This strange legend is based on the life of a man called Nicholas, but in fact we know very little about him．Historians think he was a Christian bishop(主教)in Turkey in about 285－350 A．D．One of the stories about him is that he helped three poor girls．No one would marry them because they were so poor．To provide them with money for their weddings, Nicholas secretly dropped some gold coins down the chimney of their house．After Nicholas died, he was made a saint(圣人)by the church．(The name Santa Claus thus comes from St Nicholas．)His feast day was celebrated in December, and parents started giving their children secret presents from St Nicholas．Over the years, this custom became part of our Christmas traditions．

　　Recently, a psychologist has claimed that Father Christmas is“the perfect fantasy”for children．According to Professor Anthony Clare, children love the character of Father Christmas because he is like an ideal father: he loves children and gives them presents, but he never criticizes them, is never angry, and children do not even need to thank him for the presents．Other writers, however, point out that Father Christmas can be a frightening character to some children．Jane Bidder says that some children are terrified of this fat, bearded old man．It can certainly confuse many children．As parents, we warn our children to be careful of strangers and never to let them into the house, and yet we tell children that a strange man will come into their bedroom at night!Some children can become very worried about this idea and fear that he is a kind of burglar．

　　Most children, however, understand from their parents and from the media that Father Christmas is basically a benign character, and look forward to his annual visit with joy and excitement．

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　　In today's world, we rely on computers as never before．They are used for everything from ordering a pizza to running hospitals and military defense systems．Banking and credit card information is stored and accessed by computers．So what happens when a computer gets infected with a virus?One effect is that people's access to their e-mail accounts is cut off．A more serious possible consequence is that billions of dollars could be lost．

　　A virus is a computer program that copies itself onto other programs and infects them．Similar to an easily spread disease, a computer virus goes from computer to computer, either adding to or changing the tasks a program is designed to do．

　　The first computer viruses were created in the mid '80s and had varying effects．Some caused files to be deleted, or made the letters on the screen appear to fall off．Others displayed a specific message once the computer was turned on．

　　Viruses today are much more widespread and dangerous than ever before．Perhaps the most damaging to date has been the“I Love You”virus．“I Love You”appeared in May 2000 and has possibly been the most destructive virus in terms of monetary loss．

　　The virus is released when an attachment to a fake e-mail message is opened．By changing the names of files on computers,“I Love You”makes them difficult to access．It also searches for important personal information, including passwords, which it sends to a web site for others to see．

　　It is estimated that more than 45 million people in 20 countries have had their computers infected by the“I Love You”virus．Some say the cost of repair and lost business has been more than US＄10 billion．

　　If you own a computer, it is important to keep it in good health by installing an anti-virus program．If updated frequently, it will protect your e-mail access--not to mention your wallet．

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　　I entered high school having read hundreds of books．But I was not a good reader．Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read．Rather, I read in order to get a point of view．I searched books for good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes－anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated．When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a“complicated(复杂的)idea”until he had read at least two thousand books, I heard the words without recognizing either its irony(嘲讽)or its very complicated truth．I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read．Strict with myself, I included only once a title I might have read several times．(How, after all, could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length．(Could anything shorter be a book?)

　　There was yet another high school list I made．One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college．The article had a list of the“hundred most important books of Western Civilization．”“More than anything else in my life,”the professor told the reporter with finality,“these books have made me all that I am．”That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore(忽视)．I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles．Most books, of course, I hardly understood．While reading Plato's The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about．However, with the special patience and superstition(迷信)of a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text．And by me time I reached the last word, pleased, I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list．

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　　All over the world, and for many different reasons, there are millions of people who rarely or never eat meat．These people are called vegetarians．To people who eat meat, being a vegetarian may seem like a very strange thing, diets for several different reasons．

　　First, vegetarians have an enormous health advantage．One of the major health problems in modern societies is not too little protein but too much food, especially in the form of animal fats．Medical evidence suggests that animal fats, including butter, contribute to the development of cholesterol in the human body．High amount of cholesterol seem to be part of the cause of heart disease．Most vegetarians have low level of cholesterol．High amounts of animal fats also seem to lead to certain kinds of cancer, and vegetarians are typitally less vulnerable to these cancers than people who eat a lot of meat．Overall, studies comparing the health of vegetarians and meat-eaters show that the meat-eaters are twice as likely to die of heart disease as vegetarians are．

　　Better health is one reason that people choose to become vegetarians．Another reason is religion．Some religions forbid the eating of meat．The largest of these is the Hindu religion, which has about 600 million believers in the world．Although not all Hindus are vegetarian, many are, and there are many believers of other religions such Buddhism and even some Christian religions that also do not eat meat．

　　Many vegetarians do not eat meat simply because they do not like the taste of it．They have no religious or philosophical reasons; they just do not like meat．Another important reason that vegetarians give for not eating meat is the health advantages that were given above．Lastly, there are many people who do not eat meat because they just do not like the idea of killing animals for food．They believe that life, all life, is valuable, and that we do not have to destroy life to feed ourselves when there are other good sources of food．

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