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　　Standing at an impressive 60-feet tall, this new feature on the US landscape is certainly a traffic stopper．

　　Motorists have been left open-mouthed at the sight of this landscape image of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous masterpiece, the Mona Lisa．

　　Motorist Janet Hunter pulled her car over to take a photograph of the vision about four miles east of Newport, Virginia．

　　“It’s unbelievable,”she said．“It’s fantastic．”

　　The amazing reproduction of the Mona Lisa has been created by local artist Samuel Clemens, who says he has been waiting to create a piece of landscape art since he was a child．

　　“I was always going to do the Mona Lisa,”said Clemens, 48,“I did it because the Mona Lisa is the most recognized thing．”

　　The masterpiece was recreated by making a stencil(模板)on a canvas, then dusting the hillside with black painting．It took him 14 hours just to lay out the canvas and another nine to spray the 40-by-60-foot painting．

　　“Whenever someone makes the effort, you have to stop and appreciate it,”said Becky Stillwell of Albany, who brought her guests from Boston to view the work．“Otherwise, people stop doing interesting things．”

　　Mr．Clemens bought the dairy farm where the Mona Lisa now stands eight years ago with a view to creating the masterpiece on the 60-degree slope behind it．

　　“I was worried about the detail because the hill isn’t smooth,”he said．“It isn’t like a piece of paper．As it was, I lost a little smile at the corner of her mouth．”

　　The Mona Lisa will disappear as the grass grows, but Clemens already has plans for 2007, although he is remaining tight-lipped over the details．

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　　LONDON(Reuters)－A French woman who had the world’s first partial face transplant has spoken of her amazement at seeing her new appearance, the Daily Mail newspaper said on Saturday．

　　The 38-year-old woman underwent the operation to give her a new nose, chin and mouth at a hospital in the northern French city of Amiens last month．

　　“When I looked at my new face, I knew straight away that it was me,”the paper quoted the woman, who was disfigured after her dog injured her badly, as saying．“It was simply amazing to see a nose and mouth on my face．”

　　The woman, who is recovering in a hospital in Lyon, told the paper that the dog attack had left her so disfigured that she had been forced to wear a dental mask．

　　People in the street would recoil from her in horror, she said, and even one of her own two daughters found her appearance unbearable．“Old people were the worst, they used to stop and stare at me all the time,”she said．“My elder daughter Lucie just didn’t want to see me－I had to wear a mask．If I didn’t she refused to see me．”

　　Earlier this week the woman asked journalists to respect her privacy after her operation attracted the media．

　　The paper said the woman now wanted to live a normal life but was worried about what reaction there might be when she leaves hospital．

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　　When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time．I know kids who have been shot or beaten up．I have friends who ended up in prison．I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr．Clark wouldn’t let that happen．

　　Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, the scores of our whole class rose．One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem．Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We did not want to let him down．

　　Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year．He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award．But when the time came to draw names, Mr．Clark said,“You’re all going．”

　　On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn’t want his class to end．In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch．He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a best-selling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55．

　　In 2003, Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages(孤儿院)．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．

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　　It is not always easy to understand inventions and new developments in science．To understand fiber optics(光纤), however, you can try an experiment．

　　Put a drop or two of milk into the glass of water．Turn off the lights．Shine the light from your flashlight(手电筒)through the top of the glass at an angle(角度)of about 45 degrees．Put a piece of white paper against the glass when the beam(光束)of light is shining．Move the paper so you can see where the beam is coming out of the glass．You should see a spot of light．Some of the light has passed through the water and through the glass．You see it on the paper．You also see another beam going down into the glass．It is being reflected down into the glass．

　　Next move the flashlight so that the beam is coming straighter down(30 degrees)into the water．You will see the same phenomenon：some of the light is reflected back into the glass．And some escapes out．Now move the beam of light from the flashlight slowly up until you cannot see any light escaping．This point is called the “point of total internal reflection．”The word internal means“inside．”All the light is staying inside the glass．There is no beam showing a bright spot on the white paper．All the light energy is inside the glass．

　　The glass of milky water is like a strand(线)of glass．A fiber optic tube is a bundle of long thin strands of glass, really many tubes．However, the principle(原理)is the same：at a certain angle, all the light energy that goes into the glass fiber comes out the other end．

　　Light is energy．Sound is energy．Radio waves and electricity are both energy．They can all be changed into light, and as light they can all travel along a glass fiber．Light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second．Therefore, a message can travel that fast in a glass fiber．This is the principle or law of nature that makes fiber optics work．

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　　Going to sleep may seem pretty boring compared with all the fun things there are to do while you're awake．But there's a lot going on in your mind and body while you're tucked under those covers．

　　Sleep, in fact, is as important to your survival as eating and drinking．Sleep improves your mood, makes you a better athlete, and helps you remember and understand what you learned during the day．During sleep your temperature drops．Your heart rate slows．Down goes the pressure of the blood moving through your veins．A chemical that controls growth(called a hormone)surges into your bloodstream．Scientists think sleep restores energy and improves your immune(免疫)system．We know what happens while we're asleep because scientists study volunteers who sleep in laboratories．The sleepers are hooked up to machines that measure brain waves, eye movements and muscle activities．

　　Sleep is like a school day：it's divided into different periods, or stages．When you're awake, your brain waves fire rapidly．As you begin to relax and drift into the first stage of sleep, your brain produces slower-moving waves and you lose awareness of your surroundings．As you slide to deeper sleep, your body repairs itself from the normal wear and tear of daily life．Then, as you begin to drift back up to a lighter sleep, your mind becomes more alert(机警), and your dreams begin．You're in REM sleep．

　　REM was names far the“rapid eye movement' that happens while you're dreaming．During REM sleep, your eyes move back and forth behind your timed lids, as though you were washing a movie．During other stages, you might move at that in bed, but during REM sleep you're still．That's probably because if you could move, your body would act out your dreams．As you get closer to morning, you spend more time in REM than in deep sleep, so you dream more．Researchers know that during REM sleep the part of the brain that handles learning and thinking is very active．

　　Getting too little sleep can affect your personality．Experts recommend that children get at least nine hours d sleep a night．So sleep fight．

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　　Rich or poor, we all have problems：that unfaithful mate, that irritating(恼人的)colleague, that persistent disease, the investment that is turning into a huge loss．

　　How do we remain calm, positive and even elegant in the face of all these difficulties of life?

　　The following suggestions may help．

　　It comes with the pay．I have a friend who used to complain about her dead-end job and unreasonable boss．Sound familiar?One day I told her．“Look at it this way．You are getting paid for the annoyance as well as the work．It comes with the pay．”

　　This has become my favorite saying for work-related frustrations．“Take every day as a bonus．”When we learn to treasure every moment of what we have, we begin to see life in a whole new perspective．

　　It's all in the mind．Sure, the psychologists tell us it is important we work at resolving problems．But they also say if you try to resolve a problem that would not go away, it would only compound(使更复杂)the frustration．

　　If you tell yourself there isn't a problem, there won't be one．It's all in the mind．

　　Stop thinking about your own problem－help others instead．A lady who is combating a life-threatening disease revealed she coped with her illness by making herself useful, by offering help to others in a similar situation．

　　She has spoken to at least five other women with breast cancer．She says that the sharing has helped her to find fresh meaning in her own life．

　　Never give up on your dream．Why do we give in and give up when we meet difficulties?Is it because we have no confidence in our cause and no commitment for what we pursue?

　　It was said that Albert Einstein's last request on his death bed was to be given his equations and his unfinished statement declining the presidency of Israel．

　　Einstein first picked up his equations and lamented to his son,“If only I had more mathematics!”What a great persistent spirit!

　　One strong-hearted lady was the late head of the tragic Kennedy family, Rose Kennedy．She said this on nationwide television one week after losing yet another son to an assassin's bullet－Boddy Kennedy：“And we go on our way with no regrets not looking backwards to the past, but we shall carry on with courage．”

　　Not the end of the world．Do you know something else?I've learned that care as you might, love as you might, some people just don't care back．

　　And it's not the end of the world．After all, it's not the event that makes a person, is it?It's what we do about that happens to us．

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　　Zinc(锌)is one of about 20 elements necessary for good health．It is present in the body in a very small amount, but it makes it possible for important chemical actions to be carried out in cells．Scientists are just beginning to discover how zinc and other element work．

　　Researchers first studied zinc as a way to speed recovery．Dr．Waltor Powys, formerly with the United States Air Force, noted that the laboratory animals recovered faster when some substances were added to their food．One of these substances was zinc．Dr．Powys later tested the zinc treatment on an American airman recovering from medical operations．The airman who received zinc sulphate(硫酸盐)recovered in one half the usual time．Other doctors studied persons who had a number of strange disorders．The doctors learned that all of these problems were caused by a lack of zinc in the body．They treated these disorders successfully by giving the patients zinc sulphate．

　　The amount of zinc in the body can be found by examining the blood and hair．A lack of this important element is not uncommon among people in both industrial and developing countries．Zinc is found in most high protein foods, such as meat, milk, fish and eggs．It is also found in whole grains．But many people do not eat enough of these foods．Food makers should add the elements so that more people could get needed amounts of these essential substances．

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　　In recent years many countries have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive．Some experts believe that the answer is to make jobs more varied．Do more varied jobs lead to greater productivity?There is something to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker's life more enjoyable, it does not make him work harder．So variety is not important．

　　Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important and there is no doubt that this is true．The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way．Thus while freedom of choice may be important, there is very little that can be done to achieve this．

　　Another important consideration is how much each worker contributes to the product he is making．In most factories the worker sees only one small part of the product．Some car factories are said to be experimenting with having many small production lines rather than a large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line．It would seem then that the degree of worker contribution is important．

　　To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity?The workers themselves certainly think this is important, but perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is so boring．Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more．A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours．Perhaps if companies succeed in making workers' jobs more interesting, they will neither want more money, nor will shorter working hours be so important to them．

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