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　　The old fashioned general store is fast disappearing．This is, perhaps, a pity, because shopping today seems to lack that personal element which existed when the shopkeeper knew all his regular customers personally．He could, for instance, remember which brand of tea Mrs．Smith usually bought or what sort of washing powder Mrs．Jones preferred．Not only was the shop a center of buying and selling, but a social meeting place．

　　A prosperous(繁荣的)general store might have employed four or five assistants, and so there were very few problems in management as far as the staff(全体职员)was concerned．But now that the supermarket has replaced the general store, the job of the manager has changed completely．The modern supermarket manager has to cope with a staff of as many as a hundred, apart from all the other everyday problems of running a large business．

　　Every morning the manager must, like the commander of an army division, carry out an inspection of his store to make sure that everything is ready for the business of the day．He must see that everything is running smoothly．He will have to give advice and make decisions as problems arise; and he must know how to get his huge staff to work efficiently with their respective responsibilities．No matter what he has to do throughout the day, however, the supermarket manager must be ready for any emergency that may arise．They say in the trade that you are not really an experienced supermarket manager until you have dealt with a flood, a fire, a birth and a death in your store．

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　　Do you always forget where you placed your keys or your purse?What was the name of the movie you saw last week?The major cause of your forgetfulness may be linked to what you store in your body, not in your short－term memory bank．

　　Tests continue to show that people with enough Vitamin B－2 do well in memory exams．The“B”could stand for“brain”, if you’re one of many with limited instant recall．And the number one source of that vitamin is sunflower seeds．

　　Even when you’re sleeping or relaxing, your brain is still at work．Although it makes up just two percent of your total body weight, it uses up to 30％ of the calories you take in each day．For it to work properly, it must be fed．Even if you’re not a breakfast eater, that meal is the best way to prepare your brain for the day．A quick and easy English muffin with peanut and butter in it, a glass of milk, and an orange, might be what your brain may be asking you the first thing in the morning when you feel your head is in a fog．Having sunflower seeds and fruit between meals adds more muscle to that hungry, demanding organ．Vitamin B－1 also helps the memory, and that is found in eggs, meats and nuts．In Chinese culture, walnuts(核桃)are known as the fruit for a long life because it is believed that they feed both the kidneys and the brain．And according to Chinese culture, if you keep those two important organs in good working order, you’ll live longer．

　　However forgetful you are, just keep in mind the letter“B”, which will help you to“bear in mind almost everything”even on those days when life’s challenges are sending you in a billion directions．

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　　People express their personalities in their clothes, their cars, and their homes．Because we might choose certain foods to“tell”people something about us, our diets can also be an expression of our personalities．For example, some people eat mainly gourmet(供美食家享用的)foods, such as caviar(鱼子酱)and lobster(龙虾), and they eat only in expensive restaurants(never in cafeterias or snack bars)．They know about the“better things in life.”

　　Human beings can eat many different kinds of foods, but some people choose not to eat meat．Vegetarians often have more in common than just their diet．Their personalities might be similar, too．For example, vegetarians in the United States and Canada may be creative people, and they might not enjoy competitive sports or jobs．They worry about the health of the world, and they are probably strongly opposed(反对的)to war．

　　Some people eat mostly fast food．One study shows that many fast－food eaters have a lot in common with one another, but they are very different from vegetarians．They are competitive and good at business．They are also usually in a hurry．Many fast－food eaters might not agree with this description of their personalities, but it is a common picture of them．

　　Some people also believe that people of the same astrological sign(星座)have similar food personalities．Aries(born under the sign of Aries, between March 21 and April 20)usually like spicy(辛辣的)foods, with a lot of onions and pepper．People with the sign of Taurus(April 21 to May 22)prefer healthful fruits and vegetables, but they often eat too much．Sagittarius(November 22 to December 22)like ethnic foods from many different countries．Aquarius(January 21 to February 19)can eat as much meat and fish as they want, but sugar and cholesterol are sometimes problems for them．

　　What is your food personality?

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　　Among the four skills in learning English, which one of these is the “odd-man-out”?The answer is speaking．The other three you can do alone on your own．But you can’t really speak alone!Speaking to yourself can be“dangerous”because men in white coats may come and take you away!

　　Where can you find people to speak English?And how can you practise speaking when you are alone?

　　At school If you pay to go to a language school, you should use the opportunity to speak．If your teacher asks you to speak in pairs or groups with other students, try to say as much as possible．Don’t worry about your mistakes．Just speak!

　　Conversation Clubs Many cities around the world have conversation clubs where people can exchange one language for another．Look in your local newspaper to find a conversation club near you．They are usually free although some may charge a small entrance fee．

　　Shopping Even if you don’t want to buy anything, you can ask questions about products that interest you in a shop．“How much does this cost?”“Can I pay by cheque?”Often you can start a real conversation-and it costs you nothing!

　　Café and Bars There are often American, Britain, Irish and Australian bars in many large cities．If you can find one．You’ll probably meet many people speaking English as a first or second language．

　　Language is all around you Everywhere you go, you find language．Shop names, street names, advertisements, notices, and car numbers…When you walk down the street, practise reading the words and numbers that you see．Say them to yourself．It’s not exactly a conversation, but it will help you to“think”in English．But don’t speak too loud．

　　Songs and Video Repeat the words of an English-language song singing with the music until it becomes automatic．It’s good practice for your memory and for the mouth muscles that you need for English．

　　Above all, speak as much as possible!Make as many mistakes as possible!When you know that you have made a mistake, you know that you have made progress!

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　　For as long as I can remember, I have been very bad at arguing with people．As soon as someone disagrees with me, I get angry because I feel attacked, like the other person is out to show that I am wrong．And for some reason, I hate being wrong!So my immediate reaction is to get very defensive, I raise my voice, and I end up saying something I later regret．Needless to say, the whole thing ends with me beating myself up, and the other person feeling alienated(疏远)from me．This bothers me especially because my mother does the exact same thing and I hate it!

　　I have noticed this tendency in me for a long time now, but I have never been able to stop．I did some anger management work with a therapist(治疗专家)a while ago, but because I moved and turned to an advisor at school who cannot see me regularly, I have not been able to continue this important work．They tell you to stop and count to 10, control your breathing, calm yourself down before you talk．But that's the whole problem, I could never think of stopping myself until it was too late!The hurtful things had already come out of my mouth, and I was stuck picking up the pieces．

　　Right now the problem is urgent because my relationship with a wonderful boyfriend is in danger because of my insecurity and hatred of being wrong．He is closing himself off to me because I have hurt him, and no doubt I am no longer attractive as a woman with no confidence in herself and a bad temper．How do I stop ruining my relationships and hating myself?How do I stop hating being wrong?

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EVENTS

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　　A proud US father has named his son after a computer software term(术语)．

　　Jon Blake Cusack, from Mocjogam, told local newspapers the US traditional way of adding “Junior”or“Ⅱ”after a boy’s name was too common．

　　So, when his son was born last week, he decided on the name Jon Blake Cusack 2.0, as if he were a software upgrade．

　　Mr Cusack admitted that it took months to persuade his wife, Jamie, to accept the idea．

　　Mrs Cusack said she asked several friends whether they can accept this name or not．

　　All the men, she said, felt the name was“cool”．However, her women friends did not think so．“I think the women will end up liking it,”she said．

　　Mr Cusack told the local newspaper he got the idea from a film called The Legend of 1900, in which an abandoned baby is given the name 1900 to remember the year of its birth．

　　“I thought that if they can do it, why can’t we?”he said．

　　After little Jon Version 2.0 was born, Mr Cusack even sent a celebratory e－mail to the family and friends designed to look as though he and his wife had created new software．

　　“I wrote things like ‘there are a lot of new features from Version 1.0 with additional features from Jamie’,”he said．And he is already planning for his son’s future．“If he has a child, he could name it 3.0,”he said．

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　　Many people often say there is more stress(压力)in today's society than in years past．In fact, these people are comparing our lives with that of the cave man, who didn't have to worry about the stock market or the atomic bomb．They forget that the cave man worried about being eaten by a bear while he was asleep, or about dying of hunger－things that few people worry much about today．

　　Actually stress is a normal state of affairs, and it's important that people understand what they are talking about when they speak about stress．Whenever anyone experiences something unpleasant, for lack of a better word they say they are under stress．Yet there is such a thing as pleasant stress－as in the case of the Olympic winner at the moment of his glory, or a conductor as his orchestra(乐队)performs particularly well．They are just sending out excitement, and they are giving off all the stress hormones(荷尔蒙)exactly the same as if they were in low spirits or had just heard of a death in the family．We call the pleasant or healthy kind“eustress”and the unpleasant or unhealthy kind“distress”．

　　Then how can people deal with stress?The secret is not to avoid it but to“do your own thing”．It implies doing what you like to do and what you are made to do at your own speed．For most people, it is really a matter of learning how to live and how to behave in various situations, to decide：“Do I really want to take my father's business or be a musician?”If you really want to be a musician, then be one．

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　　The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know．I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder．I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being．

　　She said,“Hi, girl!My name is Rose．I’m 87 years old．Can I give you a hug?”

　　I laughed and enthusiastically(热情地)responded,“Of course you may!”and she gave me a giant squeeze．

　　“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?”I asked．She jokingly replied,“I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!”

　　“No seriously,”I said．I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age．

　　“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”she told me．

　　Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went．She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students．She was living it up．

　　At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet．I’ll never forget what she taught us．

　　“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing．There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success．You have to laugh and find humor everyday．You’ve got to have a dream．When you lose your dreams, you die!”she said．

　　“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up．If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn 20 years older．If I am 87 years old, and stay in bed for a year, and never do anything, I will turn 88．Anybody can grow older．But every minute counts for young men,”she added．

　　“The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change．Have no regrets．The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do．The only people who fear death are those with regrets．”

　　She concluded her speech by courageously singing“The Song of Rose”．She challenged each of us to study the lyrics(歌词)and live them out in our daily lives．

　　At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago．One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep．

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　　Asia is the largest of the continents of the world．It is larger than Africa, larger than either of the two Americas, and four times as large as Europe．Asia and Europe form a huge land mass．Indeed Europe is so much smaller than Asia that some geographers regard Europe as a peninsula(半岛)of Asia．Many geographers say that the Ural Mountains form the dividing line between Europe and Asia．Some think differently．But all geographers agree that Asia was once linked to North America．Or, to be more exact, Alaska was at one time connected with the tip of Siberia．The ancestors of American Indians, geographers say, were Asians．30,000 years ago they went across the land bridge and settled down in new homes．Only a small canal separates Africa from Asia．But before the Suez Canal was cut in 1869 Asia was also linked to Africa．

　　The highest point of the earth is in Asia．This is the peak of the Himalaya Mountains．It is over 29,140 feet high．At this altitude the air is very thin and the weather is uncertain．So the climbing is very difficult．People take great pride in getting to that peak．

　　The world’s great religious originated from Asia：Buddhism from India, Christianity from Palestine, Islam from Arabia．Today Buddhism and Islam are the principal religions of much of Asia．

　　Asia is also the most populous continent．China, the country with the largest population in the world, is in Asia．One half of the world’s population are Asians．A Chinese is an Asian, a Japanese is an Asian, and an Indian is an Asian．So is an Iranian, a Palestinian, an Iraqi, a Filipino, a Singaporean．A meeting of Asians is usually a large gathering．The Asian Games meet every four years, sometimes with as many as 40 nations taking part．There was a time when Asia led the world in civilization．Today most of the Asian countries are still developing countries．They are working very hard to catch up in science and technology．They must．They have little time to lose．

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