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　　Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water．To be human is to think．But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it．Thinking about thinking is the key to critical thinking．When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes．Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others．Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education．

　　The word“critical”here has a special meaning．It does not mean taking out view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong．The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen-beyond the picture on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning．

　　Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity．If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker．If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker．

　　Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning are processes of deep and careful consideration．They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today's world：fast food, instant coffee, and self-developing film．If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein．The first thing Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein．Hoffman was too nervous to speak．But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying,“Please go slowly, I don't understand things quickly,”

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　　In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye．Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong．

　　Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network．They will publish a full-length record, titled“The True Idol”on April 6．

　　The idol is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley．He did a version of Ricky Martin’s“She Bangs”on the television show“American Idol 3”, on January 27．The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people．In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act．

　　Hung’s response?“I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all．”That’s good, because any common person would have found plenty to regret：The off-key singing．The blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high．The terrible dancing．The hips jerking(摇摆)to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet．It was, by all accounts, bad．

　　But, it was this very bad act that sold well．

　　Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way：“Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried．That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America．”

　　Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big．Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks．Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno-music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station．

　　So, what does Hung think of this?

　　“There were all these people saying things about me．A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean．”

　　Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour(魅力)or to accept it．Returning to normal hasn’t been easy．

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　　The United States is already one year into a depression．That was the news this week from the National Bureau of Economic Research．The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in 1981 and lasted sixteen months．

　　Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a recession．But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy．The news only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and may not recover soon．

　　Worsening conditions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars．Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty-four percent in the United States in November from a year ago．

　　The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors returned to Congress this week to again ask for federal aid．Congressional leaders denounced(指责)them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry．This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel-saving hybrid vehicles．And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans．The request for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines．

　　G．M．wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month．It warned that without support it cannot continue to operate．

　　Ford is in a better position．But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G．M．or Chrysler fails．Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it．

　　Chrysler is the smallest and most troubled of America’s Big Three．It says it needs a seven billion dollar loan by the end of the month．

　　Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee．The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy．But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(财政援助)．

　　A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States．The Treasury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners．Now comes news that the department is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans for some buyers of homes．That could be good for homeowners trying to sell．

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　　To be a good teacher, you need some of the talents of a good actor: you must be able to hold attention and interest of your students; you must be a clear speaker, with a good, strong, pleasing voice which is fully under your control; you must be able to act what you are teaching, in order to make its meaning clear．

　　A good teacher doesn’t sit still before his class; he stands all the time he is teaching; he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanations, and his face to express his feelings．Listen to him, and you will hear the loudness, the quality and musical note of his voice always changing according to what he is talking about．

　　The fact that a good teacher has some of the gifts of a good actor doesn’t mean he will indeed be able to act well on the stage, for there are very important differences between the teacher’s work and the actor’s．The actor has to speak words he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part, even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually fixed beforehand．What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words seem natural on the stage．

　　A good teacher works in quite a different way．His audience takes an active part in his play－they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don’t understand something, they say so．The teacher therefore has to meet the needs of his audience．He can’t learn his part by heart, because their brains couldn’t keep discipline: they couldn’t keep strictly to what another has written．

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Drug Use Report

　　A new study examines drug use by young people in t he United States．The study found that cigarette smoking among American teenagers dropped during t he past years．The drop continues a general decrease in teenager smoking rates that started in 1996．

　　American health officials praised the decrease as good news in the nation’s battle against smoking．They note that smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease．Smoking rates among American teenagers increased in the first half of the 1990’s．However, teenage smoking rates have been decreasing in recent years．

　　The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research supervised the latest study．The Department of Health and Human Services reported the findings．

　　The study involved more than forty-four-thousand students in more than four-hundred schools across the United States．They were asked about past and daily use of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs．

　　The youngest students questioned were thirteen years old．The study also involved fifteen-year-old students and seventeen-year-olds．

　　The most notable change in the study was a continuation of the decrease in cigarette use among thirteen and fifteen-year-olds．For example, about twelve percent of thirteen-year-old students questioned reported smoking at least one cigarette during the past month．Six years ago, the rate was twenty-one percent．Among fifteen-year-olds, the rate dropped from thirty percent in 1996 to twenty-one percent last year．

　　Tommy Thompson is the secretary of Health and Human Services．He praised the findings．He said more teenagers are making correct choices that will help them avoid health problems caused by tobacco．

　　The study found that use of alcoholic drinks and illegal drugs among American teenagers remained the same or dropped during the past year．However, the use of one illegal drug known as Ecstasy continued to increase．Yet the rate of increase was not as great as in recent years．

　　American health officials said they will continue to give teenagers scientific information about the serious health risks of Ecstasy and other illegal drugs．The goal is to further reduce the use of these drugs．

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　　If boy wizard(巫师)Harry Potter uses his magic to capture(迷住)the hearts of millions of teenagers, high school students Gabriella and Troy have charmed American boys and girls with their stories of campus life．

　　They are the leading characters in High School Musical, a series of hugely successful films in the US．The sequel(续集), High School Musical 3, came out on October 24 and has topped the American box office for two straight weeks．

　　The show has everything attractive to teenagers－dancing, catchy(悦耳的)music, puppy love and good looks．The story starts when high school basketball star Troy and brainy Gabriella －two teenagers who are worlds apart－meet during the winter break．At a karaoke contest they discover their love for singing and an interest in each other．When school starts, Troy finds out that Gabriella is the new girl at his school．

　　Eager to find the magic they had during karaoke, Troy and Gabriella decide to audition(试镜)for the school’s upcoming musical．This angers the school’s drama queen Sharpay．However, they overcome difficulties and become the leading actors．

　　But the story doesn't end there．High School Musical 2 follows their adventures over summer vacation when Sharpay tries to break up Troy and Gabriella．In the latest sequel, high school seniors are facing the possibilities of being separated from each other as they go off in different directions when graduating from high school．

　　Joined by the rest of their friends, Troy and Gabriella stage a musical reflecting(反映)their experiences, hopes and fears about the future．

　　“The success of the High School Musical films shows Disney's long-term efforts to attract youngsters for whom Mickey Mouse seems too babyish,”wrote New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff．“For the time being, the movie has made fictional high school students as recognizable as that 79-year-old mouse．”

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　　One would have to be a fool to overlook the importance of using positive thinking for you rather than allowing negative thinking to work against you．In recent years, research in psychopharmacology(精神药理学)has proved what many people have known over the centuries: a positive attitude is good for you, good for your health, good for your wealth, good for everything．Researchers found that a positive attitude produces a specific chemical reaction which makes people feel better, while negative thinking results in a decline of hormone and shuts down the immune(免疫的)system．This leads to illness and depression．Positive thoughts will make you feel better．Even if you must begin by literally forcing yourself to be positive(faking it, so to speak), it will become contagious(会传播的)and the positive thoughts will generate nice little chemicals and good feelings which will reinforce the positive thoughts．

　　For example, if you force yourself to smile or laugh, even when you don't feel like smiling or laughing, if you keep at it for a few minutes, you will soon feel like it．Feelings can generate thoughts, but thoughts can also generate feelings．Control your thoughts and you can control your feelings．Positive thinking is important in all aspects of our lives．There is probably no single factor more important in determining your success in achieving your career objectives than your own attitude．

　　It's often been said that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king．And in the office of militant(好战)negativism, the positive workers shine like gold．You cannot control external events, but you can learn to control your reaction to those events and thereby have a positive attitude and be happy．This vital key to success is totally within your control．Use it．

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　　“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,”says Mollie Hunter．Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people．She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is．In Mollie's opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing．“If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,”she says．With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer．“I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,”she says．“This love goes back to early childhood．I've told stories all my life．I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said ‘Nonsense, Mollie, dear, you’ll be a writer．’ So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer．”

　　This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement．Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免地)brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields－sadly now covered with modern houses．“I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood．I'll never go back,”she said．“Never．”“When I set one of my books in Scotland,”she said,“I can recall my romantic(浪漫的)feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work．And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us．”

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　　A“blogger”is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a“blog”．The word“blog”is a short way of saying Web log, or personal Web site．Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like．

　　There are millions of blogs on the Internet today．They provide news, information and ideas to many people who read them．They contain links to other Web sites．And they provide a place for people to write their ideas and react(反应)to the ideas of others．

　　A research company called Perseus has studied more than 3000 Web logs．It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls．They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives．The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year．

　　However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas．For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs．And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products．

　　At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended．Last week, blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service, weblogs．com．He says the site became too costly to continue．He started the blog four years ago, and thousands of people had written on it．They are now upset because they did not know that the site was closing．

　　One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca's Pocket．Rebecca Blood created the Web site in 1999．She wrote about the history of blogs on the site．That article led to a book called“The Weblog Handbook”．It has been translated into four languages so far．

　　Ms Blood says Rebecca's Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month．She writes about anything and everything-politics, culture and movies．She recently provided medical advice．And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from on-line bank accounts

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　　People's tastes in recreation(消遣)differ widely．At a recent festival of pop music in the Isle of Weight, crowds of teenagers gathered to listen to their favorite singers and musicians．They went with single railway tickets and slept in the open, a very dangerous thing to do in the climate of Britain, even in August．They were packed together like sardines for four days．There were countless thieves, a group of trouble-makers tried several times to break things up, and police were everywhere．At the end of the festival many young fans found themselves broke, and they had difficulty in getting back home．Most people would consider these conditions a bad dream of discomfort: the fans appeared to enjoy it all especially．

　　Even in the overcrowded United Kingdom there are large areas of open unspoiled country, where people with more traditional tastes can go for quiet, and for the sense of freedom they get from closeness to nature．In the national parks especially, modern development of housing and industry is strictly controlled．Visitors may walk for miles through landscape of the greatest beauty and wildness, and often of considerable historic or scientific interest．Along the coasts of some of the seaside countries, public pathways have been created; these paths stretch for many miles along cliffs that look out on the Atlantic or the English Channel．Another path, lying in- land, goes along the range of mountains in the north of England．It is called the Pennine Way．Here, the long-distance walker and the nature-lover can find much to enjoy, without feeling breathless closed by large numbers of their fellows．

　　Yet few people make full use of the national parks set up for everyone's benefit．The commonest thing nowadays is for family groups to motor out to a beautiful spot and park their cars in the lay-by(路边停车处)．A picnic basket is produced, along with a folding table and chairs, a kettle and a movable stove．They then settle down to a picnic in the lay-by beside the car．Clearly their idea of enjoyment is to get into the fresh air and among the country sights and sounds without having to walk a yard．They seem almost to like to hear and to smell the traffic．

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