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　　LONDON-British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Wednesday that boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games is not the right path to take．

　　“We are ever excited about prospects for the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing,”Miliband said in an interview with Chinese reporters in London before his visit to China．

　　“Everything we have seen and read suggests that preparations are proceeding in an excellent way．We very much look forward to a very successful Olympics, successful for China and successful for the world．We certainly believe that boycotts are not a right way．”he said．

　　“China has big responsibilities around the world．We are looking forward to working with the Chinese government to ensure the values of stability, security and social justice．And only today I spoke with(Chinese Foreign Minister)Yang about our joint work that could help the situation in Darfur．And the Chinese envoy(特使)to Darfur is in London today, that sort of engagement is the right way to go and boycotts are not the right way,”Miliband said．

　　“The prime minister(Gordon Brown)is determined to represent the whole of the country with his attendance to the Games,”he added．

　　Miliband expressed his high regard to the bilateral双边的)relations between Britain and China．“I can't think about a time that our relations are stronger, that is symbolized by the visit of the prime minister to China last month but also by cultural events like China now going on in Britain．”

　　British people are fascinated by the changes and improvements going on in China, and are trying to build bridges between the two nations, the foreign secretary said．

　　“Both our countries are challenged by the facts of globalization．Economic and social changes are producing challenges for both the societies, challenges about security and stability, challenges about justice, challenges about environment, and the theme of my visit is how our two countries can work together and learn from each other in adapting to these challenges,”the secretary told Chinese reporters．

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　　LONDON(Reuters)－Achieving three A grades at A-level will no longer be enough to ensure a place at a top university, academics warned on Wednesday．

　　From September sixth-formers will begin studying A-level exams which will include a higher grade of A for those getting marks of 90 percent or above in their papers．

　　Those applying for Oxford or Cambridge will need new top grades to win a place, the 1994 Group of 19 leading universities said in a report．

　　It said it expected the two elite universities to take a large majority of those awarded three or two A grades．

　　Outside Oxbridge, students will need at least two A grades and one standard A grade to be confident of getting a place at their chosen university．

　　The extra grade is being added to meet complaints from universities that too many pupils gain maximum grades in A-levels, making it hard to select the most able．

　　But the 1994 Group, which does not include Oxford or Cambridge, said there were concerns among its members that pupils from fee-paying independent schools would dominate the A grades．

　　It said this could set back efforts by its member universities, who include Durham, St．Andrews and Warwick, to widen the social range of their intake．

　　The report estimated that just 3,500 out of 660,000 students would be awarded three A*s when they take the first exams in the new A-level courses in 2010．

　　That compares with the 26,200 students who gained three A grades in A-levels in 2006．

　　The government said there was no evidence to show that state school pupils would be disadvantaged by the introduction of the new grade．

　　“It is up to institutions to decide how they balance their assessments of applications with their desire to be fair and to offer places to applicants with the greatest potential, regardless of background,”said a spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools & Families．

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　　There are two types of people in the world．Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy．This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds．

　　People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things．The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather．They enjoy all the cheerful things．Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things．Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied．By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere．If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied．The intention of criticizing(批评)and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation(模仿)．It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors．The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes．I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit．

　　Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck．Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect．This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments．If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success．Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes．If they bring on themselves public objections(反对), no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings．These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others．If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them．Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels．

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　　Pocket Tape－Recorders“Family and Home Magazine”test what’s on the market now．

　　1)Pearlcorder S702 ＄64

　　This simple model at the bottom of the Olympus range scored the most points for its excellent quality of recording．Background noise hardly affects the sound and recording from a pocket is perfectly possible, but it doesn't turn off automatically(自动地)．

　　Tape length：30 minutes per side．Weight ;240g．

　　2)Sony M9 ＄49.95

　　Small and very good looking．Sony's latest offering scored most for appearance．Sounds clear, but there is slight machine noise．The big control buttons are a great improvement on some of the complicated little controls on other tape-recorders．Doesn't switch off automatically but a red light shows if the machine is still running．

　　Tape length：60 minutes per side．Weight：195g．

　　3)Sony M400 ＄115

　　Lots of little control buttons that make a noise and are difficult to use．Recording was good but machine noise lost points．Tape counter and automatic switch-off when tape has finished recording or rewinding are useful．

　　Tape length：60 minutes per side．Weight：230g．

　　4)Imperial OEM．MC ＄29.95

　　Cheap and simple compared with the rest, but recording was good as long as there was no background noise．Use only its own make of cassette．No light to show it is on, no fast forward button and the record button makes a loud noise．

　　Tape length：30 minutes per side．Weight; 285g．

　　5)Philips 585 ＄80

　　Handsome and simple to use, but recording is very poor at more than the recommended distance of 5 cm-designed for dictation．No recording light．

　　Tape length：15 minutes per side．Weight：220g．

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　　Experts have put forward detailed plans for a tunnel(隧道)to join Taiwan with the Chinese mainland．

　　The shortest proposed(建议)route would be 126 kilometers-more than twice the length of the English Channel Tunnel．And the longest proposed route would be 207 kilometers．

　　A recent conference in Xiamen, Fujian Province brought together more than 70 experts．The event was co-sponsored(共同发展)by universities from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland．Fujian is the province where both proposed routes would begin．

　　There is no direct passenger access between the mainland and Taiwan by air or sea at the moment．Experts say that it is better to start research sooner rather than later, although there is a lack of government funding．There are no technical problems to build a Taiwan tunnel．But it will require an improved political relationship across the Straits．

　　A professor of Tsinghua university said,“A special feature of huge projects is that the period of preparation is longer than the period of construction．”

　　For example, he said, the English Channel Tunnel took 14 years of planning and had been discussed for two centuries．And preparations for the huge Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River began in the 1950s．

　　The Xiamen conference focused on the longest southern route, which would use the Taiwan-controlled islands of Jinmen and Penghu as stepping stones．

　　The first stage of the new project could be a bridge to cross the five kilometers between Xiamen and Jinmen．This would mean that travelling from Xiamen to Jinmen by car would only take five minutes．

　　The longest tunnel now being planned anywhere in the world is the 54-kilometer Land tunnel to link Lyon in France with Turin in Italy．The tunnel will not be completed until 2015-2020．

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　　Dr Wiseman started“the laugh lab”project in September 2001．It is the largest study of humour．Participants are invited to log on to the laugh lab website, give a few personal details , tell their favorite jokes and judge the jokes told by other people．

　　The project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world’s funniest joke．But there is also a serious purpose, the researches want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny．And they want to find out the differences between the male and female sense of humor．The idea is that if we want to understand each other, we have to find out what makes us laugh．

　　This is a subject that has long interested psychologists and philosophers．Most of the time, people are not completely honest．We do things that society expects us to and say things that help us get what we want．But laughing cannot be controlled．When we laugh, we tell the truth about ourselves．

　　By December 2001 over 10,000 jokes had been submitted(提交)．This gave the scientists enough evidence to make early conclusions．It seems that men and women do have different senses of humor, for instance．

　　“Our findings show the major differences in the ways in which males and females use humor,”said Dr Wiseman．“Males use humor to appear superior(优越的)to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play．”

　　Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humor．The British enjoy what is usually called“toilet humor”．But the French like their jokes short and sharp：“You’re a high priced lawyer．Will you answer two questions for ＄500?”“Yes．What’s the second question?”

　　The Germans are famous for not having a sense of humor．But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality．Perhaps that proves the point．Is this joke funny?I don’t know, but let’s say yes, just to be safe．

　　Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by computer．But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing．Perhaps this is relief．Computers already seem like they can do everything．At least they should leave the funny stuff to us．

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　　They stood outside the door－two children in shabby outgrown coats．

　　“Any old papers, lady?”

　　I was busy, I wanted to say no until I saw the snow on their clothes．And their little sandals(凉鞋)were also covered with snow．

　　“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa．”

　　There was no conversation．Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor．I served them cocoa and toast with jam to strengthen them against the cold outside．Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household．

　　The silence in the front room got me to look inside．The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it．The boy asked in a flat voice,“Lady, are you rich?”

　　“Am I rich?Mercy, no!”

　　I looked at my shabby sofa．The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully．

　　“Your cups match your saucers, she said．”

　　They left then, holding their bundles of papers against the wind．They hadn’t said thank you．They didn’t need to．They had done more than that．Plain blue cups and saucers．But they matched．

　　I tasted the potatoes and looked at the meat．Potatoes and meat, the roof over my head, my man with a good steady job–these things matched, too．

　　I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room．The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor．I let them be．I wanted them there in case I ever forget again how very rich I am．

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　　It is often claimed that nuclear energy is something we cannot do without．We live in a consumer society, where there is a huge demand for commercial products of all kinds．Moreover, an increase in industrial production is considered to be one solution to the problem of mass unemployment．Such an increase needs an abundant and cheap energy supply．Many people believe that nuclear energy is endless and economical．There are a number of other advantages in the use of nuclear energy．Firstly, nuclear power, except for accidents, is clean．A further advantage is that a nuclear power station can be run by relatively few technical and managing staff．The nuclear power station represents a large step in our scientific research and, whatever the anti-nuclear group says, it is wrong to expect a return to more primitive sources of fuel．

　　However, those who disagree with nuclear energy point out that nuclear power stations bring a direct threat not only to the environment but also to the human race．Furthermore, it is doubtful whether finally nuclear power is a cheap source of energy．There have, for example, been very costly accidents in America and Russia．The possibility of increases in the cost of uranium(铀)and the cost to ensure its safety could price nuclear power out of the market．In the long run, environmentalists argue, nuclear energy may bring about the destruction of the human race．Thus, if we wish to survive, we cannot afford nuclear energy．Though nuclear energy programmes are expanding, which assumes a continual growth in industrial production and consumer demands．It is doubtful whether this growth will or can continue．

　　Having weighed up the arguments on both sides, it seems there are good economic and environmental reasons for sources of energy other than nuclear power．

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Today's Schedule

(From Business Worker 2007)

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　　Under the impression that if you want to lose weight, you have to eat less?Well apparently, the solution may not be quite that simple．

　　Instead, some scientists in the UK have been experimenting with ways to trick the body into feeling full．

　　A government-funded team has been testing simple foods found on everyday shopping lists．

　　Bread, cheese, milk, soup and sauces can all be developed to cause the brain to send a brain signal which acts as an appetite suppression(抑制)．

　　Peter Wilde, Scientist of UK Institute of Food Research, said,“If you can slow down the digestion of fat in the body, the undigested fat goes further down the small intestine(肠)and then it sends a message to the brain to reduce your appetite, so you can eat a normal-sized meal and the digestion is slowed down and then the message goes to your brain to reduce your appetite and you go for longer without being hungry．”

　　The researchers insist that the treated foods will still be entirely natural products, and free from processing．

　　They believe helping people to reduce weight this way is beneficial because it allows them to eat normally．The scientists also think their treatment could be taken into snacks to make sure people don’t eat too much．

　　The research is still at the experimental stage and it will be at least a year before their techniques can be used in a large scale human trial．

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