Awareness Weeks have become a regular part of Britain's cultural landscape over the past few years．They started back in 1957, when one charity, Christian Aid, decided to make all its money-raising efforts on one time of year．It was thought that by doing this they would get more publicity for their cause．

　　They were right, and soon other charities and campaign groups followed them．These days, most donations to charity are not collected on the streets．So instead of just asking for money, charities prefer to spend their time“raising awareness”——spreading knowledge of the work they do or the cause they support．They also compete with businesses and trade groups who use awareness weeks as marketing campaigns for their products．

　　There are now 500 awareness weeks held every year in the UK．No week goes by without one group or another trying to make the British public aware of something, with most held in May or October．

　　The danger with all these awareness weeks is that people start to become cynical(不信任)．Take National Smile Week, it seems like a great idea．Let's all make each other's life a little bit happier with a friendly smile．But really it's just a group of dentists and cosmetics companies trying to sell us toothpaste．It's enough to make you want to start National Forget About It Week．

　　“People feel that many awareness campaigns are just marketing exercises,”says Ms Ormiston, who edits the Awareness Campaign Register, a news letter which encourages people who run Awareness Weeks to become more aware of each other．“But 90 per cent of campaigns are run by traditional charities or not for groups to make money．”

　　“There's still no official group for awareness campaigns,”says Ms Ormiston．“People can do what they like, whatever the size of their budgets or their public relations machines allows．”

　　This situation has led to calls for laws to stop real charities having their efforts overshadowed by marketing campaigns．This could be done by making the two groups hold their weeks at different times or stopping businesses running imitation charity campaigns．

　　But there is another way．Maybe it's time for National Weak Awareness Week, especially for people whose awareness of Awareness Weeks is weak．

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　　There are two basic ways to see growth：one as a product, the other as a process．People have generally viewed personal growth as an external(外在的)result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language——all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．

　　By contrast(对照), the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have, and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．

　　In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious?If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we're shy and indecisive?Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt(适应)change or that we're not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．

　　These feelings of insecurity(不安全)and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．

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　　Many of the most damaging types of weather begin quickly, strike suddenly, and disappear rapidly, destroying small areas while leaving neighboring areas untouched．Such event as a tornado(龙卷风)struck the northeastern part of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987．Total damages from the tornado went beyond ＄250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm．?

　　Traditional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to study carefully the slight atmospheric changes that come before these storms．In most nations, for example, weather-balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at places separated by hundreds of miles．With such limited data, traditional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large areas than they do forecasting specific local events．?

　　Until recently, the observation intensive method needed for exact, very short-range forecasts, or“Nowcasts,”was not possible．The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was extremely high, and the difficulties concerned in rapidly collecting and processing the weather data from such a network were hard to overcome．

　　Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems．Radar(雷达)systems and satellites are all able to make detailed, nearly continuous observation over large areas at a lower cost．Communications satellites can send out data around the world cheaply and immediately, and modern computers can quickly collect and analyze this large amount of weather information．

　　Meteorologists(气象学者)and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment able to change weather data into words and graphic displays(图解)that forecasters can understand easily and quickly．As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, nowcasting is becoming a reality．

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　　Mail was usually carried west on ships that sailed around the bottom of South America and then north to California．That could take several months．

　　So, in eighteen fifty-seven, D.C.Lawmakers in Congress in Washington wanted to make it possible to send mail all the way across the United States by land．Congress offered to help any company that would try to deliver mail overland to the West Coast．A man named John Butterfield accepted this offer．He developed plans for a company that would carry the mail－and passengers, too．

　　Congress gave John Butterfield six hundred thousand dollars to start his company．In return, he had to promise that the mail would travel from Saint Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, in twenty-five days or less．

　　It was not possible to travel straight through because of the Rocky Mountains and the deep snow that fell in winter．So the stagecoach would travel south from Saint Louis to El Paso, Texas, then over to southern California, then north to San Francisco．The distance was about four thousand five hundred kilometers．

　　Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart．The workers were to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station．There could be no delay．Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day．

　　One hundred stagecoasches were built and painted red or dark green．They were the most modern coaches that money could buy．They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail．The seats inside could be folded down to make beds．Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail．

　　The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco．If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer．The passengers had to buy their own food at the stations．The stagecoach would stop for forty minutes, two times a day．

　　The company warned passengers about the possible dangers．A poster said：“You will be traveling through Indian country and the safety of your person cannot by vouchsafed(granted)by anyone but God．”

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If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees．One would certainly think otherwise; selecting and putting up our trees have always been filled with risk．For example, one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain, a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it into the house．Once we did, my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it．Another December, perhaps the very next one, we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before．We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable．We easily placed it in a stand, decorated it from top to bottom, and then self-satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light．Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden; we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off．There was nothing to do but undecorate it, take it down, and begin tree shopping again．Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task．When we brought it home, once again it seemed larger than it was in the great outdoors．To complicate matters, we had bought a new stand, one whose nuts(螺帽)and bolts(闩子)worked more mysteriously than those of our old stands．I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand．Unfortunately, no one noticed the mud on our helpers' shoes, so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments(装饰)were stored．Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these．I don't care to hear them, as my family's experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion：“Let's forget the tree next Christmas．Let's simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall．”

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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．

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

　　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：195 g．

　　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：285 g．

　　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：220 g．

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FILM DESCRIPTIONS

　　Back to the Future

　　With the help of local inventor's time machine, Marty travels back to the 1950's．there his 80s happiness stands out, and he inadvertedly interferes with the fledgling romance of his parents-to-be．Can Marty keep them together? He'd better, or his own future will fade away．Featuring：Christopher Lloyd, Michael J．Fox．A Universal Pictures release, 1hr．55 min．

　　Beethoven's 2^nd

　　In this sequel to the popular Beethoven, our canine(犬的)hero falls for Missy, who soon has puppies．Missy's greedy owner, Regina, who sees only money in the little purebred's, separates mum and pups from Beethoven．His owners rescue the puppies, but Regina still has Missy．Featuring：Charles Grodin, Bonnies Hunt．A Universal Pictures Release, 1hr．26 min．

　　Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

　　Despite the popularity of his treats, candy maker Willy Wonka shuts himself inside his factory．But then Willy holds a contest, offering five lucky children the chance to see his company．Poor but pleasant Charlie Bucket finds a ticket, as do four less-deserving children．Featuring：Johney Depp, Freddie Highmore．A Warner Bros release, lhr．56 min．

　　Cinderella Man

　　Based on actual events, this film flows the life of Jim Braddock, a boxer in New York City during the Great Depression．After a series of losses, Braddock is forced into retirement．But he never gives up his boxing dream, and neither does his manager．Featuring：Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger．A Universal Pictures release, Zhr．14 min．

　　Liar Liar

　　Lawyer Fletcher Reede has never told the truth in his life．Then his son makes a birthday wish that his dad would stop lying for 24 hours．Suddenly, Fletcher's mouth spouts(喷出)everything he thinks．His compulsion brings disaster to the courtroom, where he must defend a client whose case was built on lies．Featuring：Jim Caney, Justin Cooper．A Universal Pictures release．1 hr 25 min．

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　　Have you heard the recent good news about digital music? Sure, music sales are declining．Record companies are accusing(归咎)kids and grandparents of downloading music．But impressive reform is also under way, from more portable(轻便的)digital music players and software for collection and listening to music to improve music quality to easy-to-use new on line services．You'll find more choices than ever in players．The Creative Labs Nomad MuVoV100 is small, but thanks to the flash memory, it can hold many hours of music．

　　The larger Apple iPod, still only about the size of a deck of cards(一副纸牌), can store 160GBof music－about 10,000 songs．And thinks to hard drives that are more compact(紧凑的),the midsize models can store 16GB of music－a couple hundred songs．

　　The new online services are even more impressive, and the best is yet to come．RealOne Rhapsody 2.1 clearly combines a monthly streaming service with permanent downloads－splendid, if you're willing to pay a monthly fee．If not, Apple has led the way with its Apple iTunes Music Store, the first service to offer songs for individual sale, with no monthly fee．Other services, such as BuyMusic．Com, have followed in its footsteps．I'm also impressed by the song downloads and the music-playing software offered by MusicMatch．And I recently saw a preview(预告)of the upcoming Napster 2.0, which will offer a monthly streaming service as well as song downloads．Meanwhile, Emusic continues to offer the best selection of independent music．

　　These services are very effective choices for people who want to download music legally．And that's a very good thing indeed．

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　　As many people around the world celebrate Mother's Day, a Chinese scholar and member of a top national advisory body had made it his mission to create China's own Mother's Day．

　　Li Hanqiu, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC)National Committee, suggested that the second day of the fourth lunar month, which fell on May 18 this year, be the day．

　　It coincided with the birthday of 4^th century BC philosopher Mencius, whose mother has long been considered the epitome(典范)of maternal devotion and love．

　　Li has called for the traditional Western gift of carnations(康乃馨)for the day to be changed to lilies, which in ancient times were planted by mothers in their courtyards as a sign of sorrow at their children leaving home．

　　“in a country with a deeply-rooted tradition of filial piety(虔诚的考道), we should have our own occasion for people to express love for mothers according to Chinese custom,”Li said．He has founded a non-government organization “Chinese Mother's Festival Promotion Society” with the support of around 100 Confucian scholars and lecturers of ethics．It celebrated its first Chinese Mother's Day Festival on May 18．

　　This was the first year and the celebration was held only in Zoucheng city of Shandong Province and Shijiazhuang in Hebei．It will be accepted by more Chinese people at home and abroad as time goes on．

　　Li also plans to build a theme park on maternal culture in Zoucheng, the birthplace of Mencius．According to Li, the society plans to send pamphlets(小册子)over the next few years to a million students in 100 cities．To ensure the festival becomes entrenched in Chinese society may be an arduous process, hut it is definitely worth doing．

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