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　　John H．Johnson was born in a family in Arkansas City in 1918．His father died in an accident when John was six．He was reaching high school age, but his hometown offered no high schools for the blacks．

　　Fortunately he has a strong-willed and caring mother．John remembers that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe．”She told him not to be dependent on others, including his mother．“You have to earn success，”said she, “all the people who work hard don't succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard．”

　　These words came from a woman with less than a third grade education．She also knew that believing and working hard don't mean everything．So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son to Chicago．

　　Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for．John's mother could not find work．But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words－as an editor of a newspaper．His wish was to publish a magazine for the blacks．

　　While others discouraged him, John's mother offered him more words to live by：“Nothing beats a failure but a try．”She also let him sell her furniture to get the 500 dollars he needed to start the Negro magazine．

　　It's natural that difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful．He always keeps his mother's words in mind．“Son, failure is not in your dictionary．”Now John H．Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America－worth 150 million dollars．

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　　True or false? Only old women knit(编织)?

　　Not anymore! Knitting has now become a fashionable hobby with women in their 20s and 30s．Young women can be seen knitting in coffee shops, hairdressers', bookstores, and bus stops, and Hollywood stars like Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Madonna, and Gwyneth Paltrow all knit．They are knitting collars, hats, socks, and sweaters－even wedding dresses!

　　Knitting is being called the “new yoga”．It is very relaxing and is the perfect hobby for our busy, stressful, 21^st-century life．It slows down your heart and lowers your blood pressure．Lissay Blomster，a 25-year-old buyer from New York, says, “I come home from work, mad and stressed almost every day．But after 30 to 45 minutes of knitting, I'm totally relaxed．”Jenny Carter, a 32-year-old advertising firm worker from Seattle, always knits through her lunch break．“It helps me clear my head and start fresh．”She says．

　　Even some men are taking up knitting．Dave White, a 33-year-old IT manager from San Francisco, started knitting six months ago, after a female friend introduced him to it．“I like knitting because I can go into my own little world and forget about my problems,” he says．But he has not told many of his male friends that he knits, and he never knits in public．Brian Duffey, however, a 26-year-old student from Chicago, says, “I knit anywhere, everywhere．I have never had a bad comment…in fact, I find it attracts women!”

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　　Some houses are designed to be smart．Others have smart designs．An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institutes of Architects．

　　Located on the shore of Sullivan's Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cubeshaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane Hugo 10 years ago．In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36, 000 homes in the state．

　　Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina's shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement(强制执行)of building laws wasn't strict, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house．In Huff's opinion, all new shoreline houses should meet stricter, better-enforced building laws．The new beach house on Sullivan's Island should be able to stand a Category(级)3 hurricane with the strongest winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour．

　　At first sight, the house on Sullivan's Island looks anything but hurricane-proof(防风)．Its redwood shell makes it look like “a large party lantern” at night．But looks can be cheating．The house's wooden frame is extra strengthened with long steel bars．To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it2.7 meters off the ground on a wooden structure set deep in the sand．The structure might appear unsafe, but it is strong enough to support the weight of the house．It can also lift the house above storm waves．The structure allows the waves to run under the house instead of running into it．“These waves come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff．

　　Huff designed the wooden structure to be partially hidden under the house's ground-to-roof shell(外壳)．“The shell covers the structure so that the house doesn't look like it's standing with its pant legs pulled up，”said Huff．“In the event of a storm, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house,” the architect explained．

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　　GOOGLE(www．google．com)is a daily miracle to millions of people．If the Internet had only this very fast search engine, it would have justified its existence many times over．It is the most popular search engine on the web with a 54％ market share, ahead of Yahoo! You type almost anything, however unclear, into the space provided and in a second it has come up with hundreds of references．If knowledge is power, then Google commands the gateway．

　　YAHOO(www．yahoo．com)was the first wonder of the web, and in many respects, it still is．It started in January 1994 when two California graduate students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, started compiling(编译)a database of links, mainly for their personal use．But well before the end of the year, it had become recognizable as Yahoo we know today．In the past seven years, Yahoo had grown rapidly, partly through a long string of buys．Yahoo now offers almost everything you could want：emails, instant messages, chats, clubs, photo albums and a lot more．

　　eBAY(www．ebay．com), which deals with online trading and shopping services, is the most impressive large Internet company where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide．It has, for instance, opened up a global marketplace in which people from Beijing, San Francisco, or Moscow can bid(投标)against each other for products put up for sale by someone in London．The company's online service permits sellers to list items for sale，buyers to bid on items of interest, and eBay users to browse(浏览)through listed items that is available online seven days a week．

　　Amazon(www．amazon．com)started out as an online bookstore, constantly putting up new book titles it offered for sale．In the late 1990s, Amazon had more than four million titles after adding CDs, videos, DVDs and games．It continued to add new lines of business including toys, computer software, electronics, like MP3 players, power tools, home improvement products and online sales．For regular users, Amazon has made itself the shortest possible path between wanting and buying．

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　　Open a large handkerchief out and show both sides of it to your friends．Point out that there is nothing in it; then show them both sides of your hands, which are also empty．Now ask a member of your audience to give you a match．Ask him to put a mark on it with a pen or a pencil．Fold up the handkerchief with the match in it, and let everyone present see you do this．

　　Give the handkerchief to anyone in the audience and say：“Here's the match．Can you feel it? Good! Now I want you to break it into two pieces．”When he or she has broken the match, you say “Would anyone like to feel the broken match in this handkerchief?” several people will probably want to feel it．When they have satisfied themselves that the match really is broken, you say, “Now I'm going to make the match whole again．”Perhaps your friends will say that that is impossible．

　　Hold the handkerchief in one hand and pass your hand or your wand(magic stick)over it, saying：“Abracadabra, abracadabra．”Open the handkerchief and let the match fall on to the table or floor, saying “Presto” as it does so．When the audience examine the match, they will find that it is quite whole and undamaged．The member of the audience will see his mark on the match．Everyone will be amazed!

　　The secret of this trick is quite simple, as in all magic tricks．Long before you do the trick you must do one thing－you must push one of your own matches into the hem(摺边)of the handkerchief．This must he pushed well along the hem so that it cannot fall out or be seen．When you have wrapped up the match provided by a member of the audience you must take care that it is the match in the hem which is broken, and not the other．You should practice the trick in private, of course, before you perform it before an audience．

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　　The movie Babel is hot on screen now．The title of the movie refers to the story in the Bible(圣经)where people tried to build a tower to reach Heaven．Angry God prevented them by confusing their languages so that they could no longer understand one another．

　　The movie tells a number of intersecting(相交)stories about the world we live in and the problems we suffer due to our inability to communicate．

　　The first story talks about a married couple Brad and Cate visiting Morocco．One day they're traveling by bus through a rocky area when a gunshot wounds the wife．The husband flies into hysterics trying to save her life．However, since he's in a foreign country, he suffers from his inability to communicate with the locals．

　　Then, there's the story of the shooters, Yussef and his brother, who are given a gun by their father to help guard the sheep．They are fooling around with the gun and fire a shot on a passing bus．At first, they refuse to tell anybody what happened for fear of the trouble but when the police come knocking, they are forced to come out with the truth with tragic results．

　　The next story follows the children of Brad and Cate．They are living back in Califormia under the care of the family nanny, Amelia．The shooting delays the return of their parents but Amelia was eager to attend her son's wedding in Mexico．At last she is forced to bring the children over the border(边境)along with her nephew Santiago．When traveling back over the border later that evening, they are stopped and questioned by the border police．After a couple of miscommunications, they are asked for some identification(身份)at which point Santiago tries to escape and leave Amelia and the children in the middle of the desert．

　　The final story deals with a Japanese family Chieko and her father Yasujiro, who sold the gun to the father of the two young boys．Chieko is a deaf mute(哑巴)who has a whole other set of communication problems．And because her inability to communicate makes her “different”, she isn't afraid to give a little attitude to anyone who she thinks deserves it．How does her father fit into all of this?

　　The movie really opens people's eyes to a lot of problems in our modern world．It's just a great job all around．The best movie this year!

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　　About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table．I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation．At one point the woman asked：“So, how have yon been?” And the boy, who could not have been more than seven or eight years old, replied, “To tell the truth, I've been feeling a little depressed(压抑)lately．”

　　His words stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing．As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school．

　　The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years．Children don't seem childlike anymore．Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to．

　　Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different．Childhood as it once was no longer exists．Why?

　　Human development is based not only on innate(天生的)biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge．Movement from one social role to another usually involved learning the secrets of the new status．Children have always been taught adults secrets, but slowly and in stages：traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders．

　　In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation(提示)machine has come in to 98 percent of American homes．It is called television．Television passes information, and indiscriminately(无区分)，to all viewers alike, be they children or adults．Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures．

　　Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access．Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practiced．Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials．

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Americans：Restless？Illiterate(文盲)？

　　Americans are queer people; they can't rest．They have more time, more leisure, shorter work hours, more holidays, and more vacations than any other people in the world．But they can't rest．They rush up and down across their continent as tourists; they move about in great herds to conventions(大会); they search the wilderness; they flood the mountains; they keep the hotels full．But they can't rest．The scenery rushes past them．They learn it, but they don't see it．Battles and monuments are announced to them on a tour bus．They hear them, but they don't get them．They never stop moving; they rush up and down as Shriners, Masons, Old Graduates, Bankers－they are a new thing each day, always rushing to a reunion or something．So they go on rushing about till eventually the undertaker(殡葬工)gather them to a last convention．

　　Americans are queer people; they can't read．They have more schools, and better schools and spend more money on schools and colleges than all Europe．But they can't read．They print more books in a year than the French print in ten．But they can't read．They cover their country with one hundred thousand tons of Sunday newspapers every week．But they don't read them．They're too busy．They use them for fires and to make more paper with．They buy eagerly thousands of new novels at two dollars each．But they read only page one．Their streets are full of huge signs．They won't look at them．Their streetcars are filled with advertising; they turn their eyes away．Transparent colors, cart wheels, and mechanical flares whirl and flicker in the crowded streets at night．No one sees them．Tons of letters pour into the mail boxes, through the houses, and down the garbage cans．No one reads them．

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　　Wild elephants that destroy crops and damage trees are a serious problem in many parts of Africa．But there could be a simple and relatively safe way to stop them in their tracks, by employing the talents of the tiny African honeybees．

　　The number of elephants in Kenya has risen over the past ten years, with some disastrous results．Not only do these huge animals attack local farms, but they step someone to death an average of once every two weeks．Now a biologist has discovered a possible threat：the elephants are extremely aware of trees that house honeybee hives．

　　“I am puzzled why nobody has thought of this before，”says Fritz Volirath at the University of Oxford．“When an elephant knocks a beehive he runs and the bees will follow him for miles．”He says that placing hives of the honeybees around local farms and fragile habitats could be an effective way to threaten the animals．

　　Volirath put 30 unoccupied and 6 occupied beehives in some of the trees growing on a bush frequently damaged by elephants on Laikipia Plateau in Kenya．On average the elephants attacked 9 out of 10 trees that didn't have hives, severely damaging a quarter．But they steered clear of all six trees with occupied hives．The elephants also left alone one-third of the trees with empty hives, suggesting that some had learnt not to take the risk．

　　The bees threaten elephants by stinging vulnerable(易受伤)areas such as the eyes, belly, behind the ears and under the trunk．People could be at risk from the bees, admits Volirath, but that may be outweighed by the risk of being killed by an elephant．Another experiment by Vollath shows that elephants also avoid the sound of angry bees played from a loudspeaker．

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