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　　Where you save your money often depends on what you are saving for．If you are saving to buy a dictionary or to go to a concert, then you will probably keep your money somewhere in your room．

　　If you are saving for a big purchase like a mountain bike or a school trip, where would you save your money? One place to save money is the bank．Putting your money in a savings account will help your money earn more money．If you put your money in a piggy bank(猪形储蓄罐), one year later you’ll still have the same amount of money you put in．If you put your money in a savings account, one year later, you’ll have more money than you put in．Why?

　　When you keep your money in a bank, your money earns interest．Interest is the amount of money a bank pays you to use your money．The bank uses your money(and the money of other people, too)to loan money to people and businesses．

　　The bank will send you a statement several times a year．A bank statement tells you how much money there is in your account．It also tells you how much interest you have earned．If you leave your money in the bank, you can watch it grow!

　　Another way you can save money is to buy a certificate of deposit or CD．If you have some money that you don’t need to use for a long time, this is a good way to make your money grow．You can buy a CD at a bank．You agree not to use the money for a certain period of time．That period might be from six months to five years．You can’t touch your money during that time．If you do, you must pay a penalty(违约金), or fee．

　　Since the bank is using your money for that time period, it will pay you interest．You will earn more interest with a CD than in a savings account．Can you guess why? It’s because you promise to leave your money in the bank for a certain period of time．Banks pay different rates of interest．So, you may want to compare rates in newspaper ads before buying a CD．

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Harvard University is on the both sides of the Charies River．The old institution of higher learning in the United States was founded in 1636．In 1638 it was named for John Harvard, its first founder．During the 1640s the college was enlarged although it was short of money．Meant to be an institution for the education of Puritan ministers(清教牧师)，it grew to be an institution of general education, and new and more subjects and policies were introduced．In the 18^th century, particularly under John Leverett(1708-1724), the number of the students and campus equipment increased while the religious color decreased．In its early years, the college was largely supported by the English colony and the New England community as a whole, but support soon came in the form of gifts, and in 1823 the state money was received for the last time．Under Charles W．Eliot, the college became a great modern university．Its basic courses improved and enlarged, the graduate school was set up for those who finished their four-year undergraduate study, and the law and medical schools were reorganized．Eliot is also famous for his introduction of the elective system at Harvard．Besides Harvard College, the university includes schools of divinity(1816), law(1817), arts and science(1872), education(1920), engineering(1935), reorganization of Lawrence Science School of 1847, public administration(1935)．Harvard also has schools of business administration(1980), medicine(1782), public health(1922), and dental health(1941)．Radcliffe College for women is connected with Harvard; its students are taught by Harvard professors and receive diplomas given by Harvard．The university library, among the nation’s finest, houses over 8 million volumes, and the Fogg Museum of Art is one of the finest university museums in the word．Harvard is closely connected with a large number of research institutions as well．

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　　Practicing yoga(瑜伽术)may be one way to prevent middle-aged spread, according to the findings of new study．

　　Although the connection appears to be indirect, yoga practitioners(习艺者)are clearly able to avoid－or at least reduce－the one-pound-a year of gained weight that most people bear between the ages of 45 and 55．

　　The researchers used data from more than 15,000 men and women aged 53 to 57, who reported their weight at age 45 and their current weight．

　　Practicing yoga for four or more years, for at least 30 minutes once a week, resulted in a 3.1-pound lower weight gain among people who were normal weight at age 45．

　　The yoga practitioners who were overweight at 45 lost an average of five pounds, as opposed to an average gain of 13 pounds in overweight non-practitioners．

　　Dr Alan R．Kristal, the lead author on the study and associate director of the cancer prevention program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, emphasized that yoga was not a magic weight control technique．“ There are many weight control strategies(规划),” he said．“ But none allows you to escape the laws of thermodynamics(热力学)．If you take in more energy than you use it, then it will be stored as fat．”

　　But, he added, yoga offered “ a safe and comfortable way for people who have never been physically active to begin regular physical activity．”

　　Unsurprisingly, the study found significant differences in lifestyle between those who exercised and those who did not．Yoga practitioners had an 11 percent lower energy intake from fat and a 45 percent higher energy intake from fruit and vegetables．

　　Moreover, for an inactive person, yoga can be the beginning of more strenuous(费力的)physical activity．Yoga practitioners time and again report that they feel “ more connected” to their bodies, which may reduce food intake by helping increase awareness of being too full．

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　　COURSE：History 101 Introduction to American History

　　INSTRUCTOR：Dr Jane Klammer

　　OFFICE：305 Marshall Hall

　　OFFICE HOURS：11∶15～12∶30 MWF(Monday Wednesday Friday)

　　CLASS：363 Marshall Hall 3∶35～5∶00 T Th(Tuesday Thursday); 10∶10～11∶00 MWF

　　Other time by appointment

　　TELEPHONE：255 4786

　　TEXTBOOK, Green, Robeot．P, The American Tradition：A History of the United States,(Charles E．Merrill Publishing CO．Columbus, Ohio 1984), which is bought at the College bookstore．

　　COURSE REQUIREMENTS,

　　Mid-term exam：October 10,20％ of the final grade

　　Final exam：December 10,40％ of the final grade

　　Term paper due：December 10,40％ of the final grade

　　Term paper due：December 15,40％ of the final grade

　　Attendance is not required, but you are responsible for all the information given in the class lectures．In the lectures I will talk about the chapters in the textbook and other materials that I choose to add to the course．The exams will cover all this information．Therefore, I advise you to come to the class as much as possible．

　　Is you have to miss a class, be sure to get the class notes from another student．

　　Your homework assignments are listed on the next page．You are supposed to read the chapter about which I will be lecturing before you come to class．

　　This is to make sure that you understand as much as possible while taking notes in my lectures．Be prepared when you come to class．If there are any changes in the assigned homework reading, I will announce them in class．

　　The term paper is 40％ of your final grade．It should not be more than fifteen pages．(Another thinking of majoring in history may write twenty-five pages．)Before the midterm exam you will choose the topic for your paper．

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　　For Senior 3 students, choosing which college to attend can be the most exciting and thrilling time in their entire school lives．This is also true for an American girl named Melanie in the film, College road Trip, Which was released in the US on March 7．

　　Melanie’s dad, James Porter, is the chief of police for a Chicago suburb．Incredibly security obsessed(困扰)， he wants Melanie to attend nearby Northwestern University, where she’s already been accepted．But Melanie, 17, really wants to go to Georgetown in Washington, D．C．, where she’s been wait-listed．

　　When she gets an unexpected interview, she decides to take a road trip with a few close female friends．Melanie believes it is her first step towards adulthood．

　　But despite the fact that this trip is “girls only”, James isn’t comfortable with the prospect of his little princess exploring the world without him．He wants to protect her．

　　James joins the girls and hopes he can convince her to go to Northwestern．While Melanie’s father only has the bet of intentions, his presence leads to an endless series of comic encounters．

　　After following their faulty GPS device deep into the backwoods, James and Melanie discover her little brother and his pet pig have been hiding in the spare tire compartment(隔间)。What should be a simple tire change results in the expensive car rolling down a mountain, forcing them to hike to a nearby hotel．There the pig ruins an outdoor wedding reception after eating an entire bag of coffee beans．

　　All these disasters add spice to their trip while along the way a father and a daughter finally get the chance to really talk to each other．

　　The film explores the parent-child relationship in comic way：The discrepancy(不同)between how close James thinks he is to Melanie and how little he actually knows of her plans makes us laugh first and then think．

　　All parents, whether they have college students or not, can relate to the bittersweet realization that their kids are growing up．Like what Melanie and James have done in the film, we all can find the delicate balance between staying connected and letting go．

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　　Landscape Pests(虫子)

　　Learn to identify, control and prevent seasonal landscape-disease and landscape-pest problems at the workshop, 3∶30 pm-5 pm．Tuesday at the US National Arboretum,3501 New York Ave NE, Washington, ＄15; registration required．

　　202－245－4521 or www.usna.usda.gov．

　　Horticultural(园艺的)Art

　　Watercolors, pen-and–ink drawings and colored-pencil pieces by the Brookside Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration will be on display at the exhibit Botanica 2007：the Art and Science of Plants at Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, 1800 Glenallan Ave, Wheaton, through Aug.3．Free．301－962－1400 or www.brooksidegardens.org．

　　Botanical(植物学的)Art

　　Visit Patterns in Nature, an exhibit by Amy Lamb featuring photographs of flowers, leaves and other botanical life, at the US Botanic Garden Conservatory, West Orangerie, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, through Sept.9．The conservatory is open 10 am-5 pm daily．Free．202－225－8333．

　　Botanic Garden Exhibit

　　Celebrating America's Public Gardens is on view through Oct.8 at the US botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington．The exhibit, on the Conservatory Terrace and in the National Garden, features displays of 20 public botanic gardens across the country．Hours are 10 am-5 pm daily．Free．202－200－8956．

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　　It may not have a funny bone．But that hasn't stopped one robot from developing a sense of humor．Scientists have created the first software program that can tell the difference between ordinary conversation and surprising puns(双关语)．

　　Previous attempts to get machines to understand jokes have largely failed because humor is so subjective and complex, making it difficult to program．But psychologists have argued that intelligent computers and robots acting as human helpers will need to understand complex puns in order to communicate and appear friendlier．

　　The“joke bot”, as it has been named, recognizes simple jokes by working out how the words in a sentence are related to one another．If it decides a word does not fit in with its surroundings, the computer searches a pronunciation guide for the same or similar sounding terms．If any of those fit, it decides the passage is a joke．

　　In one test, it was shown the following passage：“Mother：‘Mike, you've been working in the garden a lot this summer．’Son：‘I have to because my teacher told me to weed a lot．’”The software realizes that“weed”makes sense in the context of“working in the garden”but has no place in the same sentence as the words“teacher told me”．Since“weed”sounds similar to“read”, it can find this wordplay．

　　Julia Taylor, researcher of the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, who designed the program with her colleague Lawrence Mazlack, told New Scientist that the team were now trying to make the machine understand more complex versions of humour, including sarcasm(讽刺)and irony．

　　“If you've been in a car accident, you probably won't find a joke about a car accident funny,”she added．

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　　A clean air supply is essential to our own health and the environment．But since the industrial revolution, the quality of the air we breathe has deteriorated considerably－mainly as a result of human activities．Rising industrial and energy production, the burning of fossil fuels and the dramatic rise in traffic on our roads all contribute to air pollution in our towns and cities which, in turn, can lead to serious health problems．For example, air pollution is increasingly being cited as the main cause of lung conditions such as asthma(哮喘)．

　　Air quality is now a major concern for many European citizens．It is also one of the areas in which the European Union has been most active．Since the early 1970s, the EU has been working to improve air quality by controlling emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, improving fuel quality, and by integrating environmental protection requirements into the transport and energy sectors．

　　As the result of EU legislation(立法), much progress has been made in tackling air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and benzene．However, despite a reduction in some harmful emissions, air pollution continues to cause problems．Summer smog－originating in potentially harmful ground-level ozone(臭氧)－regularly goes beyond safe limits．Fine particulates(微粒)also present a health risk which is of increasing concern．Clearly, more needs to be done at local, national, European and international level．

　　The EU's Sixth Environment Action Programme(EAP),“Environment 2010：Our future, Our choice”, includes Environment and Health as one of the four main target areas requiring greater effort － and air pollution is one of the issues highlighted in this area．The Sixth EAP aims to achieve the level of air quality that does not result in unacceptable impacts on, and risks to, human health and the environment．

　　The EU is acting at many levels to reduce exposure to air pollution：through EU legislation, through work at international level to reduce cross-border pollution, through co-operation with sectors responsible for air pollution, through national, regional authorities, and through research．The Clean Air For Europe(CAFE)initiative has led to a thematic strategy setting out the objectives and measures for the next phase of European air quality policy．

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　　It feels good to be happy．Laughing is fun．And most people like to have a good time．“If you ask people what they want for their children, most say,‘I want them to be happy,’”says happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky．

　　Not that long ago, however, joy wasn't considered serious enough for psychologists to study．These scientists traditionally helped people with depression or other mental illnesses．“When I started doing research on this 18 years ago,”Lyubomirsky says, “happiness was not considered a scientific topic．”But today, happiness is a hot subject of research．As part of a growing field called positive psychology, more and more researchers are looking for ways to help people become happier, even if they don't feel depressed to begin with．

　　There are plenty of reasons why happiness is a worthy goal．Recent studies suggest that, among other benefits, happy people are healthier, have more friends, and make more money than their sadder peers．Research also suggests that there are easy things people can do to make themselves happier．

　　The field of positive psychology has had to overcome significant obstacles(障碍)．For one thing, it's difficult to scientifically measure happiness．It's also hard to compare one person's sense of well-being with another's“No one can tell you how happy you are,”Lyubomirsky says．“Who's to say who's right?”

　　In recent years, however, researchers have developed what they consider to be one possible measurement of happiness．One technique involves looking at how often people genuinely smile in their daily lives．It's easy to tell real smiles from the fake smiles．Genuine smiles engage the corners of the eyes and involve muscles around the mouth that fake smilers can't control．

　　Scientists also sometimes look at images of the brain for clues：an area of one's brain tends to work harder in the people who are happier．

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