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　　Rapidly warming climate is likely to seriously change crop yields in the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century and, without adaptation, will leave half the world's population facing serious food shortages, according to a study to be published on Friday in Science Magazine．

　　The population of this equatorial(赤道的)belt is among the poorest on Earth and is growing faster than anywhere else, the study said．

　　''The stresses on global food production from temperature alone are going to be huge, and that doesn't take into account water supplies stressed by the higher temperatures,” David Battisti, lead author of the study, said．

　　Battisti, a professor at the University of Washington, cooperated with Rosamond Naylor, director of Stanford University's Program on Food Security and the Environment, to examine the influence of climate change on the world's food security．

　　By combining direct observations with data from 23 global climate models that contributed to a Nobel Prize－winning research in 2007, Battisti and Naylor determined that there is greater than a 90 percent probability that by 2100 the lowest growing-season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics will be higher than any temperatures recorded there to date．

　　In the tropics, the higher temperatures can be expected to cut yields of the primary food crops, maize(玉米)and rice by 20 to 40 percent, the researchers said．

　　The serious climate issues will not be limited to the tropics, the scientists conclude．As an example, they cite record temperatures that struck Western Europe in June, July and August of 2003．The summer-long heat wave in France and Italy cut wheat yields and fodder(饲料)production by one-third．

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　　When going on vacation, it is very important to make a list about the things you will need．These items include a watch, a hat, a camera, a cell phone, a notebook, a toothbrush and other small items．Make your list a few days in advance and add to it each time you think of another item．When packing, go over your list to make sure everything you have is on it．You may also go into your bathroom to see if there is anything else you will need．This is important as you will have fewer opportunities to buy these items once you set out．

　　Putting together a travel toiletry(化妆品)bag in advance is a good way to ensure you have everything you need．Buying travel size items at the grocery store or the drug store is less expensive than replacing full size bottles that you have forgotten to pack when returning from your vacation．

　　Bringing a hat along on a ship can help protect you from the sun when on the deck．Most hats are not expensive, so you should be able to find one that you like．Broad-brimmed(宽边的)hats are the best; they offer the most protection．Find one in a bright color and you are easy to be found by your partners．

　　Medicine can protect you from the sudden cold or other slight illness．Do remember to pack them．If you don't want to bring the entire bottle with you, buy a travel case with the amount you will need on the vacation．

　　All too often people are so excited about their vacation, so they forget the simplest things until it is too late．When making a holiday plan you can't be too careful．If you are well-prepared you will appreciate it once you are settled in your hotel．

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　　Name：Abby Conkleton

　　Nationality：British

　　Date of Birth：20th April,1980

　　Purpose：To build on my EFL experience through teaching abroad for a year．To do so is to become a fully qualified teacher in England．

　　Education：I got a master's degree on education in Cardiff University, and I studied in International Teacher Training Organization for 4 weeks．I observed teaching practice on groups of different ability, including one to one teaching．I passed two research papers and a grammar test．

　　Classroom assistant volunteer：November 2005-February 2006, in Green Primary School．One-day-a-week practice for l0 weeks, working with children aged 5 and 6．This role enabled me to gain teaching assistant experience as I had to work with small groups of children, mostly in number counting, reading, writing and religious education．I thoroughly enjoyed this job and knew that I should definitely go into the teaching field．

　　Observer and classroom helper：May 2007-July 2007, in Hall Independent Primary School, children from 5 to 11 years old．Mostly observational work．

　　However, I helped out during the examination period and with various events such as class trips and sports day．

　　Volunteer storyteller：September 2007-April 2008, in Children's Peace Library．Volunteer storyteller to children aged between 3 and l0．I ran free storytelling events twice a month and also attended local events doing storytelling．

　　Interests：I like to exercise, including cycling, swimming and running．I also read many books and enjoy music and the self-taught Spanish course I am currently doing．

　　IT ability：Mastering Microsoft Word and using the Internet．

　　Driving license：I obtain a full driving license．

　　I can supply these on request．

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　　China will plan to make new rules to give more controls over the growing number of blogs and webcasts(网上直播)．

　　Nowadays, advanced network technologies, such as Hogging and webcasting, are being improved to challenge the government's ability to watch over the Internet．

　　Chinese government was in the middle of making new rules over Internet publishing, and blogs and websites that publishing webcasts would fall under these rules．

　　Government officials hope the new rules would ensure a more healthy and active Internet environment and would fully respect and protect Chinese citizens' freedom of speech．Specific details on what kind of rules would be carried out are still unknown to the public．

　　Despite the growing popularity, bloggers and webcasters have been unpopular with publication institutions．

　　In 2006, a series of cases involving bloggers who had dived into other people's privacy and written materials ruining other's fame urged the government to consider whether to require bloggers to use their real names when they login in．

　　Webcasting without copyright and illegally “copying" products from copyrighted materials have also led government officials to consider starting a nationwide check of online video broadcasting, and allow only qualified websites to continue offering webcasts．

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　　Let children learn to judge their own work．A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time; if corrected too much, he will stop talking．He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the languages he uses and the language those around him use．Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people's．In the same way, children learn to do all the other things they learn to do without being taught to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle, compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes．But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes and correct them for himself．We do it all for him．We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to．Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not．

　　If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book．Let him correct his own papers．Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work?Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can't find the way to get the right answer．Let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know．

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　　The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病)that flesh receives．

　　The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold．They are not．They are caused by viruses(病毒)passing on from person to person．You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one．If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever．But they do not．And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes．

　　During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds．

　　In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds．

　　At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time．After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room．Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion．Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose．

　　If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter?Despite the most pains－taking research, no one has yet found the answer．One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on．

　　No one has yet found a cure for the cold．There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片)such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms(症状)．

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STAGE

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　　Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at age 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV．He appeared in more than 800 commercials(商业广告)for the hamburger chain named for his daughter．“As long as it works, ”he said in 1991, “I'll continue to do those commercials．”

　　Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood．“He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had properfitting shoes, ”Wendy said in 1993．Born to a single mother, he was adopted(收养)as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan．After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work．“He fed me, ”Thomas said, “and if I got out of line, he'd beat me．”

　　Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants．But he had something much better in mind．“I thought if I owned a restaurant, ”he said, “I could eat for free．”A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968．

　　In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers．With 6, 000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes ＄6 billion a year in sales．

　　Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children．He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(基金会)for Adoption in 1992．

　　In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida．He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party．The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed．

　　“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave, ”says friend Pat Williams．“He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker．He was just Joe Everybody．”

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　　Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California's Santa Ana Freeway．It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home．I couldn't reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus．Not knowing the routes, I figured I'd just head east．

　　A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going．“Four more lights,” she said．There was another bus I could take from there．This clearly was going to be a long night．

　　She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for．After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home．Then a bus pulled up．There was no lighted number above its windshield(挡风玻璃)．It was out of service．But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver．

　　“I just can't leave you here,” she said．“This isn't the nicest place．I'll give you a ride home．”

　　“You'll drive me home in the bus?” I asked, perplexed(困惑)．

　　“No, I'll take you in my car,” she said．

　　“It's a long way,” I protested．

　　“Come on, ” she said．“I have nothing else to do．”

　　As we drove from the station in her car, she began telling me a story．A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas．A good Samaritan picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car．“I'm just passing the favor along, ” she said．

　　When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn't hear of it．“That wouldn't make it a favor, ”she said．“Just do something nice for somebody．Pass it along．”

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　　Machines in the home have a short history．Sewing machines, washing machines and tumble dries are common enough today, but a hundred years ago few people could even imagine such things．However, inventors have designed and built a wide range of household machines since then．In most cases the inventor tried to patent(申请专利)his machine, to stop anyone copying it．Then he tried to produce a lot of them．If the machine became popular, the inventor could make a lot of money．

　　In 1790 the first sewing machine was patented．The inventor was an Englishman called Thomas Saint．There was nothing to match his machine for forty years, and then someone built a similar device．He was a Frenchman, Bartelemy Thimonier．However, neither of these early machines worked very well．It wasn't until 1846 that an inventor came up with a really efficient sewing machine．He was an American, Elias Howe and his machine was good enough to beat five skilled sewing women．He didn't make much money from it, however．The first commercially successful sewing machine was patented by Isaac Singer five years later．

　　Today, we take washing machines for granted, but there was none before 1869．The revolving drum(旋转桶)of that first machine set a pattern for the future, but it was crude by today's standards．The drum was turned by hand, and needed a lot of effort．Eight years passed before someone produced an electric washing machine．The world had to wait even longer for a machine to dry clothes．The first spin-drier was another American invention, patented in 1924; but it was 20 years before such machines were widely used．

　　It was yet another American, called Bissell, who introduced the carpet sweeper．He patented the original machine back in 1876．It didn't pick up dirt very well, but it was quicker than a dustpan and brush．Thirty-six years later, even the carpet sweeper was old-fashioned：modern homes now have a vacuum cleaner(吸尘器)with an electric motor to suck the dust．