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　　In ancient Japan, if you saved someone's life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you．Nowadays, if you rescue someone's story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude(感激)．

　　It happens all the time．Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM!There's an interruption．Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying．Suddenly everyone's attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the “charming” little child．Nobody is aware of the interruption－except the speaker．They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn't made his or her point．

　　Or you're all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke．Suddenly, just before their big punch line(妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone rings．After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny's carelessness．After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller．Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished－except the joke teller．When it's you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone's order just before your funny punch line?

　　Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, “Now, as I was saying…” Instead, they'll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad they didn't get to finish．Here's where you come in．Rescue them with the technique I call “Lend a Helping Tongue．”

　　Watch the gratitude in the storyteller's eyes as he stabilizes where his story sunk and he sails off again toward the center of attention．His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often reward enough．You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life．Big winners have excellent memories．When you do them subtle favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they find a way to pay you back．

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　　When you think about math, you probably don't think about breaking the law, solving mysteries or finding criminals．But a mathematician in Maryland does, and he has come up with mathematical tools to help police find criminals．

　　People who solve crimes look for patterns that might reveal(揭示)the identity of the criminal．It's long been believed, for example, that criminals will break the law closer to where they live, simply because it's easier to get around in their own neighborhood．If police see a pattern of robberies in a certain area, they may look for a suspect who lives near the crime scenes．So, the farther away from the area a crime takes place, the less likely it is that the same criminal did it．

　　But Mike O'Leary, a mathematician at Towson University in Maryland, says that this kind of approach may be too simple．He says that police may get better clues to the location of a criminal's home base by combining these patterns with a city's layout(布局)and historical crime records．

　　The records of past crimes contain geographical information and can reveal easy targets－that is, the kind of stores that might be less difficult to rob．Because these stores are along roads, the locations of past crimes contain information about where major streets and intersections are．O'Leary is writing a new computer program that will quickly provide this kind of information for a given city．His program also includes information about the people who live in the city, and information about how a criminal's patterns change with age．It's been shown, for example, that the younger the criminal, the closer to home the crime．

　　Other computer programmers have worked on similar software, but O'Leary's uses more math．The mathematician plans to make his computer program available, free of charge, to police departments around the country．

　　The program is just one way to use math to fight crime．O'Leary says that criminology－the study of crime and criminals－contains a lot of good math problems．“I feel like I'm in a gold mine and I'm the only one who knows what gold looks like,” he says．“It's a lot of fun．”

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　　Being the head of a high school for many years, I grew tired of budget meetings, funding cuts, and many other administrative chores(杂务)．I started to dream of retirement．Sitting in traffic on a weekday morning, I would find my mind wandering．I would imagine spending time with my grandchildren, quiet evenings with my wife, traveling, or rediscovering some great books．I told myself that I wouldn't sign myself up for any committees, any classes, or anything requiring a schedule．

　　My first day of retirement came at last!I cooked a great breakfast for my wife and me, leisurely read the paper, cleaned a bit of the house, and wrote a few letters to friends．On the second day, I cooked breakfast, read the paper…On the third day, … This is retirement?I tried to tell myself that it was just the transition(过渡), that those golden moments were right round the corner, and that I would enjoy them soon enough．But something was missing．

　　A former colleague asked a favor．A group of students was going to Jamaica to work with children in the poorest neighborhoods．Would I interrupt my newfound “happiness” and return to the students, just this once?One trip．That's all．My bags were packed and by the door．

　　The trip was very inspiring．I was moved not only by the poverty I saw but also by the sense of responsibility of the young people on the trip．When I returned home, I offered to work one day a week with a local youth organization．The experience was so positive that I was soon volunteering nearly full-time, working with students across North America to assist them in their voluntary work．

　　Now, it seems, the tables have turned．Some days I am the teacher, other days I am the student．These young people have reawakened my commitment(责任感)to social justice issues by challenging me to learn more about the situation in the world today, where people are still poor and suffer because of greed, corruption and war．Most important, they have given me the opportunity to continue to participate in helping to find solutions．In return, I help them do their charitable projects overseas．I've gone from running one school to helping oversee the construction of schools in twenty-one countries!

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　　When you are little, it's not hard to believe you can changed the world．I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed the people at the Rio Earth Summit．“I am only a child,” I told them．"Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this would be．In school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share, not be greedy．Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?You grownups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make your actions reflect your words．"

　　I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation．Some of the delegates even cried．I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur(刺激)action．Now, a decade from Rio, after I've sat through many more conferences, I'm not sure what has been accomplished．My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual's voice to reach them has been deeply shaken．

　　When I was little, the world was simple．But as a young adult, I'm learning that as we have to make choices－education, career, lifestyle－life gets more and more complicated．We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful．We are learning a shortsighted way of looking at the future, focusing on four-year government terms and quarterly business reports．We are taught that economic growth is progress, but we aren't taught how to pursue a happy, healthy or sustainable way of living．And we are learning that what we wanted for our future when we were 12 was idealistic and na?ve(天真)．

　　Today I'm no longer a child, but I'm worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in．I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think．I am still deciding how to live my life．The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of the change．I hope this goal will be met through our common efforts．Thank you all．

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　　Frederick Law Olmsted(1822－1903), a Connecticut farm boy, saw his first public park in Liverpool, England, as he accompanied his brother on a walking tour．He was impressed by the park's winding paths, open fields, lakes and bridges．Perhaps the most wonderful things of all was that the park was open to everyone．

　　A moment beginning in 1840 to set aside park land on New York City's Manhattan Island has successful result in 1856 with the purchase of 840 acres of rocky and swampy(沼泽)land, bought with about ＄5 million in state funds．Olmsted's chance meeting with a project organizer led to his applying for the job of park manager．In 1857 Olmsted was appointed manager of the proposed park, and the clearing of the site began．

　　Calvert Vaux, a British architect, asked Olmsted to collaborate with him on a park design, and Olmsted agreed．Vaux saw the park as a work of art, while Olmsted saw the park as a place for people to escape the noise of the city．Together they invented a plan that would give the persons and animals living in the city a quiet, green park and would also preserve and increase the good qualities of the natural features of the land．The commissioners voted in favor of Vaux and Olmsted's plan, and in 1858, the two became the official designers of New York City's Central Park．

It took millions of cartloads of topsoil to build Central park's gentle slopes, shady glens, and steep, rocky ravines．Five million trees were planted, a water－supply system was laid, and bridges, arches, roads and paths were constructed．The park officially opened in 1876, and today, well over a century later, people still escape the noise of the city in Olmsted and Vaux's great work of art．

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　　Games originally are entertainment．Contemporary games are very realistic and for this reason they are a source of great experience for the player and develop the imagination．Games are entertainment and even more than that．The statistics(统计)of the New York University led by Green claim that the player preferring active games get improvement of some types of brain activity．In particular, game players deal with problems of simultaneously(同时地)tracking several moving objects at the average level of 30％better than people who do not play active computer video games．The “gaming” violent experience may not be the cause of violent behavior in reality．None of the playing experience will become the priority in making important decisions concerning problems in real life．A game is an abstraction(虚拟物)．A player gets abstract tasks and acts according to abstract rules．

　　Games are also the possibility to be however a person wants to he and to rest from the outside world for some time．But what if a person gets so much excited with the game scenes that he becomes violent in reality?Then, it proves that the games cause people to become violent in reality．But a psychologically healthy person will never confuse these two different worlds．A game is virtual world with visual images very similar to human．These images represent by themselves nothing but playing obstacles(障碍)．A game may potentially give the opportunity to “destroy the obstacles” that may not be destroyed according to the rules but it is more about personal choice whether to do it or not．This leads us to the conclusion that violence is not a consequence but the cause．People who are originally trended to violence may get into a temper by games and perform violence in the “real world”．But in this case violence in games is a simple justification(理由)of the violent nature of the player．

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　　Some names have special meanings in popular American expressions．One day, an average Joe was walking down the street．An average Joe is a common person－either male or female．He did not know where he was going．So average Joe asked John Q．Public for directions to the nearest bank．John Q．Public is also a common person－male or female．“Jeez Louise,” said John Q．Public．This is an expression of surprise．“Don't you know that all banks are closed today?It is Saturday．”

　　“For Pete's sake．” said average Joe．This is also an expression used to show a feeling like surprise or disappointment．“I do not believe you,” said he．At that moment, Joe Blow was walking down the street with a woman．Joe Blow is also an expression for a common person．Now this Joe Blow was NOT walking next to a plain Jane．A plain Jane is a woman who is neither ugly nor pretty．The woman with Joe Blow was a real Sheila－a beautiful woman．

　　Average Joe asked the woman if all banks were closed on Saturday．“No way, Jose,” she answered．This is a way of saying “no．” “No way, Jose．Many banks are open on Saturdays．”

　　Average Joe did not know either of these two people from Adam．That is, he did not know them at all．But he followed their directions to the nearest bank．

　　When he arrived, he walked to the desk and said：“I am here to withdraw some money so I can pay my taxes to Uncle Sam”．This represents the United States government．The banker produced some papers and told him to sign his John Hancock at the bottom．A John Hancock is a person's signed name－a signature．Historically, John Hancock was one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence．Hancock had a beautiful signature and signed his name larger than all the others．

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　　It was a cold grey day in late November．The weather had changed overnight, when a backing wind brought a pale sky and a muzzling rain with it, and although it was now only a little after two o'clock in the afternoon the gray of a winter evening seemed to have closed upon the hills, surrounding them in mist．It would be dark by four．The leather seats felt damp to the hands, and there must have been a small crack in the roof, because now and again little drips of rain fell softly through, polluting the leather and leaving a dark－blue stain like a spot of ink．The wind came in, at times shaking the coach as it traveled round the bend of the road, and in the exposed places on the high ground it blew with such force that the whole body of the coach trembled and swayed, rocking between the high wheels like a drunken man．

　　The driver, muffled(裹住)in a greatcoat to his ears, bent almost double in his seat in a faint endeavor to gain shelter from his own shoulders．The few passengers pressed together for warmth, exclaiming all together when the coach sank into a heavier rut(车辙)than usual, and one old fellow, who had kept up a constant complaint ever since he had joined the coach at Truro, rose from his seat in anger; and, feeling with the window－frame, let the window down with a crash, bringing a shower of rain upon himself and his fellow－passengers．He thrust his head out and shouted up to the driver, scolding him in a angry voice for a rogue and a murderer; that they would all be dead before they reached Bodmin if he persisted in driving at dangerous speed; they had no breath left in their bodies as it was, and he would never travel by coach again．

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　　Women with an hour glass figure have brains to go with their curves(曲线), scientists claim．

　　Going in at the waist is said to be a sign of intelligence which leads to brighter children, too, Wonmen such as Nigella Lawson with a big difference between thir waist and hip measurements scored significantly better in tests than those with thinner, straighter frames, Researchers concluded that it was not necessary for a woman to be skinny-what mattered was that her waist should be smaller than her hips, A ratio of 3∶5 was found to be idea,

　　The study, by the Universities of Pittsdburgh and California, involved 16,000 women and girls, According to the scientists, the results are no mere quirk of nature．They claim that the fat Around culvy hips and thighs(大腿)holds higher levels of-3 fatty acids which are essential for the growth of the brain during pregnancy．The fat which collects around the waist, howover．is more likely to contain-6 fatty acids, which areless suited to brain growth．

　　Reporting in the joumal Evolution and Human Behaviour, the researchers found that the children of curvy mothers are more likely to do well in cognitive tests than others．they claim that this could help explain why the children of teenage mothers．who might not yet be physically mature enough to have developed real curves-tend to do less well in school．

　　As wel las boosting(提升)brainpower－3 fatty acids found in oily fish arc considered to be of huge health benefit Although the study analysed women's bodies only－3 fatty acids are also stored in men's hips, However it is not known whether men with wide hips benefit from the same brain power boost．