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　　This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life．

　　Its formal, serious style closely matches its content, a school-masterly book on schooling．The author, W．H．Armstrong, starts with the basics：reading and writing．

　　In his opinion, reading doesn't just mean recognizing each word on the page; it means taking in the information, digesting it and incorporating it into oneself just as one digests a sandwich and makes it a part of himself．The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees．Reading and writing cannot be completely separated from each other; in fact, the aim of reading is to express the information you have got from the text．I've seen it again and again：：someone who can' t express an idea after reading a text is just as ineffective as someone who hasn't read it at all．

　　Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong devotes to specific tips for studying languages, math, science and history．He generally handles these topics thoroughly(透彻地)and equally, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and a bit too much passion(激情)regarding history．Well, he was a history teacher－if conveyed only a tenth of his passion to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across．To my disappointment, in this part of the book he ignores the arts．As a matter of fact, they demand all the concentration and study that math and science do, though the study differs slightly in kind．Although it' s commonly believed that the arts can only be naturally acquired, actually, learning the arts is no more natural than learning French or mathematics．My other comment is that the text aged．The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s－none of the references(参考文献)seem newer than the late 1950s．As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age．

　　These are small points, though, and don't affect the main discussion．I recommend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student．

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　　They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰)．Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies．A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age．

　　Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, "Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s．In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter．It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years－now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to．Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly．"

　　Professor Twigg analysed family expenditure(支出)data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same－at 5 or 6 per cent of spending－the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply．

　　The professor said, "Clothes are now 70 per cent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East．In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere．Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them．"

　　Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected by celebrity(名流)style than in previous years．

　　She said, "When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them．Older women are much more aware of celebrities．There' s also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties．When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women．My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago．"

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　　For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long wax, but years go by without any clear winner．Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries：Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

　　Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict．In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it．From the parents' point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents' complete unreasonableness．And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely．Both feel trapped．

　　In this article, I'll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap．The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things．Examples include the color of the teen' s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child's failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends．

　　Second, blaming．The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong．Third, needing to be right．It doesn' t matter what the topic is－politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg－the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority－someone who actually knows something－and therefore to command respect．Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they'll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress．

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　　It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night．The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful：：blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently．

　　My father realised it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him．I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same．I' m so glad I did．

　　On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape．After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea．As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背)in the distance．

　　On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby．We couldn' t believe it－there aren't any whales along the coast here．The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive．

　　The little baby whale－actually as big as our boat－was obviously stuck and could not move．The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡)and waves．"She' s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side," my father said．At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently．With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water．Then it swam up right beside its mum．They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction．We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel．Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe－and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes．Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance．

　　In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half．That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day．Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea．

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　　Individuals(个人)should pay for their higher education．

　　A university education is of huge and direct benefit to the individual．Graduates earn more than non-graduates．Meanwhile, social mobility is ever more dependent on having a degree．However, only some people have it．So the individual, not the taxpayers, should pay for it．There are pressing calls on the resources(资源)of the government．Using taxpayers' money to help a small number of people to earn high incomes in the future is not one of them．

　　Full government funding(资助)is not very good for universities．Adam Smith worked in a Scottish university whose teachers lived off student fees．He knew and looked down upon 18th-century Oxford, where the academics lived comfortably off the income received from the government．Guaranteed salaries, Smith argued, were the enemy of hard work; and when the academics were lazy and incompetent, the students were similarly lazy．

　　If students have to pay for their education, they not only work harder, but also demand more from their teachers．And their teachers have to keep them satisfied．If that means taking teaching seriously, and giving less time to their own research interests, that is surely something to celebrate．

　　Many people believe that higher education should be free because it is good for the economy(经济)．Many graduates clearly do contribute to national wealth, but so do all the businesses that invest(投资)and create jobs．If you believe that the government should pay for higher education because graduates are economically productive, you should also believe that the government should pay part of business costs．Anyone promising to create jobs should receive a gift of capital from the government to invest．Therefore, it is the individual, not the government, who should pay for their university education．

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　　Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say．While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk．The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing．

　　Conversation is a turn-taking game．When our habits are similar, there's no problem．But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished．That's what was happening with Betty and Sara．

　　It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American．Betty often felt interrupted by Sara．But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland．And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel．

　　The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities．These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping(思维定式)．And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences．For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel．When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in－and never found it．Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring．When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up．

　　That's why slight differences in conversational style－tiny little things like microseconds of pause-can have a great effect on one's life．The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems－even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training．

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Open Letter to an Editor

　　I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently－one who works for you．In fact, he's one of your best reporters．He wants to leave．

　　Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume(简历)and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you．The headlines showed you played them proudly．With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues(问题), approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best．I'm sure you would hate to lose him．Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy．In fact, he told me he really likes his job．He has a great assignment(分工), and said you run a great paper．It would be easy for you to keep him, he said．He knows that the paper values him．He appreciates the responsibility you've given him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom．

　　So why is he looking for a way out?

　　He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him．He wants to be pushed, challenged, coached to new heights．

　　The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is．

　　He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones．He wants someone to get excited about what he's doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it．He wants to be more valuable for your paper．That's what you want for him, too, isn't it?

　　So your reporter has set me thinking．

　　Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists－everyone－is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential．If we can't do it, they'll find someone who can．

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Goldie's Secret

　　She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall．No way could I have sent her away．No way, not me anyway．Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before．"We're moving house．; "No space for her any more with the baby coming．We never really wanted her, but what could we have done?She was a present．" People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal．And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen．

　　I called her Goldie．If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name．She was so unsettled during those first few days．She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her．There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed．Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's．But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down．Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire．

　　That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk．We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless．Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could．

　　By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie．But when I saw her licking(舔)the four puppies(幼犬)I started to feel sympathy towards them．"We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door．"I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared．" "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her．'

　　I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother．And I've learnt a good lesson：not to judge people．

阅读理解

　　If Barack Obama's wife and kids thought they'd be getting his undivided attention during their long-awaited summer holiday, perhaps they should think again．

　　The US President kicked off his vacation by revealing that, in addition to endless games of tennis and golf, he plans to spend the week ploughing through five books, weighing in at an astonishing 2,300 pages．His summer reading list, unveiled(透露)by the White House, contains two heavyweight works of non–fiction and three novels．

　　On top of the president's table is Hot, Flat and Crowded, by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman．Subtitled "why we need a green revolution", it makes a leftish(左倾的)call to arms regarding the future of the planet．

　　Mr Obama's second choice is historian David McCullough's biography of John Adams, the often under-rated second US president, who was the subject of an award-winning HBO docu-drama(纪实剧)last year．

　　The novels include two crime thrillers：Richard Price's Lush Life, and The Way Home, a novel by George Pelecanos set in Washington, DC – which, much like Obama's best-selling autobiography(自传), explores the relationship between a father and his son．

　　Completing the set is the novel Plainsong, by a little-known writer called Kent Haruf．Set in a small town on the Colorado plains, its existence on the reading list may reassure voters that Middle America has not been ignored by their commander-in-chief．

　　Publishers are keeping an eye on whether the famous "Obama bounce"–which has helped sales at the first family's favourite clothes stores, such as J Crew–will continue to apply to their troubled industry．The President's endorsement(认可)is said to have lifted sales of Joseph O'Neill's novel Netherland about cricket in Holland and New York last year．

　　Given that President Obama has already spent a portion of his week so far playing golf, beating Michelle at tennis, and visiting friends, questions will inevitably(不可避免地)be asked about his ability to put any dent(挫伤)at all in the ambitious reading list．

　　To finish all five books, he would have to manage more than 300 pages every day–quite an "ask" when a small portion of his time must also be spent running the country．