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　　Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams．Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart－we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity(默默无闻)or neglect．

　　Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too．Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school．

　　Mary is shy but loves to dance．Compared with other girls, she is invisible．However, her world changes completely when a famous teenage pop singer, Joey Parker, appears．

　　Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not－kind, handsome and desirable．Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball．They meet and fall in love with each other．But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams．Of course, there is a wicked(邪恶的)stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies．Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school．Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her．

　　The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale．Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful．There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies．

　　“The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point,”writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson．“The focus is firmly on following your dream．”

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　　City officials in South Jakarta must now cycle when performing their duties．in a move to help combat pollution and global warming．“They can own a car and drive to work, but they must cycle when traveling to do their work”, South Jakarta city spokesman Ahmad Sotar said,“This is compulsory．Cycling will not only reduce pollution and global warming, but also promote good health．”He added,“The official can also get to know their residents better since now they can cycle through the narrow alleyways to reach their home．They can’t do so if they drive”．

　　South Jakarta, the second－largest of five cities making up greater Jakarta , covers an area of 145 square kilometers and has 2.5 million residents．Over 200 officials in 10 sub-districts and 65 villages have been told about the new rule．Supporting the move, Meruyuny Village chief Selamat Aryadi said cycling would keep officials fit．“I don’t mind buying a bike．But there must be some exceptions．What will happen if there is a big fire or landslide which I need to attend urgently?I may be late for everything,”he said with a quiet laugh．“I think if it is raining heavily it makes more sense for me to drive．I just hope 1 won’t get caught,”he added．

　　Sotar said the officials do not have to cycle to attend to emergency calls．“But it is no excuse to say they are too old and sick to cycle．That means they are also too old and sick to perform their duties so they should be replaced,”he said：“We will ask the residents to be our eyes and ears and tell us if the officials cycle or drive．”Sotar said．

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　　Cannes will rock to the sound of a cancan dance this year when Moulin Rouge by the Australian director Baz Luhrmann opens the French film festival in May．The musical stars Nicole Kidman as a singer, and John Leguizamo as the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec．It will be competing for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize．The festival runs to May 21．

　　The American actor Tommy Lee Jones, 54, has married his longtime girlfriend, Dawn Maria Laurel,36,in a private wedding in San Antonio．“It wasn’t a big to-do,”said Fred Biery, a US District Judge who performed the service．He refused to discuss things further．“These are very private people,”he said．

　　Loretta Lynn is being treated for a very bad cold in Tennessee and will miss several appearances．The country singer, 65, was admitted to a hospital near her home in Hurricane Mills．“She is in good condition, but the doctors are watching her closely,”a spokeswoman said．

　　The French-Algerian singer Enrico Macias was named a United Nations peace messenger．Enrico joins eight other people who act as goodwill envoys (使者) for the United Nations, among them are the writer Elie Wiesel and the basketball player Magie Johnson．

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　　The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party．The time printed on the invitation was 7∶30pm．Jane went off with her husband, expecting a merry evening of wine, food, and song．

　　By 9∶45, everybody was having great fun, but no food had appeared．Jane and David were restless．Other guests began whispering that they, too, were starving．But no one wanted to leave, just in case some food was about to appear．By 11∶00, there was still no food, and everyone was completely off their heads．Jane and David left hungry and angry．

　　Their experience suggests that the words on the printed invitations need to be made clearer．Everyone reads and understands the invitations differently．Most of us would agree that 6∶30－8∶30pm means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8∶00pm or 8∶30pm means possible dinner, but 9∶30pm and any time thereafter means no food, eat beforehand, roll up late．

　　But this is not always the case．If asked to a students’ party at 6∶30pm, it is normal for guests not to appear before midnight, if at all, and no one cares．Being the first to arrive－looking eager－is social death．When my mother is asked to a party for 6∶30, she likes to be there, if not on lime, then no later than seven．My age group (late thirties) falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we’re young, we’re probably closer to student-time than grown-up time．

　　The accepted custom at present is confusing, sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every party that precious element (成分) of surprise．

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　　It’s not the flashiest car in the world．Not even close．But the 1971 Volkswagen named Helios can do something most cars can’t：run on solar energy－energy from the sun’s light and heat!

　　Joshua Bechtold, 14, and the other students at the Riverside School in Lyndonville, Vermont, worked many months to get Helios ready for the 1999 American Tour de Sol(“Sol”is the Latin word for“sun”)．They named their car after Helios, the sun god in Greek mythology(神话)．

　　The 4-year-old Tour de Sol encourages the use of“green”, or environmentally friendly, cars to help reduce pollution and save energy．It’s not a race．Cars are judged on fuel efficiency(耗油量) rather than speed．In the week-long event, 44 cars took the 350-mile tour from Waterbury, Connecticut, to Lake George, New York．Of the 23 student cars, Helios was the only one built by middle school students．

　　A teacher drove Helios, but the children talked with people wherever they stopped along the road．“That was my favorite part,”says Anna Browne, 15．“We explained how the car runs．”

　　Due in part to old, inefficient batteries(电池), Helios finished fourth－out of four－in its kind, the sun-powered class．“We were there for the fun of it,”Anna says．“We’re proud of Helios,”says Ariel Gleicher, 14．“It’s a car that’s good for the environment．”

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　　My first reaction was annoyance．It was Friday afternoon, and I was within an hour of finishing my work for the week．As I was leaving, a nurse brought me one more patient message．The statement read：“Mrs．Jones called to say that she has had blurred vision (视觉模糊) ever since her medical test this morning．”I smiled．Suddenly our tests were causing eye problems．

　　This week my patients had questioned everything．My patient with high blood pressure had stopped coming to her treatment on the advice of an Internet chat room．A woman who had a mental problem was substituting(用…代替) St．John’s word for her medication．Now Mrs．Jones was imagining problems．I rolled my eyes．

　　My second reaction was worry．As I looked through her record, I tried to figure out why she would have blurred vision, but nothing in her record explained the new problem．She’s probably just anxious, I thought．Still, she wouldn’t have called if she had been all right．I picked up the phone．

　　What I next felt can only be described as delight．Before I made the call, the nurse ran in：Mrs．Jones called．Her vision is fine．Turns out she picked up the wrong glasses when she left the office．The X-ray technician has been having the same problem．I let out a laugh．Mrs．Jones had been right．Her vision had been blurred．Now we know why．

　　Finally I felt shame．I came to realize what Mrs．Jones had taught me．I had first known she was wrong, that her anxiety had clouded her judgment．Instead, my medical training had clouded mine．Now I feel thankful that Mrs．Jones figured it out before I made a mistake about our relationship．Patients come to me for my help．They pay me to listen, diagnose (诊断), treat and talk．That suggests trust; I must remember that, and trust them too．

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　　Rome had the Forum．London has Speaker’s Corner．Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill．

　　Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 2Os, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands d people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street comers．Just talk．

　　Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says,“Talk to Me,”they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits．

　　They don’t collect money．They don’t push religion (宗教)．So what’s the point?

　　“To see what happens,”said Liz．“We simply enjoy life with open communication．”

　　Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Was hington, a 270-mile trip．They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return．“It started as a crazy idea,”Liz said．“We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories．People will talk to us about anything：their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything．”Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take．She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went．Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease．“That was very heavy on my mind,”Marcia said．“To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good,”she explained．

　　To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year．A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters．

　　They may plan more parties or try to attract more people to join their informal talks．Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something they say they’ll consider．

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　　“I love the music-player function of 3G(third-generation)cellphones,”Xiaomei, a Chinese senior high school girl living in Japan, said cheerfully, during a recent interview with Xinmin Weekly．

　　“Recently, I logged on(登录)to a website and downloaded some new Japanese songs with lyrics onto my 3G cellphone,”the girl said．“You know, it’s amazing!Just like with KTV, the singer’s voice can be switched-off leaving just the background music and lyrics．When no one is around, I practice singing songs like crazy．”

　　Xiaomei’s 3G cellphone almost made her a superstar among her classmates．

　　3G was first introduced into Japan in 2001．After a slow start, it’s now widely used there．High school students top the list of user groups, according to NTT DoCoMo, a major service provider in Japan．

　　After years of effort, China is finally catching up．In January China issued a 3G license to three operators－China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom．After they were awarded the license, the operators were given legal permission to provide 3G services, such as wireless web surfing, and web-based video-conferencing．In 2009, the operators announced ambitious plans to expand the use of 3G cellphones．

　　What is 3G?

　　3G wireless networks give users faster internet connections．The Internet connection speed of 2G cellphones is around 100k/s, while 3G can be up to 15 to 20 times faster ．This allows music and games to be downloaded more easily．E-mail can also be accessed faster．It has made watching movies and video conferencings possible on a mobile phone．

　　How do I use 3G?

　　First, you must have a 3G cellphone．This year, products made by different cellphone companies will gradually appear in the marketplace．Prices range from around 300 yuan to several thousand yuan．

　　China Mobile and China Telecom users can continue using their old phone number and SIM card．China Unicom, however, has not yet decided on this matter．

　　How much does it cost?

　　The three operators have said that 3G fees will be similar, or slightly lower than today’s 2G cellphones’．

　　According to a 3G student package, calls within the China Mobile network will cost．0.13 yuan per minute, while the fees go up to 0.23 yuan per minute for calls between China Mobile and other networks．

　　The service also includes 150 text messages to other China Mobile phones, and 100 megabytes(兆字节)of Internet data flow．

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　　According to some talks, the younger generation in Smithville is the most antisocial in history．This seems far from the truth．Young people today as whole are better, more informed, more ambitious, healthier, and smarter than ever before．Why then, it may be asked, do we see such restlessness and such antisocial behavior among our young people?

　　For the answer the citizens of this community must look at themselves．What have they done to the grounds that have been built in the last fifteen years?How many swimming pools are there?How many vocational training projects have been started?How many communities－organizing youth parties and picnics－have been held?

　　The average citizen will answer that the responsibility for these activities belongs to schools．But schools cannot be held responsible for all the free-time activities of all the young people of this community．The job of the schools is formal education, not free-time recreation．

　　This community needs a youth center suitable for such activities as picnics, camping, sports, music, art and so on．There should be social and recreational activities to meet the needs and interests of every member of our school age youth．

　　Mayor Elmo D．Greely has proposed the formation of a youth club as the first step in the direction of a youth center．Mayor Greely has called a meeting at the City Hall on Friday, August 15, at noon．

　　Giving up a lunch hour is a very little sacrifice for a project that can be of great importance to this community．

　　This newspaper urges every adult and young persons of Smithville to attend this important meeting．We believe our industrial, business, and professional leaders have an especially strong duty to be present．

　　This newspaper will be present and intends to support this project with vigor．