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　　Life has changed in Mexico City．Streets normally filled with people are empty．One of the most popular professional soccer teams recently played a game in an empty stadium that can seat more than100,000 people．It’s swine(猪)flu that has made life in Mexico City grind to a halt(慢慢停了下来)．

　　Seemingly out of nowhere, swine flu has caused confirmed deaths in 12 countries as of April 30．It has sent a wave of alarm around the world．Governments are trying to find ways to prevent further out-breaks．The World Health Organization has raised its swine flu global threat level to five out of six．

　　People may be familiar with bird flu, but they know little about swine flu．Swine flu is a contagious(传染性)respiratory(呼吸的)disease in pigs．It is caused by a type-A influenza virus．

　　Humans can also catch swine flu．The virus causes regular outbreaks in pigs, but people usually do not catch it．However, there have been cases of the virus spreading to people, and then from one person to another．

　　The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the common flu．They include fever, lethargy(无精打采), lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea(恶心), and vomiting(呕吐)．The high proportion of young adults among the deaths is one of several mysteries about this virus．Most of the dead had lung damage．What caused it is not yet known．

　　The virus spreads the same way the common flu does．When an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person, the latter is put at risk．People can get the disease by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes．

　　There are medicines to treat swine flu．Doctors suggest using anti - viral drugs．They keep the virus from reproducing inside the body．

　　Although there are no vaccines for it now, several everyday steps can help prevent the spread of the virus：washing hands frequently; avoiding close contact with people who are sick; and avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on it．

　　People may worry that they will get swine flu from eating or preparing pork．In fact, you cannot catch the virus from pork products if they have been properly prepared and cooked．Cooking food at temperatures of 71℃ kills the virus．

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　　It was Monday, Mrs Smith’s dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house．Considering that there was no better way, Mrs Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it,“Give my dog half a pound of meat．”Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently,“Take this to the butcher, and he’s going to give you your lunch today．”

　　Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher’s shop．It gave the paper to the butcher．The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and presently did as he was asked to．The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up immediately．

　　At midday, the dog came to the shop again．It gave the butcher a piece of paper again．After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more．

　　The next day, the dog came again exactly at midday．And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth．This time, the butcher did not take a look at the paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers．

　　But, the dog came again at four o’clock．And the same thing happened once again．To the butcher’s more surprise, it came for the third time at six o’clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper．The butcher felt a bit puzzled．He said to himself,“This is a small dog．Why does Mrs Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

　　Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!

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　　The following are some important sights in New York．

　　American Museum of Natural History

　　Four floors of exhibition halls here include the world-famous fossil halls with their skeletons of enormous dinosaurs and other creatures; the culture halls, representing a variety of indigenous peoples; and mammal, bird and reptile halls．The renovated Milstein hall of Ocean Life showcases the profusion of life in Earth’s“last frontier”．Also here：Rose Center for Earth and space, with Hayden Planetarium and exhibits on Earth and our universe．

　　Open：Sunday-Thursday, 10∶00－17∶45; Friday－Saturday：10∶00－20∶45

　　Empire State Building

　　At 102 stories tall, the Empire State Building commands an inspiring view of Manhattan．Each year, over 3.5 million people come here for the view from the 86th-floor observatory, where they can take in the sights of the city from a glass-enclosed pavilion or the encircling open-air promenade．

　　Observatory Hours：8∶00am to midnight daily．Last elevators go up at 11∶15pm．Open daily 365 days a year．

　　Metropolitan Museum of Art(One of the greatest museums in the world)

　　It is impossible to“do”the entire museum in one day or describe everything you can see here．Go to the museum & spend some time in the Great Hall where you will find all types of help in many languages for planning your visit．If you can, get a guide before your visit or look at their website where you can plan well & learn about their many special exhibitions & programs．

　　Fee：＄12 adults, ＄7 students & seniors, under 12 with adult free．

　　Open：Tuesday－Thursday and Sunday．9∶30－17∶15; Friday－Saturday, 9∶30－20∶45．

　　Museum of Modern Art(MoMA)

　　MoMA houses an outstanding collection of American & European paintings & sculptures from late 19^th C．to present．Innovative in its definition of“art”, it was a pioneer in exhibiting film, photography, and industrial design．Its retrospectives can draw record-breaking attendance．A happy place to take small children, as strollers are allowed．

　　Open：Sunday－Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10∶30－17∶45; Friday, 10∶30－20∶15．

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　　Researchers in the field of psychology have found that one of the best ways to make an important decision, such as choosing a university to attend or a business to invest in, involves the use of a decision worksheet．Psychologists who study optimization(最佳化)compare the actual decisions made by people to theoretical ideal decisions to see how similar they are．Advocates of the worksheet procedure believe that it will yield optimal, that is, the best decisions．Although there are several variations on the exact format(格式)that worksheets can take, they are all similar in their essential aspects．Worksheets require defining the problem in a clear way and then listing all possible solutions to the problem．Next, the related considerations that will be affected by each decision are listed, and the relative importance of each consideration or consequence is determined．Each consideration is assigned a numerical value to reflect its relative importance．A decision is mathematically calculated by adding these values together．The alternative with the highest number of points emerges as the best decision．

　　Since most important problems are multifaceted(多方面的), there are several alternatives to choose from, each with unique advantages and disadvantages．One of the benefits of a pencil and paper decision-making procedure is that it permits people to deal with more variables than their minds can generally comprehend and remember．On the average, people can keep about seven ideas in their minds at once．A worksheet can be especially useful when the decision involves a large number of variables with complex relationships．A realistic example for many college students is the question“What will I do after graduation?”A graduate might seek a position that offers specialized training, pursue an advanced degree, or travel abroad for a year．A decision-making worksheet begins with a clear statement of the problem that will also help to narrow it．It is important to be clear about the distinction between long-range and immediate goals because long-range goals often involve a different decision than short-range ones．Focusing on long-range goals, a graduating student might revise the question above to“What will I do after graduation that will lead to successful career?”

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　　Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK．

　　The shoes－named Square Eyes-contain an electronic pressure sensor arid a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day．A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day's efforts．

　　The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK．“We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,”she says．“And I wanted to tackle that with my design．”

　　Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off．And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps．

　　Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both．Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television．So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time．

　　Existing pedometers(计步器)normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement．Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking．But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat．“It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,”she says．“That was one of my main design considerations．”

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　　A few years ago I was on a bicycle trip when I got off my bike for a rest．

　　I sat down on the grass．A few seconds latter, I was covered in ants．They were swarming all over me so I got up and brushed them off．It was a strange experience but I soon forgot about it．

　　A couple of years later, I was living in Jordan．I had just moved into a modern flat and was unpacking plates when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye．I looked over at the kitchen drawer and there was a cockroach crawling out of it．I screamed．Then I grabbed a can of insecticide and sprayed it on the cockroach．He ran under the nearby bathroom door．It took me three days before I found the courage to open the bathroom door to see if he was still alive．He wasn’t．

　　Why did I react so violently to one lone insect when a closer encounter with hundreds of ants hardly affected me?The answer is easy：because cockroaches are creepy crawlies and ants aren’t．Creepy crawlies are those little bugs which cause feelings such as anxiety－they make your skin crawl．

　　Did you know that some people feel such a fear of bugs that it becomes a phobia?Psychologists have offered many explanations．Some say we associate them with dirt and disease．Or that these are life forms that are so alien to us, that we find them disgusting for their dissimilarity．

　　Insects, however, don’t follow our rules they just do what they want and invade our space．Unfortunately, although insects and bugs have been a successful animal species up to now, many of them, like many other species nowadays, are under threat of dying out, Entomologists warn that this could upset entire ecosystems and lead to all kinds of disastrous consequences．

　　So my advice to you is： the next time you feel the urge to stamp on, splatter or spray a creepy crawly, give a thought to the planet and stop．

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　　More and more schools are being designed and used in ways that are friendly to the environment．These so-called green schools use less energy, cost less to run and are good for students．

　　The newly renovated Sidwell Friends Middle School in the District has been awarded the highest rating by the U．S．Green Building Council for having a positive impact on the environment-arare honor．Soon the school will treat and re-use its wastewater, saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per year．

　　The recycled water from sinks and toilets, which can’t be used for drinking, will be colored blue,“so we know it’s recycled, just in case it gets into the water fountains－not that it would,”joked Emily Bernstein,14, a Sidwell student and building tour guide．Water fountains will still use fresh city water．

　　Sidwell students are studying the building itself in science classes to help them learn first-hand positive impact of green buildings．It’s affecting how they view the world around them．“If you see a [building ]being torn down, you think,”“They’re going to fill up a whole landfill with that,”said Matthew Malone, 13．

　　In Prince George’s County, Suitland Elementary has been so successful that another green school is being planned, in Laurel, for the 2008-09 school year．

　　At Suitland, a garden courtyard and uses rainwater, the roof is angled away from the sun to keep it cool; and skylights and tall windows let in lots of natural light．

　　“You don’t have to switch on the light switch all the time,”said Rupert McCave, the county official guiding these projects．

　　Green schools tend to be sunnier and more inviting than older buildings．In fact, a study done in Washington state showed that students at green schools performed better and were absent less．

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　　Be careful what you say around your dog．It might understand more than you think．

　　A border collie named Rico recognizes the name of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany．The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child．Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩)．

　　In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects．Then the owner the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back．In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right．As the dog couldn’t see anyone to get dues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words．

　　In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew．The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before．

　　The correct object was chosen in seven out of 10 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法)．A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive．

　　Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog．For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed(品种)known for its mental abilities．In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months．

　　It’s hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say．Even if they do, they can’t talk back．Still, it wouldn’t hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then．You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!

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Editors/Designers Wanted

　　China Daily, a national English newspaper, is looking for

　　English-language senior editors/designers．

　　Senior Business Editor

　　You must：assist the Business editor in setting goals and working on achieving them; be an excellent team person who can come up with ideas and think creatively, be able to rewrite totally if needed and advise junior workers; be working or have worked in a leading position and understand what leadership means; have had at least five years’ business editing experience and be familiar with industry software．

　　Business Copy-editor

　　You must：work on shifts(轮班)in the Business Desk and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print; edit or rewrite copy and give brief headlines and captions(说明文字); have had at least two years’ editing experience and be familiar with industry software．

　　You must：be good at editing or rewriting copy and writing brief headlines and captions; be able to work on shills for different pages, and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print; have two years of editing experience and be familiar with industry software．

　　You must：have excellent skills in information graphics; be good with illustrations(插图)and freehand drawings; be experienced in newspaper or magazine designs; have a good some of typography (排版); have good news judgment

　　Once hired, you will be offered a competitive salary package, free housing with furniture paid for , 90 percent medical reimbursement (补偿), seven days of paid leave, 11 public holidays and return ticket to your native land．