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　　MIANYANG－At a corner of the city's Jiuzhou Stadium, one of the biggest camps set up for those left homeless in the earthquake, 62-year-old Liu Yaorong was leaning against a window on Thursday．

　　Pointing to a quilt and clothes he received from the local government, he said：“These are all I have．My home collapsed in the quake, and everything in the town was flooded．”

　　He used to live in Xuanping town of Beichuan county which was destroyed by the quake．Adding to his misery, rivers blocked by landslides(山崩)led to flooding in the town．

　　But Liu said he was lucky because he was healthy, otherwise he would not have the energy to walk 10 hours on damaged and dangerous mountainous roads to escape the flood on Monday．He said the trip used to take him about 90 minutes when the roads were in good condition．

　　The journey was difficult and“rocks kept falling,”he said, showing injured legs and black, split toenails．

　　Liu said his three sons were working in eastern cities as migrant workers．

　　“I've been living alone in the mountains for more than 20 years．My wife died 30 years ago,” he said in a low voice．

　　During his journey to Mianyang, Liu said he saw many elderly people who chose to stay．

　　“Soldiers were persuading them to leave for fear of floods,”he said．

　　Talking about his home before the quake struck, Liu's mood lifted．“I raised pigs and chickens, and grew vegetables．I could have rice, meat and greens almost every day,”he said．

　　“But now, I have only biscuits and instant noodles．”

　　Liu said one of his sons returned home from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, after the quake, but left because the father refused to go with him．

　　“I don't want to leave home．And I know it is difficult for them out there．How could I add to their burden?”he asked, his eyes red．

　　“I still want to go back to my home．Given a small piece of land, I could live by myself．”

　　It is learnt that resettlement plans for displaced people have not been finalized．

　　However, not every elderly person is as strong-willed as Liu．

　　Psychologists said the elderly need as much comfort as children．Lu Jianguo, a psychologist from Chengdu Medical College, said“We will first let them cry and tell their stories, and then help them regain confidence．”

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Rafting the GRAND CANYON Welcomes You！

　　If you are looking for an exciting, fun and challenging white water tour, Rafting(筏运)the GRAND CANYON is here to help you plan the right tour for you．Whether you want to travel for two days or ten, hike in or not, go on an oar(船桨)boat or motorboat, through Class 3 or 6 water, we will help you find the trip that meets your needs．

　　For those who will be vacationing in the off-season, a rafting trip on the Native American Red River is available or a one-day trip is available on the Colorado River from Diamond Creek to Pierce Ferry．

　　Most of the trips depart from Lees Ferry, Arizona．We offer partial trips which allow you to get on or off at Phantom Ranch located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon National Park South Rim．You can have a hike, and with proper planning the mule(骡子)ride up or down is also an option．Most trips occur between April and October．

　　Since all rafting on the Colorado requires a permit, planning and reserving your trip requires reservations well in advance．Please let us know when you would like to go and we will contact all the river concessionaires(特许权获得者)to help you find the best trip for you．

　　To talk to us or to make a reservation, call us toll free：

　　1－800－222－6966

　　or 702－655－6060

　　If you have any questions regarding a trip, please CLICK HERE to fill out our form．This will speed up the process of getting you accurate information regarding that trip．

　　If you would like to send us an email about something other than an upcoming trip you can contact us at info@raftingthegrandcanyon.com.

　　We look forward to helping you plan your trip!

　　(Please NO Travel Agents．)

　　Today every independent country has a flag that gives them a unique identity．Usually there is a story and meaning behind each flag．The colours used on a national flag are not used simply because they look good－they usually symbolize something about the growth, values and culture of that country．Sometimes colours mean the same thing in different cultures, but they can often mean different things to people in different cultures．

　　The French flag, sometimes called the“Tricolore”, was first used in 1789, after the French Revolution The conclusion of the French Revolution led up to big changes throughout the country．Before the Revolution, there was great unrest because people did not have freedom and had often been treated unfairly．Many people died of starvation．After the Revolution, people had far more freedom, and people were considered equal, and large numbers of people were no longer starving．

　　The colours red, white and blue used on the flag represent the principles of the Revolution-liberty, equality and friendship．Red represents bravery, revolution, strength and blood．All these things were needed to change the country．Blue stands for liberty and justice while white represents peace．

　　Strengthened by the Revolution, France became a different country soon after, and today, it is still guided by those beliefs．That France's revolution which was successful in ridding society of inequality had a big effect on many other countries, especially in Europe．Some countries elected to substitute their flags with tricolor flags, after the French．In this way, the French Tricolor has become one of the most influential national flags in history．

　　The USA was also born from revolution, and its flag, the“Stars and Stripes”, represents this．The USA was originally an area owned and occupied by Britain．At that time, there were thirteen states, which is far fewer than the fifty that make up today's USA．Some people are very unhappy with the bureaucratic way Britain ruled the country, and were quite outspoken about this．American taxpayers could no longer tolerate that they had no say in the government．They desired independence, but the British opposed this．The Americans saw that their freedom was no longer optional and that their independence would not be won by being passive．On 4 July 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was signed．With this, the USA split from Britain and became an autonomous nation with a federal government．

　　The colours red, white and blue and the stars and stripes on the American flag are all very symbolic．Red represents strength and bravery; white represents purity and innocence; blue stands for hard work and justice．There are fifty stars on the American flag, one for each state．The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen states that joined together to fight for independence．

　　Each year, on 4 July, the USA celebrates Independence Day when the Stars and Stripes“can be seen all over the country, lit by fireworks in the night sky．”

　　The worsening global economic situation makes it difficult for China to predict its growth for next year, a senior official said on Friday．

　　“How fast China's economy will grow next year is uncertain,”Liu He, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economy Work, told China Daily．

　　“To a large extent, the rate will be decided by the external situation,”Liu said during a discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other economists in Beijing．

　　“This year, GDP is estimated to grow at 9.4 or 9.5 percent, down from 10.6 percent last year”, he said．“However, the impact of the current financial turbulence(动荡)on our economy is much less than on the rest of the world”, he said．

　　Nicholas Stern, a former UK government advisor, also told China Daily,“It will take at least one or two years for the world to recover from the recession, which is now spreading from the US and the UK to the rest of the world．We don't know how long the recession will last, but it is unlikely to be short,”he said．

　　Liu said China can use the downturn as an opportunity to restructure its economy, which has relied heavily on government investment, foreign trade and low-cost technology over the past years．

　　“When the economy is experiencing fast growth, companies are unwilling to upgrade their technologies,”Liu said．

　　“The slowdown gives such firms the opportunity to sharpen their competitive edge through better technologies．”

　　John H．Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918．His father died in an accident when John was six．He was reaching the high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks．

　　Fortunately he had a strong-willed caring mother．John remembered that his mother told him many times,“Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe．”She told him not to depend on others, including his mother．“You have to earn success,”she said．“All the people who work hard don't succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard．”

　　These words came from a woman with less than a third grade education．She also knew that believing and hard work don't mean everything．So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15, to Chicago．

　　Chicago in 1933 was not the promised land that black southerners were looking for．John's mother and stepfather could not find work．But here John could go to school, and here he learned the power of words－-as an editor of the newspaper and yearbook at Du Sable High School．His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks．

　　While others discouraged him, John's mother offered him more words to live by：“Nothing beats a failure but a try．”She also let him pawn(典当)her furniture to get the ＄500 he needed to start the Negro magazine for blacks．

　　It is natural that difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful．He always keeps his mother's words in mind：“Son, failure is not in your vocabulary!”

　　Now John H．Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America－worth ＄150 million．

　　Bolivia has a population three and a half million．About one tenth of the total population are white ; one-fourth are mixed Indians and white ; and more than half are full-blooded Indians．The government and the industries are under the control of the white people．

　　The Indians today live in much the same way as their ancestors．Most of them are farmers．Many work in the mines , for mining is the most important industry on Bolivia's．Of all the mining products , tin is the most important , which makes up three-fourths of all Bolivia's exports．The eastern slopes of the Andes , since there are very few roads there , are fertile but not highly developed．The two primary means of transportation are river boats and porters．East of the hill region are the great plains where tropical plants are grown．A serious problem for Bolivia is the transport of food from the warm regions , where it is grown to the mountainous regions , where most of the people live．

　　Bolivia gained its independence from Spain about a hundred years ago．It has been slow in developing , but its rich resources promise a better future in it．

　　According to popular folk tales, many animals are smarter than they appear．Dogs bark before earthquakes; cattle predict rainful by sitting on the ground．But cattle may have another hidden talent of being able to tell which direction is north．

　　Small animals including birds are known to use the Earth's magnetic(磁场的)fields in migration(迁徙), like a natural GPS(Global Position System)．Dr．Begall and her colleagues wanted to know whether larger animals also have this magnetic sense．They investigated this possibility by studying images of 8,510 grazing(吃草)and resting cattle in 308 plains across the globe on Google Earth, a website that puts together satellite photographs to produce an image of the Earth's surface．

　　Grazing animals are known to orient(使朝向)themselves in a way that minimizes wind cold from the north and maximizes the warmth of the sun when they are cold．The study ruled out the possibility that the sun position or wind direction were major influences on the orientation of the cattle．The researchers therefore had to study a lot of cows grazing in lots of different places at different times of day, in order to average out these factors and see whether cattle could act like compass needles．

　　The researchers concluded that cattle do generally orient themselves in a north-south direction．This north-south preference has also been noted in flies and honeybees．But unfortunately, even the high resolution of Google Earth is not powerful enough to tell which end of the cow is its head, and which its tail．The researchers were therefore unable to answer their research questions of whether cattle prefer to look north or south, and whether that differs in the northern and southern hemisphere．(半球)

　　If you've been joining in chat room conversation, or trading e-mail with Web pals, you have become one of the millions who write in a special short form of English．

　　And you've got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(＝sense of humor failure)to describe Internet new-comers who understand you．Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are“talking”online many of them all talking at the same time．

　　It's fast：try talking to six people at once．It's brief：three or four words per exchange．It takes wit(智慧), and quick fingers．

　　Want to enter a conversation?Just type PMFJI(＝pardon me for jumping in)．

　　Interested in whom you're talking to?A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal's age, sex and location．You may get 15/M/NY as a response form your pal．

　　If something makes you laugh, say you're OTF(＝on the floor), or LOL(＝laughing out loud), or combine the two into ROTEL(＝rolling on the floor laughing)．

　　And when it's time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(＝got to go)or TTYL(＝talk to you later)．People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can．Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing strong feelings, as it takes more time to hold down the“shift”key and use capitals．Punctuation(标点)is going, too．

　　To protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration(TSA)is required by law to inspect all checked baggage．As part of this process, some bags are opened and inspected．Your bag was among those selected for inspection．

　　During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for items forbidden by law such as fireworks, fuels, gunpodwer,etc．At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag, which was resealed(重新封口)with a“special”lock．

　　If the TSA screener was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the screener may have been forced to break the locks on your bag．TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, and has taken care to reseal your bag upon completion of inspection．However, TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from necessary precaution．

　　For packing tips and other suggestions that may assist you during your next trip, visit：www.tsatraveltips.us．

　　We appreciate your understanding and cooperation．If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact the Transportation Security Administration Consumer Response Centre：

　　Phone：toll-free at(866)289－9673

　　Email：telltsa@tas.dot.gov

　　Section 110(b)of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001,49．

　　U．S．C．§44901(c)-(e)

　　A businessman had two sons．While he gave the younger son a lot of love and gifts, he neglected(忽视)the elder son．It was completely puzzling(令人费解)and no one knew why．

　　When the boys grew up, they were asked to manage the father's business．The elder son was absorbed in the business．From morning till late in the evening, he was busy working．Within a few years, he ran the business very well and even expanded(扩大)it．

　　What about the younger son?He didn't have much to do except have a good time．But the father believed that his favorite son would be a success．If the elder son could be a successful businessman, surely the younger one, with a higher education, would do much better．

　　A few years later, the results of his decision became clear．Uninterested in business, the younger son continued spending his time enjoying himself．And he went out of business．But the elder son's far smaller share(份)of business had expanded and he had proved himself to be a good decision maker．

　　Ashamed at the turn of events, the father met the elder son and was angry with the younger one．The elder son, who was listening to all this quietly, suddenly said he wanted to set up an independent business and live on his own．

　　“Why?”asked the father．

　　“I blame(责备)one person for the way my brother has turned out, and it's not him．You can't blame children for the faults(过失)of their parents, can you?”asked the elder son．