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　　In Britain, just after the main television news programmes, audience figures rise．It's weather forecast time．The BBC broadcasts forty-four live forecasts a day, 443 hours of weather a year, using forecasters from the Meteorological(气象的)Office．The Met．Office foretells about the weather seven days in advance．These are based on observations from the ground, from satellites and from radar．The observations are stored in a computer that can do up to 4000 million calculations a second．

　　In Britain the weather is news．A television weather forecast often begins with an interesting fact－the town with the top temperature of the day or the place with the most rain．“The public like that kind of information,”says senior forecaster Bill Giles．The BBC forecasters are professional meteorologists, but they do not have an easy job．They are the only presenters on television who do not have a written text to refer to, and they can not see the map that they are describing．Viewers are often critical(爱挑剔的), especially of female presenters．One woman left her job after rude letters and newspaper reports about her clothes．

　　The Britain talk about the weather more than almost any other subject, so it is a surprise to discover that seventy percent of television viewers cannot remember what they saw on the weather forecasts．“What happened is that people like watching and hearing the forecasts, but they probably only take real notice when they need to－when they're going on holiday or wondering what the weather will be like for the tennis at Wimbledon,”says one forecaster,“Or, of course, when we make mistakes!”

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　　Please be advised that Nairobi like any other large city has a security(安全)and crime problem．However, if you observe the following simple guidelines you will stay safe and have a trouble-free seminar(研讨会)：

　　1．Do not wear a money belt．This makes you an instant target(目标)．

　　2．Cameras of all kinds are a favourite with robbers．Feel free to use them within the Starehe Campus and the hotel grounds but not in the streets．

　　3．Ladies handbags are also a regular snatch(抢夺)．Avoid carrying one, and if you must, be very careful and hold on to it tightly．

　　4．Jewellery and even glasses with valuable frames are also often targeted．Keep this in mind．

　　5．When in a vehicle, keep the doors always locked, and the windows only slightly open, especially at traffic lights, crossings and in slow moving traffic．

　　6．Be careful of street children, their begging often quickly changes into something more unpleasant．

　　7．Stay with the main party all the time, and avoid wandering off on your own．

　　8．Finally, the best defence is to be very careful at all times and conscious of your environment．

　　Should you have any problem, query or need help at any hour of the day or night call any of the following and they will do their best for you：

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　　Do you want to know something about the history of weather?Don't look at the sky．Don't look for old weather reports．Looking at tree rings is more important．Correct weather reports date back only one century, but some trees can provide an exact record of the weather even further back．

　　It is natural that a tree would grow best in a climate with plenty of sunlight and rainfall．It is also expected that little sunlight or rainfall would limit the growth of a tree．The change from a favorable to an unfavorable climate can be determined by reading the pattern of rings in a tree trunk．To find out the weather of ten years ago, count the rings of a tree trunk from the outside to the inside．If the tenth ring is far from the other rings, then it is certain that plenty of sunny and rainy weather occurred．If the rings are close together, then the climate was bad for the tree．

　　Studying tree rings is important not only for the history of weather, but also for the history of man．In a region of New Mexico you can find only sand－no trees and no people．However, many centuries ago a large population lived there．They left suddenly．Why?

　　A scientist studied patterns of dead tree rings which had grown there．He decided that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees．Trees were necessary to make fires and buildings．So, after the people destroyed the trees, they had to move．

　　In this instance studying tree rings uncovered an exciting fact about the history of man．

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　　BEIJlNG, March 9－The central government will require an additional three years of use for official vehicles for ministers and governors to reduce the costs of purchasing new cars, media have reported．

　　The new rule has been applied among all Party and government departments nationwide, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday．The new rule has not yet been made public, said Li, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee．

　　Under the old rules, the cars used by minister-level officials could be replaced as often as every five years, Li said．These officials will also retain the same cars when they assume new posts, he added．

　　The new rule also reiterated(重申)that officials ranking below minister-or governor-levels should not be allocated cars．The cars possessed by their departments should be used on demand．

　　“It violates the rules for lower-ranking-even county-level-officials to be allocated cars,”Li said．

　　Purchases of vehicles for official use have been heavily investigated, as they account for a large expenditure of public funds every year．

　　A survey on the Web news www.ifeng.com found 64 percent of respondents believed the new rule will be difficult to implement because it is related to officials' interests．

　　Local government departments had halted approvals for requests for such vehicles and had started to work on new quotas under the new rules, Li said．“The future reform of official vehicle use will introduce market mechanisms and monetization,”Li said．

　　Premier Wen Jiabao said in the annual government work report on Saturday that expenditures on such vehicles will not increase in 2011 compared with a year ago．

　　Beijing's standing deputy mayor Ji Lin last week said the municipal government will release the number of vehicles for official use in the capital as early as at the end of this month．

　　Earlier this month, the Ministry of Finance had published a rule regulating the budgets for such vehicles．

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　　Customer service is alive and well in Toronto, Canada．A recent survey shows that 16 out of 20 cashiers passed the courtesy test by saying a pronounced thank you when we made a small purchase．In one of the tests at a bulk food store on Danforth Avenue, Sean Thomson, a tall 30-year-old guy with shaved head and pierced ears, smiled and thanked our researcher twice before wishing her a nice day．He did the same for everyone else in line．Why?“It's what my boss wants us employees to do, and what my parents taught me．It's all about respect．”echoed Sean．Jessica,24, a cashier at a chocolate shop said,“You don't just take the customer's money and say,‘See you later．’”She added,“The staff here, we talk about how we expect the same courtesy when we're the customers, but we don't always get it, and that's disappointing．”

　　Jessica wouldn't have been happy with the service at a women's clothing store in the Eaton Centre mall downtown, where a fashionably dressed young woman with thick black eyeliner barely said a word to our researcher throughout the transaction．When the researcher asked her about it afterwards, she said sheepishly,“We're supposed to say,‘Thank you for shopping here,’but sometimes I forget．”

　　________, as we found that male and female cashiers in stores large and small were quite courteous with“thank you very much”．At a newsstand, our reporter bought a packet of gum and was thanked by Zeny Ruiz,44．“I like to set an example for my staff,”she told us, smiling“but it's also the right thing to do．”In an electronics store on Queen Street West, Daniel Hines, in baseball cap and army pants, said,“I give thanks to every customer, even the ones who tick me off．What's more, it makes your own day go a little smoother．”

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　　“Green curtains”of outdoor vines can not only shade windows and keep interiors from growing too hot, but can produce food for the workers inside the buildings they grow on．

　　That's exactly what“curtains”of goya and morning glory are doing for 20 manufacturing and office buildings belonging to the Kyocera group．Launched in Nagano Prefecture, Japan in 2007, Kyocera's environmental project has since expanded to facilities in Thailand and Japan．

　　The green curtains of vine plants are grown over trellises against a building's windows and outer walls; as they grow, the plants help filter sunlight, keeping walls from absorbing heat and preventing too much solar heating inside buildings and reducing the need for air conditioning．Furthermore, through photosynthesis, the vines also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere．

　　Thermal imaging has shown the green curtains can reduce temperatures behind the vines by as much as 15 degrees ℃(27 degrees ℃)．

　　What's more, some of the plants making up the green curtains are producing vegetables that become part of a special lunch menu in Kyocera's employee cafeterias．The goya, or bitter gourd, for example, is not only a traditional summer vegetable on Okinawa but is rich in nutrients and is commonly used in summer recipes to prevent fatigue from heat．Employees help to harvest the goya, along with cucumbers and peas that grow on their workplaces' green curtains．

　　This summer, Kyocera's green curtains have reached a total area of 3,043 square metres－nearly four times greater than last year．Throughout their growing season, these curtains are expected to absorb about 10,651 kilograms of carbon dioxide．

　　Some employees inspired by the workplace project have even taken to growing similar green curtains at their homes．In fact, Kyocera has launched a Green Curtain website aimed at showing people how to create their own energy－and carbon-saving vine shades．

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　　Enter a typical high school, and the first thing you see is the front office, where the principal sits and report cards(学生成绩报告单)are stored．The front office also reinforces familiar rank：principal at the top, teachers in the middle, kids at the bottom, sitting with hands folded at their desks．

　　Now, imagine a school where the organizational structure is completely flat．At the New Country School in Henderson, Minn．, there is no front office．Visitors are immediately embraced by an airy atrium(中庭)that is the centerpiece of this one-room schoolhouse．All around the room,124 students sit at the desks－real office desks－working at their own personal computers on their own projects．

　　When Dee Thomas and her colleagues get together 15 years ago to design a new high school, they knew there was one thing that had to go：the bell．Thomas said that everyone agreed that the constant interruption of classes caused huge amounts of strain．Moreover, it's just not natural, Thomas said．

　　There．are no teachers at New Country Adults are viewed as guides to learning．Every few weeks, students must present projects they've been working on to the rest of the school community．To prepare for their presentations, they gather at tables in the middle of the school atrium and then present their work to their guides．In their spare time, students clean the bathrooms and the rest of the school themselves．

　　Kids at New country test better than their peers on the state tests and on the pre-college ACT．The school sends 90 percent of its graduates to college．But that doesn't tell the whole story．New Country struggles to keep its seniors from leaving．The school's senior project is demanding－300 hours of work．

　　But for some students, New Country offers a rare alternative, a choice they can't find anywhere else．And the school is constantly visited by educators from around the world looking for new ideas．That's the foundation of efforts to reform American high schools today and there's a need to experiment with an institution that is failing millions of students．

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　　As late as 1800, women's only place was in the home．The idea of woman in the business world was unthinkable．Men were certain that no woman could do a good job outside her home．This was such a widely accepted idea that when the well-known Bronte sisters began writing books in 1864, they had to sign their books with men's names instead．

　　Teaching was the first profession open to women soon after 1800．But even that was not an easy profession for women to enter because most schools and colleges were open only to men．Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to accept women．

　　Hospital nursing became respectable work for women only after Nightingale became famous．Seeing that she was not only a nurse but also a rich and well-educated woman, people began to believe it was possible for women to nurse the sick and still be“ladies”．Miss Nightingale opened England's first training school for nurse in 1860．

　　The invention of the typewriter in 1867 helped to bring women out of the home and into the business world．By 1900, thousands of women were working at real jobs in schools, hospitals and offices in both England and America．Some women even managed to become doctors or lawyers．The idea that women could work in the business world had been accepted．

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　　Hundreds of people lined up at Grand Central Terminal yesterday, but they weren't there to catch a train．They came to New York City's famous railroad station to trade in old dollar bills for the new George Washington Presidential ＄1 coin．

　　The gold-colored coin is the first in a new series by the U．S．Mint(造币厂)that honors former U．S．Presidents．The Mint will issue four Presidential ＄1 coins a year through 2016．Like the popular 50 State Quarters(纪念币)program, which issues coins in the order in which each state joined the Union, Presidential ＄1 coins will come out in the order in which each President served．The George Washington coin is the first to be released．John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison coins will come out later this year．

　　The Presidential ＄1 coins will be the same size and color as the Sacagawea Golden Dollar．However, there is an important difference．For the first time since the 1930s, there is an inscription(题字)on the edge of each coin．Each coin will show a different President on its face, or head side．It will also show the President's name, the order in which he served and his years in office．The other side of the coin will show the Statue of Liberty and the inscriptions“United States of America”and“＄1”．

　　There will be one Presidential ＄1 coin for each President, except Grover Cleveland．He will have two!Cleveland is the only U．S．President to have served two nonconsecutive(不连续的)terms．

　　The last President scheduled to get a coin is Gerald Ford because a President must have been dead for two years before he can be on a coin．

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　　Herta Muller, the Romanian-born German writer, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature．Ms．Muller, 56, immigrated to Germany from Romania in 1987．She is the first German writer to win the Nobel in literature since Gunter Grass in 1999 and the 13th winner writing in German since the prize was first given in 1901．She is the 12th woman to gain the literature prize．But unlike previous winners like Doris Lessing and V．S．Naipaul, Ms．Muller is unknown inside of literary circles in Germany．

　　“I am very surprised and still cannot believe it,”Ms．Muller said in a statement released by her publisher in Germany．“I can't say anything more at the moment．”

　　She has written some 20 books, but just 5 have been translated into English, including the novels“The Land of Green Plums”and“The Appointment．”

　　At a news conference on Thursday at the German Publishers & Booksellers Association in Berlin, where she lives, Ms．Muller, wearing all black, appeared overwhelmed(不知所措)by all the cameras in her face．

　　When asked what it meant that her name would now be mentioned in the same breath as German greats like Thomas Mann and Heinrich Boll, Ms．Muller remained philosophical(达观的)．“I am now nothing better and I'm nothing worse,”she said, adding：“My inner thing is writing．That's what I can hold on to．”

　　Earlier in the day, at a news conference in Stockholm, Peter Englund, secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Ms．Muller was honored for her“very, very distinct special language”and because“she has really a story to tell about…and growing up as a stranger in your own family．