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　　Societies all over the world name places in similar ways．Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people．Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name．Frequently it happens that a place has two names：One is named by the people and the other by the government．As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost．

　　Many roads and places in Singapore are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations．Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place．This is in keeping with traditions in many countries－in both the West and the East．

　　Another way of naming places is naming them after other places．Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after．The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases．If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus－obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel．

　　Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places．Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语)．Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple．During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road．

　　A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes．There is “Circular Road” for one．Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”．This road is called a crescent(月牙)because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again．

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　　Being thirteen has certain problems that only another thirteen-year-old would understand．The biggest, I think, is learning to get along well with adults．I have found that when dealing with grown-ups, it is wise to remember two things．

　　1．Always use your head

　　2．Never use your head

　　For instance, one day just before supper, my mother sent me to the store for a loaf of whole-wheat bread．They didn’t have any．When I told my mother, she said, “Well, what kind did you get?” I told her I didn’t get any．She looked as if I had just announced that I was leaving home for good．“For goodness’ sake!” She said, “If they hadn’t had whole-wheat, you should have got something else! Why don’t you use your head?”

　　Not long after that, she sent me to the store for red oilcloth．They didn’t have any, so I bought seven yards of purple．I thought it was pretty．Mother didn’t．She said, “Who ever heard of purple oilcloth in a red kitchen?” I told her I was only trying to use my head．She said．“Well, don’t ! And in the future, if you can’t get what I send you for, don’t get anything．”

　　See what I mean?

　　There are other things that seem a little strange, too．If my father goes out for the evening, he tells me to “look after” my mother and sister．But if the family goes out, and I want to stay home, my father won’t let me．He doesn’t feel comfortable if I am home alone．That means I am old enough to “look after” my mother and sister but not old enough to “look after” myself．

　　Another problem is what to do when you trip over the cat and land with your head in the refrigerator, causing a large lump(肿块)to appear just over the right eyebrow．In that case, your father could feel free to say with a few choice words．Your sister could shed(流出)enough tears to dampen the whole room．Your mother could, and probably would, do both．But you? You are thirteen and can’t do anything! You are too young to curse(咒骂), and “big boys” don’t cry．So you just stand there looking more stupid than usual．But in spite of all this I still think thirteen is a wonderful age!

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　　Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October as a day to make someone happy．It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, the aged, and children who have lost their parents, but also friends, workmates, relatives and neighbors whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed．

　　Over 60 years ago, when a Cleveland man noticed that some people, such as children who lost their parents and patients who lay in bed, too often felt forgotten and neglected, he developed in his mind the idea of showing them that they were remembered．He did this by giving them small gifts．With the help of his friends and neighbors, he gave those people small gifts on a Saturday in October．During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to take part in the celebration, which came to be called “Sweetest Day”．Over time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the poor, the sick and children who had lost their parents was broadened to include everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small gift．Soon the idea spread to other cities all over the USA．

　　Sweetest Day is not based on any single group’s religious beliefs or on a family relationship．It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning．

　　Because for many people remembering takes the form of gift giving, Sweetest Day offers us the opportunity to show others that we care, in a positive way．

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　　MEMBERSHIP

　　International Students House is a unique, cultural and recreational(娱乐)centre providing a wide programme of events for students 310 days a year．

　　Located in a fashionable and safe neighborhood, close to Regent’s Park, ISH is a central place to meet students from Britain and around the world．

　　ISH provides all its members with the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of sports and hobbies in a friendly and fun environment．Mary of the activities are free of charge as part of membership, while some charge a small fee．

　　Membership is open to all full-time students, professional trainees, students nurses．

　　LEARN

　　Lecture Series：

　　ISH organizes a number of lively, topical lectures of political and contemporary interest by famous speakers．

　　A variety of weekly language classes which in the past have include English, Spanish, Japanese and Italian．

　　ISH tries to offer as many developments and educational programmes as possible for our members．Look out for additional workshops and leadership programme．E-mail：learn@ish．org．uk．

　　CREATE

　　Sunday Cinema：

　　Films are shown every Sunday evening at 19∶30 including recent blockbusters(大片), theme nights and classics．

　　Classes：

　　Show your talents or learn from the beginning with our various classes and workshop which include Life Drawing, Photography, and Drama．

　　Throughout the year ISH holds numerous exhibitions, recital(公演)and performances put on by our students．To get more information, E-mail：create@ish．org．uk．

　　TRAVEL

　　Travel Club：

　　The Travel Club runs a comprehensive schedule of day and weekend trips to British and European destinations．

　　Students get the chance to explore new parts of the UK and meet people from all over the world．Sightseeing, canoeing, hiking, eating out, socializing and meeting local people are what you can expect to experience during the trips．E-mail：travel @ish．org．uk．

　　ACTIVE

　　Classes：

　　Try out our Martial Arts and Fitness Classes every week night including Kick Boxing, Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Shaolin as well as Yoga, and Aerobics classes．All our classes are run by qualified and professional instructor．

　　Sports：

　　Join in our recreational and team sports such as football, volleyball, running, table tennis, and class．

　　ISH Dangerous Sport Club：

　　We also organize one of activities such as go-karting, pain-balling and adventure weekends．E-mail：active@ish．org．uk．

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　　There are two types of people in the world．Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy．This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds．

　　People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things：the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather．They enjoy all the cheerful things．Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things．Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied．By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt)many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere．If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied．The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation．It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors．The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes．I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit．

　　Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck．Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect．This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments．If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success．Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes．If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings．These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others．If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them．Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one become mixed up in their quarrels．

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　　Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea．People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive．It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity．Some of them were not sure how to use it．They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves．Then they served them mixed with butter and salt．They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread an give them to their children as sandwiches．

　　Tea remained scarce(稀少)and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century．During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it．

　　At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea．Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea taste like when milk was added．She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk．Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it．Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk．

　　At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening．No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess(公爵夫人)found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it．She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born．

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　　Dear Florence,

　　We arrived in India last week, and the voyage was the worst experience of my entire life．I’m lucky to be alive!

　　The first part of the journey was terrible, because the ship hit bad weather almost as soon as we left Liverpool．But much, much worse was to come．Later, we were involved in a collision with another boat and we had to abandon ship!

　　We had been at sea for about two weeks and we were in the Mediterranean．There is now a canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea called the Suez Canal, which opened last year．Our boat stopped at Port Said, the Egyptian port at the entrance to the canal．I remember looking through the porthole of my cabin and wishing that I could go ashore and visit this fascinating place, but mummy had ordered that I was to stay in the cabin because I was feeling ill．“You must stay here for at least another two days．” I remember her saying．How wrong she would turn out to be! The ship left the port and headed towards the canal．I was alone in the cabin and I watched the port disappear into the distance．Suddenly there was a loud bang, followed by the most awful crunching(嘎吱的)sound, and the ship shook and turned slightly on its side．

There was an eerie silence for a moment, and then people started shouting．Mummy came running into the cabin and told me that we had collided with another boat．She took my hand and we ran along the deck towards the lifeboats．There was a lot of shouting and people were running everywhere, but the crew were all acting calmly, helping people into the lifeboats and telling people not to panic．

　　Well, clearly we survived, as did all the passengers and crew of the ship．The other boat wasn’t so lucky．It sank and several lives were lost．

　　I will write about the rest of the journey soon．Please give my love to Aunt Claire and Uncle Eric．

Your loving cousin,

Jane

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　　Few of us make money by losing sleep．But three graduate students at Brown University in Providence built a company around sleep deprivation(睡眠不足)．

　　Jason Donahue, Ben Rubin and Eric Shashoua were working late nights in Brown’s business and engineering schools．They began thinking about ways to sleep better．They discovered they weren’t alone in burning the midnight oil．Around 20％ of Americans get less than six hours of rest a night．

　　The friends imagined a smart alarm clock that could track how much time people spend in the most restorative(有回复作用的)stages of the sleep cycle：REM(rapid eye movement)and deep sleep．What would it cost to design such a thing? Five years of research, 20 employees, ＄14 million and a whole lot of doubting from investors and scientists．

　　Their company, Zeo, based in Newton, Mass, launched its product in June, 2009．The Zeo device uses a headband with tiny sensors(传感器)that scan your brain for signs of four sleep states －REM, light, deep and waking sleep．The smart alarm clock displays a graph of your sleep pattern and wakes you as you’re not in REM sleep(which is when you’re least groggy)．In the morning you can upload the data to the company’s Web site, and so track your sleep over time．Most of the feedback comes in the form of Zeo’s ZQ score showing how well you’ve slept．

　　“Zeo allows people to unlock this black box of sleep,” says Dave Dickinson, a health-care CEO．

　　Whether any of this actually improves sleep is up to the consumer, who will also need to make lifestyle changes like cutting out alcohol before bedtime or caffeine after 3 pm．

　　For now the company is selling Zeo online only．Dickinson also plans to spread it to countries such as Australia, where sleep deprivation approaches US levels．

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　　Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty．In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old．

　　The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States．The Gallup(民意调查)Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008．At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five．

　　The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry．They also asked about mental or emotional stress．

　　Arthur Stone at Stony Brook University in New York led the study．His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five．The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties．Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies．The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties．

　　Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older．One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions．They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences．

　　Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry．

　　The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single．But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age．

　　The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older．However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men．

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