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　　You know that pearls grow inside oysters(牡蛎), but would you ever think to look for diamonds inside an ostrich(鸵鸟)? Well, a hunter once shot an ostrich and discovered, to his great surprise, that the big bird had swallowed a bunch of diamonds．How could such a strange thing happen?

　　Like many other birds, the ostrich swallows small stones that stay inside its “gizzard”．The gizzard is a bird’s second stomach．It is where the food is ground up．The small stones help to grind up the food so it can be digested．The small stones do the chewing because birds don’t have teeth．In that case of the ostrich with the diamonds, the bird simply had expensive taste in rocks．It used the diamonds to digest its dinner．

　　Diamonds and stones aren’t all that an ostrich will swallow．If there are no stones around, it will eat just about anything．Sadly for ostriches in zoos, this can be a fatal habit．The tendency to swallow anything it sees has caused the death of many an ostrich．Cruel or careless people often throw things into the bird’s living space．They throw keys, coins, and even large objects such as horseshoes．The ostrich swallows them without hesitation．Coins can be the worst．Inside the ostrich they wear down to a razor-sharp edge．They will cut open the bird’s gizzard from the inside．When one young zoo ostrich died, 484 coins weighing more than eight pounds were found in its gizzard．

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　　Throughout the history of the arts, the nature of creativity has remained constant to artists．No matter what objects they select, artists are to bring forth new forces and forms that cause change－to find poetry where no one has ever seen or experienced it before．

　　Landscape(风景)is another unchanging element of art．It can be found from ancient times through the 17th-century Dutch painters to the 19th-century romanticists and impressionists．In the 1970s Alfred Leslie, one of the new American realists, continued this practice．Leslie sought out the same place where Thomas Cole, a romanticist, had produced paintings of the same scene a century and a half before．Unlike Cole who insists on a feeling of loneliness and the idea of finding peace in nature, Leslie paints what he actually sees．In his paintings, there is no particular change in emotion, and he includes ordinary things like the highway in the background．He also takes advantage of the latest developments of color photography(摄影术)to help both the eye and the memory when he improves his painting back in his workroom．

　　Besides, all art begs the age-old question：What is real? Each generation of artists has shown their understanding of reality in one form or another．The impressionists saw reality in brief emotional effects, the realists in everyday subjects and in forest scenes, and the Cro-Magnon cave people in their naturalistic drawings of the animals in the ancient forests．To sum up, understanding reality is a necessary struggle for artists of all periods．

　　Over thousands of years the function of the arts has remained relatively constant．Past or present, Eastern or Western, the arts are a basic part of our immediate experience．Many and different are the faces of art, and together they express the basic need and hope of human beings．

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　　When I was quite young, I discovered that somewhere inside the telephone lived an amazing person－"Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know．

　　One day while my mother was out, I hit my finger with a hammer．The pain was terrible, but there was no one home to give me any sympathy．I walked around the house, finally arriving at the telephone! Quickly, I called “Information Please" and told her what happened．She told me to open the icebox and hold a little piece of ice to my finger．

　　After that, I called "Information Please" for everything．When my pet bird died, I told "Information Please" the sad story．She tried to comfort me, she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in．" Somehow I felt better．Another day I was on the telephone, “How do you spell ‘grateful’? "．All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest．When I was 9, we moved to Boston．

　　A few years later, on my way to college, my plane put down in Seattle．I had about half an hour or so between planes．Without thinking, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information, please．"

　　Surprisingly, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information．" I hadn't planned on this but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell ‘grateful’?"

　　There was a long pause．Then came the soft-spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now．" I laughed．"So it's really still you," I said, "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time．" I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and asked if I could call her again．"Please do," she said, "Just ask for Sally．"

　　Three months later I was back in Seattle．A different voice answered me．I was told that Sally passed away five weeks before．

　　Before I could hang up she told me that Sally left a message for me－“Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in．He'll know what I mean．” I thanked her and hung up．I knew what Sally meant．

　　Never underestimate the impression you may make on others．Whose life have you touched today?

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　　We would probably all be amazed if we watched a videotape of ourselves performing basically unconscious acts as we go about the business of the day．These unconscious acts consist of all the little personal habits that we don’t even think about, but definitely should．These are some of the things that present an image of who we are to others, and if we are careless in performing them, this image may well be other than we would like it to be．

　　Parents who insist that their children practice good manners and habits at home are doing them a great service, for these habits then become lifelong and the natural way they do things．It proves true that their unconscious actions will reflect a well-mannered person．

　　People who, for example, eat with both arms on the table at home will likely do so when out．Those who are lazy and slow in private will certainly be so in public．Children who are permitted to be disrespectful to their parents will follow suit with other adults, and will, most likely, become adults who are disrespectful of others．This is an area where the saying “practice makes perfect” may be applied．

　　There is an article about the actress, Audrey Hepburn, known for her beautiful carriage and posture．According to her biographer, her grandmother tied her neck to the back of her chair, at table, so that she would not drop down suddenly over her food, but rather would learn to put only small amounts of food on her spoon or fork and bring them to her mouth．This is a rather extreme “at home” method for the development of erect(直立的)posture, but it does illustrate the effectiveness of practicing good habits so that, when in public, they are instinctive．

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　　The new iPhone 3G should please everyone．Its look and feel are only slightly improved, but a faster network loads Web pages more quickly, true GPS functionality allows it to easily find places nearby, and the new ＄199 price(down from ＄400)makes it an affordable luxury．

　　Before deciding whether to buy, however, make sure you can actually take advantage of the iPhone 3G’s high-speed data network．3G stands for third-generation, which in non-geek speak translates to Web pages and mail messages that, ideally, load about three times faster than on the original iPhone．Even better, 3G coverage enables you to make a phone call and surf the Web at the same time．That’s great, if you live or work in a place where the 3G network of AT&T(美国电话电报公司)(the sole wireless carrier of the iPhone)is active．That’s not so great in cities like New York where AT&T’s cellular(电台通讯网)coverage is awful．As one of my colleagues in New York City, who bought the original iPhone, commented, “It’s just a toy．You can’t make phone calls on it, so I carry my Verizon phone with me all the time．”

　　The real fun begins when you tap on the icon(计算机图标)called “Apple Store” and start browsing(浏览)the hundreds of add-on applications that have been developed just for the iPhone．You will find tons of games(I like JirboBreak, a free game inspired by the Atari classic Breakout)and mobile version of popular websites like Pandora, Facebook, MySpace and the New York Times．Most apps will cost you, but the vast majority are ＄9.99 or less．The apps work on the old iPhone too, but you’ll enjoy them a lot more on the iPhone 3G because many of the programs, including Yelp(local business reviews), Whrrl(mobile social networking)and UrbanSpoon(restaurant reviews), use you exact location－provided by the iPhone 3G’s GPS chip－to make recommendations．The apps also load much faster over the 3G network．

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　　People often talk as if shyness is a disease or mental condition that can be cured．I prefer to think of it as an emotional disability．It’s something we are born with and something we carry with us in our entire lives．There are too many people, however, who seem to be determined to find some way of doing away with their shyness．In my opinion, it’s a waste of time．I don’t mean that we should do nothing about it; quite the contrary, I think we need to separate the basic fact of shyness from our ability to take part in a social environment．

　　Look at one of the most famous shy people of them all, Johnny Carson．This man is painfully shy, yet for decades he made a living talking and associating with different people every night, in front of a national audience．Carson has never done away with his shyness, but he has successfully found a way to deal with it to the extent that he could be, not just a talk show host, but a legend(传奇)among talk show hosts．Look also at Sally Fields, who has recently admitted her problem with shyness．This is a woman who has appeared in many films, TV shows and interviews, yet in her early years she was so shy that she turned down a lunch invitation from Jane Fonda because she was terribly afraid of meeting her．

　　I guess that our shyness is there because each of us is born with some insecurity(不安全感)and this insecurity prevents us from reading out to others the way people with a more open personality do．As we grow up and become adults, we allow our social skills to grow and develop．But we are still stuck in kindergarten or elementary school or wherever it was when our shyness took root in our soul．

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　　When 7-year-old Warren Buffet said “ I will be the richest man one day”, his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”．But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money, selling drinks, delivering newspapers and buying stocks．He had already earned ＄ 9,000(equal to ＄ 90,000 today)by the time he graduated from high school and became a millionaire at 32．

　　And this month the 77-year- old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of great investment in the stock market, made his childhood dream come true．With a fortune of ＄ 62billion, Buffet has risen to be the world’s richest man according to Forbes Magazine．

　　Born in 1930, Buffet, the only son of a stockbroker, started on achieving his billion-dollar dream at an early age and was always ready to think outside the box to develop his business．At 8 he went to golf courses collecting and selling used balls．

　　At 11 when he sold soda pop door to door with a friend, the pair collected lids on the streets to judge which flavor was the most popular．

　　As a paper boy during high school, Buffet delivered two rival(竞争对手的)papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions, he could still make a profit from the other．With his paper delivery savings, Buffet bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collect rent．

　　Young Buffet stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only ＄ 5．The experience taught him one of the virtues(品质)in investing：patience．

　　After graduating from university, Buffet started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends．He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time．By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-cola, Buffet has become rich．

　　“Learning is important to Buffet’s success．He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading．He keeps learning, from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure．In this way, he finally over achieved his aptitude(才能)，” said Charlie Munger, his long-time business partner．

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　　For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life．But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect, Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car．

　　The implication(含义)of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall(全面的)efforts, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most．And this carries over to the classroom．

　　Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, tested the effects of overpraise on 400 fifth grades while she was at Columbia University．She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on the tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”．

　　“ Praising attributes(品质)or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues efforts, so children are afraid to take on challenges, ” says Dweck, now at Stanford University．“They figure they’d better quit while they’ re ahead．”

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　　Construction workers in Southern California have made a wild discovery．They were digging at a building site in San Timoteo Canyon(峡谷)when they unearthed hundreds of ancient animal fossils．Researchers say the bones hold important clues about the history of the region．

　　Nearly 1, 500 fossils were recovered from the dusty canyon．The remains are about 1．4 million years old．They include the bones of a new species of deer, several small rodents(啮齿目动物)and more．A giant cat fossil was also found．Scientists believe the animal was an ancestor of the saber- toothed tiger．Signs of plant life were uncovered as well．

　　“This is a huge find,” says Rick Greenwood, a scientist studying the site．“I don’t think most people had any idea that those types of animals were wandering around here more than a million years ago．”

　　San Timoteo Canyon is located about 85 miles from Los Angeles．The area of the canyon where the fossils were found was once part of a green river valley．Today, the region is dry and plant life is rare．

　　Most of the fossils are well preserved．Experts say a muddy lake bed may have trapped thirty animals that wandered over for a drink．The mud helped to protect the animal fossils．

　　The remains are a million years older than those discovered at the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles．Scientists studying the bones will be able to learn more about how the animals adapted to changes in the environment．

　　“We have a confused view of what this time period was like, ” says another scientist．“A discovery like this could really be an important contribution．”

　　About 35 different animal species are represented in the fossil collection．Scientists began removing bones from the site last fall．The project was completed this summer．Starting next year, the fossils will be on display at the Western Science Center in the nearby city of Hemet, California．

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　　It is true that shyness can be a disadvantage socially for those who suffer from it seriously．I mean real shyness, not somebody who is simply quiet．Quiet people could be shy, but on the other hand, they may just be observing because they are unsure of you or others in your company．They may be capable of being extrovert(性格外向的)and sociable, but on some particular occasions, they are quiet．

　　I have learnt from my experience that those who observe and listen more and talk less can gain a position of strength．This means that even a very shy person, the type who is reluctant to talk in company(在交际场合), especially new company, can become a strong person in just about anything they choose．Remember, knowledge is power, and a shy introvert(性格内向的人)is in a better position to gain knowledge than an extrovert．Introverted people can give great attention to learning, and as good listeners they can take in an enormous amount from others．Over time, people can come to respect them far more than the extrovert who speaks a lot．Usually about themselves．

　　What does it take, then for a very shy person to be that successful person they have always wanted to be?They may only need one more thing to push themselves on their way．They need to dare themselves to take the leap; and when they do, they will probably find all the knowledge they have gained over the years will help them on their way to the top in their chosen field．

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