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　　Anchors(新闻节目主持人)on China Central Television(CCTV) will need to do some fast talking to replace the popular English acronyms(首字母缩略词)they are now banned from using．Shanghai Daily reports that “anchors at China Central Television have been banned from saying the English acronyms NBA, CBA, GDP, and the like in their programs．”

　　The replacement for those handy acronyms?Chinese presenters must use the full Chinese name, standardized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television．

　　Although CCTV(oops, we mean China Central Television) presenters must already have a score of at least 94 in their government-rated oral mandarin proficiency(普通话水平)exam, saying the full name of organizations like the CBA and WTO---10 and 6 characters' long respectively---is sure to challenge even the most skillful anchors．CCTV sports anchor Sun Zhengping tells Shanghai Daily, “A full Chinese explanation of the English initials must be followed if my tongue slips．It is a little troublesome but a necessary one because not every member of the audience can understand the initials．”

　　Although the government isn't giving any official explanation for the shift, it is believed to have something to do with a proposal by Huang Youyi, director of the China International Publishing Group, at March's NPC meeting．In his speech, Huang said, “With more and more publications mixing Chinese with English, measures and regulations should be adopted to avoid English invading Chinese．If we don't pay attention and don't take measures to stop the expansion of mixing Chinese with English, Chinese won't be a pure language in a couple of years．”

　　Although China is far from the first country to take measures to protect local languages, acronyms are more about saving time than they are about corrupting(破坏)a language, we would think．Good luck to the CCTV anchors．

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　　Two traveling angles stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family．The family was rude and refused to let the angles stay in the mansion's guestroom．Instead the angles were given a small space in the cold basement．As they made their bed in the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it．When the younger angle asked why, the older angle replied, “Things aren't always what they seem．”

　　The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife．After sharing the little food they had the couple let the angles sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest．When the sun came up the next morning the angles found the farmer and his wife in tears．Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field．The younger angle was infuriated and asked the older angle how he could have let this happen．“The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” he accused．“The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die”．

　　“Things aren't always what they seem,” the older angle replied．“when we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall．Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it．”

　　“Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angle of death came for his wife．I gave him the cow instead．Things aren't always what they seem．”

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　　Once upon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing．He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work．

　　One day he was walking along the shore．As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer．He smiled to himself at the thought that someone would dance on the beach．So he began to walk faster to catch up．

　　As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean．

　　As he got closer he called out, “Good morning!What are you doing?”

　　The young man paused, looked up and replied,“Throwing starfish in the ocean．”“I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?”“The sun is up and the tide is going out, and if I don't throw them in they'll die．”

　　“But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it．You can't possibly make a difference!”

　　The young man listened politely, then he bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said,“It made a difference for that one．”

　　There is something very special in each and every one of us．We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference．And if we can know that gift, we will gain through the strength of our visions the power to shape the future．

　　We must each find our starfish．And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the world will be better．

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　　Recently I paid a visit to Harvard University, where there are top class scientists and professors and the best academic system in the world．

　　I was pretty shocked when I first stepped onto the campus．Well, it's not even really a campus．It's more like a district in a small town．

　　Harvard's main buildings are from the 18^th century．They look very old and simple．You might even say they're a little shabby．They don't fit the modern idea of university at all．The buildings are surrounded by grass and trees, so I felt as if I had walked into a medieval castle．But when I looked across the street, busy shops and in-fashion students made me feel like I was in the 21^st century again．It creates a strong contrast(对照)and brings a special atmosphere to the school．

　　Our tour guide Gary took us around and told us,“You see this grass field in the center of the school?Here is where they host their graduation ceremony．They just set up tents and benches and have a very simple ceremony．Unbelievable!Who would think the most talented students just graduate on the lawn?”

　　I saw some students put a blanket on the grass and lie down to read a book．When I listened to the soft sound of pages turning, along with the chirping(鸟叫声)of the birds, I felt very calm．There was no competitive feeling at all．

　　Harvard has the world's first computer in its science center and there are hundreds of high-end computers too．Its religion and the literature departments are also among the best．It is the perfect mix of tradition and new technology．It makes Harvard a very attractive place to study in．

　　I hope one day I'll attend my dream school－Harvard．

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　　Almost all theme park accidents can be prevented．Here, based on coverage of theme park safety, are some tips to help you and your family stay safe on your next visit．

　　If you are visiting with a child, take a moment to explain the ride to them, and tell them how they should behave．They are depending upon you to keep them safe．Set a good example for them by following the rules of the park, and make sure that they know you expect them to follow those rules, too．

　　Tell them to stay seated, to hold the grab bar or put their hands in the laps, and not to stick their knees and feet outside a ride vehicle．Make them look to you for the okay to get on or off a ride, too．

　　And never put a crying child on a ride．If your child starts to cry, let others pass you in line until your child is calmed．Or, gently exit the queue and find something more relaxing to do．

　　Young kids can't keep an adult's pace in a theme park．Let them take plenty of breaks．

　　“Kids get tired,” said TPI reader Matt Johnson, a father of four．“Tired kids make parents even more tired．And tired kids and parents may get hurt－physically and emotionally．” He advises that parents plan a mid-day break, perhaps a swim back at the hotel, to avoid mid-day heat and crowds．“You will see cranky families having a miserable time while you are refreshed and having a great evening．”

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The story of English language is a story of change．The old English language, or old English, is quite different from Modern English．If we do not study old English, we can't understand it．Some of the words are the same, but many are not used now．The story of the English language begins some time after the year 400 AD．At this time, some people came to England from North-west Europe．There were many groups of people．They were called Angles (盎格鲁人), Saxons(撒克逊人)and Jutes(朱特人)，whose language, old English, is like some of the modern language of North-West Europe．In old English, the ending had many meanings．They showed past time and present time and many other things．In Modern English, most of these endings are gone．This is the biggest difference between Old and Modern English．

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　　It was a village in India．The people were poor．However, they were not unhappy．After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries．

　　Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived．They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s legs．However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places．

　　This seemed like money for nothing．There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were　no use to the villagers．All they had to do was catch them．Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs．Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money．For the first time ,the people were able to dream of a better future．But the dream didn’t last long．

　　The change was hardly noticed at first ,but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well．More worrying was that the children fell ill more often ,and ,there seemed to be more insects around lately．

　　The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak．They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides(杀虫剂)and medicines．Soon there was no money left．

　　Then the people realized what was happening．It was the frog．They hadn’t been useless．They had been doing an important job-eating insects．Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly．They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases．

　　Now, the people are still poor．But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs．These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning．

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　　Too much TV-watching can harm children’s ability to learn and even reduce their chances of getting a college degree, new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television on children．

　　One of the studies looked at nearly 400 northern California third-graders．Those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedrooms TVs．

　　A second study, looking at nearly 1,000 grown-ups in New Zealand, found lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood．But the results don’t prove that TV is the cause and don’t rule out that already poorly motivated youngsters(年轻人)may watch lots of TV．

　　Their study measured the TV habits of 26-year-olds between ages 5 and 15．Those with college degrees had watched an average of less than two hours of TV per weeknight during childhood, compared with an average of more than 2? hours for those who had no education beyond high school．

　　In the California study, children with TVs in their rooms but no computer at home scored the lowest, while those with no bedroom TV but who had home computers scored the highest．

　　While this study does not prove that bedroom TV sets caused the lower scores, it adds to accumulating findings that children shouldn’t have TVs in their bedrooms．

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　　If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare,” “Samuel Johnson,” and “Webster,” but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English-William the Conqueror．

　　Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups．In the west central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic．In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon(or Old English), a Germanic language．If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German．

　　But this state of affairs did not last．In l066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England．For about a century, French became the official language of Eng-land while Old English became the language of peasants．As a result, English words of Politics and the law come from French rather than German．In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction(区别)between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words．We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating．

　　When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more "foreign" than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does．Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man's ambition．

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　　Shanghai：Car rentals(出租)are becoming more and more popular as an inexpensive way of taking to the roads．Business people, foreigners and families alike are making good use of the growing industry．

　　The first car rental firm opened in Shanghai in 1992 and now 12 car rental players are in the game, with more than 11,500 cars in their books．

　　The largest Player－Shanghai Bashi Tourism Car Rental Center Offers a wide variety of choices-deluxe sedans, minivan, station wagons, coaches．Santana sedans are the big favorite．

　　Firms can attract enough customers for 70 percent of their cars every month．This figure shoots up during holiday seasons like National Day, Labor Day and New Year's Day, with some recording 100 percent rental．

　　The major market force rests in the growing Population of white-collar employees(白领雇员工),who can afford the new service, said Zhuang Yu, marketing manager of Shanghai Angel Car Rental Co．

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