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　　Grandpa Nybakken loved life－especially when he could play a trick on somebody．At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, “Oh, forevermore!” But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and grandpa wasn’t laughing．

　　Grandpa worked as a carpenter．On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage abroad．On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone．He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church．His search proved fruitless．

　　Suddenly, he realized what had happened．The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut．His brand new glasses were heading for China!

　　The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children．He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning．

　　“It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration．“I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this．”

　　Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on vacation in the United States．He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago．Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation(教堂会众)．

　　“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year．”

　　“Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses．Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this．Then your boxes arrived．When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on the top．” After a long pause, he continued, “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that!”

　　The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses．But the director surely must have confused their church with another, they thought, there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas．

　　But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way．

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Welcome to Adventureland！

　　Everyone loves Adventureland! The Parks and Exhibitions were built for you to explore(探索), enjoy, and admire their wonders．Every visit will be an unforgettable experience．You will go away enriched, longing to come back．What are you going to do this time?

　　The Travel Pavilion

　　Explore places you have never been to before, and experience different ways of life．Visit the Amazon jungle(丛林)village, the Turkish market, the Tai floating market, the Berber mountain house and others．Talk to the people there who will tell you about their lives, and things they make．You can try making a carpet, making nets, fishing…

　　The Future Tower

　　This exhibition shows how progress will touch our lives．It allows us to look into the future and explore the cities of the next century and the way we’ll be living then．Spend some time in our space station and climb into our simulator(模拟装置)for the Journey to Mars!

　　The Nature Park

　　This is not really one park but several．In the Safari Park you can drive among African animals in one of our Range Cruisers：see lions, giraffes, elephants in the wild．Move on to the Ocean Park to watch the dolphins and whales．And then there is still the Aviary to see…

　　The Pyramid

　　This is the center of Adventureland．Run out of film, need some postcards and stamps? For all these things and many more, visit our underground shopping center．Come here for information and ideas too．

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　　It is natural that children are curious about the world around them．For example, they want to know how their hearts beat．They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty．

　　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things．When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers．They become interested in the physical world around them：the plants, the animals, the sky．Later, they become interested in the things that people have made：wheels, bicycles, cars．And when they are adults, their curiosity continues．Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career(生涯、职业)in science．

　　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world．Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies．Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences．A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e．g．physics, chemistry．

　　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world．For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run．They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute．Your heart is a pump(泵)that pumps blood to all parts of the body．The blood carries oxygen and nutrition．When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them．The muscles need oxygen, too．So your brain sends a signal to the heart．The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen．Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles．It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute．

　　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions．If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks．When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks．Rain falls into cracks．The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers．The rivers carry the salt into the ocean．But then we ask, “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year．” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question．

　　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious．

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　　Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain．Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health．They describe chocolate as “something to die for” or say “death by chocolate”．Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence(证据)is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways：

　　A happier heart

　　Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa－the main ingredient in chocolate and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart．Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow．These benefits are the result of cocoa’s chemicals, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation(炎症)．

　　Better blood pressure

　　If yours is high, chocolate may help．Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3．5 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly．

　　Muscle magic

　　Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout(锻炼)．In a small study at Indiana University, people who drank chocolate milk between workouts did better on a tiredness test than those who had some sports drinks．

　　Better for your skin．German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special cocoa every day．After three months, the women’s skin was moister(滑润的)and smoother．The research shows that chocolate helps protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance．

　　Brain gains

　　It sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving by increasing blood flow to the brain．

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　　He wishes the holiday season would end already．His back aches, his red suit feels like a spacesuit, his cheeks have gone tight from smiling for 12 hours－and still the kids keep coming and coming, like ants at a picnic．As Christmas becomes more commercialized(商业化)across the U．S．and Canada, so must Santas．As the holiday begins earlier each year, so must its spokesmen．

　　The questions from children these days are harder than ever．Now, with thousands of children expecting a father or mother serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the questions are as heart-breaking as they are unanswerable．For example, “Can you please bring Daddy home from the war in time for Christmas morning?”

　　Santas also have a pretty good chance of getting sued(指控)．A professional Santa Claus in Canada told a story：A Santa had a girl on his knee, and he commented, “You have nice eyes and nice hair．” The girl later said it was sexual harassment(骚扰)．When a Santa feels anxious, he often shows it in the same ways ordinary people do：The Santas were always seen to hang around at the dinner table when the show ended．Many of them just sleep in bed for several days and don’t see other children again．

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　　Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned 12, a white gardenia was delivered to my house．No card came with it．Calls to the flower-shop were not helpful at all．After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s name and just delighted in the beautiful white flower in soft pink paper．

　　But I never stopped imagining who the giver might be．Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about the sender．My mother encouraged these imaginings．She’d ask me if there was someone for whom I had done special kindness．Perhaps it was the old man across the street whose mail I’d delivered during the winter．As a girl, though, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I had run into．

　　One month before my graduation, my father died．I felt so sad that I became completely uninterested in my upcoming graduation dance, and I didn’t care if I had a new dress or not．But my mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss any of those things．She wanted her children to feel loved and lovable．In truth, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia-lovely, strong and perfect with perhaps a bit of mystery(神秘)．My mother died ten days after I was married．I was 22．That was the year the gardenia stopped coming．

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　　In the eyes of dog lovers, the dog is man’s best friend．But for much wildlife, loose dogs may be a dangerous enemy, according to a study by a biologist from Utah State University in the US．

　　Based on much existing research and their own case studies, Julie Young of Utah State University and four other scientists conclude that loose dogs may represent a huge danger to wildlife, especially endangered species, by hunting down or worrying them and by spreading diseases．They also found that dogs, their worldwide numbers around 500 million, can cause more damage to wildlife and livestock(牲畜)than wolves and other enemies of these animals．

　　Young gave examples from the US state of Idaho, where research showed the presence of dogs reducing some deer populations．On the Navajo American Indians’ reservation in northeastern Arizona, packs of loose dogs are chasing livestock．They have killed populations of small animals such as rabbits and act as a disease carrier for rabies(狂犬病)among people and other animals, she said．Loose dogs also were to blame for distemper outbreak leading to a die-off of endangered black-footed ferrets in northwestern Wyoming in the 1980s．

　　The phenomenon is not just limited to US; it’s a global problen．Julie Young once studied three endangered species in central Asia：wild sheep, gazelles and antelope．The rate of injury and death to these animals by loose dogs was very high．In another case, Young found that dogs, not wolves, as originally suspected, were responsible for a large number of livestock killings in the mountainous Basque country between Spain and France．

　　Authors of the new study said the problem is likely to worsen as communities expand．Then how to deal with it?

　　Indeed, in many countries, leash(拴狗的皮带)laws permit punishment of dog owners whose pets chase wildlife．But lawbreakers are rarely punished because the police lack both people and money．

　　Young has low-cost solutions to the problem for dog lovers, though．They include public dog-training programs and vaccinating(预防接种)dogs against rabies and other illnesses．

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　　I was working with a client who was completely burned out on her career and life and then ready for a career change．As we were talking, she said, “I just wish I had meaningful work．I don’t feel like I am making a difference．I am just wasting my life．” This is the theme I hear most often from clients who have been in the workforce a while．All of us want to feel like we are making a difference．We want to believe our work means something．The problem comes in defining “meaningful work”．What is it? That answer is different for everyone．For some meaningful work might be helping others organize their office．For others it may mean making a million dollars．

　　What really matters is how you see it．What is meaningful work to you? Take out a piece of paper and answer these questions．How do you define meaningful work? When do you feel like you are really making a difference? What work have you done so far that feels the most meaningful? Write down whatever comes to mind．

　　What you want to do is meaningful．It is very easy to start judging yourself as being selfish．Stop! Allow yourself to be honest．The fact is when Picasso painted; he was doing it because he liked to paint．He was not thinking, “Oh, I hope this brings joy to others’ lives．” He painted because he wanted to．When Beethoven composed, he did it because he loved music．Even scientists searching for a cure for cancer are immersed in their work because it fascinates them．

　　Don’t look down on your work．It is easy to downplay the importance of work that feels meaningful．I remember Tony Robbins told a story of talking with the owner of a major company．The man said to Tony, “I wish I could do what you do because it makes such a difference in people’s lives”．Tony said, “You have got to be kidding! Look at what a difference you make．You provide work, health insurance and security for thousands of people!” Don’t underestimate the value you provide．

　　Take a look at what you have written about meaningful work．Do you see any themes? How do you wish to contribute to this world? Whatever you choose, remember that the greatest gift you can give is to find work that makes you feel fulfilled and delighted．Respect your preference because giving your gifts to the world, whatever they look like, is the most meaningful action you can ever take．

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　　There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown．They probably came about just to give children something to do．

　　In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another．In societies where social roles are strictly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls after the tasks of their mothers．This is true because boys and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world．

　　What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same．The changes have been mostly in terms of skill, mechanics, and technology．It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their insistence to the present that is amazing．In Egypt, the US, China, Japan and among the Arctic peoples, generally the same kinds of toys appeared．Variations depended on local customs and ways of life because toys reflect their surroundings．Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles．

　　Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been affected by technological quick development that characterize inventions for adult use．The progress from the wheel to the ox-cart to the automobile is a direct line of ahievement．The progress from a rattle(拨浪鼓)used by a baby in 3000 BC to one used by a baby today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness．Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of times and subject to the limtations of available materials．

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　　In only two decades Asian Americans have become the fastest-growing US minority．As their children began moving up through the nation’s schools, it became clear that a new class of academic achievers was forming．Their achievements are reflected in the nation’s best universities, where mathematics, science and engineering departments have taken on a decidedly Asian character．This special liking for mathematics and science is partly explained by the fact that Asian-American students who began their educations abroad arrived in the US with a solid grounding in mathematics but little or no knowledge of English．They are also influenced by the promises of a good job after college．Asians feel there will be less unfair treatment in areas like mathematics and science because they will be judged more objectively．And the return on the investment in education is more immediate in something like engineering than with an arts degree．

　　Most Asian-American students owe their success to the influence of parents who are determined that their children take full advantage of what the American educational system has to offer．An effective measure of parental attention is homework．Asian parents spend more time with their children than American parents do, and it helps．Many researchers also believe there is something in Asian culture that causes success, such as ideals that stress family values and emphasize education．

　　Both explanations for academic success worry Asian Americans because of fears that they feed a typical racial image．Many can remember when Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants were the victims of social separation．Indeed, it was not until 1952 that laws were laid down giving all Asian immigrants the right to citizenship．

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