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　　Vampires(吸血鬼), creatures of myth, have been around in one form or another for centuries．Terrifying but also attractive, they are as popular in the early 21st century as ever, as the current popularity of Twilight series, and its hero Edward Cullen, show．Vampires first appeared in fiction in the 1700s; in 1895 Irish novelist Bram Stoker published Dracula, introducing the world's most famous vampire．

　　But just what is it about these drinkers of human blood that continues to fascinate us?Speaking to Eric Lewis of the Times and Transcript website, academic Deborah Wells said that vampires are “culturally adaptive(适应的)”．“We create very different vampires to fit different times．Edward Cullen is not the same as Count Dracula,” she said．

　　Different as they are, Wells believes vampires are “the perfect containers into which we can pour our current cultural anxieties”, Bram Stoker's Dracula is powerful, yet old and physically ugly．Stoker's book dealt with fear of the fall of the British Empire, real fears in the day in which it was written．

　　According to the website Bookrags, today's vampires have all our cultural desires, money, power and sexual attraction．Represented by Cullen, they are noble, handsome young men whom women find irresistible(不可抵抗的)．What's more, vampires challenge traditional ideas about death, science and parental authority(权威)．This may be why teenagers are drawn to vampire tales．

　　“In many ways, the vampire story shows up teenage concerns,” said Wells．“The emotional intensity(强度)of the relationship with the vampire matches the intensity of how it feels to have your first real love affairs．Your first real love, it really feels like life and death．”

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　　A car drew up outside the Swan Hotel and a young man got out．Pausing only for an instant to see that he had come to the right place, he went into the hotel and rang the bell on the counter of

　　the bar．

　　Mrs．Crump, the landlady, who was busy in the kitchen at the time, hurried out, wiping her

　　hands．The young man raised his hat．

　　“Excuse me,”he said．“I'm looking for my uncle, Mr．White．I believe he is staying here．”

　　“He was staying here．”Mrs．Crump corrected him．“But I'm afraid that he went back to

　　London yesterday．”

　　“Oh, dear,”said the young man, looking disappointed．“I understood that he was going to stay here until the end of the month．At least that is what his servant told me when I rang up his house．”

　　“Quite right,”said Mrs, Cramp．“He intended to stay here the whole of July, as he always does．But yesterday he got a telegram to say that his relative was ill．So he caught the train back to London immediately．”

　　“I wish he had let me know,”The young man said．“I wrote him a letter saying that I was coming．I've had all this trouble for nothing．Well, since he isn't here, there's no point in waiting．”

　　He thanked Mrs．Grump and went out．Mrs．Grump went to the window and watched him

　　drive off．When his car was out of sight, she called out：“You can come out now, Mr．White．He's gone．”

　　Mr．White came out of the kitchen, where he had been waiting．

　　“Many thanks, Mrs．Grump,”he said, laughing, “you did that very well．These nephews of mine never gave me any peace．That young man is the worst of them all．As you see, when he

　　needs money, he even follows me into the country．Well, perhaps next time he won't warn me by

　　writing a letter!”

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　　Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected, means of handling the difficult situations in our lives．It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying “no,” criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without his losing face．For some jobs, it’s the only tool that can succeed．It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialogue may start a quarrel．For example, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than people in any other forum．

　　Humor is often the best way to keep a small misunderstanding from escalating into a big deal．Recently a neighbor of mine had a squabble with his wife as she drove him to the airport．Airborne, he felt miserable, and he knew she did, too．Two hours after she returned home, she received a long-distance phone call．“person-to-person for Mrs．I．A．Pologize,”intoned the operator．“That’s spelled‘P’as in…”．In a twinkling, the whole day changed from grim to lovely at both ends of the wire．

　　An English hostess with a quick wit was giving a formal dinner for eight distinguished guests whom she hoped to enlist in a major charity drive．Austerity(节俭)was a fashion in England at the time, and she had asked her children to serve the meal．She knew that anything could happen－and it did, just as her son, with the studied concentration of a tightrope walker, brought in a large roast turkey．He successfully elbowed the swinging dining-room door, but the backswing threw the bird onto the dining-room floor．

　　The boy stood rooted：guests stared at their plates．Moving only her head the hostess smiled at her son, “No harm, Daniel, ” she said．“Just pick him up and take him back to the kitchen”…she enunciated clearly so he would think about what she was saying…“and bring in the other one．”

　　A wink and a one-liner instantly changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a conspiracy of fun．

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　　One day last September, as Britney Spears was about to board a flight to Los Angeles from London, a blue bottle fell out of her purse．She quickly put it back in, but not before the camera recorded the event．Neither Spears nor her spokesman was willing to comment on the contents of the bottle, but the next morning London’s Daily Express published a page of pictures under the headline “EXCLUSIVE：POP PRINCESS SPOTTED AT AIRPORT WITH POT OF SLIMMING TABLETS．” Spears was apparently carrying Zantrex-3, one of the most popular weight-loss pills now sold in the United States．The pill, which is sold at about fifty dollars for a month’s supply, contains a huge amount of caffeine, some green tea, and three common South American herbs that also act as stimulants(兴奋剂)．It hit the U．S．market last March and has had a success that would be hard to overstate．Millions of bottles have been sold, and during the Christmas season it was displayed in the windows of the nation’s largest chain of vitamin shops, G．N．

　　C．(It is so highly sought after that many of the stores keep it in locked counters．)Zantrex-3 is also sold at CVS, Rite _________ Aid, Wal-Mart, and other chains, and over the telephone and on the Internet．If you type “Zantrex” into Google, more than a hundred thousand pieces of information about it will appear．At any moment, there are scores of people sell it on eBay．

　　Perhaps the most interesting thing about the success story of Zantrex-3, however, is that it is far from unique．There are hundreds of similar products on the market today, and they are bought by millions of Americans．And though Zantrex’s producer makes some exciting statements(“the most advanced weight control compound(化合物)period”), so do the people who sell Stacker 2 and Anorex along with those who sell Carb Eliminator and Fat Eliminator．Almost all of these compounds suggest that they can help people lose weight and regain lost energy, and often without diet, exercise, or any other effort．

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　　Three surfers rushed to save a man’s life after he was left drifting on a notorious stretch of water．

　　The men stayed with Greg Popple for 30 minutes and had to be rescued themselves by helicopter as the drama unfolded．

　　The 45-year-old had floated out on a body board near Hutchwns Point at 8∶30 am．He found himself in trouble about half-a-mile from the shore and dangerously close to rocks．Surfers Graig Evans, 31, Robert Miles, 19, and Owain Daviees, 23, were risking their own safety to keep him floating for 30 minutes．Luckily a passer-by noticed what was going on and raised the alarm．Porthcawl Coastguard, Porthcaw Lifeboat and an RAF helicopter all took part in the rescue．

　　“The man who got into trouble was a body boarder-there was a big tide where he was,” said Joe Missen．“Three other surfers spotted he was in difficulty and he was going down．They kept him afloat because he was in a state of shock and out of energy．If Mr．Popple was closer to the rocks, it could have been a lot worse, but they managed to keep him from harm”．

　　Mr．Missen’s mum Alison, also part of the rescue team, said, “That part of the water is notorious for taking people out to nowhere”．

　　The three men had clocked off a night shift at Ford Motor Company shortly before the incident．

　　“I headed straight down to the beach for a surf, when I saw him flailing(挥动)．We just swam straight out to him and kept him calm while the help came”．

　　The four men were taken to the life boat house to recover, without injuries．

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　　In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was “Save water．Shower with a friend．” Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse．It charges students for the amount of time in a shower．Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card．The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on．It pauses when a button is pressed for soap．An integrated circuit(IC)card reader at each tap shows the time．No money, no water．The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower．The university used about 320 tones of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now．

　　Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided．Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race．Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower．Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they're still covered in soap．They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time．

　　“It's a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card,” said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University．The university is also considering some students' suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they've finished the shower．Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower．But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense．

　　Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse．

　　Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes．“In my experience, 10-20 minutes is enough,” said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes．

　　A similar system has been installed in other universities．Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September．The bathing fee there is 0.2 yuan per minute．One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower．

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　　People do not analyze every problem they meet．Sometimes they try to remember a solution from the last time they had a similar problem．They often accept the opinions or ideas of other people．Other times they begin to act without thinking．They try to find a solution by trial and error．However, when all these methods fail, the person with a problem has to start analyzing．There are six stages in analyzing a problem．

　　First the person must recognize that there is a problem．For example, Sam's bicycle is broken, and he cannot ride it to class as he usually does．Sam must see that there is a problem with his bicycle．

　　Next the thinker must define the problem．Before Sam can repair his bicycle, he must find out the reason why it does not work．For instance, he must determine if the problem is with the gears, the brakes, or the frame．He must make his problem more specific．

　　Now the person must look for information that will make the problem clearer and lead to possible solutions．For instance, suppose Sam decided that his bike does not work because there is something wrong with the gear wheels．At this time, he can look in his bicycle repair book and read about gears．He can talk to his friends at the bike shop．He can look at his gears carefully．

　　After studying the problem, the person should have several suggestions for a possible solution．Take Sam as an illustration．His suggestions might be：put oil on the gear wheels; buy new gear wheels and replace the old ones; tighten or loosen the gear wheels．

　　Eventually one suggestion seems to be the solution to the problem．Sometimes the final idea comes very suddenly because the thinker suddenly sees something new or sees something in a new way．Sam, for example, suddenly sees that there is a piece of chewing gum between the gear wheels．He immediately realizes the solution to his problem：he must clean the gear wheels．

　　Finally the solution is tested．Sam cleans the gear wheels and finds that afterwards his bicycle works perfectly．In short, he has solved the problem．

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　　Danielle Steel, America's sweetheart, is one of the hardest working woman in the book business．Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time, she can work on up to five．Her research some before writing takes at least three years．Once she has fully studied her subjects, ready to be divided into a book, she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk．

　　Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education．After graduation, he worked in the public relations and advertising, industries．Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for．Her achievements are unbelievable：390 million copies of books in print, nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels, and a series of “Max and Martha” picture books for children to help them．Deal with the real-life problem of death, new babies and new schools．Her l998 book about the death of her was shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out．Twenty-eight of her books have been made into film．She is listed in the Guinness Books of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight．

　　Not content with a big house, a loving family, and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the moat important resource and has kept in touch with them by e-mail．While she is often compared to the heroines(女主人公)of her own invention．Her life is undoubtedly much quieter．But if she does have anything in common with them, it is her strength of will and her inimitable style．There is only one Danielle Steel．

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　　It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005．While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work．On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does．After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone．

　　The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport．Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family．And the bike was also used to get groceries(食品杂货)，saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live．

　　I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story．Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help．One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, and then called my husband to pick it up．Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job．It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before．

　　People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so．This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity(人性)as a whole．And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others．No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares．And the results can be everlasting．