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　　More American people take their troubles with them on holiday, according to a new survey．Although 40 percent said that the main reason for going away is to escape pressure(压力)from work, almost all said they worry more than they do at home．Only four in every 100 said that they are happy and free of care．

　　The most common worry is burglary(入室盗窃), with four out of 10 worrying about their homes being broken into while they’re abroad．More than a quarter fear they will feel crazy with some other noisy and rough holiday-makers and 22 percent worry they may be attacked or their possessions will be missing．One in five think the car may break down; and the same number worry about the chances of bad weather．

　　The survey also showed that the stay-at-home Americans are no more．Three out of every five want to have a holiday abroad, a great increase from the figures only three years ago．The hotel holiday is still a winner, with about one third of all Americana preferring to go on a self-catering(自助)holiday．

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　　Television has changed our lives in many ways．Many people now spend more time watching TV than doing anything else．Researchers in the USA has estimated(估计)that when most students leave school they have spent 11,000 hours in the classroom and 22,000 hours watching television．But what effect does this have?

　　Benefits(好处)of television：

　　1．Television helps us to learn more about the world and to know and see many mew things．Television can offer present information to us in a more effective way than books．It can also make things more memorable．

　　2．It entertains(使欢乐)us．It is an enjoyable way to relax．For millions of people around the world, television is a source of companionship and helps them to cope with everyday life．

　　3．It has increased the popularity of sports and arts．

　　4．It has made us aware of our global responsibilities．In 2000, for example, 1．5billion people in 147 countries watched a TV pop concert and helped to collect more than ＄100million for people in Africa．

　　Dangers：

　　1．Television can make us passive(消极的)．We don't have to think and our brains become lazy．

　　2．It encourages us to buy things that we don’t need, and can make us unhappy with our own life．

　　3．It takes time away from activities such as reading, conversation, and games．

　　4．It gives a false picture of society．A study in 2003 showed that people who watch a lot of TV are more afraid of crime．They also think that there is a lot more crime than there really is．

　　5．Some critics(批评家)say that television make people violent．A ten-year study in the United States showed that children who watch violent television programmes are more likely to be violent themselves．

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　　The British are very polite and have good manners－they are never tired of saying “Thank you”, “I am sorry”, or “Excuse me．” They have good table manners．They enjoy their breakfasts and most of all the traditional tea around 4 or 5 o’clock．

　　The normal working week has five days．Factory workers usually start at 8 am and offices, shops and schools open at 9 am．Workers have 3 weeks’ holidays and professional workers(people with higher education)have usually longer holidays(a month or more)．Except these holidays they have public holidays：e．g．New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day．

　　An average Englishman like to live in his own house．Houses are made of red bricks, stone and wood．The house usually has from 4 to 6 rooms, two floors, small front and back gardens．On the ground floor there is a hall, a kitchen, a living room with a fireplace and on the first floor there are parents’ and children’s bedrooms and a bathroom．The prices of houses depend on the area－the most expensive are the houses in London and South England(about 200,000 pounds); smaller houses in other areas may cost about 50,000 pounds．

　　Social Welfare－The National Health Service gives largely free treatment for everyone living in Britain．People can choose their family doctors．In case of emergency you can call the ambulance by dialing 999 from everywhere．Health centres are run by local authorities．About 7 percent of hospitals, dentists and family doctors work as private．

　　There are about 130 daily and Sunday newspapers and a lot of weekly papers and magazines．The oldest newspaper is The Times．Other famous newspapers are Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Financial Times, etc．

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　　Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again．They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food．They are learning a lot about the deserts．But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time．Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time．

　　Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts．People are doing bad things to the earth．

　　Some places on the earth don't get much rain．But they still don't become deserts．This is because some green plants are growing there．Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places．Plants don't let the sun make the earth even drier．Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away．When a bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water．Without plants, the land can become desert more easily．

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　　In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc．in almost every family．These are their pets．People love these pets and have them as their good friends．Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections(注射)so that they won't carry disease．They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store．Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food．When you visit people's houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them．You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden．All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal．They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada．They have a law against killing wild animals．If you killed an animal，you would be punished．If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it．

　　People in Canada have many reasons to like animals．One of them might be：Their family ties are not as close as ours．When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life．Then the old will feel lonely．But pets can solve this problem．They can be good friends and never leave them alone．

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　　Should doctors ever lie to benefit their patient－to speed recovery or to cover the coming of death? In medicine as in law, government, and other lines of work, the requirements of honesty often seem dwarfed(变矮小)by greater needs：the need to protect from brutal news or to uphold a promise of secrecy; to advance the public interest．

　　What should doctors say, for example, to a 46-year-old man coming in for a routine physical check up just before going on vacation with his family who, though he feels in perfect health, is found to have a form of cancer that will cause him to die within six months．Is it best to tell him the truth? If he asks, should the doctor reject that he is ill, or minimize the gravity of the illness? Should they at least hide the truth until after the family vacation?

　　Doctors face such choices often．At times, they see important reasons to lie for the patient’s own sake; in their eyes, such lies differ sharply from self-serving ones．

　　Studies show that most doctors sincerely believe that the seriously ill patients do not want to know the truth about their condition, and that informing them risks destroying their hope, so that they may recover more slowly, or deteriorate(恶化)faster, perhaps even commit suicide．

　　But other studies show that, contrary to the belief of many physicians; a great majority of patients do want to be told the truth, even about serious illness, and feel cheated when they learn that they have been misled．We are also learning that truthful information, humanly conveyed, helps patients cope this illness：help them tolerate pain better, need less medicine, and even recover faster after operation．

　　There is urgent need to debate this issue openly．Not only in medicine, but in other professions as well, practitioners may find themselves repeatedly in difficulty where serious consequences seem avoidable only through deception(欺骗)．Yet the public has every reason to know professional deception, for such practices are peculiarly likely to become deeply rooted, to spread, and to trust．Neither in medicine, nor in law, government, or the social sciences can there be comfort in the old saying, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you．”

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　　Is it time to kick Russia out of the BRICs(金砖四国)?If so, it may end up sounding like a famous ball-point pen maker－BIC．An argument is being made that Goldman Sach’s famous marketing device(策略), the BRICs, should really be the BICs．

　　“Is Russia really worth the name BRICs?” asks Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an article for Foreign Policy．Aslund, who is also co-author with Andrew Kuchins of “The Russian Balance Sheet”, thinks the Russia of Putin and Medvedev is just not worthy of inclusion alongside Brazil, India and China in the list of future economic powerhouses．He writes：

　　“The country’s economic performance has fallen to such a weak level that one must ask whether it has any say at all on the global economy, compared with the other members of its group．I have just returned from Moscow, which is always dull around this season．For the last seven years, Russia has taken very few measures to improve its economy．Instead, the state has been living on oil and gas．”

　　Economically, Aslund has the numbers on his side．The International Monetary Fund figures that the Russian economy will fall by 6．7 percent in 2009, while China will grow 8．5 percent and India 5．4 percent．There is less of a case for Brazil, with a fall of 0．7 percent, but it is still doing far better than Russia．

　　But the BRICs are not just about economy．As is mentioned above, it is a marketing device to encourage investors(投资者)to focus on the big promising players．From an investment standpoint, it could be argued that Russia is leading the BRICs．Its stock market is up 128 percent this year while around 80 percent is for the other three．

　　At very least, despite Russia’s economic underperformance, its stock market outperformance does suggest it is indeed one of the group．

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　　It is normal for parents to question their children’s hairstyle or the clothes they wear．But today teenagers and their parents argue over something else：money．

　　Children are spending lots of it．Parents used to say to their children, “You’re wearing that?” Now they say, “You paid how much for that?”

　　Children in the US today spend five times more money than their parents did when they were young．

　　So what are all these children buying? The list is long：iPods, trainers, cell phones and jeans are typical items that children “have to”buy．And they will do anything to get them．They ask their parent’s over and over until they buy them．

But parents also need to take the blame for spending so much money．They want their children to have the best stuff．They end up competing with other parents over what their children have．

　　So no wonder children find it hard to learn the importance of saving money rather than spending it all the time．

　　And it’s hard to save when companies use advertising and clever slogans to encourage young people to buy their products．They even encourage children to keep asking their parents for something until they get it．

　　Today, you don’t even need to have money in order to buy something．Banks give out credit cards and loans all the time so people are saving less and less．We are used to there being lots of money around．And if you don’t have much you can always borrow some．

　　But this hasn’t always been the case．When our grandparents were young there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought．They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted．

　　The older generation made the wise expression, “Money doesn’t grow on trees．”This is as true now as it was 50 years ago．They give money a great deal of value．And we all have a lot to learn from them．

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　　Sydney－A shark savaged a schoolboy’s leg while he was surfing with his father at a beach in Sydney on February 23．It was the third shark attack along the coast of Australia’s largest city in a month．

　　The 15-year-old boy and his father were in the water off Avalon, on Sydney’s northern beaches, around dawn when he was attacked．The city’s beaches are packed with locals and tourists during the summer months．

　　“The father heard a scream and turned to see his son trashing(扭动)about in the water,” police said．“Fortunately, the shark swam away and the boy was helped to shore by his father．”

　　Lifesaving Club spokesman Nick Miller said, “It got him around the top of his left leg and the father came and dragged his out of water．” He said the boy was bleeding heavily when he was brought to the shore．“There was a lot of pain, as you can imagine．” The teenager was airlifted to hospital for treatment for leg injuries．

　　Police said the bites “cut through to the bone”, but the boy did not appear to have sustained any fractures(骨折)．He was in a stable condition now．

　　Several beaches were closed after the attack．Water police and lifeguards were searching for the shark, while police hoped to identify its species by the shape of the bite marks．But they said it was too early to say what type of shark attacked the boy．“I don’t even know if he saw it,” Miller said．

　　Many shark species live in the waters off Sydney’s beaches, but attacks on humans are still relatively rare．However, there were two attacks on successive days earlier this month, one on a navy diver in Sydney harbor, not far from the famous Opera House, and the other on a surfer at the city’s world-famous Bondi beach．

　　Fishermen say shark numbers are on the rise．There is a ban on commercial fishing in the harbor, which has increased fish stocks．Marine experts also claim environmental protection has created a cleaner environment, attracting sharks closer to the shore as they chase fish．Many shark species, including the Great White－the man-eaters made famous in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws－are protected in Australian waters．

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　　Ever felt like destroying the car in front of you when you’re stuck in an endless traffic jam?

　　Well, the Spanish company StopStress is offering clients the possibility of doing just that－but in controlled, safe conditions．

　　Clients can also destroy computers, mobile phones and TV sets in what the company calls “destructotherapy”．

　　“We target the machines that cause the most stress in modern life,” company co-founder Jorge Arribas said in a telephone interview．“People get rid of stress by screaming and beating the machines until they are tired out,” he explained．

　　The company, based in the northern Spanish city of Sofia, uses deserted cars that still work．Heavy-metal music is used to excite the clients．They are given protective suits and glasses, helmets and huge hammers．

　　Most people’s rage only lasts for 5 to 10 minutes．But some go on for hours：they beat cars on which they’ve put the names of people or ideas they would like to get rid of．

　　“Some even get together to turn the car over,” Arribas says．A session costs 60 euros(US＄80)per person．

　　Arribas says the idea came to him when he was having trouble parking his car．

　　Dozens of people have used the therapy, which helps people become aware of their stress level and helps them to slow down, Arribas explained．

　　“It’s better to channel violence in a controlled way than to get it out on one’s wife or in a traffic husband and jam,” he added．

　　StopStress already has branches in three Spanish cities, and is planning to extend its market beyond Spain’s borders．