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　　Young women are more adventurous than young men when travelling abroad in gap years．One in three female backpackers visits more than three countries during a year out and travels alone, according to new research．

　　By contrast, the majority of their male counterparts visit only one country and tend to travel in groups, says a survey by the Gap Year company, which provides information and services for students considering taking a year out．

　　More women than men say that their prime reason for taking time off is to see the world and experience different cultures．Men are more likely to rank “having fun” higher on their list of priorities．Women are more likely to value the challenge of a foreign trip, and many cited reasons such as learning a language and meeting new people．

　　The more adventurous gap years taken by women seem to work to their benefit; more than three quarters of those surveyed have reported increased confidence, selfreliance and independence, whereas only half of the men had that experience．

　　The research also shows that women are more likely to do voluntary work while travelling, with more than one in ten helping with teaching or development projects．One of the reasons given for this is a wish to see the country in an authentic light．

　　A greater proportion of women than men face objections or criticism from their families over their gapyear plans．Among the men surveyed, lack of money is the main barrier to travel．

　　Carolyn Martin, a doctor from London, is a typically confident female traveller．Starting in Cape Town, she travelled around southern Africa and Australia with a string of unusual and sometimes dangerous jobs．

　　“I had one job chasing elephants off the runway in Africa by banging a stick against a pan，” she recalled．“It was OK but one day I did get chased by one．”

　　She said that she had travelled alone because “you meet more people”．

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　　Coffee is one of the world's most widely-enjoyed drinks．Now, a new research suggests that if you drink enough coffee, it might help you avoid certain kinds of cancer．

　　Dr．Mia Hashibe of the University of Utah School of Medicine was interested in the connection between coffee drinking and certain cancers of the head and neck．Researchers have looked into this before, but without reaching any firm conclusions．She said, "So this finding from our new study was quite a surprise．We didn't really have any expectation of which direction it could go into．"

　　To sort out the confusion, Hashibe and her assistants used statistical(统计学)techniques to, in effect, make one big study out of the earlier smaller studies．She explained, "Thanks to the earlier studies, we have a lot more power than earlier studies that looked at this．And we included 4, 000 cancer patients who have cancer of the mouth and throat．And then 9, 000 controls, people who do not have cancer．'

　　Those studies--in Europe and the United States--found that people who drank a lot of coffee were less likely to develop cancers of the mouth and throat．"We saw a protective effect for drinking more than 4 cups of coffee per day, " Hashibe said．"This was the 40 percent decrease in risk．We did not see the same effect for drinking three cups or less per day．"

　　Mia Hashibe said there was a weak connection between cancer risk and drinking coffee without caffeine．And she and her assistants found no proof that drinking tea provided the same protection as drinking Coffee．Their research is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention．

　　Hashibe says it is not clear how coffee might protect drinkers from certain cancers．"There are a few chemicals that are known to be antioxidants(抗氧化物)in coffee．So we are thinking perhaps they are playing some sort of protective role against several cancers．"

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　　One of the most interesting paradoxes in America today is that Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is now engaged in a serious debate about what a university should be, and whether it is measuring up．

　　Like the Roman Catholic Church and other ancient institutions, it is asking－still in private rather than in public－whether its past assumptions about faculty, authority, admissions, courses of study, are really relevant to the problems of the new era．

　　Should Harvard or any other university be an intellectual sanctuary(圣地), apart from the political and social revolution of the age, or should it be a laboratory for experiment with these political and social revolutions; or even an engine of the revolution? This is what is being discussed privately in the big clapboard houses of faculty members around the Harvard Yard．

　　The issue was defined by Waiter Lippmann, a distinguished Harvard graduate, several years ago．“If the universities are to do their work,” he said, “they must be independent and they must be fair… They are places to which men can turn for judgments which are unbiased by partisanship and special interest．Obviously, the moment the universities fall under political control, or under the control of private interests, or the moment they themselves take a hand in politics and the leadership of government, their value as independent and disinterested sources of judgment is impaired．”

　　This is part of the argument that is going on at Harvard today．Another part is the argument of the militant and even many moderate students：that a university is the keeper of our ideals and morals, and should not be “fair” but activist in bringing the nation’s ideals and actions together．

　　Harvard’s men of today seem more troubled and less sure about personal, political and academic purpose than they did at the beginning．They are not even clear about how they should debate and resolve their problems, but they are struggling with them privately, and how they come out is bound to influence American university and political life in the new era．

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　　Levi Strauss, who was born in 1830 and went to the USA at the age of 17, sat in the saloon and drank his beer slowly．He began to think．Business was not good．Nobody wanted to buy anything．He thought about the canvas and the pots and pans on the wagon．Then he remembered the hole in Hank’s trousers．Suddenly, he had an idea－“pants”, he jumped up and shouted, “Everyone needs pants．” He hurried to a tailor and gave him all his canvas．

　　“I want you to make pants with this canvas,” he said．“Can you do that?”

　　“Yes, of course,” said the tailor, “What name is it?”

　　“Strauss, Levi Strauss．”

　　It was the beginning of jeans．Now more than a hundred years later, people wear jeans all over the world and everyone knows the name of Levi Strauss．In the 1860s, farmers, rail-road workers, cowboys and miners helped to develop the new land．Life was hard．They worked for long hours in all kinds of weather．They wore trousers made by Levi Strauss．They were the first people to wear jeans in America．

　　Jeans first came to Europe with the American soldiers during World War II．Soon, workers in Europe were wearing them．Workers liked them：they were cheap, hardwearing and practical．They were not popular with young people generally until the late 1950s and early 1960s．

　　It came suddenly．It started in America and it crossed the Atlantic quickly．It was a new kind of music, a new kind of dance．Rock’ n Roll．The king of Rock’ n Roll was Elvis Presley．Teenagers loved him．At home he wore a T shirt, an old leather jacket and blue jeans, so more and more teenagers began to wear jeans．They liked them tight．

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　　An acrobatic show：To celebrate its 50^th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe(剧团)will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real．Chills will run down your spine(脊柱)as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge．

　　Time：7∶30 p. m., September 13-19

　　Place：Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District

　　Joint Show：A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing．About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display．

　　Time：9∶00 a. m.－5∶00 p. m. until September 10

　　Place：Huangshicheng Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District

　　Oil paintings：The Wanfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil painting by 10 young and middle-aged artists．On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wondrous variety of life in unique styles．

　　Time：9∶00 a. m.－4∶00 p. m. until September 15

　　Place：136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District

　　Literature museum：The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in-depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949．

　　Time：9∶00 a. m.－4∶00 p. m., daily

　　Place：45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District(Shaoyaoju area)

　　Beijing rocks：“The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month．Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals．The audience will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm．

　　Time：September 16

　　Place：The Olympic Center

　　Belgium Orchestra：La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orehestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world in memory of the 250^th anniversary of Bach’s death．

　　Time：7∶30 p. m．September 11－14

　　Place：Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities

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　　It is difficult to imagine what life would be like without memory．The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions, the basis for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory．

　　Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use．It not only includes "remembering" things like arithmetic or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves．Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed(嗅出)something suspicious in the grain pile．

　　Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines．Computers, for example, contain devices for storing data for later use．It is interesting to compare the memory storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being．The instant access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100, 000 "words"－string of alphabetic or numerical characters－ready for instant use．An average U．S．teenager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100, 000 words of English．However, this is but a fraction of the total amount of information that the teenager has stored．Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the teenager can recognize on sight．

　　The use of words is the basis of the advanced problem-solving intelligence of human beings．A large part of a person's memory is in terms of words and combinations of words．But while language greatly expands the number and the king of things a person can remember, it also requires a huge memory capacity．It may well be this capacity that distinguishes humans, setting them apart from other animals．

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　　Have you heard of the saying, “If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing well”? The proverb is a piece of advice to make effort towards perfection in whichever job one does．It could be a small task like folding up your clothes, or a major ne like organizing a business meeting in your later life．

　　Perfection is nothing but attention to details．If it is your job to dust the furniture at home, dust it so that not a single spot of dirt shows from any angle．If your task is to make the beds, make them so that not a single crease(皱痕)shows on the bed-covers．

　　There are only two ways to do a job：either sloppily, or well．If you choose the latter path, you need to realize that any job that qualifies as “your” work deserves nothing less than your best．Perfection is an attitude that can be cultivated(培养)with just a little effort．It is a habit that does much good to your later life．Let us prove with an example：you may be asked to turn in an essay on, say, wildlife, for a school project．Instead of writing carelessly a few facts that you already know, you could make the project more effective by looking up reference books, encyclopedias(百科全书)or websites for additional information．You could then go over the finished essay for slips(疏漏)and errors, and provide pictures where necessary．If you make it a habit to put in extra effort in your school homework, will it not help you to handle more difficult projects at the college or university level?

　　As Michelangelo, the famous 16th century sculptor and painter, once put it：Trifles(琐事)go to make perfection, and perfection is no trifle．

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　　BUY A COMPUTER & LEARN HOW TO SURF THE INTERNET!

　　Surfers’ Paradise, the largest computer chain in Singapore, is offering a special package(软件包)for school students for the month of June only!

　　Enjoy：

　　1．Free Internet connection package;

　　2．Free basic Internet training from our computer school;

　　3．free computer peripherals(外围设备)worth ＄300．

　　Simply purchase a computer from any of our stores and you’ll get the free gifts listed above．Show us your Transitlink concession pass(so we know you are a school student)and get an added 30％ discount off any computer model!

　　Call on us at：

　　Main Office

　　Blk 152 International Industrial Complex

　　01-10

　　Singapore 531122

　　Opening Hours：10 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week

　　City Branch

　　123 Computer City

　　10-100

　　Singapore 991199

　　Opening Hours：10 am to 6 pm, closed Sundays and public holidays

　　East Coast Branch

　　22-24 Pinetree Avenue

　　Singapore 551155

　　Opening Hours：10 am to 6 pm, closed Sundays and public holidays

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　　A second kind of medicine is called “natural cures, ” or “folk medicine, ” in which less educated people try to cure sicknesses with various herbs(中草药)．These folk healers also use observation and logic, but they are not so aware of it．They try things until they find something that seems to work, and then keep doing that．Folk medicine flourished long before the development of scientific medicine and was more successful in ancient times than doctor medicine．

　　The third kind is called “health spas, ” or “faith healing．” Sometimes this may be as simple as touching the holy man and being immediately healed．Other times, a magician may make you a magic charm, or say a spell, to cure you．Some religious groups organize special healing shrines for the sick．In these places people rest, get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food, drink water instead of wine, and exercise in various ways．They also talk to the priests and pray to the gods．If you are feeling depressed or you have been working too hard, going to these places may be just the right thing to make you feel better．

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　　V．Drew Gilpin Faust made history in 2007 when she became the first female president of Harvard University, Massachusetts, US．Faust is an excellent historian known especially for her work on the history of the American South．She was a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania for 25 years．In 2001, she became dean(院长)of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard．

　　Born in 1947, Faust grew up in a traditional family．She has often spoken of her “continued confrontations(对抗)” with her mother “about the requirements of what she usually called femininity(女性特质)”．Her mother used to tell her, “It’s a man’s world, sweetie．And the sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be．”

　　However, the daughter was a rebellious one．For example, Faust would fight with her mother over whether it was suitable for her to drive a car at night, even if one of her three brothers was a passenger．“She was raised to be a rich man’s wife, ” said a friend, Elizabeth Warren．“Instead she becomes the president of the most powerful university in the world．”

　　As a girl, Faust rebelled against not only the strict rules of femininity, but also the racial injustice that existed in her native Virginia．At age 9, after a conversation with her family’s black handyman(杂务工)and driver, she sent a letter to President Dwight D．Eisenhower decrying(谴责)racial injustice．When studying in Bryn Mawr, a women’s college in Pennsylvania, she was a student activist who would go on to march in the civil rights protests(抗议)in the 1960s．

　　What would her mother, who never went to college and died in 1966, have to say about her appointment? “I’ve often thought about that, ” she said．“I’ve had dialogues with my dead mother over the 40 years since she died．”