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　　Prince Charles yesterday pledged(承诺)to reduce the royal impact on the environment through sweeping changes to his personal lifestyle and official schedule．The prince will replace carbon-heavy private jets and helicopters with scheduled flights and train services．

　　The move came as Prince Charles urged business leaders to publish the environmental pact(协定)of their activities．

　　He said, “Few accountants and business decision-makers ask, ‘How much of our critical natural resource is left? How many miles of polar ice cap have our business helped melt this year? By how many inches have we raised sea levels? How many species have we put at risk? How many homes will be flooded? How many people will die of thirst or starvation because of our activities?’ These are not comfortable questions, but, by God, they need to be asked．”

　　He added, “At the moment these costs do not appear in anyone’s books… Yet they are real, they are happening now and in a relatively short time, the damage being caused maybe beyond remedy(补救)．” He said the world has “running up the biggest global credit card debt in history, but with little or no thought for how the bill will ever be paid．”

　　Flanked by the prime minister and business and community leaders at St James’s Palace, the prince said his new “accounting for sustainability” project would give consumers the power to choose products that caused less damage to the planet．

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●CAR HIRE

Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday．There are so many places of interest to visit, and if you enjoy more than just the city center, there's no better way to

explore than by car．

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　　People often ask me how, as a man, I became so devoted to improving the quality of women's lives．It wasn't until age forty that I realized what had started me down my career path．

　　One morning more than thirty-seven years ago, I was awakened by the passing school bus．I was thirteen years old, living at home with my two younger brothers and our mother, Doris Joy Heavin．She had just passed her fortieth birthday．She was a mother of five children and had suffered emotional and physical problems most of her life．Her doctor had tried various treatments on her with little benefit．

　　As I awoke to the sound of the passing school bus, my brother Paul came in and told me that I'd better come quickly because mother was sick．As I knelt beside her bed, I could feel the absence of warmth．I put my arms around her, first to feel for a sign of life, and then as a final hug．I took my younger brothers, aged eight and nine, in my arms and gently told them that our mother was in heaven．

　　Her death was unnecessary．The high blood pressure causing the blood clot(血栓)that took her life was unnecessary．Rather than medicate the symptoms, she could have dealt with the cause of her high blood pressure：we now know that exercise and proper nutrition will almost always reduce the causes of high blood pressure and most other chronic(慢性的)diseases．

　　Many years later, while teaching a fitness and weight loss class to a group of about eighty women, I realized I was subconsciously(下意识地)searching the crowd for the face of my mother．

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　　When you think of success, you think of relative achievements in your own world．Each element of your world is important to you, and there is no need to compare with others．You cannot affect the success of others; you can affect your own success．

　　Success is very much achievable to everybody．Believe that and you have taken the first step．If you do not believe in yourself, then building self-esteem is your first task．However, believing in your ability to achieve whatever you want to succeed in, is very important if you are not to be held back by self-doubt throughout your journey to success．

　　There are many things that will affect your ability to succeed, and it is best to focus on those under your immediate control．Once you do that, then the characteristics you develop can be applied to becoming successful in a range of activities．

　　What is important to you is that, as you start to reach milestones in your ambitions, you should appreciate your own achievements．Appreciating yourself will strengthen your self-confidence and your determination to succeed．

　　Some of the key characteristics you will find in those who are successful are perseverance, prepared to research, plan, work hard and practice a lot even when things do not seem to be going well, and an ability to recover and learn from setbacks．At the beginning of whatever you are trying to succeed in, a strong vision of your future, planning, and setting yourself achievable targets can all play an important role．

　　All these qualities, skills and characteristics can be learned and developed．But it is up to you to get things started．Those who do not start travel nowhere．For others, life can be a continuous journey of fulfillment．

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　　The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers．It has been made to help you better manage your money．The Winners Club is a transaction account(交易账户)where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24/7－that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

　　It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers：

　　You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees．In fact, there are no account keeping or transaction fees!

　　You want your money to grow．The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits(储蓄)without taking them out in a month．

　　Teenagers are busy－we get that．You may never need to come to a bank at all．With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet．You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account．This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!

　　Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money．There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members．

　　The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers．And it is so easy to join．Simply fill in an application form．You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian(so we can organize that cool key-card)but it is easy．We can’t wait to hear from you．It’s the best way to choose to be a winner!

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　　I got my first driver’s license(执照)in 1953 by taking driver education in my first year at Central High School in Charlotte, North Carolina．Four years later when it was time to renew my license I was a married woman．Henry and I were living in Baltimore, Maryland．Two weeks before my 20th birthday, Henry drove me to the motor vehicle office on a hot July afternoon．When I got to the office and showed to the man behind the counter my North Carolina driver’s license，ready to renew, the man told me that I was under age by Maryland law since I was not yet 21．“Mr．Henry Smith, your husband, will have to sign for you,” he said．

　　I argued, pointing to a very large belly(肚子)of mine, “I am married．I am having a baby．Why should I have to have someone sign for me to drive?” He answered coldly, “It’s the law, madam．”

　　Henry encouraged me to calm down, just go ahead and get the license and be done with it．“No,” I said．I refused to have him sign for me．So I left without a Maryland license．

　　I called the North Carolina Motor Vehicle Office and renewed my NC license by mail－using my name Susan Brown．And thus it was for the next twelve years．Since Henry was in the army I could drive under my home state license．By the time Henry left the army we were once again living in Maryland, and I had to take the Maryland driver’s exam．Since then I just go in and renew every four years－sign the name Susan Brown, have my new picture taken, and walk out with a license to drive．

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　　Howling is a behaviour commonly observed among a wolf pack．As pack animals, wolves work together to hunt and rely on howling as an important means of communication among each other．There are different explanations of a wolf’s howl and it appears that there may be more to discover．

　　One theory is that wolves howl to bond better together．It’s almost as if howling together helps the pack stay together．Perhaps something similar to people feeling a sense of involvement with each other when singing a song together．But this theory may be wrong, explains Fred H．Harrington, a professor who studies wolf behaviour．

　　Indeed, there have been times when wolves have been seen one moment howling in a chorus, and the next, quarreling among each other．It appears that usually the lowest-ranking members of the pack may actually be “punished” for joining in the chorus at times．So is howling a way to strengthen a social bond or just a way to reconfirm status among its members?－Why do wolves howl for sure?

　　What is clear, however, is that howling is often used among packmates to locate each other．Hunting grounds are distant and it happens that wolves may separate from one another at times．When this happens, howling appears to be an excellent means of gathering．

　　Howling, interestingly, is a contagious behaviour．When one wolf starts to howl, very likely others will follow．This is often seen to occur in the morning, as if wolves were doing some sort of “roll call” where wolves all howl together to report their presence．

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　　When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing．His mother took him to see the famous showman, P．T．Barnum．Mr．Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show．He hired Charles parents along with him, and they traveled the world together．

　　He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb．He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes．When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads．To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England．

　　During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people．He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall．

　　Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money．By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich．He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five．

　　Fortunately for Tom, Mr．Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well．One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher．Tom was able to win her love, and they married．

　　The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town．They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests．Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage．The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut．

　　Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war．Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored(发起)“Tom Thumb” weddings．In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun．

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Table 1：Major Agricultural Products

Table 2：Major Industrial Products

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What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear．We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough．In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle．It needs exercise．Mental exercise is a particularly important job for young children．Many child psychologists(心理学家)think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about．The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent．If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent．Parents should also be careful what they say to the young children．According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things．So it is probably better for parents to say very helpful things to their children, such as "That was a very clever thing you did, Or “You are such a smart child．”