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　　Talking to Teachers－Teachers are just people．Behind that desk, is a living, breathing human being．And just like any human being, they will probably be friendly to people who talk nicely to them．Teachers also seem to get along better with children who take schoolwork seriously and are prepared for class．And, just like any other human being, teachers like to be appreciated．The next time your teacher helps you solve a math problem or figure out a science project, say thank you with a smile．

　　Talking to Parents－Parents can be very supportive if their children ask for help．If you think there’s something your parents can do to help you socialize more or feel more comfortable around people, then ask them．Very often, parents want very much to help, but really don’t know what to do．Pick a quiet time of the day and ask to talk．Tell them how you feel．Maybe they had the same trouble when they were kids．

　　This Stranger Thing－This is always a tough one．How do you deal with a neighbor, the mail carrier, or someone walking down your street－situations that often seem to cause arguments between kids and parents．The answer to these questions will vary from kid to kid, from parent to parent because all cultures are different．Some folks live in small towns where a hello to everyone is “what’s done”．Then there are kids who live in the city who may have been taught not to speak to anyone they don’t know．If you’re having trouble with this and always feel awkward in these kinds of situations, you might want to talk to your parents or a teacher about it．Where do they think you should draw the line? When is silence rude and when is it wise?

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　　Individuals(个人)should pay for their higher education．

　　A university education is of huge and direct benefit to the individual．Graduates earn more than non-graduates．Meanwhile, social mobility is ever more dependent on having a degree．However, only some people have it．So the individual, not the taxpayers, should pay for it．There are pressing calls on the resources(资源)of the government．Using taxpayers' money to help a small number of people to earn high incomes in the future is not one of them．

　　Full government funding(资助)is not very good for universities．Adam Smith worked in a Scottish university whose teachers lived off student fees．He knew and looked down upon 18th-century Oxford, where the academics lived comfortably off the income received from the government．Guaranteed salaries, Smith argued, were the enemy of hard work; and when the academics were lazy and incompetent, the students were similarly lazy．

　　If students have to pay for their education, they not only work harder, but also demand more from their teachers．And their teachers have to keep them satisfied．If that means taking teaching seriously, and giving less time to their own research interests, that is surely something to celebrate．

　　Many people believe that higher education should be free because it is good for the economy(经济)．Many graduates clearly do contribute to national wealth, but so do all the businesses that invest(投资)and create jobs．If you believe that the government should pay for higher education because graduates are economically productive, you should also believe that the government should pay part of business costs．Anyone promising to create jobs should receive a gift of capital from the government to invest．Therefore, it is the individual, not the government, who should pay for their university education．

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　　Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say．While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk．The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing．

　　Conversation is a turn-taking game．When our habits are similar, there's no problem．But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished．That's what was happening with Betty and Sara．

　　It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American．Betty often felt interrupted by Sara．But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland．And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel．

　　The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities．These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping(思维定式)．And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences．For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel．When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in--and never found it．Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring．When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up．

　　That's why slight differences in conversational style--tiny little things like microseconds of pause-can have a great effect on one's life．The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems---even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training．

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Open Letter to an Editor

　　I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently－one who works for you．In fact, he's one of your best reporters．He wants to leave．

　　Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume(简历)and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you．The headlines showed you played them proudly．With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues(问题), approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best．I'm sure you would hate to lose him．Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy．In fact, he told me he really likes his job．He has a great assignment(分工), and said you run a great paper．It would be easy for you to keep him, he said．He knows that the paper values him．He appreciates the responsibility you've given him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom．

　　So why is he looking for a way out?

　　He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him．He wants to be pushed, challenged, coached to new heights．

　　The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is．

　　He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones．He wants someone to get excited about what he's doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it．He wants to be more valuable for your paper．That's what you want for him, too, isn't it?

　　So your reporter has set me thinking．

　　Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists---everyone--is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential．If we can't do it, they'll find someone who can．[

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Goldie's Secret

　　She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall．No way could I have sent her away．No way, not me anyway．Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before．"We're moving house．'; "No space for her any more with the baby coming．" "We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present．" People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal．And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen．

　　I called her Goldie．If I had known what was going to happen I would have given

　　her a more creative name．She was so unsettled during those first few days．She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her．There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed．Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's．But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down．Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire．

　　That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk．We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless．Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could．

　　By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie．But when I saw her licking(舔)the four puppies(幼犬)I started to feel sympathy towards them．"We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door．"I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared．" "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her．'

　　I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother．And I've learnt a good lesson：not to judge people．

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　　Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends．Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr．Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager．

　　“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great．How do you like it?’” says Ballmer．“There was just a complete gap in taste．”

　　Music was not the only gulf(分歧)．From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits．

　　Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families．Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago．Now they are comfortable and common．And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood．

　　No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend．”

　　But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents．

　　“There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College．“In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents．”

　　Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving(演化的)roles and attitudes．They see the 1960s as a turning point．Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say．

　　“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr．Ballmer．“It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now．”

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　　While scientists are worried that humans are causing higher temperatures on the Earth, a Maryland man, Ace, thinks we can save the world by spraying(喷射)huge amounts of water into the air．

　　Ace told the McClatchy News Service that at least 1,000 places should be chosen to spray water．The water would be sprayed between 20 and 200 feet into the air．Thousands of tons of seawater would be sprayed for years at a time．

　　The 1,000 sites would be picked after more studies．They would be mostly in the Northern Hemisphere．Ace says he would avoid tropical(热带的)areas of the globe．He says water turns to rain too quickly in these areas for his plan to work．

　　The water would be changed into vapor．That process requires heat．The water vapor would rise above the Earth．The vapor would form clouds．The clouds would help in several ways．They would cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight．They would later turn into rains．The rains would provide another way of cooling the Earth．

　　Ace’s plan has gotten some support from a limited scientific study．Kenneth Caldeira is a climate scientist．He works at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University in California．Caldeira tested some of Ace’s figures on a computer program．The computer model is used by top scientists to study global climate change．The model showed that the plan might work．

　　“More tests are planned in 2009．Ideas like Ace’s should be considered carefully and with an open mind,” Caldeira said．“Every brilliant invention in the history of technology looked a little bit mad when first put forward．”

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　　Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful painting of dreams．In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll’s extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland－the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experiences all kinds of things．At that time, Blackman’s wife was suffering form progressive blindness．The story of Alice moving through the strange situations, often disheartened by various events, was similar to his wife’s experiences．It also reflected so much of his own life．All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings．

　　Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration．The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercise and group projects．

　　Dates Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5Aug．10am－1pm

　　Venue Gas Works Arts Park

　　Celebrate the exhibition and Children’s Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit．

　　Date Sunday 24 June, 11am－4pm

　　Venue Exhibition Space, Level 3

　　Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box．Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you．Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland will be screened．

　　Dates Sunday 8,15,22,29 July ,and Tuesday 24－Friday 27 July ,12noon－3pm

　　Venue Theatre, NGV Australia

　　Distortions of scale(比例失真)can make artworks strange but interesting．Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world, then experiment with scale in your own drawings．More information upon booking．

　　Date Friday 27 July, 10∶30am－3pm

　　Venue Foyer, Level 3

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Have you ever seen any students whose trousers hang so low you can see their underwear? What do you think of that? Fashionable? Some of today's teenagers are big fans of such a look．But recently this trend has been at the center of an argument in Italian middle schools．The headmaster of a school in central Italy has asked students to stop wearing low-rise jeans that expose underwear and parts of the body．His request came after a class trip, when he saw one boy's baggy trousers slide to his feet．He pointed out that this way of dressing is not suitable for school．But in Italy, a nation that takes fashion very seriously, the suggestion caused a debate among parents, teachers and students．The issue is whether the headmaster's request will limit students' freedom－ or whether dress in Italian schools is too casual．A parents' group praised the move in favor of good taste, while others advised schools to stop worrying about fashion and fix up old school buildings．“We do not want to kick fashion out,” the headmaster explained, “but extrems(极端)of fashion like this are not right in school．” Many other schools have now requested that their students also stop wearing such trousers．Most students have simply ignored the request．Ludovica Gaudio, 14, wore extremely low trousers exposing orange underwear in class．It was cold, so she wore a matching orange scarf．Another 14-year-old said she would probably respect the request, simply for practical reasons．“I don't really feel comfortable in those sort of jeans,” said Sarah Lattanzi, “in winter, when dressed like that, it's quite cold and I am afraid my stomach will ache．”

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　　Beijinger, 6 years’ overseas work experience in service industry, translation assignments and private tuition．Fluent in oral and written English and Chinese．Seek(寻找)part-time job in administration, customer service, E/C and C/E translations, Chinese tuition．Tel：65514398; Email：ddjc745@yahoo．com．

　　I am a postgraduate of Nanjing University．I’m seeking foreign friends who want to improve their Chinese．I hope to improve my English with native speakers．We can do some language exchange．Email：Juliet zll@163．com．

　　125sqm, 5.6 m height living room with marble floor．Two bedrooms with wooden floor on downstair and 20sqm sealed balcony．Kitchen & 2 bathrooms．Quiet neighborhood, well decorated and fully furnished, 24h security．Located at Asian Games Village．3,500 yuan/month．Tel：13910159003．

　　Seeking roommate．My name is Rosemary Ma and I’m looking for a quiet female who works in a foreign company．The apartment is in the embassy area close to Landao Building, Guiyon Building and the Silk market．Simply furnished．The apartment has two bedrooms, one kitchen and one toilet．Email：ma rosemary67@hotmail．com or call 13910186383．