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　　When you go to St．Petersburg, the number of attractions can seem large．If you are short of time, or just want to make sure to hit the highlights, these are the top must-see sights in St．Petersburg．

　　1．The Hermitage Museum

　　The Hermitage Museum is one of the most important sights to see for any visitor to St．Petersburg．There are lots of different paintings by the old masters in the Hermitage．Prepare to come face-to-face with classic Western artists．

　　2．Kizhi Island

　　Kizhi Island is an open-air museum of wooden architecture from the Karelia Region of Russia．These impressive structures are made entirely without nails－the wood fits together with joints and grooves(沟槽)．

　　3．Peterhof

　　Peterhof is as beautiful as it is fun．You’ll be charged for admission, but go to Petethof when the fountains are working－during the day in the summer．They are shut off in winter evenings．

　　4．The Church of Our Savior on the Spilt Blood

　　Love it or hate it, the Church of Our Savior on the Spilt Blood in St．Petersburg is an wonderful must-see sight．The beautiful look may make your eyes brighten, and the painting inside the church will make you say “Wow!”

　　5．The Bronze Horseman Statue

　　The so-called Bronze Horseman is a part of Russian culture and a symbol of St．Petersburg．Made famous by Alexander Pushkin, this statue of Peter the Great sitting on his horse can truly show Peter the Great’s influence on the Russian idea of greatness．

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　　A new research has uncovered that culture is a determining factor when interpreting facial emotions(情感)．The study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard, such as Japan, focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions．Whereas in cultures where emotion is openly expressed, such as the United States, the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotion．

　　“These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized,” said University of Alberta researcher Dr．Takahiko Masuda．“A person’s culture plays a very strong role in determining how they will read emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting facial expression．”

　　These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons(情感符号), which are used to convey a writer’s emotions over email and text messaging．The Japanese emoticons for happiness and sadness vary in terms of how the eyes are drawn, while American emoticons vary with the direction of the mouth．In the United States the emoticons：)and：-)show a happy face, whereas the emoticons：(or：-(show a sad face．However, Japanese tend to use the symbol(‘ ‘)to indicate a happy face, and(; __ ;)to indicate a sad face．

　　“We think it is quite interesting and appropriate that a culture tends to mask its emotions．The Japanese would focus on a person’s eyes when determining emotion, as eyes tend to be quite subtle(微妙的),” said Masuda．“In the United States, where open emotion is quite common, it makes sense to focus on the mouth, which is the most expressive feature on a person’s face．”

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　　Yorkshire, England was the setting for two great novels of the 19th century．These were Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights．The youngest sister, Anne, was also a gifted novelist, and her books have the same extraordinary, quality as her sisters'．

　　Their father was Patrick Bronte born in Ireland．He moved with his wife, Maria Bronte, and their six small children to Haworth in Yorkshire in 1820．Soon after, Mrs．Bronte and the two eldest children died, leaving the father to care for the remaining three girls and a boy．

　　Charlotte was born in 1816．Emily was born in 1818 and Anne in 1820．Their brother Branwell was born in 1817．Left to themselves, the children wrote and told stories and walked over the hills．They grew up largely self-educated．Branwell showed a great interest in drawing．The girls were determined to earn money for his art education．They took positions as teachers or taught children in their homes．

　　As children they had all written many stories．Charlotte, as a young girl, alone wrote 22 books, each with 60 to 100 pages of small handwriting．Therefore, they turned to writing for income．By 1847, Charlotte had written The Professor; Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey．After much difficulty Anne and Emily found a publisher, but there was no interest shown in Charlotte's book．(It was not published until 1869．)However, one publisher expressed an interest in seeing more of her work．Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it．

　　It was accepted at once；Thus each of the sisters had a book published in 1847．

　　Jane Eyre was immediately successful；The other two, however, did not do so well．People did not like Wuthering Heights．They said it was too wild, too animal-like．But gradually it came to be considered one of the finest novels in the English language．Emily lived only a short while after the publication of her book, and Anne died in 1847．

　　Charlotte published Shirley in 1849 and Villette in 1853．In 1854 she married Arthur Bell Nicholls．But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis(肺结核)as her sisters had．

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　　Everyone has got two personalities－the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real．You don’t show your secret personality when you are awake because you can control your behavior, but when you are asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you．In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their positions．The important position is the one that you go to sleep in．

　　If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person．You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas．You don’t like to displease people．So you never express your real feelings．You’re quite shy and you aren’t quite sure of yourself．

　　If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person．You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset．You always stick to your own opinions or judgment, but you don’t raise your hope too much．You usually live for today not tomorrow．This means that you enjoy having a good time．

　　If you sleep curled up, you are probably a very nervous person．You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive．You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people．You prefer to on your own．You’re easily hurt．

　　If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well－balanced personality．You know your strengths and weakness．You’re usually careful．You believe in yourself．You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get sad．You always say what you think even if it makes people rather angry．

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　　New friends．Fresh lifestyle．Better career opportunities…Those are attractions of overseas study for young people in China．"Start early, finish strong, some of them say．

　　More than 300 universities from 27 countries and regions were represented at last weekend's international education exposition(展览)．

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　　London, Reuters－What could annoy teenagers enough to make them stop hanging out with friends and go home?

　　No, it's not a visit from their mothers, and not a threat to take away their cellphones or pocket money．

　　It's high-frequency noise．The UK police recently agreed to use a device(装置)called the Sonic Teenager Deterrent．It sends out a sound that makes teenagers become so impatient and angry that they have to cover their ears tightly and walk away．

　　The sound is at extreme high-pitch that can be heard by those under 20．The body's natural ability to detect some wave bands(波段)decreases almost entirely after 20, so few adults can hear the sounds．The black-box device, nicknamed the Mosquito because of its sound, can be fixed to the outside walls of shops, offices and homes．It sounds to youngsters like a crazy insect or a badly played violin．But it causes no physical damage．

　　A number of police forces and councils have given permission to use the system and want to install it at trouble spots．

　　Staffordshire Police Inspector Amanda Davies, who has given the device to shopkeepers in the Moorlands area, said," It is controlled by the shopkeepers--if they can see through their window that there is a problem, they turn the device on for a while until the group has run away．"

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　　SYDNEY：As they sat sharing sweets beside a swimming pool in 1999, Shane Gould and Jessicah Schipper were simply getting along well, chatting about sport, life and “ anything else that came up．”

　　Yet in Sydney next month, they will meet again by the pool, and for a short time the friends will race against each other in the 50-meter butterfly(蝶泳)in the Australian championships at Homebush Bay．

　　Gould, now a 47-year-old mother of four, has announced she will be making a return to elite competition(顶级赛事)to swim the one event, having set a qualifying time of 30．32 seconds in winning gold at last year’s United States Masters championships．Her comeback comes 32 years after she won three golds at the Munich Olympics．

　　Schipper, now a 17-year-old from Brisbane with a bright future of going to Athens for her first Olympics, yesterday recalled her time with Gould five years ago．

　　“ I was at a national youth game on the Gold Coast and Shane had come along to talk to us and watch us train, ” Schipper explained．“ It seemed as if we had long been good friends．I don’t know why．We just started talking and it went from there．”

　　“ She had a lot to share with all of us at that camp．She told us stories about what it was like at big meets like the Olympics and what it’s like to be on an Australian team．It was really interesting．”

　　Next time, things will be more serious．“ I will still be swimming in the 50m butterfly at the nationals, so there is a chance that I could actually be competing against Shane Gould, ” said Schipper, who burst onto the scene at last year’s national championships with second places in the 100m and 200m butterfly．

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　　If you want to learn anything at school, you need to listen to your teachers．Unfortunately, millions of kids can’t hear what their teachers are saying．And it’s not because these students are goofing off．Often, it’s the room’s fault．Building architecture and building design can create echo(回声)-filled classrooms that make hearing difficult．

　　Children with hearing impairments(损伤)suffer most from noisy classrooms．They sometimes can’t hear questions that other students ask in class．Compared with kids with healthy hearing, they have a harder time picking up new vocabulary words by hearing them in talking．

　　Even kids with normal hearing have a harder time in the classroom when there’s too much noise．Younger children in particular have trouble separating important sounds －like a teacher’s voice－from background noise．Kids with learning disabilities and speech impediments(障碍)and kids for whom English is a second language also have a harder time learning in noisy situations．

　　In recent years, scientists who study sound have been asking schools to reduce background noise, which may include loud air-conditioners and pipes．They’re also targeting outdoor noises, such as highway traffic．Noise reduction is a big deal．Why? Because quieter classrooms might make you smarter by letting you hear your lessons better．

　　“It’s so obvious that we should have quiet rooms that allow for access to the lesson,” says Dan Ostergren, a hearing scientist．“Sometimes it surprises me that we spend so much time discussing this topic．I just want to go．Why is this hard for anyone to grasp?”

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　　People travel for a lot of reasons．Some tourists go to see battlefields or other historic remains．Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places．Most European tourists are looking for sunny beach to lie on．

　　Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money for the sun because they have little of it．People of cities like London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, spend much of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain．This is the reason why the Mediterranean(地中海)has always attracted them．Every summer many people travel to Mediterranean resorts and beaches for their vacation．They all come for the same reason：sun!

　　The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economics of Mediterranean countries．Italy’s 30 000 hotels are booked without a break every summer．And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks, and roadsides．Spain’s long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else．37 million tourists visit there yearly, or one tourist for each person living in Spain．

　　But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can deal with．The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth．None of these, however, is ruining anyone’s fun．Obviously, they don’t go there for clear water．They allow traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches．They don’t even mind the pollution．No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful．And as long as the sun shines, it’s still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo．

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　　A man from Sri Lanka on Friday broke the Guinness world record for the longest time spent watching TV．He finished with 69 hours and 48 minutes．

　　Suresh Joachim did his TV viewing in the lobby(门厅)of WABC-TV as part of the “Guinness World Record Breaker Week ” on the TV talk show “Live With Regis and Kelly”．

　　After passing the previous record of 50 hours and 7 minutes Thursday, Joachim continued until about 7 am Friday．

　　Sitting on a brown leather couch, he watched nothing but ABC shows．

　　“I’m going to be a little tired of watching TV after this,” Joachim told reporters by phone during a brief break．

　　Rules of Guinness for the couch potato honor, allow for a five-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every eight hours．The viewer must be constantly looking at the screen．

　　The hardest part, Joachim said on Live With Regis and Kelly, was “I couldn’t watch the people”－the many, waving passers-by on the street outside the ABC studio．

　　Joachim, who lives in Toronto but comes from Sri Lanka, now holds more than 16 Guinness records, including the longest duration(持续)balancing on one foot(76 hours, 40 minutes)and bowling for 100 hours．He does it, he says, to raise awareness of suffering children．