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　　You’ve seen news reports about people who need help after a flood．Maybe you’ve walked past people who are sleeping on the streets．Or perhaps you’ve watched TV programs about how lonely older people can get．So what can you do about any of those things? The answer：You can volunteer(做志愿者)．

　　Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills－from working as part of a team to setting and reaching goals．It gives you a chance to find out what kinds of things you’re good at and enjoy the most．Volunteering can provide you with a sense of responsibility because people really depend on you．And it can help you understand disabled(残疾的)people, sick kids, or the elderly．

　　Volunteering helps people feel they do have the power to change things for the better．When people depend on you, it can change the way you look at yourself, and this is the main reason that makes volunteering attractive．You can feel proud of the goals that you’ve achieved(实现)for a charity organization(慈善组织)－whether it’s helping to organize a 10K to raise money for lung cancer or running the race itself．

　　Sometimes it’s easy to feel worried about your grades or the fight you had with your friend or parents．And although these things are very important in their own way, sometimes it can be helpful to get some distance and think about other things．Volunteering allows you to do this．It lets you focus on others that are worth doing．

　　Finally, volunteering can help save you from being bored－it gives you a place to be where you can have a good time and keep busy．

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TOURNAMENT OF ROSES

－5 Days Los Angeles

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　　In order to know a foreign language thoroughly(完全地), four things are necessary．First, we must understand the language when we hear it spoken．Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, with confidence(自信)and without hesitation(犹豫)．Thirdly, we must do much reading．Finally, we must be able to write it．We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar．

　　There are no shortcuts(捷径)to success in language learning．A good memory is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book．It is not much learning by heart long lists(一览表)of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on．We must learn by using the language．

　　If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language．We must “learn through use．” Practice is important．We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever we can．

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　　A woman from Japan was telling a friend about her trip to the United States．The woman had visited major businesses and investment companies in New York City and Chicago．

　　“I studied English before I left home,” she said．“But I still was not sure that people were speaking English．”

　　Her problem is easy to understand．Americans in business are like people who are in business anywhere．They have a language of their own．Some of the words and expressions deal with the special areas of their work．Other expressions are borrowed from different kinds of work such as the theater and movie industry．

　　One such saying is “get your act together”．When things go wrong in a business, an employer may get angry．He may shout, “Stop making mistakes．Get your act together．” Or, if the employer is calmer, he may say, “Let us get our act together．”

　　Either way, the meaning is the same．Getting your act together is getting organized．In business, it usually means to develop a calm and orderly plan of action．

　　It is difficult to tell exactly where the saying began．But, it is probable that it was in the theater or movie industry．Perhaps one of the actors was nervous and made a lot of mistakes．The director may have said, “Calm down, now．Get your act together．” Word expert James Rogers says the expression was common by the late 1970s．Mister Rogers says the Manchester Guardian newspaper used it in 1978．The newspaper said a reform policy required that the British government get its act together．Now, this expression is heard often when officials of a company meet．One company even called its yearly report, “Getting Our Act Together．”

　　The Japanese visitor was confused by another expression used by American business people．It is “cut to the chase”．She heard that expression when she attended an important meeting of one company．One official was giving a very long report．It was not very interesting．In fact, some people at the meeting were falling asleep．Finally, the president of the company said, “Cut to the chase．”

　　Cut to the chase means to stop spending so much time on details or unimportant material．Hurry and get to the good part．Naturally, this saying was started by people who make movies．Hollywood movie producers believe that most Americans want to see action movies．Many of their movies show scenes in which the actors chase each other in cars, or in airplanes or on foot．Cut is the director’s word for stop．The director means to stop filming, leave out some material, and get to the chase scene now．

　　So, if your employer tells you to cut to the chase, be sure to get to the main point of your story quickly．

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　　Being able to multitask is hailed by most people as a welcome skill, but not according to a recent study which claims that young people between the ages of eight and eighteen of the so-called Generation M are spending a considerable amount of their time in fruitless efforts as they multitask．It argues that, in fact, these young people are frittering(浪费)away as much as half of their time as they would if they performed the very same tasks one after the other．

　　Some young people are using an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study．At the same time they are working, young adults are also surfing on the Internet, or sending out emails to their friends, and/or answering the telephone and listening to music on their iPods or on another computer．As some new device comes along, it is also added to the list rather than replacing one of the existing devices．Other research has indicated that this multitasking is even affecting the way families themselves function as young people are too wrapped up in(沉湎于)their own isolated worlds to interact with the other people around them．They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house nor can they eat at the family table．

　　All this electronic wizardry(魔力)is supposedly also seriously affecting young people's performance at university and in the workplace．When asked about their opinions of the impact of modern gadgets(小装置)on their performance of tasks, the great majority of young people gave a favourable response．

　　The response from the academic and business worlds was not quite as positive．The former feel that multitasking with electronic gadgets by children affects later development of study skills, resulting in a decline in the quality of writing, for example, because of the lack of concentration on task completion．They feel that many undergraduates now urgently need remedial(补救的)help with study skills．Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the workforce need to be taught all over again, as they have become deskilled．

　　While all this may be true, it must be borne in mind that more and more is expected of young people nowadays; in fact, too much．Praise rather than criticism is due in respect of the way today's youth are able to cope despite what the older generation throw at them．

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　　Do you want to live forever? By the year 2050, you might actually get your wish－if you are willing to leave your biological body and live in silicon circuits(半导体电路)．But long before then, perhaps as early as 2020, some measures will begin offering a semblance of immortality(虚拟的永生)．

　　Researchers are confident that technology will soon be able to track every waking moment of your life．Whatever you see and hear, all that you say and write, can be recorded, analyzed and added to your personal chronicles(履历), By the 2030, it may be possible to catch your nervous(神经)systems through electrical activities, which would also keep your thoughts and emotions．

　　Researchers at the laboratories of British Telecommunications have given the name of this idea as Soul Catcher．Small electronic equipment will make preparation for Soul Catcher．It would use a wearable supercomputer, perhaps in a wristwatch, with wireless links to micro sensors under your scalp(头皮)and in the nerves that carry all five sensory signals．So wearing a video camera would no longer be required．

　　At first, the Soul Catcher's companion system－the Soul Reader－might have trouble copying your thoughts in complete details．Even in 2030, we may still be struggling to understand how the brain is working inside, so reading your thoughts and understanding your emotions might not be possible．But these signals could be kept for the day when they can be transferred to silicon circuits to revitalize minds everlasting entities(永生实体)．Researchers can only wonder what it will be like to wake up one day and find yourself alive inside a machine．

　　For people who choose not to live in silicon, semblance of immortality would not be as useless as they thought．People would know their lives would not be forgotten, but would be kept a record of the human race forever．And future generations would have a much fuller understanding of the past．History would not be controlled by just the rich and powerful, Hollywood stars, and a few thinkers in the upper society．

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　　Most people believe they don't have much imagination．They are wrong．Everyone has imagination, but most of us, once we become adults, forget how to access it．Creativity isn't always connected with great works of art or ideas．People at work and in their free time routinely think of creative ways to solve problems．Maybe you have a goal to achieve, a tricky question to answer or you just want to expand your mind! Here are three techniques to help you．

　　This technique involves taking unrelated ideas and trying to find links between them．First, think about the problem you have to solve or the job you need to do．Then find an image, word, idea or object, for example, a candle．Write down all the ideas/words associated with candles：light, fire, matches, wax：night, silence, etc．Think of as many as you can．The next stage is to relate the ideas to the job you have to do．So imagine you want to buy a friend an original present; you could buy him tickets to a match or take him out for the night．

　　Imagine that normal limitations don't exist．You have as much time/space/money, etc．as you want．Think about your goal and the new possibilities．If, for example, your goal is to learn to ski, you can now practice skiing every day of your life(because you have the time and the money)．Now adapt this to reality．Maybe you can practice skiing every day in December, or every Monday in January．

　　Look at the situation from a different point of view．Good negotiators(谈判者)use this technique in business, and so do writers．Fiction writers often imagine they are the characters in their books．They ask questions：what does this character want? Why can't she get it? What changes must she make to get what she wants? What does she dream about? If your goal involves other people, put yourself "in their shoes"．The best fishermen think like fish!

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　　Have you ever wondered why some people are successful in business and others are not? Here's a story about one successful businessperson．He started out washing dishes and today he owns 168 restaurants．

　　Zubair -Kazi was born in Bhatkal, a small town in southwest India．His dream was to be an airplane pilot, and when he was 16 years old, he learned to fly a small plane．

　　At the age of 23 and with just a little money in his pocket, Mr．Kazi moved to the United States．He hoped to get a job in the airplane industry in California．Instead, he ended up working for a company that rented cars．

　　While Mr．Kazi was working at the car rental(租赁的)company, he frequently ate at a nearby KFC restaurant．To save money on food, he decided to get a job with KFC．For two months, he worked as a cook's assistant．His job was to clean the kitchen and help the cook．"I didn't like it," Mr．Kazi says, "but I always did the best I could．"

　　One day, Mr．Kazi's two co-workers failed to come to work．That day, Mr．Kazi did the work of all three people in the kitchen．This really impressed the owners of the restaurant．

　　A few months later, the owners needed a manager for a new restaurant．They gave the job to Mr．Kazi．He worked hard as the manager and soon the restaurant was making a profit．

　　A few years later, Mr．Kazi heard about a restaurant that was losing money．The restaurant was dirty inside and the food was terrible．Mr．Kazi borrowed money from a bank and bought the restaurant．For the first six months, Mr．Kazi worked in the restaurant from 8 a. m. to 10 p. m., seven days a week．He and his wife cleaned up the restaurant, remodeled the front of the building, and improved the cooking．They also tried hard to please the customers．lf someone had to wait more than ten minutes for their food, Mrs．Kazi gave them a free soda．Before long the restaurant was making a profit．

　　A year later, Mr．Kazi sold his restaurant for a profit．With the money he earned, he bought three more restaurants that were losing money．Again, he cleaned them up, improved the food, and retrained the employees．Before long these restaurants were making a profit, too．

　　Today Mr．Kazi owns 168 restaurants, but he isn't planning to stop there．He's looking for more poorly managed restaurants to buy．"I love it when I go to buy a restaurant and find it's a mess," Mr．Kazi says．"The only way it can go is up．"

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　　A ban on smoking in public places has come into effect on May 1,2011 in China－home to one third of the world’s smokers．

　　The ban is aimed at controlling the number of deaths from smoking-related diseases, running at a million deaths a year．That figure is predicted to double by 2020．The new smoking ban is an attempt to prevent that prediction coming true．

　　The new rules forbid people from smoking in places like hotels, railway stations or theatres, but not including the office．Employers can warn their staff of the dangers of smoking but cannot forbid them from smoking at their desks．

　　But the new rules have been criticized because they do not describe in detail the punishments for businesses or individuals who flout them．Quite many smokers do not seem to take much notice of them．Often you find people smoking at next table while you are eating your meal or having a drink in a bar．In bus stops as well as in railway stations smoking can also be seen here and there．Business owners are also angry at the efforts to force them to ban smoking on their premises(经营场所), because many customers refuse to go to restaurants or places of entertainment where smoking is forbidden．

　　It appears that many Chinese people are unaware of the dangers of smoking．Research suggests that only one in four knows the harm cigarettes can cause．Officials say they have to try to persuade people not to smoke to try to reduce the numbers dying from smoking-related diseases．At the same time, however, the local governments make a lot of money from the sales of cigarettes by the state-owned firm that makes and sells tobacco products throughout the country．

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　　Two thirds of the single people looking for love in Britain turned to the Internet last year, according to figures made in public yesterday．Special sites offer introductions to people such as smokers, Roman Catholics, tall people, beautiful people, frequent flyers and vegetarians．Technology has brought about a great change in the dating(约会)games．

　　A survey by Parsnip, a Britain branch of Europe’s largest dating service with more than 1.5 million members, says that 65 percent of the 5.4 million Britons looking for a relationship used online dating services last year．

　　A spokeswoman for Relate, the relationship advisor, confirmed that a figure of two thirds feel it all right．“Doing it online allows people quite a lot of privacy,(隐私)because they can do a bit of quiet research and look around from the comfort of their own home．You don’t have to meet a matchmaker(媒人)or go to an actual dating agency office, which takes a lot of courage．” She said．

　　There are more than 100 independent online dating agencies in Britain．Parsnip says that 50 percent of single people believe they will meet a suitable partner through the Internet, from 35 percent six months ago．

　　Mary Balfour, the founder, says that the Internet has changed the dating industry completely．“It’s like a return to old-fashioned love letters,” she said．” You don’t base your first judgment on how someone looks or what his or her figure is like．You e-mail or talk before you actually see each other．Everybody you know who is single these days has at least had a good look at a dating site, introduction agency or personal ads．They have to, because all the old matchmaking institutions have gone．People work harder, settle down later and live more isolated lives．They are much more likely to end the day with DVD and a glass of beer than by going to a meeting place．