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　　Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized as “honor” help you create this life of good feelings．

　　Here’s an example to show how honorable actions create happiness．

　　Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item．If we keep silent, and profit　from the clerk’s mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky　excitement．Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune．On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty．We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul．

　　Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?

　　In the first case, where we don’t tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen．Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief．In the progress, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect．We would also demonstrate(证明)that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends．We damage our own reputations(名誉)by telling others．In contrast, bring the error to the clerk’s attention causes different things to happen．Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable．Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased．Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility．

　　There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions．Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions．Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence．And it’s easy to think and act honorably again when we’re happy．While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it’s started, it’s easy to continue．Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness．

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　　When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out．Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very soon－within an hour of dying．This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for sure－and so soon－that another ant is dead．

　　One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior．Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist．Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead－take me away．”

　　But there’s a twist to Choe’s discovery．Choe says that the living ants－not just the dead ones－have this death chemical．In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it’s telling other ants that it’s dead．

　　What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants? Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, “Wait－I’m not dead yet．” So Choe’s research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants：one says, “I’m dead,” and the other set says, “I’m not dead yet．”

　　Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead．If an ant is knocked unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up．That means ants know that unmoving ants can still be alive．

　　Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says “Wait-I’m not dead yet” quickly goes away．Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says “I’m dead” is left．“It’s because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases(释放)new unique chemicals after death,” said Choe．When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they drag away the body．

　　Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new places and causing problems．Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread ant killer to Argentine ant nests．

　　The ants’ removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest．“Being able to quickly remove dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies, including us,” says Choe．“Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management．”

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　　Recently, an Internet game has become a new fashion among young office workers and students．People can “farm” on a piece of “land” and “grow”, “sell” or even “steal” “vegetables”, “flowers” and “fruits” on the Net．They earn some e-money and buy more “seeds”, “pets” and even “houses”．

　　Joyce interviewed some young people．Here are their opinions．

　　Harold：I don’t quite understand why they are so mad about the childish game．Maybe they are just not confident enough to face the real world．

　　Allan：I enjoy putting some “bugs”(小虫子)in my friends’' gardens and we’ve become closer because of the game．Having fun together is the most exciting thing about it．

　　Laura：You know, people in the city are longing for the life in the countryside．It reduces my work pressure in the office; besides, it gives me the exciting feeling of being a “thief”．

　　Ivy：Well, it’s just a waste of time．Teenagers playing the game spend so many hours on it that they cannot pay more attention to their study．

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　　It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home．

　　If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right，then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons．Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent．

　　My daughter Carla’s fifth grade’s teacher made every child in her class feel special．When students received less than a perfect test score，she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed．

　　You can use the same technique when you evaluate your child’s work at home．Don't always scold and give lots of praise instead．Talk about what he has done right，not about what he hasn’t done．If your child completes a difficult task，promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game．

　　Learning is a process of trying and failing and trying，and succeeding．If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure，they will learn faster and achieve success at last．

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　　At the head of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question：are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they're bad．Yet the consensus among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small encouragement to the economy．Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets．So why is there such a difference between the perception(认知)of immigrants’ impact on the economy and the reality?

　　There are a number of familiar theories．Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers．Others highlight the strain(紧张)that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails．Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and insecurities．There's some truth to all these explanations, but they aren't quite sufficient．

　　To get a better understanding of what's going on, consider the way immigration's impact is felt．Though its total effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unequally．David Card, an economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants' low-cost labor are businesses and employers－meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, or agricultural businesses in California．Granted(假定，就算), these producers' savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated．Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor．According to a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9％ between l980--2000．

　　Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and relatively generous social services．What worried them most, in other words, was the financial burden of immigration．That conclusion was emphasized by another finding：that their opposition appeared to soften when that financial burden decreased, as occurred with welfare reform in the 1990s, which curbed(约束)immigrants’ access to certain benefits．

　　The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the effect of immigration is minimal．Even for those most acutely affected－say, low-skilled workers, or California residents－the impact isn’t all that dramatic．“The unpleasant voices have tended to dominate(控制，影响)our perceptions,” says Daniel Tichenor, a political science professor at the University of Oregon．“But when all those factors are put together and the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a positive, but a small one．” Too bad most people don’t realize it．

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　　Human remains of ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under a law that threatens research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archeologists(考古学家)says．In a letter addressed to the justice secretary(律政司司长), Ken Clarke, 40 archaeologists write of their “deep and widespread concern” about the issue．It centers on the law introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008 which requires all human remains unearthed in England and Wales to be reburied within two years, regardless of their age．The decision means scientists have too little time to study bones and other human remains of national and cultural significance．

　　“Your current requirement that all archaeologically unearthed human remains should be reburied, whether after a standard period of two years or a further special extension, is contrary to basic principles of archaeological and scientific research and of museum practice,” they write．

　　The law applies to any pieces of bone uncovered at around 400 dig sites, including the remains of 60 or so bodies found at Stonehenge in 2008 that date back to 3,000 BC．Archaeologists have been granted(同意给予)a temporary extension to give them more time, but eventually the bones will have to be returned to the ground．

　　The arrangements may result in the waste of future discoveries at sites such as Happisburgh in Norfolk, where digging is continuing after the discovery of stone tools made by early humans 950,000 years ago．If human remains were found at Happisburgh, they would be the oldest in northern Europe and the first indication of what this species was．Under the current practice of the law those remains would have to be reburied and effectively destroyed．

　　Before 2008, guidelines(准则)allowed for the proper preservation and study of bones of sufficient age and historical interest, while the Burial Act(法令)1857 applied to more recent remains．The Ministry of Justice assured archaeologists two years ago that the law was temporary, but has so far failed to revise it．

　　Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at Sheffield University, said：“Archaeologists have been extremely patient because we were led to believe the ministry was sorting out this problem, but we feel that we cannot wait any longer．”

　　The ministry has no guidelines on where or how remains should be reburied, or on what records should be kept．

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Humpback whales

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　　School districts are turning to high-tech solutions-from fingerprint scans to electronic cards－to track kids on school buses and keep them from getting off at the wrong stops．A fingerprint scanning system, approved this month for testing at the Desert Sands district, northeast of San Diego．Students will be scanned as they get on and off the bus．

　　"Kids get lost．It happens in every school district, every year," says John DeVries, president of Global Biometrics Security, which developed the Biometric Observation Security System(BOSS)that's being tested．It happened Oct．13 when a Prince George's County(Md．)school employee took a 5-year-old student to the wrong bus and the student got off several blocks from home．

　　With BOSS, students' fingerprints are scanned and sent to a database．When they get off, they provide a "check out" print．An alarm sounds if the child tries to get off at the wrong place．The fingerprints are not stored, DeVries says．They are converted into a series of numbers that cannot be used to re-create the print, he says．

　　Margaret Gomez of Palm Springs, Calif．, whose daughter, then 6, was let off a bus about a mile from her home three years ago, supports the idea．"Anything is better than what they have in place now．"

　　Other tracking systems include the ZPass from Seattle-based Zonar Systems, which uses a programmed card carried by students or tied to a backpack．It is in about 30 districts, including North Kansas City Schools and Illinois School District 128 in Palos Heights, company executive Chris Oliver says．

　　Paul Stephens, of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego, says tracking students is reasonable, but the data could fall into unauthorized hands．"What if a child predator was able to get access to this?" he says．

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　　"Grandma, Grandma, tell us a story!" Four darling children sat by my feet, looking up at me expectantly．

　　Suddenly, we were interrupted by clapping．"Terrific," the director said, stepping up to the stage from the aisle(过道)．“Except, could you kids face the audience a bit more?"

　　The kids shifted to face the empty seats, which would be filled in a few days for the church play．"Perfect," the director said．"Now, Grandma, read to your grandchildren．" A pang of sadness hit me．If only I could read to my real grandchildren!

　　I had a granddaughter, but I'd never met her．Sixteen years earlier my son was involved in a relationship that ended badly．But out of it came a blessing：a baby girl named Lena．I hoped to be a grandmother to her-- but shortly after the birth, the mother moved without any address left．Over the years, I asked around town to try and find my son's ex-wife, but it seemed that she didn't want to be found．

　　I'd just joined this new church a week earlier, and was at once offered the part of Grandma in the play．At least now I could pretend to be a grandma．The rehearsals went well, and finally the day of the show arrived．The performance was great．"You all looked so natural up there," one of my friends said．

　　Afterward, we went to the church basement for refreshments．I walked over to one of the girls in the play．Rehearsals had been in such a hurry that we never really got to talk．"How's my granddaughter?" I joked．

　　"Fine!" she answered．Just then, someone else walked up and asked the girl her name．

　　I wasn't sure I heard the girl's answer correctly．But it made me ask her another question．"What's your mother's name?"

　　She told me．I was still in shock．"And what's your father's name?" I asked．It was my son．

　　She'd only started going to that church a week before I did．Since that day of the play, we've stayed close．Not long ago, she even made me a great grandma．

阅读理解

　　Are you happy? Do you remember a time when you were happy? Are you seeking happiness today?

　　Many have sought a variety to of sources for their feelings of happiness．Some have put their heart and effort into their work．Too many have turned to drugs and alcohol．Most of their efforts have a root in one common fact; People are looking for a lasting source of happiness．

　　Unfortunately, I believe that happiness escapes mostly because they misunderstand the process and journey of finding it．I have heard many people say that, “I'll be happy when I get my new promotion．” or “I'll be happy when I earn that extra 20 pounds．” The list goes on and on．You probably have a few of your own you could add if you want．

　　This thinking is dangerous because it presupposes that happiness is a “response” to having, being or doing something．In life, we all experience stimulus and response．Stimulus is when a dog barks at you and bares his teeth．Response is when your heart beats faster, your palms get sweaty and you prepare to run．Today, some people think that an expensive car is a stimulus．Happiness is a response．A great paying job is a stimulus．Happiness is a response．A loving relationship is a stimulus．Happiness is a response．This belief leaves us thinking and feeling：“I'll be happy when…”

　　It has been my finding that actually the opposite is true．I believe that happiness is a stimulus and response is what life brings to those who are truly happy．When we are happy, we tend to have more success in our work．When we are happy, people want to be around us and enjoy loving relationships．When we are happy, we more naturally take better care of our bodies and enjoy good health．Happiness is NOT a response－rather, it is a stimulus．

　　Happiness is a conscious choice we make every day of our lives．For unknown reason to me, many choose to be painful, unsuccessful and angry most of the time．Happiness is not something that happens to us after we get something we want －we usually get things we want AFTER we choose to be happy．

　　I have made only one simple rule for my own happiness：Every day above ground is a GOOD day．Therefore, I tend to have a lot of good(and happy)days continually．