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　　Competition between international universities is heating up, as China grows as one of the largest exporters of students aiming to study abroad．“Lots of universities are becoming more and more aggressive to attract Chinese students．Every day I receive contacts from universities in the US expressing the desire to come to China to recruit students,” said Frank Joseph, a commercial officer from embassy of the United States．

　　One key reason why more Chinese students are able to study abroad is the economy：With China’s boom within the past decade, more families have the financial wherewithal(资金)to send their children to international universities．There will be a total of 200,000 family-funded Chinese students studying overseas in 2011, up 20 percent from last year, said Wu Zaofeng, deputy secretary general of China Education Association for International Exchange．

　　International institutions, Joseph said, are also facing increasingly tough financial situation with a shortage of domestic students and a drop in government subsidies(补贴)．Students, especially in the US are paying high tuition fees and living expenses．Chinese students with money to spend, according to experts, can fill up the gap．Students on average spend 150,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan every year studying in US, according to statistics from the US Institute of International Education．During 2009-2010, there were approximately 81,000 Chinese students studying in the US, up 19.8 percent from 2008．

　　Representatives from approximately 60 universities from the United States are planning to arrive in Beijing this weekend to attract more Chinese students at this year’s fair．Besides the US, many other countries are also vying(竞争)to enroll Chinese students．

　　Post-study work visa put out by British government allows all international students completing a UK degree qualification to apply for a visa to stay on and look for work in UK for up to 2 years．Being the third most popular destination for international students next to the US and the UK, France has set up two types of scholarships and has handed out an increase of 26 percent in scholarship funds to Chinese students in recent years．

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　　Some say everyday miracles(奇迹)are predestined(注定的)－the right time for the appointed meeting．And it can happen anywhere．

　　In 2001, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother's Little League team in Lancaster, New York．It was an early evening in late July．Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game．Swinging his bat back and forth, giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give．The boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest．His heart stopped．

　　When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid．Penny Brown hadn't planned to be there that day, but at the last minute, her shift(换班)at the hospital had been changed to see her son’s performance．She was given the night off．Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions．And he revived in the end．

　　After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid techniques that had saved his life．He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time．

　　Kevin, now 18, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion, employees rushing toward a table．He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat．She was choking．

　　Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands．Then, using skills he'd first learned in Scouts．The food that was trapped in the woman's throat was freed．The color began to return to her face．

　　"The food was stuck．I couldn't breathe," she said．She thought she was dying．"I was very frightened．"

　　Who was the woman?

　　Penny Brown．

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　　Many people have described television as a passive activity that is harmful to children’s education．However, there are good and bad ways to watch television．Parents who are interested in exploiting television as a learning tool can actually turn time in front of TV into an educational chance．

　　Probably the most familiar educational way to use television is to simply watch educational programs．In particular, this means selecting channels and programs specially designed for educational purposes．Along with traditional educational shows for children on public broadcasting channels, cable television(有线电视)now offers kids and adults a wide variety of educational programs, with everything from nature shows to historical events in different countries．

　　Captioning(字幕), such as “closed captioning” for hearing disabled viewers provides another way for parents to exploit the educational possibilities of television．One study showed that children who watched captioned TV got great improvement in their vocabulary and oral reading ability．In addition, parents can make any show a learning class by watching television together with children．By actively joining children in the programs that they are watching, parents can help with the development of such skills as predicting(预见)and summarizing．In order to develop predicting skills, parents and children could first refer to a program’s description in a viewing guide．After reading the program description and guessing what might happen in the program, parents and children could watch together to see which predictions were correct．And to practice summarizing, after watching a program, parents can turn off the TV and ask what the story was about．This kind of activity helps children develop thinking skills such as arranging events in an order and memorizing information．

　　Although there will still be plenty of times when children watch TV simply for passive enjoyment, parents can help make at least part of their children’s viewing time a more productive activity．Used intelligently by exploiting the learning chances available through various programs, television can play an instructive role in children’s education．

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　　Ashley and Chris work in the same department designing postcards．Chris had a college degree in art and deeply felt that the degree of his designs was excellent．Chris last postcard showed the depth of a desert’s beauty and delights．

　　“It’s just a picture of the desert,” Ashley said．“Not deep at all”．

　　“Some people desire seeing beauty,” Chris replied．“Mine delivers that”．

　　Ashley laughed and said．“Well, that depends on what you think beauty is．”

　　Days later, someone delivered a letter to Ashley．The letter said．“You are worthy of the bad things that will come your way．You will know the taste of defeat, and I will destroy you．”

　　Ashley suddenly felt very cold．It was as if the room temperature had dropped 30 degrees．“Who would do such an awful deed?” she wondered．“I will not let a simple letter defeat me．”

　　Just then, Chris came into the room and offered Ashley a piece of his sandwich．

　　“Try some．” He smiled widely, “It’s delicious．”

　　“Are you trying to poison me?” Ashley asked．Chris’s reaction was delayed from confusion．“What’s your problem?” he asked．

　　The next day, Ashley brought a bat to use to defend herself．When Chris saw her bat, he joked．“Defend and win one for the team．”

　　Ashley took no notice of him．She spent the whole day reading self-defending books and placed her work on delay．“You can’t delay your work．Our job demands us to do our work on time,” Chris said．“We must meet the demands of our job．”

　　“You’re not the boss．” Ashley replied．“Don’t make demands of me．”

　　Because Ashley failed to do her work, she was fired．

　　Chris glanced at Ashley’s empty desk and smiled．

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　　Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine; stopping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm．How surprised he must have been when he heard many fish hitting against his roof!

　　What caused this strange occurrence?This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish．The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm．

　　When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia, Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land．The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners, collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish．Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before vacuum dropping them on fields, houses, and stonished people．

　　Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur quite frequently in Australia．When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down．” His statement is not surprising．The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain．Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky．

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　　May：Happenings form the Past

　　May 5, 1884

　　Lsaac Murphy，son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby．He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times．

　　May 9, 1754

　　Benijamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon(漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces with the words”Join or Die”printed under the picture．

　　May 11, 1934

　　The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought(干旱), blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D．C．

　　May19, 1994

　　Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s, died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64．

　　May24, 1844

　　Samuel F．B．Morse taps out the first message,” What hath God wrought, ”over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington D．C．to Baltimore, Md．

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　　I was in a strange city and I didn’t know the city at all, and what is more, I could not speak a word of the language, After having spent my first day in the town-center, I way of getting to know the strange city．

　　I got on the bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off it and walked on．The first two hours passed pleasantly enough．Then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch．After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way．The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived and even then I pronounced it badly．

　　I stopped to ask a friendly-looking newspaper-seller．He smiled and handed me a paper．I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put his paper into my hands．I had to give him some money and went on my way．The next person I asked is a policeman．The policeman listened to me carefully, smiled and gently took me by the arm．There was a strange look in his eyes as he poined left and right and left again．I thanked him politely and began walking in the direction he pointed．

　　About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were disappearing on either side of me．I had come all the way into the countryside．

　　The only thing left for me to do was to find the nearest railway station．

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Yellowstone Weather

　　Yellowstone National Park is at high altitude(海拔)．Most of the park is above 7,500 feet(2,275meters)．

　　Yellowstone's weather is unpredictable．In summer, it may be warm and．sunny with temperatures in the high 70s．At night in any given month, the temperature may drop close freezing．So it is best to come prepared for cold evenings and mornings, especially if you are camping or hiking．When you leave your campsite, please leave it prepared for possible thundershowers and wind．

　　A sunny warm day may become fiercely stormy with wind, rain, sleet and sometimes snow．Without enough clothing, an easy day hike or boat trip can turn into a battle for survival．

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　　"Happiness isn't just feeling good．It's good for you and for society．Happy people are more successful, have better relationships, are healthier and live longer," said Ed Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois．

　　Beyond your genes

　　Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at University of California Riverside, analyzed studies on identical twins and concluded that happiness is 50 percent genetic, 40 percent intentional and 10 percent circumstantial．

　　"Your circumstances－where you live, your health, your work, your marriage－can be tough to change．But most people are surprised that circumstances(环境)don't account for as much of their happiness as they think," she said．

　　Life circumstances don't result in continuous happiness, she says, because we adapt．That new car, promotion or house feels great at first．Then we get used to it．Keeping that good feeling requires something else：control of how you act and think．

　　Happiness defined

　　To gain happiness, you need to understand what happiness is．

　　Martin Seligman, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says happiness is the pursuit of engaging and meaningful activities．

　　By "engaging", he means when we get so absorbed in what we are doing that we lose track of time．"Meaningful" would be using what you are best at to serve others or to participate in a cause that's bigger than yourself．

　　"Your purpose doesn't have to be giant," says psychologist Dan Baker．"If you're 17, your．purpose can be getting into the college of your choice．When you're a parent, it can be getting your kids off to school safely and prepared for each day．"

　　External factors

　　From 1981 to 2007, the World Values Survey took polls(民意测验)all over the world and measured what it considers happiness and overall life satisfaction．Of the 52 countries that completed the surveys over the 17-year period, happiness increase in 45．

　　According to the survey analysis, economic growth helped promote happiness for some, while Democratization(民主化)and rising social tolerance contributed even more

　　Democracy provides more choice, which promotes happiness．Support for sex equality and tolerance of people who are different from oneself are also strongly linked．This is not just because tolerant people are happier, but because living in a tolerant society strengthens everyone's freedom．

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　　Arts and cultureis live and breathed in every comer of Canada-Due to a racial and immigrant(移民)population, the variety and richness of art and sports is very evident．

　　Since the Second World; War．Canada has produced an impressive amount of writing．From novels to poetry, the selection is wide．Native writers are also becoming better known across Canada in recent years．

　　Musicians are reaching a higher level of recognition in the world music scene．Everything from Country to Pop, Classical to Heavy Rock can be found across Canada and across the globe performed by Canadian artists．

　　Film Crew in Canada The National Film Board is the primary producer of movies in

　　Canada．However, many Hollywood studios are turning to Canada as a source for locations and as an alternative to the more expensive USA．Many well known actors．directors．screen writers and movies come from Canada and often scoop awards for their work．

　　French art was the-first to appear in Canada along the St Lawrence in and around Quebec．Since then the volume of art-and artists has increased．Canadian photography as well as painting by Canadians is not well known outside of Canada but recognition is increasing．

　　Sport is a major part of today's society in Canada．Hockey is the most popular spectator sport with more participants taking part in curling．American style football and baseball are also very popular and all of these sports are played across Canada．