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　　The Maldives(马尔代夫)consists of l, 196 islands, with 26 distinct coral atolls(环状珊瑚岛)．This amazing place has been hardly touched by human hands．Its clear waters and white washed beaches are an attractive sight．

　　The Maldives is located just southwest of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean．On the world map they make just tiny points compared to other countries．You will need your glasses to pick out these amazing islands．

　　The Maldives, with its tropical views and coral reefs, give everybody the chance to relax and get the opportunity to live the dream on a desert island．Its all year round sunshine and perfect diving sites are just two reasons for getting over here for comfortable holiday．Besides, it doesn't take long to settle in, as the people of the Maldives always make their guests' visit as pleasant as possible．

　　Male is the capital of the Maldives．The contrast(差别)between Male and the other islands is obvious as Male makes up a third of the population．

　　With the first tourist resort opening in 1972, the Maldives holidays have become so popular that there are now around 80 resorts and cruise ships(游艇)in and around the area．Its main holiday makers are made up of Europeans, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy．The number of tourists is steadily on the increase from other countries as more and more people learn about the amazing Maldives islands．

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　　New findings from Queen's University biologists show that in the plant world, bigger isn't necessarily better．

　　“Until now most of the thinking has suggested that to be a good competitor in the forest, you have to be a big plant," says Queen's Biology professor Lonnie Aarssen．"But our research shows it's virtually the other way around．"

　　Previous studies revealed that larger plant species monopolize(垄断)sunlight, water and other resources, limiting the number of smaller plant species that can exist around them．But new research has proven that this is not generally the case in natural vegetation．

　　In the Queen's project, PhD student Laura Keating targeted the largest individuals or "host plants" of 16 woody plant species growing in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia．The research team calculated the number and variety of plants that neighboured each large host plant．They then randomly selected plots without host plants and calculated the plant species there as well．The research showed that the massive trees have no effect on the number of species with which they coexist．

　　Smaller plants have many advantages over their overbearing neighbours, Professor Aarssen notes．Larger species generate physical space niches under their canopies where smaller species thrive．Smaller plants are much more effective than large trees at utilizing available resources．They also produce seeds at a much younger age and higher rate than their bigger counterparts, and establish much more quickly – thus competing with the seedlings of larger species．

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　　Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap．Some call it the summer learning setback．Simply speaking, it means the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget．The only thing they might gain is weight．

　　Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar．Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation．Some schools follow a year-round calendar．They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between．The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than three thousand such schools at last count．They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states．

　　But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school．Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said, "year-round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback．They simply spread it out across the year．"

　　Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students．Experts say this can be prevented．They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help．

　　But calling them "summer school" could be a problem．The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term summer school”．In American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood．The parents welcomed other terms like "summer camp," "enrichment," "extra time" and "hands-on learning．"

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　　Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown．The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences．

　　Psychologists Dr Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants aged nine months to 36 months．The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys．Some were stereotypically boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy．The rest were girls' toys：a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set．They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked．Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded．

　　Of the youngest children(nine to 14 months), girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did．Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it．The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched．There was no link between the parents' view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children's choice．

　　Dr Brenda Todd said：“Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization．Boys may be given 'toys that go' while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference．But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys．There could be a biological basis for their choices．Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts(本能), while girls prefer warmer colours such as pink, the colour of a newborn baby．”

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　　True to their reputation as leisure-loving gourmets(美食家), the French spend more time sleeping and eating than anyone else among the world's wealthy nations, according to a study published on Monday．

　　The average French person sleeps almost nine hours every night, more than an hour longer than　Japanese and Korean, who sleep the least in a survey of 18 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD)．

　　Despite their siesta habit, Spaniards rank only third in the poll after Americans, who sleep more than 8.5 hours．

　　And while more and more French people grab a bite at fast-food chains these days or wolf down a sandwich at their desk, they still spend more than two hours a day eating．

　　That means their meals are twice as long as those of the average Mexican, who dedicates just over an hour a day to food, the OECD's "Society at a Glance" report on work, health and leisure in Asia, Europe and North and South America found．

　　The Japanese, scrimping(吝啬)on sleep and burdened with long commutes and working hours, still manage to spend close to two hours a day eating and drinking, placing them third behind New Zealanders．

　　Despite the moderate amount of time Americans spend eating each day--about an hour and a quarter--U．S．obesity(肥胖)rates are the highest in the 30 members of OECD．

　　The Japanese like to spend what remains of their scarce free time watching television or listening to the radio．This takes up 47 percent of leisure time in Japan．

　　Norwegians spend the most time at leisure, just over a quarter of their day, while at the low end, Mexicans spend just 16 percent of their time having fun．

　　The OECD has 30 members．The survey covers only the countries for which appropriate figures were available．

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　　People say teenagers are no good．They make too much noise in shopping malls; they drive carelessly up and down America's main streets．And at least some of the time those things are true．But we shouldn't forget that there are hard moments in the life of a teenager too．

　　I watched such a moment not long ago at a woman's funeral(葬礼)which happened in a church．A teenage grandson stepped forward．Softly he began：“I want to share a few values that Nana taught me．She never failed to see light in any situation．When our family dog would attack her, what would Nana say? ‘Oh, what beautiful markings that dog has．'That was Nana．”

　　“She was a strong woman who often lived in the shadow of my grandpa, who was a successful businessman in this city．But she was the one behind the scenes who provided the strength and support for Grandpa's career,” he said, with a voice now trembling．“That was Nana's way．” Finally, in a voice breaking free of sorrow, he looked up and said, “Nana taught me courage．She put up a fight to the end, when she died peacefully, which is how she lived her life．That was Nana's way, and I hope I can carry on in the same manner．”

　　There are no hearts as sensitive(敏感的)as those of teenagers, because everything is happening to them for the first time．The trouble with teenagers is that they haven't learned to be controlled．When that boy rose to speak about the woman who had been his dearest friend, his honest voice dragged each of us out into the open where we could no longer hide．I was moved and learned a lot．

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　　The year was 1932．Amelia Earhart was flying alone from North America to England in a small single-engined aeroplane．At midnight, several hours after she had left Newfoundland, she ran into bad weather．To make things worse, her altimeter(高度表)failed and she didn't know how high she was flying．At night, and in a storm, a pilot is in great difficulty without an altimeter．At times, her plane nearly plunged(冲)into the sea．

　　Just before dawn, there was further trouble．Amelia noticed fire coming from the engine．Would she be able to reach land? There was nothing to do except keep going and hope．

　　In the end, Amelia Earhart did reach Ireland, and for the courage she had shown, she was warmly welcomed in England and Europe．When she returned to the United States, she was honored by President Hoover at a special dinner in the White House．From that time on, Amelia Earhart was famous．

　　What was so important about her flight? Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone, and she had set a record of fourteen hours and fifty-six minutes．

　　In the years that followed, Amelia Earhart made several flights across the United States, and on each occasion she set a new record for flying time．Amelia Earhart made these flights to show that women had a place in aviation(航空)and that air travel was useful．

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　　With a healthy image, handsome face and Japan's coolest haircut, Takeshi Kaneshiro(金城武)is one of Asia's most attractive stars．

　　When “Turn Left Turn Right”(《向左走向右走》)opens in Chinese cinemas next month, there's no doubt the 29-year-old boy will get even more attention．

　　Takeshi stars as John, a lonely violin player who falls in love with a translator called Eve, played by Gigi Leung(梁咏琪)．

　　Many of Takeshi's fans like to copy his haircut, clothes and even his smile．But they will find it hard to copy the way he plays the violin in the movie．He impressed his director To Keifung(杜琪峰)by learning to play the violin in a few weeks．

　　This attitude to hard work is one of the reasons why Takeshi is such a good role model for young people．Like many young people, he values friendship more than anything else．“My best friends are my former schoolmates,” he once said, “We became close when we were at school and will be friends forever．”

　　Besides his good looks and hairstyle, he is well known for his healthy image．He started his acting career at the young age of 15 but, unlike other pop stars, he has rarely behaved badly．He stays away from drugs, alcohol and cigarettes．Violence, rude words and dirty jokes seldom appear in his movies．

　　“I hated foreign language classes when I was in school, but now I find speaking several languages helps me a lot in my career,” he said．For someone who only took up acting, Takeshi has come far．No doubt his star will rise even higher．

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　　Joe and Helen Mills had two small children．One was six and the other four．They always resisted going to bed, and Helen was always complaining(抱怨)about this and asking Joe for help．But as he did not come home until after they had gone to bed during the week, he was unable to help except at weekends．

　　Joe considered himself a good singer, but really his voice was not at all musical．However, he decided that, if he sang to the children when they went to bed, it would help them to relax, and they would soon go to sleep．

　　He did this every Saturday and Sunday night until he heard his small son whispered to his younger sister, "If you pretend that you're asleep, he stops．"

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