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　　Bright red post boxes, the Queen and queuing-What do they all have in common?They are all part of British life．Or so I thought．

　　However, the ability to queue for long periods of time, once believed to be a traditional character of the British, is no longer tolerated by people in the UK, according to a survey done for British bank Barclays．

　　Once upon a time, queuing was seen as normal．During the Second World War, everyone had to queue up to receive their daily ration(配给)of foods．In fact, if you didn't stand up and wait in line with all the others, it was seen as impolite．

　　The famous English double-deck buses, with only one entrance, might also help explain why queuing was seen as a part of life．Almost always, there is queue to get on．But perhaps the British are tired of being pushed past by the Spanish, the Italians or the French as they queue up to get a table at a restaurant．The people of these other European countries have more than one entrance to their buses, which could explain their more relaxed attitude to the queue．

　　Two minutes is now the longest time most British are prepared to stand and wait．But could it be that the Internet, which allows us to carry out tasks quickly, is the main reason why British people are no longer prepared to queue?

　　“Used to buying without delay, customers are even abandoning purchases rather than wait their turn,” says Stuart Neat of Barclaycard．“Shoppers are also less likely to queue for long if the item they are buying is of low value．”

　　Perhaps I will have to replace “queuing” with “impatience” in my list of things I associate with the British．

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　　For some time past, it has been widely accepted that babies-and other creatures-learn to do things because certain acts lead to “ rewards ”, and there is no reason to doubt that this is true．But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early time, had to be directly connected to such basic physiological(生理的)“drives” as thirst or hunger．In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise．

　　It is now clear that this is not so．Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no rewards except success in sight．

　　Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to “reward” the babies and to teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other．Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure．So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided．He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement “turned on” some lights-and indeed that they were able to learn quite complex turns to bring about this result, for example, two left or two right, or even to make as many as three turns to one side．

　　Papousek's light experiment was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the light closely although they would “smile and bubble” when the light was on．Papousek concluded that it was not the sight of the lights which pleased them; it was the success they were achieving in solving the problem, in mastering the skill, and that there exists a basic human desire to make sense of the world and bring it under intended control．

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　　There are many ways to find a job．It can be as easy as walking into a neighborhood store to look at its announcement board．Local stores often have areas where people can put small signs telling what kind of service they need or can provide．Such services include caring for children or cleaning houses．

　　Job searchers can look in the newspaper．Local newspapers have employment announcements placed by companies seeking workers．

　　Another popular tool for finding jobs is the Internet．For example, people in four hundred and fifty cities around the world can use the Craigslist Web site to buy objects, meet people or find a job．Craigslist says that it receives two million new job listings each month．

　　Another useful way to find a job is through a college or university．For example, students at the University of Texas in Austin can go to the Career Exploration Center to get help in finding a job．Of course, looking for a job requires knowing what kind of work you want to do．For example, there is a book called“What Color is Your Parachute(降落伞)?”by Richard Bolles．This book has been helping people choose a career(职业)since it was first published in nineteen seventy．

　　Some experts also help people find jobs．Susan W．Miller owns a company called California Career Services in Los Angeles．She says her company helps people find jobs by first helping them understand their strengths, goals and interests．Then she provides them with methods and resources to help them find the right job．

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　　People have smoked cigarettes for a long time now．The tobacco which is used to make cigarettes was first grown in what is now part of the United States．Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, saw the Indians smoking．Soon the dried leaves were transported to Europe．In the late 1800s, the Turks made cigarettes popular．

　　Cigarette smoke contains at least two harmful substances, tar and nicotine．Tar, which forms as the tobacco burns, damages the lungs and therefore affects breathing．Nicotine, which is found in the leaves, causes the heart to beat faster and increases the breathing rate．Nicotine in large can kill a person by stopping a person's breathing muscles．Smokers usually take in small amounts that the body can quickly break down．

　　Nicotine can make new smokers feel dizzy(头晕)or sick to their stomachs．The heart rate for young smokers increases 2 to 3 beats per minute．Nicotine also lowers skin temperature and reduces blood flow in the legs and feet．It plays an important role in increasing smokers' risk of heart disease and stroke．

　　Smoking cigarettes is dangerous．Cigarette smoking was the cause of lung cancer and several other deadly diseases．

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　　The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means(通讯设备)．Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems．One of the biggest is pollution．To pollute means to make things dirty．Pollution comes in many ways．We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it．

　　Man has been polluting the earth．The more people, the more pollution．Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people．When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, Man moved to another place．But this is no longer true．Man is now slowly polluting the whole world．

　　Air pollution is still the most serious．It's bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution．Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water．Noise pollution makes us angry more easily．

　　Many countries are making rules to fight pollution．They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air．

　　Pollution by carbon dioxide is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution．It is caused by heavy traffic．It is true that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution．

　　The earth is our home．We must take care of it．That means keeping the land, water and air clean．And we must take care of the rise in population at the same time．

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　　Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the colleges and universities in the United States．Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard．

　　In the early years, these schools were much alike．Only young men went to college．All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew．Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world．When the students graduated, most of them became ministers or teachers．

　　In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors．Later, lawyers could receive their training in Harvard's law school．In 1825, besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German．Soon it began teaching American history．

　　As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects．Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them．

　　Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities．Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with special areas of learning．There's so much to learn that one kind of school can't offer it all．

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　　One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world．Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will changes the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child's play．

　　Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down．We cannot be the last generation to have that place．At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes．“If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment(蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods．

　　Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives．That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive(认知的)skills．Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents－and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters(培养)leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest．Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child．The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world．A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes．We really need to value that more．

　　Kids are not to blame．They are over-protected and frightened．It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite(仪式)of passage．

　　Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement(增强)love, respect and need for landscape．As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature．This could yet be our greatest cause．

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　　Photos that you might have found down the back of your sofa are now big business!

　　In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince's photograph of a photograph, Untitled(Cowboy), was sold for ＄1, 248, 000．

　　Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called “found photographs”－a loose term given to everything from discarded(丢弃的)prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger's family album．The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes “basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982．In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes：people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on．

　　Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion(捍卫)found photographs．One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷)an angry note intended for someone else：“Why's your car HERE at HER place?” The note became the starting point for Rothbard's addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such a poster discovered in our drawer．

　　The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions．Perhaps one of the most difficult is：can these images really be considered as art? And if so, whose art? Yet found photographs produced by artists, such Richard Prince, may riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone? Or how did Prince create this photograph? It's anyone's guess．In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated(整理), we also turn toward our own photographic albums．Why is memory so important to us? Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves? Will they mean anything to anyone after we've gone?

　　In the absence of established facts, the vast collections of found photographs give our minds an opportunity to wander freely．That, above all, is why they are so fascinating．

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　　In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada's Manitoba province, will begin test-launching(试发射)a satellite the size of a Rubik's cube．

　　The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit．Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes．

　　There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada．30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace(航空航天的)experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations．

　　The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program．It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba．Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space．

　　“These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation(创新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson．“We want to make science more relevant(相关的), interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added．

　　The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students．It also shows Manitoba's devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce－all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth．

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