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　　Two year s ago, Wendy Ha snip, 47，experienced a brain injury that left her speechle s s for two week s．When she finally recovered, she found her self talking with what seemed to be a French accent．“I phoned a friend the other day, and she spent the fir st ten minute s laughing, ” Ha snip said at the time, “while I have nothing again st the French．”

　　Ha snip suffered from foreign accent syndrome(外国口音综合症), a rare condition in which people find them selve s speaking their own language like someone from a foreign country．The condition u sually occur s in people who have experienced a head injury or a stroke-a sudden lo s s of con sciou sne s s, sen sation, or movement cau sed by a blocked or broken blood ve s selin the brain．

　　The condition wa s fir st identified during the Second World War in a Norwegian woman who se head wa s injured during an attack by the German military．The woman recovered but wa s left with a German-sounding accent, to the horror of fellow villager s who avoided her after that．

　　Re searcher s have di scovered that the combined effect of the damage to several part s of the brain make s victim s lengthen certain syllable, mi spronounce sound s, and change the normal pitch(音高)of their voice．Tho se change s in speech add up to what sound s like a foreign accent．

　　Another re searcher, a phonetician, say s victim s of the syndrome don't acquire a true foreign accent．Their strangely changed speech only re semble s the foreign accent with which it ha s a few sound s in common．

　　When an Engli sh woman named Annie recently developed foreign accent syndrome after a stroke, she spoke with what seemed to be a Scotti sh accent．However, Annie' s Scotti sh coworker s said she didn't sound at all like a Scot．

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　　My father made a deal with me that he would match whatever I could come up with to buy my fir st car．From the time I wa s a saver．My allowance, back in tho se day s, wa s twenty five cent s a week．I grew up on a farm near a small town called Ventura．In tho se day s the area wa s mo stly agricultural．The climate wa s and still i s a s clo se to perfect a s you could get．I earned some of my money picking one crop or another．When I wa s about ten, a school friend' s family owned walnut orchard s(果园)and it wa s harve st time．She told me we could earn five dollar s for every bag of walnut s we picked．I certainly learned about picking walnut s that day．Not surprisingly, that wa s my fir st and la st time a s a walnut picker．

　　In 1960 my grandmother pa s sed away．She left me 100 share s of AT＆T．One hundred share s of stock don't seem like much today but back then tho se share s paid me＄240 per year in dividend s(利息)．That wa s huge for a kid my age．

　　By the time I wa s seventeen．I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and I knew exactly that I wanted．Ithink my father wa s somewhat suri sed when I announced I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and wa s ready to buy my new car．I'll never forget the evening my father said, “Let' s go see about that car”．I wa s so excited．

　　My father could have ea sily ju st given me the car but he alway s in si sted that hi s children work for what they got．Thi s wa s not a bad thing．I learned self-reliance．Self-reliance i s equal to freedom．Now that I think about it I need to be thanking my father．

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　　We have met the enemy and he i s our s．We bought him at a pet shop．When monkey-pox, a di sea se u sually found in the African rain fore st suddenly turn s up in children in the American Midwe st, it' s hard not to wonder of the di sea se that come s from foreign animal s i s homing in on human being s．“Mo st of the infection s we think of a s human infection s started in other animal s, ” say s Stephen Mor se, director of the Center for Public Health Preparedne s s at Columbia Univer sity．

　　It' s not ju st that we're going to where the animal s are; we're al so bringing them clo ser to u s．Popular foreign pet s have brought a whole new di sea se to thi s country．A strange illne s s killed I sak sen' s pet s and she now think s that keeping foreign pet s i s a bad idea, “I don't think it' s fair to have them a s pet s when we have such alimited knowledge of them．” say s I sak sen．

　　“Law s allowing the se animal s to be brought in from deep fore st area s without stricter control need changing．” say s Peter Schantz．Monkey-pox may be the wake-up call．Re searcher s believe infected animal s may infect their owner s．We know very little about the se new di sea se s．A new bug(病毒)may be kind at fir st．But it may develop into something harmful．Monkey-pox doe sn't look a major infectiou s di sea se．But it i s not impo s sible to pa s s the di sea se from per son to per son．

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　　In many ways, the earliest periods of photography are the most satisfying．Learning to use the controls is easy and comes quickly, and you can measure the results in terms of sharp and correctly developed pictures．Once you have mastered that, you can start on the second step of your photographic work．Using these basic skills in a wide variety of situations to give the pictures you want, noticing what you see through the viewfinder and turning that into the most effective picture becomes totally interesting．

　　All good photographs have one thing in common; there is no doubt what the subject of the picture is meant to be．Every photographer must use those same standards to his or her work, not only to the finished results but to the subject before he or she takes it．Always work out quite clearly what the subject of the picture is to be and why you are taking the picture．For example,“I am going to take a picture of this street to show the different styles and ages of the buildings and that people have been living, working and shopping in them since time began．”By doing this you have a better idea of what to include in the picture and what to leave out．How often have you been shown photographs taken by people away on a trip somewhere? The judgment is always similar, something about“the car park is out of the picture to the left”, or“you can't quite see from this picture but if you go up the street”．The photographs are usually collections of buildings, people, parked cars, possibly a distant look of an ancient church, and best of all, a figure which you are told is Aunt Henrietta, disappearing in the middle distance．

　　When photographers show you their pictures, they have a clear idea of what they want to bring to your attention, but it often does not appear in the picture．If they had given just a little of their time to think about their future judgment before taking the picture, then the picture would relate its own story．Good pictures can show their subjects quickly and easily．

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　　One of the United States' social problems is the breakdown of the two-parent family．Today, millions of American children grow up without fathers．Too often, these children lack the love and help they badly need and which they would ordinarily receive from not one but two parents．In the old days, American parents placed the needs of their children above their own．At present, however, nearly one half of all new marriages end in divorce, with often troubling results for their children．Worse, every year, thousands of teenage, unmarried Americans become mothers outside marriage, with generally terrible results for the mothers and children alike and for American society more generally．However, Chinese continue to value whole marriages．This is not to say that Chinese marriages are all perfect．They certainly are not, judging from increasing rates of divorce and extramarital affairs－but the willingness of Chinese to set aside their own needs and stay together for the sake of the children is admirable and worthy of study．

　　Families, in whatever form they may take, are important to Americans．If one was to ask a group of Americans what is the dearest to them, the majority would say“family”．And yet, so many Americans spend much more time at work, that is, beyond the formal forty-hour work week-than they do with their own families．Obviously, the USA is one of the most powerful in the world, owing in large measure to“workaholism”(工作狂)．

　　It seems to me that Chinese generally find a better balance between work and family needs than many Americans do．I don't see the number of workaholics in China that I do in the United States(or American organizations in China)．Instead, average Chinese usually head home right after work(in the office or field)，have meals together, and spend time with their family members．What's more, Chinese try to make more time for grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins than many Americans; in many cases, multigenerational families live together．

　　Of course, like many facts of Chinese society, this is all changing; increasing numbers of“New Chinese”are working longer hours and spending less time with their families than ever before．Still, while Americans do value their loved ones, I think we have something to learn from the Chinese about finding the proper balance between work and family．

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　　When nature is left alone, a balance is reached among the animals and plants living in one area．But when man starts his work in nature, the balance is likely to be destroyed．He grows a crop and takes it away to eat; then there are no dead leaves to fall on the ground, holding water while it sinks into the surface, or decaying(腐烂)and adding humus(腐殖质)to the soil．Unless a farmer acts with knowledge and skill, he is therefore most likely to make the land poorer．To take the place of the useful matter in the crops that he removes, he uses some kind of fertilizer．Chemical fertilizers are of great help, but the waste products of animals and decaying remains of plants should also be put on the land．In some places, it is a habit to burn waste material lying about, but such burning destroys the useful matter in the dead plants．Although the ashes that are left are valuable when put on the land, a better practice is to bury the waste so that it decays and increases the humus in the soil．

　　In the past, when the world population was much lower than it is now, a man had little difficulty in ordinary times in growing the food that was needed．When a field had been used some years and had become tired, the farmer could move to another place．The tired land then slowly recovered．Gradually grasses and other plants would appear on it and its productive power would slowly return to normal through their decay．But nature, left alone, would take a long time to bring back the land to its former state; the length of time required would depend on local conditions, but it might well be ten years．

　　It is a bad practice to grow the same crop in a field year after year．If the crop is changed, the land will suffer less because it is treated and used in a different way．Different plants have different effects on the soil．Therefore, a change of crop will do less harm than the growing of the same crop year after year and a regular change to grass will do good to the soil．Much will therefore be gained if different crops are grown one after another, a method known as the rotation(轮作)of crops．

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　　In the West, advertisements are the fuel that makes mass media work．Many TV stations, newspapers, magazines, radio stations are privately owned．The government does not give them money．So where does the money come from? From advertisements．Without advertisements, there would not be these private businesses．

　　Have you ever asked yourself what advertising is? Through the years, people have given different answers to the question．For some time it was felt that advertising was a means of “Keeping your name before the public”．And some people thought that advertising was “truth well told”．Now more and more people consider it in this way：Advertising is the paid, non-personal, and usually persuasive presentation of goods, services and ideas by some certain sponsors(发起人)through various media．

　　First, advertising is usually paid for．Various sponsors pay for the advertisements we see, read, and hear over the various media．Second, advertising is non-personal．It is not face-to-face communication．Although you may feel that a message in a certain advertisement is aimed directly at you, in reality, it is directed at large groups of people．Third, advertising is usually persuasive．Directly or indirectly it asks people to do something．All advertisements try to make people believe that the product, idea, or service advertised can benefit them．Fourth, the sponsors of the advertisement must show their names．From the advertisement, we can see if the sponsor is a company, or a single person．Fifth, advertising reaches us through old and modern mass media．Included in the old media are newspapers．magazines, radio, television, and films．Modern media include emails, matchbox covers, and boards on top of buildings．

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　　Beijing(Xinhua)：When she appeared on stage, singing a Japanese song, hundreds of excited teenagers crowded around shouting, "Curarpikt(酷拉皮卡)! Its Curarpikt!"

　　At the Beijing Comic and Animation Expo last week, that's exactly who Shi Jia was．The Senior 1 girl was cosplaying "Curarpikt", a character from the popular Japanese comic book Hunter X Hunter(《猎人》)by Yoshihiro Togashi．

　　"I cosplay Curarpikt because I like him," said the pretty 15-year-old girl．"I'm moved by his sad story and I'm attracted by his courage and personality．"

　　In the adventure comic story, Curarpikt, a handsome and kind-hearted boy, struggles to become a hunter so he can capture the people who killed his tribe．

　　Shi has read all the comic books and is a big fan of the animated series of Hunter X Hunter．Then last year she saw a real "Curarpikt" in a cosplay show．

　　"I had watched cosplay shows before but only for fun," she explained．"It's really exciting to see young people wearing the make up and costumes of characters that you've read about and are familiar with．"

　　"But that time I just fell in love with cosplaying, probably because I like Curarpikt so much．I thought I could play the character better, so I decided to have a go．"

　　Shi bought some cloth and asked a tailor to make a Curarpikt costume for her．She was delighted to find out there was a cosplay show in Beijing in October．

　　"It's a great way to spend the national holiday．Posing on the stage for all the comic book fans, I knew I was doing something I had always wanted to do," she said．

　　But she never talks about her hobby with her parents．

　　"They think it will distract me from my studies．I don't want to upset them, that's my secret hobby," she said．"It's also why I don't dye my hair for cosplaying like all the others．"

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　　Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer．But there is one question that has millions of correct answers．That question is “What's your name? ” Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct．

　　Have you ever wondered about people's names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?

　　People's first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents．Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used．Some parents choose the name of a well-known person．A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones．

　　Some people give their children names that mean good things．Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”．

　　The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names．A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near a brook(小溪); someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road．The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest．

　　Other early surnames came from people's occupations．The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals．In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village．Some other occupational names are：Carter－a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter-a person who made pots and pans．

　　The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village．The Carpenter's great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture．

　　Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities．When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with gray hair probably became John Gray．Or the John who was very tall could call himself John Tallman．John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer．

　　Some family names were made by adding something to the father's name．English-speaking people added –s or –son．The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family's ancestor was Robert．Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O．Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell．

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