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　　Today we will talk about expressions with “apple”．“Apple pie order” means very well organized．Nobody is sure when and where this expression began．It is said that the women of New England loved to have everything in its place, especially when they were making apple pie．

　　Another expression “apple of discord” describes the opposite condition．The ancient story says that all the gods and goddesses were celebrating a marriage when Discord, one of the gods, threw a golden apple on the table which was to be given as a prize to the most beautiful goddess．How could they choose among Juno, Minerva and Venus? When Paris decided to give the golden apple to Venus, Juno and Minerva were very angry and threatened(威胁)him．This began the long Trojan War．

　　Calling a tomato “a love apple” was a mistake．In the sixteenth century, Spain imported the tomato from South America to Morocco, and then Italian businessmen took it to Italy．The Italian name for the tomato was pomo di Moro－apple of the Moors(荒野)．When French growers imported it from Italy, they thought di Moro meant d’amour, the French word for love．And so pomo di Moro became the apple of love．

　　People believe many things about the apple．One belief is that it has great powers of keeping people healthy．“An apple a day keeps the doctor away．” Another belief is based on fact．“One rotten apple spoils the barrel．” The expression has come to mean that one bad person in a group can cause everyone to act badly．

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　　Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare．He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today．

　　During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays．It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works．For example, in Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors"(《错误的喜剧》)Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus．For his play "Macbeth"(《麦克白》), Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information．Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity(强度)of his imagination and language made the plays his own．While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on．

　　Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him．He described the sights and sounds of London in his plays．His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city's tradesmen．Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is also clear．His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular traditions of rural people．

　　It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare's works have influenced the world culture．But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language．During his time, the English language was changing．Many new words from other languages were being added．Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework old ones．For example, he created the noun forms of "critic", "mountaineer” and "eyeball"．Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including "pomp and circumstance(装腔作势)"from "Othello"(《奥赛罗》), "full circle(绕圈子地)" from "King Lear"(《李尔王》), etc．The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost endless．From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented．Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the world．

　　Shakespeare became a well-known writer during a golden age of theater．His years of hard work paid off．

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　　When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California．Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly's son, Jim．had great difficulty in school．He was classified as educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident．After his death, his mother submitted(提交)this letter to the newspaper．

　　Today we buried our 20-year-old son．He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night．How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time．If I had only known I would have said,“Jim, I love you and I'm very proud of you．”

　　I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him．I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people．

　　When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn't to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc．, your angry feelings won't amount to much．

　　I won't get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance．Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation．The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died．He called me to say,“Hi, Mom!I just called to say I love you．Got to go to work．Bye．”He gave me something to treasure forever．

　　If there is any purpose at all for Jim's death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care．