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　　We often hear the phrase：“You've a greater chance of being struck by lightning．”It is used to describe something that hasn't got much chances of happening．However, the common saying undermines the very real dangers of lightning．

　　Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal．

　　Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US．The first is floods．Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those, 73 people die．That is, more people are killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes．

　　Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters．

　　So to raise awareness(意识)，the US has made June 22－28 National Lightning Safety Week．It aims to warn the public of the dangers of lightning and provide safety tips during thunderstorms．

　　“If you hear thunder, you are in danger of lightning,”said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross．

　　“Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any minute, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until the storm has ended．The single most important thing to remember is to seek hiding place,”Lopes said．

　　Summer is the high time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips：

　　Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields．

　　If you can count less than ten seconds between a thunder and a lightning flash, take cover inside the nearest building．

　　Do not stand under a tree．

　　Get off bicycles and motorcycles．

　　Crouch down(蹲下)if there is no hiding place．

　　Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers．

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　　What to do if you don't feel popular?

　　Try to take part in activities．Call your friends．Plan to do something．The worst feeling is staying home alone, because it makes you feel even more lonely．

　　Try to make new friends．Choose friends carefully, not just because you think they're popular．And remember, making good friends takes time．Choosing a popular person to be friends with is okay．If they are nice．

　　Be yourself(保持独立)．If you want to become friends with someone who's popular, don't make yourself into someone you are not just to impress that person．

　　Be nice．Be friendly．Be outgoing(开朗的)．But don't overdo(做过头)it!Talk to trusted friends if you are feeling really bad．Or you might want to write it down in a journal(期刊)or diary．

　　Do something special for yourself．You could take pictures of your friends, or collect their school pictures, and take a collage(拼贴画)to hang on your wall．This will remind(提醒)you, when you are feeling unpopular, that you really do have friends．

　　Think up your own ideas．These suggestions might not work for everyone．

　　What to do if you have a problem with your teacher?

　　Talk to your parents, or another adult who will listen to you and perhaps can help．Talk to your friends．Maybe they have had problems with the same teacher, too．

　　Don't give the teacher a reason to have problems with you．Do your work, complete your task, attend the class seriously and take notes．Maybe you just need to give the teacher a chance(机会)．

　　Try to find out what the problem is．

　　Talk to the teacher if you feel comfortable doing this．Don't be nasty(闹别扭的)，but express your concerns(关心)．Listen to the teacher, as well．

　　Just accept the fact that you're not going to love all your teachers．

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　　EVERYTHING has two sides．One side of SARS is already clear．It is a deadly disease, which causes fear．There were 2,601 cases recorded on the Chinese mainland on April 24, according to government figures．Some 115 people have died and numbers keep rising．

　　But, there's another side．

　　SARS is a reminder of how fragile life can be．Suddenly, it's not just the old people who are thinking about death．Everyone now realizes there might not always be a tomorrow．

　　Wang Xinying, a Senior 3 student in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, came into contact with a suspected(怀疑的)SARS patient in mid－April．He was told to stay at home for at least two weeks．“Watching TV about more and more SARS patients dying, I never knew that death could be so close．Life is valuable and I'm going to treasure every single day,”he said．

　　SARS teaches people to be grateful(感激的)，not only for their own lives, but also for others．Doctors and nurses, for example, have to spend all their time with infected patients．As a result, more than 20 percent of SARS cases in China are medical workers．

　　Xu Bing, a Senior 2 student of Beijing No．5 Middle School, wants to be a doctor when he grows up．“Although they certainly know of the dangers, doctors and nurses remain bravely dedicated(献身的)to saving people's lives．I'm deeply moved by what they have done．I think they are real heroes,”he said．

　　SARS also teaches sympathy(同情)．The past few weeks have been terrible for Chinese people．But there are far worse things than SARS in this world, such as wars, earthquakes and murders．Think of the Iraqis, who have been living terrible lives for 20 years．Think of how the Americans felt on September 11．

　　And finally, SARS offers the chance to grow．All different types of people and government officials are joining together to cope in this difficult time．When this passes, China and its people will have learned great lessons．

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　　More young Americans are familiar with the island on TV's“Survivor(生还者)”than with Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq or Israel, a National Geographic survey has reported．

　　Americans' bad performance was not that different from answers by young people in eight other nations, especially Canada and Britain, and was slightly better than last－ranked Mexico, the survey found．Only 17 percent of U．S．young people could find Afghanistan on a world map, though it has been in the news almost all the time since the September 11,2001 attacks．Just one in every seven young Americans could locate Iraq or Iran on a map of the Middle East and Asia．Israel was hard for Americans to find－only 14 percent could locate it on a regional map－though the worldwide answer was not much better, in no country among the nine could more than half of young adults locate it．Worldwide, only three in ten young people could find the Pacific Ocean, which covers 33 percent of the Earth．Seven in ten Americans could correctly locate it．By contrast, 34 percent of young Americans knew that the island used for the last Season of the television show“Survivor”was in the South Pacific．

　　Many young Americans had a wrong figure of America's population, with 30 percent estimating(估计)the U．S．population to be 1 billion to 2 billion．The correct answer in the survey was 150 million to 350 million．Answers in all other countries did better on that question, and did much better on estimating the population of their own country．

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　　It has shined and steamed at the lowest point on Earth since the ancient time．Its silence and curing powers have attracted people from biblical(圣经的)mystics to modern tourists．But the Dead Sea has been quietly dying for years．

　　And the two states next to its shrinking shoreline, Israel and Jordan, face serious economic and ecological challenges in considering how to save a unique natural wonder of the world．

　　They have begun to consider a“Red－Dead”solution－a canal to pump water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea．But huge costs, and the risk both of damaging the Red's famous coral reefs and weakening the Dead's medicinal minerals, stand in the way．

　　Known as the Dead Sea because nothing can live in it, the world's saltiest body of water has fallen from 390 metres to 417 metres below sea level in the last 50 years．The drop has sped up to a metre a year recently, making a third of its ancient 950 square km size lost．Modern economics are to blame－taking too much Jordan River water that feeds the Dead Sea to rain－starved farmland．

　　Hotels and health spas(旅游胜地)built along the beach below desert cliffs, as well as sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, are now a kilometre or more from the water's edge．Retired Swiss couple Jean and Esther Haensenberger have been spending their yearly“Kur”－a Central European tradition of taking medicinal baths to treat skin illness and stress－at Israel's flagship Dead Sea resort of Ein Gedi since the 1980s．At first, they could walk a few paces from the Ein Gedi Spa to the beach for a float in windless waters so floating that one can read a book while lying on one's back．Now visitors board a tractor－drawn trolley that takes them a kilometre to the water．

　　“It's over twice the distance out today．It's sad that another rare preserve of nature is disappearing．”said Jean Haensenberger as he and his wife rode to the shore,“If the sea keeps going down, will people like us keep coming?”

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　　LONDON(Reuters)－Ecotourism(生态旅游)is causing a lot of damage to wildlife and may be endangering the survial(生存)of the very animals people are flocking to see, according to researchers．

　　Biologists and conservationists(自然环境保护论者)are worried because polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other creatures are getting stressed and losing weight and some are dying．

　　Evidence(证据)is growing that many animals do not react well to tourists in their backyard．”New Scientist magazine said．

　　The immediate effects researchers have noticed are changes in behavior, heart rates, or stress hormone levels but they fear it could get much worse and over the long term“could endanger the survival of the very wildlife they want to see”．

　　Although money produced through ecotourism, which has been growing at about 10～30 percent a year, has major benefits for poor countries and people living in rural areas, the Swiss－based World Conservation Union and some governments fear not all projects are audited(审计)and based on environmentally friendly policies, according to the magazine．

　　“The transmission(传播)of disease to wildlife, or small changes to wildlife health through disturbance of daily life or increased stress levels, while not obvious to the casual observer, may translate to lower survival and breeding．”said Philip Seddon, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand．

　　Scientists have noticed that bottleneck dolphins along the nortbeastem coast of New Zealand become nervously excited when tourist boats arrive, Similar changes in behavior have been observed in polar bears and yellow- eyed penguins in areas visited by ecotourists are producing smaller babies．

　　Conservationists are now calling for more research into the effect of ecotourism on animals and say the industry must be developed carefully．They also want studies done before new ecotourism projects are started．

　　“The animal's welfare should be very important because without them there will be no ecotourism．”said Rochelle Constantine of the University of Auckland in New Zealand．

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The Yellow River is the second longest river in China．It rises in the mountains in Qinghai and flows right across China to the Yellow Sea．Both the river and the sea are called Yellow because of the yellow mud which the river carries down from the desert into the sea, making the water a yellow color．When the river reaches the flat plain and flows less fast, it drops much of its mud, filling up the riverbed and forcing the water to overflow its banks and flood the countryside for miles．These terrible floods wash away crops and destroy whole villages．They have brought death and famine(饥饿)to so many people that the river is sometimes called“China's sorrow．”In order to prevent the floods, they have built banks of earth, called dykes(河堤)along both sides．As the river brought down more mud and broke through the dykes, people mended them and built them higher, until now in some parts the river flows as much as twenty feet above．In spite of the danger of floods, farming has been carried on for centuries．

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　　In summer, millions of people will head for the beach．And while the ocean can be a great place to swim and play, it may also be useful in another way．Some scientists think that waves could help make electricity．

　　“Have you ever been on a surfboard or boat and felt yourself being lifted up by a wave?Or have you jumped in the water and felt the energy as waves crashed over you?”asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland．“There is certainly a lot of energy in waves．”

　　Scientists are working on using that energy to make electricity．

　　Most waves are created when winds blow across the ocean．“The winds start out by making little ripples(波纹)in the water, but if they keep on blowing, those ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves,”Taylor said．“Waves are one of nature's ways of picking up energy and then sending it off on a journey．”

　　When waves come towards the shore, people can set up dams or other barricades to block the water and send it through a large wheel called a turbine(涡轮机)．The turbine can then power an electrical generator(发电机)．

　　The United States and a few other countries have started doing research on wave energy, and it is already being used in Scotland．

　　The resource is huge．We will never run out of wave power, besides, wave energy does not create the same pollution as other energy sources, such as oil and coal．

　　Oceans cover three quarters of the earth's surface．That would make wave power seem perfect for creating energy around the world．There are some drawbacks, however．

　　Jamie Taylor said that wave power still cost too much money．He said that its effects on animals in the sea were still unknown．Plus, wave power would get in the way of fishing and boat traffic．

　　“With more research, however, many of these problems might be overcome,”Taylor said．“Demand for energy to power our TVs and computers, drive our cars, and heat and cool our homes is growing quickly throughout the world．Finding more energy sources is very important, for traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may run out some day．”

　　In the future, when you turn on a light switch, an ocean wave could be providing the electricity!

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　　Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at age 69, was one of the most recognizable(or：that can be recognized)faces on TV．He appeared in more than 800 commercials(or：business ads on TV or the radio)for the hamburger chain named for his daughter．“As long as it works,”he said in 1991,“I'll continue to do those commercials．”

　　Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood．“He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper－fitting shoes,”Wendy said in 1993．Born to a single mother, he was adopted(or：take into the family as their own)as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan．After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction(or：building)work．“He fed me,”Thomas said,“and if I got out of line, he'd beat me．”

　　Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants．But he had something much better in mind．“I thought if I owned a restaurant,”he said,“I could eat for free．”A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career(or：lifetime job)as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire(or：a rich man with millions of dollars or pounds)in 1968．

　　In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart(or：made itself different from or better than others)by serving made－to－order burgers．With 6000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes ＄ 6 billion a year in sales．

　　Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids(or：children)besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children．He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(or：organization set up to offer money to help)for Adoption in 1992．

　　In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated(or：left school)from Coconut Creek High School in Florida．He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party．The kids voted(or：chose formally)him“Most Likely to Succeed．”

　　“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,”says friend Pat Williams．“He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker．He was just‘Joe Everybody’．”

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　　A number of words, like the tails of kites, somehow get tied to the word“dead”－words such as“dead ringer”,“dead wood”,“deadbeat”,“dead end”, etc．

　　Dying is an unpleasant experience．Why we think about it－it is something that should happen to nobody．Yet, the word“dead”has given American English some of its liveliest expressions．

　　One of the first seems to have arisen in England more than 600 years ago．There was a saying among people that something was as“dead as a doornail”．

　　It is difficult to explain why a doornail is deader than anything else．One can only guess．Perhaps the continual pounding on a doornail would surely put an end to it．One guess is no worse than another．

　　Nevertheless, the expression,“dead as a doornail,”crossed the ocean and settled down among the American people, who use the word“dead”in endless ways．

　　For example, Americans say a car that will not start is dead as a doornail．And if it does get moving it may take you down a“dead end”street．Finally, you will find yourself“dead tired”, because your engine is making so much noise that you may end in a“dead heat”－or“dead tie”－with the police who are after you．They may not perhaps, be friendly．They look you over carefully, with suspicion, for they think you are a“dead ringer”for some escaped criminal who looks like your twin brother．

　　his is a most unhappy situation．Only a“deadhead”would reject this good advice－turn the car in and get a new one, even if you are“dead broke．”

　　You can always borrow the money from friends, unless you are known to be a“deadbeat”－a man who never pays back．You can prove they are“dead wrong”by paying back the money you borrowed!

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