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　　Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains．They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country, when the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky, but sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory(华丽的皇冠)．

　　At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village．

　　In that village, and in one of the houses(which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years ago, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle．

　　Rip's great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor．It could not be from lack of diligence(勤劳), for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite．He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels．He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work．The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them．In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody's business but his own．

　　If left to himself, he would have whistled(吹口哨)life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness(懒散)．Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house－the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband．

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　　THE BEST SHOPPING IN SYDNEY

　　Sydney is one of the world's biggest cities and has something for everyone when it comes to shopping．You will find excellent Australian products alongside the best that the world has to offer．At the bottom of Sydney Tower, you can shop in 160 of Sydney's favorite stores including 16″ jewellery stores and many gift and fashion shops．It's all at Westfield Centrepoint．

　　Tel：92319300．

　　SOVEREIGN HILL

　　This：prize-winning living museum is where Australia's history comes alive!

　　Visit daily or stay for the night and experience life of the Gold Rush days．A wonderful nightly sound and light show, “Blood on the Southern Cross” tells the story of the famous Eureka Uprising．Enjoy shopping along with real life character and entertainment．4-star hotel and breakfast．

　　Tel：53311944

　　ANCHORAGE RESTAURANT

　　Come and enjoy our delicious Cantonese seafood right on the water's edge in the historic fishing port of Williamstown with views of the city centre across Port Philip Bay．

　　Open 7 days a week

　　Lunch：Sunday to Friday

　　11∶00a.m-2∶00p.m

　　Dinner：Monday to Saturday

　　5∶00p.m．-10∶30p.m．

　　Tel：93976270 or 93977799

　　COOK'S COTTAGE

　　Built by James and Grace Cook, parents of Captain James Cook, Cook's Cottage stands proud in the Fitzroy Gardens as a reminder of life in the eighteenth century, and as a Celebration and commemoration of the life and travels of Captain James Cook．

　　Open 9∶00 a.m 6∶00 p.m daily, and until 5∶30 p.m during the summer．

　　Information：94194677．

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　　How to protect children Web fans from unsuitable material on-line while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in USA．For some parents the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children．But jungles contain wonders as well as dangers．With good guides, some education and few precautions(预防措施), the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated(航行)．“Kids have to be on-line．If we tell our kids they can't have access to the Internet we're cutting them from their future, ”said an expert．Most kids have started to learn to use search engines．Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting sites, and they can also locate places where you might not want your kids to go．There are search engines designed just for kids．A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe．But the most popular that was to limit access would be to use what is known as“a content screener(过滤器)”．But this can't be wholly reliable(可靠的)，and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what's OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet．Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing the Internet．A few other tips：

　　－Don't put the PC in a child's room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things．That also makes the Internet more of a family activity．

　　－Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make on-line．

　　－Tell your child not to give on-line strangers personal information, especially details like address and phone number．

　　－And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet on-line over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet with them alone．

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　　Your home in 2007 will have fewer wires, cleaner air, and a group of fun products to keep you healthy, informed, and entertained．In its latest technology forecast, Battelle has announced what it expects will be the most important technological breakthroughs in household products over the next few years．

　　1．Disappearing Cords and Cables．Wires will begin to disappear from view in homes as we move toward wireless communication, data transmission and energy distribution．That means more cordless telephones, wireless connectors to the Internet, and even electric lamps and small appliances that don't have to be plugged in．These energy-saving products include roofing boards that serve as solar-collectors, reducing the need for electricity transferred by wires to homes．

　　2．Home Waste Management．Imagine an in-home system that sorts, recycles and deals with home waste－getting rid of the need for hand sorting．We may even see the development of systems for at-home water treatment and recycling．

　　3．Highly Miniaturized Communication and Electronic Products．In a few years, we will have developed wristwatch-size phones and highly specialized, hand-held, wireless computers that will help us perform a variety of day-to-day activities, from managing your banking and investments to planning your weekend entertainment．

　　4．Virtual Reality Products．Virtual projections and sound environments will be used to increase computer games, music systems, video entertainment systems, and exercise equipment．We will see a convergence(汇聚点)of home entertainment, information, and exercise．

　　5．Electronic Commerce．We will enjoy electronic shopping and banking, including financial transactions(金融交易)that are error-free, safe, easy to use, and low cost．

　　6．Voice-controlled Products．Products．throughout the home, such as televisions, computers, lights, and other electronic instruments, will be operated by voice commands．

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　　The English language is changing fast, thanks to the rapid progress of technology．We all have a rapid choice：we can either bury our heads in the sand and spend the rest of our lives wishing Shakespeare were alive and well．Or we can embrace(拥抱)the new English, enter into the spirit of the Internet age called Weblish．

　　“You can't avoid it, for the simple reason that whenever a new variety of language comes along, it inevitably impacts(冲击)on the language as a whole．” Says Dr．David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics(语言学家)at the University of Wales in Bangor, whose book “Language and the Internet” has just been published．

　　The trouble with keeping up with the new English is not so much that there are so many new words but that the old words no longer mean what we thought they did．In the past, if someone said they did not have Windows, you would have to suppose they lived in a cave．These days, it is probably because they use a Mac(which is a computer, not a rain coat)．Spam is as disliked as it ever was, but whereas it once meant an unappetizing(引不起食欲的)canned meat, it now stands for unwanted “junk” email．Spellings are changing, too．Not only is text-messaging playing “hvc wth vrbs” [havoc(混乱)with verbs], but the conventions of email communication place little emphasis on “perfect speaking”．

　　Weblish loves to see nouns happily become verbs(“Please bookmark this site”), and verbs become nouns(“Send me the download”)．Verbs and prepositions are regularly thrown together to become new nouns or adjectives(dial-up, logon, print-on, pull-down, uplead), while others are created from simply pairing nouns：cyberspace．Etl, emit Internet．hyperlink．metatag, netspeak．

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　　Most dog owners feel that their dogs are their best friends．Almost everyone likes dogs because they try hard to please their owners．One of my favorite stories is about a dog who wanted the owner to please him．

　　One of my friends has a large German shepherd named Jack．These dogs are often very intelligent．Every Sunday afternoon, my friend takes Jack for a walk in the park．Jack likes these long walks very much．

　　One Sunday afternoon, a young man dropped in on my friend．He stayed a long time, and he talked and talked．Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk, but the visitor didn't leave．Jack became very worried about his walk in the park．He walked around the room several times and then sat down directly in front of the visitor and looked at him．But the visitor paid no attention．He continued talking．Finally, Jack couldn't stand it any longer．He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later．He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he held the man's hat in his mouth．

　　German shepherds aren't the only intelligent dogs．Another intelligent dog is a Seeing Eye dog．This is a special dog that helps blind people walk along the streets and do many other things．We call these dogs Seeing Eye dogs because they are the “eyes” of the blind people and they help them to “see”．Seeing Eye dogs generally go to special schools for several years to learn to help blind people．

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