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　　Experts have put forward detailed plans tot a tunnel(隧道)to join Taiwan with the Chinese mainland．

　　The shortest proposed route would be 126 kilometers－more than twice the length of the English Channel Tunnel．And the longest proposed route would be 207 kilometers．

　　A recent conference in Xiamen, Fujian Province brought together more than 70 experts．The event was co-sponsored(共同发展)by universities from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland．

　　Fujian is the province where both proposed routes would begin．There is no direct passenger access(通道)between the mainland and Taiwan by air or sea at the moment．

　　Experts say that it is better to start research sooner rather than later, although there is a lack of government funding．There are no technical problems to build a Taiwan tunnel．But it will require an improved political relationship across the Straits．

　　A professor of Tsinghua University said, “A special feature of huge projects is that the period of preparation is longer than the period of construction．”

　　For example, he said, the English Channel Tunnel took 14 years of planning and had been discussed for two centuries．And preparations for the huge Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River began in the 1950s．

　　The Xiamen conference focused(集中)on the longest southern route, which would use the Taiwan-controlled islands of Jinmen and Penghu as stepping stones．

　　The first stage of the new project could be a bridge to cross the five kilometers between Xiamen and Jinmen．This would mean that travelling from Xiamen to Jinmen by car would only take five minutes．

　　The longest tunnel now being planned anywhere in the world is the 54-kilometer Land tunnel to link Lyon in France with Turin in Italy．The tunnel will not be completed until 2015-2020．

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　　I was a small boy, just three or four years old, when I first heard the cool and magnetic(有磁性的)voice of Peggy Lee．It floated lightly from my parents’ radio, out across the sunny back garden where I was playing．The song was “On the Street Where You Live”．By and by, I came to pay attention to the expression of feelings, but could not always get a sensible meaning from them．“I have often walked down this street before,” sang Lee．“But the way always stayed beneath my feet before．All at once I am several storeys high．Knowing I’m on the street where you live．．．” I was almost lost at it．

　　Within the small network of streets that formed for me, the entire known world, including the footpaths and houses, was unchangeable．Apart from father’s description of life by telling various stories at my bedtime, still, the world Lee sang of seemed impossibly far off and pleasant, and, instantly, I loved the singer who delivered this puzzling singing to me．

　　In the early days of the sixties, other fine voices would be heard on radio, performing the same song, those of Torme and Damone included．But no one else’s version(翻唱)came close to Lee’s．

　　As I grew, I continued to hear Lee’s voice now and then from the radios．And, of course, I would come across her photos at the local record-store that I was after so obsessively(着迷地)．Always, one of her photos would be a studied subject－the lips, offering the suggestion of a Mona Lisa-like smile, the hair, butter-yellow and carefully arranged, and the clothes, those of a movie star．More than once I was told that Peggy Lee’s iconic(偶像化的)appearance was only her stage look．I could see why．Though quite attractive, it just offered those persons like Peggy Lee a necessary mask to hide herself behind．But, it never makes the singer less favorable to me．

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　　Picasso, the famous Spanish painter, was born in 1881．His father was an art teacher．Picasso began to paint very early．He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art at the age of 15, After 1900,he spent much time in Paris, living there from 1904 to 1947,when he moved to the south of France．

　　Throughout his career, Picasso moved from style to style with ease．He practiced sculpture, illustrated books and also showed great interest in pottery design and other fields of art．

　　Picasso produced a great number of drawings during his lifetime．No later artist of the School of Paris has replaced international influence．

　　Picasso is generally considered to be the foremost figure in 20th century French art．His paintings are now exhibited in leading European and American galleries．

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　　If you walk slowly through downtown Helsinki(赫尔辛基)during the day, taking in the splendid 19th century buildings, white boats and noise of passing trams(有轨电车),you will start to understand why it is called a city of two colors：white and blue．

　　The sea is always present in Helsinki．When you take a walk over the great open space of the central square, you will hear seabirds screaming．When you take the tram, suddenly and unexpectedly, you are faced with a calm, shining blue sea．You may notice that people in Helsinki do not rush about as in other cities．Instead, they walk along the roads, politely letting other people by．A usual way to see Helsinki for the first time is to start out by the boats．You will walk by the elderly women selling fish and vegetables in the market square and find yourself in front of a beautiful park．You may enjoy a pleasant walk in the park for a few hours and then take the tram．Trams are the perfect way to get around in Helsinki．Watching the old houses, parks, theatres, churches, shops, restaurants and people in the streets, you may have a slightly sad film feeling to it．

　　The pale summer nights are another wonder in the city．Following the waterfront(滨水区)of the city after sunset, you couldn’t help stopping and listening to the sweet silence, interrupted only by the screaming seabirds and leaving fishing boats．

　　However, in some way．Helsinki is also the most modern city in northern Europe．You will surely want to visit the white Glass Palace, the modern art museum, and all those extremely popular cafes and design stores．

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　　Art museums are places where people can learn about various cultures(文化)．The increasingly popular “design museums” that are opening today, however, perform quite a different role．Unlike most art museums, the design museum shows objects that are easily found by the general public．These museums sometimes even place things like fridges and washing machines in the center of the hall．

　　People have argued that design museums are often made use of as advertisements for new industrial technology．But their role is not simply a matter of sales－it is the honoring of excellently invented products．The difference between the window of a department store and the showcase in a design museum is that the first tries to sell you something, while the second tells you the success of a sale．

　　One advantage of design museums is that they are places where people feel familiar with the exhibits．Unlike the average art museum visitors, design museum visitors seldom feel frightened or puzzled(困惑)．This is partly because design museums clearly show how and why mass-produced products work and look as they do, and how design has improved the quality of our lives．Art museum exhibits, on the other hand, would most probably fill visitors with a feeling that there is something beyond their understanding．

　　In recent years, several new design museums have opened their doors．Each of these museums has tried to satisfy the public’s growing interest in the field with new ideas．London’s Design Museum, for example, shows a collection of mass-produced objects from Zippo lighters to electric

　　typewriters to a group of Italian fish-tins．The choices open to design museums seem far less strict than those to art museums, and visitors may also sense the humorous(幽默的)part of our society while walking　such exhibits as interesting and unusually attractive toys collected in our everyday life．

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　　The dream(梦想)of every family is to live in a big house．Most British people buy a house when they have their first child．The house has a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining room, a living room, two or three bedrooms, a toilet and a garage．

　　The living room usually has a sofa for three people, a few chairs, a coffee table and a television set．There is often a bookcase．There are other things like a desk, some family pictures and a calendar．The large bedroom is for the parents and the small ones are for their children．Children put their games, toys, clothes and school books in their rooms．

　　The garage is for their car．Children also put their bicycles in the garage．The house often has a small garden in the back．British people like gardening．They grow flowers and sometimes vegetables in their gardens．

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　　To me, life without music would not be exciting．I realize that this is not true for everybody．Many people get along quite well without going to the concert, and listening to the record．But music plays an important part in everyone’s life, whether he realizes it or not．Try to imagine, for example, what films or TV plays would be like without music．Would the feelings, the moving plot, and the greatest interests, be so exciting or dramatic?I’m not sure about it．

　　Now, we have been speaking of music in its more common meaning－the kind of music we hear in the concert hall．But if we look at some parts of music more closely, we discover them in our everyday life too－in the rhythm of the sea, the melody of a bird in the woods and so on．So music surely has meaning for everyone, in some way or other．And, of course, it has special meaning for those who have spent all their lives working on playing or writing music．

　　It is well said, “Through music a child enters into a world of beauty, expresses himself from his heart, feels the joy of doing things alone, learns to take care of others, develops his mind and makes his body strong．”

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Around the world young people are spending unbelievable sums of money to listen to rock music．Forbes Magazine reports that at least fifty rock stars have incomes between two million and six million dollars every year．“It doesn’t make sense,” says Johnny Mathis, one of the older music millionaires, who made a million dollars a year when he was popular, in 1950s．“Performers aren’t worth this kind of money．In fact, nobody is．” But the rock stars’ admirers seem to disagree．Those who love rock music spend about two billion dollars a year for records．They pay 150 million to see rock stars in person．Luck is a key word for explaining the success of many．In 1972 one of the luckiest was Kon Mclean, who wrote and sang “American Pie”．Mclean writes his own music, so he earns an extra two cents on every single record of the song．Neil Young who performs in torn blue jeans, sometimes sings to an audience of 10 000, each of whom has paid five dollars for a ticket．After paying expense, Young leaves with about 18 000 in his blue jeans at the end of an evening．How do the rock stars use their money?What do they do when the money stars pouring in like water?Most of the young stars simply show the money around．England’s Elton John gave someone a ＄38 000 Rolls Royce car and bought himself 5000 pairs of eyeglasses then lighted up and spelt E-L-T-O-N．He also bought himself two cars, “one for each foot”．Many rock stars live like Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane．Those performers return from a tour, pay their bills, and buy new toys．Then when they need money again, they do another tour．They save no money and live from hand to mouth．After two or three years riches and fame(名声)are gone．Left with his memories and his tax problems, the lonely ex-performer spends his remaining years trying to attract strangers．But new stars have arrived to take his place．

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　　Many young people want to become pop-stars．It is their great ambition(雄心)in life．They think：pop-stars earn a lot of money, they lead interesting and exciting lives．Thousands of fans adore(崇拜)them, they become famous…

　　Yes, but first they must become stars．Most performances start life with a group．This is the pattern(模式)at the present time．But there are many groups and competition is stiff(激烈的)．Groups appear and disappear almost overnight．Only a small number survive(生存)．Almost without exception(例外)they have to work very hard before they reach the top．

　　And very few reach the top and stay there．In England there are perhaps thirty or so groups at the top．Most of these do not earn so much money, perhaps 400 pounds each time they perform．What is more, they have quite a lot of examples．They have to pay a manager, for example, he is a key person in their lives and he takes about twenty percent of their earnings－perhaps more．Then there are their clothes, their instruments(乐器)and their van(大篷车)．

　　And don’t forget they have to travel a great deal－sometimes 2000 miles in one week．At times they even sleep in their van instead of hotel just to save money．