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　　For a small town, Manhattan, Kansas has some big surprises．And one of them is the Holiday Inn Hotel, with rooms built around a swimming pool and a friendly family atmosphere．

　　The Holiday Inn is where Manhattan people often go for a special party, or a night out．A lot of them choose to eat in the brightly lit restaurant near the pool．And many of them will be served by Ellen Logan, who has worked as a waitress here for more than two years．

　　Ellen, like most of the waitresses, is also a student．She comes from Nebraska, but she’s planning one day to be a veterinary surgeon, and to care for small animals．But in order to support herself at college, she works twenty hours a week at the Holiday Inn．

　　Ellen soon learned what every waitress finds out．Your best friend has a good pair of shoes．She paid forty-five dollars for hers, much more than she would usually spend．She’s discovered something else too．You don’t have to know much about food to be a good waitress, but you do have to know a lot about people．

　　“A lot of business people always stay here when they come to Manhattan,” she explains．“They like you to recognize them and remember their favorite dishes．But some couples come for a night out together．They just want to be left alone．Then there are people who can’t make up their minds．They look down the menu and say ‘What do you suggest?’ So I ask them how hungry they are．If they say, ‘Not very’, I suggest the salad bar, with soup, salad, bread, and a fruit plate．But if they say they’re very hungry, I suggest a Kansas Strip Steak, with potatoes or rice．You get salad and bread as well．It’s very nice．Real good value．”

　　Ellen may get tired feet sometimes, but at least she’s learning too much about people．She’ll probably make a good animal doctor, but if she finds she doesn’t like it after all, she can always become a psychiatrist(心理医生)instead．

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　　The number of new cancer cases worldwide is expected to increase by 50％ by the year 2020．But a new report suggests that as many as a third of new cancers could be avoided by adopting healthier lifestyles and through public health action．

　　The World Cancer Report, released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC, part of the World Health Organization), shows that cancer has now emerged as a major public health threat in developing countries．

　　Overall, cancer was responsible for 12％ of all deaths in 2000．But in many countries more than a quarter of all deaths are caused by cancer．

　　The report shows that 10 million new cancers were found globally in 2000, and that number is expected to rise to 15 million by 2020．Researchers say most of that increase will mainly be due to steadily aging populations in both developed and developing countries and current trends in smoking and other unhealthy habits．

　　“Cancer has become a major public health problem in developing countries for the first time, matching its effect in industrialized countries,” says researcher Paul Kleihues, MD, director of IARC, in a news release．“Once considered a ‘Western’ disease, the Report highlights that more than 50 percent of the world’s cancer burden, in terms of both numbers of cases and deaths, already occurs in developing countries．”

　　The risk of being diagnosed(诊断)with cancer in developed countries is double that in less-developed ones．However, the risk of dying from cancer is much higher in developing countries, where 80％ of cancer patients already have fallen into the late-stage at the time of diagnosis．

　　Researchers say cancer rates have traditionally been higher in developed countries due to smoking, industrial pollution and an unhealthy Western diet and lifestyle．As less-developed countries become industrialized and more prosperous, they tend to adopt the high-fat diet and low physical activity levels typically seen in the West, which increase cancer rates．

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　　Nancy always wanted to be a singer．Music was the most important thing in her life．But tell you the truth, she took lessons several years, practising singing every day．In spite of(尽管)this, her voice didn’t improve．Honestly, it didn’t get better, it just got louder．

　　Her teacher finally gave up and stopped the lessons, but Nancy refused to quit(放弃)．One day she decided to give a concert(演唱会)and invited her former(以前的)teacher to attend．

　　The teacher was very worried about what to say after the performance(演出)．She knew it would be terrible and it was．She didn’t want to tell a lie, but she didn’t want to hurt Nancy’s feeling, either．Finally, she got an idea and went backstage(后台)to her former pupil．

　　“Well,” said Nancy, “What did you think of my performance?”

　　“My dear,” said the teacher, “you’ll never be better than you were tonight．”

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　　School education is very important and useful．Yet no one can learn everything from school．A teacher, no matter how much he knows, can not teach his students everything they want to know．The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn．He teaches them how to read and how to think．So much more is to be learned is to be learned outside school by the students themselves．

　　It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to learn some facts or a formula by heart．It is actually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics．But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem．Great scientists, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo, didn’t get everything from school．But they were all so successful and invented so many things for mankind．They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment．They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments．

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　　Today rockets are very advanced machines which we can use to send astronauts into space．They are also used in firework displays to celebrate great events, such as the end of the Olympic Games or the beginning of the new millennium in the year 2000．

　　Rockets were probably invented by accident about 2000 years ago．The Chinese had a form of gunpowder which was put in bamboo tubes and thrown into fires to make explosions during festivals．Perhaps some of the tubes jumped out of the fire instead of exploding in it．The Chinese discovered that the gunpowder escaping from the tube could lift it into the air．The idea of the rocket was born．

　　The first military use of rockets was in 1232．The Song Dynasty was at war with the Mongols．During the battle of Kaifeng, the Song army shot “arrows of flying fire”．The tubes were attached to a long stick which helped keep the rocket moving in a straight direction．Soon the Mongols learned how to make rockets themselves and it is possible that they introduced them to Europe．Between the 13th and 15th century there were many rocket experiments in England, France and Italy．They were used for military purposes．One Italian scientist even invented a rocket which could travel over the surface of water and hit an enemy ship．

　　Not everybody wanted to use rockets in battles．Wan Hu, a Chinese government official, invented a flying chair．He attached two big kites to the chair, and 47 rockets to the kites．The rockets were lit, there was a huge explosion and clouds of thick smoke．When the smoke cleared Wan Hu and his chair had disappeared, no one knows what happened．Did Wan Hu die in the explosion? Or was he carried miles into space, becoming the world’s first astronaut?

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　　Except for the sun, the moon looks the biggest object in the sky．Actually it is one of the smallest, and only looks big because it is so near to us．Its diameter(直径)is only 2160 miles(3389 km), or a little more than a quarter of the diameter of the earth．

　　Once a month, or, more exactly, once every 29.5 days, at the time we call “full moon”, its whole disc looks bright．At other times only part of it appears bright, and we always find that this is the part which faces towards the sun, while the part facing away from the sun appears dark．People could make their pictures better if they kept this in mind－only those parts of the moon that are lighted up by the sun are brighter．This shows that the moon gives no light of its own．It only reflects the light of the sun, like a huge mirror hung in the sky．

　　Yet the dark part of the moon’s surface is not completely black; usually it is just light enough for us to be able to see its shape, so that we speak of seeing “the old moon in the new moon’s arms”．The light by which we see the old moon does not come from the sun, but from the earth．We know well how the surface of the sea or of snow, or even of a wet road, may throw back uncomfortably much of the sun’s light on to our faces．In the same way the surface of the whole earth throws back enough of the sun’s light on to the face of the moon for us to be back to see the parts of it which would otherwise be dark．

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　　She was known to millions as the “Queen of Crime” or the “Duchess(女公爵)of Death”．But surprisingly, she hated violence and blood, and knew nothing of the weapons most often used in murder．“I don’t think I dare look at a really horrible and damaged body,” Agatha Christie once said．But her pen dared to travel where her eyes would not．In a 50-year writing career, Christie’s murder stories made her the world’s best-known mystery writer．She is outsold only by the Bible(《圣经》)and Shakespeare．

　　Her works have been turned into films and TV series, and a line of computer games is set to be released over the next six years．

　　“My grandmother liked to use new ways to reach people who wanted to enjoy her work,” said Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard．“Turning her stories into PC games allows us to introduce classic mysteries to new audiences．”

　　Born in 1890 in England, Christie was educated at home and began her writing career while working as a nurse during World War Ⅰ．She went on to produce 79 novels and numerous(大量的)short stories, dying at the age of 86．“With her knowledge of murder, Christie could have been a teacher at police academies,” said one fan．

　　Her first novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”(《斯泰尔斯庄园奇案》), also introduced Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian(比利时的)police officer who starred in 30 of her works．Among the most popular are “Murder on the Orient Express”(《东方快车谋杀案》)(1934), and “Death on the Nile”(《尼罗河上的惨案》)(1937)．

　　Poirot is a tidy little man with a funny-looking moustache, an egg-shaped head, and a high opinion of himself．He draws conclusions from observing the behavior of those around him, always managing to spot patterns that others cannot see．Poirot has become so famous that someone has even written his biography(传记),“The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot”．

　　Starring in 17 novels, another Christie character, Miss Marple, is nearly as well known as Poirot．But while the Belgian uses his powers of observation, the old Miss Marple relies on her knowledge of human nature to solve crimes．As she once said, “Human nature is the same everywhere．”

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　　Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday．Today, more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small houses or inns instead of hotels．They get a room for the night and the breakfast the next morning．

　　Rooms for the night in private homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years．In the past five to ten years, these bed-and-breakfast places have become popular in the United States．Many of these America’s bed-and-breakfast inns are old historic buildings．Some bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms, others are much larger．Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, others do．

　　Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel．Usually the cost is much less．Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home．The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit．Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families．

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　　So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves．Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them．It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading．Douglas insists that “reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible”．

　　Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes．They differ in kind and function．The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read．Teaching is also public activity．It can be seen and observed．

　　Learning to read involves all that each individual does to make sense of the world of printed language．Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny．

　　If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the quest(探索)for knowledge? Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions．“Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children．”

　　When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher fulfill them appropriately, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated．Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of learning to read by reading．

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　　A lawyer friend of mine has devoted herself to the service of humanity．Her special area is “public interest law”．

　　Many other lawyers serve only clients who can pay high fees．All lawyers have had expensive and highly specialized training, and they work long, difficult hours for the money they get．But what happens to people who need legal help and cannot pay these lawyers’ fees?

　　Public interest lawyers fill this need．Patricia, like other public interest lawyers, gets less money than some lawyers．Because she is willing to take less money, her clients have the help they need, even if they can pay nothing at all．

　　Some clients need legal help because stores have cheated them with bad goods．Others are in unsafe houses．Their cases are called “civil” cases．Still others are criminals(刑事犯罪), and they go to those public interest lawyers who are in charge of “criminal” cases．

　　These are just a few of the many situations in which the men and women who are public interest lawyers serve to extend justice(伸张正义)throughout our society．

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