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A．You and Me, Baby

B．Ruff Ruff! Where's Scruff?

C．The Giving Tree

D．Where the Wild Things Are

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　　Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth－but more by accident than design．While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard．

　　Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99％ a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93％ a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average．Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries．

　　Martine Puts it down to．among other things, soap operas and installment(分期付款)plans introduced in the 1970s．Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate．Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas．Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night．Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities．

　　"Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of Reproduction(生育), they describe middle and upper class values? not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working," says Martine．"They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package．"

　　Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers．"This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible(不相容的)with unlimited reproduction," says Martine．

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　　WENZHOU(Xinhua)－the train collision in east China's Zhejiang Province has killed 39 people and left 192 others injured Sunday night, said a spokesman with the Ministry of Railways．

　　A total of 132 people are still being treated in hospitals, said Wang Yongping, spokesman with the ministry at a press conference．Eleven people remain in critical condition, said Cheng Jinguo, head of the health bureau in the city of Wenzhou, where the collision happened Saturday night．Cheng said at the press conference that 52 people who suffered slight injuries had been discharged from hospital．Wang expressed condolences(哀悼)to the concerning families and sincere apology to all the passengers．

　　The train's "black box" has been discovered and the ministry is investigating the cause of the crash, Wang said．Wang said the ministry will make public the cause of the accident as soon as the investigation is done and publish the names of the killed and injured, He said the crash has caused a large number of casualties and great property losses．The ministry will find out the cause through thorough investigation and take effective measures to prevent similar accidents．

　　Despite the accident, the spokesman said the ministry is still confident in the high-speed train．"China's high-speed train is advanced and qualified．We have confidence in it," he said．

　　The damaged rails have been repaired and were ready to restart operation but the reopening was delayed by the stormy weather, according to Wang．Wang did not provide the exact time when the line would start operating again．

　　The accident occurred at about 8∶30 p．m．Saturday on a bridge near Wenzhou when bullet train D301 rear-ended(追尾)D3115, which reportedly lost power after lightning strike．

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　　Blogging has become something of a big thing in the last few years．Just like the Internet was 10 years ago, blogging is popular with an under- ground culture, that is doing it for love and passion．

　　Blogging is a way of collecting links to webpages and sharing thoughts and ideas with people online．

　　Blogs are basically online journals or diaries which are created for sharing information and ideas．

　　Dominic, a fifth-grade student, writes："The blogs give us a chance to communicate between ourselves and inspire us to write more．When we publish on our blog, people across the entire world can respond by using the 'comments' link．In this way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like．We can then know if people like what we write and this indicates to us where we can improve．By reading these comments, we can discover our weaknesses and our strengths．Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our points of view with the rest of the world rather than just people in our immediate environment．"

　　Blogging is sweeping the Internet．A recent report noted that at least three million Americans have created blogs, with similar numbers being seen around the rest of the world．

　　Two years ago, Andrew Sullivan decided to set up a Web page himself and used "Blogger．com” to publish some daily musings(冥想)to a　readership of a few hundred．He worked hard at the blog for months for no financial reward．But result is that he is now reaching almost a quarter of a million readers a month and making a profit．

　　Think about it for a minute：Why not build an online presence with your daily musings and then tell your first book through print-on-demand(POD)technology directly from your Web site? Why should writers go to newspapers and magazines to get an essay published when they can simply write it themselves, change it into a PDF file, and charge a few bucks per download?

　　This, at least, is the idea; a publishing revolution more profound than anything since the printing press．"Blogger．com" could be to words what Napster was to music－except this time, it'll really work．

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　　Complaining is one of the biggest problems that we meet in everyday life．We believe that the world is there to make us happy．But when that doesn't happen, we complain about other people, places or events that we think are the causes of our unhappiness．

　　Everything we feel comes from what is within us, however．We create it and we live through it．If we create unhappiness for ourselves, the world will show us that unhappiness, but if we create joy, peace and love for ourselves, then they are what we will get back．

　　Can complaining solve any problem? Simply, it can t．When people have done something that makes us angry, afraid or hurt, we are doing nothing more than showing them the emotion we feel inside．

　　We have choices about things that make us happy．We sometimes prefer to take the easier choices, the ones that keep us in our comfort zone．But how comfortable is it really when we are annoyed by someone else? Sometimes we just have to go out for comfort zone, which may mean facing something we don't like．Perhaps we feel like a victim and don't stand up when people don' t respect us．Maybe we are afraid of a situation, so we run away from it, instead of facing it．

　　Whatever the problem is, we have a choice every day to face it with fear, anger, or guilt, or with love, kindness, or peace．How will you walk into your day?

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　　People travel for a lot of reasons．Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines(圣地)．Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous

　　places．But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on．

　　Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot．of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it．People of cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year is in the rain．This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them．

　　Every summer, more than 25 million people travel to Mediterranean resort and beaches for their vacation．They ail come for the same reason：sun!

　　The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediterranean countries．Italy's 30,000 hotels are booked every summer．And 13 million people campout on French beaches, parks and roadsides．Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else．37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person living in Spain．

　　But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can handle．The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth．And with increased tourism, it's getting worse．The French can't figure out what to do with all the garbage left by campers around St．Tropez．And in many places, swimming is dangerous because of pollution．

　　None of this, however, is spoiling anyone's fun．The Mediterranean gets more popular every year with tourists．Obviously, they don't go there for clean water and solitude(独居)．They bear traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches．They don't even mind the pollution．No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful．And as long as the sun shines, it's still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo．

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　　I had the meanest mother in the world．While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs and toast．; Others had cokes and candy for lunch, while we had to eat a sandwich．As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids'．But at least I was not alone in my suffering．My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did．

　　My mother insisted on knowing where we were at ail times．She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing．We had to wear clean clothes every day．Other kids always wore their clothes for days．We reached the height of disgrace because she made our clothes herself, just to save money．

　　The worst is yet to come．We had to be in bed by 9∶00 each night and up at 7∶45 the next morning．So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break Child Lorbor Law．She made us work．I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us．

　　Through the years, our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing．My mother, however, would merely be content with black marks．None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout．

　　She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults．Using this as a background, I'm now trying to bring up my three children．3' m filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world．

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　　(Times London, May 20th)China stood still．Soldiers stood in a queue on the rubble of a town destroyed by the terrible earthquake with their heads bowed and hats in their hands．A mother whose child had died wept quietly．Thousands of citizens gathered in front of the portrait of Chairman Mao in Tian’anmen Square．

　　China’s 1.3 billion people stopped yesterday at 2∶28 pm－the exact time of the 8.0 magnitude earthquake a week ago－for three minutes of silence to mourn for as many as 10,000 people who were thought dead．In Hongbai, one of the worse-affected towns, a single siren(汽笛)cried and the few dozen people who were still in the town pressed their car horns．A military helicopter hovered overhead, its siren crying too．

　　It was the first time that China had mourned its ordinary people．The last period of national mourning was for Mao Zedong in 1976．

　　Flags across China were lowed to half-mast．President Hu Jintao flew back to Beijing after three days in the earthquake zone for the start of the period of national mourning．Bars, clubs and cinemas have been closed．The Olympic torch relay through Chinese provinces was also suspended．Entertainment websites were changed to lead its users to remembering sites．

　　The damage caused by the earthquake that China has described as its worst in more than half a century has brought together people from across the country to offer help．It was a rare display of patriotic(爱国的)emotion that the government had allowed－even in Tian’anmen Square．

　　As loudspeakers announced the end of the silence, people rushed to the flagpole in the square holding up posters reading “Go, China”．Then came roars of “Long live China!” and “Stay strong, China!”

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　　If you see someone drowning, speed is very important．Once you get him out of the water, if he isn’t breathing, you have four minutes before his brain is completely destroyed．Support his neck, move his head back and press his chin upwards．This stops the tongue blocking the airway in the throat and is sometimes enough to get him breathing again．If that doesn’t work, start mouth-to-mouth breathing．Press his nostrils(the two holes at the end of your nose, through which you breathe and smell things)together with your fingers．Open your mouth and take a deep breath．Blow into his lungs until his chest rises, then remove your mouth and watch his chest fall．Repeat twelve times a minute．Keep doing until professional help arrives．

　　To bring a child back to life, keep your lips around his mouth and gently blow into his mouth．Give the first four breaths as quickly as possible to fill the blood with oxygen．If, in spite of your efforts, he starts turning a blue-grey color, and you can feel no pulse, then pressing is the last chance of saving his life．

　　With arms straight, rock forwards, pressing down on the lower half of the breastbone．Don’t be too hard or you may break a rib．Check how effective you are by seeing if his color improves or his pulse becomes independent to your chest pressing．If this happens, stop the pressing．Otherwise continue until rescue arrives．

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　　A woman in Japan who had no home sneaked into a man’s house and lived without being noticed in his closet for a year．She was arrested after the man found that his food was disappearing and reported it to the police．

　　Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top part of the man’s closet and arrested her for getting in without the owner’s permission, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday．

　　The man had security cameras which sent images to his cellphone after becoming confused by food disappearing from his kitchen over the past several months．

　　One of the cameras on Thursday caught someone moving inside his home after he had left, so he called the police who at first thought it was a thief．However, when they arrived, they found the door locked and all windows closed．

　　“We searched the house and checked everywhere someone could possibly hide,” Itakura said．“When we opened the closet, we found the woman curled up on her side, feeling nervous and frightened．”

　　The woman told the police that she had no place to live and first sneaked into the man’s house about a year ago when he left it without locking the door．

　　“She had moved a mattress into the small closed space and even took showers,” Itakura said．He called the woman “ tidy and clean”．