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　　Teacher John Wise and his wife Doreen who emigrated to Tasmania 12 years ago, decided to revisit England and see the world on the way by motor cycle．

　　After driving 10, 000 miles overland without even a puncture(停顿), they arrived in England in June．

　　They left Tasmania in January and now plan to stay for two months at Taunton, Somerset, where Mr．Wise’s mother lives on Hamilton Road．

　　Mr．Wise, 46, once a science teacher at Askwith Middle School in Taunton and his wife, who has three daughters, went to Hobart, Tasmania, in 1961．

　　For their return world trip Mr．Wise took a year’s unpaid leave．“We didn’t have any spares with us,” said Mr．Wise, “We just put our trust in ourselves and the machines．”

　　So far the journey on a B．M．W．R50 has gone through Australia, New Zealand, Asia and India, another 14, 000 miles．They expect their final bill to be about ￡1, 000．

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　　The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is a plague that man receives．

　　The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold．They are not．They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person．You catch a cold by coming into contact directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one．If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever．But they do not．And in isolated Arctic regions, explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contract again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes．

　　During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches, cold and wet, seldom caught colds．

　　In the Second World War, prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starved, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds．

　　At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time．After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in a room．Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion．Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose．

　　If then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in winter? Despite the most hard research, no one has yet found out the answer．One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and that makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on．

　　No one has yet found a cure for the cold．There are drugs and pain-killers such as aspirin, but all that they do is to relieve the symptoms．

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　　Dubai boasts(夸口)that it has just built a “new global landmark”－the Dubai Tower, which stands 512.1 meters high now and has just become the tallest building in the world．

　　The Dubai Tower now surpasses Taiwan’s Taipei 101, which is 508 meters tall, and has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world．

　　The Dubai Tower, being built by South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and scheduled for completion next year, is one of a series of great projects taking shape in Dubai．The final projected height of the tower has remained a secret since the project was launched in January 2004; however, it is rumored that the tower will be more than 700 meters tall and have more than 160 storeys．

　　The Dubai Tower has become the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days, leaving behind other tall buildings．

　　The Dubai Tower will house 30,000 apartments in addition to the world’s largest shopping mall．It is the centerpiece(重要工程)of the 20-billion-dollar venture．Another venture gradually emerging across the desert sands is Dubailand, a series of multi-billion-dollar projects claimed to be the Middle East’s very own Orlando．Dubai also paid 100 million dollars to buy the Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ, one of the world’s superb cruise liners(游轮), which it plans to turn into a luxury floating hotel．

　　Faced with decreasing oil wealth, the Western-oriented emirate(酋长国)has raced to turn itself into a business and leisure hub and it aims to more than double the number of tourists to 15 million by 2015．

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　　That year, in the local school, there was a new math teacher, as well as some new pupils．One of the new kids was the stupidest child anyone had ever seen．It made no difference how quickly or how slowly they tried explaining numbers to him; he would always end up saying something enormously stupid．Like two plus two was five, seven times three was twenty-seven, or a triangle had thirty corners……

　　Before this boy arrived, math lessons had been the most boring of all．Now they were great fun．Encouraged by the new teacher, the children would listen to the pieces of nonsense spouted by the new kid, and they would have to correct his mistakes．

　　Whenever the new teacher asked questions, the stupid kid would stand up but made the wrong answers, the other students all wanted to be the first to find his mistakes, and then think up the most original ways to explain them．To do this they used all kinds of stuff：sweets, playing cards, oranges, paper planes, etc．It didn’t seem like any of this bothered the new kid．

　　However, Little Lewis was sure that it was bound to make him feel sad inside．Lewis was sure he would see him crying．So, one day, he decided to follow the new kid home after school．On leaving school, the new kid walked a few minutes to a local park, and there he waited for a while, until someone came along to meet him……

　　It was the new teacher!

　　The teacher gave the new kid a hug, and off they went, hand in hand．Following from a distance, Lewis could hear they were talking about math．

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　　“I never expected that I would be so busy．Why can’t there be 25 hours in a day?” complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as mid-term exams were going on．

　　The 18-year-old was Shandong Province’s top scorer in this year’s college entrance examination．After graduating from Tai’an No．1 High School, she chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong(香港中文大学), although both Peking University and Tsinghua University promised her a place．

　　“I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong．I’m majoring in journalism, so Hong Kong will surely help widen my horizons,” Liu said．

　　It is two months since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong．She missed home a lot at the beginning, because of the food and language problems．

　　“The canteen offers mostly Western or Guangdong food, but it’s convenient to cook for ourselves in our dorm if we like．People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in English,” Liu explained．

　　Her English and Cantonese are now both improving, but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment．

　　“I’m happy that I made the right decision to study here．With a mix of the Eastern and Western cultures, there is so much to discover and learn,” she said．

　　Liu has 18 credit hours(学分)of classes every week and 23 non-credit hours every other week．She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Language Debating Team and the drama club．Essays, book reports and presentations also take plenty of time to prepare．And, of course, there are various parties to attend．

　　“I wasn’t a party animal before, but that may be interesting part of college．I sense myself changing,” Liu said．

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　　As you visit blogs and read comments, you will notice that some people appear to have an alias(别名)and some people appear to be using their real names．Whichever route you choose(alias or real name), that is the name that will become associated with you．When readers see a comment from your alias or real name, they will recognize you as part of a community(团体)．

　　There are several reasons I can think of to use an alias：

　　·Privacy：Some people are not comfortable putting their real names online．They prefer to have a degree of privacy when they comment or blog．

　　·Too many people with the same name：For example, there are a lot of different bloggers with the name Melanie．It's hard to remember who is who without a little help．

　　·Branding(使显得独一无二)：Many bloggers have a brand they' ve developed based on their blog and/or their interests．Commenting under that brand helps others recognize them．The brand can be an alias or the name of your blog．

　　When I started blogging four years ago, I only went by Chilihead online．I was cautious about privacy issues and didn't want anyone I know to visit my blog and know it was me．

　　As I've gained readership and started writing for other blogs, I realized that Chilihead as an alias wasn't always going to cut it．For one thing, many of the professional organizations I deal with prefer to have a real name for their authors and not a nickname or alias．So I began to use my real name Melanie．

　　However, it became clear that Chilihead was not going to be lost completely．It is part of my brand in the mommy blog world．People know me as Chilihead．When I comment as Melanie, my blog friends don't always realize it's me．So now I go by both names．

　　Do you use an alias or real name? Why?

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　　Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions usually cause the largest, most disastrous debris(碎石)flows．A great many victims of the earthquake that struck Wenchuan of Sichuan Province were killed not by the quake itself but by the sudden large amounts of debris that followed．

　　Most debris flows occur where the soil is composed mainly of sand or colluviums(崩积层)．Loose soils made up of bits of sand or colluviums fall apart easily and are main material for fast-moving debris flows．

　　Scientists have conducted endless experiments to find out how debris flows work．They have learned that the amount and the timing of water entering the soil are crucial(决定性的)．Typically, that means debris flows often occur when a long rainy period of many weeks is followed by an intense, brief heavy rain．

　　More often than not, however, debris flows are started by water, in the form of rain, snow, or river flow．In 1998, heavy rains from Hurricane Mitch unleashed about one million tons of mudslides, burying thousands of people, in Central America．

　　Water flows through the soil until it hits a hard layer of bedrock or clay．There the water builds up, filling the tiny spaces between the soil and rock．That buildup reduces the natural friction(摩擦力)that keeps the rock and soil debris lying on the slope．If conditions are approaching dangerous levels, the slope will then fall down．

　　Despite what scientists know about the fact, debris flows are still impossible to predict at present because there are many other uncertainties affect the stability of each slope．However, one thing is known：On hillsides where one debris flow has occurred, another will eventually follow．The next debris flow could take days, weeks, or years to happen．

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　　My mother through her fine example instilled(慢慢灌输)within me the desire to help others．She taught me to notice those whom others ignore．

　　The railroad tracks(轨道)were within a mile of our house．Beggars frequently would knock at the doors in our neighbourhood in summer asking for food．They were often turned away．Others simply ignored the knocks．

　　My mum always went to the door smiling．She would invite them to stay and have something to eat．She would have me open up the card table and carry a chair out onto the covered side porch(走廊)．There was a nice view into the flower gardens, and it was cool even on the hottest days．She would bring a red and white tablecloth and set the table as carefully as she did for any company．She would pour their coffee and pile their plates with food and dessert．Usually she sent a packed lunch with them when they were ready to go, too．Sometimes she would take the newspapers to those who asked about work．．

　　She listened to those who wanted to talk．She never asked what would lead them to be in this difficult situation．It did not matter．She saw only the need．Some thought she should not extend this courtesy(礼貌)．She would say, " In the depression(萧条时期)when my father was searching around for any work to feed us, thoughtful people fed him．I am just repaying their kindness．I cannot offer them money, but I can see they do not leave hungry and discouraged．" My mum was quite a lady．

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　　There are many American expressions about insects－like bees, for example．Bees are known as very hard workers．They appear to be busy, moving around their homes, or hives(蜂窝)．So you might say you were as busy as a bee if you spent your weekend cleaning your house．In fact, you might say your house was a beehive of activity if your whole family was helping you clean．You also might say you made a beeline for something if you went there right away．When we go to see a movie, my friend always makes a beeline for the place where they sell popcorn(爆米花)．

　　Here is an expression about bees that is not used much any more, but we like it anyway．We think it was first used in the 1920s．If something was the best of its kind, you might say it was the bee’s knees．Now, we admit that we do not know how this expression developed．In fact, we do not even know if bees have knees!

　　If your friend cannot stop talking about something because she thinks it is important, you might say she has a bee in her bonnet(女帽)．If someone asks you a personal question, you might say “that is none of your beeswax”．This means none of your business．

　　Speaking of personal questions, there is an expression when their children ask, “Where do babies come from?” Parents who discuss sex and reproduction(生殖)say this is talking about the birds and bees．

　　Butterflies are beautiful insects, but you would not want to have butterflies in your stomach．That means to be nervous about having to do something, like speaking in front of a crowd．You would also not want to have ants in your trousers．That is, to be unable to sit still．