Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi “Father of the nation”－Mahatma Gandhi Born October 2,1869 Porbandar, Gujarat, India Died January 30,1948 New Delhi, India Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi(October 2,1869-January 30,1948),(Devanagari), called Mahatma Gandhi, was the Charismatic(有魅力的；有吸引力的)leader who brought the cause of India’s independence from British colonial(殖民)rule to world attention．His philosophy(哲学)of non-violence, for which he has influenced(影响)both nationalist and international movements for peaceful change．

　　By means of non-violent civil struggle(非暴力反抗), an idea he developed from the teachings of Leo Tolstoy and Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi helped bring about India’s independence from British rule．

　　Early life Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into a Hindu family in Porbandar, Gujarat, India．They were descendants(后代)of traders(the word “Gandhi”means grocer)．

　　Gandhi was an ordinary student in his youth at Porbandar and later Rajkot, and almost passed the exam for the University of Bombay in 1887, joining Samaldas College．

　　At the age of 19, Gandhi went to University College, of the University of London, to train as a barrister．His time in London, was influenced by a vow(发誓)he had made to his mother on leaving India to observe the Hindu giving up meat and alcohol．Although Gandhi experimented with becoming “English”, taking dancing lessons for example, he couldn’t stomach his landlady’s mutton and cabbage．She pointed him towards one of London’s vegetarian restaurants．Rather than simply going along with his mother’s wishes, he read about, and became vegetarianism(素食主义)．He joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its Executive Committee(执行委员会), and founded a local chapter(草案)．He later treasured(珍惜)this with giving him valuable experience in organising and running institutions(协会)．Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 by H．P．Blavatsky to further brotherhood．Although he hadn’t shown a particular interest in religion(宗教)before then, he began to read works of, and about, Hinduismand other religions．

［问题导入］How do you think of “father of the nation”?

A father’s view：“Father of the nation”must be given a person who has done lots of unusal things．

A leader’s view：The name is not for an ordinary person．

A journalist’s view：Sun Zhongshan is Chinese people’s “Father of the nation”．I admired him．

A teacher’s view：Sun Zhongshan can’t be considered as Gandhi who was an Indian person．

A worker’s view：I think their hard struggle and suffering is not worth the name “Father of the nation”．

My view：________

　　Qinghai Red Cross Society Takes Active Part in Disaster Relief(救灾)．The natural conditions in Qinghai are harsh(粗糙的)，and its medicine and hygiene(健康)are backward．Therefore, the tasks faced by the local Red Cross workers are kind and warmhearted．In 1988, Nima was elected vice president of the Red Cross Qinghai Branch, and has instilled(慢慢的灌输)great vitality(活力)into this organization．

　　Nima is Tibetan(西藏人)．She loves her hometown very much, and has always sincerely wanted to do something for victims, both in her hometown and elsewhere, of natural calamities(灾难)．She is therefore devoted(投入)to her work at the Red Cross, and says that the Red Cross is a lofty(高高的)undertaking to which she will devote her whole life．Nima always takes the lead in donating(捐献)money and goods during disaster relief(慰问)activities．She once told her fellow Red Cross workers, “It does not seem much if you only donate one brick．But if everyone donates a brick, we can put up a wall．The purpose of the Red Cross is to pool the power of the general public to help the relatively few who are suffering．”By working hard herself, she inspires the Red Cross workers around her with her self-sacrificing(自我牺牲)spirit．“Since Nima came, people have began to realize the importance of the organization．She puts a sense of mission into people’s hearts, ”said Li Yuning, the deputy(代表)secretary-general of Qinghai Red Cross Branch．

　　Inside tents in remote(遥远的)pastoral areas, Red Cross members work tirelessly, giving treatment to herdsmen who have been hurt in natural disasters．

　　Lying in a remote and economically backward(经济落后)area, Qinghai Province itself is badly in need of aid．However, in the knowledge that people in other places hit by natural calamities(大灾难)have a greater need, the people of Qinghai do not hesitate to give their help．In recent years, the local people organized by the Red Cross have made great contributions to the victims(遇难者)of forest fires in the greater Hinggan mountains and earthquake-stricken areas, including Zhangbei and Hualian in．When the Yangtze, Songhuajiang and Nenjiang Rivers were flooded in 1998, the Red Cross Qinghai Branch donated 600 000-yuan-worth of money and materials, the largest donation(捐献)it has ever made．

［想一想］本文介绍的是青海省——中国西部经济不发达的地区在领导的带领下，如何将红十字会发展壮大的，并且如何献出他们的爱心的．当人们需要帮助和支援时，你是否能献出一点爱心？

________

Mr．Ulin wrote, “I stumble(困惑)…like one dated December 6, 1996, calling for a 6.0-7.0 along the west coast of Mexico within a month(a 6.8 hit just off the coast of Michoacan on January 11, 1997, only six days late)”(P27 Col.1)．I understand him because this unsuccessful prediction(预言)I had made was reported as “the largest earthquake in this general area since a magnitude(量级)7.0 event on Apr．30, 1986．”by the USGS．Comparing 6 days with the 10-year period, the error(错误)is negligible(可以忽略的)．But I do not understand why he did not stumble on my successful predictions, for example, the 6.1 Afghanistan earthquake(on Feb．4, 1998)prediction(2)that has a probability 13％, and a “not weather cloud”(according to the meteorologist)as its precursor in the satellite image(1)．If Mr．Ulin stumbled on my unsuccessful prediction, he should stumble more on this successful prediction, so he should recommend it and its precursor as two powerful positive examples to support his title word “science”; on the other hand, if he did not stumble on this successful prediction, he should expose the both as undoubted negative examples to explain what the meteorologist does not know, and to prove why it belongs to his so-called “lunatic logic of earthquake prediction”to support his other title word “pseudoscience(伪科学)”．Mr．Ulin neighter put the both as positive(积极的)examples, nor negative(消极的)examples, which makes me confused(迷惑不解)．

［问题导入］Do you think it is useful to foretell the nature disaster and why?

A senior scientist’s view：Do further researches on earthquakes in order to predict exactly when and where an earthquake will happen．

A local man’s view：It is impossible to predict when and where the earthquake will happen．

A worker’s view：It’s important to retell the earthquake and it can reduce some lose．

A leader’s view：What we can do to predict the earthquake is important．

A writer’s view：What can we do to keep ourselves safe from an earthquake is necessary if we can’t predict when the earthquake will happen．

My view：________

　　I think I must be part gypsy(吉卜赛人)because I love to take trips．My eyes love taking in new sights, whether it is landscapes(地域)，or cultural events, or sometimes even just a new store．Even driving down a new country road make my heart flutter(七上八下)．

　　Because of this, I take small trips as often as possible．Day trips have become the stay of my travels．I drive up to four hours in a direction, stop and visit pack the truck with my tent and sleeping bag, and make it an overnighter．Sometimes, I just go to a county park about 15 miles from home to camp, just to get out．

　　I have found that keeping a journal on a trip or vacation provides some of the richest journaling．Maybe it’s because I’ve stepped outside my normal(正常)life and have the chance to view my own life from a new vista．Maybe it’s because traveling releases me from whatever ruts I was in at home．Maybe it’s just because I feel more excited to write, to catch the feeling and experience of the trip．

　　I often take a day trip on the weekend when my personal life is getting intense．There is something magical for me about turning my back nervely at home(or work)and putting some physical distance between me and them．No matter how upset I am, I find that after a few minutes of driving away from home, my focus changes away from my problems to the excitement of the trip．What I find is that when I return, I’m stronger and I have a different views on my life．While I may not come home with the solutions to my problems, I arrive feeling refreshed and with new enthusiasm(热情)to face them．

　　Let me share some of my tips and techniques for keeping a travel journal so you can experiment with this on your next trip．

　　On longer trips, I may determine that it is time to start in a new journal．And I generally make many more daily talks about where I stop to eat, things I see, the times and mileage for just about every milestone(里程碑)of the trip．I have found these details help me to reconnect with what I was feeling at each point along the trip, and let me relive the trip with more cheer．

　　I write more on long trips, but much of it is quick words or phrases quickly scribbled．Because of that, I find I take time to write at least one long entry each day．With the mundane details already in place, I can reflect on my experience in the longer entries, or use this time to jump into a deeper discussion of any topic on my mind．

　　When the trip is more than a few days, or when I experience an important change in my position on things, I find that writing in my journal can become upset(不安)．When that happens, I stop writing except for the daily details．Then, when I get home, I will immediately sit down with my tape recorder and dictate my journal entry．I just talk about things as I remember them．No editing, no thoughts about organizing information, just an audio brain dump of the trip．I have several of these tapes in my stereo cabinet, labeled with the trip dates and destination．I have never really transcribed the tapes, although I suppose it could be done．Once I find I’m out of things to say for the tape, my need to journal on the topic is gone．I’m content just to have the information on tape．In fact, I very seldom review these tapes although I frequently reread my journals．

［想一想］Do you think tourism makes you interested?

________

　　Today I went on a trip to the Perfume Pagoda(香山寺)，a famous Buddhist temple(Chinese influenced(受影响)，unlike Champa, which is Indian influenced)．There was a thick crowd of worshipers(朝拜者)，who did not respect the temple in our western way, they ate, drank, and smoked in the temple．

　　While I was on a train I could not find a place to throw away the orange peel and asked conductor．She showed on the floor, there was no garbage can on the train．When people in my rail car finished breakfast(it was included in ticket price)they throw away plastic caps, boxes and other stuff through the window．There are piles of garbage on all the road shoulders here．It is not only here, everywhere in Asia except for Japan and Singapore．By contrast(相反)，the rice fields through which these roads go, are very clean, green and just beautiful．I did not see any agricultural machinery(农业机械)．Everything is done by hands, they even pump water from water canals(渠)to fields by water buckets(桶)．

　　According to Vietnamese whom I speak with, the peasants works 12-14 hours a day with no holidays or vacations．Just like my wife, however, she don’t have to stand in cold water like rice farmers do．Some of my readers was offended(冒犯)by my attraction to local food．I should explain that it is not that I sold my soul to pho．com and forgot our native hamburgers．I simply tried to use an easy to understand food examples to show my observation．The point is that the people of large countries such as USA or Russia are less willing and able to understand culture, customs and cousin of other people, then people of small countries such as Benelux．Because I travel a lot, I think I am more adaptable(适应)，but up to a point．After I finished my soup, I noticed few caps with red liquid in them．I asked soup lady what is this．She showed me what it is．It was a blood．Even for me it was too much．Talking about blood, in the morning my sheets were spotted with blood from the wounds from fallings from the bicycle, from sea needles(针)and from sun burns．

［问题导入］What do you think of Tourism?

A tourist’s view：Tourism keeps us healthy and happy．

A manager’s view：Tourism can bring on a lot money and make the place known．

A foreigner’s view：Tourism needs a lot of money to spend．

A journalist’s view：Tourism can bring about some problems including environment pollution．

An actor’s view：Tourism can bring about the danger of life．

My view： ________

　　Marie Curie(1867-1934)

　　Marie Curie, Polish scientist, was born in Warsaw, on November 7th, 1867, and died in France, on 4th July 1934．Her single name was Marie Sklodowska．Her parents were teachers, and she learned at an early age the importance of education．In Paris, Marie graduated in Mathematical and Physical Sciences．She got married in 1895 with the French physicist, Pierre Curie．In 1896, H．Becquerel suggested the theme(主题)of her Ph．D．thesis(论文)the study of natural radiation(放射)from uranium(铀)salts．During her work, the Curie couple discovered a new radioactive element(元素)named polonium(钋)in honor to Marie's homeland．A few months later, they were able to discover radium(镭)for the first time．Together with Becquerel, she won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903．She founded the Radium Institute of Paris, and was the main responsible until her death．In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry．

　　Pierre Curie(1859-1906)

　　Pierre Curie, French physicist, was born in Paris, on May 15th 1859 and died on April 19th 1906 on a coach(马车)accident．Before his research work in radioactivity, Pierre discovered, along with his brother Jacques, the piezoelectricity(压电现象)and the laws of paramagnetic(顺磁性的)objects．This work led to his Ph．D．thesis in 1895．Along with his wife Marie Curie, he discovered polonium in 1898 and radium a few months later．The Curie couple was awarded with the Nobel Prize, together with Becquerel．