【推荐1】Being responsible is universally agreed to be one of the keys to success.     1     Instead, it takes a long time for kids to develop this difficult yet beautiful habit. So, how should parents teach their kids to be responsible for their duties?

·Start early. If you haven’t taught your kids responsibility, you can’t suddenly blame them for acting irresponsibly. Begin teaching responsibility when your kid is very young.     2    

·Guide your children. It’s important for a parent to understand kids’skill level and give them tasks suitable for the skill level.     3     First, show your kids where the watering pot is kept and then show how the plants are watered. Also, explain why plants need regular watering. Even your kids can help out as long as you guide them carefully.

·Talk about responsibility.     4     Children who hear this word from an early age also quickly understand the meaning of responsibility. When you give your kids tasks, be sure to tell them that it’s their “responsibility” to complete the tasks.

·    5     The best way your kids will learn to act responsibly is by observing you and other family members. Show your responsibility by acting in a responsible manner at all times in front of your children. By observing your actions your kids will slowly learn to be responsible.

【推荐2】Ridgewood is a small town 20 miles from Manhattan, New York. It is a quiet town, perfect for raising children away from the rapid pace of the city. However, besides hours of homework, many Ridgewood children have too many after­school activities－from swimming to piano classes. Some kids compare their life to that of a New York general manager who has an 80­hour workweek.

Children's schedules filled with homework and activities made a lot of townspeople worried, so the town decided to start a movement called “Ridgewood Family Night－Ready, Set, Relax！” The mayor (市长) made a public statement, calling for a town­wide night for families to do nothing. And schools and clubs agreed to support the movement so families could relax and get together.

Some parents like to talk about their childhood, one without so many scheduled after­school activities. As kids, they just went out to play with neighborhood friends after school. However, almost all these parents take their children to their regularly scheduled activities. These fathers and mothers feel it is their duty to make sure their children are prepared to survive in today's high­pressure work environment. They are afraid that their children can't enter the “right” universities and won't succeed in a more and more competitive world.

However, it seems that Family Night worked, at least to a certain degree. Cars moved freely around Ridgewood's normally busy downtown streets. Some families ate supper together for the first time in months. One family watched home movies of when the children were little, baked cookies and played games together.

At first, some people were excited that they could take back their lives. But sadly, few families now believe that one night will change them. Nearly all of the townspeople are sure that they will fall back into the old habit.

【推荐1】Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. Ninety percent of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for 10 ~15 minutes a day, and then other teachers basically teach it for 60 ~ 70 minutes a day — which really is pretty much for handwriting.

Many adults remember learning that way — by copying letters over and over again. Today’s thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas. After all, that is why we write.

Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency — writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop until high school. But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs.

But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt University says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we have learned? More than 75 per cent of students choose to print their essays on the test rather than write in cursive.

【推荐2】No matter who you are or where you come from, one thing is certain: You are acquainted with the mosquito-although you probably wish you weren't. Mosquitoes are everywhere. They can be found all over the world, and they come in more than 2,500 species. Somewhere, at some time, you have surely met at least one.

No one loves the mosquito. But unfortunately the mosquito may decide that she loves you. She? Yes, she. Did you know that only the female mosquito bites? Well, it's true. And it's not because she's unfriendly; she needs blood to reproduce.

Do you know how the female mosquito decides whom to bite? She's quite selective, and she chooses her victims carefully. First, she uses sensors to find her victim. These sensors are located on her two antennae and her three pairs of legs. With these sensors, she tests your body moisture, body warmth, and chemical substances in your sweat. If she likes what she finds, she bites. But if you don't appeal to her, she'll reject you for someone more appetizing. The next time a mosquito bites you, just remember that you were chosen. You're special.

If the mosquito likes you, she settles onto your flesh very gently, and she breaks your skin with her proboscis tip. Proboscis tip? What's that? It's a kind of mouth and it sticks out just below the mosquito's eyes. It contains six sharp instruments called stylets. She stabs all six stylets into your skin at once, and if she hits a blood vessel, she'll get a full dinner in about a minute. All this usually takes place so quickly and quietly that you may not have suspected anything was happening.

All mosquitoes, male and female, pass through their early stages of development in or near water. In fact, mosquito eggs will not hatch without water-although the eggs can survive up to five years on dry land waiting for water. It is not surprising that heavy rains produce large numbers of mosquitoes.

But why? Why did nature bother to create mosquitoes? Just to annoy us? Probably that wasn't the main reason. Male mosquitoes live on the nectar of flowers, and some scientists believe that they pollinate the flowers as they fly from one to the other. Of course, mosquitoes have to reproduce, and unfortunately that's where you and I come in. Like it or not, mosquitoes are here to stay. Ouch! (Slap!) One just bit me!

【推荐1】Texas——US President George W.Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to bridge their differences over a key arms control treaty last week, but that didn’t stop them from backslapping（喧闹的狂欢） as they ended a summit.

The two leaders also offered differing interpretations of the fate of nuclear warheads to be removed from missiles under arms reductions they each announced last week.Bush said he intended to destroy the warheads, but Putin said their fate should be negotiated.

The two men untied on the need for Northern Alliance forces——to allow for a broad based government that respects all parties there.

Bush and Putin had spent the night at Bush’s ranch.Despite the rain, the rural environment and friendly company appeared to have worked its magic.They slapped on the back and joked, at one point teasing each other about whether it is better to visit Texas in the heat of August or Siberia in winter.

Analysts say the dramatic warming in US-Russian relation could herald（预示） an era of pragmatism（务实的想法或做法） in global affairs as the two old rivals finally end decades of hostility and become friends.

“Washington and Moscow are no longer playing the ‘big game’ against each other, but with each other,” said Karl Heniz Kamp, an analyst at the Konrad Adenanaer Foundation，a German think tank.

【推荐2】The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence ”:

Price: $10.

BOOKING

There are four easy ways to book seats for performance”

——in person

The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-- 8 pm.

——by telephone

Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card( Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted) ——by post Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.

——on line

Complete the on-line booking form at www.Satanfiedtheatre.com

DISCOUNTS:

Saver: $2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.

Supersaver : half price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheel chair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.

Standby : best available seats are on sale for $ 6 from one hour before the performance for people suitable for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.

Group bookings: there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more.

School : school parties of ten or more can book $6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.

Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

【推荐3】Bradley McConachie, a 33-year-old Australian is actually a student in international relations completing his PhD through Griffith University. He came to Beijing for a cooperative research at Beijing University two years ago. Such an academic life was colorful with a chance offered by the cultural exchanges project, “I'm in China".

Bradley was lucky to win the most "likes" for his photo story about his life in China and became one of 20 winners to visit locations by the project this summer. All the winners’ experiences were filmed to produce a reality show, My Chinese Working Day, which will be broadcast by mid-September.

Bradley was chosen to work as a recreational manager for a Chinese wedding. The film crew took them to many “amazing sites" and the staff at the resort taught them a lot about how to incorporate modern Chinese features while still keeping traditional customs.

“I would have to say two things stick out as the most memorable： the helicopter ride and talking with the staff at the hotel about how they organize weddings here in China," he said. That was Bradley's first time to be in a helicopter, and he was too absorbed with the “stunning" view of the coastline.

“I think it is so important to show other Australians the different landscapes China has to offer. I think so many Australians, when they think about China, imagine the historical sites of Beijing and the exciting things to see in Shanghai but have no idea about other beautiful places, like Sanya or the many other places people have been taken to in this TV series. It was nice to experience these little touches. I was happy to be a part of that experience!” Bradley said.

【推荐1】Behind most of the bad things we do to our bodies as adults, eating more than we should is the idea we carry with us from childhood. On one hand, we assume that we are indestructible. On the other hand, we think that any damage we impose on ourselves can be undone when wβfinally clean up our act.

If the evidence for how wrong the first idea is isn’t apparent when you stand naked in front of the mirror, just wait. But what if you eat right and drop all your bad habits? Is there still time to repair the damage?

To a surprising degree, the answer is yes. Over the past five years, scientists have collected a wealth of data about what happens when aging people with bad habits decide to turn their lives around.

The heartening conclusion: the body has an amazing ability to heal itself, provided the damage is not too great.

The effects of some bad habits-smoking, in particular-can haunt you for decades. But the damage from other habits can be largely healed.

“Any time you improve your behavior and make lifestyle changes, they make a difference from that point on.”says Dr. Jeffey Koplan.“Maybe not right away. It’s like slamming on the brakes. You do need a certain distance.”

But the distance can be remarkably short. Consider the recent announcements from the front lines of medical research: ---A study concluded that women who consume as little as two servings of fish a week cut their risk of suffering a stroke to half that of women who eat less than one serving of fish a month. ---The day you quit smoking, the carbon monoxide levels in your body drop dramatically. Within weeks, your blood becomes less sticky and your risk of dying from a heart attack starts to decline ... Adopting healthy habits won’t cure all that bothers you, of course. But doctors believe that many chronic diseases-from high blood pressure to heart disease and even some cancers-can be warded off with a few sensible changes in lifestyle.

Not sure where to start? Surprisingly, it doesn’t matter, since one positive change usually leads to another. Make enough changes, and you'll discover you’ve adopted a new way of life.

【推荐2】When I tell people I attended an all-girls school since age 4,I'm met with expressions of either confusion, shock, curiosity or some combination of the three. I get the same responses： Why? Was it horrible? But how did you meet boys?

Contrary to what many people immediately assume, I really enjoyed going to an all-girls school. Going to a single-sex school shaped me in many valuable ways and allowed me to develop amazing friendships.

Many myths still need to be unveiled when it comes to talking about single-sex education. First, I reject the idea that being in a single-sex environment means one is unable to interact with members of the opposite sex later in life. Despite this popular belief, everyone I knew at my school and other single-sex schools not only knew how to interact smoothly with members of the opposite sex, but they were also able to form actual friendships with those people outside of school time.

Another common belief about all-girls schools in particular is the overwhelming presence of drama and hostility （敌意）between students. There is inevitably going to be drama in all schools and close-knit communities at some points, but I would say that drama doesn't depend on whether you're at a single-sex or coed school, but rather on the personalities of the people you surround yourself with.

Out of the blue, I started to think about the fact that I've never been in a learning environment with boys before. It is sort of strange to consider that I basically learned everything I know purely surrounded by girls for 16 years of my life, despite the fact that in working environments and most other situations this will mostly not be the case. I will be forever appreciative of the experiences I had and the relationships 1 formed in my all-girls school environment.

【推荐3】If you're thinking about reaching for another biscuit to get you through the working day,think again.Eating unhealthy snacks at your desk makes you pile on almost half a stone a year,a survey has revealed.The waistlines of women suffer the most,with the average female putting on 61b 3oz—the equivalent of a whole dress size—while men see their weight increase by 51b 20z.

The report into our eating habits found that,on average,we eat at least two snacks a day,with 30 percent of us tucking into three or more.Women admit eating more than men,with a further 13 percent of ladies scoffing four or more snacks a day.The research,by The Village Bakery,found biscuits are the most common vice,with 42 percent regularly opening a pack,closely followed by chocolate (38 percent),crisps (32 percent) and cakes (13 percent).

And office workers are worse than most.Cakes and biscuits brought into work by colleagues are one of the main temptations office staff give in to.In addition,33 percent admit reaching for nibbles to cope with stress and 22 percent say they need a sugar rush to perk them up in the afternoon.

Simon Staddon,of The Village Bakery,said:"We were aware time-poor office workers can find it difficult to easily access a nutritional lunch.But we were really shocked by the extent to which 'quick fix' lunches are affecting weight gain and general well-being.Popular mid-afternoon pick-me-ups such as biscuits,chocolate and cakes are high in calories,fat and full of sugar,all of which affect your blood sugar levels and ultimately lead to weight gain."

The survey of 2,000 British men and women suggests we are often ashamed of our unhealthy eating. Twenty-four percent of Britons admit lying about how many snacks they eat with 33 percent of women lying, compared to 20 percent of men.Unfortunately,it's as if we are not likely to do anything positive to counteract the sweet treats.