【推荐1】“Dad,” I say one day, “let’s take a trip. Why don’t you fly out and meet me?”

My father had just retired after 27 years as a manager for IBM. His job filled his day, his thought, and his life. While he woke up and took a warm shower, I screamed under a freezing waterfall in Peru. While he tied a tie and put on the same Swiss watch, I rowed a boat across Lake of the Ozarks.

My father sees me drifting aimlessly, nothing to show for my 33 years but a passport full of funny stamps. He wants me to settle down, but now I want him to find an adventure. He agrees to travel with me through the national parks. We meet four weeks later in Rapid City. “What is our first stop?” asks my father. “What time is it?” “Still don’t have a watch?” Less than an hour away is Mount Rushmore. As he stares up at the four Presidents carved in granite (花岗岩), his mouth and eyes open slowly, like those of a little boy. “Unbelievable.” he says, “How was this done?” A film in the information center shows sculptor Gutzon Borglum devoted 14 years to the sculpture and then left the final touches to his son. We stare up and I ask myself, “Would I ever devote my life to anything?” “No directions, no goals” I always used to hear those words in my father’s voice. Now I hear them in my own.

The next day we’re at Yellowstone National Park, where we have a picnic. “Did you ever travel with your dad?” I ask. “Only once,” he says, “I never spoke much with my father. We loved each other — but never said it. Whatever he could give me, he gave.” The last sentence — it’s probably the same thing I’d say about my father. And what I’d want my child to say about me.

In Glacier National Park, my father says, “I’ve never seen water so blue.” I have, in several places of the world. I can keep travelling. I realize — and maybe a regular job won’t be as dull as I feared. Weeks after our trip, I call my father. “The photos from the trip are wonderful.” he says. “We have got to take another trip like that sometime.” I tell him I’ve decided to settle down, and I’m wearing a watch.

【推荐2】Six years ago at the age of 35,I suddenly decided I wanted to learn the cello（大提琴）.Straight away I rented an instrument and appeared before Wendell Margrave,professor of musical instruction.

"You can be as good as you want to be,"Margrave said rather mysteriously.On a piece of paper he drew the notes E and F.He showed me where to put my fingers on the neck of the cello and how to draw the bow.Then he entered my name in his book: 10 am,Tuesday.Tuesday followed Tuesday,and soon it was spring.

Thus began my voyage out of ignorance and into the dream.E-F,E-F,we played together—and moved on to G.It was a happy time.I was again becoming something new,and no longer trapped as the same person.Surely the most terrible recognition of middle life is that we are past changing.We do what we can already do.The cello was something I couldn't do.Yet each Tuesday this became less and less true.Riding home on the bus one snowy night and learning the score of Mozart's C-Major Quintet(莫扎特的C大调五重奏),I felt the page burst into music in my hands.I could by then more or less read a score,and was humming（哼唱）the cello line,when suddenly all five parts came together harmonically（和谐地） in my head.The fellow sitting opposite stared.I met his glance with tears,actually hearing the music in my head for the first time.Could he hear it too, perhaps?No,he got off at the next stop.                                                                                  As the years slipped by,my daughter grew up,playing the piano well.My goal was that she and I would one day perform together.I also wanted to perform in public with and for my peers,and to be secretly envied.I continued to play,to perform,but it is not the same.Before,when I heard a cello,it was all beauty and light.Now,as the TV camera gets close to Rostropovich's face,I recognize that his smile shows his incredible determination.Even for him,the cello is a difficult instrument that doesn't respect your ambitions.I picked up my cello and practiced.As good as I wanted to be,I am as good as I'm going to get.It is good enough.

【推荐3】These days，North Kickapoo Street in Shawnee，Oklahoma，is a four-lane road leading out to the highway，and lined with all kinds of places to eat and shop. But in the mid-1950s, it was just a gravel(砂砾) country road, the perfect place for our daddies to teach us how to drive.

We didn’t have driver’s education at Shawnee High Schoo1. We were on our own. Mom took me to pick up an instruction handbook. I was the oldest of my friends, so we were excited at the prospect of a whole new world opening up. We’d have freedom to get around. Best of all, we could go to the Starlite Drive—In theater on 50-cents-a-carload night. We’d have it made.

Mom let me back our 1949 Ford out of the garage a few times to get used to the clutch (离合器) and gearshift (变速排挡杆). I got familiar with the motion but was hardly ready for my road test.

Finally, the day came for Daddy to give me a real lesson. He drove out to the end of the paved section of Kickapoo Street and across to where the gravel started. My daddy had come from a family of 10, and they had been farmers in a poor area in Oklahoma. There was only one way to do things, and that was the right way.

Praises were rare, so when he expressed his approval it was special. I didn’t want to experience his glare if I ground the clutch or the car shook as I tried to get it going.

I took a deep breath, slowly let out the clutch, pushed the stick into second gear, eased down the road, and then carefully moved into third gear. He had me stop and repeat the procedure two or three more times until I came to the end of the section. I was feeling pretty good as I came to a stop and looked to Daddy for approval.

He glared at me and then barked，“You’ve been driving, haven’t you?”

He must have thought I’d been practicing in somebody else’ s car. I quickly explained that my training was all done on the Ford.

That was 60 years ago. I can still see the nod he gave me when he said，“Well, you did a good job. ”

You’ve been around forever. I can remember all the pain you’ve caused for me.

Do you remember the night you almost took my father’s life? I do. He loves you. Sometimes I think he loves you more than he loves me. He’s addicted to you, to the way you promise to rid him of his problems only to cause more of them. You just sat back and laughed as his car went spinning through the street, crashing into two other cars. He wasn’t the only one hurt by you that night.

Do you remember the night of my first high school party? You were there. My friends were intrigued (被迷住了的) by you. They treated you as if they were never going to see you again, drinking all of you that they could. I spent two hours that night helping my friends who had fallen completely. “I’m so embarrassed,” they said as I held their hair back so that they could vomit (呕吐). “I’m sorry,” they said when I called taxies for them, walking them out and paying the driver in advance. “This won’t happen again,” they said as they were sent to the hospital to have their stomachs pumped. Two 15-year-old girls slept in hospital beds that night thanks to you.

Do you remember the night when you took advantage of my 17-year-old neighbor who had to drive to pick up his sister from her dance lessons? Do you know how we all felt when he hit another car and killed the two people in the other car? He died the next morning too. His sister walked home from her dance lesson, and passed police cars and a crowd of people gathering on the sidewalk just two blocks away from the dance studio. She didn’t realize her brother was in the midst of it all. She never saw him again. And it’s all your fault.

I wish you’d walk out of my life forever. I don’t want anything to do with you. Look at all the pain you’ve caused. Sure, you’ve made people happy too from time to time. But the damage you’ve caused in the lives of millions is inexcusable. Stop luring (诱惑) in the people I love. Stop hurting me, please.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

【推荐2】Squatting down on my disorganized closet floor, I looked eagerly through my albums for the picture of my grandma’s Christmas lights. I searched so long and so eagerly that I lost all feeling in the legs. Ignoring the pain, I went on with my search, because finding the picture was worth it.

My beloved grandma on my dad’s side, who passed away almost four years ago, would decorate the Christmas trees like it was her job. Each year she would decorate an ornate, 12-foot-tall, shining tree in her living room, and most years she would have an additional pink tree, palm tree, colored- light tree, white-light tree, bedroom tree, etc. The ideas varied year after year, but the theme was always the same: Let There Be Light.

For the outside of the house, my grandma hired people to come and string thousands of lights through the trees in her yard. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t cheap, but it was a labor of love. People in the small town came and parked their kid-packed cars on the street, gazing at the thousands upon thousands of shining lights year after year. They brought us magic, which was grandma’s legacy. That is the family act I am supposed to follow for the rest of my life. It’s what I’m dying to recreate and pass on to my own kids. I feel so much pressure because no one is capable of doing it—and of doing it correctly—but me.

So, it’s me and only me, each year unfastening countless strings of lights, winding them round a 10-foot, prickly tree, and sending the lights to the highest branches. Though I’m only ever just scratching the surface of grandma’s magic, I uncover a little more each year. I still haven’t found that picture of my grandma’s Christmas lights, but I know it exists, and I will find it, even if it means losing all feeling in my legs.

【推荐3】When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, and then there were baths, playing catch and many other games. Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them. We always felt better when she was around.

One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up (咬破) one of Dad’s shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said, “Bad girl.”， she looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw tears in her eyes.

Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet. She went everywhere with us. People would stop and ask if they could pet her. Of course she’d let anyone pet her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we’d be out walking and a small child would come over and pull on her hair. She never barked (吠) or tried to get away. Funny thing is she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loved everyone.

Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss the days when she was with us.

【推荐1】There are many weird sports that are present around the world. From each region of the world, along with the very popular common sports, there are also those really popular but very weird kinds of sports.

This is indeed a very strange kind of sport that tests your stamina (耐力). You will learn how to be agile (灵活的) while competing against a horse. This game originated in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells. This sport really has to do with strength. You will require great agility and strength in order to take part in this. Marathon human contestants are put to compete against those mounted people. This is how the marathon testing takes place.

This is a sports event that was first introduced in Finland. This is all about a male competitor racing with a female in a certain way. There would be many obstructions and blocks on the way which would definitely bring you challenges. The person to win would have to finish the race without losing his female partner in the course of overcoming the obstacles even for once. This race takes place really fast and the obstacles are set that way.

This is yet another weird sport that welcomes you to use your toes. This is quite the same kind of sport that you used to play as a child which involved toe wrestling. This has now been turned into a major sport that even has a World Toe Wrestling Competition. It first originated in a pub of Derbyshire.

The locals took this sport with great enjoyment and then made this so popular that it soon had its own championship. The individuals who participate have only got to use their feet and then this is tougher than it may sound.

This is a kind of game where even the spectators (观众) get splashed with mud but in fact that is quite the fun. The very annual Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin bring about this game and bring about some of the greatest hubcap-discus throws with it. This is also a great sport to show the strength and dexterity of your feet.

We’re looking for producers to join us on the sound of London Kiss 100FM. You’ll work on the station’s music programmes. Music production experience in radio is necessary, along with rich knowledge of modern dance music. Please apply in writing to Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100．

We’re looking for a very special person, preferably over 40, to fill our Father Christmas suit.

Working days: Every Saturday from November 24 to December 15 and every day from December 17 to December 24 except Sundays, 10:30-16:00.

Excellent pay.

Please contact the Enterprise Shopping Centre, Station Parade, Eastbourne.

When you join the team in our Revenue Administration Unit, you will be providing assistance within all parts of the Revenue Division, dealing with post and other general duties. If you are educated to GCSE grade C level we would like to talk to you. This position is equally suitable for a school leaver or for somebody who has office experience.

Wealden District Council

If you are aged 24-45 and have experience in teaching and training, you could be the person we are looking for. You should be good at the computer and have some experience in programme writing. You will be allowed to make your own decisions，and to design courses as well as present them. Pay upwards of￡15,000 for the right person. Please apply by sending your CV(简历) to Mrs R. Oglivie, Palmlace limited.

【推荐3】Choosing a major, which is the specialized area of your college study, can be overwhelming. But have no fear! Your choice of major will not lock you into a specific career for the rest of your life. And the major you choose will neither predict nor guarantee your future. Consider these factors when picking your major.

Career Prep

Choose a major because it will prepare you for a specific career path or advanced study. Maybe you already know that you want to be a nurse, a day trader, or a web developer. Before you declare, take a class or two in the relevant discipline, check out the syllabus for an advanced seminar, and talk to students in the department of your choice. Make sure you’re ready for the coursework required for the career of your dreams.

Earning Potential

Future   earning   potential   is   worth   considering—college   is   a   big     investment,     and while college can pay you back in many ways beyond salary, this can be a major factor for students who are paying their own way or taking out loans. According to PayScale.com, the majors that lead to the highest salaries include just about any type of engineering, actuarial mathematics, computer science, physics, government, and economics. Keep your quality of life in mind, too—that six figure salary may not be worth it if you're not happy at the office.

Subjects You Love

Some students choose a major simply because they love the subject matter. If you love what you're studying, you're more likely to fully engage with your classes and college experience, and that can mean better grades and great relationships with others in your field. If your calling is philosophy, don't write it off just because you're not sure about graduate school, or what the job market holds for philosophers. Many liberal arts majors provide students with critical thinking skills and writing abilities that are highly valued by employers.

Undecided? Explore your interests.

If you truly have no idea what you want to study, that's okay—many schools don't require students to declare a major until you are a second-year student. That gives you four semesters to play the field. Exploring your interests will help you find your best fit major—and maybe even your ideal career.