【推荐1】A new weapon is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe.Soon when smokers buy cigarettes they might see a shocking photo of a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet.

Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy. Their friends won’t agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table.

The European Union announced on October 22, that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body. It called on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage smokers.

To catch the attention of teenagers,the special packets warn of long－term medical dangers, like cancer. Short－term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list.

“The true fact of smoking is disease, death and horror. That is the message we should send to the young，”said David Byme，an EU health official，“Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes.”

The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current written warnings on packs of cigarettes. The warnings included “smoking kills” and “smoking can lead to a slow and painful death”.

So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos.Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000. The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers.

According to studies,smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable (可避免的) death in the EU. Every year more than 650,000 smokers die,more than one person a minute.

【推荐2】I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I've grown to enjoy lifting weights，and I've learned from doing it. I enjoy the sense of strength and discipline that comes when the muscles are forced to resist. I've tried varying schedules — lifting every day, every other day, two days on and a day off. The every day approach was the least effective. I get the best strengthening results when I give myself a break.

The same is true with mind and spirit. Without giving yourself a chance to reenergize, you begin to break down all the connective fibers of your life. I used to just give myself Sundays off. Now I'm scheduling downtime in the midst of everything — and “everything” includes two magazines, building a house in Hawaii, working on an ABC movie — and, oh yeah, my day job. Keeping it all straight was beginning to feel a little stressful. So I told myself that just because I have ten free minutes on my calendar doesn't mean I want to fill them. Breathing space has to become part of my daily routine.

So instead of having people lined up outside my office after the first show — I tape two a day — I do nothing for at least ten minutes. The change has worked wonders. I have more energy, and I'm in a better mood for the second show and all the business that comes afterward.

Now that I have the summer off to sit under the trees reading, napping, writing, and thinking , I know for sure it’s time well spent. I’m refilling my tank so that by fall, when the new season begins, I'll be fired up and ready for whatever is to come. Fully restored.

【推荐1】I recently attended a wedding in a rural area in north Italy, and guests were provided with a car and driver for the 90-minute journey into the hills. That was exciting: A private car! I could pretend I was rich! Since I’m not, though, I had no idea how much this trip actually cost. As a result, after our driver picked us back up at midnight, I secretly worried all the way home about tipping (给小费) him.

I fished around nervously in my purse and realized that all I had was a $100 note, which I was keeping for an emergency. I had nothing smaller. And I had nothing else to offer but two chocolates from the wedding. So, I could tip the driver that $100 note or two chocolates. In the end, I chose the money

The whole matter of tipping has long been a source of awkward interactions—and, for some travellers, mild anxiety—throughout the world. Tipping customs vary wildly from country to country. A friend in Rome tells me that Italians get hurt by big tips.“Leaving a big tip is considered impolite,” she adds,“I’ve had Italian friends make me take money back.”

It reminded me of my 100-dollar tip. What if I had annoyed the driver? So I decided to call the car company and ask them to pass on a message to the driver apologizing for the improper tip and explaining the situation.

To my surprise, the car company responded that the driver had actually called to express his gratitude for the unexpected big tip. He had apparently been having a tough week and the money had come at just the right time.

I was astonished. All my worry had been for nothing. What started out as a source of anxiety ended up being a heartwarming experience. I learned that sometimes it’s better to go with your feelings and be generous, even if it means taking a risk.

【推荐3】Recently I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant, covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasnˈt going to hurry now. Heˈd drink a while and then rest in the shade, and then drink again—or so we thought. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.

We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisoned arrow from the elephantˈs body, and let out over 100 litters of pus(脓)—the result of the elephantˈs meeting with a poacher(偷猎者) months before.

Todayˈs poacher shoots from a blind. He fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once—it doesnˈt mean the poison wonˈt finally kill the elephant, but it will be a slow death. Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time.

When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the extraordinary silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I took some comfort from the knowledge that as the dead body returned to the soil, some animals would benefit—but I couldnˈt escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed a poorer and emptier place.