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Captain 256 germsonA Life with BirdsFor nearly 17 years David Cope has worked as one of the Tower of Londons Yeoman Warders, better known to tourists as Beefeaters. David , 64, lives in a three-bedroomed flat right at the top of the Byward Tower , one of the gatehouses. “From our bedroom we have a marvelous view of Tower Bridge and the Thames.” says David.The Tower of London is famous for its ravens, the large black birds which have lived there for over three centuries. David was immediately fascinated by the birds and when he was offered the post of Raven Master eight years ago he had no hesitation in accepting it, The birds have now become my life and Im always aware of the fact that I am maintaining a tradition . The legend says that if the ravens leave the Tower , England will fall to enemies , and its my job to make sure this doesnt happen,!”David devotes about four hours a day to the care of the ravens . He has grown to love them and the fact that he lives right next to them is ideal . “I can keep a close eye on them all the time , and not just when Im working.” At first , Davids wife Mo was not keen on the idea of life in the Tower , but she too will be sad to leave when he retires next year. “When we look out of our windows we see history all around us , and we are taking it in and storing it up for our future memories.”A Lucky Break Actor Antonio Banderas is used to breaking bones , and it always seems to happen when hes doing sport. In the film Play it to the Bone he plays the part of a middleweight boxer alongside Woody Harrelson. During the marking of the film Harrelson kept complaining that the fight scenes werent very convincing , so one day he suggested that he and Banderas should have a fight for real . The Spanish actor wasnt keen on the idea at first , but he was eventually persuaded by his co-star to put on his gloves and climb into the boxing ring . However, when he realized how seriously his opponent was taking it all, he began to regret his decision to fight . And then in the third round , Harrelson hit Banderas so hard in the face that he actually-broke his nose . His wife , actress Melanie Griffith , was furious that he had been playing “silly macho games ”. “She was right ”, confesses Banderas, “and I was a fool to take a risk like that in the middle of a movie.”He was remended of the time he broke his leg during a football match in his native Malaga. He had always dreamed of becoming a soccer star , of performing in front of a big crowd ,but doctors told him his playing days were probably over . “Thats when I decided to take up acting ; I saw it as another way of performing , and achieving recognition . What happened to me on that football pitch was , you might say , my first lucky break .” Global WarmingFew people now question the reality of global warming and its effects on the worlds climate. Many scientists put the blame for recent natural disasters on the increase in the worlds temperatures and are convinced that, more than ever before, the Earth is at risk from the forces of the wind, rain and sun. According to them, global warming is making extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and droughts, even more severe and causing sea levels all around the world to rise.Environmental groups are putting pressure on governments to take action to reduce the ammout of carbon dioxide which is given off by factories and power plants, thus attacking the problem at its source. They are in favour of more money being spent on research into solar, wind and wave energy devices, which could then replace existing power stations.Some scientists, however believe that even if we stopped releasing carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere tomorrow, we would have to wait several hundred years to notice the results. Global warming, it seems, is here to stay.A Success StoryAt 19, Ben Way is already a millionaire, and one of a growing number of teenagers who have taken their fortune through the Internet. What makes Bens story all the more remarkable is that he is dyslexic, and was told by teachers at his junior school that he would never be able to read or write properly . I wanted to prove them wrong , says Ben, creator and director of Waysearch, a net search engine which can be used to find goods in online shopping malls.When he was eight, his local authorities provided him with a PC to help with school work. Although he was unable to read the manuals, he had a natural ability with the computer, and encouraged by his father, he soon began charging people $l0 an hour for his knowledge and skills. At the age of 15 he set up his own computer consultancy, Quad Computer, which he ran from his bedroom, and two years later he left school to devote all his time to business.By this time the company had grown and I needed to take on a couple of employees to help me, says Ben. That enabled me to start doing business with bigger companies.” It was. his ability to consistently overcome difficult challenges that led him to win the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the same year that he formed Waysearch, and he has recently signed a deal worth $25 million with a private investment company, which will finance his search engine.Traffic in Our CitiesThe volume of traffic in many cities in the world today continues to expand. This causes many problems, including serious air pollution, lengthy delays, and the greater risk of accidents. Clearly, something must be done, but it is often difficult to persuade people to change their habits and leave their cars at home.One possible approach is to make it more expensive for people to use their cars by increasing charges for parking and bringing in tougher fines for anyone who breaks the law. In addition, drivers could be required to pay for using particular routes at different times of the day. This system, known as road pricing, is already being introduced in a numer of cities, using a special electronic card fixed to the windscreen of the car.Another way of dealing with the problem is to provide cheap parking on the outskirts of the city, and strictly control the number of vehicles allowed into the centre. Drivers and their passengers then use a special bus service for the final stage of their journey.Of course, the most important thing is to provide good public transport.However, to get people to pass on the comfort of their cars, public transport must be felt to be reliable, convenient and comfortable, with fares kept at an acceptable level.Teaching and learningMany teachers believe that the responsibilities for learning lie with the student. If a long reading assignment is given, instructors expect students to be familiar with the information in the reading even if they do not discuss it in class or take an examination. The ideal student is considered to be one who is motivated to learn for the sake of leaning, not the one interested only in getting high grades. Sometimes homework is returned with brief written comments but without a grade. Even if a grade is not given, the student is responsible for learning the material assigned. When research is assigned, the professor expects the student to take it actively and to complete it with minimum guidance. It is the students responsibility to find books, magazines, and articles in the library. Professors do not have the time to explain how a university library works; they expect students particularly graduate students to exhaust the reference sources in the library. Professors will help students who need it, but prefer that their students should not be too dependent on them. In the United Stats professors have many other duties besides teaching，such as administrative or research work. Therefore, the time that a professor can spend with a student outside of class is limited. If a student has problems with classroom work , the student should either approach a professor during office hours or make an appointment.The Difference between Man and ComputerWhat makes people different from computer programs? What is the missing element that our theories dont yet account for? The answer is simple: People read newspaper stories for a reason: to learn more about what they are interested in. Computers, on the other hand， dont. In fact，computers dont even have interests; there is nothing in particular that they are trying to find out when they read. If a computer program is to be a model of story understanding，it should also read for a purpose. Of course，people have several goals that do not make sense to attribute to computers. One might read a restaurant guide in order to satisfy hunger or entertainment goals, or to find a good place to go for a business lunch. Computers do not get hungry, and computers do not have business lunches.However，these physiological and social goals give rise to several intellectual or cognitive goals. A goal to satisfy hunger gives rise to goals to find information about the name of a restaurant which serves the desired type of food ，how expensive the restaurant is，the location of the restaurant, etc. These are goals to acquire information or knowledge, what we are calling learning goals. These goals can be held by computers too; a computer might want to find out the location of a restaurant ，and read a guide in order to do so in the same way as a person might. While such a goal would not arise out of hunger in the case of the computer，it might well arise out of the goal to learn more about restaurants.Look on The Bright SideDo you ever wish you were more optimistic, someone who always expected to be successful? Having someone around who always fears the worst isnt really a lot of enjoyment. We all know someone who sees a single cloud on a sunny day and says ，It looks like rain. But if you catch yourself thinking such things，its important to do something about it. You can change your view of life ，according to psychologists. It only takes a little effort ，and youll find life more rewarding as a result. Optimism，they say，is partly about self-respect and confidence but its also a more positive way of looking at life and all it has to offer. Optimists are more likely to start new projects and are generally more prepared to take risks. Upbringing is obviously very important in forming your attitude to the world. Some people are brought up to depend too much on others and grow up forever blaming other people when anything goes wrong. Most optimists，on the other hand, have been brought up not to regard failure as the end of the worldthey just get on with their lives.The First BicycleThe history of the bicycle goes back more than 200 years. In 1791，Count de Sivrac delighted onlookers in a park in Paris as he showed off his two-wheeled invention ，a machine called the celerifer. It was basically an enlarged version of a childrens toy which had been in use for many years. Sivracs celerifer had a wooden frame，made in the shape of a horse, which was mounted on a wheel at either end.To ride it ，you sat on a small seat ，just like a modem bicycle，and pushed hard against the ground with your legsthere were no pedals. It was impossible to steer a celerifer and it had no brakes，but despite these problems the invention very much appealed to the fashionable young men of Paris. Soon they were holding races up and down the streets.Minor injuries were common as riders attempted a final burst of speed. Controlling the machine was difficult，as the only way to change direction was to pull up the front of the celerifer and turn it round while the front wheel was spinning in the air. Celerifers were not popular for long ，however ，as the combination of no springs，no steering and rough roads made riding them very uncomfortable. Even so，the wooden celerifer was the origin of the modem bicycle.Working MothersCarefully conducted researches that have followed the children of working mothers have not been able to show any long-term problems，compared with children whose mothers stayed at home. My personal view is that mothers should be allowed to work if they wish. Whether we like it or not ，there are a number of mothers who just have to work. There are those who have invested such a big part of their lives in establishing a career that they cannot afford see it lost. Then there are many who must work out of pure economic necessity. Many mothers are not cut out to be full-time parents. After a few months at home with a much loved infant ，they feel trapped and isolated.There are a number of options when it comes to choosing childcare. These range from child minders and nannies through to Granny or the kind lady across the street. In reality, however，many parents dont have any choice; they have to accept anything they can get. Be prepared! No matter how good the childcare may be ，some children are going to protest wildly if they are left. This is a perfectly normal stage of child development. Babies separate well in the first six months，but soon after that they start to get a crush on Mum and close family members . Make sure that in the first week you allow plenty of time to help your child settle in.All children are different. Some are independent ，while others are more attached to their mothers. Remember that if you want to do the best for your children ，its not the quantity of time you spend with them，its the quality that matters.School LunchResearch has shown that over half the children in Britain who take their own lunches to school do not eat properly in the middle of the day. In Britain schools have to provide meals at lunchtime. Children can choose to bring their own food or have lunch at the school canteen.One shocking finding of this research is that school meals are much healthier than lunches prepared by parents. There are strict standards for the preparation of school meals, which have to include one potion of fruit and one of vegetables, as well as meat, a dairy item and starchy food like bread or pasta. Lunchboxes examined by researchers contained sweet drinks, crisps and chocolate bars. Children consume twice as much sugar as they should at lunchtime.The research will provide a better understanding of why the percentage of overweight students in Britain has increased in the last decade. Unfortunately, the government cannot criticise parents, but it can remind them of the nutritional value of milk, fruit and vegetables. Small changes in their childrens diet can affect their future health. Children can easily develop bad eating habits at this age, and parents are the only ones who can prevent it.A Powerful InfluenceThere can be no doubt at all that the Internet has made a huge difference to our lives. Parents are worried that children spend too much time playing on the Internet, hardly ever doing anything else in their spare time. Naturally, parents are curious to find out why the Internet is so attractive, and they want to know if it can be harmful to their children. Should parents worry if their children are spending that much time staring at their computers?Obviously; if children are bent over their computers for hours, absorbed in some game, instead of doing their homework, then something is wrong. Parents and children could decide how much use the child should make of the Internet, and the child should give his or her word that it wont interfere with homework. If the child is not holding to this arrangement, the parent can take more drastic steps dealing with a childs use of the Internet is not much different from negotiating any other soft of bargain about behaviour.Any parent who is seriously alarmed about a childs behaviour should make an appointment to discuss the matter with a teacher. Spending time in front of the screen does not necessarily affect a childs performance at school. Even if a child is absolutely crazy about using the Internet，he or she is probably just going through a phase, and in a few months there will be something else to worry about!The Old GateIn the Middle Ages the vast majority of European cities had walls around them. This was partly for defensive reasons but another factor was the need to keep out anyone regarded as undesirable, like people with contagious diseases. The Old City of London gates were all demolished by the end of the 18th century. The last of Londons gates was removed a century ago, but by a stroke of luck, it was never destroyed. This gate is, in actual fact, not called a gate at all; its name is Temple Bar, and it marked the boundary between the Old City of London and Westminster. In 1878 the Council of London took the Bar down, numbered the stones and put the gate in storage because its design was unfashionable it was expensive to maintain and it was blocking the traffic.The Temple Bar Trust was set up in the 1970s with the intention of returning the gate home. The aim of the trust is the preservation of the nations architectural heritage.Transporting the gate will mean physically pulling it down, stone by stone, removing and rebuilding it near St Pauls Cathedral. Most of the facade of the gate will probably be replaced, though there is a good chance that the basic structure will be sound. The hardest job of all, however, will be to recreate the statues of the monarchs that once stood on top of the gate.Family HistoryIn an age when technology is developing faster than ever before, many people are being attracted to the idea of looking back into the past. One way they can do this is by investigating their own family history. They can try to find out more about where their families came from and what they did, This is now a fastgrowing hobby, especially in countries with a fairly short history, like Australia and the United States.It is one thing to spend some time going through a book on family history and to take the decision to investigate your own familys past. It is quite another to carry out the research work successfully. It is easy to set about it in a disorganized way and cause yourself many problems which could have been avoided with a little forward planning.If your own family stories tell you that you are connected with a famous character, whether hero or criminal, do not let this idea take over your research. Just treat it as aninteresting possibility. A simple system for collecting and storing your information will be adequate to start with; a more complex one may only get in your way. The most important thing, though, is to get started. Who knows what you might find ?Helen and MartinWith a thoughtful sigh, Helen turned away from the window and wa1ked back to her favourite armchair. Would her brother never arrive? For a brief moment, she wondered if she really cared that much.Over the years Helen had given up waiting for Martin to take an interest in her.Her feelings for him had gradually weakened until now, as she sat waiting for him, she experienced no more than a sisters. Curiosity to see what had become of her brother.Almost without warning, Martin had lost, his job with a busy publishing company after spending the last eight years in New York as a key figure in the US office. Somehow the two of them hadnt bothered to keep in touch and, left alone, Helen had slowly found her confidence in her own judgment growing. Ignoring the wishes of her parents, she had left university halfway through her course and now, to the astonishment of the whole family, she was gaining a fast-growing reputation in the pages of respected art magazines and was actually earning enough to live drop from her paintings.Of course, she took no pleasure in Martins sudden misfortune, but she couldnt help looking forward to her brothers arrival with quiet satisfaction at what she had ach
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