You're probably aware of the basictrends. The financial rewards to education have increased over the past few decades, but men fail to benefit.

    In elementary and high school, male academic performance is lagging. Boys earn three-quarters of the D's and F's. By college, men are clearly behind. Only 40 percent of bachelor's degree go tomen, along with 40 percent of master's degree.

    Thanks to their lower skills, men are dropping out of the labor force. In 1954, 96 percent of the American men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked. Today, that number is down to 80 percent. In Friday's jobs report, male labor force participation reached an all-time low.

    Millions of men are collecting disability benefits. Even many of those who do have a job are doing poorly. According to Michael Greenstone of the Hamilton Project, annual earnings foraverage prime-age males have dropped by 28 percent over the past 40 years.

    Men still dominate (主宰) the top of the corporate ladder because many women take time off to raise children,but women lead or are gaining nearly everywhere else. Women in their 20 soutearn men in their 20s. Twelve out of the 15 fastest-growing professions are dominated by women.

    Over the years, many of us have employeda certain theory to explain men's economic decline. It is that the information-age economy rewards qualities that women are more likely topossess.

    To succeed today, you have to be able tosit still and focus attention in school at an early age. You have to beemotionally sensitive and aware of context. You have to communicate smoothly. For genetic and cultural reasons, many men are not good at these.

    But, in her fascinating new book, TheEnd of Men, Hanna Rosin suggests a different theory. It has to do with adaptability. Women, Rosin argues, are like immigrants (移民) who have moved to a new country. They see a new social context, and they flexibly adapt to new circumstances. Men are like immigrants who have physically moved to a new country but who have kept their minds in the old one. They speak the old language. They follow the old customs. Men are more likely to be rigid; women are more fluid.

    This theory has less to do with born qualities and more to do with social position. When there's big social change, the people who were on the top of the old order are bound to stick to the old ways. The people who were on the bottom are bound to experience a burst of energy. They are going to explore their new surroundings more enthusiastically.

    Rosin reports from working-class Alabama. The women she meets are flooding into new jobs and new opportunities —going back to college, pursuing new careers. The men are waiting around for the jobs left and are never coming back. They are strangely immune (免疫的）to new options. In the Auburn-Opelika region, the average female income is 140 percent of the average male income.

    Rosin is not saying that women are winners in a global gender (性别) war or that they are doing supersimply because men are doing worse. She's just saying women are adapting to today's economy more flexibly than men. There's a lot of evidence to supporther case.

A study by the National Federation of Independent Business found that small businesses owned by women outperformed male-owned small business during the last recession (衰退). Infinance, women who switch firms are more likely to see their performanceimprove, whereas men are likely to see theirs decline. There's even evidencethat women are better able to adjust to divorce. Today, more women than men seetheir incomes rise by 25 percent after a marital breakup.

    Forty years ago, men and women stuck tocertain theory, what it meant to be a man or a woman. Young women today, Rosinargues, have abandoned both feminist (女权主义者）and prefeminist preconceptions. Men still stick to the masculinity (大男子主义的）rules, which limit their visionand their movement.

   If she's right, then men will have toacknowledge that they are strangers in a strange land.

    Revolutionary TV Ears

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    TV Ears patented(有专利权的) technology includes a revolutionary noise reduction ear tip, not used in any other commercially available headset. This tip reduces outside noise so that television dialogue is clear and understandable. Get the technology that has proven to help the most demanding customers. That's why TV Ears has earned the trust and confidence of audiologists(听觉学家) nationwide as well as world-famous doctors.

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    The O. Henry Museum

    The aim of the O. Henry Museum is to collect, preserve, and interpret artifacts，works and archival (档案的) materials relative to the author, for literary» educational, and historical purposes that are accessible to the public. The museum was set up in 1934, under the authority of the City of Austin, and is both a National Register Property and a National Literary Landmark.

    The O. Henry Museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5:00 pm. Admission is free. Tours are also available for free. Please contact the museum at least one week in advance to schedule a tour for a group of 10 or more. Metered parking is available on the street in front of the museum. The museum's gift shop has for sale T-shirts, coffee mugs, DVDs, and an array of books by and about O. Henry.

    Group tours:

    We ask for one-week advance notice of groups more than 10 people, including schools, church groups, and organizations.

    Donations:

    Donations greatly benefit the museum and its programs. Inquire about contributing.

    Volunteer:

    Contact us about volunteering at the museum. We are currently in need of a gardener and a volunteer docent (讲解员).

    Staff:

    Valerie Bennett, Curator valerie. bennett@ci. austin. tx. us

    Michael Hoinski, Culture & Arts Education Specialist michael. hoinski@ci. austin. tx. us

    Elizabeth Taylor, Docent

    Location: 409 East Fifth Street, Austin, Texas 78701

    It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I'm going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, 'You should open a sandwich shop.' ”

    That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront(店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn't cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.

    But business didn't go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn't know how badly, because we didn't have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.

    DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They'd meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, 'We are so successful, we are opening a second store.' ” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.

    But the partners' learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn't necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.

    And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.

    DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.

    Just a few years out of law school, I decided that I wanted to write fictions. The only thing I had ever published before was a law-review article. I had made great efforts to write when I came home at night after work, but I was too tired. I decided to quit my job.

    I began my new life on a February morning. I sat down at my kitchen table at 7:30 am and made a resolution. Every day I would write until lunchtime. Then I would lie down on the floor for 20 minutes to rest my mind. After that, I would return to work for a few more hours.

    In my first year, I sold two stories. Then I wrote a novel, but I thought it wasn't good enough, so I ended up putting it in a drawer. My second novel, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, was published to glowing reviews and received the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.

    My success sounds like a familiar story, but actually it was far from sudden. I quit my job, and for every story I published in those years, I had at least 30 rejections. The novel that I put away in the drawer took my four years. My breakthrough came in 2006, 18 years after I first sat down to write at my kitchen table.

    Sometimes genius (天才) is just the thing that comes out after 20 years of working at your kitchen. Also, doing something truly creative requires the energy of youth. Orson Welles made his masterpiece, Citizen Kan, at 25. T. S. Eliot wrote The Love Song of J. Afred Prufrock at 23.

    Planning to get away? Think passport first

    If you're planning to get away from it all this year, you should think passport first. Checking you have a valid passport before you book your trip takes minutes but could save you the trouble and cost of not being able to go.

    Renewing (更新) your passport before it runs out

You can renew your passport up to 9 months before it can no longer be legally used. So take the time now and save the tears later.

    Applying for a passport for the first time

    Our eligibility (资格) checks mean that it takes a minimum of one week to issue (颁发) a passport. So make sure you don't leave it to the last minute, and apply in plenty of time.

    Help with your application is just around the corner

    Selected Post Office branches and Worldchoice travel agents offer a Check and Send service that helps you with your application. It's convenient and you should receive your passport within 2 weeks.

    If you need to apply for or renew a passport, you can either:

    Pick up a Passport Application Form at Selected Post Office branches and Worldchoice travel agents.

    Or call the Application Form Request line on 0901 4700 100 or visit www.passport.gov.uk

    If your need is urgent, call 0870 521 0410 for an appointment at one of our offices. We can't guarantee to see customers without an appointment.

    From 14th January a guaranteed same day (passport renewals only) or one week service will be available from passport public counters.

    Calls will be charged 60p per minute and the cost per call should not normally be more than 90p.

    Calls are charged at national rates.