"Some secrets are hidden from health," wrote John Updike in his poem "Fever".

    I have experienced the truth of Updike's observation. My excellent health kept me from seeing some things—things that became secrets of sort.

    One relates to my son Chris. When I lost my health in March, I discovered something I had missed about him.

    Christopher has been a scholar and athlete through high school. He has behaved responsibly, engaged in community service. He has had an impressive peer group of  serious students.

    While I saw these things, I had missed before what I experienced while in hospital. Early on, Christopher offered the clearest and most forceful words about my need to be positive and to fight acute leukemia(急性白血病). He never left the room after a visit without making me promise that I would be mentally tough and positive.

    During the first week, he showed his own mental toughness, researching leukemia and learning what the chances were. He even stopped my doctor outside the room, introduced himself and asked directly what he thought of my chances. He processed the answer without overreaction.

    Christopher did admonish(劝告) me against my choice of words the first week at home. I had moved back into my room from weighing myself, discovering a thin figure I did not know. I announced to him and my wife, “dead man walking”. I thought it was a way to lighten the obvious. He saw it as negativity and was strongly against such thinking and talking.

    When I resisted taking medicine sometimes, Christopher formed a “good-cop-bad-cop” team with his mother. Betsy gently and patiently encouraged. He directly and forcefully insisted. He always made the logical arguments for why I needed to take some awful pills.

    My health had hidden something from me; my ill-health helped me to see it.

Common public speaking problems

    The use of “I feel”, “I think” and “maybe”

    In the question-and –answer session of the speaking competition, many contestants began their answers with uncertain expressions like “I feel”, “I hear”, “maybe” and “perhaps”. These words show that the person is only speaking from his or her point of view. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Work on keeping your answers brief and to the point. Also work on delivering them with calmness and confidence. Instead of the empty-sounding “I guess”, using facts, together with a clear conclusion based on those facts, is far more likely to be popular with an audience.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Don't stick to the same tone. It can be boring. Try to mix it up. For example, when they spoke about their dreams, some sounded romantic. Others used humor. Very few used several different styles tighter. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} , rather than just sticking with the same one.

    Irresponsible answers

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . you're responsible for your words. Even though you want to answer quickly, you don't want to sound foolish. So you should think twice before you talk. Don't be like the student who, when asked about his opinion on book piracy(盗版), started by saying he supported it.

    Talking around the topic rather than directly answering it

    You should focus on one point and give a clear solution. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} . is it asking you to discuss a certain topic or to present your own point of view?

    Use one or two arguments together and give a strong conclusion. Remember that judges are not judging you on whether they agree, but on your ability to say what you think clearly.

A. Try mixing more than one style.

B. Improving your communication skill.

C. Using only one speaking style

D. It's important to involve your audience.

E. Public speaking is different from personal conversations.

F. The key is to work out what question is being asked

G. To the judges and audience, this lacks the support of facts and seems not to be reliable.

    Last week I was riding my special motorbike and then stopped at a convenience store.As I was getting my wheelchair off the back,a man watched me from his car and I noticed a wheelchair in his back seat.We spoke for a moment and I asked him about the wheelchair.He answered that it was for his daughter.“Well,do you think she would like to go for a ride on my motorbike with me?”I asked.He seemed shocked that a total stranger would ask him this.He thought about it for a second and said,“OK,as long as I can follow you.”

    He introduced me to Amy and he sat her on my back seat.Her father followed me for a few miles and she talked non-stop about what she wanted for Christmas.

    As we came back to the convenience store,she said,“This ride is the best Christmas present I could ever receive. I have been in a wheelchair my whole life and didn't know I could do this.”I told her about some of the other things I do (ski,travel the world by myself,etc.).As her father was taking her off my bike,she turned to him and said,“Oh Daddy,I'm going to be OK.Mr.Bryant does all kinds of things,and I win too.” Her father turned away as a tear of joy rolled down his cheek.He hugged me and said,“I was sitting here praying for a gift for Amy that would encourage her.She often felt that her life was dull compared to other children.God answered my prayer just now.Now I pray that God will bless you for your gift to Amy today.” I believed what he said.Being kind and thoughtful to others,we can be an answer to prayer.

    Most of us will be familiar with the traditional talent show set-up: thousands of hopefuls line up outside the audition（试音）room, wait for hours to go in and perform for a group of judges. Then these potential pop stars could be lucky and get through to the next round, or they might hear the command, "Sorry, it's a no from me. But what do the judges actually bring to a talent show?

    Music talent show judges attract millions of viewers each week to their programs. As public figures, they play an important part in advertising campaigns for these programs. They often receive high salaries and can be moody. Are they really worth the expenses and difficulties that they cause? One solution might be to replace them with computers.

    Can computers really match human judges? Scientist Dr Nick Collins and his team at the University of Sussex think they can. Dr Collins has been working on a project that involves programming three computerized judges that he says would be far more consistent in their judgment of musical performances. Employing a special programming language, Dr Collins's digital judges can be trained up by "listening" to particular musical styles. After they have been listening for a while, the programming language allows these judges to spot the specific features of the music, including the voice quality, the rhythm etc. Collins says, “The judges' listening capacity is not yet as good as a human ear, but they won't be as moody as some human reality TV show judges.”

    Maybe that is the problem with this electronic musical innovation. Real human judges on talent shows interest us with their personality, decisions and catchy phrases. Will a computer program be able to do the same?

    The National Storytelling Youth Olympics is an event where thousands of kids from grades 6 to 12 compete against each other by telling stories. It is sponsored by the Master's Degree Program in Reading and Storytelling at East Tennessee State University. The sole purpose of this event is to promote and encourage both the art and science of storytelling among middle school and high school students. Although this event is competitive, its underlying intent and goal is to provide students across the nation with a reason to practice numerous noncompetitive skills.

    Those skills include skillful sportsmanship , responsible behavior, and an attitude of respect for others and the storytelling genre. The eventual goal of the National Storytelling Youth Olympics is to encourage every classroom in America to discover (or rediscover) the beauty of storytelling and story performance.

    The National Storytelling Youth Olympics takes place usually around the first weekend in March. Students from all over the country arrive by bus, plane, or automobile in Johnson City, Tennessee. They usually arrive on Thursday or Friday. Those that arrive on Thursday take advantage of their early arrival by telling stories at local schools. On Friday, an evening meal is prepared for all contestants, coaches, and parents. Games are played, stories are told, and lifetime friendships begin. Saturday is the day of the big event. A luncheon(午餐会) is held in the afternoon so contestants can familiarize themselves with the surroundings and do a sound check.

    The event is divided into three categories separated by grades. Contestants are judged not only by their storytelling performance, but also by the attitude and behavior they display during the entire weekend. A winner is picked from each of the three categories; however, there is an overall winner who is granted the name of Grand Torch Bearer. This person is selected not only by the judges, but also by the contestants. After the winners have been announced, the contestants retreat back to their hotel where a celebratory ice cream party is held; and believe it or not, they tell more stories! This is what the National Storytelling Youth Olympics is all about: developing a love for the art of storytelling.

    A nation's humor is linked to the historical development of the country. How funny somebody finds a certain thing depends on many things including ages, personal experiences, levels of education and locations. Therefore, humor is something that is not always transferable (可转移的) in another country.

    What about when both countries speak the same mother tongue? Does that mean they will then share the same sense of humor, or can differences still take place? Let's take the example of Britain and America. Time and time again, people say that Brits and Americans don't "get" each other's sense of humor. It is often argued that one of the most common differences between the British and American sense of humor is that Americans don't understand irony (反话). Simon Pegg explores this topic in depth in his article What Are You Laughing At? He concludes that this statement isn't true and I agree with him.

    In fact, Brits use irony on a daily basis while Americans don't. I think Americans understand British irony (most of the time anyway); what they don't understand is the need to use it so frequently. When Americans use irony, they tend to say that they are "only kidding". They feel the need to make a joke more obvious than Brits do. Maybe this comes from a fear of offending (冒犯) people.

    The American sense of humor is generally more slapstick (闹剧的) than that in Britain. I think this arises from a cultural difference between the two. Their jokes are more obvious and forward, a bit like Americans themselves. British jokes, on the other hand, tend to be more subtle. This may stem from the fact that British culture is more reserved (矜持的) than American culture.