You've flown halfway around the world；you've sniffed out this place that nobody in Falongland or Thailand seems to have ever heard of；so what on earth is there to do here？You consider this question as you sink into an old wooden beach chair that holds you above the sand.

It was a long journey from Bangkok to Huaplee.By the time you found the bus station and got yourself sorted out，it took almost as long as the flight from Falongland.

    Huaplee is located just south of Hua Hin，about two hundred kilometres from Bangkok，down the west side of the Gulf of Thailand. Not many tourists find this place，and the ones that do wonder if finding it has been their purpose all along.

    There's an apparent laziness that surrounds you here.It's what this place offers，and it's free of charge.The small waves that tap the shoreline seem to slow everything down.You settle into your beach chair in preparation for a long rest.You sit there and watch the sea.

    It's early afternoon，so the cook comes out and asks what you'd like to eat this evening.Before long he's rushed off to the market to buy the ingredients for whatever it was that you ordered－every meal fresh and to order.No menu here.

    There is no poolside noise here but just that wonderfully warm，clear blue sea.There's no street noise.The only sounds are the murmurs of nature.

    For now you just count your blessings (福祉)，listing them in the sand with your toe (脚趾)．You don't have to worry about being late for work. You don't have to do anything.

    The beach to your right stretches off to the horizon (地平线)，slowly narrowing to nothingness only to reemerge again on your left，now steadily widening until it covers the chair beneath you.Sand to your left and sand to your right; it's unbroken，endless.No start，no end，just sand，sun，and peace.Step off it，and you re­enter the world of traffic，stress，work，and hurry.

    Normally you're the type who can't sit still for more than ten minutes，but you're on Huaplee Lazy Beach now and，in the right frame of mind，it stretches all the way around the world.

     “How could it take me so long to find it？” you wonder.

    Some people have the feeling that nothing can be done about their poor reading ability（能力）.They feel hopeless about it.Can you learn to read better,or must you agree that nothing can be done about it?

    To be sure,people are different.You cannot expect to do everything as well as certain other people do.If all the students in a class tried out for basketball,some would be very good players,others would be very poor;and many would be in between.But even the very poor players can become much better players if they are guided in the right way,and with plenty of practice.It is the same with reading.Some seem to enjoy reading and to read well without any special help.Others find reading a slow and tiring job.In between,there are all degrees of reading ability.

    Many experiments have shown that just about every poor reader can improve his reading ability.In these experiments,the poor readers were given tests of reading ability.After some of the causes of their poor reading were discovered,they were given special instruction and practice in reading.After a few months,another test of the same kind was given.In nearly all cases,these people had raised their reading scores.

    An experiment was carried out at British school into the performance of new pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a rating, ranging from "excellent prospect" to "unlikely to do well". These were totally untrue ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. However, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils' performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high connection between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to.

    The Self-fulfilling Effect is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from an old Greek story. The story was also the basis of George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion", later turned into the musical "My Fair Lady". In Shaw's play, Professor Henry Higgins claims he can turn a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle into a duchess. But, as Eliza herself points out to Higgins' friend Pickering, it isn't what she learns or does that determines whether she will become a duchess, but how she's treated.

    The implication (含义) of the Pygmalion Effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect, which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, "Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be."

Finding a Job

    For all the pressures and rewards of regionalization (地区化) and globalization, local identities remain the most deeply impressed. Even if the end result of globalization is to make the world smaller, its scope seems to foster the need for more private local connections among many individuals. As Bernard Poignant, mayor of the town of Quimper in Brittany, told the Washington Post, "Man is a fragile animal and he needs his close attachments. The more open the world becomes, the more ties there will be to one's roots and one's land."

    In most communities, local languages such as Poignant's Breton serve a strong symbolic function as a clear mark of "authenticity (原真性)". The sum total of a community's shared historical experience, authenticity reflects a noticeable line from a culturally idealized past to the present, carried by the language and traditions associated with the community's origins. A concern for authenticity leads most secular (世俗的) Israelis to defend Hebrew among themselves while also acquiring English and even Arabic. The same obsession with authenticity drives Hasidic Jews in Israel or the Diaspora to champion Yiddish while also learning Hebrew and English. In each case, authenticity amounts to a central core of cultural beliefs and interpretations that are not only resistant to globalization but also are actually reinforced by the "threat" that globalization seems to present to these historical values. Scholars may argue that cultural identities change over time in response to specific reward systems. But locals often resist such explanation and defend authenticity and local mother tongues against the perceived threat of globalization with near religious eagerness.

    As a result, never before in history have there been as many standardized languages as there are today: roughly 1,200. Many smaller languages, even those with far fewer than one million speakers, have benefited from state-sponsored or voluntary preservation movements. On the most informal level, communities in Alaska and the American northwest have formed Internet discussion groups in an attempt to pass on Native American languages to younger generations. In the Basque, Catalan, and Galician regions of Spain, such movements are fiercely political and frequently involved loyal resistance to the Spanish government over political and linguistic rights. Projects have ranged from a campaign to print Spanish money in the four official languages of the state to the creation of language immersion nursery and primary schools. Zapatistas in Mexico are championing the revival of Mayan languages in an equally political campaign for local autonomy.

    In addition to causing the feeling of the subjective importance of local roots, supporters of local languages defend their continued use on practical grounds. Local tongues foster higher levels of school success, higher degrees of participation in local government, more informed citizenship, and better knowledge of one's own culture, history, and faith. Government and relief agencies can also use local languages to spread information about industrial and agricultural techniques as well as modern health care to diverse audiences. Development workers in West Africa, for example, have found that the best way to teach the vast number of farmers with little or no formal education how to sow and rotate crops for higher yields is in these local tongues. Nevertheless, both regionalization and globalization require that more and more speakers of local languages be multi-literate.

Chinese pastries (糕点) have a rich and divers history that spans thousands of years. Traditional Chinese pastries are popular {#blank#}1{#/blank#} their beautiful shapes, delicate flavors and cultural symbolism.

The origins of Chinese pastries can be traced back to ancient times when they were primarily made for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (religion) ceremonies and special occasions. Over centuries of evolution, Chinese pastries {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (develop), combining various regional flavors and techniques.

During the Tang dynasty, Chinese pastries experienced a significant {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (grow) in popularity. The Tang dynasty emperors were known for their love of desserts and pastries, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} led to the development of numerous delicate and complicated pastry recipes.

It was during this time {#blank#}6{#/blank#} many symbolic pastries were created, and the art of pastry-making reached new heights.

Mooncakes, closely {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (associate) with the Mid-autumn Festival, are among the most famous Chinese pastries. Mooncakes have a history {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (date) back over 1,000 years. They were{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (original) used as an offering {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (honour) the moon goddess during the harvest season. Mooncakes are often imprinted with amazing designs and symbols that represent good luck and prosperity.

Each region in China has its own pastries with distinct flavors, ingredients and making methods. Chinese pastries are an essential part of Chinese cuisine and cultural traditions.