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     If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

     Dreaming about whether you would want to read minds, see through walls, or have superhuman strength may sound silly, but it actually gets to the heart of what really matters in your life.

     Every day in our work, we are inspired by the people we meet doing extraordinary things to improve the world.

     They have a different kind of superpower that all of us possess: the power to make a difference in the lives of others.

We're not saying that everyone needs to contribute their lives to the poor. Your lives are busy enough doing homework, playing sports, making friends, seeking after your dreams. But we do think that you can live a more powerful life when you devote some of your time and energy to something much larger than yourself. Find an issue you are interested in and learn more. Volunteer or, if you can, contribute a little money to a cause. Whatever you do, don't be a bystander. Get involved. You may have the opportunity to make your biggest difference when you're older. But why not start now?

     Our own experience working together on health, development, and energy the last twenty years has been one of the most rewarding parts of our lives. It has changed who we are and continues to fuel our optimism about how much the lives of the poorest people will improve in the years ahead.

    Booking a theatre

    These locations have theatres available for rental:

    Fairview                • Palmerston                • York Woods

    Priority Bookings

    Each June, theatre booking requests for dates in the following calendar year (January to December) are accepted.

    For more information call the Room Booking Unit at 416-397-5969.

    Regular Bookings

    For people who didn't make a booking request in June, call the Room Booking Unit at 416-397-5969 to check for remaining dates.

    Completing a Booking

    Once the library receives a request, staff will check the availability and place a tentative booking for you. You will then receive a contract that you must return with payment within 10 calendar days of the tentative boding and with a minimum of two months before the first booking to confirm the booking.

    Payment

    Payment for the first booking and any bookings in the current month is due when you return the signed contract. If you have booked for multiple months, payments for those months are due at the beginning of each month.

    Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers concluded that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.

    According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers' markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.

    After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.

    In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity — or extreme overweight — among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% — and is growing.

    One of the greatest gifts one generation can give to other generations is the wisdom it has gained from experience. This idea has inspired the award-winning photographer Andrew Zuckerman. He interviewed and took photos of fifty over sixty-five-year olds all over the world. His project explores various aspects of their lives. The photos and interviews are now available on our website.

    Click on the introductions to read the complete interviews.

    Let us now have a culture of peace.

—Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Spain

    Federico Mayor Zaragoza obtained a doctorate in pharmacy(药学) from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1958. After many years spent in politics, he became Director General of UNESCO in 1987. In 1999, he created the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, of which he is now the president. In addition to many scientific publications, he has published four collections of poems and several books of essays.

    Writing is a discovery.

—Nadine Gordimer, South Africa

    Due to a weak heart, Nadine Gordimer attended school and university briefly. She read widely and began writing at an early age. She published her first short story at the age of fifteen, and has completed a large number of works, which have been translated into forty languages. In 1991, Gordimer won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

    Jazz is about the only form of art today.

—Dave Brubeck, USA

    Dave Brubeck studied music at the University of the Pacific and graduated in 1942. After World War Ⅱ he was encouraged to play jazz. In 1951, he recorded his first album. Brubeck's 1959 album has become a jazz standard. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.

    For more figures CLICK HERE.

    Throughout history scientists have risked their health and their lives in their search for the truth.

    Sir Isaac Newton, the seventeenth century scientist, was very smart, but that didn't stop him from doing some pretty stupid things. In his laboratory in Cambridge he often did the strangest experiments. Once, while testing how light passes through lenses (晶状体), he put a long needle into his eye, pushed it to the back, and then moved it around just to see what would happen. Luckily, nothing long-lasting did. On another occasion he stared at the sun for as long as he could bear, to discover what effect this would have on his sight. Again he escaped suffering permanent damage, though he had to spend some days in a darkened room before his eyes recovered.

    In the 1750s the Swedish chemist Karl Scheele was the first person to find a way to produce phosphorus (磷). He in fact discovered eight more chemical elements including chlorine (氯), though he didn't get any praise for them. He was a very clever scientist, but his one failing was a curious habit of tasting a little of every substance he worked with. This risky practice finally caught up with him, and in 1786 he was found dead in his laboratory surrounded by a large number of dangerous chemicals, any of which might have been responsible for his death.

    Eugene Shoemaker was a respected geologist. He spent a large part of his life studying craters (火山口) on the moon, and how they were formed, and later did research into the comets of the planet Jupiter. In 1997 he and his wife were in the Australian desert where they went every year to search for places where comets might have hit the earth. While driving in the Tanami desert, normally one of the emptiest places in the world, another vehicle crashed into them and Shoemaker was killed on the spot. Some of his ashes (骨灰) were sent to the moon aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft and left there — he is the only person who has had this honor.

No one can believe that the over 6, 300-kilometre Great Wall might disappear some day. Believe it or not, the Great Wall is being destroyed by people. Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty is still perfect, and about 80 percent is in danger. 

The Great Wall can be called "great" mostly because of its amazing length. If we do nothing to save the Great Wall, it will become wasteland rather than a historic site. The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2, 000 years. It began in the Qin Dynasty, and lasted into the Ming Dynasty. The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared. People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu, because they have been open to tourists for many years. But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten. 

Few local people knew the 3-metre-high walls made of earth and stones beside them are part of the Great Wall. The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind humans. 

The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses. Rubbish is spread over the battlements. Those who destroyed and are destroying the Great Wall know its name, but don't know its cultural meaning. The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Great Wall but dug out the entire base. 

It is necessary to protect the Great Wall. First of all, the officials should be aware of the importance of the Great Wall. Young Chinese should know more about the nation's great civilisation and learn to love it.