The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel. The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sport car. Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras. The bride wore a silk wedding dress. She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time.

    Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station's competition. The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other. Miss Germaine, 23, is a model. Mr. Cordell, 27, is a TV salesman. They were among the two hundred people who entered a special “experiment” organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham, England, Greg, and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on a radio. They took a lie detector（测谎仪） test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities. The competition judges include an astrologer（占星家） who declared that they were suited.

    The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening, but not everyone shared their joy. Miss Germaine's mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr. Cordell's parents are reported to be less than delighted.

    Organizations, including the marriage guidance Service Relate, have criticized the marriage. As one person put it, “We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this. Marriage should always be about love.”

    The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists. Their other prizes include a year's free use of a wonderful apartment in the center of Birmingham, and a car. But will it last?

    Phil White has just returned from an 18,000 ­mile, around­ the ­world bicycle trip. White had two reasons for making this epic journey. First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did. He raised ￡70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam. White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world. He is still waiting to find out if he has broken the record or not.

    White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June 2004 and was back 299 days later. He spent more than 1,300 hours in the saddle (车座) and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains. He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team. No jeep carrying food, water and medicine. No doctor. Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road.

    The journey was lonely and desperate at times. He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains. He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need. There were other dangers along the road. In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to escape with his life and the little money he had. The worst thing that happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia. For 1,000 kilometres he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him. This part of the trip was slow, hard work and depressing, but he made it in the end. Now Mr. White is back and intends to write a book about his adventures.

    One of the greatest contributions（投稿）to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.

    This was a huge task. So Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American Surgeon（外科医生）who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

    Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next years, he became one of the staff's most valued contributors.

    But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always refuse to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell（囚室）at the Broadmoor Asylum（精神病院）for the Criminally insane.

    Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

    In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

    Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

    THREE years ago Jenny Salgado, a Dominican shop assistant, moved to Highland town, a neighborhood of Baltimore. When she arrived the shop she works in, it was one of only a few Spanish businesses. Now there are many more. "It's good now if you speak Spanish," she smiles.

    Baltimore has been losing people for 60 years. To address this, its mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, wants to make it the most immigrant-friendly city in the world. Its libraries provide Spanish-language exercise classes. To help those with no papers, the city is introducing micro-loans (小额贷款) which require no credit checks; city police would no longer routinely check the immigration status of citizens or enforce any federal immigration law unless required to. The then governor, Martin O'Malley made it possible for illegal immigrants to get driving licenses.

    Such welcoming policies are spreading. Such cities as Cleveland, Dayton and Philadelphia all eagerly try to please immigrants. Rick Snyder, the governor of Michigan, has asked the federal government to offer 50,000 visas to people who agree to live in Detroit. His administration has made it easier for skilled migrants to get professional licenses.

    When a city's population falls, both tax receipts and services fall. Half-deserted neighborhoods breed (滋生) crime, driving yet more people to leave. No city has escaped this death circle without attracting new residents, says Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit.

    Several studies suggest that when immigrants arrive, crime goes down, schools improve and shops open up. In Detroit, immigrants living near the tiny separate city of Hamtramck have formed local watches to guard against thieves. Their neighborhoods are not just safer; they are also among the only places where it is as easy to buy fresh vegetables as drugs and alcohol.

    But attracting new immigrants to the cities which most need them is hard, argues Audrey Singer of the Brookings Institution. They care about the same things as everyone else: safe streets, good schools and jobs. Cities which have lost population for decades struggle with all of these.

    The Best Way to See Singapore. See More for Less!

    City Sightseeing

    $33/A, S23/C, FREE/T

    24 hrs of Unlimited Touring — 9 am to 6 pm

    Duration: 1 Day (unlimited rides)

    Attractions: Civic District Orchard Road, Botanic Gardens, Little India, Chinatown & along the City & Heritage routes

    It is easy to enjoy Singapore with the City Sightseeing open-top touring system Spot an interesting place or sight? Simply hop off and walk around and you can continue the tour later by hopping on the next bus. With I bus arriving every 20 minutes, the City Sightseeing system links you to major sights attractions and hotels!

    Guests Helpline: 6338-6877

    DUCK

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    Daily: 9:30 am — 5:30 pm

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    Ride the original DUCK! Hop on this amphibious(两栖的)craft for a sightseeing tour which covers both land and sea!

    Free bus transfer, most popular tour; 1st and original DUCK; unique land & sea adventure

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    Night Safari(旅行)

    S49/A, $33/C, FREEST

    Tour Time: 6:00 pm — 10:00 pm

    Duration: 4 hours observe the night activities of the 1,000 over noctumal(夜行的)animals in the Night Safari – the world's first wildlife night park, for an adventure you'll never forget. |

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    For More Information, call 6338-6826

    Flyer

    $53/A, $37/C, FREE/T

    Open HoursoursHow: Daily 9:00 am — 9:00 pm

    Duration: 30 minutes

    Feast your eyes on Singapore's magnificent cityscape from a height of 165m on the world's largest observation wheel. Get your cameras ready as you experience a 360-degree panoramic view of the city and the Manna Bay area.

    Free bus transfer free river transfer

    For More Information, call 6338-3311

    A — adult, C — children (3- 12), T — toddler (2 & below)

A farmer grew some vegetables in his garden. One day his wife was ill and he had no money. He had to sell some cabbages and carrots in the market. The next morning he took two baskets of vegetables to town. But it was raining hard that afternoon and there were few people in the street. When his vegetables were sold out, it was dark. He bought some medicine and hurried to his village. 

On his way home he saw a person lying on the snow. He placed his baskets on the ground and was going to help the person to get up. At that time he found it was a dead man and there was much blood on his body. He was so afraid that he ran away quickly, without taking the baskets with him. 

The next afternoon the farmer was sent to the police station. Having shown the baskets, an officer asked: "Are these yours?" "Yes, sir." the farmer answered timidly (胆怯)."Have you killed the man?" "No, no, sir." the farmer said in a hurry. "When did you see the dead man?" "About seven last evening." "Did you see who killed the man?" "No, Sir." The officer brought out a knife and asked, "Have you seen it yet?" "No, Sir." The officer became angry and told the policemen to beat him up and send him into prison. 

That evening the officer went on trying. Pointing to the knife, he asked again, "Have you seen it yet?" "Yes, Sir." The officer was happy and asked, "When and where?" "I saw it here this afternoon, sir."