The Lost Rules of Etiquette

        Etiquette, or good manners, used to be the glue that held society together.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Sadly, these days it has mostly gone by the wayside. This list is several best rules of etiquette that have now disappeared.

Opening the Door

        In days gone by, a gentleman would always open doors for ladies.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}This has now almost entirely disappeared and it is pot entirely the fault of the men. I have seen women laugh at men for opening a door for them. They seem tobe confusing manners with chauvinism(大男子主义)．

Writing Thank-You Notes

        In days gone by, whenever a personreceived a gift, they would write a thank-you note as soon as possible.  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Parents would sit children down after a birthday or Christmas and coach them in theirfirst thank-you note. It is a shame that gift giving has now become a virtualobligation and the idea of a thank-you note would be laughed at.

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        We seem to have completely lost theconcept of correct timing when it comes to parties these days.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} After all, aparty normally has a guest of honor-this is usually the oldest woman present.It was considered extremely rude in the past to leave a party before the guestof honor-and once the guest of honor left, it was a signal to all that theyshould begin their own preparations to leave.

A. Arriving on Time.

B. Leaving at the Right Time.

C. People leave with various excuses.

D. It enabled people  to get on well with each other.

E. This rule was true even if the giverwas a relative.

F. It could be the lady they weredriving, or a stranger.

G. We've thrown away the concept of aguest of honor at will.

    A Dutch artist and designer has come up with a device which he hopes will get rid of pollutants from Beijing's smog skies, creating clean air for the city's mask-wearing people.

    An electromagnetic field（电磁场） will pullparticles（微粒） in the smog to the ground where they can be easily cleaned.

“It's like when you have a balloon which has static（静电） and your hair goes toward it. Same with the smog,” says artist Daan Roosegaarde.

    His studio has reached an agreement with the Beijing government to test the technology in one of tile capital's parks.

    With its skies regularly covered by dirty gray smog, Beijing this week announced a series of emergency measures to handle the problem.

    Roosegaarde says an indoor model device has already proven it works and is confident that the results — with the help of a team of scientistsand engineers — can be replicated outside.

  “Beijing is quite a good place because the smog in Beijing is quite low. It lies in a valley so there's not so much wind. It's a good environment to explore this kind of thing.”

  “We'll be able to purify the air and the challenge is to get the top of the smog so you can see the sun again.”

    Roosegaarde acknowledges that projects like this are a way of drawing attention to the problem, rather than a practical solution to Beijing's awful air pollution.

  “This is not the real answer for smog. The real answer has to do with clean cars, different industry and different lifestyles.”

    However, he hopes the project will make a “fundamental statement” by allowing the city's people to realize the difference between breathing clean and smog-filled air.

    A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces(熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

    The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

    After the explosion, gravity pulls in what's left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so solid that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

    The more the star shrinks(收缩), the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

    That's what we know about black holes. What we don't know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

    But if the black hole doesn't keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a "white hole" in a different universe. As the black hole swallows(吞噬) light, the white hole shines brightly--somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time--many years in the past or future.

    Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed(挤压). So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

    Black holes are a mystery--but that hasn't stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth's energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste--a sort of huge waste disposal(处理) in the sky!

    An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.

    In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起)the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book" project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.

    In Chicago, the mayor(市长)appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.

    The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致)can be achieved. Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point, putting all their energy and passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.

    Ultimately as Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word.

    Alzheimer's disease is a major national health problem. Nearly 2 million Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer's disease. It is a leading cause of death among the elderly. But Alzheimer's disease is not confined (限于) to the aged. There may be a million or more people under the age of 65 suffering from the disease.

    At one time, people suffering from the disease were said to be "getting old". The disease was thought to be a natural part of growing old, but it is now known that Alzheimer's disease strikes young and old alike. It is an organic (器官的) disease, that destroys brain cells.

    Alzheimer's disease affects the patient's memory, speech, and movement. In the beginning stages of the disease, the patient may seem slightly confused. He may have trouble speaking, and then the patient's memory begins to fail. He may forget dates, numbers, names and plans.

    As the disease progresses, the patient may not recognize family and friends. These symptoms(症状) often cause terrible anxiety in the patient. He may feel lost and frightened. Sometimes the patient reacts with wild and bad behavior.

In the last stages of the disease, the patient may not be able to take care of himself. He may have lost the ability to speak and walk.

    Scientists don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease. It may be caused by a virus (病毒). It may be caused by a poisonous substance(物质) in the environment. At present, there is no cure for the disease. But there are ways to slow its progress. Exercise and physical treatment can help the patients of this disease.

    The world maps will soon be altered to reflect an eighth continent! Dubbed "Zealandia" the landmass that lies east of Australia covers 4.9 million km. Over 94 percent of it is submerged (淹没的) in the southwest Pacific Ocean, with just the islands of New Zealand and New C aledonia visible above sea level.

    To be clear, the underwater land is not a recent find. Researchers have known about its existence since 1995 when Bruce Luyendyk discovered and proposed an eighth continent that he called Zealandia. At the time, the area was dismissed as a collection of islands and land fragments (碎片), or at the most, classified as a micro continent—a landmass of continental crust that is not geologically connected to the nearest continent, in this case, Australia.

    However, after observing the areas features on an underwater topography map, New Zealand geologist Nick became convinced that Zealandia is a continent. Mortimer says that while Zealandia is much smaller than our seven continents, at over half the size of Australia, it is unfair to classify it as a microcontinent. The geologist argues, “If you could pull the plug on the world's oceans, then Zealandia would probably long ago have been recognized as a continent.”

    Geologist Christopher Scotese argues that too much of the landmass is underwater, asserting it's "almost a continent the way Pluto is almost a planet." Richard Ernst, a geologist, proposes coining a new term minicontinent—for Zealandia. He thinks this is perfect given that it is too large to be called a microcontinent and too small to be classified as a full-sized continent. Given that there is no international panel to decide the fate of Zealandia, its future as a continent is uncertain. Mortimer hopes that if supporters start using the term Zealandia, it may eventually catch on. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but for now, we will have to be satisfied with just seven continents!