Jack threw the papers on my desk. “Next time you want to change anything, ask me first,” he said. I had changed a long sentence and corrected its grammar — something I thought I was paid to do.

    Several days later, he made me angry again. I went to his office, prepared to lose my job if need be, but not before I let the man know how I felt. “What?” he said nervously. Suddenly I knew what I had to do. “Jack, the way you've been treating me is wrong. And it's wrong for me to allow it to continue,” I said. “I want to make you a promise. I will be a friend.” The next day I brought some cakes to Jack's office. Every time I saw Jack in the hall, I smiled at him. After all, that's what friends do.

    One year after our talk, I was told that I had breast cancer (乳腺癌). When I was in hospital, my friends tried to find the right words to say, but no one could. The last day of my hospital stay, the door opened and Jack walked over to my bed. “Tulips (郁金香),” he placed some bulbs (球茎) beside me and said, “If you plant them when you get home, you'll be there to see them when they come up.” Tears filled my eyes. In a moment when I prayed for just the right words, a man with few words said the right thing. After all, that's what friends do. Now, I have seen those tulips push through the soil every spring for over ten years.

Question: I have recently got a senior position within my company．One of my new tasks is to make monthly progress reports on my department in front of other senior officials. During my first meeting, I presented and then opened the floor to questions．{#blank#}1{#/blank#} My first reaction was to answer defensively(防卫地;戒备地)．Later, I realized that I shouldn't have felt that way．But how can I keep cool and effectively answer questions in this type of settings?

Answer: Congratulations on your new position! Presenting in front of your peers (同事) is a hard task in itself and it becomes much more difficult when a question-and-answer period is required! Question-and-answer periods are a great way to clarify (使……清楚) the message and strengthen key points．{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

●{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    When a person is asking a question, show interest and a desire to understand the question by listening and asking for clarification.

● Buy time

    When facing a hard question, most people can't give an answer immediately．Buy time by repeating the question in your own words．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} These techniques allow you to quickly organize your thoughts as well as to make sure you will be correctly answering the question.

● Suggest a private meeting.

    A one-to-one meeting is a calmer setting than speaking in front of your peers. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A．Show your true interest.

B．Restate the question with respect.

C．Some ideas can be quite concrete.

D．There were many difficult questions.

E．It can also be more effective in exchanging ideas.

F．You may also ask for clarification on the question.

G．Here are some ideas that can help prepare for your next meeting.

    Kumiko And The Dragon

    Author: Briony Stewart

    Price: $16.95

    Kumiko is a little girl, who likes to listen to her obasaan's stories before going to bed. But she hates sleeping alone at night. She often begs to sleep with her mother but her mother won't hew(坚持)of it. Each day, bedtime is hard for little Kumiko as she walks upstairs with heavy steps and her frightened heart beats wildly.

    Roti Rolled Away

    Author: Anti Utarid   Price: S9. 10

    It takes place in India. Asha of about nine visits her Nard(grandmother)on top of a hill Her Nani has just made hot fresh Rotis and the Roti is given to Asha to eat. However, the Rot escapes Nannis hands and begins to roll out into the great big hills.

    The Alchemist

    Author: Paulo Coeho   Price: $8.83

    This book is about a Spaniard shepherd boy. Santiago has a dream about hidden treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids.

    The Cay

    Author: Theodore Taylor    Price:UK 5.9 pounds

    Set during the Second World War. The Cay is about the adventures of Philip who set off from the island of Curacao off the Venezuelan coast, with his mother, bound for Virginia. First published in 1969, this book has won eleven literary award and has been translated into fifteen.

    Food production does great harm to our environment. There are many procedures involved in the manufacture of food that result in greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Some procedures require the consumption of large amounts of fossil fuels, such as the transportation and storage of food products. Other factors that cause great damage to our environment include the overuse of fresh water.

    The production of beef is more damaging to the environment than that of any other food we consume. Raising large numbers of cattle requires the production of large amounts of food for the animals. It's estimated that producing one pound of beef requires seven pounds of feed.

    Land use is also a problem. If the cattle are free-range cattle, large areas of land are required for them to live on. This has led to disastrous forest cutting and the loss of rare plants and animal species, particularly in tropical rain forests in Central and South America.

    Another problem specific to beef production is methane emissions (甲烷排放). Although many people are aware of the damaging effects of carbon dioxide, they don't realize methane's global warming potential is 25 times worse, making it a more dire problem.

    Unfortunately, beef consumption is growing rapidly. This is the result of simple supply and demand factors. Specifically, there are two main causes of demand that are encouraging the production of more supply. First, the increase in the world population means there are more people to consume meat. The second factor is socioeconomic advancement. As citizens in developing nations become financially stable, they can afford to buy more meat.

    Therefore, one way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions is for people around the world to significantly cut down on the amount of beef they eat.

    Behind most of the bad things we do to our bodies as adults, eating more than we should is the idea we carry with us from childhood. On one hand, we assume that we are indestructible. On the other hand, we think that any damage we impose on ourselves can be undone when wβfinally clean up our act.

    If the evidence for how wrong the first idea is isn't apparent when you stand naked in front of the mirror, just wait. But what if you eat right and drop all your bad habits? Is there still time to repair the damage?

    To a surprising degree, the answer is yes. Over the past five years, scientists have collected a wealth of data about what happens when aging people with bad habits decide to turn their lives around.

    The heartening conclusion: the body has an amazing ability to heal itself, provided the damage is not too great.

    The effects of some bad habits-smoking, in particular-can haunt you for decades. But the damage from other habits can be largely healed.

    “Any time you improve your behavior and make lifestyle changes, they make a difference from that point on.” says Dr. Jeffey Koplan. “Maybe not right away. It's like slamming on the brakes. You do need a certain distance.”

But the distance can be remarkably short. Consider the recent announcements from the front lines of medical research: —A study concluded that women who consume as little as two servings of fish a week cut their risk of suffering a stroke to half that of women who eat less than one serving of fish a month. —The day you quit smoking, the carbon monoxide levels in your body drop dramatically. Within weeks, your blood becomes less sticky and your risk of dying from a heart attack starts to decline ... Adopting healthy habits won't cure all that bothers you, of course. But doctors believe that many chronic diseases-from high blood pressure to heart disease and even some cancers-can be warded off with a few sensible changes in lifestyle.

    Not sure where to start? Surprisingly, it doesn't matter, since one positive change usually leads to another. Make enough changes, and you'll discover you've adopted a new way of life.

    In many developed countries, people who have high degrees begin to work longer than those who don't. About 65% of American men aged 62－74 with a professional degree are in the workforce (劳动人口), compared with 32% of men who only finish high school. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated wealthy and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound (意义深远的).

    The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿) translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift (变化) will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling (渐增的) ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.

    Policies are partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap (获得) rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding (先前的) generation. Technological change may well reinforce (强化) that shift: the skills that complement (补充) computers, from management know-how to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.