Salt plays an important role in our daily diet. Even a small reduction(减少) in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart. A new study used a computer model to predict -how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States.

    The result: Thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. Eight percent fewer strokes（中风）. Four percent fewer deaths. Eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And two hundred forty billion dollars in health care savings. Researchers found it could prevent one hundred thousand heart attacks and ninety-two thousand deaths every year．

    The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California San Francisco was the lead author. She says people would not even notice a difference in taste with three grams, or one-half teaspoon, less salt per day. The team also included researchers at Stanford and Columbia University.

    Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodiu(钠), which is how foods may list their salt content．

    The government says the average American man eats ten grams of salt a day. The American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people. It says salt in the American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also risen. Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure.

    New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt Reduction Initiative. The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants. Critics call it government interference(干预).

    Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food places in the city to list calorie information. Now a study by the Seattle Children's Research Institute shows that the calorie information on the menu can influence what parents order for their children. Ninety-nine parents of three to six year olds took part. Half had calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves. McDonald's menus clearly showing how many calories were in each food. Parents given the counts chose an average of one hundred two fewer calories when asked what they would order for their children. Yet there was no difference in calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves.

    Study leader Pooja Tandon says even small calorie reductions on a regular basis can prevent weight gain over time. The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.

B

    Asking for salary history provides an easy way to sort applicants into an employer's desired price range and helps the employer calculate the lowest offer that will still attract a candidate. But an increasing number of U.S. states and cities agree there ought to be a law against it. Massachusetts, Philadelphia, New York City and Puerto Rico have banned salary history questions on applications and in interviews.

    Why? Because when it comes to a candidate's suitability for a job, salary history is a subjective (主观的) and often misleading indicator — and it may most affect ＂the people who have already been illegally treated,＂ says Katie Donovan, a salary negotiation coach and one of the authors of the Massachusetts law.

    Candidates who start their careers underpaid because of the gender (性别) or race wage gap, a bad economy or a cheap boss finds that this lowball (虚报低价) figure continues to weigh them down throughout their career. At the same time, senior victims of layoffs have difficulty being hired because employers assume they're not interested in senior victims.

    In an interview, you can avoid talking about salary history questions by turning the discussion to what you're looking to make.

    Donovan recommends a method similar to what you're already doing: Enter $0.00, or some other number that is clearly intended not to cheat, but to oppose.

    Of course, there's always a risk doing so because it will cost you opportunities. But Ronda Wakefield, owner of NW MT HR Solutions, says that when she receives an application with an obviously false salary history, she'll still follow up if the candidate interests her. ＂I personally don't want to miss out on a great candidate because they didn't want to answer the question directly,＂ she says.

    Homestay provides English language students the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home.

    What to Expect

    The host will provide accommodation and meals. Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week. You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health.

    Accommodation Zones

    Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones 2, 3 and 4 of the transport system. Most hosts do not live in the town center as much of central London is commercial and not residential. Zones 3 and 4 often offer larger accommodation in a less crowded area. It is very convenient to travel in London by underground.

Meal Plans Available

*Continental Breakfast

*Breakfast and Dinner

*Breakfast Packed Lunch and Dinner

    It's important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast. Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal, bread and tea or coffee. Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England. Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by dessert, fruit and coffee.

Friends

    If you wish to invite a friend over to visit, you must first ask your host's permission. You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion(侵犯) of their privacy.

    Self Catering Accommodation in Private Homes

    Accommodation on a room-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities (设施) and often a main living room. This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long-stay student. However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practice English at home quite as much.

    Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush.Through her own efforts,her letter was reproduced（复制）on over 250 donated billboards（广告牌）across the country.

    The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment(Kids F.A.C.E.) in 1989. There are now 300,000 members of Kids FACE worldwide and is the world's largest youth environmental organization.

    Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a "Children's Forest" project in every national park. In 1992, she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program. In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.

    Since the organization started, Kids F.A.C.E.members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees! Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid's Yards—the creation of backyard wildlife habitats and now Kids F.A.C.E.is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping.

    "Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment. Club members started doing things like recycling, picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club."

    "We try to tell kids that it's not OK to be lazy," she explains. "You need to start being a responsible, environmentally friendly person now, right away, before you become a resource-sucking adult."

    There aren't many actors around the world who have enough self confidence to turn down an offer from Steven Spielberg. Maybe that was why Juliette Binoche gave him a choice. She said she'd be happy to be in Jurassic Park as long as she could play a dinosaur. Of course he turned her down and it was probably a good thing. It's difficult to imagine Juliette ripping people apart with her teeth. However, her decision doesn't seem to have done her career any harm. She has gone on to make a string of hits, including The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The English Patient (for which she won an Oscar) and Chocolat.

    Success in the United States has not been so easy for other foreign stars. Gerald Depardieu is a good example. Since his first film in 1967, his filmography (影片集锦) lists 172 acting credits. But he has struggled on the other side of the pond. While some of his films have been popular in the US, they have usually been French films that travelled. One possible exception was Green Card, directed by Peter Weir, where he plays a French immigrant who goes through a fake wedding in order to stay and work in the United States. This is a predictable but sweet romantic comedy which typecasts (分配同一类型角色) its lead actors in terms of national stereotypes. While some reviewers were kind, others shredded both the film and Depardieu's performance.

    While Monsieur Depardieu hasn't received the recognition he would have liked in the United States, one Mexican actor has achieved almost instant success. Gael Garcia Bernal first gained recognition in Amores Perros in 2000 and a year later in Y tu mama tambien. Since then he has appeared with hometown hero, Brad Pitt in Babel and, under the direction of top producer and director, Jim Jarmusch, he starred in Limits of Control. He hasn't picked up an Oscar yet, but he was nominated for a BAFTA (英国电影电视艺术学院奖) in 2005 for his performance as the South American hero revolutionary Che Guevara, in Motorcycle Diaries. In the same year he played American music icon Elvis Presley in The King.

    Jimmy is an automotive mechanic (汽修工), but he lost his job a few months ago. He has good heart, but always feared applying for a new job.

    One day, he gathered up all his strength and decided to attend a job interview. His appointment was at 10 am and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus to the office where he was supposed to be interviewed, he saw an elderly man wildly kicking the tyre of his car. Obviously there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy immediately went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished working on the car, the old man asked him how much he should pay for the service. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him; he just helped someone in need, and he had to rush for an interview. Then the old man said, “Well, I could take you to the office for your interview. It's the least I could do. Please. I insist.” Jimmy agreed.

    Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of applications waiting to be interviewed. Jimmy still had some grease (润滑油) on him after the car repair, but he did not have much time to wash it off or have a change of shirt. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer's office with disappointed look on their faces. Finally his name was called. The interviewer was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. Rocking the chair back and forth, he asked, “Do you really need to be interviewed?” Jimmy's heart sank.“ With the way I look now, how could I possibly pass this interview?” he thought to himself.

    Then the interviewer turned the chair and to Jimmy's surprise, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning. It turned out he was the General Manager of the company.

    “Sorry I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce before you even stepped into the office. I just know you'd be a trustworthy worker. Congratulations!” Jimmy sat down and they shared a cup of well-deserved coffee as he landed himself a new job.