In ancient Egypt, a shopkeeper discovered that he could attract customers to his shop simply by making changes to its environment . Modern businesses have been following his lead, with more tactics（策略）.

One tactic involves where to display the goods. For example, stores place fruits and vegetables in the first section. They know that customers who buy the healthy food first will feel happy so that they will buy more junk food later in their trip. In department stores, section is generally next to the women's cosmetics(化妆品) section：while the shop assistant is going back to find the right size shoe, bored customers are likely to wander over cosmetics they might want to try later.

Besides, businesses seek to appeal to customers' senses. Stores notice that the smell of baked goods encourages shopping, they make their own bread each morning and then fan the bread smell into the store throughout the day. Music sells goods, too. Researchers in Britain found that when French music was played, sales of French wine went up.

       When it comes to the selling of houses, businesses also use highly rewarding tactics. They find that customers make decision in the first few second upon walking in the door, and turn it into a business opportunity. A California builder designed the structure of its houses smartly. When entering the house, the customer would see the Pacific Ocean through the windows, and then the poll through an open stairway leading to the lower level. The instant view of water on both levels helped sell these $10 million houses.

    Dust on furniture may be bad news for waistlines (腰围). But it's far too early to add dusting to a weight-loss plan. Dietary fats and other materials that make up indoor dust can send a signal to human fat cells, telling them to grow. That process, in turn, might slow the body's rate of burning energy. Such changes could add to any weight problems a person might have.

    “We don't know what that means to long-term health and certain diseases yet,” says Heather Stapleton, one of the study's authors. But she notes that her team's findings also raise a question of whether pollutants in dust might play some role in the growing, global problem of obesity (肥胖).

    Stapleton and her colleagues collected dust from homes and offices. Studies found that some materials in the dust could turn on a protein (蛋白质) called PPAR-gamma 1. It's found in many human tissues. Turning this protein on can cause fat cells to grow. Researchers think this protein may be involved in obesity. But a second study now finds evidence that certain fats are mostly to blame. Cooking oils may send out some of these fats into the air, where they eventually find their way into house dust. Or, the authors say, the fats might enter house dust as part of the hair or skin cells shed (脱落) by people or pets.

    “While the findings are amazing,” says Mitchell Lazar, another study author, “these findings need to be taken as very limited.” Indeed, he adds several cautions about how the findings should be understood. “For one thing, people eat these fats in foods all of the time. That is likely to be a lot more than would be consumed from indoor dust,” he said.

    Recently I read the Human Development Report. I couldn't help thinking about another problem which the world is facing--hunger. According to the report, 2,400 people are dying from hunger every day; nearly 13 million in southern Africa will be worried about their food supply because of earthquakes, floods or wars.

    In a word, hunger remains the biggest problem of the world today. It's strange to see that man can travel to the moon, but still doesn't know how to feed himself. You may ask, “Who steals our bread? The first thieves should be population growth, poverty and loss of rich farmland.

    In less developed areas like South Africa, the population grows faster than the crops. It is almost impossible for its government to feed so many people and provide education for them. So it is very important to control the population growth and protect their farmland in countries whose people are suffering from hunger.

    According to the report, the world's food production is enough to feed everyone if it is given away well. But the problem is that the developed countries are eating food that should be given to the poor. Although they are just using their own earning, the fact is that they are coldly watching others starving away.

    Luckily, some developed countries such as Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have done a lot to help those hungry people in African countries. We hope other developed countries will follow them.

    Antarctica, with its seemingly endless icy beauty, is one place where one look is worth a thousand words. My own dream to see it came true last January when I joined the sixth exploration crew(考查队) of the China National Marine Bureau. We spent 10 days connecting flights to reach our goal, but finally arrived at the Great Wall Station on Antarctica on the eve of Chinese New Year.

    There are only two seasons in Antarctica: winter and summer. You get polar nights in winter and polar days in summer. Day is longer than night in summer, and the temperature often reaches below zero. Luckily, there are no snowstorms in summer, which makes it the best season to travel. What I imagined before starting for Antarctica was a world of ice, storms, endless cold and loneliness. When I stopped on Antarctica for the first time, however, I saw rich, energetic and beautiful scenery that was beyond anything I had imagined.

    We only spent 11 days at the South Pole, but every minute was spent taking pictures and losing our heart to the wonderland. Beauty enveloped us as we watched the world around us. The mountains, oceans, ice, snow, sky, earth and people all seemed to have their own stories.

    Rocks from Antarctica are considered valuable. Unfortunately, I didn't bring one back. However, my heavy bags full of films are certainly worth that. It is in these pictures that the true Antarctica comes alive.

    My summer hols wr CWOT. B4, WE USED 2go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ KIDS FTF. ILNY, its gr8.

    Can you understand this sentence? If you can't, don't feel too bad: neither could the middle school teacher in England who received this as homework. This is Netspeak: the language of computerized communication found on the Internet or cellphones. To newcomers, it can look like a completely foreign language.

    School teachers and parents say this new form of writing is harming (破坏) the English language. Increasing spelling and grammatical mistakes can be seen in students' writing. They fear the language could become corrupted (面目全非的).

    Everyone should just relax, say linguists (语言学家). They believe Netspeak is in fact more of a good thing. David Crystal, from the University of Wales, argues that Netspeak and Internet create a new language use and the almost lost art of diary writing has been picked up again. Geoffrey Nurnberg, from Stanford University, agrees. “People get better at writing by writing,” he says. “Kids who are now doing text messaging, e-mail, and instant messages will write at least as well as, and possibly better than, their parents.”

    Linguist James Milroy says, for centuries, it is believed without exception that young people are harming the language. And when today's teenagers become tomorrow's parents, they too will think this way. Milroy argues that languages do not and cannot become “corrupted”; they simply change to meet the new needs.

    However, Netspeakers do agree that it is important to teach young people how to speak and write Standard English. Cynthia McVey says, “I can understand Netspeak worries teachers and it's important that they tell their pupils that text messaging is for fun, but that learning to write proper English is a must for their future.”

    In recent years, China has witnessed the growth of luxury (奢侈品) brands. In this market, Chinese consumers are now the largest spenders. It's clear that a new generation of young, materialistic people is increasingly relying on luxury brands to improve its self-image.

I am a fashionist too, at least in spirit—I love to look at clothes and shoes. But I don't understand why people spend lots of money on designer labels.

    When a young woman buys a handbag that costs two months of her salary, that's a scary thing.

    What's interesting is that scientists have found that having luxury things doesn't lead to happiness.

    Study after study has shown that although we want material things, when we get them we don't suddenly become "happy" people. In fact, a series of studies by Leaf Van Boven at the University of Colorado, US, has shown that individuals who spend money on travel and similar experiences get more pleasure than those who invest it in material things. That's because experiences are more easily combined with a person's identity. If I travel to Yunnan, that adventure affects how I think in the future. My memories become a part of me.

    Moreover, as Van Boven has observed, young people who pursue happiness through "things" are liked less by their peers. People prefer those who pursue happiness through experiences.

    It's natural to want to express yourself through your appearance. So my advice is: create a look that isn't tied to a designer label. Convey your own message. Take some lessons from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He was always in Levis jeans and a black turtleneck. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, routinely appears in hoodies and sneakers. These people, successful people, have style. You don't have to break the bank to send a message about who you are.

    Take a trip. Go out into the world. Then come back and confidently create your own signature look.