Most of us have lost our wallet at some stage in our lives. But few would imagine having it returned after 66 years. Edward Parker dropped his wallet in 1950 into an inaccessible spot behind a bookshelf, while working as an electrician, repairing World War Two bomb damage in the palace. The wallet stayed there until this year when a builder, doing some restoration work, finally found it.

    The wallet is a time capsule. Its leather and webbing has long ago started to disintegrate. But it contains numerous pictures of family, invoices, receipts, old union cards, results of a chest X-ray (sent to him in 1948, the same year as the NHS was founded), a national service card dated 9 December 1944 and a medical insurance card. His business cards—E Parker, Electrical Contractor—seem almost original. Reflecting the typical methods of contact of the time, they have an address but no telephone number.

    A month ago I was speaking to a press officer Lambeth Palace and he mentioned that the wallet had just been handed in. We thought it might be nice to try and work out whose it was and give it back to the family. Edward Parker is a pretty common name, but his medical card contained two places of residence—Poets Road and Springdale Road in north London. From this, Islington Council were able to find details of a marriage between Edward Parker and Constance Butler in 1947.

    That information was enough to work out that he was still alive and in a care home in Essex, so I went to visit him. Now 89, Edward has dementia (痴呆), but he was clearly happy to get the wallet and in particular, the photographs back. He pointed out pictures of his mother and father, his brother, his cousins and his wife Constance, who was with him when I visited. He hadn't seen a picture of his father since he lost the wallet, Constance, 90, said.

    Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can't make us tire. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

    So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?

    Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England's most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”

What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated—those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

Editor: Today our topic is part-time job. Are they good for school children or not?

Headmaster: Certainly not. Children have got two full-time jobs already: growing up and going to school. Part-time jobs make them so tired that they fall asleep in class.

Mrs. White: I agree. I know school hours are short, but there's homework as well, and children need a lot of sleep.

Mr. White: Young children, perhaps some boys, stay at school until they're eighteen or nineteen. A part-time job can't harm them. In fact, it's good for them. They earn their pocket money instead of asking their parents for it. And they see something of the world outside school.

Businessman: You're quite right. Boys learn a lot from a part-time job. And we mustn't forget that some families need the extra money. If the pupils didn't take part-time jobs, they couldn't stay at school.

Editor: Well, we have got two for, and two against. What do our readers think?

    English is an excellent language to learn, whether it's for business, travel or personal reasons. Here are some important ways to improve your spoken English.

    When you have time to speak, just try your best to practice. Don't wait until you “feel more comfortable” speaking in English, so start speaking English today. You'll be surprised at how quickly your language skills improve. Find a native English speaker who is willing to spend some time speaking English with you—you may be able to offer them a language exchange, where they spend 30 minutes speaking English with you and you spend 30 minutes speaking your native language with them.

    Even if you have a good knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary, native English speakers may find it's very difficult to understand if you don't work on your pronunciation. Correct , clear pronunciation is necessary if you really want to improve your English. Listen closely to how native English speakers pronounce certain words and sounds and do your best to copy them.

    The wider your vocabulary and the more English phrases you learn, the easier speaking English will become. Once you have learned a new word or phrase, you should make an effort to use it in a sentence—this is the best way to keep it in mind. You should also start a notebook of phrases that English speakers use all the time.

    Another great way to add some more English conversation into your weekly practice is to sign up for a class of discussion group. Attending an English class is a great way to pay attention to some of the more formal aspects of speaking English. A class will teach you the correct way of speaking. Attending a discussion group is a more informal and relaxed way of learning English, where the emphasis(重点) is more on communication and relationship building than on speaking “correct” English.

    Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.

    A study published in Blood Pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason this happens is because the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart, crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate. You won't feel any immediate effects, but sitting for long periods of time will hurt you forever.

    Crossing your legs can also lead to neck and back pain. Ideally, it's best for our bodies to sit with our feet planted flat, hip width apart, on the floor, but it's not easy to maintain perfect posture all day at the office. When you sit with your legs crossed your hips are in a twisted position, which can cause one of your pelvic bones(骨盆) to rotate. Since your pelvic bone supports your neck and spine（脊椎）, this can cause pressure on your lower and middle back and neck.

    You also might notice that when you sit with your legs crossed for long periods of time your feet and legs get painful or have the feeling of being asleep. This is because when one leg sits on top of the other it causes pressure on the veins（静脉） and nerves in your legs and feet. It can cause numbness and/or temporary paralysis in the legs, ankles, or feet. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your legs until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.

    So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.

    The welcoming library contains a wide range of up-to-date resources to support the learning and teaching needs of pupils and staff as well as their reading interests, encouraging students to become independent life-long learners.

    Staff

    Librarian: Mrs. Page

    Library Assistant: Mrs. Duncan

    Opening Hours

    8:30 am – 4:15 pm

    The library is open throughout intervals and lunchtime.

    Resources

    The stock of about 8,000 items includes a wide selection of fiction to attract pupils of all ages and abilities. The non-fiction section contains items to help with homework and research, as well as plenty of books for general interest on a wide number of subjects. To help with revision, the library stocks past papers and revision guides covering all school subjects, as well as books containing guidance on how to study well. Local newspapers can be found here, as well as magazines on a range of topics. The Careers section is kept up to date with information to show pupils a huge collection of options open to them. A number of computers with Internet access are also available for pupil use.

Borrowing

    S1 – S3 pupils may borrow 2 items for up to 4 weeks.

    S4 – S6 pupils may borrow 6 items for up to 4 weeks.

    There are no fines for overdue(过期的) items but failure to return an item will result in a request for payment for a replacement.

    Pupils are reminded about overdue items via their teacher on a weekly basis. After 3 reminders a letter will be sent home and a second letter will be sent home after a further 4 weeks.

    Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Page if you wish to discuss any matters arising from pupil use of the library.