The TV shows like “Children are hard tosupport!”, “Where are we going, Dad?”, “hot mom” and “cute kids” are becomingmore and more popular. All of these show the new parents' confusion inchildren's education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.

In real life, on the one hand, the youngparents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their childrenunder the pressures of work and life; on the other hand, they continue to doso. The data collected by HNTV show that nearly two-thirds of their audienceare female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34. We can imagine such a scenethat one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children,while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is justplaying computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the companyof father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In amodern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility for raising achild. The participation of mother in the children's education is also verylow.

    It is just this kind of confusion wherethe parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parentswill guide their children to go that “Where are we going, Dad?” shows us. If achild wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen withindependent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her tofollow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the realreason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that childrenwill go where their parents go, and society will go where the children go.

    Great speakers are not born but made. You too can become a good orator by taking up the public speaking courses. Those who are incapable of speaking in front of the public can't come up in their life. The art of public speaking must be practiced by everybody who wants to reach great heights in their career. A lot of public speaking courses are available on the Internet. Choosing the best course that is right for you may be difficult but not impossible.

    The basic motive of public speaking courses should be to train you to become a public speaker and improve your skills of delivering a public speech. The course should first educate you with the principles of public speaking and tell you how to overcome stress and anxiety. By overcoming fear, you will be able to deliver your presentation clearly to your audience.

    A speaker can have a great influence on the audience with his body language and your public speaking course should tell you the gestures on stage that can attract the audience. Non-verbal communication also has a major role to play in delivering a speech effectively to a group. Though body language is important, the content and the natural use of words are what the audience are closely caring about. Public speaking courses should give tips in using the right words at the right time.

    Even though you have prepared well, the real success of public speaking lies in the way your speech is delivered. Public speaking courses will train you to present the contents in a lively manner impressing the audience. Your presentation should be professional and stylish. You can add humor or interactive sessions (互动环节) to your presentation to gain the audience attraction.

    Riding School:

    You can start horse—riding at any age. Choose private or group lessons any weekday between 9:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.(3:30 p.m. on Saturdays). There are 10 kilometers of tracks and paths for leisurely rides across farmland and open country. You will need a riding hat.

    Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:00 a.m.—8:30 p.m.

    Phone: (412)396—6754  Fax:（412）396—6752

    Sailing Club:

    Our Young Sailor's Course leads to the Stage 1 Sailing qualification. You'll learn how to sail safely and the course also covers sailing theory and first aid. Have fun with other course member, afterwards in the clubroom. There are 10 weekly two-hour lessons(Tuesdays 6:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.).

    Opening Hours: Tuesdays: 6:00 p. m.—8:00 p.m.

    Phone: (412)396—6644 Fax: (412)396—6644

    Diving Centre:

    Our experienced instructors offer one-month courses in deep-sea diving for beginners. There are two evening lessons a week, in which you learn to breathe underwater and use the equipment safely. You only need swimming suits and a towel. Reduced rates for couples.

    Opening Hours: Monday and Friday: 6:30 p.m.—8:30 p m.

    In October, I told the eight-year-olds in the class I teach in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, about my plan. "Since all of you have done extra jobs around the house to earn some money," I said. "Then we'll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise."

    I watched them while they walked up and down the supermarket. "Flowers!" Kristine cried. The group rushed toward the holiday plants.

    "You can't eat flowers."——It was more sensible(明智的) to use any extra money to buy something that could be transformed(转换，转变) into meals.

    "But Mrs. Sherlock," came the begging voice, "we want flowers."

    Defeated finally, I put a pot of "funny" purple(紫色的) mums in the cart full of foods. "She'll like this one," the children agreed.

    An organization had given us the name and address of a needy grandmother who had lived alone for many years. We finally pulled up in front of a small house. A slightly built woman with a weary face came to the door to welcome us.

    My little group ran to get the food. As each box was carried in, the old woman kept on saying "Thanks"—much to her visitors' pleasure. When Amy put the mums on the counter, the woman seemed surprised. She's wishing it was a bag of flour(面粉), I thought.

    We returned to the car. As we fastened our seat belts, we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye, then turned and walked across the room, past the turkey, past the goods, straight to the mums. She put her face in their petal. When she raised her head, there was a smile on her lips. She was transformed before our eyes.

    The children were quiet. At that moment, they had seen for themselves the power they possessed(拥有) to make another's life better. The children had sensed(感到) that sometimes a person needs a bunch of funny purple flowers on a dark November day.

    It had been a long winter. Bitter cold, snowy days had hit us again and again. On the warmer days there had been little sunshine, but only cold, icy rain. The sun had become such a rare sight that I had to look at a picture of it on my wall calendar from time to time to remember what it looked like. The grass had remained brown and dormant（潜伏的）in the grassland. My own backyard had turned into a muddy mess that tried to steal the shoes right off my feet as I walked on it. My heart ached and longed for spring, and my own good cheer had trouble rising up against the continuous, cold, gray days.

    The rain poured down on me as I walked my dogs, holding their leashes in my icy fingers. I looked up at the sky hoping to see the sun smiling down with its warm, golden face. But it was no use. It was then, however, that I saw it. It wasn't the smiling face of the sun in the sky but a little, yellow face peeking（微露出） through the mud. It was a tiny flower, and it filled my heart with hope and joy. I smiled and thanked God for this little sign that winter would soon be over and that spring would arrive. I felt my good cheer rising up at last and I promised God that I would share it with everyone I could.

    One day that tiny flower's seeds will fill the grassland with little, yellow faces smiling up from the ground. Its work will make this world a better and more beautiful place. May we all do the same. May we all shine our light and share our love even on the coldest and grayest days. May we all help to share a bit of spring in winter. May we all work to make this world better and brighter even when it is at its darkest.

    America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while—then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

    Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily, but truly can't manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.

    Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don't show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes,

    For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for pure business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!