Once Dr. Mellinkoff invited me to join him at the hospital to discuss interesting cases with his students . The case at hand was a Guatemalan man, aged 34, who had a fever and many other medical problems. His condition was not improving, and there was not much hope he would live.

    Dr. Mellinkoff asked to see the patient. He introduced himself in Spanish and, in a very gentle voice, asked how he felt. The patient smiled and said everything was all right. Then the doctor asked if he was able to eat. The patient said that he had no desire to eat.

    “ Are you getting food you like? ”

    The patient said nothing.

    “ Do you get the kind of food you have at home? ”

    The answer was no.

    The doctor put his hand on the man's shoulder and his voice was very soft.

    “If , you had food that you liked , would you eat it? ”

    “Yes , yes. ” the patient said.

    The change in the patient's appearance couldn't have been more obvious. Nothing was said, but it was easy to tell that a message had been sent and had also been received.

    Later, the doctor asked why the Guatemalan man wasn't getting food he could eat. One of the students said, “ We all know how difficult it is to get the kitchen to make special meals. ”

    “ Suppose, ” the doctor replied, “ you felt a certain medicine was absolutely necessary but that our hospital didn't carry it, would you accept defeat or would you insist the hospital meet your request? ”

    “ I would probably insist, ” the student said.

    “ Very well, ” the doctor said. “ You might want to try the same method in the kitchen. It won't be easy, but I can help you. Meanwhile, let's get some food inside this man as fast as possible, and stay with it. Or he'll be killed by hunger. By the way, there must be someone among you who can speak Spanish. If we want to make real progress, we need to be able to talk with him. ”

    Three weeks later, Dr. Mellinkoff told me that the Guatemalan man had left the hospital under his own power. It takes more than medicine to help sick people; you also have to talk to them and make them comfortable.

    Every people uses its own special word to show its ideas and feelings. Some of these expressions（表达，说法） are commonly used for many years. Others are popular for just a short time. One such American expression is “Where's the beef?” It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be. In the early 1980s “Where's the beef?” was one of the most popular expressions in the United States. It seemed as if everyone using it at the time.

    Beef, of course, is the meat from a cow, and food is more popular in America than a hamburger made from beef. In the 1960s a businessman named Ray began building small restaurants that sold hamburgers at a low price. Ray called this “McDonald's”. Ray became one of the richest businessmen at last in America.

    Other business people watched his success. Some of them opened their own hamburger restaurants. One company called “Wendy's” said its hamburgers were bigger than those sold by McDonald's or anyone else. The Wendy's Company began to use the expression “Where's the beef?” to make people know that Wendy's hamburgers were the biggest. The Wendy's television advertisement showed three old women eating hamburgers. The bread that covered the meat was very big, but inside there was only a bit of meat. One of the women said she would not eat a hamburger with such a little piece of beef. “Where's the beef?” she shouted in a funny way. The advertisement for Wendy's hamburger restaurants was success. As we said, it seemed everyone began using the expression “Where's the beef?”.

    My elder cousin Ted liked complaining almost about everything. When he faced a problem, he always chose to complain about it instead of finding a way to solve it. That was not right. Ted was healthy and had received a good education. He should and could find a good job and work hard to feed himself, but he just complained all day, drifting from one job to another. One day, I read about a farmer called Chris and told Ted about the farmer.

    Chris works hard, performs many jobs around the farm. But Chris is not exactly like other farmers. What makes him different is that he was born without arms or legs. But this has not stopped him from working hard and getting things done.

    Now, you may ask, is this possible? Like many other amazing people who have no arms or legs, Chris does not focus on what he can't do, but rather on what he can do. And he can do a lot! He drives farm vehicles and looks after crops. Once you see Chris in action, you will think there is nothing he could not do.

    Chris is a great example of a person who is making the most of his gifts. His positive attitude and courage make him a true inspiration.

    After I told Ted about Chris, he became silent. Compared with Chris, Ted was much luckier. Then luckily, I saw Ted's change.

    Do you like complaining? If you do, think about Chris. Such a man chooses to stay positive. Why don't we?

    To help you travel well in Argentina, we've put together some exciting activities, courses and tours that you can add to your schedule. These are not only designed to be fun, but also to enable you to learn and expand your personal and professional development.

    Walking Tour of La Boca

    The 5-hour tour, moderate（适度的）walking, departs at 11 am in Monserrat and finishes at 4:30 pm, Tuesdays and Fridays.

    Price: £15 per person

    Tour the beautiful cobble stone（鹅卵石）streets of Le Boca, the heart of Buenos Aires and the birth place of Tango. This fascinating walking tour is a must if you want to explore the rich history of Buenos Aires.

    Photography Courses

    6 hours of lessons per week

    Price: £295 for two weeks

    Study photography with an experienced private tutor who will tailor your lessons to your individual needs. Classes include practical teaching, analysis of your work, theory and history and regular opportunities to explore the city by yourself to photograph landscapes of the city.

    Graffiti Tour of Buenos Aires

    The 3-hour tour departs at 3 pm in Colegiales and finishes at 6 pm in Palermo, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays.

    Price: £35 per person

    Experience the world of urban art through this wonderful tour of Buenos Aires. You can travel both on foot and by air-conditioned minibus. The tour finishes in Post Bar in Palermo, home to the unique street art gallery Hollywood and Cambodia.

    Spanish Courses

    1-Week Intensive Course with private lessons, before starting your Main Project

    Price: £590 per week

    Weekly Lessons: 10 hours of lessons per week running concurrent with your Main Project

    Price: £195 per week

    Use your time in Argentina to learn Spanish. You can either do a 1 -week intensive course or take lessons at the same time as doing your main project.

    If you want to become a fluent English speaker you should take some advice. There are four skills in learning English. They are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills, you should first master the skills of reading and listening.

    Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentence, the meaning of the unfamiliar（不熟悉） words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammars or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come across, but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example, in other passages or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it.

    As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practice listening.

    For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children. Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programs every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.

    If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve quickly, and you can be a fluent English speaker one day.

    Everyone knows about New York City's most popular attractions, but here are some activities you might not think about doing on your NYC( New York City) vacation. Surprise yourself with some great things to do in New York City.

    Looking for something thrilling to do while you visit New York City? For over ten years, Trapeze school New York has been teaching people how to fly on the trapeze. Their beginner classes last two hours and cost $50-70, plus one-time $22 registration fee. From April to October, their outdoor location on the Hudson River offers a spectacular setting for the experience, but they also have an indoor location that is open year-round.

    Learn to Surf

    Rockaway Beach is a popular destination for East Coast surfers, but even if you've never surfed, there are plenty of folks happy to teach you at Rockaway Beach. Locals Surf School offers two-hour group lessons starting at $80, including all the vehicles you need. Frank from Rockaway Beach also offers surfing lessons.

    Get Kissed by a Sea Lion

    Sign up for a Sea Lion Encounter at the New York Aquarium, and you'll have the chance to get to get up close and personal with the Sea Lions after the show. After a short orientation, participants will each get a chance to pose for a photo and get a kiss from a sea lion. Sea Lion Encounters cost $20 and are offered after Sea Lion Celebration shows. Participants must be at least 5 years old, and those who're 5-7 years old must be held by their parents/caregivers during any animal interaction (互动).

    Experience Fall Leaves

    Although New York City doesn't have as many colorful leaves as New England, there are still some great ways to enjoy the changing leaves during a fall visit to New York City, both in the city and beyond. Whether you want to walk around one of New York City's great parks or take a fall leaves sightseeing cruise up the Hudson River, you can get a taste of the beautiful fall colors when you visit New York City.

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