You are the collector in the gallery of your life. You collect. You might not mean to but you do. One out of three people collects tangible things such as cats, photos and noisy toys.

    These are among some 40 collections that are being shown at “The Museum Of”—the first of several new museums which, over the next two years, will exhibit the objects accumulated（积累）by unknown collectors. In doing so, they will promote（推动）a popular culture of museums, not what museums normally represent(代表).

    Some of the collections are fairly common—records, model houses. Others are strangely beautiful—branches that have fallen from tree, for example. But they all reveal （显露）a lot of things: ask someone what they collect and their answers will tell you who they are.

    Others on the way include “The museum of Collectors” and “The Museum of Me.” These new ones, it is hoped, will build on the success of “The Museum Of.” The thinkers behind the project want to explore why people collect, and what it means to do so. They hope that visitors who may not have considered themselves collectors will begin to see they, too, collect.

    Some collectors say they started or stopped making collections at important points: the beginning or end of adolescence ( 青春期 )—“it's a growing-up thing; you stop when you grow up,” says one. Other painful times are mentioned, such as the end of a relationship.

    If you want to convince the boss you deserve a pay rise or promotion, the solution could be simple—eat the same food as they do. Psychologists have discovered managers are much more likely to instantly trust us if we choose the same dishes as them.

    During experiments, discussions over wages and work conditions were much more successful if both sides chose to snack on the same treats. And shoppers were much more likely to buy a product advertised on TV by someone eating a similar food to them at the time.

    The reason is thought to be so-called similarity attraction theory — where people tend to like others who have similar tastes or habits to themselves. But this is believed to be one of the first studies highlighting the role of food in this relationship. Researchers at Chicago University in the US conducted a series of experiments to examine food's role in earning trust.

    In a test, participants were told to watch TV — where someone pretending to be a member of the public praised a certain product. The volunteers were given Kit Kat(巧克力) bars to nibble（轻咬）, while the TV people ate either a Kit Kat or grapes as they talked.

    The results showed viewers were much more likely to express an interest in buying the product if the TV showed the other person eating a Kit Kat too.

    The researchers added, ―Although similarity in food consumption is not a sign of whether two people will get along, we find consumers treat this as such. They feel more trusting of those who consume as they do. It means people can immediately begin to feel friendship and develop a bond, leading to smoother transactions from the start.

    Harley Street psychologist Dr Lucy Atcheson said it was already known that wearing similar clothes could instantly create trust. But this was the first report that food had the same effect. She said, This is really interesting. It makes sense as people feel they have common ground and can trust the other person. That means negotiations are more likely to be successful.

    Long ago，poems were recited out loud instead of being written down. Back when the Greeks first started the Olympics, they held poetry contests as well as athletic competitions.

    Now，poetry competitions have been revived (恢复). This year 120,000 high school students competed in the first Poetry Out Loud national recitation contest，performing poems from memory for $100,000 in prizes.

    The first competitions were held in classrooms. The winners went on to school－wide contests, and then they competed in city and state competitions. Finally, the 50 state champions，along with the District of Columbia champion came to Washington D．C．last week for the last showdown. After the 51 champions competed against one another, 12 went on to the finals. Then the field was narrowed to five. The final five had one last chance to “perform” a poem. The overall champ, Jackson Hille, a high school senior from Ohio, won a $20,000 scholarship.

    The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation started Poetry Out Loud, because they realized that bearing a poem performed is a different experience from reading it on a page.

    It's not just a matter of saying the words in the right order. It's the tone of voice, the pauses, the gestures and the attitude of the person performing that bring the words to life. “Each time we hear somebody recite a poem, we understand again what we found fresh and interesting about it，” said National Public Radio Broadcaster Scott Simon, master of ceremonies for the finals. Hearing it in a new voice offers something new to the listener.

    Not only do the people hearing poems have a new experience, but memorizing and presenting poems helps the participants (选手) understand those poems in a new way. Another benefit of a competition such as Poetry Out Loud is that the participants learn public－speaking skills that can help them for life.

    No poem should ever be discussed or "analyzed", until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end, so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it.

    All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling 'interpretation' of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on film, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching cannot replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting it.

    I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than "analyzing" it, if there isn't time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is "a criticism of life", "a heightening of life, enjoyment with others". It is "an approach to the truth of feeling", and it "can save your life". It also deserves a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies.

    I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don't like it should not be forced to put that dislike on anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.

    If Confucius(孔子) were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He'd need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.

    While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It's nothing personal. Most Americans don't even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

    But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

    In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.

    So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well.

    Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

    As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

    Naturalist John Muir called the Marin County woods named for him "the best tree-lover's monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world."

    Located only 11 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco, California, USA. Muir Woods puts some of nature's most huge creations within reach of little feet, hands, and imaginations.

    "Muir Woods is home to a small forest of redwood trees that reach to the sky," says David Shaw of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. "Redwoods grow taller than any other tree species in the world. The average age of the redwoods here ranges from 400 to 800 years old and many ancient specimens have been around for more than a thousand years."

    William Kent, the man who donated the 295 acres to create the Muir monument, grew up in Marin and played in similar redwood forests. That childhood experience inspired him to save the redwoods as an adult.

    "Young people can learn about young William Kent when they visit here," says ranger(护林员) Timothy Jordan. "Kent's early connection with nature developed his love of the outdoors. As an adult, he witnessed the destruction of many Bay Area redwood forests. This, with the writings of John Muir, inspired Kent's conservationism."

    Walking (and playing)in, on, and around the redwoods will help kids understand why young Kent was so fascinated(深深吸引) by the trees. Ranger Jordan encourages children to lie down and look up at the treetops, hug a redwood tree, and start a nature journal like John Muir.

    "Have kids find a redwood spray(小树枝)the same age as them, count the rings in trees, and sit inside of a hollow redwood tree on Fern Creek." he advises.

    After all the interaction, the kids just may be ready to rest. Take this time to "be quiet and listen to the sounds of the forest," says Shaw. "Encourage kids to think about how these trees have stood quietly through year after year of rain, sun, and sometimes even snow."