Dictionaries are not closed books. There is still plenty of room for more words in these great vocabulary authorities.

    Dictionaries are not closed books. There is still plenty of room for more words in these great vocabulary authorities. New words are continually being created and added to our language. And many of today's word experts can credit a famous mathematician with the creation of the method by which they develop many new words. The mathematician was an Englishman named Charles L. Dodgson. In addition to working with figures, Dodgson wrote books. His imaginative stories and poems have made Dodgson beloved to generations of readers. We know him, however, not by the name of Dodgson but by his pen name, Lewis Carroll.

    Lewis Carroll has delighted countless readers, young and old, with Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and numerous poems. In these works, Carroll developed dozens of nonsensical words such as "chortle" and "galumph". Many of these words are combined naturally with more common words in the English language. Carroll referred to his made-up words as "portmanteau" words, named after a kind of leather suitcase that opens into two compartments. The name was well suited, because most of Carroll's words had two compartments. Rather than being entirely fabricated（虚构）, they were usually made from the combined parts of two different words. A "snark", for example, clearly came from a snake and a shark.

    Although Carroll died long ago, his technique continues to be used today. We clearly see his influence in such words as smog, brunch, and guesstimate.

    Climbing Without Ropes

    The popular image of the mountain climber is of a person carefully climbing a steep cliff with a network of safety ropes, but it is not the only kind. Many climbers now enjoy bouldering. It's more accessible and better for the environment.

    Here is an example of a climber addressing a bouldering problem.

    Figure 1: The climber has two routes she could take, one to the left and one to the right. The left one appears easier because it has a jug within easy reach, but look what happens if she chooses that direction. She gets stuck on the rock and has to go back down. Sometimes that is even more difficult than going up.

    Figure 2: The climber takes the one to the right this time. Using a foothold and placing her right hand in a crimp, she is able to lift herself up and locate other handholds. After only a few moves, she is able to throw her leg over the top of the boulder and pull herself up.

A popular saying goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” However, that's not really true. Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn't matter if the words come from someone else or ourselves — the positive and negative effects are just as lasting.

    We all talk to ourselves sometimes. We're usually too embarrassed to admit it, though. In fact, we really shouldn't be because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves out loud is a healthy habit.

    This “self-talk” helps us motivate ourselves, remember things, solve problems, and calm ourselves down. Be aware, though, that as much as 77% of self-talk tends to be negative. So in order to stay positive, we should only speak words of encouragement to ourselves. We should also be quick to give ourselves a pat on the back. The next time you finish a project, do well in a test, or finally clean your room, join me in saying “Good job!”

    Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have. But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. For example, when returning an item to a store, we might use warm, friendly language during the exchange. And the clerk will probably respond in a similar manner. Or harsh（刻薄的）and critical language will most likely cause the clerk to be defensive.

    Words possess power because of their lasting effect. Many of us regret something we once said. And we remember unkind words said to us! Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves: Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn't pass this test, then it's better left unsaid.

    Words possess power: both positive and negative. Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively. We can offer hope, build self-esteem（自尊）and motivate others to do their best. Negative words destroy all those things. Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours.

    “That one looks just like a sheep! And look over there. That one looks like a horse!” Do you remember lying on your back in a grassy field on a summer afternoon, discovering the soft shapes in the clouds in the sky? Those were the good old days when you could see anything and everything in the clouds.

    But now people look at the sky and see clouds in the shape of a motor company's advertising logo (商标),or a message inviting them to go out and buy a certain brand (品牌) of beer. These cloud pictures are not products of their imaginations. Instead, they are produced by a machine. These new floating advertisements are called Flogos; the name stands for “floating logos.” They' re made from a mixture of soapy foam (泡沫)and a lighter-than-air gas such as helium, and they can be made into different sizes and shapes depending on the advertisement.

    Flogos can last up to an hour if weather conditions are good, and they can fly several kilometers high. Advertisers can rent a Flogo machine for$2,500 a day. The set-up is normally performed within 1 to 2 hours, and it will release four Flogos per minute. Advertisers can fill the air with any shape or message they want.

    Some people are worried that the Flogos might not be pollution-free. However, the Flogo's inventor insists that the soap he uses is natural, and that a Flogo just dissipates in the air, leaving nothing behind. Though it may be true that Flogos are environmentally friendly, some people believe that the natural clouds in our memory may be replaced by man-made ones. They are afraid that soon there will be nowhere left where their imaginations can float freely.

    A day in the life of 18-year-old David Lanster is full of teenage activities: school, baseball practice, homework. And then he starts cooking. "Some nights I'm up until 1 a.m. making pies, or even later if we're cooking beef," said the student at Ransom Everglades High School in Florida, US.

    For the past year, Lanster and Kelly Moran, his classmate, have been hosting fancy dinner parties at Lanster's parents' home. Their meals have 17 courses and are all made by them. Their guests used to give them gifts to thank them, until the pair decided to do something nice for charity. "We got some really great Miami Heat tickets, a nice watch, and many kitchen machines," Lanster said. "But we wanted to make this something positive for people rather than us."

    Lanster and Moran focused on Common Threads, a charity(慈善机构) that helps to teach kids in poor neighborhood to cook and make healthy eating choices. The young cooks ask their guests to give however much they want as payment for their meals. It all goes to Common Threads because Lanster's parents cover their food costs. After their last 12-person event, Lanster and Moran gave $1,600 to the charity. Now, they're taking their show out of the kitchen and on the road. Lanster and Moran have started to organize private dinner parties in a similar way: the host pays for the ingredients(食材), and the guests make a donation (捐赠) to a charity.

    Outside the kitchen, the two are busy preparing their college applications. Neither is sure what they will do in the future, but they've promised their parents that they'll leave cooking alone until they finish high school.

Candy comes in many flavors. Some taste like fruit. Some taste like flowers. Some are chewy, like taffy (太妃糖) and gum. Hard candies are, well. hard! So, they last a long time.

But, in spoken English, there are some types of candy that you cannot eat. For example, you can't eat eye candy. Eye candy is a person-man or woman-who is very good-looking. So, looking at this person is a treat for the eye, just like candy is a treat for the taste buds.

Do you hear of candy coat? Of course it is not a coat made of candy. But you can say I don't candy coat the truth. What does candy-coating something mean? Well, some pills are covered with a coat of thin, sweet candy. The coating makes swallowing the pill easier, and it may hide a bad taste. So, candy coating a difficult truth or situation means you don't directly discuss its bad parts.

After talking about candy you may want to eat some candies. However, some people dislike things that are very sweet, especially adults. But even if you do not like candy, you can still be called a kid in a candy store. This expression means a person is very happy to do something or to simply be somewhere. Imagine a child going from one candy display to the next, not knowing which candy to choose!

Talking about children brings us to another expression: as easy as taking candy from a baby. Think about a small, helpless baby holding a piece of candy. Taking it would be very easy—mean, but easy. So, use this expression when you are talking about something that may be simple to do, but probably not right.