Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Maybe that is why there are so many expressions that use the word cold. For centuries, the body's blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, for example, are said to be cold –blooded. Cold –blooded people act in merciless ways. They may do cruel things to others, and not by accident. For example, a newspaper says the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. The killer murdered someone, not in self-defense. He seemed to kill with no emotion.

    Cold can affect other parts of the body, the feet, for example. Heavy socks can warm your feet, if your feet are really cold. But there is an expression—to get cold feet –that has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you had decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have given up the position. All the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.

    Cold can also affect your shoulder. You give someone the cold shoulder when you refuse to speak to them. You treat them in a distant, cold way. The expression probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face-to-face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you. Or, to someone who has lied about you to others.

    A cold fish is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone.

    Out in the cold is an expression often heard. It means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise. He was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.

In the latest beauty craze(狂热)sweeping social media in China，women--and even some men--are boasting that they are paper thin，by posting photographs of their waists behind a vertical(垂直)piece of A4 paper．To qualify，the waist must be entirely hidden by the paper．A piece of A4 paper is 8.3 by ll.7 inches，roughly the size of a sheet of American letter paper．

    With the A4 Waist，the trend is attracting hundreds of photographs and thousands of comments on Weibo and other social media networks like Weixin or WeChat．Being abnormally thin is a widespread standard of beauty for women，one that has been criticized as an unhealthy ideal of female attractiveness．

    The tiny waist has a long tradition in China，going back at least to King Ling of Chu，who ruled from 540 to 529 B．C．Many in China know the passage from the Book of Han，the history of the Western Han Dynasty：“The King of Chu loved a narrow waist．Many people at court starved to death．

    Several commentators have found the A4 trend disturbing．In a telephone interview，He Xiaobin，senior fashion features editor at the Chinese edition of GQ magazine，said，“I find it completely stupid．Everybody has a different frame and body shape．Using a single size to define all human beings and thinking you have created a new standard is foolish．''The A4 waist challenge annoyed him，saying that it allows certain people to gain bragging rights，while leaving others in depression．

    Luckily，some who do not qualify are turning to humor for comfort．Can they substitute a different paper size，such as A3，which is 11.7 inches across Or measure a body part besides the waist?

    Easter Island's large and mysterious stone statues（雕像） have made it world famous. These statues, whose likenesses look like humans with huge stone cylinders(柱状物) balancing on their heads like hats, have tourists coming from all over the world. The tourists come to see these works of ancient art carved by the early inhabitants of the island. They come to see the mystery that has puzzled historians for decades.

    Easter Island is located in a remote part of the South Pacific Ocean about 2,300 miles west of Chile. Easter Island covers just 45 square miles and its Polynesian name is Rapa Nui.

    On Easter Sunday 1722, a Dutch explorer named Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to see Easter Island. The early Polynesians carved the statues within the holes of the volcano using only stone tools. Then they moved these huge statues to various destinations throughout the island. These 600 statues range in height from 10 to 40 feet. Some of them weigh as much as 50 tons. How could the early Polynesians lift hundreds of heavy statues out of the volcano? How did they move them across the island to their various locations? All of these questions, as well as many others, remain unanswered.

    The early islanders probably worshiped(崇拜) these eyeless giants until sometime around 1670. In 1680, a war broke out between two groups of islanders. The victors of the war and ancestors of the present inhabitants, broke down many of the statues. In most cases, they broke the necks of the statues.

    Now 15 of the statues on Easter Island have been repaired to their original positions on their stone platforms. Even today, using modern tools and machinery, putting up such large statues and balancing cylinders on top of their heads presents a challenging task.

    One of the problems with passwords (密码) is that users forget them. In an effort to remember them, people use simple things like their dog's names and their birth dates — anything that will give them a clue to remember what their passwords are. But for a hacker(黑客), this is the same as locking your door and leaving the key under the doormat(门口地垫).

    To create a safe password that is easy to remember, follow these simple steps:

    You should never use personal information as part of your password. It is very easy for someone to guess things like your last name and your pet's name.

    With the help of today's computing power, it doesn't take long to try every word in the dictionary and find your password, so you'd better not use real words for your password.

    You can make a password much safer by mixing different types of characters. Use some capital letters along with small letters, numbers and even special characters such as & and %.

    In order not to create a password using different character types that is hard to remember or using a word from the dictionary, you can use a "passphrase(代码)". Think of a sentence from a song or a poem that you like and create a password using the first letters from each word. For example, instead of just setting a password like "yr$1Hes", you can take a sentence such as "I like to read the about.com Internet network security website" and make it a password like "il2rta!nsw" by using the number "2" for the word "to" and using "!" in place of "Internet". You can use many characters types and create a safe password that is hard to guess, but much easier for you to remember.

    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?

Traveling Tips

    No Smoking

    Federal and State Government Regulations do not allow you to smoke on board express coaches within Australia.

    Luggage Allowance

    As a fare paying customer you are entitled to take 2 pieces of personal luggage. Each must not exceed 75 cm in length, or weigh more than 20kg.

    Excess luggage will be carried at the company's excess luggage rate and depending on space availability may be required to be carried on another coach.

    Luggage Tips

    1) Keep your valuables with you. Money, jewellery, valuable documents, credit cards, keys, medications should be retained by you and not on the coach at meal or transport stops.

    2) Use sturdy, lockable luggage. Do not use plastic bags as these may split during the transit.

    3) Make sure you identify your luggage with a name tag.

    4) Backpacks—stow all items and do not leave mugs, shoes, towels hanging off your backpack as these can get caught in other luggage and cause damage.

    Departure Times

    The time shown on your ticket is the coach departure time. If you are boarding halfway and not at a travel centre or terminal you should be at the pick up point 15 minutes ahead of this time, so you can be comfortably on board by the time the coach is due to leave. If you are boarding at a travel centre or terminal, please arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the published departure time and remember to allow extra time at peak travel times.

    Dress Requirements

    As a courtesy, and so as not to offend fellow travelers, a reasonable standard of clothing and footwear is required.