Starting the day on an egg could keep your blood pressure under control, research suggests. Scientists have shown that eggs produce proteins with a function similar to that of powerful blood pressure-lowering drugs.

    The research, from the University of Alberta in Canada, showed that when eggs come in contact with stomach enzymes (酶) they produce a protein that acts in the same way as Ace inhibitors, but more work is needed to show the effects outside a lab and in the human body.

    Earlier this month, British researchers declared that, contrary to popular beliefs, it is healthy to go to work on an egg. They concluded that the type of cholesterol (胆固醇) found in eggs has little effect on increasing heart disease risks.

    Researcher Professor Bruce Griffin, from the University of Surrey, said, "The wrong beliefs linking egg eating to high blood cholesterol and heart disease must be corrected. The amount of fat in our diet has an effect on blood cholesterol that is several times greater than the relatively small amounts of cholesterol found in eggs. The UK public do not need to be limiting the number of eggs they eat. They can be encouraged to include them in a healthy diet as they are one of nature's most nutritious foods."

    The British Heart Foundation dropped its three-egg-a-week limit in 2005. However, almost half of Britons believe the limit still applies.

    The U.S. Department of Labor statistics (统计) show that there is an oversupply of college-trained workers and that this oversupply is increasing. Already there have been more than enough teachers, engineers, physicists, aerospace experts, and other specialists. Yet colleges and graduate schools continue every year to turn out highly trained people to compete for jobs that aren't there. The result is that graduates cannot enter the professions for which they were trained and must take temporary jobs which do not require a college degree.

    On the other hand, there is a great need for skilled workers of all sorts: carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, TV repairmen.

    These people have more work than they can deal with, and their annual incomes are often higher than those of college graduates. The old gap that white-collar workers make a better living than blue-collar workers no longer holds true. The law of supply and demand now favors the skilled workmen.

    The reason for this situation is the traditional myth that college degree is a passport to a prosperous future. A large part of American society matches success in life equally with a college degree. Parents begin indoctrinating (灌输) their children with this myth before they are out of grade school. High school teachers play their part by acting as if high school education were a preparation for college rather than for life. Under this pressure the kids fall in line. Whether they want to go to college or not doesn't matter. Everybody should go to college, so of course they must go. And every year college enrollments (入学) go up and up, and more and more graduates are overeducated for the kinds of jobs available to them.

    One result of this emphasis on a college education is that many people go to college who do not belong there. Of the sixty percent of high school graduates who enter college, half of them do not graduate with their class. Many of them drop out within the first year. Some struggle on for two or three years and then give up.

    Buck's first day in the frozen Northland was like a bad dream. Every hour was filled with shock and surprise. Here was neither peace, nor rest, nor a moment's safety—only continual noise and movement. At evey moment life itself was in danger, because these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They knew only the law of club and tooth.

    He had never seen dogs fight as these wolfish creatures fought, and his first experience taught him an unforgettable lesson. Curly was the victim(牺牲者). She tried to make friends with a Husky, a dog only half as large as she was. There was no warning. The dog jumped on Curly, his teeth closed together, then he jumped away, and Curly's face was torn open from eye to mouth.

    Wolves fight like this, biting and jumping away, but the fight did not finish then. Thirty or forty more dogs ran up and made a circle around the fight, watching silently. Curly tried to attack the dog who had bitten her; he bit her a second time, and jumped away. When she attacked him again, he knocked her backwards, and she fell on the ground. She never stood up again, because this was what the other dogs were waiting for. They moved in, and in a moment she was under a crowd of dogs.

    So sudden was it, and so unexpected, that Buck was taken aback. He saw Spitz run out his tongue in a way he had of laughing; and he saw Francois, swinging an axe, spring into the mess of dogs. Three men with clubs were helping him to scatter them. It did not take long. Two minutes later the last of the dogs was chased away. But Curly lay dead in the snow, her body torn almost to pieces. Curly's death often came back to Buck in his dreams. He understood that once a dog was down on the ground, he was dead. He also remembered Spitz laughing, and from that moment he hated him.

    Before he had recovered from the shock caused by the death of Curly, he received another surprise. Francois put a harness on him. Buck had seen harnesses on horses, and now he was made to work like a horse, pulling Francois on a sledge into the forest and returning with wood for the fire. Though his dignity was deeply hurt by becoming a work animal, he was too wise to rebel(反抗). It was all new and strange, but Buck did his best. Buck learned easily and under the combined teaching of Francois and his two mates, Dave and Spitz, two experienced sled dogs, he made remarkable progress. Before they returned to camp he knew enough to stop at "ho," to go ahead at "mush," to swing wide on the bends, and to stay clear when the heavy came shot downhill.

"Those three are very good dogs," Francois told Perrault. "That Buck pulls very well, and he's learning quickly."

    Perrault had important letters and official papers to take to Dawson City, so that afternoon he bought two more dogs, two brothers called Billee and Joe. Billee was very friendly, but Joe was the opposite. In the evening Perrault bought one more dog, an old dog with one eye. His name was Solleks, which means The Angry One. Like Dave, he made no friends; all he wanted was to be alone.

    That night Buck discovered another problem. Where was he going to sleep? Francois and Perrault were in their tent, but when he went in, they shouted angrily and threw things at him. Outside it was very cold and windy. He lay down in the snow, but he was too cold to sleep.

    He walked around the tents trying to find the other dogs. But, to his surprise, they had disappeared.

    He walked around Perrault's tent, very, very cold, wondering what to do. Suddenly, the snow under his feet fell in, and he felt something move. He jumped back, waiting for the attack, but heard only a friendly bark. There, in a warm hole under the snow, was Billee.

    So that was what you had to do. Buck chose a place, dug himself a hole and in a minute he was warm and asleep. He slept well, although his dreams were bad.

    Welcome to Holker Hall & Gardens

    Visitor Information

    How to Get to Holker

    By Car: Follow brown signs an A590 from JB6, M6. Approximale travel times: Windermere-20 minutes, Kendal-25 minutes, Lancaster-45 minutes, Manchester-1 hour 30 minutes.

    By Rail: The nearest station is Cark-in-Cartmel with trains to Carnforth, Lancaster Preston for connections to major cities & airports.

    Opening Times

    Sunday-Friday (closed on Saturday)11:00 am-4:00pm,30 March-2nd November.

    Admission Charges

    Special Events

    Producers: Market 13th April

    Join us to taste a variety of fresh local food and drinks. Meet the producers and get some excellent recipe ideas.

    Holker Garden Festival 30th May

    The event celebrate its 22nd anniversary with a great show of the very best of gardening, making it one of the most popular events in gardening.

    National Garden Day 28th August

    Holker once again opens is gardens in aid of the disadvantaged. For just a small donation you can take a tour with our garden guide.

    Winter Market 8th November

    This is an event for all the family. Wander among a variety of shops selling gifs while enjoying a live music show and nice street entertainment.

    Martha had been working for Miller Laboratories for two years, but she was not happy there. Nothing significant had happened in the way of promotions or salary increases. Martha felt that her supervisor, a younger and less experienced person than she, did not like her. In fact, the supervisor often said unpleasant things to her.

    One day, while talking with her friend Maria, she mentioned how discouraged she was. Maria gave her the name of a cousin of hers who was director of Human Resources Department for a large chemical company. Martha called him the next day and set up an interview on her lunch hour.

    During the interview, Mr. Petri said, "You're just the kind of person we need here. You're being wasted in your other job. Give me a call in a day or two. I'm sure we can find a place for you in our organization." Martha was so happy that she almost danced out of the building.

    That afternoon, Ruth Kenny, her supervisor, saw that Martha had come in ten minutes late from her lunch hour and she said, "Oh, so you finally decided to come back to work today?"

    This was the last straw. She could not take another insult. Besides, Mr. Petri was right: she was being wasted in this job.

    "Look," she said angrily, "if you don't like the way I work, I don't need to stay here. I'll go where I'm appreciated! Goodbye!" She took up her things and stormed out of the office.

    That night she called Maria and told her what had happened and then asked Maria, "What do you think?"

    "Well," said Maria carefully, "are you sure about the other job?"

    "Well, not exactly, but..."

    Maria continued, "Will you be able to get a recommendation from Ms. Kenny if you need one?"

    "A recommendation?…from Ms. Kenny?" hesitated Martha, in a worried tone.

    "Martha, I hope you didn't burn your bridges," Maria said. "I think I would have handled it differently."

    In 1963, at age 65, my grandfather, Erwin, decided to build a new house. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the old house since it sat where the new house would be. He finally hired a powerful vehicle to push it far out into a small group of trees. That old house sits there to this very day.

    Erwin and his wife, Elida, passed away, and I purchased the farm from their estate. My wife and I raised our sons on this place and have lived here for more than 30 years. When we first moved in, my wife took one look at the deserted house and declared it a hidden danger. I agreed and planned on a large bonfire. But I thought it appropriate to check out the house first, just in case something of worth had been left behind.

    I walked through the tall grass in the meadow where the old house sat. Time had worn it out. The entrance floor had fallen down on itself and most of the windows were gone. We entered through an open window. ①Here lay the reminders of my grandparents' lives: a broken chair, some old clothes ... But the thing that drew my eye was a cardboard box stuffed with papers. I dug through its contents and was instantly transported back in time. There was a tax return from 1957. Greeting cards from old friends and relatives, now all dead and gone. An uncle's third-grade spelling book. So sweet were the memories that the old house was spared the torch.

    As we hurried through our lives, my visits grew infrequent. I might catch a glimpse of the house through the trees and remembered how, as a child, I would struggle to walk in my father's footprints. Even then, I could imagine no nobler calling than farming, just like Dad. Then, one April morning, my father was felled by a massive heart attack, at age 68. The entire family was shocked by his passing, none more than me. Why I visited that old house on a day shortly after my father's funeral is still beyond me. It was as though it were calling; even the trees seemed to whisper an invitation to come, to visit, to stay awhile.

    ②As I stood once again on that ancient floor, my eye was drawn to a pile of papers on the floor. An envelope, yellowed with age, lay on top. A blue stamp on the envelope read "Passed by Naval Censor" How could I have missed this treasure? My father had served aboard the USS Washington during World War II and had written home whenever he could. My grandmother saved all of his letters.

    I removed one letter carefully from its envelope. ③It was dated September 1944. My father would have been somewhere in the South Pacific at that time and all of 18 years old. T studied the familiar handwriting. Dad wondered how the com harvest had been. He supposed that his youngest brother was starting first grade and imagined that he was becoming quite the little man. He asked his mother to greet everyone and said that he missed them all.

    It wasn't hard to read between the lines. Here was a homesick young man, a kid really, who had spent his entire life living upon a sea of flat land grass. Now he was on a different kind of sea, an ocean that was being disturbed by the thunder and the lightning of a world at war. At the bottom of the page, my father had passed on one last message. ④Tears burned my eyes as I read those words he had so carefully emphasized: "All is well here. Please don't worry. I am doing fine."

    As I left the old house that day, I took one last glance back at it over my shoulder. I don't care what any one thinks, I decided. That old house gets to stay there until it rots into the earth.