Europe is now the biggest market for organic food in the world, having grown by 25  percent a year over the past 10 years. Denmark's agriculture minister is herself an organic farmer. The UK market for organic food grew by 55 percent in 2000, while the food market as a whole grew by only one percent. Yet only seven percent of British shoppers account for nearly 90 percent of organic sales. However popular the idea of organic farming may be, it is still an interest for only a few people.

    So what makes the idea of organic farming popular? Organic farming means farming with natural materials, rather than with man-made fertilizers or pesticides. Organic farmers rely on many  methods — such as crop rotation (农作物的轮作) and the use of resistant varieties, because they are necessary for organic farmers to compensate for the shortage of man-made chemicals.

    Organic farming is often supposed to be safer than traditional farming for the environment. Yet after a long research on organic farming worldwide for a number of years, science continues to be against this opinion. The House of Commons committee on agriculture publicized that, even with complete research work, it would fail to find any scientific evidence to prove “that any of claims （宣称） made for organic farming is always true”.

    However, the talk about the benefits of organic farming is going on. This is partly because many people depend on their individual farm, the soil, the weather, and so on.

    One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every  English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.

    This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

    Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff's most valued contributors.

    But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked  in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum (精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.

    Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

    In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

    Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

    Throughout the past few years, I have tried to give myself to others. I have bounced around to find where I truly fit in. I found my place while I stayed in Guatemala, an orphanage(孤儿院), with the children living there. Through hearing many stories of their lives, I was moved to tears and started question my living ways and gave up everything that wasn't essential: makeup and any other sort of luxury(奢侈品). I lived like they did. It was the most relaxing feeling in the world.

    When at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, we were given the task of creating a pig pen. At first, I thought it should be easy. After arriving at the area where the pig pen should be, we saw a hill. We were told to uproot the weeds as well as level the entire area. Looking at it, we felt 'it would be impossible. On my own faith journey, I have felt this type of doubt before. The “hole”, as we referred to, is a symbol of my faith journey. It appeared to be an obstacle I could not overcome, but in the end I completed it with efforts. I feel this pig pen wasn't easy to create but was so rewarding to give.

    I've always struggled to be on a journey of faith, but I've never completely stepped foot onto the path until Guatemala. I've always tried to open my heart to everyone around me and give them my love. I feel as though I cut open my heart and share every bit of love 'I had with these orphans. There is one orphan named Ceto who will always remain very close to my heart. In Guatemala, I sponsor with thirty dollars a month, but it doesn't seem enough. I'll return there next summer and give more of my love for a whole month.

    When it was time to leave, I looked out of the window and saw not just ordinary children. Overall, the most significant accomplishment I made in Guatemala was stepping towards my own faith journey and not looking back.

    Pinewood Studios is located (位于) about twenty miles west of central London and named after the pinetrees in the grounds. Pinewood has been at the heart of both British and international film production. The house, Heatherden Hall, was bought by Charles Boot in 1934, and he and J. Arthur Rank became partners in the project to build the studios. Pinewood proved pioneering in its use of the "unit system" that allowed more than one film to be made at a time, and this enabled Pinewood to achieve the highest output of all the studios in the world. The first film to be completed at Pinewood was Talk of the Devil (1936, Reed) while the immediate postwar period saw six major productions including the praised Oliver Twist (1948, Lean) and The Red Shoes (1948, Powell and Press-burger).

    The 1950s saw countless productions including the Doctor series and medical comedy, which were the fathers to the Carry On films: the series started with Doctor in the House (1954, Thomas) and led to a further six films. Other notable films of the 1950s age include The Prince and the Showgirl (1957 Olivier) starring Marilyn Monroe, Carve Her Name with Pride (1958, Gilbert), North West Frontier (1959 Thompson) and The Thirty-Nine Steps (1959, Thomas). The Thirty-Nine Steps was a reworking of John Buchan's novel originally filmed by Hitchcock in 1935. Because of its new ideas and skills, American production companies crowded to Pinewood and a major reinvestment (再投资) was required. During the 1960s, four new stages were built to accommodate every aspect of film and television production. This period also saw the start of the association between Pinewood and the James Bond series, which started in 1962 with Dr No (Young). The studios have continued to produce imaginative and technically challenging material such as Superman (1978, Donner), Superman Ⅱ (1980, Lester), Superman Ⅲ (1983, Lester), Superman Ⅳ: The Quest for Peace (1987, Furie),and Batman (1989,Burton).

    Eating out is such a pleasure ― the food, the wine, the joy of having it all brought to you by someone else—that it's a pity to ruin the experience by sharing it with other people.

    Well, I do like visiting restaurants with friends. But dining out alone has its own very special attractions. For a start you can give all your attention to the food. There's nothing worse than having to invent and deliver an opinion on school league tables or Sanchez's move to Manchester United, plus listen to everyone else's opinions, when all you really want to do is enjoy each mouthful along the way.

    A second great thing about eating out alone is the chance to combine food with one of life's other true pleasures: reading. You have to plan this carefully: Indian or Chinese restaurants are best ― you need food you can eat with just one hand, leaving the other free to hold your reading material.

    But perhaps the biggest attraction of a table for one is the chance it gives to people-watching. Restaurants and the different reasons for visiting them ― first date, business meeting, night out with friends ― produce human behaviour of surprising richness and variety. Will the man selling his business idea get any joy out of his possible investor (投资者)? Will the married couple think of anything to say to each other before their main courses arrive?

    This "human zoo" part of eating out alone is one of the reasons I'd hate to be famous: everyone would be watching you, so you wouldn't be able to watch them. The snooker player Steve Davis says this was one of the strangest consequences (后果) of becoming well-known: he got very worried about his eating in public, almost to the level of doubting whether he was "doing it right."

    So next time you're considering your eating out choices, remember the advice of the businessman Nubar Gulbenkian: "The best number for a dinner party is two ― myself and a super head waiter."

Life Begins on Board Your Next Cruise(邮轮)

On a cruise, it's all about choices. And never about effort or annoyance. Simply step aboard and float away, as your grand accommodation takes you from port to port, country to country. Maybe you haven't been on a cruise yet. Let's see what it might look like.

Rise and shine

Everyone is a morning person on a cruise. Wake up to find yourself floating joyfully somewhere out on the horizon, between vast blue skies and rolling oceans. You've travelled far through the night, and each morning begins with a completely new and foreign destination calling from outside your window. What a way to start your day!

Breakfast of champions

Before the morning truly begins, spend some time relaxing on the top floor with a steaming cup of coffee and warm French pastries, taking in the unbelievable views and the fresh sea air. Or head to one of the many restaurants on the ground floor to find a rich meal fit for a king, then walk to the front of the ship and have some fresh fruit and American pancakes in the open-air market.

Ease into your day

Energize your morning with a yoga class, strengthening your body on the open-air board, palms stretched to the sea. Hit the gym for a refreshing workout or take a swim that will set you up for the day. If you are not so sporty, simply spend your morning sitting by the pool reading a book, perhaps losing yourself in the history, culture and legends of your next port of call.