A qualified doctor who rarely practicedbut instead devoted his life to writing．He once said: “Medicine is my lawfulwife, and literature is my lover．” Russian writer Anton PavlovichChekhov, was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern shortstory．

When Chekhov entered the MoscowUniversity Medical School in 1879, he started to publish hundreds of comicshort stories to support his family．After he graduated, he wrote regularlyfor a local daily newspaper．

As a writer he was extremely fast, oftenproducing a short story in an hour or less．Chekhov's medical and science experiencecan be seen through the indifference (冷漠) many of his characters show to tragicevents．In1892, he became a full time writer and published some of his most memorablestories．

Chekhov often wrote about the sufferingsof life in small town Russia．Tragic events control his characters whoare filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair．

It is often said that nothing happens inChekhov's stories and plays．He made up for this with his excitingtechnique for developing drama within his characters．Chekhov'swork combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity(敏感) of anartist．

Some of Chekhov's works were translatedinto Chinese as early as the 1940s．One of his famous stories, The Man in aShell, about a school teacher's extraordinarily orderly life, was selected as atext for Chinese senior students．

    All Alice Waters wanted was bread, jam and lettuce that tasted real, with a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine on the side. The founder of Chez Panisse, the California restaurant famous for launching the farm-to-table movement, certainly didn't plan to start a revolution.

    Returning to the United States in 1965 after studying in France, Waters missed the delicious food and community of the little cafes where she spent most of her time. “The United States was a land of frozen food, so eating even just fresh bread and jam was an extremely pleasant surprise to me,” says Waters. “And spending time in restaurants with friends… it was very important to me.”

    One day, an idea struck Waters that maybe her cooking and sense of community could help her make some money. Believing they could do anything, she and a group of friends raised money, found a house in Berkeley and opened a little restaurant called Chez Panisse in 1971.

    Most ingredients Waters could find were from industrial farms. They tasted totally different from the ones her parents planted during World War II and the ones she had enjoyed in France. Thus she began a search for suppliers who would grow good ingredients.

    “I was looking for taste. And I couldn't find taste until I met the local organic farmers who were growing vegetables for flavor,” Waters recalls. “I realized that I would be dependent on them for the success of my restaurant.”

At first, the finances were a disaster. If any of the ingredients didn't taste right, chefs threw them out. Staff had to taste the wine to sell it. That meant thousands of dollars of wine disappeared on a regular basis. People who offered ingredients were given meals in trade.

    But Chez Panisse had lines out of the front door from the very first night. Waters' sense of taste and her dedication to making the best food possible kept people coming back. It didn't take long for Chez Panisse to catch the attention of foodies (“吃货”). Throughout its existence, the restaurant has earned the highest praise of many critics. It has sometimes been called the best restaurant in America.

    Now 72, Waters is not content with staying at home and cooking in her kitchen. Last September, she flew to Washington D. C., to meet members of Congress to discuss the benefits of free lunch for all schoolchildren.

    Many people have called Waters unrealistic over the course of her 45-year fight for good food. Nevertheless, her single-mindedness ended up sparking a farm-to-table movement. “She didn't start Chez Panisse to change the world,” said Marion Nestle, a New York University nutrition professor. “But what she did was absolutely revolutionary. She's a force and deserves every bit of recognition that comes her way.”

I suspect that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention, and especially if it's given from the heart. When people are talking, there's no need to do anything but listen to them. Just take them Just listen to what they're saying and care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don't value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of the simply saying "I'm so sorry" when someone is in pain, and meaning it.

    One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story, people often interrupted to tell her that they had once had something just like that happen to them. Eventually she stopped talking to most people. She was just too lonely. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen, they know that we care. Many people with cancer can talk about the relief of having someone just listen.

    I have ever learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the tissues(纸巾), until I realized that passing a person a tissue may be just another way to shut them down, to take them out of their experience of sadness and grief. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there with them.

    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 included 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 Westerners 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.

    A child who suffers bullying (霸凌) usually has low self-respect and their ability to learn and be successful at school is greatly lessened. Therefore, bullying must be stopped.

    The best and most obvious way to stop bullying in schools is for parents to change the way they treat their children at home. Of course, this is much easier said than done and everyone treats their children differently. Bullies, however, come from homes where physical punishment is used and children have been taught that physical violence is the way to handle problems and “get their way”. Bullies usually also come from homes where the parents fight a lot, so they have been modeled on such violence. Parental involvement is often lacking in bullies' lives and there seems to be little warmth.

    Early intervention (干预) is truly the best way to stop bullying, but parents of the victims or therapists (治疗师) cannot alter the bully's home environment. Some things can be done at the school level, however.

    Most school programs that address bullying use a multi-faceted (多方面的) method to the problem. This usually involves the advice of some sort, either by peers, a school adviser, teachers, or the principal.

    Hand out questionnaires to all students and teachers and discuss if bullying is occurring. Define exactly what constitutes (构成) bullying at school. The questionnaire is a wonderful tool that allows the school to see how widespread bullying is and what forms it is taking. It is a good way to start to solve the problem.

    Get the children's parents involved in a bullying program. If parents of the bullies and the victims are not aware of what is going on at school, then the whole bullying program will not be effective. Stopping bullying in school takes teamwork and concentrated effort on everyone's part. Bullying also should be discussed during parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings. Parental awareness is the key.

    In the classroom setting, all teachers should work with the students on bullying. Oftentimes even the teacher is being bullied in the classroom and a program should be set up to teach about bullying. Children understand modeling behaviors and role-play and acting out bullying situations is a very effective tool. Have students role-play a bullying situation.

    In the near future, daily newspapers and monthly magazines will probably disappear. Electronic media（媒体） can provide the same information faster and cheaper. The Internet, together with laptops and mobile phones, makes it possible that almost everyone can at any time and in almost any place get some news for free or for few fees.

    You'll browse the computer newspapers or magazines just like turning on TV. An electronic voice will tell you stories about the latest events. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on the brief story？ A simple touch makes the whole text appear.

    There are the predictions from the experts working on the newspapers of the future. Imagined as part of home media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers and magazines would unite printed and broadcast news, offering information and analyzing video images of news events.

    The continuing loss of readers will lead to a small number of advertisements in newspapers. It makes no sense to spend millions of dollars to print ads.

    With the development of technology, more and more electronic media have been created until now, but replacing the traditional newspapers and magazines has a long way to go, because the resistance to computer newspapers and magazines from journalism（新闻业） may be much stronger. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be not until the present journalists（新闻工作者）, who aren't used to it, die off that the newspaper industry is not considered as an industry any longer. Anyway, technology is making the traditional newspapers and magazines disappear gradually.