England's highest main-line railway station is in serious trouble, deserted and unmanned since it was officially closed in 1970, Dent, located high in the hills of Yorkshire, wakes up on six summer weekends each year, when a special train unloads walkers, sightseers and people who simply want to catch a train from the highest station to its platforms.

    But even this limited being may soon be brought to an end. Dent station located on the Settel to Carlisle railway line, is said to be surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in the country. But no amount of scenic beauty can save the line because of the British Rail's money problems.

    It is now an open secret that British Rail sees no future for this railway line. Most of its trains disappeared some time ago. Bridges, built a century ago, are falling down. It is not alone. Half a dozen railway routes in the North of England are facing a similar threat. The problem is an old system and an almost total lack of cash to repair it. Bridges and tunnels are showing their ages, the wooden supports for the tracks are rotting（腐烂） and engines and coaches(车厢) are getting old.

    On main lines between large cities, the problem is not too bad. There lines still make a profit and cash can be found to keep them in good condition. But on the country branch line, the situation is different. As track wears out, it is not replaced. Instead speed limits are introduced, making the journey longer than necessary and discouraging travelers.

    If a bridge is dangerous, there is often only one thing for British Rail to do: go out and find money from another places. This is exactly what it did a few months ago when a bridge at Bridling station was threatening to fall down. Repairs were calculated at 200,000 pounds just for one bridge, so British Rail was pleased, and rather surprised when two local councils(理事会) offered half that amount of money.

    Good morning. The program today is about music. The word “music” comes from the Greek word “muse”. The Muses are the goddesses of the arts. Music is only one of the arts. It is like the spoken language, but is uses sounds. Today's program brings together music from different corners of the world. Who invented music? Who sang the first song? No one knows exactly the answers to these questions. But we know that music plays an important part in almost everyone's life. Babies and young children love to hear people singing to them. When they are a little older, they like to sing the songs they have heard. When children go to school, their world of music grows. In the middle grades students take music lessons. When they reach high school, they become interested in listening to pop music.

    The records we have chosen for you today are form American country music, Indian music, pop music and so on. Music has meaning for everyone. It can make people happy or it can make them sad. In this program we shall study the language of music. We shall be trying to find out more about how music works. We shall try to find out how music says what people feel.

    Now, here comes the music today, I shall explain why they are all good music…

    A young woman sits alone in a café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: "Where are the toilets please?" This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafés", where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a "one woman wedding"—a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression-“botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the cafe, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million "hikikomori" - a more extreme example of social recluses(隐士) who withdraw completely from society.

    Tess was eight years old. Her little brother Andrew was very sick and their parents were completely out of money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother, "Only a miracle can save him now."

    Tess took her money and made her way six blocks to Rexall's Drug Store.

    "And what do you want?" the chemist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen for ages."

    "Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really sick. He has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

    "We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the chemist said, softening a little.

    "Listen, I can help you." The chemist's brother was a well-dressed man. He asked Tess, "What kind of miracle does your brother need?"

    "I don't know," Tess replied. "Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

    "How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago. "One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more, if I need to."

    "Well, what a coincidence (巧合)," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents － the exact price of a miracle for your little brother. Take me to where you live. Let's see if 1 have the kind of miracle you need."

    That man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon in neurosurgery (神经外科). The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well．

    Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost… one dollar and eleven cents… plus the faith of a little child.

    Right now, I am looking at a shelf full of relics, a collection of has-beens, old-timers, antiques, fossils. Right now, I am looking at a shelf full of books. Yes, that's right. If you have some spare cash (the going rate is about $89) and you are looking to enhance your reading experience, then I highly suggest you consider purchasing an e-reader. E-readers are replacing the books of old and I welcome them with open arms (as you should).

    An e-reader is a device that allows you to read e-books. An e-book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images or both, and produced on, published through and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines the e-book as "an electronic version of a printed book", but e-books can and do exist without any printed equivalent.

    E-readers put printed books to shame. E-readers are superior to printed books because they save space, are environmentally friendly and provide helpful reading tips and tools that printed books do not.

    The average e-reader can store thousands of digital books, providing a genuine library at your fingertips. What is more, the e-reader itself is very small. It is easy to hold and can fit in a pocketbook or briefcase easily. This makes handling wooden giant such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina a breeze. Perhaps the only drawback to the space-saving aspect of an e-reader is that it requires you to find new things to put on your shelves.

    In addition, e-readers are environmentally friendly. The average novel is about 300 pages long. So, if a novel is printed 1000 times, it will use 300,000 pieces of paper. That's a lot of paper! And for the super bestsellers, these figures increase dramatically. For example, the Harry Potter book series has sold over 450 million copies. That's about 2 million trees! Upon viewing these figures, it is not hard to grasp the severe impact of printed books on the environment. Since e-readers use no trees, they represent a significant amount of preservation in terms of the environment and its resources.

    Finally, e-readers provide helpful reading tips and tools that printed books do not. The typical e-reader allows its user to adjust letter size, letterform and line spacing. It also allows highlighting and electronic bookmarking.

    Furthermore, it grants users the ability to get an overview of a book and then jump to a specific location based on that overview. While these are all nice features, perhaps the most helpful of all is the ability to get dictionary definitions at the touch of a finger. On even the most basic e-reader, users can find instant definitions without having to hunt through a physical dictionary.

    It can be seen that e-readers are superior to printed books. They save space, are environmentally friendly and provide helpful reading tips and tools that printed books do not. So what good are printed books? Well, they certainly make nice decorations.

    Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself. "What could be causing everyone to act this way?"

    Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice: flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.

    Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, "My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution." The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

    Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster's office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!