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      A glass a day keeps obesity at bay. Wine has always been thought to cause weight gain because of its high sugar content, but new research suggests a glass a day could form part of a diet. Looking at past studies they found that, while heavy drinkers do put on weight, those who drink in moderation can actually lose weight.

    A scientist for the research team at Navarro University in Spain says, “Proper drinking may be more likely to protect against, rather than promote, weight gain.” An official organization reviewed the findings and agreed with most of the conclusions, particularly that present data do not clearly show if proper drinking increases weight.

    Boston University's Dr. Harvey Finkel found that the reasons relating alcohol (酒精) to changes in body weight are not properly understood. His team pointed out the strong protective effects (效果) of proper drinking on the risk of getting conditions like diabetes (糖尿病), which relate to increasing obesity. Some studies suggest that even very fat people may be at lower risk of diabetes if they are moderate drinkers.

    The group says alcohol provides energy that is quickly absorbed into the body and is not stored in fat, and that this process could explain the differences in its effects from those of other foods. They agree that future research should be directed towards assessing the roles of different types of alcoholic drinks, taking drinking patterns into consideration.

    For now there is little evidence that drinking small to moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis increases one's risk of becoming too fat. What's more, a study three years ago suggested that a chemical found in grapes and red wine, destroys fat cells.

    We do not know when man first began to use salt, but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate salted fish. Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve (保存) the dead.

    Stealing salt was considered a major crime (罪行) during some periods of history. In the eighteenth century, for example, if a person was caught stealing salt, he could be put in prison and his ears could be cut off.

    In the Roman Empire, one of the most important roads was the one that carried salt from the salt mines to Rome. Guards were stationed(安置) along the route to protect against salt thieves, and they received their pay in salt, thus bringing the English word, salary. Any guard who fell asleep while on duty was thought to be “not worth his salt”, and as a result he would get a little less salt on his next payday. The expression, “not worth his salt”, is still used today in English.

    In the modern world salt has many uses beyond the dining table. It is used in making glass and airplane parts, in the growing of crops, and in the killing of weeds (杂草). It is also used to make water soft, to melt (融化) ice on roads and highways, to make soap, and to fix colors in cloth.

    Salt can be got in various ways besides being taken from mines underground. Salt water from the ocean, salt water lakes or small seas can be used to make salt. Yet, no matter where it comes from, salt will continue to play an important role in the lives of people everywhere.

    Watson entered Mr. Smith's office. The boss was a hard man. He fired people who didn't do well without giving them a second chance.

    “Watson, ” said Mr. Smith, “this past year your department hasn't earned money. We're going to drop that department. It's finished. I'm sorry, —but you'll have to go.” “But, sir—if I just had a little more time. For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School.”

    “What's that!” said the boss. “Riverside! I didn't know you had a boy there. That's an expensive school for a man with your salary.”

    “I know, sir. But he likes it there so much！He's a star athlete and the best boxer in the school. The boys call him Champ (冠军) there.”

    The boss sat perfectly still for a long time—a faraway (恍惚的) look in his eyes. Then, suddenly, he said, “We've got to close your department, Watson. But you'll take over a new job in another department. It means longer hours—maybe more pay. Now get out. You're here for life.”

    Watson got out, with surprise on his face. Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk. It was Herbie's last letter from Riverside School—written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain. The letter read:

    I can't say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were. I guess it's the same everywhere when you're a cripple (跛脚的人).

    But don't worry about me, Dad. They've got a good chemistry department here. And there's one boy here who is really great. He's a track star and boxing champ and just tops in chemistry. The boys call him Champ. He made them stop throwing my books around. And he knocked a boy down who hit me. He is the best friend I ever had. Dad, when I grow up, I want to do something for Champ. Something big—that he won't even know about.

Your son

Herbie

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    When friends come to visit us in the evening, they spend their time telling us that they are in a hurry and looking at their watches. It isn't that our friends are all very busy. It is just that we haven't got a TV set. People think that we are very strange. “But what do you do in the evenings?” they are always asking. The answer is simple. Both my wife and I have hobbies. We certainly don't spend our evenings staring at（盯着）the walls. My wife enjoys cooking and painting and often attends evening classes in foreign languages. This is particularly useful as we always go abroad for our holidays. I collect stamps and I am always busy with my collection. Both of us enjoy listening to music and playing chess together.

Sometimes there are power cuts and we have no electricity in the house. This does not worry us. We just light candles and carry on with what we were doing before. Our friends are lost —no televisions! So they don't know what to do. On such evenings our house is very full as they all come to us. They all have a good time. Instead of sitting in silence in front of the television, everybody talks and plays games. Yes, life is possible without television!

    The year was 1932. Amelia Earhart was flying alone from North America to England in a small single-engined aeroplane. At midnight, several hours after she had left Newfoundland, she ran into bad weather. To make things worse, her altimeter (高度表) failed and she didn't know how high she was flying. At night, and in a storm, a pilot is in great difficulty without an altimeter. At times, her plane nearly plunged (冲) into the sea.

    Just before dawn, there was further trouble. Amelia noticed flames coming from the engine. Would she be able to reach land? There was nothing to do except to keep going and to hope.

    In the end, Amelia Earhart did reach Ireland, and for the courage she had shown, she was warmly welcomed in England and Europe. When she returned to the United States, she was honored by President Hoover at a special dinner in the White House. From that time on, Amelia Earhart was famous.

    What was so important about her flight? Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone, and she had set a record of fourteen hours and fifty—six minutes.

    In the years that followed, Amelia Earhart made several flights across the United States, and on each occasion (时刻) she set a new record for flying time. Amelia Earhart made these flights to show that women had a place in aviation (航空) and that air travel was useful.

    In 2012, Kim Stemple, a special-education teacher, found herself in a Boston hospital being treated for one of several diseases she had been diagnosed(诊断) with, including lupus and lymphoma. The normally confident Stemple was naturally getting very depressed. And then a friend gave her a medal.

    Before she got too sick to exercise, Stemple had been a marathon runner. The medal came from a racing partner who had just finished a half marathon in Las Vegas and hoped the souvenir would act as a kind of feeling pick-me-up. It worked like a charm­and then some.

    After Stemple hung the medal near her hospital bed, other patients said they wanted medals too. That got Stemple thinking. "A medal is a simple way to give a positive message," she told pilotonline.com. And so was born her charity, We Finish Together, which collects medals from strangers­runners, dancers, swimmers, singers, and even spelling bee winners-and donates them to all sorts of people in need.

    Those who received the medals have included hospital patients, residents of homeless shelters, and veterans. Part of the process involves the donor writing a personalized note on the ribbon. "This gives them a connection to someone," says Stemple. "If they receive a medal, they know someone cares."

    Can a simple medal really make a difference? Yes, says Joan Musarra, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis. "I opened my package containing my new medal and the notes of positive, warm thoughts, I was overwhelmed," she wrote to Stemple. "At that moment, I was sitting on my couch breathing through life-support machine because my lungs have been worsening so badly. It means so much to me to feel that I am not alone."