Lesson 25 Earthquake Precautions 地震防范措施

…

During the earthquake：

If possible, get out of the building you are inside of and into a clear area.

If escape from a building is impossible, get away from windows and doors; try to find shelter under structural beams or under any heavy piece of furniture, like a large table or bed.

After the major earthquake (remember that aftershocks will occur)：

When shaking ends or subsides, turn off gas lines.

Leave the building (never use elevators) quickly but not in a panic.

If uninjured, be ready to assist rescue workers with information or labor.

When a Big One happens, there is little anyone can do. Then above contingency preparations, however, could make the difference between life and death.

Lesson 26 Berries: Nature’s Natural Desserts

漿果---大自然的天然點(diǎn)心

The last child has left the house for school. The table is clean and neatly set, and the coffee is brewing. The cool orange juice stands like a sentry over the tableware. Mother sits down, pours cereal into a bowl, and sprinkles it lightly with sugar. She is then ready for the final masterpiece. She carefully spoons precut ruby red strawberries onto the mound of golden corn flakes. Pouring ivory-white mild over the concoction, Mother smiles to herself. An attractive, nutritious breakfast fit for a queen.

Most people around the world are now familiar with and can enjoy strawberries, but few are familiar with other more exotic berries, such as the goose-berry, blackberry, and raspberry. Indeed, even fewer people realize what the word berry technically refers to. The berry of the botanist and the berry of the public are often two quite different fruits.

Those whose specialty is plants define a berry as a simple, fleshy fruit with a thin wall and many seeds. Under this classification are several surprises. One would expect that cranberries are berries, of course, but less obvious members of this class are dates, grapes, tomatoes, and even potatoes, bananas, and asparagus! Indeed, according to botanists, some popular "berries" are not true berries at all. Experts in plant life consider the blueberry an "inferior berry" and the strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry and "aggregate fleshy fruit". However, no matter how scientists call them, most people think of berries as small, round, sweet, and delicious fruits.

Berries such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries prefer cool and moist growing conditions. Though they rarely thrive in tropical conditions, they can be grown on the sides of taller hills and mountains there. Several species of wildlife forage for berries, the largest of these being the bear. Some smaller mammals and birds, too, enjoy berries, not to mention people. Wild berries are noticeably smaller than their domesticated cousins, but many people prefer the full, rich taste of freshly picked forest berries.

Besides being a condiment of breakfast cereals, are there any other uses for berries? Westerners make good use of their local fruits. Jellies, jams, and preserves can be easily made with berries, gelatin, and sugar. These three sweetened foods differ only in the process used to make them. Jellies are made from the juice of a fruit, jams from the thoroughly crushed fruit, and preserves from the partially crushed or cut fruit. They are all equally delicious!

Berries are also used in baked goods. Pies and tarts often contain berries as do many other pastries. These small fruits are also added into cakes and even breads, especially after drying. In addition, the concentrated juice of berries can be used to make cool summer drinks. Concentrated further, various syrups can be added to foods as diverse as pancakes and ice cream. As flavorings, they are often added to candies and chocolates. In Western cuisine, life would be less sweet and interesting without the humble berry.

For some people, though, berries are best eaten fresh. They say that after washing and refrigerating, simply place a generous portion of berries into a cereal bowl, add chilled milk, and top with sugar. Enjoy! As the season for berries is usually in the summer and fall, this snack or dessert really hits the spot. For those who do not live where berries grow naturally and plentifully, these natural dessert fruits can be enjoyed while visiting those area lucky enough to have them.

Lesson 27 The Global Proliferation of English

英語(yǔ)的疆域擴(kuò)張

Everyone knows that there are more speakers of Mandarin than any other language in teh world. Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue. Compared to the naerly four hundred million native speakers of English, there would appear to be "no contest". Yet, it is just as well-known that English, not Mandarin, is the international language. Given these statistics, how can this be? Looking more closely at these and other facts reveals how English has become the world’s most widespread language.

The history of written Chinese goes back at least 4000 years, that of English little more than 1000 years. The language called English is actually a hybrid of Scaninavian and German tongues created by immigrants to England in the 5th century. A.D. Over the next 500 years, English developed into several major dialects spoken principally on most of the island of England. With continuous invasions by more Scandinavians and the French over the next few centuries, the English language received a fresh stimulus of foreign words, including Latin and Greek, the preferred classical alanguages in educational and political circles at that time in Europe. English as a principal language of literature did not evolve until the 14th century (Chaucer). By the 16th century, English was in full bloom, both in literature as well as in science.

England, referred to as Great Britain by this time, was amassing political, economic, and military power at breath-taking speed. The Industrial Revolution of the next century required foreign resources; imperialism gave the go-ahead for Britain and other European powers to not only take what they wanted from foreign lands but to lay conquest to those lands as well. Additionally, the rapid social changes engengered by the change from agriculture to manufacturing meant a surplus of farm workers, resulting in a waiting army of the dispossessed to emigrate to Britain’s newfound colonies. In the 17th and 18th centuries, millions of Englishmen left their mother country for North America. In the 18th century, hundreds of thousands more set sail for Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Aisa (the British Raj) and Africa (primarily South Africa). At the height of the British Empire, one-fourth of the world’s people and lands were living under the Union Jack. Thus, by the close of the 19th century Englsih rule had extended to the six principal continents (including British Guyana in South America).

This first-ever domination of the blobe by one language is the primary reason for the international use of English today. A second reason lies in the rise of the United States of America as a leading world power just as Britain’s power began to fade. At the close of the 19th century, the US fought with Spain (in 1898). After the US victory, Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico, resulting in the further introduction of English into Asia and the Caribbean. After US involvement in both World Wars, despite Britain’s continued decline, English became more commonly used around the world, especially in continental Europe and Japan. Since 1950, the rapidly growing US economy as well as its academic and scientific excellence has insured that English remains the language of commerce and intellectual intercouse. The world of entertainment, most notably Hollywood, has also contributed to the popularization of English.

It is estimated that at least 300 million people around the world are now studying or using English as a second language, for purposes of education, employment, or personal interest. Some 75% of all international communications are in English, and with the rise of the Internet, it is doubtful that this figure will decrease any time soon. At the dawn of the new millennium, the world has one international language, English.