| 双语新闻－日本：测测你的笑有多少“aH”
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Japanese professor Yoji Kimura believes laughter is a weapon that in healthy doses can end the world's wars. To measure it, the expert on communications has invented a machine to chart out laughter -- and a new unit of "aH" to calculate it.
"We have found that children laugh more freely, releasing 10 aH per second, which is about twice as much as an adult," Kimura, a professor at Kansai University in the western city of Osaka, told reporters on Friday.
"Adults tend to calculate whether it's appropriate to laugh and under those restraints they eventually forget how," he said.
"Laughing is like a restart function on a computer. Laughing freely is very important in the course of human evolution," he said.
Kimura, who believes in "a shift from a century of wars to a century of humour and tolerance," has studied the science of laughter for decades in Osaka, the hub of Japan's stand-up comedy scene.
In his theory, human laughter is produced in four successive emotional stages -- letting loose, then deviating from the norm, followed by freely laughing and then having the laughter overflow.
"I believe there is a circuit in the human brain that creates laughter through these steps to the stage of overflowing," Kimura said confidently. "Understanding this mechanism is the door to resolving one secret of human beings."
To measure laughter, he attaches sensors on the skin of a tested subject's stomach, particularly the diaphragm, and detects muscle movements.
"I have a theory that humour detected in the brain gets directly discharged through the movement of diaphragm," he said.
By checking the movement of the diaphragm and other parts of the body, it will be possible to see if a person is only pretending to laugh while also distinguishing different types of laughter such as derision and cynicism, Kimura said.
Kimura wants to make the measuring device as small as a mobile phone and possibly market it as a health and amusement gadget.
Kimura said he planned to present his findings this summer to the US-based International Society for Humor Studies, adding that he looked forward to looking at differences in laughter internationally.
在日本教授木村誉二看来，笑好比一种武器，"适度的"笑具有结束战争的力量。但如何对"笑"进行测量呢？这位沟通学专家发明出一种"测笑"图仪--及其测算单位"aH"。
来自日本西部城市大阪的关西大学的木村教授于上周五接受记者的采访时说："我们发现，儿童笑起来更加无拘无束，每秒钟能释放10aH，为成年人的两倍。"
他说："成年人往往会考虑何时该笑，何时不该笑，在这些因素的制约下，他们最终就会忘记如何去笑。"
他说："笑就像电脑的重启功能，自由自在地笑对于人类的进化过程十分重要。"
大阪为日本的单口相声中心，数十年来，木村教授一直在此研究"笑"这门科学。他相信，（笑可以让）"一个充满战争的世界变为一个充满幽默而包容的世界"。
根据木村教授的理论，人的笑声主要经过四个相继的情绪阶段而产生，依次是放松、偏离常态、自由地笑，最后大笑。
木村教授自信地说："我认为人脑中存在一个回路，能通过以上这几个步骤产生笑声。了解这一机制有助于我们解开人类自身的一大秘密。"
在"测笑"过程中，木村教授在试验对象的腹部（尤其是横膈膜位置）安置了传感器，以检测肌肉运动。
他说："我有一个理论，在大脑中检测到的幽默能通过横膈膜的运动直接释放出来。"
通过检测横膈膜及身体其它部位的运动，能够判断一个人是否是假笑，同时还能辨别出不同类型的笑，比如嘲笑、冷笑等。
木村教授希望能将这种"测笑"装置制成手机大小，并将其作为一种健康娱乐的小玩意儿推向市场。
木村说，他计划于今年夏天向位于美国的国际幽默研究学会呈报将他的研究成果，他还希望自己能研究出世界各地笑声的不同。
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| 美文欣赏－你是我心中最美
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To someone who is beautiful... all over
It is absolutely wonderful to have
someone in your life who is caring
and giving and gracious - some whose
smiles are live sunshine and laughter
and whose words always seem to say
the things you most like to hear...
because those magical people are really
beautiful... inside.
And it is a special privilege to
know someone whose outward appearance
is a delight just to see - someone who
lights up a room with radiance and
who lights up my little corner of the
world with a loveliness it has never
known before... because special people
like that are really beautiful... outside.
But most of all, it is one of the
world's most special blessings to
have a person in your life who can
add so much pleasure and such magnificence
to the days - as you have to mine...
because you're someone who is beautiful...
all over.
- Andrew Tawney
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| 想笑就笑－什么士兵？
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What soldiers?
Wife: Dear! Take a look at those soldiers gawking at the lovely young girl passing by.
Husband: Soldiers? What soldiers?
什么士兵？
妻子：亲爱的！快看那些士兵，他们看经过的那位漂亮女郎都看得发呆了。
丈夫：士兵？什么士兵？
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| 安徒生童话-A CHEERFUL TEMPER
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FROM my father I received the best inheritance, namely a "good temper." "And who was my father?" That has nothing to do with the good temper; but I will say he was lively, good-looking round, and fat; he was both in appearance and character a complete contradiction to his profession. "And pray what was his profession and his standing in respectable society?" Well, perhaps, if in the beginning of a book these were written and printed, many, when they read it, would lay the book down and say, "It seems to me a very miserable title, I don't like things of this sort." And yet my father was not a skin-dresser nor an executioner; on the contrary, his employment placed him at the head of the grandest people of the town, and it was his place by right. He had to precede the bishop, and even the princes of the blood; he always went first,- he was a hearse driver!
There, now, the truth is out. And I will own, that when people saw my father perched up in front of the omnibus of death, dressed in his long, wide, black cloak, and his black-edged, three-cornered hat on his head, and then glanced at his round, jocund face, round as the sun, they could not think much of sorrow or the grave. That face said, "It is nothing, it will all end better than people think." So I have inherited from him, not only my good temper, but a habit of going often to the churchyard, which is good, when done in a proper humor; and then also I take in the Intelligencer, just as he used to do.
I am not very young, I have neither wife nor children, nor a library, but, as I said, I read the Intelligencer, which is enough for me; it is to me a delightful paper, and so it was to my father. It is of great use, for it contains all that a man requires to know; the names of the preachers at the church, and the new books which are published; where houses, servants, clothes, and provisions may be obtained. And then what a number of subscriptions to charities, and what innocent verses! Persons seeking interviews and engagements, all so plainly and naturally stated. Certainly, a man who takes in the Intelligencer may live merrily and be buried contentedly, and by the end of his life will have such a capital stock of paper that he can lie on a soft bed of it, unless he prefers wood shavings for his resting-place. The newspaper and the churchyard were always exciting objects to me. My walks to the latter were like bathing-places to my good humor. Every one can read the newspaper for himself, but come with me to the churchyard while the sun shines and the trees are green, and let us wander among the graves. Each of them is like a closed book, with the back uppermost, on which we can read the title of what the book contains, but nothing more. I had a great deal of information from my father, and I have noticed a great deal myself. I keep it in my diary, in which I write for my own use and pleasure a history of all who lie here, and a few more beside.
Now we are in the churchyard. Here, behind the white iron railings, once a rose-tree grew; it is gone now, but a little bit of evergreen, from a neighboring grave, stretches out its green tendrils,and makes some appearance; there rests a very unhappy man, and yet while he lived he might be said to occupy a very good position. He had enough to live upon, and something to spare; but owing to his refined tastes the least thing in the world annoyed him. If he went to a theatre of an evening, instead of enjoying himself he would be quite annoyed if the machinist had put too strong a light into one side of the moon, or if the representations of the sky hung over the scenes when they ought to have hung behind them; or if a palm-tree was introduced into a scene representing the Zoological Gardens of Berlin, or a cactus in a view of Tyrol, or a beech-tree in the north of Norway. As if these things were of any consequence! Why did he not leave them alone? Who would trouble themselves about such trifles? especially at a comedy, where every one is expected to be amused. Then sometimes the public applauded too much, or too little, to please him."They are like wet wood," he would say, looking round to see what sort of people were present, "this evening; nothing fires them." Then he would vex and fret himself because they did not laugh at the right time, or because they laughed in the wrong places; and so he fretted and worried himself till at last the unhappy man fretted himself into the grave.
Here rests a happy man, that is to say, a man of high birth and position, which was very lucky for him, otherwise he would have been scarcely worth notice. It is beautiful to observe how wisely nature orders these things. He walked about in a coat embroidered all over,and in the drawing-rooms of society looked just like one of those rich pearl-embroidered bell-pulls, which are only made for show; and behind them always hangs a good thick cord for use. This man also had a stout, useful substitute behind him, who did duty for him, and performed all his dirty work. And there are still, even now, these serviceable cords behind other embroidered bell-ropes. It is all so wisely arranged, that a man may well be in a good humor.
Here rests,- ah, it makes one feel mournful to think of him!-but here rests a man who, during sixty-seven years, was never remembered to have said a good thing; he lived only in the hope of having a good idea. At last he felt convinced, in his own mind, that he really had one, and was so delighted that he positively died of joy at the thought of having at last caught an idea. Nobody got anything by it; indeed, no one even heard what the good thing was. Now I can imagine that this same idea may prevent him from resting quietly in his grave; for suppose that to produce a good effect, it is necessary to bring out his new idea at breakfast, and that he can only make his appearance on earth at midnight, as ghosts are believed generally to do; why then this good idea would not suit the hour, and the man would have to carry it down again with him into the grave- that must be a troubled grave.
The woman who lies here was so remarkably stingy, that during her life she would get up in the night and mew, that her neighbors might think she kept a cat. What a miser she was!
Here rests a young lady, of a good family, who would always make her voice heard in society, and when she sang "Mi manca la voce,"*
it was the only true thing she ever said in her life.
* "I want a voice," or, "I have no voice."
Here lies a maiden of another description. She was engaged to be married,- but, her story is one of every-day life; we will leave her to rest in the grave.
Here rests a widow, who, with music in her tongue, carried gall in her heart. She used to go round among the families near, and search out their faults, upon which she preyed with all the envy and malice of her nature. This is a family grave. The members of this family held so firmly together in their opinions, that they would believe in no other. If the newspapers, or even the whole world, said of a certain subject, "It is so-and-so;" and a little schoolboy declared he had learned quite differently, they would take his assertion as the only true one, because he belonged to the family. And it is well known that if the yard-cock belonging to this family happened to crow at midnight, they would declare it was morning, although the watchman and all the clocks in the town were proclaiming the hour of twelve at night.
The great poet Goethe concludes his Faust with the words, "may be continued;" so might our wanderings in the churchyard be continued.
I come here often, and if any of my friends, or those who are not my friends, are too much for me, I go out and choose a plot of ground in which to bury him or her. Then I bury them, as it were; there they lie, dead and powerless, till they come back new and better characters. Their lives and their deeds, looked at after my own fashion, I write down in my diary, as every one ought to do. Then, if any of our friends act absurdly, no one need to be vexed about it. Let them bury the offenders out of sight, and keep their good temper. They can also read the Intelligencer, which is a paper written by the people, with their hands guided. When the time comes for the history of my life, to be bound by the grave, then they will write upon it as my epitaph-
"The man with a cheerful temper."
And this is my story.
THE END
IndexNext
Written By Anderson
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| 西方文化－你相信鬼吗？
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Do you believe in ghosts?
A pre-Halloween poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos shows that 34% of people say they do.
That's the same proportion who believe in unidentified flying objects. The poll also shows that 19% of people accept the existence of spells or witchcraft.
And forty-eight percent believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP.
A smaller but still substantial 23 percent say they have actually seen a ghost, with the most likely candidates for such visits including single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services.
Three in 10 have awakened sensing a strange presence in the room.
Fourteen percent - mostly men and lower-income people - say they have seen a UFO.
One in five say they are at least somewhat superstitious, with young men, minorities, and the less educated more likely to go out of their way to seek luck. Twenty-six percent of urban residents said they are superstitious, while single men were more superstitious than unmarried women, 31 percent to 17 percent.
The most admitted-to superstition, by 17 percent, was finding a four-leaf clover. Thirteen percent dread walking under a ladder or the groom seeing his bride before their wedding, while slightly smaller numbers named black cats, breaking mirrors, opening umbrellas indoors, Friday the 13th or the number 13.
Generally, women were more superstitious than men about four-leaf clovers, breaking mirrors or grooms prematurely seeing brides. Democrats were more superstitious than Republicans over opening umbrellas indoors, while liberals were more superstitious than conservatives over four-leaf clovers, grooms seeing brides and umbrellas.
The poll, conducted October 16-18, involved telephone interviews with 1,013 adults.
你相信鬼吗？
美联社与益普索调查机构在万圣节前开展的一项民意调查显示，34%的受访者称他们信鬼。
另有相同比例的人相信存在不明飞行物。此外，调查显示，19%的受访者相信世界上存在"魔力。
48%的人相信"超感知"（指超感官知觉）的存在。
23%的受访者称他们见过鬼，其中单身人士、天主教徒及从未参加过礼拜仪式的人"见到鬼"的几率最大。
30%的受访者称他们曾在醒来时感到房间里有奇怪的东西。
14%的受访者（其中大多数为男性及低收入者）称他们见过不明飞行物。
五分之一的人称自己多少有点迷信，其中年轻男性、少数民族及教育程度较低的人尤为如此。26%的城镇居民称自己相信迷信；单身男性比单身女性更迷信，比例分别为31%和17%.
调查显示，相信"发现四叶草能交上好运"的人最多，占受访人数的17%.13%的人认为走在梯子下面会走霉运或新郎新娘在婚礼前见面不吉利。另有一小部分受访者认为黑猫、破裂的镜子、在屋里撑伞、"黑色星期五"、数字13都是不吉利的象征。
总的来说，女性比男性更迷信四叶草、破裂的镜子及新郎新娘在婚礼前见面等说法；民主党人比共和党人更迷信"在屋里撑伞不吉利"的说法；自由主义人士比保守主义人士更迷信四叶草、新郎新娘在婚礼前见面及在屋里撑伞的说法。
该项电话调查于本月16日至18日进行，共有1013位成年人参加。
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| 体育英语－奥运志愿者英语培训教程:再见告别
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2006年8月28日，北京奥运会的志愿者招募工作正式启动，报名工作将一直持续到2008年3月底。对于一名优秀的奥运志愿者来说，良好的英语能力是必须的。如果你的英语水平还不够，别着急，只要你跟着此教程循序渐进的学习，一定可以达到事半功倍效果。
第二课：再见和告别 Goodbye and Taking Leave
01. A: I really should be going.
我真的要走了。
B: OK, have a safe trip.
好，祝你一路平安。
02. A: Take care! See you later.
保重！再见。
B: Have a nice day!
祝你今天过得愉快！
03. A:Please look me up whenever you're in Beijing.
到了北京就来找我。
B: Thank you, I sure will.
谢谢，我一定会的。
04. A: Nice talking to you!
很高兴和你谈话！
B: Same here!
我也一样！
05. A: Please say hello to your family.
请代我向你家人问好。
B: Send my best wishes to your wife.
替我为你妻子送去最好的祝愿。
06. A: Goodbye and good luck!
再见，祝你好运！
B: Keep in touch!
保持联系！
07. A: This is a small gift. I hope you like it.
这是我的一点小心意，希望你喜欢。
B: I love it!
我很喜欢！
08. A: Let's take a picture together.
一起合张影吧。
B: That's a good idea!
好主意！
09. A: Let's get together again soon.
有空再来聚一聚
B: I'm looking forward to that.
我在盼望着那一天。
10. A: I hope to see you again.
我希望再次见到你。
B: Me too.
我也是。
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| 双语诗歌－当你恋爱
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When You Love
by Aphra Behn
when you Love, or speak of it,
Make no serious matter on't,
'Twill make but subject for her wit
And gain her scorn in lieu of Grant.
Sneering, whining, dull Grimasses
Pale the Appetite, they'd move;
Only Boys and formal Asses
Thus are Ridicul'd by Love.
while you make Mystery
Of Your Love and awful flame;
Young and tender Hearts will fly,
Frighted at the very name;
Always brisk and gayly court,
Make Love your pleasure not your pain,
'Tis by wanton play and sport
Heedless Virgins you will gain.
当你恋爱
阿芙拉-本
当你恋爱，或谈论爱情，
千万别把事情当真，
它只能成为女士机智的笑柄，
受到她的轻视，而不是应允。
讥笑、牢骚、枯燥的苦相
淡化欲望--本该刺激的欲望；
只有稚童和讲究褥节的蠢驴
才会如此被爱情调戏。
当你使它万分神秘--
你的爱和如火如荼的情欲；
年轻和娇弱的心灵即会逃避，
威慑于爱情这个名字；
永远快活吧，嬉戏地追逐，
使爱情成为乐趣而非痛楚，
正是因为你逢场作戏，
你将得到毫不提防的处女。
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| 英文演讲－President's Radio Address
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February 23, 2008
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This Thursday, Laura and I returned from an inspiring visit to Africa. In Benin and Tanzania, we met leaders who are fighting HIV/AIDS and malaria -- and people whose lives have been saved by the generosity of the American people. In Rwanda, we saw a nation overcoming the pain of genocide with courage and grace and hope. In Ghana, we met entrepreneurs who are exporting their products and building a more prosperous future. And in Liberia, we saw a nation that is recovering from civil war, led by the first democratically elected woman President on the continent. Laura and I returned to Washington impressed by the energy, optimism, and potential of the African people.
Members of Congress will soon be returning to Washington, as well, and they have urgent business to attend to. They left town on a 10-day recess without passing vital legislation giving our intelligence professionals the tools they need to quickly and effectively monitor foreign terrorist communications. Congress' failure to pass this legislation was irresponsible. It will leave our Nation increasingly vulnerable to attack. And Congress must fix this damage to our national security immediately.
The way ahead is clear. The Senate has already passed a good bill by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. This bill has strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, and would pass if given an up or down vote. But House leaders are blocking this legislation, and the reason can be summed up in three words: class action lawsuits.
The Senate bill would prevent plaintiffs' attorneys from suing companies believed to have helped defend America after the 9/11 attacks. More than 40 of these lawsuits have been filed, seeking hundreds of billions of dollars in damages from these companies. It is unfair and unjust to threaten these companies with financial ruin only because they are believed to have done the right thing and helped their country.
But the highest cost of all is to our national security. Without protection from lawsuits, private companies will be increasingly unwilling to take the risk of helping us with vital intelligence activities. After the Congress failed to act last week, one telecommunications company executive was asked by the Wall Street Journal how his company would respond to a request for help. He answered that because of the threat of lawsuits, quote, "I'm not doing it ...I'm not going to do something voluntarily." In other words, the House's refusal to act is undermining our ability to get cooperation from private companies. And that undermines our efforts to protect us from terrorist attack.
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell recently explained that the vast majority of the communications infrastructure we rely on in the United States is owned and operated by the private sector. Because of the failure to provide liability protection, he says private companies who have "willingly helped us in the past, are now saying, 'You can't protect me. Why should I help you?'" Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, puts it this way: "The fact is, if we lose cooperation from these or other private companies, our national security will suffer."
When Congress reconvenes on Monday, Members of the House have a choice to make: They can empower the trial bar -- or they can empower the intelligence community. They can help class action trial lawyers sue for billions of dollars -- or they can help our intelligence officials protect millions of lives. They can put our national security in the hands of plaintiffs' lawyers -- or they can entrust it to the men and women of our government who work day and night to keep us safe. As they make their choice, Members of Congress must never forget: Somewhere in the world, at this very moment, terrorists are planning the next attack on America. And to protect America from such attacks, we must protect our telecommunications companies from abusive lawsuits.
Thank you for listening.
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| 学习技巧-英语语法Q&A:名词
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Q1 接在like后面的名词应该用单数还是复数呢？例如："我喜欢狗"。说成I like a dog，是错误的吗？
A 当说明"我喜欢~"时，若"~"是表示可数的名词时，一般要用复数形式。
（×） I like an apple．
（○） I like apple．
我喜欢苹果。
"~"叵是指特定的东西时当然要用单数形式。
Do you like this flower?
你喜欢这朵花吗？
Q2 I have no ~的句型，no后面的名词是单数还是复数呢？例如"我没有兄弟。"下面哪一种说法才正确呢？
1．I have no brother．
2．I have no brothers．
A 一般若是属于复数存在的东西时就用复数形式，若是属于单数存在的东西时就用单数形式。若单数、复数都可能存在时就两者皆可以。像"兄弟"、"姐妹"一般都是复数存在的情形较多，因此多半都是用brother，sisters。比如说"我没有父亲"时，就用单数（参见下例）。
I have no father．
There is ( are ) no ~的句型也是同样的道理。
There are no clouds in the sky．
天空无云。
There is no radio in his room．
他的房间里没有收音机。
Q3 用Mother来代替my mother是否正确呢？例如：Where is Mother?（妈妈在哪里？）句中的Mother不需要用my mother吗？
A mother，father常常都是不加my 或our的。它的用法就像Tom，Li Ming 之类的专有名词一样，因此一般Father，Mother即使不是在句首出现，它第一个字母也都大写。
I went fishing with Father last Sunday．
我上星期天和父亲一起去钓鱼。
还有，Father，Mother只用于自己的父母亲，不可以用于别人的父母亲。
Q4 on Sunday 和on Sundays有何不同？
A 两者都可以解释为"（在）星期天"，不过Sunday后面若加s则有"星期天总是~"的意思。
此外，on Sunday在文句中根据其前后文关系有时是表示"上个星期天（=last Sunday）"的意思，有时表示"下个星期天（=next Sunday）"的意思。
Q5 可以在无生命的名词后面加's当作所有格用吗？例如："我们学校的游泳池"可以说成my school's pool吗？
A 无生命名词原则上是用of来表示所有的意思。因此"我们学校的游泳池"要说the pool of my school。不过，表示时间的名词则可以直接加's。
today's newspaper
今天的报纸
three days' trip
（复数名词时只要加 ' 即可）
三天行程的旅行
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