When Alice was sixteen, I was the one who wanted to run away from home. It was (1) ______ to see the changes coming over her. She skipped school, and refused to communicate. I tried being firm, but it didn‘t (2) ______. I saw a dark future for my once sweet daughter.
    One school day Alice returned home very late. With a quarrel in view. I was surprised to see Alice was (3) ______.
    "I hope I did the right thing, Mom,""Alice said. I saw a cat, all bloody but alive. I (4) ______ it to the vet’s(宠物医院), and was asked to make payment (5) _____. As I couldn’t reach anyone at the phone number on the cat’s tag(标牌), I had to pay the bill."
    In the following days, the owner still couldn’t be (6) ______. Alice paid the vet to continue treatment. I grew (7) ______ what if the family had simply left the cat behind?
    A week went by. A woman called to speak to Alice.
　　"She is at school," I said.
　　"You have a (8) ______ daughter," she said, apparently in tears.
    Her family had just returned from abroad, and got a (n) (9) ______ from the vet. Their cat was recovering, thanks to Alice’s (10) ______. “We can’t wait to hug Cuddles again,” she sobbed.
    Upon her return home, Alice was filled with (11) ______ at the news. So was I. I learned through another woman’s eyes that my daughter was still a good person despite her (12) ______ teenage years. Her warm heart would surely guide her in the right direction.

    Imagine the first days in a new time zone. Slow to respond to the (1) ______, your body clock is confused. You’re sleepy all day, but when it’s time for bed, you can hardly fall asleep. Obviously you are (2) ______ jet lag（时差反应）.
    Travelers have traditionally fought this (3) ______ with sleeping pills or alcohol. There are actually healthier ways that can work just as (4) ______. 
    For example, the moment you get on the airplane, start (5) ______ your biological block to the destination’s time. If it’s daytime in your destination, try to stay (6) ______. Walking around the cabin（客舱） can be of help. When it’s nighttime, try to sleep. In that case, eat before the flight, (7) ______ an empty stomach will prevent you from sleeping. These tips will help you start a new (8) ______ of sleep and wakefulness.

    At thirteen, I was diagnosed（诊所） with  kind of attention disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.
    In my first literature class, Mrs.Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said,“Mrs.Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it.”
    She glanced down at me through her glasses, “you are no different from your classmates, young man.”
    I tried, but I didn’t finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.
    In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn’t get much education. But Louis didn’t give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots（点）, which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.
    Wasn’t I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?
    I didn’t expect anything when I handled in my paper to Mrs.Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day- with an“A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words:“ See what you can do when you keep trying?”

    In ancient Egypt, a shopkeeper discovered that he could attract customers to his shop simply by making changes to its environment. Modern businesses have been following his lead,with more tactics（策略）.
    One tactic involves where to display the goods. For example, stores place fruits and vegetables in the first section. They know that customers who buy the healthy food first will feel happy so that they will buy more junk food（垃圾食品）later in their trip. In department stores, section is generally next to the women’s cosmetics(化妆品) section：while the shop assistant is going back to find the right size shoe, bored customers are likely to wander over cosmetics they might want to try later. 
    Besides, businesses seek to appeal to customers’ senses. Stores notice that the smell of baked goods encourages shopping, they make their own bread each morning and then fan the bread smell into the store throughout the day. Music sells goods, too. Researchers in Britain found that when French music was played, sales of French wine went up. 
    When it comes to the selling of houses, businesses also use highly rewarding tactics. They find that customers make decision in the first few second upon walking in the door, and turn it into a business opportunity. A California builder designed the structure of its houses smartly. When entering the house, the customer would see the Pacific Ocean through the windows, and then the poll through an open stairway leading to the lower level. The instant view of water on both levels helped sell these $10 million houses.

LakeLander—2 hours ago

　　Today, a man talked very loud on his phone on a train between Malvern and Reading, making many passengers upset. I wonder how he would react if I were to read my newspaper out loud on thetrain, I have never had the courage to do it, though.

Pak50—57 minutes ago

　　Why not give it a try? Perhaps you should take lessons on a musical instrument. The late musician DennisBrian is said to have asked a fellow train passenger to turn off his radio. When his request was refused, he took out his French horn(号) and started to practice.

Angie O’Edema—42 minutes ago
　　I don’t see how musical instruments can help improve manners in public. Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t like to be done to yourself. Once, a passenger next to me talked out loud on his mobile phone. I left my seat quietly, giving him some privacy to finish his conversation. He realized this and apologised to me. When his phone rang again later, he left his seat to answer it. You see, a bit of respect and cooperation can do the job better.

Taodas—29 minutes ago
　　I did read my newspaper out loud on a train, and it turned out well. The guy took it in good part, and we chatted happily all the way to Edinbergh.

Sophie 76—13 minutes ago
　　I have not tried reading my newspaper out loud on a train, but ,several years ago, I read some chapters from Harry Porter to my bored and noisy children. Several passengers seemed to appreciate what I did.

    There are many places to go on safari（观赏野生动物）in Africa, but riding a horse through the flooded waters of Botswana's Okavango Delta must rank as one of the world's most exciting wildlife journeys.
    Several safari camps operate as the base for this adventure, providing unique rides twice a day to explore deep into the delta. The camps have excellent horses, professional guides and lots of support workers. They have a reputation for providing a great riding experience.
    The morning ride, when the guides take you to beautiful, shallow lakes full of water lilies, tends to be more active. It is unlike any other riding experience. With rainbows forming in the splashing water around you and the sound of huge drops of water bouncing off your body and face. It is truly exciting. You are very likely to come across large wild animals, too. On horseback it is possible to get quite close to elephants, giraffes and many other animals. The sense of excitement and tension levels rise suddenly though, as does your heart rate, as you move closer to them.
    In the evening, rides are usually at a more relaxed and unhurried pace. With golden light streaming across the grassy delta and the animals coming out to eat and drink. Sedate though they are, rides at this time of day are still very impressive. As the sun's rays pass through the dust kicked up by the horses, the romance of Africa comes to life.
    Back at the camp you can kick off your boots and enjoy excellent food and wine. Looking back on your day, you will find it hard to deny that a horseback Safari is as close as you will ever come to answering the call of the wild.

    The values of artistic works, according to cultural relativism(相对主义), are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.
    History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries, Unique works of this kind are different from today’s popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.
    In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because“the general principles of taste are uniform(不变的) in human nature,”the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.
    Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.