disability, người khuyết tật

7/23/2019 Disability, Ng i khuyt tt

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Disabilityby Chris Wilson

Nowadays in the west the able bodied are constantly reminded that disabled people have rights

just like everyone else and they mustnt discriminate against them in any way. Public buildingshave to have ramps and toilets big enough for wheelchairs. Bus drivers are supposed toannounce every stop so that blind people know when to get off. ne is not allowed to refuse aperson a job on the grounds that he or she has only one leg! or cannot speak. "e use phrases likephysically challenged instead of crippled or spastic. "e avoid using the word dumb to meanstupid # and this is not just us trying to be politically correct. $hings like the Para lympicshave done wonders to raise peoples awareness with so many positive images and perceptions ofdisabled people genuinely have changed. Not that "estern society doesnt still have a long wayto go! but disabled people are far less marginalised! far more integrated than in the past whenthey were confined to institutions! out of sight and out of mind.

%isabled peoples own self esteem has risen enormously in recent years and they have becomefar more assertive and insistent on their rights! and their ability to compete with everyone else.&ven the words disabled and handicapped are challenged. 's a blind person disabled when heor she can function just as well as everyone else( New technology of course is making a hugedifference. 'nstead of clumsy wooden legs! for e)ample! new materials and designs in prostheticlimbs enable people to walk and run as fast as everyone else. *igh tech hearing aids e)ist forthe deaf! as well as laser surgery for the very short sighted. +ars are adapted so that people candrive them with only one hand! or even no hands at all. ,ery recently a chip was inserted intothe brain of a person paralysed from the neck down enabling him to move a cursor on a screensimply by looking at it. $his means he can now do all sorts of things # switch the television andthe lights on and off! type! surf the internet! even send e#mails. "ho knows what hell be able to

do ne)t( %rive a car(

-lso many things that previously were not considered disabilities now are recognised for whatthey are # serious handicaps! and arrangements have been made for the people who suffer fromthem. %ysle)ia is a good e)ample. Not so long ago dysle)ic people were considered at school tobe slow! or stupid! and that was that. Nowadays it is seen as a serious condition and teachershave to be aware of it.

But what is it like in the %eveloping "orld( 'n places where there are no facilities at all( "herepolio victims have to crawl through the traffic on their knees and elbows( "here every disabledperson is unemployed and forced to beg! or depend on relatives(

%espite all that says -nna! a wedish ,olunteer in /o0ambi1ue! it is often in these placesthat disabled people are actually more integrated and happier in society. "estern society is soobsessed with beauty and physical perfection that even an overweight person feels ostracised! letalone a person missing an entire limb. *ere having one leg is no more remarkable than having abig nose.

But is this really so(


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2es and no says -dolfo! a blind /o0ambican who! as an accomplished guitar player! isactually the only breadwinner in his family. 'm lucky. ' have a skill. /ore importantly ' wasgiven the opportunity to ac1uire one. -nd so ' am able to contribute to society and ' amrespected. /ost disabled people are totally unskilled and so are burdens on society whether they

like it or not. /aybe we are more generous! we dont reject people who cannot contribute. $heyare not outcasts # but that doesnt mean we respect them either. ' think that is too idealistic a viewof -frican society! how we would like it to be rather than how it really is. 'n reality these days!with so much poverty and *', -ids! its every man for himself! every woman for herself! anddisabled people are completely forgotten! left behind. ' heard a story about a woman in a verydry part of our country. he had lost both legs in a land mine e)plosion. Because of droughtthere was no food and when a 3N truck full of supplies arrived she was left behind in thestampede! and so she got none. 4ater everyone had to register in order to get a ration card! thenbecause she didnt get one she was told that she did not officially e)ist and therefore was notentitled to food5 No thank you! ' would rather have no legs in &urope any day than here.

' dont believe that story says -nna. People here just wouldnt behave like that.*ave youever been really hungry( asks -dolfo.No she is forced to admit.$hen how would youknow(

But -nna still thinks its worse in the "est. 'n -frica people are much more tactile! much moretolerant! much more accepting. &ven the mentally deranged are part of society. "hats the use ofall those facilities if no one actually ever talks to you( %isabled people in &urope are dying ofloneliness. People are physically repulsed by handicapped people. $he idea that disabled peoplehave se)ual desires just like anyone else is 1uite shocking. *ere in the market there is a younggirl who sells tomatoes. he must have been in an awful fire because one side of her iscompletely burnt and her left hand has no fingers at all. *er face is terribly disfigured! she hasonly one eye and just a hole for a nose. But she flirts with all the guys! and then makes bawdyjokes about them to the other women! and has everyone in fits of laughter. $hat doesnt meanthey actually fancy her though says -dolfo. 3nless theyre blind like me he jokes.

But going back to technology! it is making things easier here too he adds. 4ook at mymobile phone. "ouldnt you like a speaking clock or a computer with software to enable it toread aloud to you( asks -nna. -dolfo just laughs. /y wife does that for me he says. hereads the newspaper to me every day.2ou see5 says -nna. $hat proves me right. Nobodywhere ' come from has got time to read to a blind person5 -nd dont tell me that a machine cando it just as well because it cant5


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Ecotourism

by Linda Baxter

'magine the scene. 2ou6re sitting in the hot sunshine beside the swimming pool of yourinternational lu)ury hotel! drinking your imported gin and tonic. 'n front of you is thebeach! reserved for hotel guests with motor boats for hire. Behind you is an 78#hole golfcourse! which was cleared from the native forest and is kept green by hundreds of watersprinklers. -round the hotel are familiar international restaurant chains and the sameshops that you have at home. 2ou6ve seen some local people # some of them sell localhandicrafts outside the hotel. 2ou bought a small wooden statue and after arguing for halfan hour you only paid a 1uarter of what the man was asking. 9eally cheap5

's this your idea of heaven or would you prefer something different(

Before you read on! try the vocabulary activity! which practises words and phrases thatare important for you to understand the te)t.

Nowadays! many of us try to live in a way that will damage the environment as little aspossible. "e recycle our newspapers and bottles! we take public transport to get to work!we try to buy locally produced fruit and vegetables and we stopped using aerosol spraysyears ago. -nd we want to take these attitudes on holiday with us. $his is why alternativeforms of tourism are becoming more popular all over the world.

But what is ecotourism?

$here are lots of names for these new forms of tourism: responsible tourism! alternativetourism! sustainable tourism! nature tourism! adventure tourism! educational tourism andmore. &cotourism probably involves a little of all of them. &veryone has a differentdefinition but most people agree that ecotourism must:

7. conserve the wildlife and culture of the area.;. benefit the local people and involve the local community


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foot! by boat! bicycle or elephant so that there is no pollution. -nd they have a speciale)perience that they will remember all of their lives.

$his type of tourism can only involve small numbers of people so it can be e)pensive.But you can apply the principles of ecotourism wherever you go for your holiday. >ust

remember these basic rules.

Be prepared. 4earn about the place that you6re going to visit. ?ind out about itsculture and history. 4earn a little of the native language! at least basics like 6Please6!6$hank you6! and 6@ood /orning6. $hink of your holiday as an opportunity to learnsomething.

*ave respect for local culture. "ear clothes that will not offend people. -lwaysask permission before you take a photograph. 9emember that you are a visitor.

%on6t waste resources. 'f the area doesn6t have much water! don6t take two showersevery day.

9emember the phrase A4eave nothing behind you e)cept footprints and takenothing away e)cept photographs.A $ake as much care of the places that you visit as youtake of your own home. %on6t buy souvenirs made from endangered animals or plants.

"alk or use other non#polluting forms of transport whenever you can. Be fle)ible and keep a sense of humour when things go wrong.

tay in local hotels and eat in local restaurants. Buy local products whenever possible andpay a fair price for what you buy.

+hoose your holiday carefully. %on6t be afraid to ask the holiday company about whatthey do that is 6eco6. 9emember that 6eco6 is very fashionable today and a lot of holidaysthat are advertised as ecotourism are not much better than traditional tourism.

But before you get too enthusiastic! think about how you are going to get to your dream6eco6 paradise. ?lying is one of the biggest man#made sources of carbon dio)ide in theatmosphere. ?riends of the &arth say that one return flight from 4ondon to /iami puts asmuch carbon dio)ide into the atmosphere as the average British car driver produces in ayear. o don6t forget that you don6t have to fly to e)otic locations for your 6eco6 holiday.$here are probably places of natural beauty and interest in your own country that you6venever visited.


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Environmental Protest Groups

Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone

They paved paradise and they put up a parking lot

(Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Tai!

?acts about the state of the global environment read like 1uotes on a poster for an epic*ollywood movie C e)panding deserts in -frica! huge forest fires in 'ndonesia! seriousshortages of fish in &urope! thousands of deaths from air pollution in Bra0il! disappearingforests in the -ma0on! melting ice#caps and increasing radiation levels in the polarregions. But just as there is no evil 4e) 4uther or &rnst Blofeld responsible for thesedisasters! there is no uperman or >ames Bond to save the world. $he human race hascaused these problems and we are going to have to work together to solve them.

*owever! many people feel that the governments of countries around the world are nottaking environmental issues seriously enough. $o allow the voices of concerned people tobe heard! a large number of protest groups have been set up by ordinary people to raiseawareness of the issues! and to put pressure on politicians to act before it is too late. -few of the organisations have become household names! particularly ?riends of the &arthand @reenpeace. $wo smaller groups! urfers -gainst ewage and 9eclaim $he treets!are less well known! but take themselves just as seriously.

urfers -gainst ewage D-E

urfers -gainst ewage was founded in 7FFG by water sports enthusiasts! who werebecoming more and more concerned about the health risks they faced when usingbeaches in +ornwall in the 3H. *uman and to)ic waste pumped into the sea was causingserious illnesses! and beach goers felt that they were playing 9ussian 9oulette with theirhealth every time they went into the water.

- alerted people to the problem by going to public events with their surfboards! wherethey handed out leaflets wearing wetsuits and gasmasks. $hey soon attracted the attentionof the media and other concerned water users from around Britain and were able to putpressure on the government to ban dumping untreated waste in the sea! rivers and lakes.$he group was so successful that in 7FF8! only 8 years after they started campaigning! thegovernment agreed to spend 8.I billion pounds on cleaning up Britains a1uatic

environment.

urfers -gainst ewage has ac1uired a cool image over the years. 'n 7FFF the director of$he Beach! a *ollywood blockbuster starring 4eonardo %i +aprio! wanted to use the- logo on actors backpacks. - refused permission however! because they wereconcerned about the environmental damage that making the film had caused to the tinytropical island of Phi Phi in $hailand.


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9eclaim $he treets D9$E

9eclaim $he treets was started in 4ondon in 7FF7 to campaign ?9 walking! cyclingand cheap! or free! public transport! and -@-'N$ cars! roads and the system that pushesthem. 9$ began by protesting against road building through unspoilt areas of the

British countryside! and now have e)panded their activities to draw attention toenvironmental! political! economic and social injustice around the world.

9$ campaigns by stopping traffic and turning roads and motorways into huge streetparties. /embers of the group dig up tarmac and plant trees! make beaches and paddlingpools for children to play in! decorate the street with colourful banners! and give out freefood and drink. - huge sound system is set up! bands! jugglers and clowns perform! andhundreds or even thousands of people dance and party. $he carnival is usually broken upby the police after a few hours! and in the past some of the demonstrations have beenmarred by violence between police and protesters.

9$ doesnt have any clear aims! it says that it is a Jdisorganisation rather than anorganisation! since there is no one in charge! but the methods that the group uses havecaught on! and are now used worldwide. -s the 9$ website says! $he 9eclaim $hetreets idea has grown up and left home! street parties and suchlike often happen withoutanyone in 9$ 4ondon hearing about them until afterwards.

Protest and the 'nternet

Both - and 9$ have e)tensive websites providing information about their activities!

and providing links to like#minded groups around the world. 't seems that nowadays the'nternet is helping more and more people e)press their dissatisfaction with the status 1uo!and work together to find solutions to the problems that the modern world faces.

Glossary

aquatic DadjE: living or growing in! happening in! or connected with water

blockbuster DnE: a book! film! etc that is very popular and successful

epic DnE: a story or film which is very long and contains a lot of action

Ernst Blofeld: the villain in some >ames Bond films

found DvE: to start an organi0ation! especially by providing money

household nameDnE: someone or something that everyone knows


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issue DnE: an important subject or problem that people are discussing

Lex Luther: the villain in uperman

mar DvE: to spoil something

paddling poolDnE: a shallow pool that small children can play in

polar DadjE: relating to the North or outh Pole

Russian rouletteDnE: a very dangerous game of chance where each player aims at theirown head with a gun which has one bullet in it and five empty chambers DK spaces wherebullets could goE

status quoDnE: the situation that e)ists now! without any changes

tarmac DnE: a thick! black substance that is sticky when hot and is used to cover roads

toxic DadjE: poisonous


8/25

Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Mozart

"olfgang -madeus /o0art D7LIM#F7E of -ustria was a keen and skilful billiards player. -slight deformity of his left ear was hidden by his wig. /ahlers last word before he died

was /o0art.

-mong composers of the classical period! the most prolific was "olfgang -madeus/o0art D7LIM#F7E of -ustria! who wrote c. 7!GGG operas! operettas! symphonies! violinsonatas! divertimenti! serenades! motets. +oncertos for piano and many other instruments!string 1uartets! other chamber music masses and litanies! of which only LG werepublished before he died at the age of


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/o0art had a slight deformity of his left ear! usually kept covered by his wig.

$he principal theme of the last movement of /o0art6s Piano +oncerto H.=I< wassuggested to the composer by a tune whistled by his pet starling. $he bird also knew his+oncerto no. 7L! for /o0art had devoted some idle moments to teaching the bird the

principal theme of the last movement! a theme that is! admittedly! rather chirpy and bird#like in nature. 2et the starling was an imperfect student. ne note it sang wrong everytime and! according to the composer! another note was consistently held too long. 'tseems that even the e)ample of the concerto6s creator was insufficient to convince/o0art6s starling to sing the piece e)actly as written. n /ay ;L! 7L8= a strange funeralwas held. -s usual! hymns were sung at the graveside. $hen /o0art recited a poem he6dpenned. ?inally! the composer6s pet starling was laid to rest.

'f a jobs worth doing! its worth doing slowly. $hough /o0art had only ohannes +hrystostomus "olfgangus $heophilus J-madeus /o0art is an anagram of>ust some -ustrian. D+omposed many half#hour songsOwalt0es! though5E

$he /o0art effect refers to disputed scientific studies that test a theory suggesting thatclassical music increases brain activity more positively than other kinds of music! andthat listening to certain kinds of comple) music may induce a short#lived Dfifteen minuteEimprovement in the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as Aspatio#temporal reasoningA. $wo pieces of /o0art6s musicQ onata for $wo Pianos in % /ajorDH. ==8E and Piano +oncerto No. ;< DH. =88E! were found to have this effect! giving it its


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name. 4ater research also suggested that H. ==8 can reduce the number of sei0ures inpeople with epilepsy.

'n the fre1uently playful letters of his youth /o0art sometimes would spell his namebackwards! vi0.! /o0art "olfgang or $ra0om. /ore often he would sign letters 6/0t6.

$he /o0artkugel D&nglish: /o0art ballE! known originally as the /o0artbonbon! wascreated by the al0burg confectioner Paul ?Rrst in 78FG and named after "olfgang-madeus /o0art. $he confectionary ?Rrst still produces the original al0burg/o0artkugeln by hand according to the original recipe and only sells them in its shops orover its website. -s the ?Rrst confectionary does not own a trademark for /o0artkugeln!there are numerous imitation products! most of which are produced using industrialtechni1ues.


11/25

Exams

By Jo Bertrand

%o you remember that nasty feeling of sweaty palms( - wave of nausea coming overyou( $he sudden inability to talk your mouth is so dry( No! its not the first meeting withthe dreaded in#laws! although some parallels could easily be made. 'm talking aboutwaiting at the door of an e)am room! convinced that you know nothing and that theresno way you will get through this e)perience alive.

"eve all been there at some point of our lives! whether it be for the 77S! the @.+..&?rench oral e)am! university finals! the ?+& e)amT the list is endless. omehow thoughwe get through it. "e survive to see another day. But what has always baffled me is howpeople react so differently when faced with the prospect of taking an e)am.

' dont know about you but 've always been insanely jealous of those people who partyall year round! then the night before the e)am flick through my course book! Dtheirs isempty because they didnt go to any lecturesE! and then somehow manage to sail throughthe e)am with flying colours. 'n the meantime 'm there! present and correct at most ofmy lectures! panicking for weeks before my finals! and the night before! not only am 'trying to cram like mad everything my clever friend points out is missing from my file ashe flicks through my te)t books and observes that 've missed out a whole chapter ofessential work that is bound to come up in the e)am! Ddraw for breath5E! but 'm alsopanicking about packing my school bag.

nce youre in the e)am room there is the obligatory ritual of snacks and refreshments tobe organised. 'ts essential that you line them up in edible order so as not to have to thinktoo much whilst writing. $he idea is also not to make too much noise during the e)am.$heres nothing worse than popcorn rustling in a cinema. $he e)am room is no e)ception.o its vitally important that the aforementioned sweets are opened and ready to go. 2ourpacket of Polos should be completely opened. $hese should be sucked and not crunchedat the time of consumption otherwise it defeats the whole object of trying to avoid noisepollution. ?inally! no cans or cartons should be taken into the e)ams as both are far toonoisy.

Ne)t up is the bulging pencil case. 2ou should of course have at least ; pencils and Mpens. ; black! ; blue! ; red. 'f you want to go for the novelty points then choose a purple!or green scented pen. -ny attempt to make the e)aminer smile cant be wrong! can it(%ont forget your highlighter pens! one of each colour! tipe)! blu tack! glue. 2ou neverknow what might happen. 2ou need a personal clock! although the space on the table isbecoming relatively limited at this point! so a watch is an acceptable option.


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-s you turn your paper over! your mind inevitably goes blank for at least the first tenminutes and you start thinking back to the days when you had a life! in the pre#revisionera. uddenly though! fear takes over. 2ou jab your forehead incessantly with a pen in thehope that this will encourage some sort of intelligent thought to flow from your brain tothe paper via your biro. -nd miracles of miracles! it does. ?or the ne)t three hours you

write constantly! not even pausing for breath! let alone pausing to pick up a polo. 'n anycase their destiny is to get sticky at the bottom of your bag because you stupidly openedthe whole packet. But none of that matters anymore because youre on fire. Nothing canstop you now. -nd three hours later youre mentally e)hausted and your arm wants todrop off. But youve got through it! or at least you think you haveT

$he post#e)am ritual involves everyone sayingQ Jk lets talk about anything other thanthe e)am because that was absolutely awful.! and then you all proceed to talk aboutnothing else but the e)am for the ne)t hour. "here you thought youd done well! nowafter having listened to what everyone else put! well theres just no way you could have

passed. ' wouldnt even pass myself if ' were marking itQ the answers ' put were soirrelevant. Uuality not 1uantity is what weve always been told and ' forgot that goldenrule. ' have an aching arm for nothing.

Now comes the wait. "hy cant e)amining boards devise a wonderful marking systemthat can put you out of your misery within the ne)t couple of days. $wo months is anobscene amount of time if you ask me. &ventually the envelope arrives. - hot tip: whenasked for your address you should always give your parents address to avoid having torush to the door for a week around the results day and then actually having to open thedreaded envelope once it eventually arrives two days late! a sadistic delay intended so

that you sweat it out some more. 'n any case your mum is scared enough as it is and isonly too happy to pass on the good news when it arrives on her doorstep. 4o and beholdthe day when ' fail an e)am5 'm touching lots of wood as ' write this.

-nyway! the upshot of all the stress and an)iety is that the hard work has paid off andeven though you dont 1uite get the -SS that your jammy friend got! youre ecstatic withyour well#earned BS.

$hough one thing ' havent 1uite worked out yet is what the attraction of e)ams is. $heremust be something addictive about the stress related to them. ' spent last summer doing ateaching course followed by a horribly stress#inducing e)am in %ecember. Nobody

forced me to do it. ' actually volunteered and handed over a scary amount of money forthe privilege. $hats stressful in itself5 Neither have ' learnt from my school e)am days as' still went through the same old emotions! and the same old rituals and 'm very pleasedto say it worked. -lthough 'm still convinced that its not so much what ' wrote in mye)am that did it but how ' wrote it. $he infallible mint#scented biro strikes again5


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Extra sensory perception

&P or &)tra ensory Perception is a catch#all e)pression for the alleged ability of certainpeople to receive transmitted thoughts from others! to transmit their own thoughts! to seewhat will happen in the future or to be able to move objects from one place to another

without physically touching them. $hese special people are called psychics or sensitives.ome believe that we all have this ability to some degree but that most of us choose notto develop it.

ome people are happy to believe in &P while others are firm disbelievers.Parapsychologists who are dedicated to scientifically studying the claims that are made!lend a certain seriousness to the subject. $hey have identified four distinct types of &P:

+lairvoyance describes the act of being able to obtain knowledge of a person or eventwithout the use of the normal senses.

$elepathy is the process by which a person is able to read another persons thoughtswithout the use of any of the normal senses.

Psychokinesis is the ability to influence a physical object just by thinking about it.

Precognition is the term applied when somebody is able to foresee future events.

/any people are sceptical about &P. -longside the e)istence of documented evidencethere are plenty of claims that have turned out to be fraudulent. ?or most people it isdifficult to accept such claims without having had first hand e)perience. $he lack of

scientific evidence is another factor to take into account. n the other hand! most of ushave! at some time! e)perienced a seemingly ine)plicable occurrenceQ hearing thetelephone ring and knowing who will be on the other end of the line or cases ofcoincidence that seem to be too e)treme to be accidental.

ver the years there have been numerous &P e)periments conducted by seriousscientists in serious institutions. >oseph Banks 9hine! a botanist at %uke 3niversitypublished a famous book in 7F


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ne of the strongest criticisms against &P is that in order for it to e)ist! the fundamentallaws of physics would necessarily have to be broken.

*uman beings are attracted to the whole spectrum of supernatural phenomena. &P willalways continue to fascinate. $his becomes clear when we see how much of the media is

dedicated to the topicQ maga0ines! journals! web sites! television and radio programmes.ome of the most successful Dthe reader says 6sensible'E films in recent years have fuelledinterest among the younger generations who are starting to ask the same 1uestions and tolook for e)planations for the same phenomena as their parents and grandparents beforethem. "ho knows( ne day we might just find these answers because one thing iscertain: A$he truth is out thereA5


15/25

Flea circusesby Nik Peachey

- good circus has always built its reputation on its ability to ama0e and entertain and

what could be more ama0ing than a flea circus( But does such a thing really e)ist and canfleas really be taught to perform circus tricks(

/any British people of my generation probably remember watching their first flea circuson /ichael Bentine6s Potty $ime. Potty $ime was a children6s $, programme whichfeatured comedian /ichael Bentine and a group of puppets. &ven as a child ' never oncethought that the flea circus which was featured on his show involved real fleas! and 1uiteprobably it didn6t! so imagine my surprise when ' read an article in a British newspaperabout a group of performing fleas being denied entry to the 3H by customs officers.

$he fleas and their trainer! Professor /aria ?ernanda +ordoso! had been on their way toperform at the &dinburgh ?estival! one of cotland6s most famous arts festivals! whencustoms officials decided that the -ustralian fleas in her troupe were illegal immigrantsand would have to be sent back. -ccording to the article! the trainer then had to find otherlocal fleas and train them to perform the same act.

n reading the article ' decided to investigate more and discovered that flea circuses havea long history originating in &ngland in the 7Mth century. $hey had something of a goldenage in the 78


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o how did something as unlikely as a flea circus become a major event at one ofBritain6s most prestigious performing arts festivals( "ell +ordoso6s flea act sounds trulyincredible! even by circus standards. *er fleas perform in miniature costumes createdwith the help of Philadelphia6s ?abric "orkshop and /useum. $hey tango! walktightropes! perform trape0e acts and Brutus the strongest flea on earth is even shown

pulling a train. $he high point of the performance is the projection of a film which wasmade using special lenses to magnify the fleas6 feats to huge proportions and features atribute to the ?earless -lfredo who is shown diving from a great height into a thimble ofwater and tragically missing. Perhaps even more incredible is the trainer herself. $hee)otically beautiful +olombian#born /aria ?ernanda +ordoso is a sculptor! installationartist and graduate of 2ale 3niversity. he spent four years researching the lost art of fleatraining and is now regarded as a world e)pert. he appears at the performances in abrightly coloured shimmering costume with a magnifying visor and fires flea cannonballs into a tiny flea net. $he performance also features the fleas feeding from her barearm.

"ell! if this article has left you itching to find out more! here are some little known factsabout fleas:

$here is a flea in a Hiev museum that wears horseshoes made of real gold. - flea can pull up to 7MG!GGG times its own weight. - flea can jump over 7IG times its own si0e. 'f a man had the same strength! he

could jump over t Paul6s +athedral. "hen jumping! the flea accelerates IG times faster than the space shuttle. - flea can jump


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Foo

%o we live to eat or eat to live( $hat is the 1uestion.

' remember as a child growing up in Britain having fish and chips or baked beans on toast

at least twice a week on my lap while watching my favourite cartoon. f course ' enjoyedmy food but it wasnt something ' often talked about. Now! 'm not blaming my culturefor my lack of interest in food at an early age. Perhaps my silence was due to the fact that' didnt know anything about food. *ow many children know that prawns only turn pinkwhen they are cooked and that tuna does not come from a can( Now after having lived inouthern &urope! -sia and -ustralia ' find myself talking about food all the time. $heworld has seduced my taste buds and opened my mouth.

?ood thats plain and simple is often the best but not always so. ?or many of us food is aneed. ?or others! food is a friend. 2et to some others food is an enemy. +ravings grip us

at all the wrong times while we struggle to follow a strict diet that turned all our favouritedesserts into mortal sins. $here are others who regard food as an investment. $o them!food has some kind of special powers that can control their lives! for better or for worse.'f thats the case! its time to change and make food work for us.

4ets start by using food the way you would use a pencil or a pair of scissors. "e beginusing food as a tool. 4ike tools! some food works well for some tasks and some isspecially designed to accomplish others.

4ets say youre feeling down. 2ou had a tough day or a tiff with a best friend that droveyou round the bend. 2ou decide to treat yourself to a bar of chocolate Cnothing likechocolate to perk you up. 3nfortunately youre setting yourself up for a higher dose ofthe blues. $hats because chocolate bars have a hefty amount of fat and sugar C whichtakes a long time to digest and can draw energy away from your brain C and caffeinewhich will temporarily boost your mood and alertness but send you crashing back downas soon as its effect starts to wear off.

%oes this mean snacking is a bad idea when youre feeling down( Not at all. 2ou justhave to do it wisely. 'n place of a chocolate bar! have a slice of toast with chunkymarmalade. $hen instead of fat and caffeine youve just given yourself a dose of vitamin+ that has been shown to fight depression. 'n addition! marmalade is loaded with the type

of sugar that spurs the release of mood#lifting chemicals in the brain.

'n fact you can manage your mood and boost your brainpower! metabolism! even yourse) life! by eating the right food. "hatever your goals! you can custom#design a diet tohelp you meet them. *eres how taking control of your food can help you take control ofyour life.


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$he ne)t time you have an important meeting that re1uires mental processing! try somebrain processing food that looks like this: tuna salad on whole wheat bread! green saladwith tomatoes! a handful of nuts! bananas! a glass of skimmed milk. $una! bananas! nutsand whole wheat bread are high in vitamin BM! which has been scientifically proven tohelp preserve cognitive skills. Protein#rich food contains a nutrient called $yrosine! which

studies have shown! are linked to clear thinking and alertness. @reens such as broccoliand spinach naturally contain loads of vitamins and iron. 4ack of these nutrients can leadto fatigue and difficulty in concentrating.

*aving said all that! lets not be too stressed about what we eat. /any scientists thesedays believe that indulging in lifes little pleasures may actually help improve your healthbecause of the psychological lift it gives you. $here is a lot of truth in the old saying thatJa little of what you fancy does you good.


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Foo !"#

"hen ' was at school! our teacher told the class 62ou are what you eat.6 /y friends and 'would laugh and call each other Jhamburger and Jbiscuits. ur teacher was trying toshow us the importance of eating the right food to stay healthy.

$his was a few decades ago when there were big campaigns to make British peoplehealthier. "e decided to throw out our chip pan which we had used until then to makechips every day for dinner. "e replaced our chips with boiled potatoes. "e also startedusing semi#skimmed milk instead of whole milk in our cups of tea and bowls ofcornflakes. -t first ' felt like ' was eating my cornflakes in water and my potatoes had notaste at all. But after a while ' started to prefer healthier food because ' felt stronger and 'didnt get sick so often.

>apanese people are reputed to be the healthiest in the world because of the food they eat.

$he healthiest >apanese people eat rice and fish and vegetables every day. $hey drinkgreen tea or water when theyre thirsty! and snack on dried fish! fruit or gingko nuts. $hetraditional >apanese diet is famous for helping you to live a longer and healthier life.

o we have proof that you become what you eat. +an you tell what your friends eat justby looking at them( "hen you know the effects of different types of food! you can useyour knowledge well and eat what you want to become.

?ood has an impact on our physical and emotional health. *ave you ever heard any of thefollowing advice(

4ettuce or milk can make you sleepy.

$o stop feeling sleepy you should eat peanuts or dried fish.

$o keep your teeth clean you should eat apples often.

@arlic helps you not to catch a cold.

&veryone has their own advice to give! which they have read about or have been told byolder relatives. ome of these pieces of advice seem to contradict each other.

&ating chocolate makes you fat and gives you spots.

+hocolate contains the essential minerals iron and magnesium

"hat we need to figure out is what type of chocolate to eat to get the benefits and howmuch of it to eat. "e can do this by reading the list of ingredients on the chocolate bar


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wrapper. &)actly how much real chocolate is in there( -nd how much of that do we needto eat to get the benefits of the minerals it contains(

?uture restaurants might be named after the physical or emotional state they hope tocreate. $heir menus will list the benefits of each dish and drink. ome restaurants have

already started this concept! and list the nutritional content of their dishes on the menus.

4ets take the restaurant "inners as an e)ample. $heir menu would list dishesspecifically designed to help you win sports competitions. $here would be 6Night#before,egetable 4asagne6! a pasta dish with e)tra layers of spinach pasta for slow#burningenergy! rich tomato sauce full of vitamin + and soft! easy#to#digest vegetables. -ll thiswould be topped with a little fresh cheese C just enough to help you get a good nightssleep! but not enough to give you nightmares5

r you could choose the 6@o#faster alad6! which is a large bowl of mi)ed raw vegetables

in a light salad dressing! giving you energy without making you gain weight. $hevegetables are carefully chosen to include plenty of natural vitamins and minerals.

"hat kind of dishes do you think would be on the menu at the +lever +afV Dwhich sellsfood thats good for your brainE(

o whats going to happen to hamburgers and biscuits( "ill the concept of eating foodbecause its tasty go out of fashion( f course not5 >unk food is also changing. 'f icecream is not good for children! cant we give them fat#free! sugar#free tofu ice cream(3nhealthy food is going out of fashion! so brands are changing. "e are told not to drinkcola because of the sugar and caffeine content so cola companies are making sugar#freeand caffeine#free drinks. "e are told dried fruit is a healthier snack than biscuits! so somebiscuit companies are making biscuits with added vitamins. nacks might soon bechanging their names to 6kinglow6 and 6+hocomineral65 o in the future you might beable to eat your way to your idea of perfection5


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Gambling

*uman beings have spent large amounts of money trying to beat the laws of probabilityfor centuries. /ore than thirty countries currently have legali0ed gambling in the form of

national lotteries or private casinos. 'n the last ten years this addictive pastime has beengenerating millions more via the internet.

o how do you become a successful gambler( C back in 78Loseph >aggerswon W


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"hats the longest#running bet( $here was a ten#year bet between writer Paul &hrlich andbusinessman >ulian imon that the price of certain metals would be higher in 7FFG thanin 7F8G. &hrlich lost when copper! chrome! nickel! tin and tungsten dropped in price.imon was trying to make the point that the world is not heading for catastrophe and thatwe are not using up the worlds resources as &hrlich had predicted. *e refused! however!

to agree to a second bet that in the following ten years there would be an increase ingreenhouse gases and -'% victims and a decrease in tropical rainforests! agriculturalland and human sperm counts.

"hats the strangest bet ever made( *eres one which started a hundred years ago in a4ondon club! presumably after a certain amount of alcohol had been taken. -n -mericanbusinessman bet a British investor W7GG!GGG that it was not possible to walk around theworld without being recognised. - certain *arry Bensley agreed to take up the challenge.*e had to wear an iron mask for the whole trip and pay his way by selling pictures ofhimself. "hile travelling! he also had to find a woman who would marry him! to push a

pram and carry only one change of underwear5 *e set off from 4ondon in >anuary 7FG8and was arrested a few miles down the road for selling postcards without a licence. *esupposedly got most of the way round the world and was in 'taly on his way home in7F7= when the ?irst "orld "ar broke out and he had to call the whole thing off.


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Gardening the Beginnings

By >ohn 9ussell

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made by singing: -"Oh, howbeautiful!" and sitting in the shade.9udyard Hipling! A$he @lory of the @ardenA

-re gardens a recent invention(

$he modern garden has a history going back many thousands of years. &arly humanswere hunters and gatherers! and didnt usually stay in one place for a long time. 'nstead!they travelled from place to place following the food Dplants and animalsE according tothe seasons. %uring the Neolithic period Dover 7G!GGG years agoE this slowly began to

changeQ humans started to domesticate certain plants! which meant they could remain inone place and grow their own food. $he first Jgarden! was a vegetable#garden! whereearly humans cultivated different types of plants for food.

"hat plants did people grow(

&vidence of early agriculture in &urope includes edible plants such as wheat or lentils!but also includes more ornamental plants for other purposes. Plants for medicine weregrown Dsuch as sageE! as were herbs and spices for flavouring or preserving food. +ertainplants also had religious or spiritual value and were not only grown because they were

useful or edible. @rowing of plants not only for food was the beginning of gardening.

"hy did people plant gardens(

@ardens today are beautiful places to go and rela)! but have had many purposes over theyears. 'n the past they were planted to honour the gods! or used in religious ceremoniessuch as funerals and weddings. +ertain trees were also sacred in some culturesQ 2ew treeswere important for +elts! as were ycamores in &gypt. $he ancient @reeks planted grovesfor their @ods! and many cultures believed gardens were holy.

$hey were also a way to show that their owners were rich or powerful. -ncient rulerscreated huge gardens to display their wealth! in the same way that large palaces weresymbols of prosperity. 'n 9oman times the garden became an e)tension of the house!representing the owners status in society! rather than a holy place.

"hat does paradise mean(


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ir ?rancis Bacon described gardens as the purest of human pleasures. Pleasure andhappiness are ideas linked with gardens. $he ancient @reeks believed growing food was ajob for the poor! but gardens were places for enjoyment and contemplation. $he &nglishword paradise comes from the ancient Persian word Pairidae0a C meaning a walled space!a garden. $he gardens of the /iddle &ast! described in $he -rabian Nights! were places

of great beauty and splendour where people enjoyed the pleasures of life.

"hat was the most famous garden(

ne of the most famous early gardens was the *anging @ardens of Babylon. ne of theeven "onders of the -ncient "orld! it was created around ;MGG years ago near the river&uphrates and contained many plants! flowers! fruit trees! stone columns and waterfalls.'t was designed so the river could continually irrigate it and as a result was green all yearround.

-re gardens artistic(

-s gardens have developed over the years! design and beauty have become more andmore important. *umans have learnt to control nature and to design gardens precisely!like a work of art or a building. $he @ardens of ,ersailles in ?rance are an e)cellente)ample of Jgarden architecture! everything is symmetrical and even the trees are prunedto fit in with the design.

+arefully planned or not! gardens are still beautiful and rela)ing places to visit. n a fineday you might even find a little part of paradise! if you look hard enoughT

Glossary

contemplate DvE: to spend time considering a possible future action! or to consider oneparticular thing for a long time in a serious and 1uiet way.

cultivate DvE: to prepare land and grow crops on it! or to grow a particular crop.

domesticate DvE: to bring animals or plants under human control in order to provide food!power or companionship.

edible DadjE: suitable or safe for eating.

gather DvE: to collect or obtain several things! often from different places or people.

grove DnE: a group of trees planted close together.

irrigate DvE: to supply land with water so that crops and plants will grow.


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ornamental DnE: an object which is beautiful rather than useful.

paradise DnE: a place or condition of great happiness where everything is e)actly as youwould like it to be.

prosperityDnE: the state of being successful and having a lot of money.

prune DvE: to cut off branches from a tree! bush or plant! especially so that it will growbetter in future.

sacredDadjE: considered to be holy and deserving respect! especially because of aconnection with a god.

status DnE: an official position! especially in a social group.

disability, người khuyết tật

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