楚左尹项伯者，项羽季父也 ， 素善留侯张良。张良是时从沛公，项伯乃夜驰之沛公军，私见张良，具告以事，欲呼张良与俱去，曰：“毋从俱死也。”张良曰：“臣为韩王送沛公，沛公今事有急，亡去不义，不可不语。”良乃入，具告沛公。沛公大惊，曰：“为之奈何？”张良曰：“谁为大王为此计者？”曰：“鲰生说我曰：‘距关，毋内诸侯 ， 秦地可尽王也。’故听之。”良曰：“料大王士卒足以当项王乎？”沛公默然，曰：“固不如也。且为之奈何？”张良曰：“请往谓项伯，言沛公不敢背项王也。”沛公曰：“君安与项伯有故？”张良曰：“秦时与臣游，项伯杀人，臣活之；今事有急，故幸来告良。”沛公曰：“孰与君少长？”良曰：“长于臣。”沛公曰：“君为我呼入，吾得兄事之。”张良出，要项伯。项伯即入见沛公。沛公奉卮酒为寿，约为婚姻，曰：“吾入关，秋毫不敢有所近，籍吏民、封府库，而待将军。所以遣将守关者，备他盗之出入与非常也。日夜望将军至，岂敢反乎？愿伯具言臣之不敢倍德也。”

（节选自司马迁《鸿门宴》）

    Today's demands for measuring childhood success have chased household chores from the to-do lists of many young people. In a survey of 1,001 US adults released by Braun Research, 82% reported having regular chores growing up, but only 28% said that they require their own children to do them. “Parents today want their kids spending time on things that can bring them success, but ironically, we've stopped doing one thing that's actually been a proven predictor of success—and that's household chores.” says Richard Rende, a developmental psychologist.

    Giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and independence, according to research by Marty Rossmann, professor at the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Dr. Rossman analyzed data from a longitudinal(纵向的) study that followed 84 children across four periods. She found that young adults who began chores at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to have good relationships with family and friends and to achieve academic and early career success, as compared with those who didn't have chores or who started them as teens.

    Chores also teach children how to be empathetic(感同身受的) and responsive to others' needs, notes psychologist Richard Weissbourd. In research, his team surveyed 10,000 high-school students and asked them to rank what they treasured more: achievement, happiness or caring for others. Almost 80% chose either achievement or happiness over caring for others. As he points out, however, research suggests that personal happiness comes most reliably not from high achievement but from strong relationships. “We're out of balance,” says Dr. Weissbourd. A good way to start re-adjusting priorities(优先事项), he suggests, is by learning to be kind and helpful at home.

    The next time that your child asks to skip chores to do homework, resist the urge to let him or her off the hook. Being slack(懈怠的) about chores when they compete with school sends your child the message that grades and achievement are more important than caring about others. What may seem like small messages in the moment but add up to big ones over time.

命若琴弦（节选）

史铁生

“你师爷一辈子才冤呢。”

“他弹断了多少根？”

“他本来能弹够一千根，可他记成了八百。要不然他能弹断一千根。”

天不亮老瞎子就上路了。他说最多十天就回来。谁也没想到他竟去了那么久。

老瞎子回到野羊坳时已经是冬天。漫天大雪，灰暗的天空连接着白色的群山。没有声息，处处也没有生气，空旷而沉寂。所以老瞎子那顶发了黑的草帽就尤其攒动得显著。他蹒蹒跚跚地爬上野羊岭。庙院中衰草瑟瑟，蹿出一只狐狸，仓皇逃远。

村里人告诉他，小瞎子已经走了些日子。

“我告诉他等我回来。不知道他干嘛就走了。他没说去哪儿？留下什么话没？”

“他说让您甭找他。”

“什么时候走的？”

人们想了好久，都说是在兰秀儿（小瞎子的心上人）嫁到山外去的那天。老瞎子心里便一切全明白。

众人劝老瞎子留下来，这么冰天雪地的上哪儿去？不如在野羊坳说一冬天书。老瞎子指指他的琴，人们见琴柄上空荡荡已经没了琴弦。老瞎子面容也憔悴，呼吸也孱弱，嗓音也沙哑了，完全变了个人。他说得去找他的徒弟。

若不是还想着他的徒弟，老瞎子就回不到野羊坳。那张他保存了五十年的药方原来是一张无字的白纸。他不信，请了多少识字而又诚实的人帮他看，人人都说那果真是一张无字的白纸。老瞎子在药铺前的台阶上坐了一会儿，他以为是一会儿，其实已经几天儿夜，骨头一样的眼珠在询问苍天，脸色也变成骨头一样的苍白。有人以为他是疯了，安慰他，劝他。老瞎子苦笑：七十岁了再疯还有什么意思？他只是再不想动弹，吸引着他活下去、走下去、唱下去的东西骤然间消失干净。就像一根不能拉紧的琴弦，再难弹出悦耳的曲子。老瞎子的心弦断了，准确地说，是有一端空无所系了。老瞎子在一个小客店里住了很久，觉得身体里的一切都在熄灭。他整天躺在炕上，不弹也不唱，一天天迅速地衰老，直到忽然想起他的徒弟，他知道自己的死期将至，可那孩子在等他回去。

茫茫雪野，皑皑群山，天地之间攒动着一个黑点。走近时，老瞎子的身影弯得如一座桥。他去找他的徒弟。他知道那孩子目前的心情、处境。

他一路走，便怀恋起过去的日子，才知道以往那些奔奔忙忙兴致勃勃的翻山、赶路、弹琴，乃至心焦，忧虑都是多么欢乐！那时有个东西把心弦扯紧，虽然那东西原是虚设。老瞎子想起他师父临终时的情景。他师父把那张自己没用上的药方封进他的琴槽。“您别死，再活几年，您就能睁眼看一回了。”说这话时他还是个孩子。他师父久久不言语。最后说：“记住，人的命就像这琴弦，拉紧了才能弹好，弹好了就够了。”不错，他的一辈子都被那虚设的目的拉紧，于是生活中叮叮当当才有了生气。重要的是从那绷紧的过程中得到欢乐，老瞎子知道怎么对自己的徒弟说了。

在深山里，老瞎子找到了小瞎子。

小瞎子正跌倒在雪地里。一动不动，想那么等死。老瞎子懂得那绝不是装出来的悲哀。小瞎子哭了几天几夜，老瞎子就那么一声不吭地守着。火光和哭声惊动了野兔子、山鸡、野羊、狐狸和鹞鹰……

终于小瞎子说话了：“干嘛咱们是瞎子！”

“就因为咱们是瞎子。”老瞎子回答。

终于小瞎子又说：“我想睁开眼看看，师父，我想睁开眼看看！哪怕就看一回。”

“你真那么想吗？”

“真想，真想……”

老瞎子把篝火拨得更旺些。

雪停了。铅灰色的天空中，太阳像一面闪光的小镜子，鹞鹰在平稳地滑翔。

“那就弹你的琴弦，”老瞎子说，“一根一根尽力地弹吧。”

“师父，您的药抓来了？”小瞎子如梦方醒。

“记住，得真正是弹断的才成。”

“您已经看见了吗？师父，您现在看得见了？”

小瞎子挣扎着起来，伸手去摸师父的眼窝。老瞎子把他的手抓住。

“记住，得弹断一千二百根。”

“一千二？”

“把你的琴给我，我把这药方给你封在琴槽里。”老瞎子现在才懂了师父当年对他说的话……你的命就在这琴弦上。

“怎么是一千二，师父？”

“是一千二。我没弹够，我记成了一千。”老瞎子想：这孩子再怎么弹吧，还能弹断一千二百根？永远扯紧欢跳的琴弦，不必去看那无字的白纸……

这地方偏僻荒凉，群山不断。荒草丛中随时会飞起一对山鸡，跳出一只野兔、狐狸，或者其他小野兽。山谷中鹞鹰在盘旋。

现在让我们回到开始：

莽莽苍苍的群山之中走着两个瞎子，一老一少，一前一后，两顶发了黑的草帽起伏攒动，匆匆忙忙，像是随着一条不安静的河水在漂流。无所谓从哪几来到哪儿去，也无所谓谁是谁……

（有删改）

    Is there a way to turn back the aging process in people? For centuries, people have been looking for a "fountain of youth". The idea is that if you find a magical fountain, and drink its water, you will not age.

    Researchers in New York did not find an actual fountain of youth, but they may have found a way to turn back the aging process. It appears that the answer may be called the hypothalamus(下丘脑), which is part of your brain. It controls important body activities, including growth, the way we process food and so on.

    Researchers at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that hypothalamus neural stem cells(干细胞) also influence how fast aging takes place.

    Dongsheng Cai, a professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was the leading researcher in a study on aging in mice. He and his team reported their findings.

    "Aging speed can be controlled by a particular place in the body, which is the hypothalamus. And it can be controlled by a particular type of cells, which are hypothalamus stem cells. "He added that when the hypothalamus starts aging, so does the body. So when hypothalamus function is in decline, particularly the loss of hypothalamus stem cells, and this protection against the aging development is lost, it eventually leads to aging.

    Using this information, the researchers began trying to activate the hypothalamus in laboratory mice. They did this by injecting the animals with stem cells.

    The researchers said the results showed that the treatment slowed aging in the animals. "When we injected the hypothalamus stem cells to the middle-aged mice, the mice aged slowly and they can also live longer."

    But these results were just from studying mice in a laboratory. If the mice can live longer, does that mean people could have longer lives? The next step is to see if the anti-aging effects also work in human beings.

    "If we can translate what we have seen in animals to humans, I think humans can function better during later ages." Cai and his team say their study may have other benefits. They say the findings could lead to new ways to help doctors identify and treat any number of age-related health issues.

—        , Mike, and shut up!

    Learning English is challenging because of the various rules and exceptions to the rules. The best way to learn English is to hear it spoken and repeat the words as you hear them. You will learn how to make English a daily part of your life in order to learn to speak it quickly.

    Ask a friend to help you write letters of English alphabet on index cards. You should write a letter on each card. Practise the letters by mixing up the cards and saying the letters. You can ask your friend to help you pronounce the letters and quiz you on your knowledge.

    Make your own videos in English. If you have a video camera, you can tape yourself speaking English and practice along with your own video. Watch your videos daily, and repeat what is being said.

    Get a private tutor. A professional English instructor can give you one-on-one instruction that will help you understand the rules of English. Your instructor can teach you how to write and speak English.   You can also inquire at your local community college.

    Watch movies with English subtitles. When watching a movie in your native language, use the English subtitles so you will understand the connection between your language and English.

    You will make mistakes, and that is OK. You need to practice English as much as possible in order to quickly learn to speak the language fluently.

    In the English Reading Week, one of my classmates recommended a quote to us, goes like this, "Your future  (depend) on many things, but mostly on you." I can't agree  (much) with this view. It's true that our future (determine) by many things, such as opportunities and help from others, but our own attitude, determination,   hard work play a more important role. In   words, we are the master of our own future.

    Take Abraham Lincoln for example. He was born in a poor family, and only received a (limit) education in his childhood. Yet through his painstaking efforts, he   (change) not only his own fate but also the history of America. Even to this day, Lincoln   (regard) as one of the most inspiring figures in the world.  

    Therefore, I  (firm) believe that our future is in our own hands.  

    Houses fall down. Trees fall over. Large holes form in the ground. Could Alaska be sinking? That's what some villagers in Alaska have been asking themselves recently and scientists think they know why. Warmer temperatures may be causing Alaska's frozen ground to thaw (解冻).

    About 85 percent of Alaska's land surface has permafrost (永久冻结带). Permafrost supports the ground above it—including trees, houses, and roads. But why is the permafrost thawing?

    Some scientists say that human-caused pollution is leading to global warming. And most scientists agree that Alaska has been getting warmer. They say that the warmer temperature is causing permafrost to thaw in some areas. The thawing permafrost can cause problems for people, plants, and animals.

    The collapsing (倒塌) is a problem in the villages in Alaska which are built on permafrost, and some of them may have to move to safer ground, where there is no permafrost.

    The Alaskan town of Glennallen saw its old post office collapse. And, according to James Walters, a permafrost expert at the University of Northern Iowa, house-moving companies have been very busy.

    “Melting permafrost can also destroy trees and forests,” Walters said. “When holes in the ground form, trees fall into them and die. This could turn a forest into a swamp (沼泽), and animals which need the forests will have to move elsewhere.”

    “The melting could cause severe problems.” Walters says, “This could take hundreds of years, but in the end Alaska will look quite different from what it looks like now.”

夜游宫 记梦寄师伯浑[注]

陆游

雪晓清笳乱起，梦游处、不知何地。铁骑无声望似水。想关河，雁门西，青海际。

睡觉寒灯里，漏声断、月斜窗纸。自许封侯在万里，有谁知，鬓虽残，心未死！

（注）宋孝宗乾道九年（1173）冬，陆游怀着强烈的失落感，离开南郑前线，永远告别了战斗生活，到后方成都去就任闲职，却一直对前线的戎马生活念念不忘；收复中原、立功报国的信念，也始终坚守不移。此词约作于此后这一时期的成都。记梦：记录梦境；师伯浑，陆游的朋友。

门外大榆树

郭 华

我记事起，老家 门外就有棵大榆树，足足有三层房那么高。虽然农村的树木一般没人用心修剪，但它的树形却正像一把巨大的雨伞，撑出好大一片荫凉。除去特别寒冷的冬日，大部分日子，我常在树下玩耍，在树下读书。村子里有许多榆树，但是长得这么高大、这么漂亮，以它为先。

我家院子在村口，每次从村子外面回来，没看到老家的房子，先看到大榆树。虽然它不像迎客松那样伸着臂膀，但它让我知道到家了。春天，一串一串的榆钱迎风摇曳，那嫩黄嫩黄的颜色，让人看上去觉得心里酥酥的痒痒的，半个村子的人都来采榆钱。我家门外的空地和大榆树归一位堂兄家所有。堂兄和我关系极好，每年春天都让我第一个上树采榆钱。

榆树的生命力强。头一年随风飘落的榆钱，第二年就会生根发芽，长出嫩绿的小树苗。不用刻意去呵护它、浇灌它，只要没人去践踏它、铲掉它，它就能长成一棵大树。门外这棵大榆树到底是有人栽种的，还是飘落的榆钱自己长出来的，始终没有人说得清。

农民把榆树叫作救灾树。它的榆钱可以吃，至今仍然是家乡做蒸菜的传统食材。它的叶也可以吃，洗净之后掺到玉米面、高梁面中，再稍微放一点儿盐，不论蒸窝窝还是贴饼子，都让人从寻常粗粮中吃出诱人的滋味。它的树皮更是珍贵，晾干之后，在碾子上轧成面，极富黏性。榆树皮是可以拿到集市上换钱的。

母亲出身贫寒，特别善于烹调野菜。榆钱、榆叶这种野菜是家家户户都吃的，不必说了。有些别人家不吃的，比如柳树的嫩叶，也被母亲捋回家来，用开水焯过之后，再用凉水浸泡三天，拧干水分做凉拌菜吃。我们不仅吃过，还"喝"过野菜。端午节那天，母亲会去采一种叫作茶棵子的野菜，把它的嫩叶洗净晾干之后，用来泡水喝，那便是我们小时候喝过的"茶叶"。平原不比山区，没有太多野生果树，杜梨是极少可以吃的野果子。没有熟透的时候又酸又涩，很少有人吃。等到熟透了，又早被鸟儿啄光了。母亲趁果实不熟的时候摘回来，用棉被捂上，捂到不再酸涩，拿出来分给我们吃。那毕竟是少见的水果。

然而，我们发现母亲从来不到门外的大榆树上去采榆钱。我们采回来之后，母亲会精心地为我们做了吃，但她自己从来不去采。有时候发现她甚至捧着榆钱悄悄落泪。我们曾经以为是生活的艰辛让母亲伤感，可为什么她不回避到别的树上去采树叶、采野果呢?长大之后才知道我四舅的命运竟然与这棵榆树密切相关。母亲告诉我，在她的五个哥哥当中，四舅最是英俊，也最疼爱母亲。1943 年四舅十九岁，母亲八岁。那年河北平原大早，家中断粮。四舅上树采榆钱，母亲在下面看着。突然，四舅一不小心，从高高的树杈上摔了下来，摔成重伤。母亲吓得哇哇大哭，却手足无措。人们听到母亲的哭声赶来救助。四舅的命保住了，但是不能干重活了，于是到安徽毫州投奔叔叔学做生意，谁知这一去再也没有回来。母亲说她一闭眼就能看到姥姥家屋后那棵大榆树，看到四舅采榆钱的情景，看到四舅从榆树上摔下来的那一瞬间……从此，母亲尽量回避采榆钱。

我们那一带盖房子崇尚杉木檩榆木梁。有一年堂兄家翻盖房子，刨掉榆树做了房梁。从此站在院子里向外望去，不见了大榆树，我好长一段时间觉得有些失落。但有时想，不见了也好，至少不再天天触动母亲心中的伤痛了。谁知，有一天母亲说∶挺想那棵大榆树的，那么大的一棵榆树，灾荒年能救不少人的。河北平原的东部沿海地区，历史上曾经叫作渤海郡。汉宣帝时期派一个叫龚遂的人出任太守。《汉书·龚遂传》记载，龚遂治理渤海郡的诸多措施中，有一条是"躬率以俭约，劝民务农桑。令口种一树榆、百本薤、五十本葱、一畦韭，家二母彘、五鸡"。所谓务农桑，第一条居然是每个人要种一棵榆树。由此看来，早在西汉时期，榆树的备荒和救灾作用，就为人们所认识和重视。

近年来，老家的院子旁边开发了一个很大的明清古典家具市场。市场兴建之初，我以为冠以"明清古典家具"，肯定是红木家具。后来才知道，这个市场主打老榆木品牌。榆树本来就是上等的木材，耐腐蚀，有韧性，而榆木落梁历经风化，木性更加稳定。加工时刨面光滑，木纹美丽，而且极具沧桑感。随着人们生活水平的提高，老榆木家具越来越受追捧。真没有想到榆树还有如此的余韵。只是不知道，那堆满市场的老榆木中，有没有小时候我家门外那棵大榆树。

（有删改）