In todayˈs world of smart phones and laptops, most people have at least one time-telling thing with them. Since these digital products are so common, is time running out for the 500-year-old watch? According to some consumers, the answer is yes. New Jersey teenager Charlie Wollman says a watch is “an extra piece of equipment with no necessary function.” Many young adults think so and use their smart phones to tell time. It is said that fewer young people wear watches today than ten years ago. As a result, some people say that the watch industry is at a crossroads.

However, watchmakers optimistically say that watches redeem（挽回）popularity when consumers reach their 20s and 30s. By then, they are willing to spend money on a quality watch that doesn’t just keep good time. Fifty years ago, watchmakers took pride in their products’ accuracy. But in recent years, the watch industry has changed itself into an accessory(配饰) business. And today, the image a watch conveys has become more important than the time it tells.

“Complications” — features that go beyond simple timekeeping — are an important part of a watch’s image. Today’s watches offer lots of features that meet almost any personality. These features include compasses, USB drivers, and even other functions that measure the effectiveness of golf swings!

Creativity also plays a key role in designing today’s watches. For example, Japanese watchmaker Tokyoflash makes watches that don’t even look like watches. The company’s popular Shinshoku model uses different color lights to tell time. It looks more like a fashionable bracelet（手镯）than a watch.

Whether a watch conveys fashion sense, creative talent or a love of sports, consumers want their watches to stand out. Nowadays, everyone has the same kind of little things in their bags, so people want to make a statement with what’s on their wrists. Will this interest in wrist fashion last? Only time will tell!

It’s time for everyone to be a kid again. Father and grandfathers sit outside, long past midnight, discussing the story lines in cartoon books. Middles-aged men pull on blue tights(紧身衣)and red capes(披肩). And for a moment, they feel like heroes.

From June 12 to 15, the 25^th yearly Superman Celebration drew more than 20,000 fans of all ages to Metropolis, a town in Illinois, US. Street theatre, games, music concerts, costume competitions and Superman film festivals made the four days some of the happiest in the lives of Superman fans.

Superman has been the hero of a popular cartoon series since 1938. Luckily getting away from his home planet, young Clark Kent was discovered by a couple in the US and raised as a common small-town boy. And then, Clark discovered his unusual abilities and developed them as he grew into a man. As Clark Kent, he is a calm reporter. But, when he changes into Superman, he flies around fighting against what’s wrong.

In more than half a century, a dozen movies have been made from the stories of Superman. Fighting for truth, rightness and the American way of life, he has become one of the most widely known heroes in the US.

Actor Christopher Reeve shot to fameby playing Superman in the 1978 movie. The special effects brought to life the hero many Americans had imagined since childhood.

However, Reeves became paralyzed after a riding accident. But he continued his fight on the ground: to walk again. Reeve failed to failed to stand up again but didn’t give up until he unfortunately died in 2004.    

 A fad diet is a diet that suddenly becomes popular，usually because it promises people that they will lose a lot of weight overnight.Although dieters may really show weight loss from a fad diet，they will almost certainly get back the weight if their usual eating habits remain unchanged.Moreover，fad diets continuously call for special products of questionable value or for “health foods” that may cost twice as much as supermarket foods.Worse yet，certain fad diets don't include nutrients(营养)good for health.People have been known to become very ill as a result of following medically unhealthy diets.  The worse fact of fad diets，though，is that they keep people who are overweight or sick from receiving the medical care that they truly need.

In 1899, a painting of the Virgin Mary believed to be a respectable copy sold for $25 (about $2,574 in modern prices). Now it seems that it could be a genuine Raphael worth $26 million.

   The discovery was made by Bendor Grosvenor, an art historian and presenter for the BBC's “Britain's Lost Masterpieces” series, which looks for valuable works of art in local public art collections.

   Grosvenor and a team of experts were examining the collection at the National Trust for Scotland's Haddo House collection in Aberdeenshire when they found the painting, which is dated between 1505 and 1510 and had previously been attributed to the Italian artist Innocenzo da Imola.

   He asked permission to have the piece professionally cleaned, conserved and investigated after noticing a striking resemblance to the Italian painter and architect's work. “Finding a possible Raphael is about as exciting as it gets,” Grosvenor said in a statement. “This is a beautiful picture that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. I hope the painting, which would be Scotland's only publicly－owned Raphael, brings many people to this part of Aberdeenshire.”

   George Hamilton－Gordon, a former British Prime Minister and the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, bought “The Virgin Mary” in the early 19th century, believing that it was a genuine Raphael.But it was quickly downgraded to “after Raphael”－a designation used when the particular artist is unclear－before later being attributed to Innocenzo da Imola.

D

The world has a fast growing population and people need more land for houses, factories, highways, and so on. The farmland is decreasing with each passing day. How to meet the need of feeding the growing population? One way is to introduce some high-output gene into a crop to enable it to produce more. Biologists over the years have discovered genes which can raise output of the crops, resist pests, improve taste, etc.

However, in many western countries there is widespread concern over the safety of“Genetically Modified”(GM) (转基因) foods, because they think there may be serious problems of environment, health, safety, morality and so on.

As a scientist I must admit GM foods involve great risks to humans. In fact in Europe they’re called “Frankenstein foods” by many. Frankenstein is a character in a novel. He was a very clever scientist. He created a monster（怪物）, which eventually killed him.

Soybeans can be made into many foods. However, it’s hard to trace them. Therefore, it’s very important we have to make sure the soybean, if genetically modified, is free from any poisonous matter harmful to human beings. For this we need very good testing. We do have some testing on some animals, but no completely satisfactory testing has ever been made so far. They’re entirely new, and their problems are entirely unknown. It takes time to develop persuasive tests to know whether they’re harmful to us or not.

 We may not be able to tell what may happen if we take GM foods. Some of them may be resistant to antibiotics (抗生素). Then many of the medicines we have today will have no effect on people eating GM foods.

A more likely case is the GM foods may contain genes some people are allergic to.

GM products have already come into our lives but most people even know nothing about it.

At least we have to be clear about what we are eating. The China Consumers Association is calling for labeling (标注) on GM foods so that consumers will know before they buy them.

           A

       The idea of fighting a noise by making more noise sounds strange, but What's exactly that motor engineers are doing in Germany and some other countries．

　　Carmakers' research and development laboratories have already proved that mixing in more noise with the help of loudspeakers can reduce the unwanted noise．

　　 Physicists have known about the technique for a long time．Sound is make up of pressure waves in the air．If two sound waves of the same frequency(频率)mix so that the highest point of one wave happens at the same time with the lowest point of the other wave, the result is no sound．Therefore, by producing a perfect copy of the noise and delaying it by half a wave cycle(周期), we can kill the unwanted noise．Using this technique many carmakers are racing to develop noise-killing systems both inside and outside the cars．Another good thing about the use of noise-killing systems is that it saves the need for a silencer, which not only reduces the weight of a car, but also makes the motor bum less oil and work better．

　　 Some engineers believe that the noise-killing system will be used in most cars in 1996．But the carmakers haven't decided if they will put it into production because it would add several hundred dollars to the cost of their ears．

D

    As a British abroad I have often had comments and questions, such as "So what do you actually eat?" "I hear British food isn't so great... " or "Do you even have a traditional meal?"

At first I thought this idea just existed in Europe, but I have recently discovered that the opinion of bad British food has even reached South America! So I began to ask myself, "Is our food really that bad?"

    Compared with our neighbors, British food has never been seen as a delicacy(佳肴)like French food. For example, you can find French restaurants in Britain, but a British restaurant in France... that's not very probable, unless it's just a pub! Perhaps then when people think of British food they think of sandwiches, or the simple and unhealthy fish and chips. Or maybe they just think of all the foreign food that is so popular in Britain, such as pizza and pasta taken from the Italians. Therefore our multicultural food industry might suggest that we believe our own food is worse than food from other countries, like Indian, Thai or Chinese.

    But when you start to think properly about traditional British food, you begin to realize that some of it is actually pretty good! Although perhaps simple and unhealthy, fish and chips is also delicious, as is a Cornish pasty (meat and vegetables in pastry) and any British pie at all! We have a meal for breakfast: the incredible combination of eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms and bread (the cooked breakfast), we have a meal for Sundays (roast lunch) with meat, fresh vegetables, and we even have a tradition for between lunch and dinner (afternoon tea) with the two best things: cake and tea.

    So it may be because I've eaten British food all my life, but I personally think that it is much better than its reputation! It may be less characteristic than Indian or Chinese food, but we do know how to make at least a few great meals, and of course, cakes.

    For visitors, Teller Lake looks like a delightful fishbowl filled with thousands of beautiful goldfish floating around. However, to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department they are a group of invasive (入侵的) species that could finally destroy the lake's entire ecosystem if not removed soon.

    The problem lies in the fact that these fish have no enemies. This allows them to reproduce in large numbers. In fact, park officials believe that the 3,000~4,000 samples floating around are all the result of a few unwanted pet goldfish that were dumped into the lake. They estimate the incident occurred about three years ago.

    As this non-native species grow in numbers, they compete with the existing fish for food sources. Given that there is only a limited supply of resoureas, this could result in the goldfish overpowering the native fish species. In the ease of Teller Lake, the officials are particularly worried that the goldfish will move downstream and affect the population of some of the endangered native species that live there. Another major cause for concern is the diseases the goldfish may be bringing. This could be fatal (致命的) to the native species since they can't fight new illnesses.

    Fish are not the only unwanted pets that are thrown away. Florida has been fighting an invasion of Burmese pythons (巨蟒). But one of the worst cases recorded is that of the Red Lionfish. They are currently swimming their way to the Atlantic Ocean's ecosystem all the way.

    According to experts, the best way to get rid of unwanted fish or any other animal is to get advice from the people that originally sold them the pet. However, saving one pet often results in destroying the area's ecosystem and hurting other innocent animals.

English has gained status as a world language. About 1/3 of the world's population has English as its mother tongue. 75% of the world's mail is in English.

    English is the official language or is widely used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, United Arab Ernirates, Canada, the United States, Panama, Surinam, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. English is the language that is most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%). It is also the most studied in China, Japan, and South Korea. Books, magazines, and newspapers are written in English in many countries around the world. English is also the widest used language in science. In 1997, the Science Citation Index reported that 95% of its articles were written in English, but only half of their authors came from English-speaking countries.

    Why has English become a world language? The British colonized (使……殖民地) large parts of the world, spreading their language to new areas. The United Kingdom and the United States are both important nations in the world. When doing business with these nations, knowing English is an advantage. As non-English-speaking countries realized that, industry and business hired people who spoke English, or required their workers to attend language courses. English is the international language of technology.

    With English being so widespread, it can make those who come from English-speaking countries already feel that they don't need to learn a foreign language. This is not good because one learns to understand a culture better if one knows the Language, and one may also enjoy reading original books.

When we don’t understand each other’s language, we can talk with the help of signs.

A Frenchman was once travelling in England. He could not speak English at all. One day he went into a restaurant and sat down at a table. When the waiter came, he opened his mouth, put his fingers in it, and took out again. He wanted to say . “Bring me something to eat.” The waiter soon brought him a cup of tea. The man moved his head from side to side. The waiter understood him and took the tea away. In a moment he came with a cup of coffee. But the man again refused it. He shook his head whenever the waiter brought him something to drink, for drinks are not food. When the man was going away, another man came in. This man saw the waiter , and he put his hand on his stomach. That was enough. In a few minutes there was a large plate of meat and vegetables on the table in front of him.

So you see, we cannot understand the language of signs as well as we can understand the language of words.