All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair. Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them—a mother" s approval, a father" s nod—are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives. Though it all, despite it all, Eddie privately adored his old man, because sons will adore their fathers through even the worst behavior. It is how they learn devotion. Before he can devote himself to God or a woman, a boy will devote himself to his father, even foolishly, even beyond explanation.

E 111 is a document which is available to citizens of any country in the European Union, and which gives them the right to receive free health care when they visit other EU countries.

A century ago, Progressive-era reformers, shocked by the number of teens trapped in dead-end jobs, launched a remarkable campaign to help everyone attend high school. For nearly 40 years, America opened a new high school, on average, every day. A high school diploma allowed the children of factory workers and farmers to obtain relatively high-skilled, high-wage jobs, narrowing the wage gap among the social classes and enhancing the growth of the nation"s economy. Today, we face a similar problem at the university level.Young people increasingly realize that they cannot earn a living wage without going to college. Yet many are woefully unprepared to do so, both because of the inferior education in most low-income communities and because their parents cannot help them through college. So they work extra hours and take on crippling debt loads. About a third of the students at public or private four-year universities and two-thirds of those who enroll in a community college or a for-profit institution do not earn a degree, while accumulating substantial red ink.

affluenza

There is simply no way to rest on our past achievements. Today" s competition renders obsolete huge chunks of what we know and forces us to innovate. For each individual, several careers will be customary, and continuing education and retraining will be inescapable. To attain this extraordinary level of education, government, business, schools and even individuals will turn to technology for the answer. In industry, processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up with the market has meant the growing use of computers. The schools are now following close behind. Already some colleges in the United States are requiring a computer for each student. It is estimated that 500, 000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementary schools. Although there is an abysmal lack of educational software, the number of computers in schools expands rapidly. The computer is the Proteus of machines, as it takes on a thousand forms and serves a thousand functions. But its truly revolutionary character can be seen in its interactive potential. With advanced computers, learning can be individualized and self-paced. Teachers can become more productive and the entire learning environment enriched. It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With the computer" s capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert, the inventor of the computer language LOGO, believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the early grades with the use of computers. He cites as an example the teaching of the laws of motion in physics, which he says are accessible at an early age when a computer is used to assist in the instruction. On an everyday level, word-processing significantly improves the capacity for written expression. How? Simply by making it easier to revise and rewrite. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidly—without being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class.

从善如流

cultural heritage

优化

bonsai

Air France and British Airways have announced that later this year they will retire all of their Concordes from commercial service. For many Americans the Concorde has always been a bit of a joke, a prime example of what happens when bureaucrats pursue prestige through engineering. By the early 1960s US private firms were clearly ahead of European jet makers. The governments of France and the UK launched a joint project to outdo the Americans at their own game, by designing a supersonic jet that would restore European technological preeminence. After years of experimentation at vast public expense, the Anglo-French designers had made an engineering wonder with little hope of ever turning a profit.

USCG

hard translation

Though now and then opportunity had been given him to leave, he had never taken it.

WMO

B汉译英/B

Write a composition of 100 - 150 words on the topic given. Write your composition on your answer sheet. Topic: The Youth Today

化学和生物武器从技术上说几乎是完全不同的。化学武器是可以以水蒸汽、烟雾浮起或液体状态传播的剧毒合成物。反之，生物武器则是能引起疾病的活体微生物或是以空气悬浮物形式传播、可被人体吸人的最有效的毒素(即从活的生物体中所提炼出的致命化学品)。化学武器需要类似喷雾器或爆炸性装置的散播系统。一旦在毫无保护的人群中散播开来，化学武器可迅速起作用，并在几秒钟或几分钟内使受害人群出现明显症状。大多数化学武器具有特殊气味，并可用肉眼分辨。化学武器的作用取决于一系列因素，包括毒剂剂量，受害人接触毒剂时间的长短及可获得的保护或医疗措施，所以接触了化学毒剂并不一定都会致命。

the Group of Twenty

strip the citizenship

The Wall Street Journal