Why giving an assignment to Grade 2005 for this summer vacation

11:56 PM - 9/22/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

An enjoyable trip to Macau

11:53 PM - 9/22/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

A sleepless night

11:52 PM - 9/22/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

The first heavy rain during my stay in Beijing

11:49 PM - 9/22/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Taro Aso elected president of Japan's ruling LDP

Taro Aso elected president of Japan's ruling LDP
(Xinhua)

2008-09-22 15:10:37.0Taro Aso elected president of Japan's ruling LDPaso1159070Asia-Pacific2@webnews/enpproperty-->TOKYO -- Taro Aso, current secretary general of the ruling Liberal democratic Party (LDP), was elected LDP's party chief in its presidential election Monday. 
Aso, who served as the foreign minister in Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet as well as in the subsequent Shinzo Abe's cabinet, won 351, or 66.6 percent, of a total of 527 votes.

Former foreign minister Taro Aso bows to parliamentarians of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after he was chosen as the party president during their meeting at the party headquarters in Tokyo September 22, 2008. Japan's main ruling party chose outspoken nationalist Aso, an advocate of more government spending to boost the economy, to be next prime minister and woo voters ahead of an election expected as early as next month. [Agencies] more photos
According to the LDP election rule, the candidate who secures the absolute majority of the votes wins the election. 
"I will not fail the expectation of the Japanese people and is determined to make concerted efforts (with other LDP colleagues)," said Aso, after the results of the election were read out.
"We will fight resolutely with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the next general parliamentary election," he said.
"Only after winning the election could I accomplish my sacred mission," Aso said.
At a special session of the Diet scheduled for Wednesday, Aso will automatically assume Japan's premiership, as the LDP commands dominance in the more powerful House of Representatives, which has the final say in picking Japan's new leader.

11:43 PM - 9/22/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

One World One Dream

11:41 PM - 9/22/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Coments by foreige press

8:31 PM - 8/11/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Thai Food in London

Hello again everyone,

Jo here again. I have really enjoyed reading all your comments. Firstly, yes you all got the quiz right - yonks means a long time. You might hear someone say "I haven't been to the cinema for yonks", meaning they haven't been for a long time. It is an informal word so you need to be careful when you use it, but it is used in conversation between friends.

It's great to hear that one of you has been to Ely! Just in case people were confused - Ely is a very small city. It is called a city because it has a cathedral but usually cities have much much bigger populations than 15,000. London for example has a population of around 7.5 million! A city like Manchester has a population of about 500,000.

Thank you for introducing me to all the interesting places in China. It's fascinating for me because China is such a huge country. I have been to Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Tianjin and Qingdao - but there are millions of places I will never get to see so I am really interested to hear about them.

Someone mentioned they really like hearing about British life so I thought I would talk about other stuff  I've been doing this week, to give you an insight   into what things are like over here.

I went out and met a friend last night and we ate Thai food. Some of you might be surprised to learn that that isn't unusual at all here in the UK, and even less unusual in a big city like London.

1:22 AM - 6/21/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

French frown on fast food ,but Brits, Americans are loving it

Britons are the world's biggest fans of fast food, just ahead of Americans, while the famously gastronomic French are the least attracted to quick meals, according to a study published last week.

The survey of 13 countries also confirmed growing concern over obesity worldwide, but noted different priorities and strategies in different parts of the world for tackling it.

"People are inherently contradictory and nowhere is it more obvious than on such a sensitive and important issue as their weight," says Steve Garton of polling body Synovate, who produced the survey jointly with the BBC.

"The results show there's a world of people who cannot deny themselves that hamburger or extra piece of pizza, but probably make themselves feel better by washing it down with a diet cola."

In terms of fast food, 45 percent of Britons agreed with the statement "I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up" ahead of 44 percent for Americans and Canadians at 37 percent.

The French, long proud of their reputation for high-class cuisine, strongly disagree: 81 percent rejected the statement, followed by 75 percent of Singaporeans and 73 percent of people from Romania.

"Britons love their fish and chips," Garton says.

"French people take care of their image as a matter of course. Being thin is part of our culture and a point of pride," he says. "On top of this there is increasing awareness of the devastation obesity can cause to one's health."

Overall the obesity problem is fuelling increasing concern worldwide - although some are more concerned than others.

Fifteen percent of French people and 12 percent of Americans weigh themselves every single day.

In terms of how to shed weight there are also different strategies. Globally most people say cutting food intake is the best answer, followed by 43 percent who do more exercise.

But there are regional variations: 57 percent of Americans, 56 percent of French and 54 percent of Britons cut down on food to shed weight, while 14 percent of Malaysians opt for herbs and supplements to cut their weight.

6:24 PM - 1/13/2008 - comments {0} - post comment

For my love

You flaked, silent there before me 

Your tears, they mean everything to me 

The wind, howling at the window 

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes, goodbye 
 
The love you give me, but I lost 

I really don't deserve it 

But now, there's nothing I can give for you 

So I sleep and weep, in my only memory 

I'm so insignificant 

Sleeping dormant deep inside of your world 

Are you hiding away, lost? 

Under the glebe 

Maybe flying high 

In the skyey 

Perhaps I will be live without you 

Many flowers have been sown on field 

But who could growths up so blessedly 
 
If I had died 

I would have never 

Felt sad at all 

You will hear me say 

I'm sorry  [world of warcraft gold]

Where is the light? 
 
Wonder if you're weeping somewhere 

Where is the hope? 

I want to see my only lover 

If I can, I want to choose stop my life 

But did you agree? 

You said that you will live in my heart 

Forever   [wow gold]

I didn't believe eternal

But I only trust you

10:40 PM - 12/13/2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Soul

Soul is power,
Soul is happiness,
Soul is beautiful,
Soul is love,
Soul is singing,
Soul starts the bells to ring,
Soul makes you dance,
Soul makes you jump with job.

http://theblogs.net/user/joan/
http://20six.co.uk/joan/
http://pjoan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/sometimes.htm
wow gold world of warcraft gold wow gold

11:46 PM - 12/4/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

The long journeys

 　　Animals will make extraordinary and often mysterious expeditions to find a good meal, sexy mates, and the perfect place to raise a family. This month, billions of cicadas will burst out from their 17-year-old hiding places to complete one of the longer journeys in time, while moving only a few inches from burrow to daylight. Other migrations cover thousands of miles.

　　1、Cicadas
　　Billions of chubby, buzzing cicadas will surface from their underground bunkers this month to gather together, sing, and mate. The insects will have spent 17 years fattening up underground, growing through five stages of development. Their synchronized appearance overwhelms predators, leaving most of the reveling cicadas carefree to party for their five weeks of adult life.

　　2、Lemmings
　　In the Arctic tundra, over-population and a scarcity of food sends lemmings on mass migrations at high speeds. Researchers clocked one trek of the petite mammals at almost 10 miles a day. For the weak, the pace of the journey is just too much and they are left behind to die.

　　3、Wildebeests
　　Greener pastures drive 1.5 million of these herbivores in circles. Serengeti wildebeest travel more than a thousand miles in spectacularly huge herds, along with thousands of zebra and gazelle, to avoid the dry seasons in Tanzania and Kenya.

　　4、Green turtle
　　Motherly instinct compels female green turtles to return to their birthplace to start their own families. The pregnant turtles swim more than a thousand miles from their coastal feeding grounds in Brazil into the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean to Ascension Island. On the tiny nursery's sandy beach, the expectant mothers carve out nests and lay their eggs before heading back home.

　　5、Salmon
　　After spending years swimming in the ocean, salmon follow their noses and return to the freshwater streams they were born in to spawn and eventually die. They'll swim upstream against strong currents for hundreds of miles to make the perfect homecoming, even if it means arriving in shoddy condition.

　　6、Ruby-throated hummingbird
　　Before its 500-mile trip to Central America, the ruby-throated hummingbird bulks up on nectar, insects, and tree sap. The tiny bird gains 2 grams of fat, almost doubling its weight, to make the nonstop flight from eastern North America across the Gulf of Mexico.

　　7、Monarch butterfly
　　Migrating long distances is in a monarch's blood. Each fall, thousands of butterflies head west in California and Mexico. They summer 3,000 miles away, throughout the United States and Canada. But how they know when and where to go continues to puzzle scientists.

　　8、Whooping cranes
　　Recovery efforts of the whooping crane have included flight lessons for the endangered snowbirds. Ultralight aircraft and radio-controlled robots disguised as cranes have lead hand-reared birds south to winter in protected areas.

　　9、Freshwater Eels
　　Freshwater eels are born prepared for the rough waters they face in life. After hatching in the salty Sargasso Sea, the eels swim to freshwater rivers in the United Kingdom and the East Coast of North America. On the way, their kidneys adapt to the change in salinity. When it's time to lay eggs, the eels and their kidneys will return to their beginnings.

　　10、Humpback Whales
　　Humpback whales hold the world's record for longest mammalian voyage. One population spends the warmer months eating a literal ton of food a day in waters off the Arctic Peninsula. Come wintertime, they swim 5,000 miles away to balmy breeding grounds near Columbia and the Equator.
WOW Gold / wow gold / 阳朔

10:13 PM - 7/3/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

The Goodness of Life (By: Ralph Marston)

Though there is much to be concerned about, there is far, far more for which to be thankful. Though life’s goodness can at times be overshadowed, it is never outweighed.

For every single act that is senselessly destructive, there are thousands more small, quiet acts of love, kindness and compassion. For every person who seeks to hurt, there are many, many more who devote their lives to helping and to healing.

There is goodness to life that cannot be denied.

In the most magnificent vistas and in the smallest details, look closely, for that goodness always comes shining through. 

There is no limit to the goodness of life. It grows more abundant with each new encounter. The more you experience and appreciate the goodness of life, the more there is to be lived.

Even when the cold winds blow and the world seems to be covered in foggy shadows, the goodness of life lives on. Open your eyes, open your heart, and you will see that goodness is everywhere.

Though the goodness of life seems at times to suffer setbacks, it always endures. For in the darkest moment it becomes vividly clear that life is a priceless treasure. So the goodness of life is made even stronger by the very things that would oppose it. 

Time and time again when you feared it was gone forever you found that the goodness of life was really only a moment away. Around the next corner, inside every moment, the goodness of life is there to surprise and delight you.

Take a moment to let the goodness of life touch your spirit and calm your thoughts. Then, share your good fortune with another. For the goodness of life grows more and more magnificent each time it is given away.

Though the problems constantly scream for attention, and the conflicts appear to rage ever stronger, the goodness of life grows stronger still, quietly, peacefully, with more purpose and meaning than ever before.

10:56 PM - 4/17/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

The Praying Hands

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      
     The true story behind a well-known piece of art:
 
     Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder's children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

     After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring the mines.

  They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

     When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you."

     All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ...no ...no ...no."

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look... look what four years in the mines has done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ... for me it is too late."

     More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

     One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."

     The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one -no one ever makes it alone!

9:22 PM - 4/17/2007 - comments {1} - post comment