At Home in the Savanna
My name is Dopal. I"m eleven years old and I live in Tanzania, in the heart of the African savanna. I"m a Masai. Masais are nomads who travel all over with their animals, looking for pasture. Our most wonderful and valuable possession is our herd.
I"ve never been to school. My father teaches me everything I have to know. He explains to me how to lead our herd. My own animals are in the middle of the herd. Every Masai gets a cow, a lamb, and a goat the day he"s born. Our most beautiful goat belongs to my father. Her name is Olliye. I love her, even though she"s not always easy to handle. Olliye is going to have a baby very soon. My father knows Olliye is my favorite, but he always reminds me that we must love all our animals as if they were our children. My father knows all about nature. He shows me some cheetah tracks. Our herds have lots of predators like hyenas, lions, and leopards. A Masai has to be ready to risk his life for his herd. A shepherd must always listen for different sounds and watch to make sure the animals walking behind don"t get lost.
All Masais have their own animals, even the girls. They become their dowry when they get married. The animals are also used in trade for food in the market. My people have always been shepherds. We"re not farmers. For us, the earth is sacred, and we mustn"t hurt it by planting things.
Like all boys, I dream of becoming a warrior. A warrior has to be strong and intelligent. He"s the one who defends the herd against wild beasts. He sometimes travels long distances to bring back lost animals, and he also watches over our safety. Masais go through three stages: childhood, warrior, and elder. I"ll be a warrior from thirteen to twentyfive years old, before I become an elder like my father. Then I can get married and have children.
草原上的家
我叫多培尔，11岁了，住在坦桑尼亚热带草原的中心。我是马赛人。马赛人是赶着牧群四处寻找牧地的游牧民族。我们最宝贵的财产就是我们的牧群。
我从没上过学。我爸爸教会我所应该知道的一切。他告诉我怎样引导牧群。我自己的牲口在牧群中间。每个马赛人在出生的那天都会得到一只母牛、羊羔 或山羊。我们最漂亮的一只母山羊就是我爸爸的。它叫奥莱亚。我喜欢它，虽然它有时候不太听指挥。奥莱亚很快就要当妈妈了。爸爸知道我最喜欢奥莱 亚，他总是提醒我说我们要爱护所有的动物，就好像爱护自己的孩子一样。我爸爸知道自然界的一切事情。他教我看豹子留下的踪迹。我们的牧群有许多 天敌，如鬣狗、狮子和美洲豹。马赛人要时刻准备着为牧群而牺牲。放牧人必须时刻留神着各种声音，并看管好跟在身后的牧群，保证没有一只丢失。
所有的马赛人都有自己的牲口，女孩也有。她们结婚时，牲口就成了她们的嫁妆。牲口还可以用来在市场上换食物。我的族人都是牧人，没有农夫。在我 们眼里，土地是神圣的，不可以在上面种植东西伤害它。
和所有的男孩一样，我梦想成为一名武士。武士必须强壮而机智。他守卫牧群不受野兽的袭击。有时他会跋涉遥远的路程找回失散的牲口，他还保卫着人 们的安全。马赛人一生有三个阶段：儿童时代、武士时代和成年时代。从13岁到25岁这段期间，我会成为一名武士，然后成为像爸爸一样的成人。然后我 就结婚生孩子。
Hangover Hell
Never again?
“A regular hangover leaves you feeling like you"re going to die,” whispers Mike Fergis, a Vancouver college student, the morning after a long night out . “A bad one leaves you wishing you would die.”
For 6,000 years, people have been putting their drinking limits to the test, waking up the next morning to blinding headaches and promises of “never again.” Alcohol dehydrates the body, resulting in a lack of the fluid that usually surrounds the brain. So that horrible feeling in your head is actually your brain bumping against bone.
Alcohol is also a form of poison, so your upset stomach is a sign that your body is reacting against what it sees as an attempt to kill it. Sugar worsens the effect, so sweet cocktails are well known for the unpleasant hangovers they produce.
While there"s no shortage of old wives" tales on how to prevent or cure a hangover, one of the most effective treatments (short of not drinking in the first place), is to drink lots of water. The rule of thumb is to drink six glasses of water for every glass of alcohol. This way, you"ll keep your body well hydrated and keep your brain where it belongs.
In some countries, drugs are now available which claim to minimize the effects of a hangover. One, sold as RU21, is also known by the nickname “KGB”, because it was supposedly developed to help Russian spies keep a clear head while drinking.
Of course, one of the oldest hangover cures is to simply drink more alcohol, a practice which has resulted in one of the stranger English idioms: “the hair of the dog that bit me.” Ancient Romans, it seems, believed that the bite of a mad dog could only be cured by burning the dog"s hair and drinking it with water. The bite from the bottle was equally painful and now, asking for “the hair of the dog that bit me” means to drown your hangover in more booze.
宿醉地狱
不敢再喝酒了？
“经常性的宿醉让你觉得自己快要死了。”温哥华的一个大学生迈克·弗吉斯，在出去玩了大半夜之后的早晨轻声地说，“糟糕的宿醉会让你希望自己可 以死掉。”
6000年以来，人们一直在测试自己饮酒的限度，早上在令人目眩的头痛中起床，发誓“再也不敢了”。酒精让身体脱水，结果使得通常环绕着大脑的 液体短缺。所以你头上那种可怕的感觉其实是你的大脑在撞击骨头。
酒精也是一种毒药，所以你的胃部不适表明，你的身体对酒精企图杀死你做出了反应。糖会让这种效果更糟糕，因此甜的鸡尾酒很出名，它能造成不 舒服的宿醉。
关于避免或治疗宿醉，虽然不乏无稽之谈，但其中最有效的疗法﹙除了一开始就不喝酒以外﹚是喝很多水。经验法则是喝1杯酒要喝6杯水。这样一来 ，你就可以让你的身体保持充足的水分，让你的大脑待在它应该在的位置上。
在某些国家，现在可以取得一些宣称可以将宿醉的效果降至最低的药物。其中一种以RU21为名出售，它还有一个绰号叫“克格勃”。因为据说它是 为了帮助苏联间谍在饮酒时保持清醒而发明的。
当然了，其中最古老的一种治疗宿醉的方法，就是喝更多酒，这种做法造成一个比较奇怪的英国俚语：“咬我的狗身上的毛”。古罗马人似乎相信， 被疯狗咬了以后，只能烧掉那只狗身上的毛，加在水里喝下去，才会治好。被“酒瓶”咬与被狗咬一样痛苦，现在要求一些“咬我的狗身上的毛”意指把 你的宿醉淹没在更厉害的豪饮中。
The Story of Kevin
Years ago, Donna, one of the girls in a group I used to pal around with met a boy. He was new in town and seemed quite pleasant, had a pixielike smile and was fun to be around. We welcomed him into our circle. Donna and Kevin became an item. Before long, Donna noticed a few things missing, but she was a woman in love and excused them away without telling anyone.
In the meantime, her new love rented a room from another member of our gang, a local deputy sheriff. The deputy noticed something missing too, but he didn"t excuse it. He confronted Kevin about some missing money.
Kevin admitted he took it but said he thought he could put it back before it was missed, he was desperate and no one was there to ask. He said he knows it was wrong and he felt terrible about it, and said that if he would forgive him he"d put the right foot forward. The deputy forgave him.
A few weeks later, Donna caught Kevin on a date with another woman. She was really hurt, but Kevin said he just wanted one last date to be sure he was in love because he wanted to ask her to marry him. He said if she"d marry him he"d be the happiest man in the world and he"d put the right foot forward from now on. Donna bought into that line too.