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Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live under the sea? Imagine the feeling of freedom you would have swimming through the clear, blue water deep beneath the waves, admiring the different types of corals, unusual plants and the creatures that call the sea bed home. Passing turtles are swimming above you, while bright and colorful groups of fish are travelling alongside you through the depths. All of this is possible on one of our scuba（水中呼吸器）-diving holidays!

International Diving Tours can prepare you for the experience of a lifetime. On our scuba-diving holidays, you will have the opportunity to swim in some of the most beautiful locations in the world, where you can explore underwater caves and coral reefs, and witness some of the strangest and most wonderful creatures on the planet. Not only will you have one of the most exciting times of your life, but you will also come back from your trip feeling calm and relaxed.

We offer several different holiday options for you to choose from. Our sales people can plan and organize the best trip for you, all for the best price! Options include the chance to explore some of the most famous ancient shipwrecks hidden beneath the ocean, or, if you prefer the natural world, we also offer tours of the world-famous Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We even offer the chance to swim with dolphins or venture into a shark cage, where behind the safety of a metal barrier you can watch these fierce beasts go about their daily life. 

All the necessary equipment for your underwater adventure is provided, from wetsuits designed to fit all body shapes, to the latest scuba masks to help you see when you are exploring the world beneath the sea. For longer dives, we provide tanks of oxygen that can let you dive for up to four hours. All of our equipment is checked regularly to ensure that you remain safe at all times.

Our instructors are among the best in the world. They will show you how to swim in your scuba equipment and how to communicate with hand signals under water, which is vital for deep-sea diving. They will also make sure you understand how to return to the surface safely, since rising too quickly can cause a number of health problems. Most importantly, however, they will make sure you have fun.

The need for a surgery operation, especially an emergency operation, almost always comes as a shock to the patient and his family.  Despite modern advances, most people still have an unreasonable fear of hospitals and operations.  Patients do not often believe they really need surgery-cutting into a part of the body as opposed to treatment with drugs.

In the early years of this century there was little specialization in surgery.  A good surgeon was capable of performing almost every operation that had been devised up to that time.  Today the situation is different.  Operations are now being carried out that were not even dreamed of 50 years ago. The heart can be safely opened and its valves repaired.  Blood vessels can be cleaned out, and broken ones mended or replaced.  Even part of the brain can be removed and still permit the patient to live.  However, not one surgeon is qualified to perform every type of the modern operation.

    The scope of surgery has increased remarkably.  Its safety has increased too.  Deaths from most operations are about 20% of what they were in 1910.  And due to the high success rate of operations nowadays, the hospital stay after surgery has been shortened to as little as a week for most major operations.  Most patients are out of bed on the day after the operation and may be back at work in two or three weeks.

    Many developments in modern surgery are almost incredible.  They include the replacement of damaged blood vessels with simulated ones made of plastic; the replacement of heart valves, the transplanting of tissues such as the lens of the eye and the lung machined to keep patients alive during long operations. All these things open a hopeful vista for the future of surgery.

However, still large is the gap between our dream for the future and current technology.  “Spare parts” surgery, the simple routine replacement of all worn-out organs by new ones, is still a dream of the distant future.  As yet, surgery is not ready for such miracles.  In the meantime, you can be happy if your doctor says to you, “yes, I think it is possible to operate on you for this condition.”

Ways to Deal with Conflict

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In heated situations, we have a tendency to speak first and think after. This results in aggression which aggravates (使惡化) the conflict. Instead, pause before you speak, think about what the person has said to you, and respond appropriately. By giving yourself this time to think, you cool down, and you are less likely to speak with anger. A lot of the time, the other people may want to argue for the sake of arguing.

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Everyone knows that people make mistakes because it’s human nature. However, it also seems to be human nature to fight acceptance of those mistakes. Conflicts often arise from mistakes, so it’s best to be upfront and honest about them. Identify the mistake that led to the conflict.

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In conflict, if someone walks away, allow him to do that. Don’t follow the person you’re in conflict with into another room because you haven’t said all you want to say. You wouldn’t want him following you if you felt the need to leave the situation. Also, don’t hover too close to the person you’re in conflict with. Allow him room to breathe. Don’t make him feel as if you’re backing him into a corner.

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It is very easy to point the finger or play the blame game when trouble arises. As easy as it is, it is not useful or productive. The main concern is to find a solution to the problem, not to determine who was wrong. If the problem is related to the work itself, keep the conversation focused on exactly what is wrong, and what can be done to fix it.

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Be open to the idea of compromise and let the other person know this. Before you approach the conversation, be confident in your stance and know what you are willing to negotiate on and what you feel strongly should not be compromised. Do your best to be flexible. Look for a way to come to a conclusion that satisfies both parties.

How They Stay Young

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When Dr David Weeks，a clinical neuro-psychologist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Scotland．wanted to look into the secrets of eternal（永久的） youth ，he advertised for subjects who looked younger than their age．An independent panel examined photographs of respondents，and selected 3,500 people who looked on average l2 to 14 years younger than their actual age to take part in the study．

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    These subjects were studied for eight years．The main aim of the study was to discover whether environment or heredity had more effect on the ageing process．The conclusion was that genetic programming is the main factor．But the study also showed that avoiding stress can slow down the ageing process．

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    Stress seems to have an immediate effect on appearance．A separate study of middle-aged women showed that women suffering form serious stress looked older in just a few months．Yet when the problem causing the stress was removed，they very quickly looked younger．

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    Here is a list of the factors that Dr．Weeks found that allowed his subjects to lead less stressful lives than others．First，they tend to have happy relationships with their partners．These relationships are based on trust and empathy，and provide security and comfort when dealing with stressful problems．Secondly，they tended to avoid sources of hostility instead of allowing them to make them angry．

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    Next, they seem to have a good sense of humor．They like to have fun，and are enthusiastically involved in a variety of hobbies．They also seemed less willing to conform to others’ ideas．They prefer to think for themselves．They tend to have a good attitude towards health and exercise as well．They avoid the sun，do not smoke, and eat a healthy diet．

    So these are the secrets of the “ super-young”：a loving relationship．Regular exercise．a variety of hobbies，a healthy diet and avoidance of stress．

Voluntary learning in organized courses by mature men and women is called adult education. Such education is offered to make people able to enlarge and interpret their experience as adults. Adults may want to study something which they missed in earlier schooling, get new skills or job training, find out about new technological developments, seek better self—understanding, or develop new talents and skills.

This kind of education may be in the form of self-study with proper guidance through the use of libraries, correspondence courses, or broadcasting. It may also be acquired collectively in schools and colleges, study groups, workshops, clubs, and professional associations.

Modern adult education for large numbers of people started in the 18^th and 19^th centuries with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. Great economic and social changes were taking place: people were moving from rural areas to cities; new types of work were being created in an expanding factory system. These and other factors produced a need for further education and re-education of adults.

The earliest programs of organized adult education arose in Great Britain in the 1790s, with the founding of an adult school in Nottingham and a mechanics’ institute in Glasgow. The earliest adult education institution in the United States was founded by Benjamin Franklin and some friends in Philadelphia in 1727.

People recognize that continued learning is necessary for most forms of employment today. For example, parts of the adult population in many countries find it necessary to take part in retraining programs at work or even to learn completely new jobs. Adult education programs are springing up constantly to meet these and other needs.

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The difference between a human brain and a computer is more complicated than we can imagine. The large mammalian brain is the most complicated thing, for its size. Though the human brain only weighs three pounds, in that three pounds are ten billion neurons and a hundred billion cells. The many billions of cells are interconnected in such a vastly complicated network that we can’t begin to explore as yet.

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Even the most complicated computer man has yet built can’t compare with the brain.  Computer switches and processes number in the millions rather than in the billions. What’s more, the computer switch is just an on-off device, whereas the brain cell is itself possessed of a complex structure.

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It’s frequently said that computers solve problems only because they are “programmed” to do so. They can only do what men have them do, in which way it is like the human brain. We can also do what we are “programmed” to do. Our genes “program” us the instant the zygote (授精卵) is formed, and our potentialities are limited by that “program.”

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Surely, though, if a computer can be made complex enough, it can be as creative as people.  If it could be made as complex as a human brain, it could be the replacement of a human brain and do whatever a human brain can do. Then the real supercomputer comes along.

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In other words, once we pass a certain critical point, the computers will gain a dominating position and present a complexity explosion. In a very short time thereafter, computers may exist not only taking after the human brain, but far passing it. When the time comes, we might as well step aside and hand over all our work to them and really have them serve us.

   The first characteristic of an educated man is the precision of the use of the native language. When one hears English well spoken, with pure diction, correct pronunciation, and an almost unconscious choice of the right word, he recognizes it at once. How much easier he finds it to imitate English of the other sort.

    When manners are artificial and forced, no matter what their form, they are bad manners. When, however, they are the natural expression of fixed habits of thought and action, and when they reveal a refined and cultivated nature, they are good manners. There are certain things that gentlemen do not do, and they do not do them simply because they are bad manners.

   Human beings for the most part live wholly on the surface or far beyond the present moment and that part of the future that is quickly to follow it. They do not read those works of prose and poetry which have become classic because they reveal power and habit of reflection and induce that power and habit in others. When one reflects long enough to ask the question how? He is on the way to knowing something about science.

    An educated man continues to grow and develop from birth to his dying day. His interests expand, his contacts multiply, his knowledge increases, and his reflection becomes deeper and wider. It would appear to be true that not many human beings, even those who have had a school and college education, continue to grow after they are twenty-four or twenty-five years of age. By that time it is usual to settle down to life on a level of more or less contented intellectual interest and activity. The whole present-day movement for adult education is a systematic and definite attempt to keep human beings growing long after they have left school and college, and therefore, to help educate them.

    The more visionary dreamer, however charming or however wise, lacks something that an education requires. The power to do may be exercised in any one of a thousand ways, but when it clearly shows itself, that is evidence that the period of discipline of study and of companionship with parents and teachers has not been in vain.

Barack Obama has been a hit in China. Apart from holding talks with Chinese leaders, the president ___41___ the Chinese with a lively question-and-answer session with college students. In fact, he is the first U.S. president to visit China inside his first year in office.

“The United States insists we do not seek to contain China’s rise,” he told Chinese students in Shanghai. “On the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and ___42___ and successful member of the community of nations.”

The U.S.-China relationship has opened the door to partnerships on ___43 ___ global concerns including economic recovery, clean energy, climate change, and the ___44___ of peace and beyond, he added.

Indeed, given these pressing issues, China and the United States have ___45___ found their future linked together. They discovered that the largest developing nation and the most powerful industrialized country have to work in concert.

Obama’s visit to China on November 15-18 highlighted the complexity of arguably the most important bilateral (雙邊) relationship in the world. Moreover, for all their differences and disagreements, Beijing and Washington are ___46___ to manage their relations in a way that will contribute to world peace and development.

Obama kicked off his first state visit to China in the country’s financial and economic centre, Shanghai, where he held a “town hall” meeting with more than 500 Chinese students. The one-hour discussion, during which Obama took ___47___ ranging from antiterrorism to recipes for success with his signature charisma (領袖魅力), was broadcast live on the websites.

He ___48___ that young people could help build bridges in U.S.-China ___49___ — a process that he said must grow beyond the two countries’ governments to take root in the people.

Listening is not as easy as someone thought. Even good listeners may recall only fifty percent of what they hear. Retention, the ability to remember and recall information, decreases about twenty to twenty – five percent after a few days. So no matter how well you listen in class, you’re always going to have to refresh your memory before a test! Unfortunately, many people have poor listening habits, and little listening training. To improve your listening skills, it’s important to understand what causes poor listening.

If you find it difficult to concentrate solely on what a speaker is saying, there’s good reason. The mind processes information much faster than a speaker can speak. The brain can process over 500 words per minute, while the average speaker talks as a rate of 124 to 250 words per minute. That means the mind can hear what’s being said and can think about something else at the same time.

If you have a negative idea about the speaker or the topic, you’ll find it difficult to listen attentively. Hostile or captive audiences often have more difficultly listening than do favorable or voluntary ones.

If a speaker speaks “above the heads” of an audience, people find it difficult to concentrate. Speakers who use unfamiliar words or who use incomplete explanations make it more difficult to listen. Speakers who “speak down” to audiences, failing to acknowledge what the audience already knows, also create mental blocks.

When people listen selectively, they simply block out what they don’t want to hear. For instance, many people have habits that are dangerous to their health, like smoking. However, they often choose to block out what a speaker says about health risks. They may listen to a speech and think that the speaker’s message applies to other people, not them. In other words, they hear what they want to hear and ignore what they don’t want to hear.

What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? __65___.

We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. ___66____. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理學家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. ___67____. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.

___68  _. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. _  69___, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”

A. Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children

B. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent

C. It needs exercise

D. These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.

E. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children

F. A person often thinking about difficult problems is more likely to become a genius.

G. What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion.