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　　Bill Melendez,91,an Emmy Award-winning animator(動畫片制作者)who transformed the two-dimensional drawings of the Peanuts comic strip into some of the most beloved cartoon characters on television and film,died Sept 2 at St．John's Health Center in Santa Monica,Calif．

　　The cause of death was not reporteD．

　　Mr．Melendez,who began his career at the Hollywood animation stud ios of Walt Disney and Warner Bros,found his greatest fame as the animator of A Charlie Brown Christmas,The Great Pumpkin and dozens of other Peanuts Presentations．

　　With producer Lee Mendelson,Mr．Melendez formed a 43-year partnership that has generated more than 70 Peanuts productions,including four feature films He also animated more than 370 commercials using Peanuts characters and remains the only animator Charles M．Schulz trusted to bring his famous comic strip figures to life．

　　Success was hardly assured when the first Peanuts special,A Charlie Brown Christmas,was broadcast by CBS in 1965 Network executives feared it would be a colossal flop．with no laugh track,a jazz musical score by pianist Vice Guaraldi and religious message．

　　Much to everyone's surprise,the show was a huge hit and got Emmy and Peabody awards Cartoonist Robert Smigel called it“the greatest half－h(huán)our American TV has ever produced” In addition to animating every Peanuts film and TV special,Mr．Melendez provided the wordless voice of Snoopy Before his work oil Peanuts,Mr．Melendez drew many of the famous Disney and Warner Bros．a(chǎn)nimated figures of the 1930s and 40s,including Mickey Mouse,Donald Duck,Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig．The peanuts characters,with their complicated personalities contained in round,childlike figure,proved unexpectedly challenging．

　　Mr．Melendez won five Emmy Awards for his work oil Peanuts．He also won Emmys for creating the first animated cartoons of Jim Davis'Garfield and for animating CS Lewis'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe．

　　Melendez was born in 1916 in Hermosillo,Mexico and moved to Douglas,Arizona in 1928, and later to Los Angeles．He began drawing as a child．He studied at what is now the California Institute of the Arts and joined the Disney studio in 1938．

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　　Ants have a reputation for strength, organization and teamwork．But researchers have now discovered that a key secret to the success of ants is their ability to identify the importance of age in the work place．

　　A study of Gentral American leaf-cutter ants has shown that the younger and stronger members are give the toughest job of cutting the rough the leaves they harvest．Their sharp young teeth do this job effectively, but as they get older their teeth become relatively worn and blunt．

　　But rather than being retired or abandoned by the group, the ageing ants are given a new role more suited to their physical abilities．They become carriers and transport the leaves back to the kingdom where they are harvested for food．

　　The findings by researchers from the University of Oregon and the Oregong State University support previous research show in the survival of a leaf-cutter kingdom depends on the efficiency(效率)of is workers．

　　“Cutting leaves is hard work, ”said Dr．Robert Schofield, who led the research team．“Much of the cutting is done with a V-shaped blade(刀片)between teeth on their jaws．This blade starts out as sharp as the sharpest razor blade that humans have developed．”But over rime the teeth become blunter and the cutting job slows down．The team estimated that, because of this age-related wear, a colony(蟻群)spent twice the energy cutting leaves than it would if all the ants had sharp blades．Its findings support the idea that wear and break can be significant problems for insects as well as larger animals．

　　Like humans, leaf-cutter ant recognize that older members of the group can still make a worthwhile contribution to society．“This stud shows an advantage of social living that we are familiar with, ”said Dr．Schofield．

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閱讀下列材料，從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出最佳選項。

　　I have a friend Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro．He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs．

　　The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house．It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant(游蕩的)horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses．As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted．When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up．”

　　“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch someday．He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track．Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch．”

　　“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to the teacher．Two days later he received his paper back．On the front was a large red F with a note that read, ‘See me after class．' ”

　　“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive an F?'”

　　“The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you．You have no money．You come from an itinerant family．You have no resources．Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money．You have to buy the land．You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to pay large stud(馬群)fees．There's no way you could ever do it．' Then the teacher added, ‘If you rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade．' ”

　　“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard．He asked his father what he should do．His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this．However, I think it is a very important decision for you．' ”

　　“Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all．He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream．'”

　　Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch．I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace．” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week．When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now．When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer． During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams．Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours．'”

　　Don't let anyone steal your dreams．Follow your heart, no matter what．

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