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A Life with Birds

For nearly 17 years David Cope has worked as one of the Tower of

London's yeoman warders, better known to tourists as beefeaters. David, 64,

lives in a three-bedroomed flat right at the top of the Byward Tower, one of

the gatehouses. " From our bedroom we have a marvellous view of Tower

Bridge and the Thames, " says David.

The Tower of London is famous for its ravens, the large black birds

which have lived there for over three centuries. David was immediately

fascinated by the birds and when he was offered the post of Raven Master

eight years ago he had no hesitation in accepting it. "The birds have now

become my life and I'm always aware of the fact that I am maintaining a

tradition. The legend says that if the ravens leave the Tower, England will fall

to enemies, and it's my job to make sure this doesn't happen!"

David devotes about four hours a day to the care of the ravens. He has

grown to love them and the fact that he lives right next to them is ideal. "I can

keep a close eye on them all the time, and not just when I'm working." At

first, David's wife Mo was not keen on the idea of life in the Tower, but she

too will be sad to leave when he retires next year. "When we look out of our

windows, we see history all around us, and we are taking it in and storing it

up for our future memories."

A Lucky Break

Actor Antonio Banderas is used to breaking bones, and it always seems to

happen when he's doing sport. In the film Play it to the Bone he plays the part

of a middleweight boxer alongside Woody Harrelson. During the making of

the film Harrelson kept complaining that the fight scenes weren't very

convincing, so one day he suggested that he and Banderas should have a fight

for real. The Spanish actor wasn't keen on the idea at first, but he was

eventually persuaded by his co-star to put on his gloves and climb into the

boxing ring. However, when he realized how seriously his opponent was

taking it all, he began to regret his decision to fight. And then in the third

round, Harrelson hit Banderas so hard in the face that he actually broke his

nose. His wife, actress Melanie Griffith, was furious that he had been playing

"silly macho games". "She was right," confesses Banderas, "and I was a fool

to take a risk like that in the middle of a movie."

He was reminded of the time he broke his leg during a football match in his

native Malaga. He had always dreamed of becoming a soccer star, of

performing in front of a big crowd, but doctors told him his playing days were

probably over. "That's when I decided to take up acting; I saw it as another

way of performing, and achieving recognition. What happened to me on that

football pitch was, you might say, my first lucky break."

Global Warming

Few people now question the reality of global warming and its effects on

the world's climate. Many scientists put the blame for recent natural disasters

on the increase in the world's temperatures and are convinced that, more than

ever before, the Earth is at risk from the forces of the wind, rain and sun.

According to them, global warming is making extreme weather events, such

as hurricanes and droughts, even more severe and causing sea levels all

around the world to rise .

Environmental groups are putting pressure on governments to take action to

reduce the amount of carbon dioxide which is given off by factories and

power plants, thus attacking the problem at its source. They are in favour of

more money being spent on research into solar, wind and wave energy

devices, which could then replace existing power stations.

Some scientists, however believe that even if we stopped releasing carbon

dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere tomorrow, we would have to wait

several hundred years to notice the results. Global warming, it seems, is here

to stay.

A Success Story

At 19, Ben Way is already a millionaire, and one of a growing number of

teenagers who have made their fortune through the Internet. What makes

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Ben's story all the more remarkable is that he is dyslexic, and was told by

teachers at his junior school that he would never be able to read or write

properly . "I wanted to prove them wrong ", says Ben, creator and director of

Waysearch, a net search engine which can be used to find goods in online

shopping malls.

When he was eight, his local authorities provided him with a PC to help

with school work. Although he was unable to read the manuals, he had a

natural ability with the computer, and encouraged by his father, he soon began

charging people $l0 an hour for his knowledge and skills. At the age of 15 he

set up his own computer consultancy, Quad Computer, which he ran from his

bedroom, and two years later he left school to devote all his time to business.

"By this time the company had grown and I needed to take on a couple of

employees to help me", says Ben. "That enabled me to start doing business

with bigger companies. It was. his ability to consistently overcome difficult

challenges that led him to win the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in

the same year that he formed Waysearch, and he has recently signed a deal

worth $25 million with a private investment company, which will finance his

search engine.

Traffic in Our Cities

The volume of traffic in many cities in the world today continues to expand.

This causes many problems, including serious air pollution, lengthy delays,

and the greater riskofaccidents. Clearly, something must be done, but it is

often difficult to persuade people to change their habits and leave their cars at

home.

One possible approach is to make it more expensive for people to use their

cars by increasing charges for parking and bringing in tougher fines for

anyone whobreaks the law. In addition, drivers could be required to pay for

using particular routes at different times of the day. This system, known as

"road pricing", is already being introduced in a numberof cities, using a

special electronic card fixed to the windscreen of the car.

Another way ofdealing with the problem is to provide cheap parking on

the outskirts of the city, and strictly control the number of vehicles allowed

into the centre. Drivers and their passengers then use a special bus service for

the final stage of their journey.

Of course, the most important thing is to provide good public transport.

However, to get people to give up the comfort of their cars, public transport

must be felt to be reliable, convenient and comfortable, with fares kept at an

acceptable level.

Teaching and learning

Many teachers believe that the responsibilities for learning lie with the

student. If a long reading assignment is given, instructors expect students to

be familiar with the information in the reading even if they do not discuss it in

class or take an examination. The ideal student is considered to be one who is

motivated to learn for the sake of learning, not the one interested only in

getting high grades. Sometimes homework is returned with brief written

comments but without a grade. Even if a grade is not given, the student is

responsible for learning the material assigned. When research is assigned, the

professor expects the student to take it actively and to complete it with

minimum guidance. It is the student's responsibility to find books, magazines,

and articles in the library. Professors do not have the time to explain how a

university library works; they expect students particularly graduate students

to exhaust the reference sources in the library. Professors will help students

who need it, but prefer that their students should not be too dependent on

them. In the United Stats professors have many other duties besides

teachingsuch as administrative or research work. Therefore, the time that a

professor can spend with a student outside of class is limited. If a student has

problems with classroom work, the student should either approach a professor

during office hours or make an appointment.

* The Difference between Man and Computer

What makes people different from computer programs? What is the

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missing element that our theories dont yet account for? The answer is simple:

People read newspaper stories for a reason: to learn more about what they are

interested in. Computers, on the other handdon't. In factcomputers don't

even have interests; there is nothing in particular that they are trying to find

out when they read. If a computer program is to be a model of story

understandingit should also read for a "purpose".

Of coursepeople have several goals that do not make sense to attribute to

computers. One might read a restaurant guide in order to satisfy hunger or

entertainment goals, or to find a good place to go for a business lunch.

Computers do not get hungry, and computers do not have business lunches.

However these physiological and social goals give rise to several

intellectual or cognitive goals. A goal to satisfy hunger gives rise to goals to

find information about the name of a restaurant which serves the desired type

of foodhow expensive the restaurant isthe location of the restaurant, etc.

These are goals to acquire information or knowledge, what we are calling

learning goals. These goals can be held by computers too; a computer might

"want" to find out the location of a restaurantand read a guide in order to do

so in the same way as a person might. While such a goal would not arise out

of hunger in the case of the computerit might well arise out of the "goal" to

learn more about restaurants.

* Look on The Bright Side

Do you ever wish you were more optimistic, someone who always

expected to be successful? Having someone around who always fears the

worst isnt really a lot of fun. We all know someone who sees a single cloud

on a sunny day and says "INooks like rain. " But if you catch yourself

thinking such thingsit's important to do something about it.

You can change your view of lifeaccording to psychologists. It only takes

a little effortand you'll find life more rewarding as a result. Optimismthey

say is partly about self-respect and confidence but it's also a more positive

way of looking at life and all it has to offer. Optimists are more likely to start

new projects and are generally more prepared to take risks.

Upbringing is obviously very important in forming your attitude to the

world. Some people are brought up to depend too much on others and grow

up forever blaming other people when anything goes wrong. Most

optimistson the other hand, have been brought up not to regard failure as the

end of the worldthey just get on with their lives.

*The First Bicycle

The history of the bicycle goes back more than 200 years. In 1791Count

de Sivrac delighted onlookers in a park in Paris as he showed off his two-

wheeled invention

a machine called the celerifer. It was basically an

enlarged version of a childrens toy which had been in use for many years.

Sivrac's "celerifer had a wooden framemade in the shape of a horsewhich

was mounted on a wheel at either end. To ride ityou sat on a small seatjust

like a modem bicycleand pushed hard against the ground with your legs

there were no pedals. It was impossible to steer a celerifer and it had no

brakesbut despite these problems the invention very much appealed to the

fashionable young men of Paris. Soon they were holding races up and down

the streets.

Minor injuries were common as riders attempted a final burst of speed .

Controlling the machine was difficult as the only way to change direction

was to pull up the front of the "celerifer" and turn it round while the front

wheel was spinning in the air. "Celerifers" were not popular for

longhoweveras the combination of no springsno steering and rough roads

made riding them very

uncomfortable. Even sothe wooden celerifer was the origin of the modem

bicycle.

* Working Mothers

Carefully conducted researches that have followed the children of

working mothers have not been able to show any long-term

problems compared with children whose mothers stayed at home. My

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personal view is that mothers should be allowed to work if they wish.

Whether we like it or not there are a number of mothers who just have to

work.. There are those who have invested such a big part of their lives in

establishing a career that they cannot afford see it lost. Then there are many

who must work out of pure economic necessity. Many mothers are not cut out

to be full-time parents. After a few months at home with a much loved infant

they feel trapped and isolated.

There are a number of options when it comes to choosing childcare. These

range from child minders and nannies through to Granny or the kind lady

across the street. In reality, however

many parents don't have any choice;

they have to accept anything they can get. Be prepared! No matter how good

the childcare may besome children are going to protest wildly if they are

left. This is a perfectly normal stage of child development. Babies separate

well in the first six months but soon after that they start to get a crush on

Mum and close family members. Make sure that in the first week you allow

plenty of time to help your child settle in.

All children are different. Some are independentwhile others are more

attached to their mothers. Remember that if you want to do the best for your

childrenit's not the quantity of time you spend with themit's the quality that

matters.

+ School Lunch

Research has shown that over half the children in Britain who take

their own lunches to school do not eat properly in the middle of the day. In

Britain schools have to provide meals at lunchtime. Children can choose to

bring their own food or have lunch at the school canteen.

One shocking finding of this research is that school meals are much

healthier than lunches prepared by parents. There are strict standards for the

preparation of school meals, which have to include one portion of fruit and

one of vegetables, as well as meat, a dairy item and starchy food like bread or

pasta. Lunchboxes examined by researchers contained sweet drinks, crisps

and chocolate bars. Children consume twice as much sugar as they should at

lunchtime.

The research will provide a better understanding of why the

percentage of overweight students in Britain has increased in the last decade.

Unfortunately, the government cannot criticise parents, but it can remind them

of the nutritional value of milk, fruit and vegetables. Small changes in their

children's diet can affect their future health. Children can easily develop bad

eating habits at this age, and parents are the only ones who can prevent it.

+ A Powerful Influence

There can be no doubt at all that the Internet has made a huge

difference to our lives. Parents are worried that children spend too much time

playing on the Internet, hardly ever doing anything else in their spare time.

Naturally, parents are curious to find out why the Internet is so attractive, and

they want to know if it can be harmful to their children. Should parents worry

if their children are spending that much time staring at their computers?

Obviously; if children are bent over their computers for hours,

absorbed in some game, instead of doing their homework, then something is

wrong. Parents and children could decide how much use the child should

make of the Internet, and the child should give his or her word that it wont

interfere with homework. If the child is not holding to this arrangement, the

parent can take more drastic steps dealing with a child's use of the Internet is

not much different from negotiating any other soft of bargain about

behaviour.

Any parent who is seriously alarmed about a child's behaviour should make

an appointment to discuss the matter with a teacher. Spending time in front of

the screen does not necessarily affect a child's performance at school. Even if

a child is absolutely crazy about using the Internethe or she is probably just

going through a phase, and in a few months there will be something else to

worry about!

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+ The Old Gate

In the Middle Ages the vast majority of European cities had walls around

them. This was partly for defensive reasons but another factor was the need to

keep out anyone regarded as undesirable, like people with contagious

diseases. The Old City of London gates were all demolished by the end of the

18th century. The last of London's gates was removed a century ago, but by a

stroke of luck, it was never destroyed.

This gate is, in actual fact, not called a gate at all; its name is Temple

Bar, and it marked the boundary between the Old City of London and

Westminster. In 1878 the Council of London took the Bar down, numbered

the stones and put the gate in storage because its design was unfashionable it

was expensive to maintain and it was blocking the traffic.

The Temple Bar Trust was set up in the 1970's with the intention of

returning the gate home. The aim of the trust is the preservation of the

nation's architectural heritage.

Transporting the gate will mean physically pulling it down, stone by

stone, removing and rebuilding it near St Paul's Cathedral. Most of the facade

of the gate will probably be replaced, though there is a good chance that the

basic structure will be sound. The hardest job of all, however, will be to

recreate the statues of the monarchs that once stood on top of the gate.

+ Family History

In an age when technology is developing faster than ever before, many

people are being attracted to the idea of looking back into the past. One way

they can do this is by investigating their own family history. They can try to

find out more about where their families came from and what they did, This is

now a fastgrowing hobby, especially in countries with a fairly short history,

like Australia and the United States.

It is one thing to spend some time going through a book on family

history and to take the decision to investigate your own family's past. It is

quite another to carry out the research work successfully. It is easy to set

about it in a disorganized way and cause yourself many problems which could

have been avoided with a little forward planning.

If your own family stories tell you that you are connected with a famous

character , whether hero or criminal , do not let this idea take over your

research. Just treat it as an interesting possibility. A simple system for

collecting and storing your information will be adequate to start with; a more

complex one may only get in your way. The most important thing, though, is

to get started. Who knows what you might find?

+ Helen and Martin

With a thoughtful sigh, Helen turned away from the window and wa1ked

back to her favourite armchair. Would her brother never arrive? For a brief

moment, she wondered if she really cared that much.

Over the years Helen had given up waiting for Martin to take an interest

in her.Her feelings for him had gradually weakened until now, as she sat

waiting for him, sheexperienced no more than a sister's curiosity to see what

had become of her brother.

Almost without warning, Martin had lost, his job with a busy publishing

company after spending the last eight years in New York as a key figure in the

US office. Somehow the two of them hadn't bothered to keep in touch and,

left alone, Helen had slowly found her confidence in her own judgment

growing. Ignoring the wishes of her parents, she had left university halfway

through her course and now, to the astonishment of the whole family, she was

gaining a fast-growing reputation in the pages of respected art magazines and

was actually earning enough to live on from her paintings.

Of course, she took no pleasure in Martin's sudden misfortune, but she

couldn't help looking forward to her brother's arrival with quiet satisfaction at

what she had achieved.

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