Spiritual Bond
Besides, do not forget to appreciate the ''spiritual bond'' between people. I've met numerous people in Japan, the US, and Australia. In the beginning, I was __1__ by the differences in the views and cultures. After studying in the US, I got __2__ to the American way of thinking. So when I first moved to Australia, I had __3__ thoughts about Australians, I thought they were quiet and passive. I felt that I couldn't understand them and that I didn't __4__ in. That is when I met the Happy Science teachings. I learned about how people go through reincarnation （转世） and are born again and again in different races and in different countries.
Therefore, I realized that the people I meet in this lifetime are __5__ connected to me from my past. We have known each other before. When I __6__ this spiritual perspective, I reflected on my narrow-Mindedness.
When I found out that people who I thought I couldn't understand could be spiritually connected to me, I felt __7__ even for people I used to __8__ .I felt a feeling of oneness and I was able to make many friends creating bonds of understanding and respect. Value and __9__ every spiritual bond between you and the people you meet and continue to work hard to develop yourself in order to __10__ others and be a good influence.

As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, and rooms to be cleaned. Parents are ___1___ with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real ___2___. On Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable. They are torn between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to stay up late so that they will not miss the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie awake for a long time, hoping to get a short ___3___ at Father Christmas.
Last Christmas, my wife and I successfully hid a few large presents in the storeroom. I ___4___ the moment when my son, Jimmy, would ask me where that new bike had come from, but ___5___ he did not see it.
On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly ___6___ when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began filling stockings. Then I pushed in the ___7___ I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get much sleep that night, for the children were ___8___ to get up early. At about five o’clock the next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children’s room — they were shouting excitedly! Before I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came riding into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary, followed close behind pushing her new baby carriage. Even the baby arrived. He moved ___9___ the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke us up ___10___. The day had really begun with a band!

Talking to Kids about SARS
School age children may be learning about SARS from adults and the media, but may not know what to make of the situation, says a national health charity.
The Lung Association says parents should take time to talk to their ____1____ and explain the facts about SARS and how to avoid the illness.
The following is based on recommendations ____2____ Thursday by the Lung Association:
Ask your children if they have heard ____3____ SARS at school, from friends, from TV, etc. Finding out what they already know can be a good ____4____ to start the conversation and to clear away any wrong ideas they might have about the illness and how it is spread.
School age children are usually old ____5____ to understand concepts such as getting sick from germs and how to avoid illness. A simple reminder ____6____ to cough on people and to wash their hands often may be sufficient for younger kids. All children should be shown how to ____7____ their hands properly.
Remember to keep it simple so ____8____ not to overwhelm children with information, but answer them truthfully. Kids can tell when you're not being honest or if your're hiding something, and sometimes the unknown can be more frightening than the ____9____ . Parents with anxious children will know how their kids will handle information on SARS and can tailor their discussion accordingly.
One way to explain the illness is to tell children that SARS is like a bad breathing problem. It is ____10____ from a cold, but people can catch it in the same ways—such as coughing on someone, not washing your hands or sharing a glass with a sick person.

Materials and Tools for Language Learning
① The range of materials and tools available to help you with your language studies is huge, from dictionaries to language courses. All of them can help you in different ways, and the appropriate use of these materials and courses will make your language learning much easier and more effective.
② Possibly the most useful tools there are for learning a language are dictionaries. Dictionaries come in a number of formats including bilingual, monolingual, illustrated, electronic and online. Bilingual dictionaries are perhaps the most useful ones for beginners and intermediate learners, while monolingual dictionaries, which are designed for native speakers, are also useful for advanced learners. Pocket dictionaries are good for quick reference and easy to carry around. Larger dictionaries are better if you want more definitions, examples of usage, and information about pronunciation, and grammar. Electronic dictionaries are available as handheld units, or as software. Handheld ones are portable, easy and quick to search, and often provide other functions, such as, text-to-speech, voice recognition and speech synthesis organizers, address books. They tend to be rather expensive though. Software dictionaries offer many of the same functions, and can be used on computers, and mobile phones.
③ The traditional courses tend to consist of textbooks containing dialogues, exercises, notes on grammar, and maybe cultural information. Accompanying cassettes, CDs and/or mp3s are often available. Most such courses are intended for complete beginners or people with only minimal knowledge of the language. Intermediate and advanced-level courses are available for some of the popular languages, such as French, German, Italian and Spanish.
④ Audio courses usually consist solely of cassettes or CDs, though some may also include a limited amount of printed material. All dialogues, exercises, instructions and explanations are recorded and the focus of these courses is teaching you to understand and speak the languages. They are very good at teaching you authentic pronunciation and a manageable amount of vocabulary.
⑤ Various computer-aided courses are available on CD-ROMs and DVDs. Each course is different but they generally include dialogues, audio, exercises and tests. Some also include phrasebooks, dictionaries, videos, games and provide online and/or telephone support.

Income
Income may be national income and personal income. Whereas national income is defined as the total earned income of all the factors of production-namely, profits, interest, rent, wages, and other compensation for labor, personal income may be defined as total money income received by individuals before personal taxes are paid. National income does not equal GNP (Gross National Product) because the factors of production do not receive payment for either capital consumption allowances or indirect business taxes, both of which are included in GNP. The money put aside for capital consumption is for replacement and thus is not counted as income. Indirect taxes include sales taxes, property taxes , and excise taxes that are paid by businesses directly to the government and so reduce the income left to pay for the factors of production. Three-fourths of national income goes for wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation to employees.
Whereas national income shows the income that the factors of production earn, personal income measures the income that individuals or households receive. Corporation profits are included in national income because they are earned. Out of these profits, however, corporation profit taxes must be paid to the government, and some money must be put into the business for expansion. Only that part of profits distributed as dividends goes to the individual; therefore, out of corporation profits only dividends count as personal income. The factors of production earn money for social security and unemployment insurance contributions, but this money goes to government (which is not a factor of production), not to individuals. It is therefore part of national income but not part of personal income.
On the other hand, money received by individuals when they collect social security or unemployment compensation is not money earned but money received. Interest received on government bonds is also in this category, because much of the money received from the sale of bonds went to pay for war production and that production no longer furnishes a service to the economy.
The money people receive as personal income may be either spent or saved. However, not all spending is completely voluntary. A significant portion of our income goes to pay personal taxes. Most workers never receive the money they pay in personal taxes, because it is withheld from their paychecks. The money that individuals are left with after they have met their tax obligations is disposable personal income. Disposable income can be divided between personal consumption expenditures and personal savings. It is important to remember that personal saving is what is left after spending.

Overcoming Difficulties
① Life is full of difficulties and obstacles, from birth to death. At times, Life seems like a hurdle race. We are sure of encountering hurdles, but almost always we are taken by surprise. It is necessary to accept that life in general is full of difficulties and adversities. This recognition is the first step. When faced with problems, we often feel, "I am the only one having such problems" Or, we tend to exaggerate our problems and regard them as most complex, most painful，and as an extreme case. But if we look around us, we find people in much worse conditions. As St. Augustine said, "I cried for boots, till I saw a man who had no legs."
② When faced with difficulties, we either complain or seek to dodge them. We behave like as ostrich in the desert. It is said that when there is a storm in the desert, the ostrich buries his head in the sand-hoping that the storm will go away if he ignores it-and finally gets buried under a heap of sand and dies. Some of us choose to pretend that the problems do not exist. We fail to realize that confronting and solving the problem-no painful the process-makes us grow.
③ Accept the woes of birth. It has many implied meanings. First, it means "accepting," i.e., being able to say that it is "my" problem and it is up to me to solve it. Many times we find ourselves putting the blame on others-parents, society or the circumstances of life. Nothing happens by chance, but all is the result of our past actions. There are times when what is needed is patience. We seek to come out of an unpleasant situation quickly. We must understand that if the cause had been operating for a long time, the effect also would last long-as even when the gas has been turned off, the burner remains hot for a long time. Similarly, we expect quick results; having put in the effort, we must be willing to wait. Patient acceptance of what is due to us makes us makes us take a step further in our development.
④ Once we have learnt to deal with a difficulty, the next time we encounter it, it ceases to be a difficulty. But, more often than not the cause of the problem is internal, i.e., within us, and often, it calls for a change. Often the difficulty is solved when we are willing to change—our way of thinking, our feelings, our likes and dislikes—and ready to adapt or adjust ourselves to a problematic situation or a person in life. We must realize that realize that change is inevitable, and always be mentally prepared for it.
⑤ Not all life's problems are such that they need to be dealt with all at once. Sometimes it is possible to take a step and wait for a long time. For instance, if the tap is leaking then we need to call a plumber as soon as we can. But having called him and having found that he can come only the following morning, we should wait patiently for the next 24 hours. In this period, people can get very anxious and go on talking about it to others. There are many such problems in life.