日期：2010-03-05 Sam, an unemployed piano tuner, said it was only the second thing he had ever won in his life. The first thing was an Afghan blanket at a church raffle（抽彩售货） when he was 25 years old. But this was much bigger: it was $120,000! He had won the B... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-12-21 An American Indian tells about a brave who found an eagle's egg and put it into the nest of a prairie chicken草原鸡 . The eaglet小鹰 hatched with the brood一伙，一窝 of chicks and grew up with them. All its life, the changeling低能的 eagle, thinking... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-12-21 When the great library of Alexandria亚历山大 burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers. The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-12-11 Fact No. 1 As each goose flaps拍打 its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird following. By flying in a V formation队形 , the whole flock adds 71% more flying range航程 than if each bird flew alone. Lesson: People who share a common direction and... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-12-11 A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to read a map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch沟渠 . Though he wasn't injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud泥 . So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help. Wa... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-09-30 Two young brothers were always arguing. On day their father called them together. Bring me a bundle of sticks tied with twine, said the father. The boys gathered the bundle of sticks. The father asked the older son to break it in half. The older son... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-09-30 Early every morning, a shepherd took his flock of sheep out in the fields to graze. He would sit by watching - as the sheep lazily munched on fresh grass. After they had eaten, he would round them up and walk back home. Sometimes while watching his... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-09-30 Autumn was coming to an end. All the insects and animals were working very hard to stock their larders with enough food to last them the winter. They all knew that winter time would be tough - it would be cold and food would be scarce. As it would g... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 像狗一样的生活 Cynicism犬儒主义一词源自古希腊的犬儒派哲学家。这群人对世界失去理想，因此返璞归真，过简朴的生活，被人嘲笑是过着象狗一样的生活，因此得名。Cynicism是由cynic（愤世嫉俗者）演化而来，而cynic是来自于拉丁语中的cynicus和希腊词中的kynikos，表示... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 大地之母与塔拉庄园 相对于东方的盘古拨开混沌，开天辟地创造万物之时，西方的神也相继出现。根据古希腊诗人赫西俄德的《神谱》记载：万物诞生前宇宙本是混浊一片，只有混沌(chaos)独自存在。在英语中chaos表示混乱，无秩序；chaotic混乱无章的，无秩序的。 不知过了多... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 两张面孔的Sanction sanction这个词用做名词使用时表示批准、支持、认可的含义，同时也还有制裁、处罚的含义。为什么会有两种相反的含意呢，我们又该如何区分呢？ sanction来源于古法语sanction，而它来源于拉丁语sanction-em，意思是教会免罪的赦令，是宗教用语。sanc... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 咸味的薪水 考古学家认为，公元前6500年，居住在欧洲的古代人就已开采欧洲大陆上最早发现的盐矿saline（盐湖，盐田）了。盐能净化水salination（用盐处理, 盐水处理），腌肉腌鱼以便长期保存，给食品提味。 盐还是希伯来人、希腊人与罗马人在重大的祭祀仪式中的一种供... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 木头与日记： 原木，航海日志。古代的航海家经常把非常结实的原木做成桅杆，而最古老的记事工具根本不是纸笔等，如何记事呢？很简单，太阳东升西落一次，航海家就在桅杆上刻下一个刻痕，代表一天已经过去了，于是，就从原木演化到航海日志。作为木头含义的词汇还有樵夫... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 门神的故事： Janus是天宫的守门人，每天早晨把天宫的门打开，让阳光照耀大地；晚上把门关上，让夜幕降临。古罗马人在每年的第一天和每天清晨都要向他祈祷，以求事事顺利。被称为双面人的Janus模样奇特，他长着正反两个头与两张面孔，有的时候甚至有四张脸，他被奉为伊... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 Apple of Discord 纠纷的苹果 据说希腊英雄Peleus(珀琉斯)和爱琴海海神的女儿Thetis(西蒂斯)在举行婚礼的时候邀请了Olympus(奥林匹斯)的诸神参加婚筵；惟独偏偏没有邀请掌管争执纠纷的女神Eris (厄里斯)。这位女神恼羞成怒，决定在这次喜筵上制造不和。eristic一词就是... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 单词趣闻 普罗米修斯Prometheus十分精明，能预知未来。他虽然是Titan巨人，但预知巨人族Titans会败在宙斯Zeus手下，所以普罗米修司Prometheus说服弟弟艾皮米修斯Epimetheus一起在战斗中支持宙斯Zeus。普罗米修斯Prometheus这个名字就是先知先觉的意思。pro-这个前缀就... 阅读全文>>

日期：2009-02-24 单词趣闻 金星（Venus） ：Venus至美女神。她的身世很神奇。在那段日子里，奥林匹斯山神们已经开始乐于追求宇宙间的权力。一天，海上漂动的浮泡散发出万道圣洁的金光。随着波浪的起伏，一位美丽可爱的少女升出海面，放射出温暖与魅力。她被海神带到了塞浦路斯。当她第... 阅读全文>>

日期：2008-12-06 A small mountain spring ran tinkling down the narrow stone crevices. Many years passed. An egg-sized shallow hole was washed out on the rock. Strangely, the mountain spring anyhow brought some bright yellow gold sand and got to fill the small hole.... 阅读全文>>

日期：2008-12-06 HERE was once a butterfly who wished for a bride, and, as may be supposed, he wanted to choose a very pretty one from among the flowers. He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds, and found that the flowers were seated quietly and... 阅读全文>>

日期：2008-12-06 Making the tacks The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer. The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every... 阅读全文>>