This food is terrible. I can’t even finish my dinner. I know. You think with all the money we pay for room and board, the university could hire a better food service. Where are you headed next? I’m going over to the student recreation center to play some bridge. You are spending your time on a card game? Not just any card game. It’s one of the most strategic there is. So I’ve heard. Don’t you play with a partner? Yeah. Four people play, two against the other two. So you try to play in cooperation with your partner. Actually, the cards of one of the four players are turned face up. That player i called the dummy. I wouldn’t want to be called that. When you are the dummy what do you do while the cards are being played? Anything you want. Sit there and study, shuffle another deck, get snacks for everyone. I like to stand behind my partner and watch. You know, I’ve heard that bridge is habit forming. You should be careful not to play so much that you don’t get your studying done. Don’t worry about me. I only play Thursdays after dinner. And sometimes when they need a fourth player. If you like, I could teach you. Thanks. But I have a pretty heavy workload this semester. I already spend my  evenings doing things I don’t really know how to do yet.2 V3 k) o4 y9 A6 r/ x5 A

* V& p1 F* w+ J# y7 o: l' q9 y[ 本帖最后由 icenot 于 2008-4-4 21:41 编辑 ]

Today, we’re going to take a look at the development of the skyscraper. We’ll start with some buildings in Chicago. One of the circumstances that let Chicago to become home to some of the buildings now considered the prototypes for later skyscrapers was this: in 1871, there was a great fire that destroyed much of the city. It was that tragic fire that cleared the way for a new kind of city that used the new building techniques and new materials developed during the 1800’s. One of these new structures was the Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885. It was ten stories high. Now granted, that’s no higher than some of the early skyscrapers in New York City. What makes Chicago’s Home Insurance Building important is that it had true skyscraper construction with an internal metal skeleton that carried the weight of the brick exterior. This metal-support system, along with the early development of the elevator, were the two innovations that made the later very tall industrial buildings possible. Chicago’s Reliance Building was another important building in the development of the skyscraper. It showed the architects’ understanding of the possibilities of metal-frame construction. By eliminating walls and opening up the sides as a glass box. It was the first expression of the skyscraper as a glass-shelf framed in a metal grid.
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[ 本帖最后由 icenot 于 2008-4-4 23:00 编辑 ]

It was an Italian inventor who created the first wireless device for sending out radio signals in 1895. But not until the American inventor Lee De Forest built the first amplifying vacuum tube in 1906 did we get the first radio as we know it. And the first actual radio broadcast was made on Christmas Eve of 1906. That’s when someone working from an experimental station in Brand Rock, Massachusetts, arranged the program of two short musical selections of poem and brief holiday greeting. The broadcast was heard by wireless operators on ships with a radio through several hundred miles. The following year, De Forest began regular radio broadcasts in New York. These programs were similar to much of what we hear on the radio today in that De Forest played only music. But because there was still no home radio receivers, De Forest’s audience consisted of only wireless operators on ships in New York harbor. There is no doubt that radio broadcasting was quite a novelty in those days. But it took a while to catch on commercially. Why? Hmm, for the simple fact that only a few people, in fact, only those who tinkered with wireless telegraphs as a hobby owned receivers. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that someone envisioned mass appeal for radio. This was radio pioneer, David Sarnoff who predicted that one day there would be a radio receiver in every home.! r. O: j  |; `, X3 d

$ R) l- }* C8 t0 j6 W2 w, ?4 u[ 本帖最后由 icenot 于 2008-4-5 11:56 编辑 ]

The origin of earth’s moon, the largest moon in the solar system, is still something of a mystery. There are some theories about its origin, however. Now, keep in mind that a theory of the moon’s origin has to be consistent with two important facts. The first fact is that the earth contains a lot of iron, most of it has an iron core. But the moon contains practically no iron. The second fact is that, other than the difference in iron content, the moon and earth are composed of essentially the same minerals, a similarity not shared with any other planet or moon in our solar system. One of the earliest theories of the moon’s origin, I call it the Capture Theory, proposes that the moon was somehow captured by earth’s gravitational force. This theory is improbable, however, because it assumes that the moon and earth formed in different parts of the solar system. If this were true, you would expect the moon’s composition to be much different from earth’s composition, just as all the other planets in the solar system are so different from earth. A second theory of the moon’s origin is more promising. It is sometimes referred to as the Mars Theory because according to this theory, when earth was still molten, it was struck by a planet about the size of Mars. The impact caused the cores of the two planets to melt together and chunks of earth’s crust to be thrown out into space. These chunks came together to form the moon. Now remember, earth’s crust is low in iron because the iron is in earth’s core but high in various other minerals. This then accounts for why there is little iron but lots of other minerals on the moon.
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[ 本帖最后由 icenot 于 2008-4-5 21:42 编辑 ]

第二十四天了 很好  
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Doctor Cole, thank you for agreeing to this interview for the Daily Campus News. Can you tell us about what you and your colleagues discuss at the annual astronomy society meeting last month? Yes. For the first time ever the scientific community has established the existence of planets outside our own solar system. Of course we knew that certain distant stars existed, but only recently did we learn that several of them are orbited by their own planets. Why did it take so long to locate these planets? Well, you have to understand that they are a billion times dimmer than their parent stars. It would be like trying to see the light of a candle next to a huge explosion. We don't currently have a telescope that can be used to see them. But if the astronomers didn't see the planets through a telescope, how did they find them? By a very indirect method. The astronomers measured subtle distortions in the frequency of the light from the parent stars and observed that some of the stars seem to rock back and forth. They determined that this was caused by gravitational pull from orbiting planets. There is a powerful new telescope being built in Arizona. Will that help them see these planets? They should be able to see them at least in the form of small spots of light. And then the scientist will be able to break down and analyze this light. By doing this, they hope to learn about the chemical composition of these planets – oxygen and ozone molecules, for example, would be telltale signs of life on these planets. I'm looking forward to hearing more when the telescope is in operation. And I'm sure our readers would be interested too.

Is this table on the corner okay? Sure. We can sit here. Gee. You paused to get anything on your tray. Yeah. I guess I'm just not that hungry. What's the matter? Aren't you feeling well? Well, I've been really worried. It's my car. It's in the shop, again! Really? What's wrong this time? I don’t know exactly. Something's wrong with the brakes, I think. Well, at least that shouldn't cost you much to fix. Parts are cheaper for all the American cars like yours. Did the mechanic say how much it would cost? He said he'd call me with an estimate later on today. Watch out he doesn't try to take advantage of you. What do you mean? Well, some car mechanics, if they think that someone doesn't know much about cars, they might try to overcharge that person. Maybe so. But I trust this guy. He was recommended by one of my neighbors. He has done some work for me in the past and his prices seemed to be reasonable. Oh, that good to know. Maybe I'll try using him in the future. By the way, do you need ride home after class today? Oh, I'll sure appreciate it. It's really tough getting around without a car when you live off campus.

To get a started this semester, I'm going to spend the first two classes giving you background lectures about some basic cinematic concepts. Once you're a little more familiar with basic film terminology, we will be ready to look at the history of movies in the United States. You will be expected to attend showings of films on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock at Jennings Auditorium, that's our lab. Then during our Wednesday seminar, we will discuss in depth the movie we saw the night before. We're not covering silent movies in this course. And we'll begin with the first talking motion picture, The Jazz Singer, released in 1927. The next week we'll be looking at The Gold Digger of 1933, a piece that is very representative of the escapist trend in films released during the Depression. Some of the films we'll be watching will probably be new to you, like Frank Capra's Why We Fight. Others you might've already seen on TV, like Rebel Without, a Cause starring James Deane, or Stanley Cooper's Doctor's Strange Love. However, I hope you'll see even familiar films with new eye. In the last three weeks of the course, we'll be watching films from the 1980s, and you'll choose one of them as the subject for an extensive written critique. We'll talk more about the requirements of the critique later in the semester.

Welcome to our aquarium. As we begin our tour, the first animal we'll see today is the starfish. You probably have seen pictures of the starfish, but in a few minutes you'll see some live ones and learn a little about their structure and life cycle. First of all, starfish are not really fish, they belong to the family of echinoderms which are spiny skinned sea animal, that is, their skin is covered with thorny bumps. Most starfish have five arm‑like extensions on their bodies. And so they look like a five‑pointed star. But some other kinds have as many as 40 or more arms. Starfish, like other members of the echinoderm family, have what's called radial symmetry. All that means is that the body parts of these animals are arranged around the center, kind of like spokes of a wheel around a hub. One of the special features of the starfish is that it can drop off arms as a defensive reaction, to get away from an attacker, for example. They can then grow new arms to replace the old ones. Starfish reproduce by releasing eggs into the sea. These eggs develop into larvae, and can swim freely. These early forms, which are what larvae are, differ from adult starfish, because the larvae have bilateral symmetry. That means that the two halves of the larvae look exactly the same, which makes them look a lot different from the later form of the starfish. Eventually the larvae sink to the ocean bottom and change into the adult radial form. If you don't have questions, we'll go in now and see some of the creatures in person.

Welcome to our aquarium. As we begin our tour, the first animal we'll see today is the starfish. You probably have seen pictures of the starfish, but in a few minutes you'll see some live ones and learn a little about their structure and life cycle. First of all, starfish are not really fish, they belong to the family of echinoderms which are spiny skinned sea animal, that is, their skin is covered with thorny bumps. Most starfish have five arm‑like extensions on their bodies. And so they look like a five‑pointed star. But some other kinds have as many as 40 or more arms. Starfish, like other members of the echinoderm family, have what's called radial symmetry. All that means is that the body parts of these animals are arranged around the center, kind of like spokes of a wheel around a hub. One of the special features of the starfish is that it can drop off arms as a defensive reaction, to get away from an attacker, for example. They can then grow new arms to replace the old ones. Starfish reproduce by releasing eggs into the sea. These eggs develop into larvae, and can swim freely. These early forms, which are what larvae are, differ from adult starfish, because the larvae have bilateral symmetry. That means that the two halves of the larvae look exactly the same, which makes them look a lot different from the later form of the starfish. Eventually the larvae sink to the ocean bottom and change into the adult radial form. If you don't have questions, we'll go in now and see some of the creatures in person.