nd into history. An important piece of that history is now in danger of being lost forever, caught in the controversy over the US trade embargo against Cuba.

The unknown writer was Ernest Hemingway, and the New York office he walked into was that of Maxwell Perkins, the most famous American literary editor of his day.

It is difficult to conceive -- 80 years and an incandescent literary career later -- the idea of publishing the 26-year-old Hemingway was a big risk. Hemingway had not yet published a novel. Indeed, his only published fiction consisted of a few short stories and poems, mostly in obscure Paris literary journals.

Yet Mr. Perkins, as Hemingway was to call him for years afterwards, even after they had become close friends, took the risk. On the spot, he offered Hemingway a deal included a generous $1,500 advance on an unfinished, unnamed novel that Perkins had not even seen.

Hemingway and Perkins began a correspondence that lasted for 21 years, until Perkins&39;s death in 1947. A number of those letters are now housed in Cuba, at Finca Vigia, where Hemingway lived longer than anywhere else.

But the house is in danger of collapse.

A group of Americans is trying to save the house and its contents. Yet the US government won&39;t let them.

The Treasury Department recently turned down the Hemingway Preservation Foundation&39;s application for a license to permit its architects, engineers, and consultants to travel to Cuba to research a feasibility study to help the Cubans save Finca Vigia. This denial, which is contrary to the letter and spirit of the law, is being appealed.

In Greenland, Ice and Instability

by Andrew C. Revkin, excerpt from The New York Times January 8, 2008

The ancient frozen dome cloaking Greenland is so vast that pilots have crashed into what they thought was a cloud bank spanning the horizon. Flying over it, you can scarcely imagine that it could erode fast enough to dangerously raise sea levels any time soon.

Along the flanks in spring and summer, however, the picture is very different. For an increasing number of warm years, a network of blue lakes and rivulets of melt-water has been spreading ever higher on the icecap.

The melting surface darkens, absorbing up to four times as much energy from the sun as snow, which reflects sunlight. Natural drainpipes called moulins carry water from the surface into the depths, in some places reaching bedrock.

The process slightly, but measurably, lubricates and accelerates the grinding passage of ice towards the sea.

Most important, many glaciologists say, is the break-up of huge semi-submerged clots of ice where some large Greenland glaciers, particularly along the west coast, squeeze through fiords as they meet the warming ocean. As these passages have cleared, this has sharply accelerated the flow of many of these creeping, corrugated and frozen rivers.

Some glaciologists fear that the rise in seas in a warming world could be much greater than the upper estimate of about 60 centimetres this century made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year. (Seas rose less than 30 centimetres last century.)

The panel&39;s assessment did not include factors known to contribute to ice flows but not understood well enough to estimate with confidence. SCIENTIFIC scramble is under way to clarify whether the erosion of the world&39;s most vulnerable ice sheets, in Greenland and west Antarctica, can continue to accelerate. The effort involves field and satellite analyses and sifting for clues from past warm periods.

Things are definitely far more serious than anyone would have thought five years ago.

aching inn where William Shakespeare is said to have penned part of "A Midsummer Night&39;s Dream."

Dating from 1534, the inn, now called Shakespeare House, is thought to have been built as a Tudor hunting lodge. Later it became a stop for travelers between London and Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born and buried.

It was "Brief Lives," a 17th-century collection of biographies by John Aubrey, that linked Shakespeare to the inn, saying that he had stayed there and drawn inspiration for the comedy while in the village.

One of the current owners, Nick Underwood, said the local lore goes even further: "It is also said he appears at the oriel window on the top floor of the house on April 23 every year -- the date he is said to have been born and to have died."

"In later years, the house later became a farmhouse, with 150 acres of land, but, over time, pieces were sold off," Mr. Underwood said. "In the 20th century, it was owned by two American families." Now, he and his co-owner, Roy Elsbury, have put the seven-bedroom property on the market at ￡1.375 million, or $2.13 million.

Despite its varied uses and renovations over the years, the 4,250-square-foot, or 395-square-meter, inn has retained so much of its original character that the organization English Heritage lists it as a Grade II* property, indicating that it is particularly important and of "more than special interest." Only 27 percent of the 1,600 buildings on the organization&39;s register have this designation.

We knew of the house before we bought it and were very excited when it came up for sale. It is so unusual to find an Elizabethan property of this size, in this area, and when we saw it, we absolutely fell in love with it," Mr. Underwood said. "We have taken great pleasure in working on it and living here. This house is all about the history."

In addition to being the owners&39; home, the property currently is run as a luxury guest house, with rooms rented for ￡99 to ￡250 a night.

"Shakespeare House is a wonderful example of Elizabethan architecture," said Dean Heaviside, the national sales director of Fine real estate agency, which is representing the owners. "It has been beautifully restored and offers a unique lifestyle, which brings a taste of the past together with modern-day comfort. It is rare to find a home like this on the market."

會事業全面進步，人民生活從溫飽不足發展到總體小康，中國社會迸發出前所未有的活力和創造力。

同時，我們清醒地認識到，中國仍然是世界上最大的發展中國家，中國在發展進程中遇到的矛盾和問題無論規模還是復雜性都是世所罕見。要全面建成惠及十幾億人口的更高水平的小康社會，進而基本實現現代化、實現全體人民共同富裕，還有很長的路要走。

我們將繼續從本國國情出發，堅持中國特色社會主義道路，堅持改革開放，推動科學發展，促進社會和諧，全面推進經濟建設、政治建設、文化建設、社會建設以及生態文明建設，全力做到發展為了人民、發展依靠人民、發展成果由人民共享。

Panama goes to polls on upgrade for canal

PANAMA CITY: Voters were expected Sunday to approve the largest modernization project in the 92-year history of the Panama Canal, a $5.25 billion plan to expand the waterway to allow for larger ships while alleviating traffic problems.

The government of President Martín Torrijos has billed the referendum as historic, saying the work would double the capacity of a canal already on pace to generate about $1.4 billion in revenue this year. Critics claim the expansion would benefit the canal&39;s customers more than Panamanians, and worry that costs could balloon, forcing this debt- ridden country to borrow even more.

The project would build a third set of locks on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal by 2015, allowing it to handle modern container ships, cruise liners and tankers too large for its locks, which are 33 meters, or 108 feet, wide.

The Panama Canal Authority, the autonomous government agency that runs the canal, says the project would be paid for by increasing tolls and would generate $6 billion in revenue by 2025.

There is nothing Panamanians are more passionate about than the canal.

"It&39;s incomparable in the hemisphere," said Samuel Lewis Navarro, the country&39;s vice president and foreign secretary. "It&39;s in our heart, part of our soul."

Public opinion polls indicate that the plan would be approved overwhelmingly. Green and white signs throughout the country read "Yes for our children," while tens of thousands of billboards and bumper stickers trumpet new jobs.

"The canal needs you," television and radio ads implore.

"It will mean more boats, and that means more jobs," said Damasco Polanco, who was herding cows on horseback in Nuevo Provedencia, on the banks of Lake Gatún, an artificial reservoir that supplies water to the canal.

The canal employs 8,000 workers and the expansion is expected to generate as many as 40,000 new jobs. Unemployment in Panama is 9.5 percent, and 40 percent of the country lives in poverty.

But critics fear that the expansion could cost nearly double the government&39;s estimate, as well as stoke corruption and uncontrolled debt.

"The poor continue to suffer while the rich get richer," said José Felix Castillo, 62, a high school teacher who was one of about 3,000 supporters who took to Panama City&39;s streets to protest the measure on Friday.

Lewis Navarro noted that a portion of the revenue generated by each ton of cargo that passes through the waterway goes to education and social programs.

"We aren&39;t talking about 40 percent poverty as a consequence of the canal," he said. "It&39;s exactly the opposite."

【漢譯英】【試題一】

亞洲是我們共同的家園，亞洲的和平、穩定、發展關系到亞洲各國人民的共同命運。我們高興地看到，在當前總體和平穩定的國際環境下，亞洲也迎來了有史以來較為穩定的和平發展時期。這就是一個最重要的新機會

在亞洲各國政府和人民的共同努力下，亞洲的發展正呈現出前所未有的良好態勢，突出表現在：亞洲巨大的市場潛能逐步得到開發，亞洲各國和地區經濟結構調整的成效顯著，產業優化升級繼續加快，經濟持續快速發展，亞洲已成為全球經濟最具活力的地區之一?！拔覀冋f，要把握亞洲尋求共贏的新機會，這又是一個新機會?！?/p>

亞洲和平、穩定、發展的整體氛圍，促進了亞洲區域合作進程的快速發展，一個平等、多元、開放、互利的地區合作新局面正在逐步形成。特別是以東亞、東盟、中亞、南盟、亞洲合作對話以及多雙邊自由貿易安排為標志，各種形式的區域、次區域經濟合作蓬勃發展。這同樣也是一個新機會。

這些積極而重大的變化，既為推動亞洲區域合作提供了有利條件，也為亞洲各國和地區的發展帶來了歷史性機遇。“只要我們繼續相互尊重、平等對待，把握發展的機會，把握住自己的命運，就一定能夠促進亞洲的發展與振興，達致互利共贏的目標?！?/p>

ved and celery has to be free of any type of cavity. This was the law, one that banned overly curved, extra-knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.

But in a victory for opponents of European regulation, 100 pages of legislation determining the size, shape and texture of fruit and vegetables have been torn up. On Wednesday, EU officials agreed to axe rules laying down standards for 26 products, from peas to plums.

In doing so, the authorities hope they have killed off regulations routinely used by critics - most notably in the British media - to ridicule the meddling tendencies of the EU.

After years of news stories about the permitted angle or curvature of fruit and vegetables, the decision Wednesday also coincided with the rising price of commodities. With the cost of the weekly supermarket visit on the rise, it has become increasingly hard to defend the act of throwing away food just because it looks strange.

Beginning in July next year, when the changes go into force, standards on the 26 products will disappear altogether. Shoppers will the be able to chose their produce whatever its appearance.

Under a compromise reached with national governments, many of which opposed the changes, standards will remain for 10 types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, citrus fruit, peaches, pears, strawberries and tomatoes.

But those in this category that do not meet European norms will still be allowed onto the market, providing they are marked as being substandard or intended for cooking or processing.

"This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot," said Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture, who argued that regulations were better left to market operators.

"In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties," Fischer Boel added, "consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the &39;wrong&39; shape."

That sentiment was not shared by 16 of the EU&39;s 27 nations - including Greece, France, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Poland - which tried to block the changes at a meeting of the Agricultural Management Committee.

Several worried that the abolition of standards would lead to the creation of national ones, said one official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Copa-Cogeca, which represents European agricultural trade unions and cooperatives, also criticized the changes. "We fear that the absence of EU standards will lead member states to establish national standards and that private standards will proliferate," said its secretary general, Pekka Pesonen.

But the decision to scale back on standards will be welcomed by euro-skeptics who have long pilloried the EU executive&39;s interest in intrusive regulation.

One such controversy revolved around the correct degree of bend in bananas - a type of fruit not covered by the Wednesday ruling.

In fact, there is no practical regulation on the issue. Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94 says that bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature," though Class 1 bananas can have "slight defects of shape" and Class 2 bananas can have full "defects of shape."

By contrast, the curvature of cucumbers has been a preoccupation of European officials. Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1677/88 states that Class I and "Extra class" cucumbers are allowed a bend of 10 millimeters per 10 centimeters of length. Class II cucumbers can bend twice as much.

It also says cucumbers must be fresh in appearance, firm, clean and practically free of any visible foreign matter or pests, free of bitter taste and of any foreign smell.

Such restrictions will disappear next year, and about 100 pages of rules and regulations will go as well, a move welcomed by Neil Parish, chairman of the European Parliament&39;s agriculture committee.

"Food is food, no matter what it looks like," Parish said. "To stop stores selling perfectly decent food during a food crisis is morally unjustifiable. Credit should be given to the EU agriculture commissioner for pushing through these proposals. Consumers care about the taste and quality of food, not how it looks."

新時代。

新型CRH高速列車最高時速可達250公里，目前運行時速160公里。共有200名乘客見證了列車從上海到杭州的首次運行，其高速、平穩及美妙的乘坐體驗給大家留下了深刻印象。該列車的內外裝飾都達到了國際統一標準，給乘客優越的旅行體驗。此次提速的關鍵元素在于它的高科技車頭，其重量與傳統機車頭相比減半，大大降低了能耗。

除了新型CRH高速列車人性化的設計外，乘客還能體驗到更舒心的服務。春節臨近，CRH高速列車的全面運營將有望緩解緊張的鐵路運輸壓力，以便出行更加便捷舒適。

【英譯漢必譯題】

Milton Friedman, the grandmaster of free-market economic theory in the postwar era and a prime force in the movement of nations toward less government and greater reliance on individual responsibility, died today in San Francisco, where he lived. He was 94.

Conservative and liberal colleagues alike viewed Mr. Friedman, a Nobel prize laureate, as one of the 20th century’s leading economic scholars, on a par with giants like John Maynard Keynes and Paul Samuelson.

Flying the flag of economic conservatism, Mr. Friedman led the postwar challenge to the hallowed theories of Lord Keynes, the British economist who maintained that governments had a duty to help capitalistic economies through periods of recession and to prevent boom times from exploding into high inflation.

In Professor Friedman’s view, government had the opposite obligation: to keep its hands off the economy, to let the free market do its work.

The only economic lever that Mr. Friedman would allow government to use was the one that controlled the supply of money — a monetarist view that had gone out of favor when he embraced it in the 1950s. He went on to record a signal achievement, predicting the unprecedented combination of rising unemployment and rising inflation that came to be called stagflation. His work earned him the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1976.

Rarely, his colleagues said, did anyone have such impact on both his own profession and on government. Though he never served officially in the halls of power, he was always around them, as an adviser and theorist.

“Among economic scholars, Milton Friedman had no peer,” Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said today. “The direct and indirect influences of his thinking on contemporary monetary economics would be difficult to overstate.”

Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, said of Mr. Friedman in an interview on Tuesday. “From a longer-term point of view, it’s his academic achievements which will have lasting import. But I would not dismiss the profound impact he has already had on the American public’s view.”

Mr. Friedman had a gift for communicating complicated ideas in simple and lucid ways, and it served him well as the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, as a columnist for Newsweek from 1966 to 1983 and even as the star of a public television series.

【英譯漢二選一】【試題1】

Freed by warming, waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing at coastal settlements around the Arctic Circle.

In Bykovsky, a village of 457 on Russia&39;s northeast coast, the shoreline is collapsing, creeping closer and closer to houses and tanks of heating oil, at a rate of 15 to 18 feet a year.

"It is practically all ice - permafrost - and it is thawing." For the four million people who live north of the Arctic Circle,a changing climate presents new opportunities. But it also threatens their environment, their homes and, for those whose traditions rely on the ice-bound wilderness, the preservation of their culture.

A push to develop the North, quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. The discovery of vast petroleum fields in the Barents and Kara Seas has raised fears of catastrophic accidents as ships loaded with oil and, soon, liquefied gas churn through the fisheries off Scandinavia, headed to markets in Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by pollution as generators, smokestacks and large vehicles sprout to support the growing energy industry.

Coastal erosion is a problem in Alaska as well, forcing the United States to prepare to relocate several Inuit villages at a projected cost of $100 million or more for each one.

Across the Arctic, indigenous tribes with traditions shaped by centuries of living in extremes of cold and ice are noticing changes in weather and wildlife. They are trying to adapt, but it can be confounding.

In Finnmark, Norway&39;s northernmost province, the Arctic landscape unfolds in late winter as an endless snowy plateau, silent but for the cries of the reindeer and the occasional whine of a snowmobile herding them.

A changing Arctic is felt there, too. "The reindeer are becoming unhappy," said Issat Eira, a 31-year-old reindeer herder.

Few countries rival Norway when it comes to protecting the environment and preserving indigenous customs. The state has lavished its oil wealth on the region, and Sami culture has enjoyed something of a renaissance.

And yet no amount of government support can convince Mr. Eira that his livelihood, intractably entwined with the reindeer, is not about to change. Like a Texas cattleman, he keeps the size of his herd secret. But he said warmer temperatures in fall and spring were melting the top layers of snow, which then refreeze as ice, making it harder for his reindeer to dig through to the lichen they eat.

"The people who are making the decisions, they are living in the south and they are living in towns," said Mr. Eira, sitting inside his home made of reindeer hides. "They don&39;t mark the change of weather. It is only people who live in nature and get resources from nature who mark it."

A push to develop the North, quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. The discovery of vast petroleum fields in the Barents and Kara Seas has raised fears of catastrophic accidents as ships loaded with oil and, soon, liquefied gas churn through the fisheries off Scandinavia, headed to markets in Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by pollution as generators, smokestacks and large vehicles sprout to support the growing energy industry.