Mark felt that it was time for him to take part in his community, so he went to the neighborhood meeting after work. The area’s city councilwoman(女议员)was leading a discussion about how the quality of life was decreasing. The neighborhood faced many problems.

　　Mark looked at the charts taped to the walls. There were charts for parking problems, crime, and for problems in vacant buildings. People were supposed to suggest solutions to the councilwoman.

　　It was too much for Mark. “ The problems are too big,” he thought. He turned to the man next to him and said, “I think this is a waste of my time. Nothing I could do would make a difference here.

　　Mark thought some more on his way to the bus stop. “ People should just take care of themselves,” he decided. “That’s enough to do. I can’t take on all the problems of the world.”

　　As he neared the bus stop, Mark saw a woman carrying a grocery bag and baby. She was trying to unlock her car, but she didn’t have a free hand. As Mark got closer, her other child, a little boy, suddenly darted into the street. The woman tried to reach for him, but as she moved, her bag shifted and groceries started to fall out. Mark ran to take the boy’s arm and led him back to his mother. Then he picked up the groceries while the woman smiled in relief. “Thanks!” she said. “You’ve got great timing!”

　　“Just being neighborly,” Mark said. As he rode home, he glanced at the walls of the bus. On one of them was “Small acts of kindness add up”. Mark smiled and thought, “Maybe that’s a good place to start.”

In Mark’s opinion, ___________.
　　

 The passage is mainly about __________.

　　The beginnings of marine biology can be traced back to the renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle of the 3rd century B　.C　. In certain respects, he was a greater marine biologist than any who followed him, for he made many notable observations with no books to guide him and no microscope with which to see fine details. He studied chiefly the seashore animals of the Greek coast, and he has left an imperishable （不朽的）account of what he has seen.

　　There was no study of seashore life comparable with that of Aristotle until almost the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the first striking contributions to man’s knowledge of life is the sea, the leader in these discoveries was Edward Forbes. Generalizing from studies he made in shallow depth, Forbes was convinced that there was no life on the bottom below 550 meters. This was an error, to be sure, but a very stimulating one, for scientists set to work to put Forbes theory to the test. Within twenty years after his death, they had proved that such types of animals as sea stars, worms, and mollusks(软体动物)lived on the ocean bottom at depths of more than one and one-half kilometers. From later explorations, men came to know that such creatures occur on the bottom in the deepest parts of the ocean more than ten kilometers beneath the surface of the sea.

　　The Challenger expedition was organized by men who were students of Forbes and were carrying out the work that he started. The results of the expedition were published in fifty huge volumes. They are still a model for contributors to the sciences of oceanography and marine biology.

　　You are Michael Jordan’s son and you show up for baseball practice. Everybody crowds around the court to see what you can do.
　　Colin Hanks knows the feeling. His dad---two-time Academy Award奥斯卡奖） winning actor Tom Hanks--- is probably even more famous than Michael Jordan.
　　At the age of 24, Colin Hanks is quietly starting his own career as an actor. His first leading role is in the comedy “Orange Country” which recently opened in US cinemas.
　　“I know people will hold some sort of an opinion,” said the younger Hanks.
　　“It’s not my job to prove to them that I can do it. It’s my job to make whatever I’m working on the best that I can.”
　    In “Orange Country”, Hanks plays the role of a literature-loving student called Shaun Brumer. He wants to leave his family and attend Standford to chase his dreams of becoming a writer. Jake Kasdan, the director of the film, auditioned(面试) hundreds of young men for the role before choosing Hanks. “It’s hard to find handsome, funny people.” Kasdan said, adding that Hanks’ name did not come into play.
　　Colin Hanks is thin. He has brown hair, small eyes, big ears and wears Harry Potter-style glasses. “He’s not going to play any action heroes unless he puts on some weight.” says Kasdan.
　　“Orange Country” is by far Colin Hanks’ biggest role. He gets offered a lot of teen movies. “ Acting is the one thing I’ve been good at from grade school through to college.” he said.
　　He had a supporting role in a TV series as a teenager who knows that some of this classmates are alien（外星人） survivors of a UFO crash. He also appeared in two coming of age comedies.
　　He worked with his father in “Band of Brothers,” directed by Steven Spielberg, and in “That Thing You Do.”
　　“I hope work leads to more work,” Hanks says. “I’m not looking to go to the next level or anything, but just to get my name out there, my face out there, so hopefully I can continue to work on other projects.”
　　His dad’s advice is the same now as it was before Hanks won his first role. Show up on time, memorize your lines, hit your marks.
　　His next project is “Under the Mimosa”. After that, like most young actors, he’ll be looking for more work.

　　Job ads for the three vacancies(空缺) are listed below; I appreciate your sharing these ads with potential applicants. Thanks!
　　English Instructor: Temporary（临时的，暂时的） full-time for the spring 2000 semester(学期)only. Teach two first-year composition and two introductory literature coursed; serve on departmental committees and help with college’s annual(一年一次的) High Scholl Writing Day.
　　Required: MA　in English; college teaching experience using computer technology.
　　Deadline:( 最终期限) October25 or until position filled.
　　English/ Technical Communication Assistant Professor: Teach in first-year composition and technical communication course including technical documentation, Web design, desktop publishing, and online writing. Position available August15, 2000.
　　Required: Ph.D　. in English/ composition or in a related communications field; college teaching experience; using computer technology; work experience in technical communication.
　　Deadline: November1 or until position filled.
　　English/Composition Studies Assistant Professor: Teach courses in first-year composition (including developmental and honors); introductory, theme-based literature; advanced composition; composition theory; English language. Position available August15,2000.
　　Required:　Ph.D　./English with emphasis in composition studies; college teaching experience using computer technology.
　　Deadline: November8 or until position filled.
　　Jane Frick
　　Chair and Professor----English, foreign Languages, Journalism
　　Missouri Western State College
　　St. Joseph, MO 64507
　　FAX: 816 271-4543; TEL: 816 271-4315
　　E-MAIL: frick@griffon. mwsc. edu

     　He turned 73 last month but he hasn’t shown any sign of age since his first screen appearance in 1928.
         And Mickey Mouse is not about to retire.
　　Mickey starred in countless films, greeted thousands of children at Disney parks and features on T-shirts and souvenirs(纪念品) all over the world.
　　It is difficult to believe that the mighty(强大的)Mickey was actually a replacement for an earlier Disney cartoon character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
　　Both Mickey Mouse and Oswald Rabbit were created by Walt Disney and a friend and business partner, Ub Iwerks, both of whom died in the 1970s but Mickey is still going strong.
　　Mickey Mouse made his first screen appearance in the cartoon Steamboat Willie in 1928.
　　Although Mickey Mouse was a new character, he looked a lot like Oswald.
　　“If you took off Oswald’s long rabbit ears and put on little round ears, there would be a striking similarity.” said Robert Tieman, who deals with historical records at the Walt Disney Co.
　　The idea for Mickey also came from the mice drawn for the Alice in Cartoonland series---a collection of about 60 cartoons drawn between 1922 and 1927 and which contained a number of mice.
　　The story of Mickey Mouse’s creation has changed with time. For many years the company gave credit(荣誉) only to Walt Disney, but more recently it has been recognized that Ub Iwerks also played a part.
　　Tieman said that for years, Walt was said to be the sole（唯一的）creator of Mickey because of
business reasons.
　　So for many years, the official story was that Disney thought up the character of a mouse on his way back to California from New York after he had lost the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
　　“But in reality, he never had the rights to Oswald,” Tieman said. Universal Studios later got the rights to Oswald and still holds them. But these days Oswald has been stored away and forgotten while Mickey is still the King of cartoons.