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　　Singapore’s public transport system(交通系統(tǒng))is one of the best in the world, so you should have no problem finding your way around like a local(當?shù)厝?．There are three main forms of public transport that you would find in any other major city－trains, buses and taxis．

　　Trains run from 6∶00 am to midnight．Single trip tickets start at 80 cents．If you buy an EZ-Link card for ＄15, you can ride the trains and buses as you like．

　　If you need more information, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333．

　　There are several bus services in Singapore and fares start at 80cents．Be sure always ask the driver the cost of your ticket as he can not give change．

　　If you need help, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333．

　　There are three main taxi companies–City Cab(6552 2222), Comfort(6552 1111)and Tibs(6552 8888)．Booking can also be easily by calling the numbers listed above．

　　Driving in Singapore is a pleasure and if you like to travel at your own pace, renting a car is a good choice．Renting takes away the hassle of getting to places around Singapore．Just sit back and enjoy the city．It also means you’ll get to see a lot more that a train or a bus won’t let you see．

　　For car rental, call Avis on＋65 6737 1668．

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　　I never wanted a dog, but now I’m so glad I have one．

　　About two years ago, my wife, Cathy, got a little dog with a face only a mother could love．We named her Gertie．

　　Gertie is the kind of dog that has to grow on you．So I decided that the dog would be trained．This didn’t quite go as planned．At 15 weeks old, she was nearly made to leave the Petsmart Training School．She spent every night lying in our bed－snoring(打鼾)so loudly that I hardly got a good night’s sleep．

　　Then, about six months after she arrived, I felt that something in my heart was taking place, and I was unable to stop it．My behavior(行為方式)began to change．I began to smile at people when passing them in a street．I returned from neighbors．I started calling my kids and, to my surprise, they started calling me．I even tried to speak to my grandchildren over the phone once．I even was glad to listen to laughter from a 10-month-old granddaughter．The point is that I was changing．

　　My wife and I both agree that it is Gertie who has changed my behavior．

　　Gertie is now nearly two years old and almost fully grown．I have come to like the pet little by little, though she is my wife’s dog．

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　　Early rising is helpful in more than one way．First, it helps us to have good health．We all need fresh air．It makes our health better to take morning exercises．

　　The air is never so fresh as early in the morning．Early rising helps us in our studies．

　　In the morning we learn more quickly and find it easy to learn something by heart．

　　Early rising makes people able to plan the work for the day．We can’t work well without a good plan．Just as the plan for the year should be made in the spring, the plan for a day should be made in the morning．Early rising gives us enough time to get ready for our work, such as to wash our hands and eat our breakfast．So the popular saying says,“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise．”

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　　People have always wanted to speak with animals．There are many books about this, especially children books．Now there are also movies, such as Dr．Doolittle．When you watch animals, it seems clear that they can communicate with each other．Many people wonder why people can’t also communicate with them．

　　Scientists know how some animals communicate．Bees, for example, use their bodies．They do a kind of dance to give information about food．Birds, on the other hand, share information with sounds．They use certain sounds to protect their homes and to stay together when they fly．Some male(雄性)birds use lovely songs to attract a female(雌性)．Other animals communicate with both body movements and sounds．For example, dogs wag(搖擺)their tails(尾巴)when they are happy, and they bark(吠)when they are excited．

　　People used to think it was possible to teach human language to animals．Parrots and other birds, for example, can learn to say words．But the birds just repeat the words．They don’t understand them．Some American scientists tried to teach English to chimpanzees, close relatives of human beings．However, this was impossible．Chimpanzees can’t move their mouths the right way．They could never learn to speak like people．

　　Then scientists tried to teach human language to chimpanzees in other ways．Some tried with American Sign Language(ASL)．Others tried with a simple computer．But chimpanzees could only learn to use a few words．They could never learn to use grammar．Their brains are very different from the brains of human beings．

　　Now some scientists are studying the same points between human and animal language．In fact, some animals use sounds like people do．Dogs, for example, use an unpleasant, low sound to tell other dogs to stay away．People, too, use that kind of voice to say the same things．A dog’s noisy bark communicates that something is happening．People use the same high tone when they shout,“Watch out!”

　　Scientists want to understand the language of other animals, such as whales and bears．To do this, they go out to the animals’ natural homes．They watch the animals for days or even years．They take pictures and make tapes recordings and share the information with other scientists．In this way, they hope to learn more about the way animals communicate, and maybe someday we’ll be able to communicate better with them．

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　　The first Starbucks(星巴克)coffee shop opened in 1971 in Seattle, Washington, in the United States．It was a small coffee shop and it made its own coffee beans．The coffee shop’s business did well．By 1981 there were three more Starbucks stores in Seattle．

　　Things really began to change for the company in 1981．That year, Howard Schultz met three men．They are the owners of Starbucks．At that time, Schultz worked in New York for a company that makes kitchen things．He noticed that Starbucks ordered some special coffee makers, so he wanted to know something about the company．Schultz went to Seattle to have a look, and he liked what he saw．He wanted to become part of the company．In 1982, the Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company’s manger．

　　In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy．The special atmosphere(氣氛)of the coffee bars there caught his eyes．To Schultz it seemed that Italians spent their daily lives in three places：home, work, and coffee bars．His experience in Italy gave Schultz a new idea for Starbucks back in Seattle．

　　Schultz created an atmosphere for Starbucks coffee shop that was comfortable and casual(隨意的), and customers everywhere seemed to like it．Between 1987 and 1992, Starbucks opened 150 new stores - and that was only the beginning．By the year 2000, three new Starbucks stores opened somewhere around the world every day!

　　Today, Starbucks has thousands of stores, including stores in twenty-six countries．Do you know why Starbucks succeed in cities outside the United States?One way is that Starbucks works with local(當?shù)氐?stores and restaurants．By working together with a store already in the city, Starbucks has a good understanding of customers in the city．This understanding helps Starbucks open stores in the right places for their customers．

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　　London has a magazine which you can receive on TV, because it is not printed on paper．

　　If you want to read this magazine, you have to get a decoder(譯碼)．Each page of it is numbered, so you only have to dial(撥)the number to choose what you want to read about．You can choose anything you want, from cooking to the latest news．

　　If you want to read the news, the first thing you have to do is to turn to the index(　　)page which has an easy-to-remember page number, 100．Then you choose what you want to read．The news is on pages 101 to 109, so when you push the numbers you can see the news written across your screen．Perhaps you want to go out in the afternoon, if so you can press 181, and you can see a brightly colored weather map on the screen．Should you drive or take the train?To answer that question you only have to press 189 for the traffic report．It is very simple to use and the best thing about the service is that it is being updated(更新)all the time．Whole pages of the magazine can be replaced(取代)in minutes．

　　London already has three such services．One, transmitted(傳送)by TV, is called ORSCLE．The other two, on BBC, are called CEEFAX and ORACLE because they let you see facts．Though CEEFAX and ORACLE have been in use for some time, they have not been publicized(公布，宣傳)．BBC engineers don’t think that their idea will ever replace books and newspapers because they can be taken with a person everywhere．However, many people would agree that this is a breakthrough as great as the invention of printing, which could change not just our reading habits but our whole way of life．

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　　Tina Lin was not like many of her classmates．She didn’t listen to popular music．She didn’t watch many movies, and she wasn’t interested in nice clothes．

　　When she got together with her friends, they wanted to listen to rock and top music．When Tina asked if they would like to try classical music, they all looked at her strangely．

　　“Classical music is for old people,”one of her friends said．

　　Tina was worried that something was wrong with her．She decided to talk to her father．As she entered his study, he could sense something was wrong．

　　“Dad, am I strange?”she asked her father．

　　“Of course not,”he answered．“Why do you ask that?”

　　“Because I don’t like the same things as my classmates．They want to listen to Mariah Carey”s music．I like Yo Yo Ma．”

　　“I think I understand．Tina, it’s all right to be your own person．You don’t have to copy what other people do．Everybody has different tastes．Some of them are popular, and others aren’t．”

　　After Tina spoke with her father, she felt better about herself．She realized that being different made her special．It was an important lesson for her to learn．

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