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《纯C论坛·电子杂志》2004.11.SP1（总第2期）SP1

physicist into one of the greatest figures of the 20th century.
There will be Einstein posters, T-shirts, calendars and bookmarks. There will be
an Einstein screen saver that will help computer owners track down gravitation
waves. And there will be a series of concerts, in Israel, to celebrate his
less-known achievement  as a violin player.
Major exhibitions dedicated to the German-born physicist have already opened in
the US. And journals have dedicated entire issues to the great man's life and
works. The big moustache and floppy white hair will be hard to avoid over the
next few months.
Different ideas
"This is a chance to get people to appreciate what physics has done for the
modern world," said Caitlin Watson, Einstein Year co-ordinator for the UK
Institute of Physics.
Scientists chose 2005 as Einstein Year (as well as International Year of
Physics) because four of his greatest scientific papers were published in 1905.
These included his theory of relativity, which redefined our ideas about space
and time. Also there was the paper that introduced the idea that energy and
matter are interchangeable. This notion  summed up by the equation E=mc2  is
the most enduring scientific icon of the last century.
For physics, 1905 was a miracle year, thanks to a patent office clerk who,
working quietly on his own, completely changed our ideas about the universe.
Within 10 years, Einstein had been made a professor at the University of Berlin,
Germany. A few years later he won the Nobel Prize. And not long after that, he
published his general theory of relativity, which transformed our ideas about
gravity and the universe.
**********
Berlin Wall becomes a piece of art
FIFTEEN years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a private museum is rebuilding
a 200-metre section of it. The site, close to Checkpoint Charlie, the famous
Cold War border crossing, is meant to satisfy tourists.
The new copy consists of large concrete pieces taken from the actual wall. But
it must follow a slightly different course because of new buildings on the site
of the original wall. Dozens of the 3.6-metre high pieces are already in place.
The manager of the Checkpoint Charlie museum is Alexandra Hildebrandt. She said
it would commemorate the history when East and West Berlin were separated by the
wall. Some young people today tend to forget it.
"I understand that if you suffered because of the wall it is difficult to see it
go up again. But the Berlin Wall has a place in world history," Hildebrandt
said.
Critics fear the Checkpoint Charlie crossing  already filled with sandbags and
Soviet flags  is becoming a kind of showy theme park. They have condemned the
new wall as a mere money-maker.
The Berlin Wall was one of the clearest symbols of the Cold War. It separated
West Berlin from East Berlin. And from the surrounding territory of the
Democratic Republic of Germany, which built it in 1961 to restrict access.
After World War II, Berlin, as well as the rest of Germany, was divided into
four sectors: the Soviet, US, UK, and French. Each had a portion of the city
under its control.
Initially the citizens of Berlin were allowed to move freely between all the
sectors. However, as the Cold War continued, movement became restricted. The
border between the Democratic Republic of Germany and the Federal Republic of
Germany was closed in 1952.
Work on a wall around the three western sectors, under the control of the US, UK
and France, began on August 13, 1961 in East Berlin. It was backed by the Soviet
Union. The wall was a 155-kilometre-long barbed wire and concrete wall with an
average height of 3.6 metres.
East Germany claimed that it was an "anti-fascist wall of protection", intended
to avoid aggression from the West. The West claimed that the wall was created to
prevent the citizens of East Germany from entering West Berlin and West Germany.
West Germans would hold their babies above the wall for relatives to see. They
also painted scenes and slogans on the wall. East Germans learned about the West
by listening to American, British, and West German broadcasts.
After 28 years of separation, travel restrictions on East Germans were lifted by
the East German Government on November 9, 1989. Tens of thousands of people
immediately went to the wall, where the border guards opened access points and
allowed them through. November 9 is considered the day when the wall fell. The
fall of the Berlin Wall marked the symbolic end of the Cold War.
West and East Germany were unified on October 3, 1990 and the wall was torn down
completely by the end of 1990.
"It's a very strange feeling," Wolfgang Mller, 53, a worker who used to live
in East Berlin, said as he carefully smoothed cement on to the blocks. "I never
thought I would be building the Berlin Wall again."
**********
Disastrous phones
BOTHERED by those interrupting phone rings at cinemas? France might be the right
place for you. The French Government has just legalized the use of mobile phone
jamming devices in cinemas, theatres and concert halls. It wanted to prevent
audiences from being disturbed by ring tones and telephone conversations.
The technology means that people can be prevented from receiving and making
mobile telephone calls within 30 metres of the device. Only emergency calls will
be able to override the block.
French filmmakers have said that mobile phones in cinemas were having a
"disastrous" impact on ticket sales. The change in the law is part of the
government's campaign to make cinemas more attractive.
Patrick Devedjian, the French industry minister, said: "It's the same for
concerts. You know how it is when awful people let their phones ring during a
concert."
The move was first debated in 2001. However, there was uncertainty over whether
jammers could block telephone signals in cinemas and theatres without affecting
signals on surrounding streets.
And the use of blocking devices was punishable with a fine of 20,660 pounds
(US$29,340) or a six-month prison sentence.
Previously, France's telecoms regulation authority tried encouraging concert
audiences to use the vibrate mode or to switch off their phones entirely. But,
it met with no apparent success.
**********
Scotland's capital gets arts award
THE city of Edinburgh was named the world's first City of Literature last week
in a decision likely to bring arts tourists to the Scottish capital.
Following a long campaign by famed Scottish artists, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) announced the
decision last week. It made the city the first in a series of recognized
literary capitals worldwide.
"It confirms Scotland's position as a country of literary excellence," said the
Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson.
JK Rowling, author of the hugely popular Harry Potter series, and Alexander
McCall Smith, author of the Number One Ladies' Detective Agency series are among
the Edinburgh-based writers who have backed the campaign.
In addition to Edinburgh's famous contemporary authors, the city was home to
many historic literary legends. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock
Holmes, was a resident. Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote "Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde" and "Treasure Island", was a son of the city, and Robert Burns, Scotland's
national poet, lived and wrote there.
**********
My father gave me self-respect
YOUR particular relationships with your parents, not God or genes, determines
your academic performance. In my case, it was my father who made the difference.
I had three sisters and my father never showed much interest in their success.
He ignored the school reports of one of them. They all made it to university and
did respectably. But this was largely because of my mother's encouragement.
However badly I did, and it was usually very bad, he always told me I was clever
and that I could do well.
When I was eight and remained at the bottom of my class, he tried to coach me in
Latin and maths. His main goal was to show me that, if I could make myself
concentrate on the tedious tasks, I could do them.
He chose the head of my house (residence) at public school with great care. He
found a man who made a huge effort to civilize the backward, raw material (me)
with which he started when I was 13. Together, they convinced me to take exams
seriously. But the most important factor was that I knew my dad loved me. He
expressed this in many affectionate letters. When we were together, he would
embrace me. He encouraged me to think for myself and to enjoy what I enjoyed. He
once watched me eating a disgusting amount of chocolate and said, "Eat as much
as you like  you won't always enjoy it that much."
So I started working hard. I identified with his own scholarly ways. And I
started to enjoy the learning of knowledge and the expression of ideas. Although
exams gave little opportunity for that, I could sort of see the point.
A lot of parents do not realize how important the emotional aspect of the
relationship is. It determines their child's performance. I recently heard a
parent discussing what school their child might get into. "I don't know how
bright he is," she said, as if this was an independent destiny, like the colour
of the boy's eyes.
Many parents are obsessed by their children's marks at school. Their
relationship with the child is almost wholly built around this. It was not at
all like that with my dad. Until I was eight, he did not seem to worry about
marks. And, after that, it was never exam performance that he was concerned
with. Rather, he concentrated on my self-perception. He constantly showed me
that I was not thick (stupid) by pointing out things I had said that were signs
of intelligence. It meant I had a reasonable self-regard. I kept failing exams.
But, my father thought there was a difference between my failing one exam and
whether I would be a success or failure in life.
Money can be used as a substitute for love and emotional engagement for children
of divorcees or of rich parents. So it can be with school performance.
Especially in the present exam-crazed system, parents can easily forget the
point of education: it is to create fulfilled, creative adults, not exam-fodder.
If they make love conditional on performance, it is a recipe for depression.
**********
Get help by being in society
Dear Ralph,
My parents have only one child. I was very lonely because they were busy when I
was a little girl. I often stayed at home alone when my parents went to work. I
liked to watch TV all day. The TV programmes were both interesting and
colourful. I often imagined becoming an actress in a TV drama. Now I am grown
up. But, I find it hard for me to communicate with other people. Maybe I am too
ashamed of something. I have never fallen in love with any boy. I always love
movie or TV actors instead, and I like to read romantic love stories. But I have
no love story. A friend of mine introduced me to a possible boyfriend, but I
felt he lived in a different world. Some of my friends are married, and some
have children. I have become afraid that I will be alone forever. What can I do
to change my present life?
Arwen, Sichuan
**********
Dear Arwen,
You have already solved part of your problem by recognizing that your identity
shortfalls started at home in childhood, when your parents left you all alone.
Let me elaborate on what I expect you already know, that the TV became your only
companion. But, since you couldn't interact with the TV, you became the TV's
silent, passive partner.
Unfortunately, both you and your parents may have been too young to understand
that the movies you were interacting with were nothing but fantasy. And, you
became so involved with them, and lacked proper interaction with other children
and adults, that you expected adult life would naturally follow like a movie
plot. But, as an adult, you need to learn to forget that movie world, and its
actors, for the reality of now. To do this, you need to work more on forming
friendships by taking the initiative, and, then, romantic relations based on
what you have learned.
Start conversations, listen attentively to other people as they talk. And
discuss a variety of subjects, including those things that you do not fully
understand. Go out to eat when possible, or go singing, and travel whenever
possible. In this way you can take in more common etiquette and social
practices. This, along with sharper conversation skills, will make you more
socially attractive. Then, as you get used to all this interaction, friends will
naturally follow. Boyfriends should follow from those friendships. And, when you
become a parent yourself, you can give more time to your children so that they
can grow up with human companionship in the way you have learned, even if it did
come later.
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Ralph Jennings is an American teaching in Beijing. To send questions on life
issues, write to: Just Ask, 21st Century, 15 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District,
Beijing, 100029 or email to [e-mail] and put "just ask" in the
subject box. Ralph doesn't answer letters concerning English language study.
**********
Making the best out of our culture
LAST week's topic: This month marks the beginning of Year of France Culture. How
do we make the best of foreign culture?
Zheng Liqin: How do we make best use of foreign culture, completely accepting it
or accepting it according to our reality? I think the latter is better. We
should choose those cultures that can benefit our lives and society. Meanwhile
we should not let foreign culture overwhelm our traditional culture. Some think