Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.

Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners. And just talk.

Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says “Talk to Me”, they attract conversationalists（健谈的人）, who one evening included a psychotic, and men in business suits.

They don’t collect money. They don’t push religion. So what’s the point?

“To see what happens,” said Liz. “We simply enjoy life with open talks.”

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.

“It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said. “We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything.”

Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.

Marcia had led her husband to catch a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. “To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good,” she explained.

To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people appeared, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.

They will plan more parties or try to attract more people to join in their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something the two say they’ll consider before making a decision.

   Looking for something entertaining to do? Check out some wonderful festivals around the world.

Koningsdag or King’s Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is celebrated on 27 April (26 April if the 27^th is a Sunday), the date marking the birth of King Willem-Alexander. Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of feather boas (羽毛围巾) and body paint as crowds gather in the plazas and on the boats in the rivers. Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, with many live music events, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day.

Thai National Elephant Day is a national holiday in Thailand. Thai National Elephant Day has been celebrated on March 13^th of every year since 1998. Because the elephant is the national animal of Thailand, it is highly respected and treasured. During the festivals elephant are honored during a ceremony (典礼) in which they are fed with bananas, other fruit, and sugarcane.

On the last Tuesday of January the entire town of Lerwick, Shetland is in flames. At the festival, you’ll find yourself sitting, dancing, or stumbling around the largest bonfire you’ve ever seen in your life. The festival lasts only one day but takes the entire year to plan. Be prepared for an evening of singing, dancing, and fast paced activities, and don’t worry about making it to work next day — it’s a national holiday!

Holi, the Festival of Color, is a Hindu celebration full of joy and one of India’s most important holidays. On the last full moon day of the lunar month, usually late February or early March, the air is full of bright-colored powder. The festival is celebrated differently throughout the country, with bonfires and music, but the cheerful spirit is common throughout Hindu communities around the world.

   Communication is one of our most important ways of being in the world as human beings. 【小题1】 It is an art because if you practice it enough times you will master it. It is a science in that there are rules that must be followed for communication to occur. It is the communication that has changed our world. However, many of us have difficulty communicating with each other effectively. 【小题2】.

·Important contexts. For communication to occur there has to be a sender and a receiver. There needs to be someone who is speaking and someone who is listening. There has to be a context for that communication to locate the message. 【小题3】 The receiver can better understand the message behind the message, the subtext of the message and so on with the help of the context.

·【小题4】 Communication requires that barriers (障碍) be laid to rest so the sender and the receiver of the message can be in contact with each other. Barriers to communication include noises, not giving your full attention, speaking on your cellphone while the other is talking. In today’s multi-task work, it’s no wonder there are so many troubles — not only at home, but also in workplaces, places of worship, meetings, etc.

·Rewarding listening. Listening is hard work. It is difficult but with practice, listening can become as natural as eating an apple pie and an ice cream. 【小题5】 When you are not listening, the communication is not getting through. Listening does not mean being quiet and pretending you are giving your whole attention while your mind wanders to what’s for dinner or something like that.

As the saying goes, time is money. And in my opinion, time is even precious than money. Why? Because when money is spent, we still have a chance to earn them back. But when time is wasting, we can never get it back. There is no doubt whether time is very limited, and even a minute is of great value. We should make fully use of time to do what should be done. It’s the pity that a lot of people still didn’t appreciate the value of time. They are wasting their time doing nothing of useful. We should form the good habit of race against time and make a difference in our world.