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1. lesson30

Where Do We Go from Here? When we grow too complacent with ourselves, along come writers who, wasp-like, sting us with reminders of the many problems we face-from rehabilitating former prisoners on parole to feeding the world's hungry population. Those authors do not see civilization rising almost vertically to greater and greater heights. Though a multitude of problems beset America, they nominate the large urban centers as potentially the most dangerous and requiring the most immediate attention. They see the cities as the morgues of dead hopes and lost ideals. We are preoccupied with trifles like the upholstery in our homes or personal matters like pension and benefits, but now we are called upon to contribute to our community on every vital level-moral, political, economic. We are not being urged to give up our beloved possessions, but our civilization can be saved only if we overcome the epidemic of indifference. We must begin to live with a new openness to others and a determination to become the best of which we are capable.
Weight-watchers Judging from the popularity of books on dieting, one would think an epidemic of obesity is sweeping the nation. Although being fat is not contagious, it is a condition not to be sneered at since it affects one-fourth of all Americans. Without magnifying the problem, professionals concerned with the nation's health, from chiropractors to medical specialists, agree that being overweight is a major obstacle to good health. They point out that people will readily see the need to ventilate their homes for fresh air to get rid of vermin that may cause disease, but they jeopardize their health by eating the wrong foods or the wrong amount of foods. Coincidentally, a recent survey of employment agencies showed that obesity has a negative effect on a person's chances of landing a job. While the job-seeker is asking about salary and pensions, the employer is thinking about the worker's healthand weight is a vital consideration when it comes to injuries, disease, and absenteeism. Some municipal jobs, in fact, do require an applicant to be within normal weight range, and one New York bank insists on an oral understanding that applicants will take off excess weight. As the Wall Street journal put it, "Fat people often find slim pickings in the job market."
Bible Zoo One of the most popular tales of the Bible depicts the great flood that destroyed every mortal except Noah and his family and the animals on his ark. Should there be a repetition of that disaster, there is one place where all the biblical animals are already gathered. The man to be commended for this novel collection is Professor Aharon Shulov, a zoologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Professor Shulov appointed himself a committee of one to search out the 130 creatures mentioned in the Old Testament. Among the occupants of this zoo are crocodiles, camels, apes, peacocks, deer, foxes, and sheep, some of whom had to be imported from other lands. They are settled in suitable quarters on a twenty-five acre site in Jerusalem. Visitors to the zoo not only get to view and feed the animals, but they are also treated to quotes from Bible verses that encourage the study of the Good Book and teach morality amidst the waddling of the ducks and the wailing of the wolves. Not surprisingly, the children have the final word at a special corner of the zoo, called the Garden of Eden, where animal cubs roam freely, attracting the attention of hundreds of youngsters who visit daily.
Roast Beef on Rye A little digging will unearth the roots of our language and habits. For instance, our word "sandwich" is derived from the Earl of Sandwich, who lived in the time of George Ill. This gentleman would not depart from the gambling table for hours on end. If his play happened to coincide with dinner, he would cancel his regular meal and order a slice of meat to be served to him between two pieces of bread. The biography of the Earl claims that we are his debtors for his discovery of the sandwich. Charles Dickens later used the phrase "sandwich man" to describe someone who walks about with a clearly legible message on placards hung on his chest and back. An example of a superstition is the fear of walking under a ladder. This must have been a contagious fear for it seems to have started with the ancient belief that spirits lived in trees or wood. "Knocking on wood" was a way of calling up the friendly spirit to protect one from harm. Today a member of the clergy might sneer at this custom, expecting that by this time such superstitions would have receded into the past with witches and ghosts. Another expression, "giving someone the cold shoulder," has been traced to the Middle Ages, when a host would serve his guests a cold shoulder of mutton or beef instead of the customary hot food. This was a transparent attempt to show the guest he was no longer welcome. The host had thus found a more charitable yet effective way of expressing his feelings without using a scalding remark.

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