Sea Gulls Outsmart Calif
The gulls don，t give a hoot about fake rooftop owls used to keep gulls away from homes and businesses in the Ventura Harbor area.
If anything， the ersatzersatz adj.代用的，合成的，假的，人造的 owls have become a curiositycuriosity n.好奇心 to the gulls， said Ken Farzad， owner of the harbor，s Hornblower，s Restaurant. “Some of the gulls will actually go up to the owls and peck at them.”
“They leave a mess with their feathers and everything else，” Farzad said， expressing disgust over the messymessy adj.杂乱的，污秽的 sea birds roosting atop area buildings.
“We need to give them more time before we decide they don，t work，” said Oscar Pena， the Port District，s general manager， who noted the owls， which cost about 40 a piece， only are supposed to scare 30 percent to 40 percent of the gulls that land nearby.
If they don，t work， Pena said the district should buy “bigger， meanerlooking owls”.
Gulls are attracted to the tops of buildings because they are safe places and the rooftopsrooftop n.屋顶 give them a clear view of the area.
假猫头鹰不敌真海鸥
文图拉海港地区的住宅和商户屋顶上有许多假猫头鹰，那是为了对付那些经常光顾的海鸥的。可海鸥们却根本不把这些冒牌货当一回事。
霍恩布洛尔饭店的主人肯·法尔扎德说，如果说这些海鸥有注意过假猫头鹰的话，那也只是出于好奇而已。“一些海鸥甚至敢冲到猫头鹰面前啄它们。”
法尔扎德对这些停在屋顶难缠的海鸥群深感厌恶：“它们总是留下许多羽毛和别的东西，把一切弄得乱七八糟。”
港口区总经理奥斯卡·贝纳说：“我们需要更多的时间才能决定这些假猫头鹰是不是真的不起作用。”他说这些每只价值40美元的假猫头鹰，只能吓退百分之三十至四十盘旋在附近的海鸥。
贝纳说，如果这些猫头鹰真的不起作用，他们应该买“更大，样子更凶恶的猫头鹰”。
海鸥喜欢停留在屋顶，因为那里不但安全，而且视野开阔，可以看得更远更清楚。
Study Coins the “Santa Claus effect”
School，s out for the holidays. Teenagers have time on their hands - and perhaps even a crackling fire to set the mood. What are they planning for vacation？
Apparentlyapparently adv.显然地， losing their virginity is high on the list for those with significantsignificant adj.有意义的， 重大的， 重要的 others， according to researchers who reviewed data from a federal health survey.
While June is the most common month for teenagers to have sex for the first time - be it in a casual summer fling or steady relationship - sociologists from Mississippi State University say many teenagers who are dating seriously choose December as the time to have sex for the first time.
“We call it the Santa Claus effect，” says Martin Levin， lead author of the study， which is published in the current issuecurrent issue 现期刊物， 即期 of the Journal of Marriage and Family.
The findings ring true to Becky Rose， a 19yearold student at New York University.
“I，d say we，re all fairly vulnerablevulnerable adj.易受攻击的， 易受……的攻击 and needy， and need someone to cling to and love，” she says.
She says it，s partly the stress of final exams， followed by the holidays that make her “more emotional” during the holidays. “Everything you see on TV has people kissing under mistletoemistletoe n.槲寄生 and Buy her a diamond - she，ll love you！”
Whatever the reasons， experts say the holidays are the perfect time for parents to talk to their teenagers about sex. “At the very least，” says one of the expert， “maybe we should say， Leave the lights on.”
圣诞老人效应
学校放假了。少男少女们手头有了大把的时间——甚至可以燃一堆劈里啪啦的火焰来释放一下情绪。那他们对假期都有些什么计划呢？
研究人员整理了一些联邦健康调查数据发现，对于那些有了固定恋人的青少年来说，他们在假期计划中赫然排在第一位的是结束“第一次”。
美国密西西比州立大学的社会学家指出，六月是青少年初尝禁果的高峰期。这样的结果是出于偶然的夏日冲动或者稳定的恋爱关系。而对于许多较严肃看待恋爱关系的青少年来说，他们更愿意在十二月尝试他们的“第一次”。
领导这一研究的马丁·莱温说：“我们把这一现象称为圣诞老人效应。”这一研究结果在《婚姻与家庭杂志》上发表。
纽约大学19岁的学生贝姬·罗斯对这一研究结果颇为认同。
她说：“我想说，我们每个人都很脆弱，需要得到别人的支持和爱。”
她说期末考试的压力也是原因之一，考试令她在接下来的假期中更加的“多愁善感”。“只要打开电视，总是看到人们在槲寄生树枝下拥吻，还有为她买一颗钻石吧——她就会爱上你！之类的广告。”
而无论是什么样的原因造成这一切，专家们认为圣诞节假期的确是父母和孩子们讨论性的好机会。一位专家说：“最起码我们应该告诉孩子们，别把灯关上。”
Bush，s Music Tastes
The music tastes of U.S. President George W. Bush have come under scrutiny after an aide revealedrevealed v.显示，透露 vbl.显示，透露 the playlist of his new iPod player.
The portable digital device， given to Bush by his daughters Jenna and Barbara last July， contains much country music， but also songs by Joni Mitchell， Van Morrison and the Knack.
The MP3 player， which can store up to 10，000 songs， only contains about 250， according to the New York Times， which first reported the story.“iPod One，” as the player has been dubbed， is used by Bush while he pedals around his Texas ranch on a mountain bike， presidentialpresidential adj.总统的 media adviser Mark McKinnon told the newspaper.
The task of downloading the music falls to the 58yearold president，s personal aide， Blake Gottesman， who buys individual songs and albums from the iTunes music store.
Not every track is “onmessage”. The playlist - regarded by many as a mirror to the soul - includes musicians who campaigned against Bush， such as John Fogerty. Also on the iPod is the 1979 song “My Sharona” by the Knack， about a man pursuing a much younger woman.
One of that song，s lyrics， “Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind，” prompted Spin magazine editor Dave Itzkoff to comment： “This wouldn，t be consistent with Bush，s image as protectorprotector n.保护者 of conservative values.”
Bush， who quit drinking after his 40th birthday， also listens to recovering alcoholic George Jones， a country singer who sings about heartbreakheartbreak n.难忍的悲伤或失望 and drinking. Joe Levy， deputy editor of Rolling Stone magazine， said this indicated “a little bit of taste for hard core and honkytonk.”
McKinnon advised though against too much analysis of the playlist. “The fact is that any president who would limit themselves to proestablishment musicians would have a pretty slim collection.”
“No one should psychoanalyzepsychoanalyze vt.用心理分析治疗 the song selection. It，s music to get over the next hill，” he told the New York Times.
The playlist does reveal a rather narrow range of babyboomer tunes. Writing in the London Times， Caitlin Moran noted： “No black artists， no gay artists， no world music ， only one woman， no genre less than 25 years old， and no Beatles.”
Levy agreed， telling the New York Times： “What we，re talking about is a lot of great artists from the 1960s and 1970s and more modern artists who sound like great artists from the 1960s and 1970s.”
“This is basicallybasically adv.基本上， 主要地 boomer rock n roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for boomers. It，s safe， it，s reliable， it，s loving. What I mean to say is， it，s feelgood music. The Sex Pistols it，s not.”
布什的音乐品位
自从美国总统乔治·布什的新款iPod音乐播放器里的歌单被一位助手“泄露”之后，人们就开始仔细研究他的音乐品味。
