Today the mints in Philadelphia and Denver earn a yearly profit of about＄40million．Most of this comes from using alloys rather than pure silver in the production of the＄2.5．billion worth of coins circulating in the United States．The Philadelphia plant also manufactures coins for foreign countries．In a recent year almost 130million coins were made for the use of foreign governments．
一块美国银元值1美元吗
一块美国银元不值1美元——一枚别的银元也并不真正等于它的币面值。银币是10％的铜和90％的银混合在一起的合金制成的。这种银币比纯银币的流通时间长得多。一块银元含值90美分的银，而1角银币则含值9美分的银。一枚5分的镍币只需值1便士的银便可制成。
1792年时的情况却不是这样。那年，美国开始造纯金、纯银的硬币。国家欢迎公民在任何时候停止使用任何形式的金、银器皿——茶杯、花瓶，甚至金制补牙物——以让其回炉铸钱用。
今天，费城和丹佛两地造币厂的年利润约为4000万美元。大部分利润的赚得，是因为在美国流通的25亿美元的硬币，是用合金而不是用纯银制造的。费城造币厂也为外国制造硬币，在最近的一年中，就铸造了近1.3亿硬币，供外国政府使用。
The Perilous Tour de France
Few can predict a winner in the popular Tour de France，the annual twenty four day bike race over twentyfive hundred miles of French countryside．Anything can happen，and usually does，in this grueling cycle race which has been called the world’s roughest road race．Accidents and exhaustion may force more than half the contestants to drop out before reaching the finish line．
A cyclist can stay in the pack，finish respectably，and still suffer rough physical punishment，but the real dangers of the race become apparent when he decides to win．Cycling down a windswept mountain road，a racer may hit sixty miles an hour－with no hope of stopping；if he loses control then，he’s out of the race in a split second，slamming over a cliff or into a rocky ditch．But the reward for the skillful and lucky winner is substantia—it’s possible for him to earn as much as a hundred thousand dollars a year．
Hundreds of spectators follow the Tour de France in cars，and cheering crowds line the streets of every small town and village along the route．The Tour de France is a midsummer madness for which the United States has no counterpart，either in danger or in national appeal．
充满风险的环法自行车赛
很少有人能预言，在受人欢迎的环法自行车赛中，谁是胜利者。这种自行车赛，一年一度，历时24天，跨越法国农村地区2500英里。在这被称为世界上最艰难、最激烈的长途自行车赛中，什么事故都可能发生，而且通常总是要发生的。偶发事件和极度疲惫都可能迫使一半以上的参赛者在到达终点前退出比赛。
一个骑车者可以与其他人成群地、体面地到达终点，但仍要承受难忍的肉体惩罚，然而当他决心取胜时，比赛的真正危险便明显地呈现出来。当参赛者沿着强风劲吹的山路驱车向前时，其车速每小时可达60英里——停车是绝难办到的。假如这时他失去控制，刹那间他便会置身于比赛之外，猛然坠下悬崖峭壁，或跌进岩石重叠的沟壑。但是，技艺高超且走运的胜利者的报酬是丰厚的——他一年可能挣得高达10万美元的收入。
数以百计的观众坐汽车跟随观看环法自行车赛。沿途每个小镇和村庄的街道两边都挤满了欢呼的人群。环法自行车赛是仲夏的一次狂欢活动。无论是在危险性方面还是在对全民的吸引力方面，美国都没有类似的竞赛能与它媲美。
Think with Muscles andListen with Bodies
Some psychologists maintain that mental acts such as thinking are not performed in the brain alone，but that one’s muscles also participate．It may be said that we think with our muscles in somewhat the same way that we listen to music with our bodies．
You surely are not surprised to be told that you usually listen to music not only with your ears but with your whole body．Few people can listen to music that is more or less familiar without moving their body or，more specifically，some part of their body．Often when one listens to a symphonic concert on the radio，he is tempted to direct the orchestra even though he knows there is a competent conductor on the job．
Strange as this behavior may be，there is a very good reason for it．One cannot derive all possible enjoyment from music unless he participates，so to speak，in its performance．The listener “feels”himself into the music with more of less pronounced motions of his body．
The muscles of the body actually participate in the mental process of thinking in the same way，but this participation is less obvious because it is less pronounced．
用肌肉思考，用身体聆听
一些心理学家认为，像思考这样的内心活动，不是只在脑中进行的，人的肌肉也参与其中。可以说，我们用肌肉进行思考的方式，在某种程度上与以身体聆听音乐的方式是相同的。
如果告诉你，你通常不仅是用耳，而且还用整个身体听音乐，你肯定不会觉得意外。聆听多少有点熟悉的乐曲时，很少有人不移动身体——更明确地说，不移动身体的某一部分。当一个人从收音机里收听一场交响音乐会时，他常常会不由自主地指挥起管弦乐队来，即使他明明知道有一位称职的指挥正在承担着这一项任务。
这一举动虽然可能显得奇特古怪，然而却是很有道理的。如果一个人不身入其境，比如说，参加演出，他便不可能从音乐中获得应有的一切美感。听者“觉得”自己随着或多或少明显的动作而进入了音乐之中。
人体的肌肉实际上以同样的方式参与了内心的思考过程，但是这种参与更不易觉察，因为它更不明显。
What Exactly，Is a Totem Pole
What exactly，is a totem pole？Because of its bold，vigorous，artfully craved figures，the totem pole is recognized by modern man as one of the great primitive art forms of North America．To the Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest，however，it meant much more．The word totem comes from the Ojibway Indian ototeman，meaning“his relations”；thus an Indian chief’s totem pole was something of a family tree．The figures represented his ancestors，often mythological and legendary beings which were part man，part animal—bear，wolf，eagle，and the like．The thunderbird，an allpowerful creature in Indian mythology，was the dominating totem figure—the flapping of its wings was thought to be thunder and the flash of its eyes，lightning．
Carving and painting totem poles was a long，painstaking job．The Indians relied on knives and chisels of stone，and cutting blades made of beavers’teeth，for metalwork was unknown before European explorers arrived．As for their colors，red came from iron ore，blue green from copperimpregnated minerals，black from charcoal，and white from burned clamshell．They mixed their pigments with salmon roe and painted with brushes of porcupine hair．
A completed totem pole had a verity of uses．Some supported the overhead beams of Indian dwellings：others displayed the owner’s crested the entrance．Memorial and heraldic poles，bearing symbols of a family’s history，usually stood free of the house．Some totem poles even served as grave markers．
图腾柱究竟是什么
图腾柱究竟是什么？由于其大胆、奔放有力和精雕细刻的图案，现代人承认图腾柱是北美的伟大原始艺术品种之一。然而，对于太平洋西北部的印第安人部落来说，它的意义还远不止此。“totem”一字来自奥杰布华族印第安语“ototeman”，意思是“他的亲戚”。这样，一个印第安人酋长的图腾柱便是类似于家系图之类的东西。图案代表了他的祖先，他们常常是带有神话和传奇色彩的人的形象，一半是人，一半是动物——熊、狼、鹰，等等。雷鸟——印第安人神话中的一种全能动物，是最主要的图腾图案，其双翼的拍击被认为是雷鸣，其双眼的闪光被看作是闪电。
雕刻和绘制图腾柱是一件旷日持久的艰苦的工作。印第安人用的是小刀、石凿和河狸齿做的锋利刀刃，因为在欧洲的探险家们到达前，金属工具还无人知晓。至于图腾柱的颜色，红色来自铁矿石，青绿色来自含铜的矿石，黑色取自木炭，白色则出自烧烤过的蛤壳。他们把自己的色料与鲑鱼卵拌在一起，然后用豪猪毛做的画笔作画。
一个制作完全的图腾柱具有多种用途。有些图腾柱用以支撑印第安人住所的顶梁，另有些放在入口处展示主人的纹饰。有纪念性和宗谱纹章的图腾柱，是家史的象征物，通常是独立在屋外的。有些图腾柱甚至用作墓碑。
Ancient Sagas That Have Real Basis