In this gloomily starting yet still promising 2008, Helen's ESL Cafe will be formally diverted to the following address: http://www.helen-eslcafe.com.

Thanks a million for your constant support last year and hope you will continue supporting Helen and enjoy more in Helen's ESL Cafe~~!!

1. Many Books.Net: http://manybooks.net
   There are 19,604 eBooks available here and they're all free!
   
   
2. The Online Books Page: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/ 　　
   Listing over 25,000 free books on the Web. The site is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Library.
3. Audio Books:http://www.archive.org/details/audio_bookspoetry
   Listen to free audio books and poetry recordings! This library of audio books and poetry features digital recordings and MP3's from the Naropa Poetics Audio Archive, LibriVox, Project Gutenberg, Maria Lectrix, and Internet Archive users.
4. PSU's Electronic Classics Site:
   http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/jimspdf.htm
   Classic works of Literature. 　
5. PlanetPDF: http://www.planetpdf.com/free_pdf_ebooks.asp?CurrentPage=1
   Classics works of Literature.
6. University of California, eScholarship Edition: http://content.cdlib.org/escholarship
   The eScholarship Editions collection includes almost 2000 books from academic presses on a range of topics, including art, science, history, music, religion, and fiction.
7. University of Adelaide Library’s collection of Web books:
   　　 http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/
   The collection includes classic works of Literature, Philosophy, Science, and History.
8. AvaxHome.ru: http://www.avaxhome.ru
   　　Some new ebooks. Rapidshare download links. Copyright is a problem.
9. The National Academies Press: http://www.nap.edu
   　　Read more than 3,000 books online FREE!
10. You! Everyone has his own favorite ebook website. Maybe It’s already on the list. Maybe not. It doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that you love eBook.

I Digged this from my friend-Tom which is about how to get access to some blocked websites. Hopefully it will be of some use for exploring a wider and freer world.

新的世纪诞生新的巨星。德国歌手莎拉-康娜收放自如（Sarah Connor）的嗓音只会让人想到上个世纪叱咤世界流行乐坛的歌后玛丽亚-凯莉。这个2002年才渐渐展露头角的甜美女孩定会以她的实力唱腔征服你——《最后一支舞》弥漫着浓浓的蓝调风韵，是狂野悲情？还是凄美无奈？既然留不住你，再尽舞一曲又何妨……

Helen: What impressed me most is perfect match of voices of Sarah and her husband Marc, the singer of another very beautiful song-I love to be loved by you.

Just One Last Dance

Sarah Connor & Marc Terenzi

Just one last dance. Oh baby, just one last dance

We meet in the night in the Spanish cafe
I look in your eyes just don't know what to say
It feels like I'm drowning in salty water
A few hours left till the sun's gonna rise
Tomorrow will come and it's time to realize: Our love has finished forever
How I wish to come with you! How I wish we make it through!

Just one last dance before we say goodbye
When we sway and turn around around around. It's like the first time
Just one more chance. Hold me tight and keep me warm
'Cause the night is getting cold and I don't know where I belong
Just one last dance

The wine and the lights and the Spanish guitar
I'll never forget how romantic they are
But I know, tomorrow I'll lose the one I love
There's no way to come with you. It's the only thing to do:

Just one last dance before we say goodbye
When we sway and turn around and round and round. It's like the first time
Just one more chance. Hold me tight and keep me warm
'Cause the night is getting cold and I don't know where I belong
Just one last dance. (Repeat)

Just one last dance and just one more chance. Just one last dance

参考译文（来自互联网）

再来最后一舞，亲爱的，再来最后的一舞

我们相遇到那个西班牙咖啡厅。我望进你眼睛忘记了言语能力
我犹如在盐水里溺弱。还有几小时黎明将到
明天的来临终告：我们的爱永远终止
我多希望能对你而去！多么希望我们能一起面对！

再来最后的一舞，在说再见之前。当我们转啊转啊转，如同第一次那样
再多一只舞，抱紧我让我感受你的温暖
因为夜开始冰凉，而我不知道自己归于何处。再来最后一舞

在酒和灯与这西班牙吉它，我永远不会忘记他们是多么浪漫
但我知道，明天我将失去我所爱
我无法随你而去。现在唯一能做的：

生平简介：

斯蒂芬·霍金教授是当代享有盛誉的伟人之一，被称为在世的最伟大的科学家，当今的爱因斯坦。他在统一20世纪物理学的两大基础理论—爱因斯坦的相对论和普朗克的量子论方面走出了重要一步。1989年获得英国爵士荣誉称号。他是英国皇家学会学员和美国科学院外籍院士。

霍金教授1942年出生于英国牛津，这一天正好是伽利略的300年忌日。1963年，霍金教授被诊断患有肌肉萎缩症，即运动神经病。1965年获得理论物 理学博士学位。1974年3月1日，霍金教授在《自然》上发表论文，阐述了自己的新发现—黑洞是有辐射的。在几个星期内，全世界的物理学家都在讨论他的研 究工作（霍金所指的辐射被称为霍金辐射）。霍金的新发现，被认为是多年来理论物理学最重要的进展。该论文被称为“物理学史上最深刻的论文之一”。1975 —1976年间，在其获得6项大奖中有伦敦皇家天文学会的埃丁顿勋章、梵蒂冈教皇科学学会十一世勋章、霍普金斯奖、美国丹尼欧海涅曼奖、马克斯韦奖和英国 皇家学会的休斯勋章。1978年他获得物理界最有威望的大奖—阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦奖。1979年，被任命为著名的、曾一度为牛顿所任的剑桥大学卢卡逊数学 教授。1988年，霍金的惊世之著《时间简史：从大爆炸到黑洞》（A Brief History of Time：from the Big Bang to Black Holes）发行。从研究黑洞出发，探索了宇宙的起源和归宿，解答了人类有史以来一直探索的问题：时间有没有开端，空间有没有边界。这是人类科学史上里程 碑式的佳作。该书被译成40余种文字，出版了1000余万册。霍金教授的通俗演讲在国际上也享有盛誉，他的足迹遍布世界各地。他试图通过自己的书籍和通俗 演讲，将自己的思想与整个世界交流。2000年初，霍金在美国白宫做了演讲，这是世界之夜（Millenium Evenings）活动的一部分，克林顿总统亲切会见他并向他表示祝贺。2001年10月又一部力作《The Universe in a Nutshell》出版发行。该书是《时间简史》的姐妹篇。在该书中，霍金揭示了自《时间简史》发表以来，理论物理学的伟大突破。

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Wish everyone coming here to Helen's ESL Cafe a merry Christmas~~~ ^_^

“平安夜，圣善夜。万暗中，光华射，照着圣母也照着圣婴。圣洁婴儿多么纯真、多么可爱，静享天赐安眠，静享天赐安眠……”

说到圣诞歌曲，大概没有哪首能比这首“Silent Night”（《平安夜》） 更广为人知的了。甚至是，受启于它美丽的意境，我们中国人时常把“圣诞节前夕”称作“平安夜”。

据说，《平安夜》诞生于奥地利一个名叫Oberndorf的村子里，那里居住着许多艺术天才。每年圣诞前夕，村子里就会举行大型的圣诞晚会，在做弥撒时唱许多圣诞歌曲，以此感激耶稣的降临。

1918 年圣诞节前一天，牧师Joseph Mohr（约瑟夫·马赫）发现教堂里的管风琴被可恶的大老鼠咬坏了。夜幕降临，他难过地走在乡间小路上，当看到银色的月光撒满整个湖面，一种平安、祥和以 及感激之情霎那间充盈心灵。想到一千多年前，耶稣降临时同样没有管风琴伴奏，天使们却能吟唱出世界上最动听的歌曲……于是，这首如今几乎成为圣诞节官方 “节歌”的《平安夜》就这样默无声息地诞生了。后来，它由奥地利传入德国，随即风靡全球。

再现“Silent Night”的名家不计其数，Helen这里还是推荐Celtic Woman演唱的版本，Hope you will enjoy the beautiful and soothing voice.

Merry Christmas to Everyone~~

Lyrics

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round your Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

(Silent night, Holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from Heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah
Christ, the Savior is born
Christ, the Savior is born)

Words & phrases

1．Hallelujah：哈利路亚（赞美上帝用语）

The story for the Christmas season
(Contributed by Bing Wei, Granny Betty's Story Time )

Most people know that the simple meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God in the Christian religion. The word Christmas originated from an old English phrase, "Cristes Masse", meaning the mass of Christ（基督弥撒） . The date, December 25, was established by Bishop Liberius of Rome in 354 AD. He selected the date to mark the official time for celebrating Christ's birth. Before then, the birth of Jesus was observed on different days and even to this day no one is certain the exact date of Christ's birth.

　Christmas celebrations

Cultural celebrations of Christmas include glittering light displays, the ever-present jolly oldSanta Claus（圣诞老人） , group celebrations and singing called carolling（圣诞颂歌）, baked holiday cookies and cakes, decorations of mistletoe（槲寄生，装饰性植物）and pine wreaths, lighted, ornamented Christmas trees with wrapped presents displayed underneath. The spirit of Christmas at its heart is a festival to celebrate family, love, gratitude to others and giving presents to show appreciation to friends and loved ones.

In Europe, typically, family and friends gather together on Christmas Eve, on Dec 24, for a big turkey dinner, completed with Christmas pudding (a rich cake with brandy source). Everyone shares their stories of the year or brings a newsletter to read out for what has happened during the past year. Games are played after the dinner. On Christmas day, Dec 25, a brunch （常用构词法： breakfast+lunch）with family is the norm, followed by some light sporting events, such as a country walk, to digest the heavy food.

Dec 26 is called Boxing Day（节礼日，往往在这一日大家互赠礼物） in the UK, which means everyone opens their box of presents - the most joyful day for the children. In the US, having just celebrated Thanksgiving with turkey, Christmas Eve dinner is more likely to have ham on the menu with a heavy dessert. Dec 25, the Christmas Day is normally the day all the presents are opened.

　Christmas trees & cards

The tradition of having a pine tree as a Christmas Tree is believed to come from Germany. Since the medieval time, lighting a candle on a tree is common to welcome guests. Such practice has evolved into the Christmas celebration.

The formal Christmas Tree was introduced to England about 100 years ago when Queen Victoria married German Albert. The evidence of Victoria's love for Albert is not only expressed through inheriting the German tradition of having a Christmas Tree but also through the gold Albert Statues that Victoria had ordered built for Albert, standing in many places in London. In America, the Christmas Tree idea was brought by German immigrants too.

The custom of sending Christmas cards was initiated in England around 1850. The first cards were decorated with elaborate designs of flowers, birds and landscapes.

　Santa Claus

As for Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, the story goes back to the third century.

Legend has it, Saint Nicholas dedicated all his life to helping mankind, especially children. He died on December 6, which marks the Saint Nicholas Day in many European countries and that was when gifts were given to children. St. Nicholas bears many different names, such as Father Christmas in the UK, San Nicolass in the Netherlands, Le Pere Noel in France, and Kriss Kringle in Germany.

He also arrives on different dates to deliver presents to children in different countries, typically from chimneys. The chimney story was this: Santa flew over house tops in a sleigh, he dropped coins by accident and they landed in some stockings hanging next to the fireplace to dry. From then on, red stockings were hung by the chimney in hopes Santa would fill them with gifts.

Most countries use fabric stocking while in others, wood shoes are also placed on earth for Santa's gift-dropping. In America, the image of Santa Claus was conceived by the famous poem "The Night Before Christmas", written by Clement Moor. Moor transformed the Santa character from a saint in a long robe to a chubby, rosy-cheeked elderly man in a red suit, riding on a sleigh pulled by a team of reindeer.

　Christmas carols

The tradition of carol singing originated from the carolling practised by the Waits in the fourteenth century. Waits were royal singers who were sent by the court to perform in selected homes for treats, pennies and/or fun. "Carol" means a circle dance accompanied by a song. Most Christmas carols we sing now were composed around 1400-1600's.

　Jewish Chanukah

The Jewish community celebrates Chanukah（光明节，为纪念公元前165年犹太人战胜希腊的叙利亚侵略者并夺回圣殿） instead of Christmas in December. Chanukah (Hanukkah) is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, usually falling somewhere in December on the Gregorian calendar.

Chanukah commemorates the cleansing of the Temple after the Jews defeated their occupation by the Syrian Greeks and is observed by lighting the candles of the menorah for eight days, one on the first, two the second and so on so forth.

（英语点津陈蓓编辑）

----From China Daily Language tips

• 大小: 1.0MB
• 作者: Emily Bronte
• 来源: Internet
• 语言: 中英文
• 格式：e-book, exe文件
  

About the book:

Wuthering Heights was Emily Brontë's only novel, and is considered the fullest expression of her deeply individual poetic vision. It obviously contains many romantic influences: Heathcliff is a very Byronic character, though he lacks the self-pitying that mars many Byronic characters, and is deeply attached to the natural world. When the novel was written, the peak of the Romantic age had passed: we should be very grateful that Emily Brontë lived such an isolated life, and was in some sense behind the times. The novel expresses deep criticisms of social conventions, particularly those surrounding issues of gender: notice that the author distributes "feminine" and "masculine" characteristics without regard to sex. Brontë had difficulties living in society while remaining true to the things she considered important: the ideal of women as delicate beings who avoid physical or mental activity and pursue fashions and flirtations was repugnant to her. Class issues are also important: we are bound to respect Ellen, who is educated but of low class, more than Lockwood.

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• 大小: 1.2 MB
• 作者: Jane Austen
• 来源: Internet
• 语言: 中英文
• 格式：e-book, exe文件
  

download （中英文对照版）

INTRODUCTION

One of the world's most popular novels, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has delighted readers since its publication with the story of the witty Elizabeth Bennet and her relationship with the aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy. Similiar to Austen's other works, Pride and Prejudice is a humorous portrayal of the social atmosphere of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century England, and it is principally concerned with courtship rituals of the English gentry. The novel is much more than a comedic love story, however; through Austen's subtle and ironic style, it addresses economic, political, feminist, sociological, and philosophical themes, inspiring a great deal of diverse critical commentary on the meaning of the work.

Today I heard a song from magpieuk's blog which almost made me shed tears. So here I'd like to share this beautiful song with you all.

曲名：You Raise Me Up
作词：布兰登.葛瑞翰（Brendan Graham）
曲：罗尔夫. 劳弗兰（Rolf Lovland）

“You Raise Me Up”是一首励志和感恩的歌曲，由Brendan Graham （爱尔兰小说家/作词家）作词，Secret Garden的Lovland作曲，已经在世界各地用不同语言录制了125次以上。

“You Raise Me Up” 据说和爱尔兰传统民歌“Danny Boy” 很相似，最早由爱尔兰歌手Brian Kennedy 于2001年在Secret Garden的专辑Once in a Red Moon 中演唱。

这首歌还广泛用于9/11事件的纪念活动中,尽管在这之前这首歌并没有在美国发行过. 2003年末,美国著名歌手Josh Groban的演唱使这首歌在美国十分流行,Josh Groban 也因此获得2005年格莱美奖提名.仅2004年,"You Raise Me Up" 就在美国的电台播放了500,000多次，4次获Gospel Music Awards，包括年度最佳歌曲。

爱尔兰组合Westlife是第100位录制这首歌的艺人，他们也使这首歌的荣耀重新回到了爱尔兰。演唱过这首歌的歌手还有Daniel O'Donnell ,Ronan Tynan, Josh Groban, Celtic Woman, Selah等.

在众多的版本中，我最喜欢的还是Celtic Woman在2006年演唱会上气势磅礴，感人至深的演绎，尤其是其中的小提琴如泣如诉的声音让人有cry的冲动。