World Food Prize goes to Ethiopian Scientist

Sorghum is an important grain for Africa. Millions of Africans have more to eat because of Gebisa Ejeta. The Ethiopian scientist developed sorghum seeds that can resist long dry periods. The seeds can also resist the Striga weed, a big cause of crop failures in Arica.

Now his work has earned him this year’s World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation. He received 250,000 dollars for the award. He is only the second African to win the prize since it was set up in 1986. monty Jones, a rice specialist from Sierra Leone, was the winner in 2004.

Gebisa Ejeta is a professor at Purdue University in Indiana. Over the years, he was worked with farmers and seed companies and developed more than eighty seed types for Africa.

In the early 1980s, Professor Ejeta developed the first sorghum hybrid seeds. These resisted drought and led to a major increase in production.

Drought is not the only enemy. Striga is a parasitic weed that Africans commonly call witch weed. The plant attacks sorghum and other crops and steals water and nutrients from the roots.

In the 1990s, Gebisa Ejeta and another researcher, Larry Butler, identified the complex relationships between Striga and sorghum plants. That finding led to the development of seeds which can resist both Striga and drought.

Gebisa Ejeta was brought up in a one-room hut in a rural village in west-central Ethiopia. His mother wanted him to get and education. He walked twenty kilometers to school in a neighboring town. He left home on Sunday nights and returned on Friday. Professor Ejeta has never forgotten his African roots. Today he encourages other scientists to turn to Africa’s needs.

Ethiopian scientist  71  World Food Prize

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Weddings are so important in China that couples are willing to fork out about 20 times their monthly income on getting hitched and everything that comes with it.

China's newly-weds in cities spend 126,600 Yuan (16,600 U.S. dollars) on average in 2006 when getting hitched, Thursday's Chongqing Youth Daily reported, citing a recent survey by the Ministry of Commerce.

An analysis of 60,000 couples living in cities showed that about 64 percent of the spending went on house decoration, furniture and household appliances and the rest was spent on the wedding, such as the ceremony, photography, wedding dresses and feast.

The survey said the wedding expenditure was only a small share of the overall marriage cost as most Chinese young couples in the cities tended to buy an apartment and a car before tying the knot.

The survey said that about 81.6 percent of the newly-weds admitted that they had got economic support from parents as their monthly income on average was only about 6,240 yuan.

The survey also showed that about 88.4 percent of the newly-weds chose having wedding photography as a priority and 78.74 chose hosting a wedding banquet.

In contrast, young couples in the countryside spent about 40,000 yuan on average on marriage-related issues, less than one third of their city peers, according to the report.

About 8.49 million couples got married in China in 2006.

Title: China’s     51    spend too much

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       Not so long ago almost any student who successfully completed a university degree or diploma course could find a good job quite easily. Companies toured the universities, competing with each other to persuade graduates to join them. However, those days are gone, even in Hong Kong, and nowadays graduates often face strong competition in the search for jobs.

       Most jobs organizations have provided three stages for graduates to follow in the process of finding a suitable job: recognizing abilities, matching these to available chances and presenting them well to future employers.

    Job seekers have to make a careful judgment of their abilities. One area of judgment should be of their academic qualifications, which would include special skills within their subject area. Graduates should also consider their own personal values and attitudes, or the relative importance to themselves of such matters as money, confidence, leadership and caring for others. An honest judgment of personal interests and abilities such as creative or scientific skills, or skills developed from work experience, should also be given careful thought.

    The second stage is to study the chances available for employment and to think about how the general employment situation is likely to develop in the future. To do this, graduates can study available job chances and information in newspapers or they can visit a job office, write to possible employers for information or get in touch with friends or relatives who may already be holding a particular profession. After studying all the various choices, they should be in a position to make informed comparisons between various jobs.

    A good personal presentation is necessary in the search for a good job. Job application forms and letters should, of course, be filled in carefully and correctly, without grammar or spelling mistakes. Where additional information is asked for, job seekers should describe their abilities and work experience in detail, with examples if possible. They should try to balance their own abilities with the employer’s needs, explain why they are interested in a job with the particular company and try to show that they already know something about the company and its activities.

    When graduates are asked to attend an interview, they should prepare properly by finding out all they can about the would-be employer. Dressing suitably and arriving for the interview on time are also obviously important. Interviewees should try to give positive and helpful answers and should not be afraid to ask questions about anything they are unsure about. This is much better than pretending to understand a question and giving an unsuitable answer. 

There will always be good job chances for people with ability, skills and determination. The secret to achieving a good job is to be one of them.

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   Quality after-school programs are designed to improve academic performance, decrease youth crimes and other high-risk behaviors, and help young people grow into healthy, successful adults. The effect of quality after-school programs on academic performance is clear. Studies show that students who take part in such programs show better work habits, higher rates of homework completion, improved grades, and higher scores on achievement tests. They also have fewer absences and are less likely to blame. After-school programs also influence high-risk teen behavior. Various studies show decreased rates of crime, drug use, and teen sex among youth who join in well-run after-school programs when compared to similar youth who do not. Finally, after-school programs play an important role in supporting the following fields of development: physical development, mental development and development in society. Thus, one can safely say that after-school programming is an effective method to help young people become contributing members of society.

   Although there is enough proof from both small and large assessments that after-school programs can make a positive difference, it is important to note that not all programs are equal.

   First, dosage (时量) matters － young people who attend the most hours over the most years benefit more than members who attend less often or over a shorter period of time. Next, after-school programs make a bigger difference for those students who need help most and have the fewest choices. Finally, program qualities matter. After-school programs work best when they create unique opportunities for youth. They should provide opportunities, skill building meaningful involvement (参与), expression suggestion, service, and work staff characteristics make an important difference in the quality of a program. The adults should treat youth as partners, create safe and fair environment, encourage personalized (个性化的) involvement, and actively create learning opportunities. In short, although after-school programs have promising future, how they are designed and run matters.

Title:  Quality After-school Programs

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       Michel became hooked on headphones in his early teens. He walked in the streets of Brooklyn day after day with his favorite music blasting directly into his ears. By his early 20s, Michel had lost much of his upper-range hearing.

       The Children’s Hearing Institute reports that hearing loss among children and young adults is rising in the United States, and that one third of the damage is caused by noise.

Surrounded By Noise

       We live in a noisy world. Young and old alike are beset by sounds over which we may have little or no control: power mowers, leaf blowers, snow blowers, cars and house alarms, sirens, motorcycles, Jet Skis, loudspeakers, even movie previews.

       We attend rock concerts, weddings, parties and sports events at which the music is so loud you can hardly hear the person sitting next to you. At home, televisions, stereos and computer games are often turned up so loud that listeners can not hear a doorbell or telephone. Many “modern ” restaurants have chosen noise enhancement instead of abatement(减轻). Any time you need to shout to be heard by someone near you, your hearing is most likely to be in a decibel(分贝) danger zone.

       As if environmental noise were not enough, now we surround children with noisy toys and personal listening devices that can permanently damage their hearing. Toys that meet the safety standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials can produce sound up to 138 decibels, as loud as a jet plane taking off. Yet workplace rules require hearing protection for those exposed to noise above 85 decibels.

Protecting Young Ears

       Before buying noisemaking toys, parents would do well to listen to how loud they are. If the toy comes with a volume control, monitor its use to make sure it is kept near the lowest level. Consider returning gifts that make loud noises, disable the noise-making function. Or limit the use of noisy toys to outside play areas.

      Children who play computer games and stereo equipment should be warned to keep the volume down. Time spent in video arcades, where the noise level can be over 110 decibels, should be strictly limited. Most iPods have a control that allow parents to set a maximum volume.

       Don’t take children to loud action movies. If you do go and the sound seems deafening, ask the manager to turn down the volume or insist on your money back. Children who play in bands and teenagers who use power tools, gardening equipment or guns should be made to wear hearing protection, available at sporting goods stores.

The League for the Hard of Hearing urges parents to encourage participation in quiet activities, like reading, watching family-oriented films, doing puzzles, making things with construction toys, playing educational computer games, drawing and painting, and visiting librarians and museums.

All That noise is damaging Children’s Hearing

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When you read the newspaper, do you read the advertisements as closely as you read news stores? Do you believe advertising as readily as you believe news stories? I don’t and neither do most people I know.

But we pay attention to news or public interest stories. Not only do we pay attention, we are also more likely to believe news stories than your basic advertisements. When your news is published either online, on the radio, TV or in newspapers people automatically feel that since it’s being published it must be worthy information

I read somewhere that “Advertising is what you pay for. Publicity is what you pray for”. This is so true. You can spend a fortune on advertising and yes, it will bring you some traffic（买卖）but traffic is only part of what you need and it stops when the advertising stops.

What you really need is publicity—free publicity so that your information reaches your would-be customers and people will begin to get to “know” you. When people see and hear your name over and over they will begin to think of you as an expert in your field. They will trust your judgment and buy your products. They will start all over again. One of the best ways to get free publicity is by writing articles then giving them to the third party sites and newspapers for publishing. Plus with a price like free, why not make the most of it?

The most important thing to remember when writing news is to write story not a sales speech. Don’t you hate it when you ask someone about a product and instead of them telling you what it is and how you could benefit from it they go into the speech about its features and why it’s a good product?

You should be trying to sell a story connected to the product instead of trying to sell the product itself. Why? Because people love stories! We’re been listening to and telling stories for centuries and we will continue for a long time to come. People will pay attention if they think they’re going to hear a good story but will turn away if you give them a sales speech.

By writing like a storyteller, you will get free publicity which will increase your traffic and your sales.

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Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was born in Gary, Indiana. He was the seventh child out of nine children in his family. Michael was often bodily abused(虐待) by his father, beaten up and also verbally(口头地) abused, but Michael’s success was also due to his father’s being strict. www..com

Michael was always an entertainer(表演者). Even when he just joined school, he would perform in front of friends and classmates. Michael started his professional(职业的) music career at the age of 11, becoming a member of The Jackson Five.

He’s well-known for increasing the popularity of MTV through his music videos. Some of the music videos that are good examples of this fact are Beat It, Billie Jean and Thriller. Michael attracted his fans and audiences with his style of singing, dressing, and his special dance moves, especially “Moonwalk”. The moonwalk is something that people from every part of the world loved and tried to follow. www..com

Michael Jackson supported 39 charities. Through his work, he raised and donated millions of money to charity, much more than any other showman. He had great love for children, especially the poor ones, and he felt children were the next best thing after God.

Michael planned to start a 50-concert tour(巡回演出) in July 2009. Sadly, on 25th June, 2009, Michael died at home. Michael Jackson was a great performer, showman and entertainer. It’s not likely that there will ever be another entertainer like Michael Jackson again.

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More and more, people are living for vacation. They are using up every single day off, and bargaining with their employers for more time to savor their travels. Gone are the days when holidays were a cautious part of the year; today they are considered a necessary part of life, which can’t be given up. We change successfully from the hardship of work and responsibilities of family to the pleasures of time off and back again. Today's trips are more meaningful , and the traveler is the storyteller. Today's tourists view travel as a form of self-expression. They don't want to come back with an object, or even a picture. They want to come back with a story."

The trend toward slow, relaxed, in-depth holidays, like so many others, roots from the baby boomers. They've worked hard—their work has largely driven the past few years of global productivity growth—and now they have the money and the time to enjoy themselves. Travelers since they were teens, they've already seen the great museums of Europe, and probably the key monuments of Asia and the plains of Africa. Rather than hurry through 20 countries in 20 days ( once called pure visitors), they are more interested in hanging out in a remote corner of one, communicating with locals and enjoying new customs. Quality and depth of experience matter far more than crossing hot spots off a list. This is shown in the travel industry's new marketing campaigns.

People’s view of holidays changed

 Time        view                  Aim                Regarded as

         * Being a (n)_71__ part   * Crossing hot  72 

Past     of the year.              off a list.              Pure visitors

                               * Coming back with

                                 a(n)  73   or even

                                 a picture.

         * Being a(n)  74  part  * Enjoying the pleasures of

of life.                76  off and back again.

Now    * Being a form of  75   * Quality and depth of

                     experience 77  far more.    80 

* Enjoying 78  trips.

                              * Coming back with

a(n)  79

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Many people find good friends but they fail to continue with their friendship, because they do not know their role as a friend. Let us see some important points that we should take care of if we wish to be a good friend for someone.

Be a secret admirer(崇拜者) of your friend: If your friend is good at something, then do not praise him just in front of him. Praising a person for what he is good at does not improve his qualities. It surely will do harm to your friend. A good friend should never miss an opportunity to praise his friend in front of others when he is not around.

Pull your friend away from making mistakes: If your friend is doing something wrong, it is your duty to let him know it at earliest. Keep in mind a best friend has to play a role of critic(批评家) if he wants his friend to stop doing wrong things. But keep in mind not to show your friend’s mistakes in front of other people. It will spoil （损害） your friend’s image in others’ view. And besides your friendship will be in danger. Sometimes it is important to understand your friend’s intentions(意图) behind his actions and try to analyze (分析) situation, then only you should give your opinion.

Try to understand your friend: It is always important to understand what your friend is worried about or what problems he is facing. Always try to understand the situation your friend is in and try to calm him. It is obvious （明显的） that if people have some problems, they will not speak up their problems to their brothers or sisters, they will instead tell everything to their friends. Let your friend speak up, just listen to him and be with him until your friend feels better.

Try to teach good things: If you are a true friend, you should never give your hungry friend a fish, instead, you should teach him how to fish. This will give your friend food for lifetime. A good friend will never wish his friend to be dependent on someone.

Do not interfere(妨碍): The most important point that one should take care of is that your friend has his own life and you should not interfere in his life. You have a right to tell your friend what is good and what is bad, but you do not have a right to make someone do what you wish.

Hope this will help you out solve some of your problems you are facing in friendship.

Tips for    71    Good Relationship