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　　The debate around nuclear power is coming to a head and many questions are being asked．However, the suggestion that nuclear power is somehow uneconomic does not match the facts．

　　The famous Guardian stated that “the most obvious objection is cost：nuclear power is expensive, especially when compared with gas”．However, most international studies show that nuclear can compete with gas-even before the carbon costs are taken into consideration．It is also worth noting that most of these studies were completed before gas prices went up 4 times．Nuclear produces electricity at a predictable cost, so the use of it has the advantage over fossil-fuel(矿物燃料)costs and carbon price instability．The current strength of gas and coal prices simply increases that economic case．

　　Experience in Finland and France has proven that the costs of building and operating a new generation of nuclear power stations can be borne by the private sector(部门)．Similarly, if the UK chooses nuclear new-build, there will be no call on the taxpayer's purse and no need for a subsidy from government．

　　In addition, there is no need to change the regulations and laws that keep the nuclear industry safe．Simplifying the process of carrying out these controls, and more resources for those enforcing them, is all that is necessary．This will reduce uncertainty and delay, benefiting wind farms and gas storage construction as much as nuclear power．

　　Building a nuclear power plant is not cheap．But this does not mean that nuclear power is more expensive than other generation technologies．When combined with the fact that it produces reliable, low cost electricity without giving off carbon dioxide, it has a clear role in the UK's future generation mix．Let us be guided by today's knowledge rather than yesterday's dogma(教条)when we develop Britain's future energy resource．

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　　Snooker(斯诺克)fans in the UK have rushed to Sheffield, a city in the north of England, for the 2006 Snooker World Championship．

　　From April the 15th until the final on May the 1st, the world's finest snooker players are competing to win the most important and richest snooker tournament．

　　The Snooker World Championship first took place in 1927 and was an immediate success．In 1976 it was broadcast on television for the first time and has been held at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield ever since．

　　In this competition the prizes are high．The winner will walk away from the table with a prize of￡250, 000．

　　There is also a cash prize for the first player to score a 147 break．This means that in one turn, or break, at the table, a player scores the maximum of 147 points．Last year Mark Williams won￡160000 from a single break．

　　Interestingly, the 147 break has only been achieved by four players since 1976．Ronnie O'Sullivan, the current world number one, is the only player to have managed the achievements twice．

　　Nobody has won more times than the current world number two, Stephen Hendry, with seven titles．He also holds the record for the youngest winner, when he won for the first time in 1990 aged only 21．

　　One player hoping to break that record is 18 year-old Liang Wenbo．He recently stunned the Snooker world by beating Nigel Bond 5-0 in the Welsh Open Championship, another important British event．He is currently ranked 86th in the world, but he is the world under-21 champion and is sure to make an impression in this year's matches．

　　Another Chinese competitor to watch is Ding Junhui．He is currently number 31 in the world．He became world under-21 champion at the age of 15, and recently won the China Open, beating Hendry 9-5．He is definitely one of the most exciting young players in world snooker today, and is one to watch in April．

　　Despite his success, Ding remains modest．Away from snooker, his hobbies are watching Jackie Chan films and supporting Liverpool Football Club．

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　　Thanks to depressed markets, investment(投资)banks are reducing many of their highly－paid traders．When markets recover, the banks might be willing to replace them with rather cheaper talent．One alternative has been around for a while but has yet to catch on：autonomous trading agents－computers programmed to act like the human version without such troublesome costs as holidays, lunch breaks．Program trading has been done before; some blamed the 1987 stock market crash on computers instructed with simple decision－making rules．But robots can be smarter than that．

　　Dave Cliff, a researcher at Hewlett－Packard Laboratories in Bristol, England, has been creating trading robots for seven years．His simulation(模拟)experiments have suggested that a redesign of some markets could lead to greater efficiency．Last year, a research group at IBM showed that Mr Cliff's artificial traders could unchangeably beat the human variety, in various kinds of market．Nearly all take the shape of an auction(拍卖)．One well-known type is the English auction, familiar to customers of the salesrooms of Christie's and Sotheby's where sellers keep silent on their offer price, and buyers increase their bids by stages until only one remains．

　　At the other extreme is the Dutch auction, familiar to traders in the Netherlands as well as to bidders for American Treasury bonds．Here, buyers remain silent, and a seller reduces his price until it is accepted．Most markets for shares are a mixture of these two types：buyers and sellers can announce their bid or offer prices at any time, and deals are constantly being closed, a so-called “continuous double auction”．

　　Mr Cliff's new idea was to apply his evolutionary computer programs to market places themselves．Why not, he thought, try and see what types of auction would let traders converge(趋于达成一致)most quickly towards a balance price? The results were surprising．In his models, auctions that let buyers and sellers bid at any time like most of today's financial exchanges were less efficient than ones that required relatively more bids from either buyers or sellers．These “evolved(演变的)auctions” also withstood(经得起)big market shocks, such as crashes and panics, better than today's real-world versions．

　　Bank of America has been investigating these new auctions, along with robotic traders, for possible use in electronic exchanges．The hope is that today's financial auctions and online market places might work better by becoming more like their English and Dutch forebears．

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　　We are Korean company(HWASUNG CHEMISTRY)which the factory locates in Vietnam, due to the reason of setting up designing center in China we established office in Guangdong since last Nov．For more info, please review website：[url]http：//www．hwasungind．co．kr[/url]

　　Job Title：Chief Engineer

　　Skills requirement：ProE CAD excellent, familiar with PS, Illustrator, Coredraw, Soliworks(not a must)structure design, Plastic＆Metal material's performance．

　　Job description：Design, Project management, troubleshot for workmanship

　　Requirements：

　　Working experience：Yes, at least 4～5 years, familiar with plastic, hardware product design and R＆D management, Cart/luggage accessories working experience will be great．

　　Background：Mechanics or macromolecule chemistry educational background, college or university degree

　　Ability：Able to design product and innovative spirit, troubleshot the tech．problem independently．Know injection mould structure and design．

　　Loyalty：It is a must．

　　English skill：If you can read this job advertisement without problem, qualified, because you need to have meetings with foreign customers sometime even contact with them by e-mail, so basically you do not need to be strong at spoken English(even can not speak), but can read and write are a must．Possibly engineer will go to Vietnam for training and meeting occasionally．

　　Job Location：Humen Town, Dong Guan City

　　Welfare：company provides air conditioned room(independent), food service, maid service for clothes and room clean．

　　Insurance：Basic Common insurance for medical treatment, 170 RMB a month paid by company．

　　Working time：6 days a week．National holiday abide by the rule of China．

　　Salary：Trial period(2 months)500 dollars in all, after that if qualified to be 550 dollars monthly．Also asking for a designer, skillful Proe Auto Cad, product shaped design, 2 years working experiences．If know web design especially for WEB 3D effect will be great．

　　If you are interested in this job, please contact with me via．

　　mobile phone 13798701300 Jasonzen

　　[email]Jasonzen@yeah．net[/email]

(1 dollar equals about 8 yuan RMB)

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　　I have a friend who lives by a three－word philosophy(哲学)：“Seize the moment．”Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet．Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it．Don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too strict to depart from their routine．

　　I can't count the times I called my sister and said, “How about going to lunch in half an hour?” She would say, “I can't．I have clothes on the line．My hair is dirty．I wish I had known yesterday．I had a late breakfast．It looks like rain．”And my personal favorite response：“It's just Monday．”She died a few years a go．We never did have lunch together．From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible(灵活)．

　　Life has a way of going faster as we get older．The days get shorter, and the list of promises made to ourselves gets longer．One morning, we are awaken, and all having to show for our lives is repetition of “I'm going to”, “I plan on” and “someday, when things are settled down a bit．”

　　When anyone calls my “seize the moment” friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips．She keeps an open mind on new ideas．Her enthusiasm for life is contagious(有感染力的)．You talk with her for a while, and you're ready to change your attitude to life．

　　My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years．I love ice cream．The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple－decker．If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy．

　　Now…go on and have an ice day．Do something you WANT to…not something on your SHOULD DO list．

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　　So now you have a drink, but what about meeting the locals? Pub－goers will indicate in unspoken ways if they are interested in chatting．Pay attention to those who have bought drinks and are still wandering at the bar．Those who have moved to sit at tables are probably not seeking someone to talk to．Look for people with “open” body language, facing outwards and looking around the room．Don't ever introduce yourself with an outstretched hand and a big smile．Natives will not feel comfortable at this situation．The British, quite frankly, do not want to know your name and shake your hand, or at least not until a proper degree of mutual interest has been well established(建立)．

　　Talk generally about the weather, the beer, or the pub(酒店)and at a proper moment, offer your newfound companion a drink．This exchange is the key to feeling part of the pub-goers and getting to know more about Britain than its tourist spots．The ritual of sharing－buying rounds of drinks in turn－is of great importance．This is because the British males are frightened of getting too close to each other．They find it difficult to express friendly interest in other males and they can be somewhat aggressive(侵犯的)in their manner．

　　If you are having British friends or discussing business contracts, one of your hosts will probably buy the first round, and you should be quick to offer the next．The right time to offer to buy a drink is when their glasses are still a quarter full．The words “It's my round－What are you having?” may not be in your phrase book, but it is one of the most useful sentences in the English language．

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　　Fifty years ago, the stereotypical(老套的)father was a distant, strict figure whose value lay squarely in the size of his pay packet．

　　But a new survey published yesterday Father's Day reveals 21st-Century Dad wants a closer relationship with his children, and is even prepared to put his career on hold so he can play with his kids．

　　“As soon as my first child was born, I moved jobs to one that offered flexi-time(弹性上班)rather than a high salary or great promotion prospects,” said Stephen Derrick, a community development worker in Leeds, northern England．

　　“My father walked away from his role as a caring father and I'm having to create that role for myself,” he added．“It's harder than I thought but I'm determined to give my children a different experience of fatherhood to my one．”

　　A study of 12,000 new fathers and 9,200 new mothers by the UK's Equal Opportunities Commission found eight out of 10 fathers would take three months' leave from work after the birth of their child, if it was possible．

　　Despite enormous shifts in attitude, however, new fathers admitted barriers(障碍)still stop them escaping work to spend time with their children．

　　“The dilemma(进退两难)of the modern father is how to square up the pressure of work and the quality of the time they spend with their children,” said Derrick．

　　“Even with the career sacrifices I've made, I'm still struggling to achieve that balance．”

　　Whatever the situation of 21st-Century Dad, however, the overwhelming message is that today's fathers are more closely involved in their children's lives than ever before, with 87 per cent saying they felt as confident when caring for their baby as their partner．

　　“My role is very much the same as my wife's．It's sharing the childcare and ensuring our son is brought up in a safe and loving environment,” said Jon Bernstein, a multimedia editor for a large city firm in London．

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　　There is a group of people whose numbers the British Government wants to see dropping．They're mostly in their early 20s, without jobs and not at university．They often wander the streets and seen as a threat．

　　The Office for National Statistics on Monday reported that the number of young people who are not in school and not working or in training in Britain has risen sharply since 1997．

　　Britain now has 1.24 million people aged 15 to 24 who have nothing to do．That's a 15 per cent increase over 1997．One in six people in this age group is idle．

　　These people are more likely to be from lower-income family and be supported by their families or the government．Those over 18 can get a weekly job seeker's allowance(补助)of￡ 46 from the government．This is only enough to cover the basic cost of living．

　　Housing benefits are also available．But for single people under 25, these can only cover rent for very cheap accommodations, such as a shared room．So most unemployed young people choose to live with their parents, where they can have a room of their own．

　　Some charities(慈善组织)or local governments offer free housing for homeless young people as well．Nights top UK, for example, offers help to young people aged 16～25．However, the housing is often only short-term．

　　British politician Iain Duncan Smith blames the breakdown of traditional families for the increasing number of unemployed or untrained young people．

　　In Britain today, about one in 10 families are headed by a cohabiting(同居)couple．Cohabiting parents are twice as likely to break up as married parents, according to a Conservative Party report．Family breakdown is likely to lead to ignoring a child's education．

　　Poor post-school vocational(职业的)training programmes are also being criticized．Independent research suggests that some training programmes are a waste of time．

　　The New Deal, a major programme to help the unemployed young, is one example．In 1998, 61 percent of those leaving the programme could find jobs．The number is down to 35 percent now．

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　　If there is one group of workers across the western world who will be glad that Christmas is over, that group is the shop workers．

　　It is not that they like to complain．They realize that they are going to be rushing off their feet at Christmas．They know that their employers need happy customers to make the profits that they pay their wages．But there is one thing about working in a shop over Christmas that is too bad to tolerate．

　　That thing is music．These days, all shops and many offices have what is known as “Piped music” or “muzak” playing for all the hours that they are open．

　　Muzak has a strange history．During the 1940s, music was played to cows as part of a scientific experiment．It was found that cows which listened to simple, happy music produced more milk．Perhaps workers and customers who listened to simple, happy music would be more productive and spend more money．

　　In fact, nobody knows what effect playing muzak in shops has on profits．It is simply something that everyone does．But we are learning more about the effect of constantly repeated songs on the people who have to hear them all the time．

　　Research shows that repeated hearings of complex pieces of music bring great enjoyment before becoming tiresome．And that point comes much sooner with simple songs．

　　“That's especially the case with tunes that are already familiar．Once that tipping point is reached, repeated listenings become unpleasant,” says Professor John Slob of UK's Keele University's music psychology group．“And the less control you have over what you hear, the less you like it．”

　　That's why police forces in the United States of ten try and resolve hostage(人质)situations by playing pop songs over and over again at high volume．Eventually, it becomes too much for the criminals to stand and they give up．

　　The problem gets particularly bad at Christmas, when the muzak consists entirely of the same few festive tunes played over and over again．What makes it worse for the shop workers is that they already know these tunes．They got bored very quickly．Then they get upset．Then they get angry．

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