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　　Without proper planning，tourism can cause problems．For example，too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of the country．If tourists create too much traffic，the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy．They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely．They forget how much tourism can help the country's economy．It is important to think about the people of a destination(旅行目的地)country and how tourism affects them．Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists．Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants．

　　Too much tourism can be a problem．If tourism grows too quickly，people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry．This means that other parts of the country's economy can suffer．

　　On the other hand，if there is not enough tourism，people can lose jobs．Businesses can also lose money．It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels．Airports，first-class roads，and other support facilities(配套设施)needed by tourist attractions．For example，a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build．If this room is not used most of the time，the owners of the hotel will lose money．

　　Building a hotel is just a beginning．There must be many other support facilities as well，including roads to get to the hotel，electricity，sewers(下水道)to handle waste，and water．All of these support facilities cost money．If they are not used because there are not enough tourists，jobs and money are lost．

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　　“Life is speeding up．Everyone is getting unwell．”

　　This may sound like something someone would say today．But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it．

　　We all love new inventions．They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives．But have all these developments really improve the quality of our lives?

　　Picture this：You're rushing to finish your homework on the computer．Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder．Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work．Now you have to stay up all night to get it done．How calm and happy do you feel?

　　Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired．Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives．

　　One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today．The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house．They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones．

　　The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally．” She believed life was less materialistic．“The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said．The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer．Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy(时髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things．”

　　Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!

　　Don't be available all the time．Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day．Don't check your e-mail every day．

　　Don't reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can．It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying．

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　　Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later．

　　I am one of those unfortunate people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there．When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the spot I was heading for．

　　I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me．Often people do not like to admit that they didn't know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite direction to that in which you should be going．

　　If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results．

　　Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building．I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building．However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting．

　　Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked．

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　　Almost two-thirds of children want their parents to spend more time reading to them before bed, and most prefer Mum's storytelling to Dad's, researchers said．

　　They conducted a study that showed younger children aged 3-4 were most hungry for more stories, with over three-quarters saying they wished their parents read to them more often．

　　More than half of all children aged 3-8 said story time was their favourite pastime with their parents．

　　"The results of our research confirm the traditional activity of storytelling continues to be a powerful learning and emotional resource in children's lives," said child psychologist Richard Woolfson．

　　Storytelling ranked higher than television or video games among pastimes for kids, and 82 percent said reading a story with their parents helped them sleep better, according the survey of 500 children aged 3-8 in Britain．

　　The best storytellers were mothers who used funny voices to illustrate different characters or made their own special sound effects to keep the story moving, researchers said．

　　When mum and dad are not at hand, celebrities will do：over 30 percent of children said they would like to hear a bedtime story from Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, with teen idols Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and Emma Watson．

　　"It can be very difficult for parents to find the time to read with their children, but these moments can help build strong bonds and play a vital part in their child's development," said Woolfson．

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　　They like using the Internet．They have lots of pocket money to spend．And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us．Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy－games, CDs and clothing－are easily sold on the Web．

　　But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards．Most have to use a parent's card．They want a facility that allows them to spend money．

　　That may come sooner than they think：new ways to take pocket money into cyber(网络的)space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic．If successful, these products can stimulate online sales．

　　In general, teenagers spend huge amounts：＄153bn(billion)in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK．Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school－88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK．According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online－mainly CDs and books．

　　In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children．Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street．They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online．

　　One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as InternetCash in the US and Smart cards in the UK．Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or ＄50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account．

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　　Scientists are worried that an asteroid(小行星)will possibly hit the earth in 2036．If scientists are right, planet earth is 24 years away from a major disaster．

　　Scientists have been monitoring the progress of a 390-metre-wide asteroid ever since it was discovered last June．They have announced that it could hit the earth, causing huge damage, in 2036．

　　NASA estimates that the impact from the asteroid named after Apophis and ancient Egyptian demon(魔鬼)would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear explosion over Hiroshima．Thousands of square kilometers would be directly affected by the explosion．The whole planet would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere．

　　This is the worst possible scenario(情景)of any asteroid in recorded history．

　　Having more than 20 years' warning of possible impact might seem plenty of time．But scientists insist that there is actually very little time left to decide．

　　Luckily, however, they aren't short on ideas for deflecting the asteroid．The favored method is also probably the easiest－throwing a spacecraft at the asteroid to change its direction．The European Space Agency plans to test this in the next decade．

　　One idea that seems to have no support from astronomers is the use of explosive, although this sounds more likely to the public or Hollywood producer．

　　At present, scientists are trying to make a better estimate of how much time we have, through more observations．

　　In spring of next year, there will be another chance for radar observation of Apophis．This will help astronomers calculate the orbits of the asteroid more accurately．

　　If, at that stage, they can't rule out an impact with the earth in 2036, the next chance to make better observations will not be until 2016, then 2029．

　　“If we wait until 2029 and the worst－case scenario turns out to be true, it would seem unlikely that we'd be able to do anything about 2036,” warns Prof Fitzsimmons．

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　　How can you hear your friends' voices when they are far away and you can't make a long－distance call? Besides the web camera system with your computer, we have a new high-tech way to solve the problem and ease your pain of missing them．

　　The Japanese company Combiwith created a system－“talking picture”．It makes people in pictures speak!

　　The “talking picture” has a special pen．It is actually a pen-shaped scanner．It can scan information in special－made pictures．A connected player will then play the information out loud．

　　First, you need to take a picture and record what you want to say with the company．The company will then make special barcodes(条形码)onto your picture(you can't see those codes)．Those codes are your voice and your words．When you hold up the pen to scan your picture with barcodes, a player connected to the pen will start to play．It plays things you've recorded．That way the invention makes the “you” in the picture speak!

　　Do you want your friends and families talking out of pictures? Have them make pictures like that, and you can hear them whenever you want, only with the “talking picture” system．The system can play messages for up to 12 minutes．

　　“The pictures would be useful for those who hope to hear the voice of someone living far away,” said Mayumi Fuji, a spokeswoman for the company．“Grandparents, for example, longing to know about their grandchildren, would be happy to hear their voice when they see the picture,” Fuji said．

　　But it is troublesome to go to the company for taking a special picture first．And, it is much more expensive than using a telephone．The photo with barcodes costs between 17,040 and 17,990 yen(日元)(160 and 169 dollars)．The larger picture you want, the more you pay．

　　Now, just raise a finger, lonely people can have their loved ones speak out of pictures．But, whether the “talking picture” is practical or not, let's wait and see．

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　　Creativity(创造性)is the key to a brighter future, say education and business experts．Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children．

　　If Dick Drew had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as very important：a new type of tape．Drew worked for the Minnesota Mining Company．At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together．But his boss told him not to think more about the idea．Finally, using his own time, Drew improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people．And his former company learned from its mistake．Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking and developing new ideas．

　　Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily an indicator of high intelligence．Just that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively．Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something．

　　Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity．With strong attention paid to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers．The result is that children can give back information but can't recognize ways to use it in new situations．They may know the rules correctly, but they are unable to use them to work out practical problems．

　　It is important to give children choices．From an early age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results．Even if it's choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills．As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money, but not help them too much if they make the wrong decision．The child may have a hard time, but that is all right．This is because the most important characteristic of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble．

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　　IELTS：international English language testing system

　　Introduction：The IELTS is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate(剑桥大学考试委员会), the British Council(英国文化委员会)and IDP Education Australia(澳洲教育国际开发署)

　　Why more and more people are taking the IELTS test?

　　The IELTS test is widely recognized by the colleges, universities and other academic institutions of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom．More and more universities and colleges in the US are also accepting an IELTS result as a language requirement for application to degree courses．

　　IELTS is accepted by many important organizations, such as the New Zealand Immigration Bureau, the Australian Immigration and Cultural Department, the Canadian Immigration Bureau, the Australian Medical Council and the British Medical Association(总会)．

　　Choice of two test types

　　There are two test models：Academic and General Training．The candidate must select the one suitable to his/here purpose for taking the test．

　　Academic：for candidates who want to apply for undergraduate or postgraduate courses．

　　General Training：for candidates who take IELTS for immigration purpose, training programmes, or work experience．

　　If you have any questions about which type to take, consult the Examinations Services staff at the British Council offices．

　　Content

　　The test is composed of four papers：Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking．The first three papers must be taken at one sitting on one day, and the speaking paper may be taken up to two days later．Usually in China, the Listening paper is taken on a Saturday morning, followed by the Reading paper, and then Writing paper．The Speaking test is usually taken on the Saturday afternoon or on the following Saturday．Candidates must complete all four papers in order to obtain an overall score．

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　　Flying over a desert in an airplane, two scientists looked down with trained eyes at trees and bushes．After an hour's flight, one of the scientists wrote in his notebook, "Look here for probable metal．" Walking across hilly ground, four scientists reported, "This ground should be searched for metals．" From an airplane over a hilly wasteland a scientist sent back by radio one word "Uranium"．

　　None of the scientists had X-ray eyes：they had no magic powers for looking down below the earth's surface．They were merely putting to use one of the newest methods of locating minerals in the ground－using trees and plants as signs that certain minerals may lie under the ground on which the trees and plants are growing．

　　This newest method of searching for minerals is based on the fact that minerals deep in the earth may affect the kind of bushes and trees that grow on the surface．

　　At Watson Bar Creek, a mineral search group gathered bags of tree seeds．Boxes were filled with small branches from the trees．Roots were dug and put into boxes．Each bag and box was carefully marked．In a scientific laboratory the parts of the forest trees were burned to ashes and tested．Each small part was examined to learn whether there were minerals in it．

　　Study of the roots, branches and seeds showed no silver．But there were small amounts of gold in the roots and a little less gold in the branches and seeds．The seeds growing nearest to the tree trunk had more gold than those growing on the ends of the branches．

　　If the trees indicated that there was no gold in the ground, the scientists wouldn't spare money to pay for digging into the ground．

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