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Write a passage with the words and phrases given:
advantages, widen our knowledge, make friends, knowledge of geography, beautiful scenery, different lifestyle, customs and cultures, various food, practise a foreign lan guage, worth spending the time.
The Advantages of Travel
Whenever a college student is asked, “What are you going to do this summer vacation?” The most probable answer might be “I am going to have a travel. ” It sounds that college students are fond of travelling. Why? Because travel has numerous advantages.
First of all, travel can widen our knowledge of geography, the knowledge of customs, cultures and lifestyles of different places and countries. Secondly, we can make friends and practise a foreign language through travelling. Finally, travel is the best way of pastime. We can enjoy eating various food and seeing beautiful sceneries.
In a word, we can benefit from travel in more than one way. It is worth spending the time.

When we speak of the ancient Romans, we can’t help thrilling at the slaughter in their arenas which theytook as entertainment. Well, any way, this happened 2,000 years ago.But are modern people less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators hope to see some violence. ?
It is really incredible that in this age we should still allow hunting and bull-fighting, that we should beprepared to sit back and watch two men fight each other in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmovedby the sight Of one or a number of racing cars Crashing and bursting into flames. People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A lot of people are disappointed if a fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen just because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports since people enjoy them so much? The answer is simple, they are uncivilized.  For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually gress has been made m science and technology,social welfare systems are in operation in many parts, of the world, and big efforts have been made to increase public wealth.These changes have come about because human beings have taken positive steps to change and improve human civilization. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we Would be moving one step further to improving mankind.

With the development of the Internet and the popularization of computers, shopping on the Internet has become a commonplace in our life. Here consumers can buy almost everything they need.
Shopping on the Internet has a lot of advantages, of which the most important is perhaps its convenience. People don＇t have to waste a lot of their energy and precious time to go from one shop to another to choose the commodities they like. This is especially desirable to the old, the sick and the busy people who cannot go to the shops in person. The goods come in all shapes, sizes and colors on the Internet. All they need to do is to sit in front of their computers and click the mouses. The commodities they order will be delivered to them promptly.
However, shopping on the Internet also has its disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that the consumers can＇t see the goods or try them on personally. Sometimes, the real goods may not be the same as what they have seen on the computer. The second disadvantage is that some shops on the Internet are not registered. They will never deliver anything to you after they get the money from you. Once cheated, you will find that you have nowhere to go to complain.

BEIJING, Oct.19 - China needs to advance the development of telecommunications industry by introducing in more competition to weaken the monopoly of heavyweight operators, deputy minister Lou Qinjian of the Information Industry said here Thursday at a news briefing on the sidelines of a national congress of the Communist Party of China.

“Restructuring plans are coming in, providing different solutions. The linchpin is to secure a rapid growth of the sector and bring more benefits to people,” he said.

Currently China has four major players in the telecommunications sector, with China Mobile and China Unicom licensed to engage in mobile services and China Telecommunications and China Netcom, to fixed-line services. As the number of cellphone users continues to outpace landline subscribers, there is a sharp difference among their operational results.

Last year, for instance, China Mobile contributed 70 to 80 percent of the industry’s aggregate profits while landline operators were simply put to defensive. According to their half- year reports, China Mobile recorded a net profit of 37.9 billion yuan (4.99 billion U.S. dollars); while that of China Unicom, 5.65 billion yuan; China Telecommunications, 13.48 billion yuan; and China Netcom, 6.713 billion yuan.

From January to August, the average monthly rise in cellphone users stood at 6.82 million, more than ten times of the rise for landline subscribers. More than 378.5 billion short messages have been sent out by the Chinese, up 38.3 percent from the same period of last.

Lou didn’t specify the objective of the restructuring. But a previous report by Caijing, a financial publication in Beijing, said that the restructuring would be mainly targeted at balancing the development of major operators only. For private and foreign capital, entering China’s domestic telecommunications operational market is still “a mission impossible”.

Lou also disclosed that there was no timetable for the issuance of 3G licenses as relevant departments were still mulling over the management and operational mode of 3G services.

He said that it was undecided what kind of 3G technologies would be used during the Beijing Olympics. “Our major concern is whether the technology could satisfy the need in bandwidth and transmission speed,” he said.

For third-generation wireless services, China has three choices, all based on the code division multiple access (CDMA) technology — the US-made CDMA 2000, the European WCDMA and China’ s own TD-SCDMA.

It is impossible to keep in good health unless we have sufficient recreation. The mind, too, needs rest to keep alert and vigorous. There is a lot of truth in the old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
There are many games which we can play after our work is done. But it’s always advisable for people to remember that persons who sit much should take up sports or a kind of recreation that requires muscular exercise. Those who spend most of their time in the open air and have constant muscular labor, however, should adopt reading or some other quiet forms of recreation that will give them some physical rest.
Cycling is said to be a capital means of recreation. But some people foolishly exhaust themselves by excessive exertion on the bike. The same may be said in regard to football. Tennis is a great form of recreation. Fishing requires much patience, but there is the risk of catching cold by prolonged exposure. A good brisk walk is one of the finest forms of exercise. For persons engaged in outdoor labor, chess playing is an excellent change.

Market and Feasibility Analysis，Real Estate Finance，Negotiation and Dispute Resolution，The Development Process， Accounting Principles and Practices，Real Estate Valuation and Analysis，Legal Principles and Practices，Real Estate Economics，Corporate Finance，Real Estate Capital Markets。

Cornell University，Real Estate Department http://www.re.cornell.edu/cust.htm
George Washington University，MBA with concentration in real estate and urban development，http://mba.gwu.edu/progam/fields/re&ud.htm
University of California-Berkeley (Haas), http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/realestate/
New York University, the Real Estate Institute, http://www.scps.nyu.edu/departments/department.jsp?deptId=24
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Urban and Regional Planning Program, http://www.rackham.umich.edu/Programs/social.sci/urban.html
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Program in Building Construction, http://www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu/programs/bc/bc.php
Clemson University, Program in Real Estate Development, http://www.clemson.edu/caah/pla/mred/index.htm
American University, Program in Real Estate, http://www.kogod.american.edu/ArtPage.cfm?ItemID=577
Cleveland State University, Program in Urban Planning, Design, and Development, http://urban.csuohio.edu/academics/mupdd.shtml
Columbia University, MBA Program
Georgia State University, Department of Real Estate, http://robinson.gsu.edu/realestate/rerc/index.html
The Johns Hopkins University, Division of Business and Management, http://carey.jhu.edu/realestate/
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Real Estate, http://web.mit.edu/cre/
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus, Department of Real Estate, http://www.smeal.psu.edu/ire/
Texas A&M University College Station, Program in Land Economics and Real Estate, http://mays.tamu.edu/grad/masters/realestate/
University of Cincinnati, Program in Real Estate, http://www.business.uc.edu/realestate
University of Denver, School of Real Estate and Construction Management, http://www.daniels.du.edu/degrees/Graduate/degreetext.cfm?id=78
University of Florida, Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/
The University of Memphis, Program in Business Administration
University of North, Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and Law
University of Pennsylvania, Real Estate Department, http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/acad_depts/realdept.cfm
University of St. Thomas, Program in Real Estate Appraisal
University of Southern California, Master of Real Estate Development, http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/programs/masters/mred/
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, http://www.bus.wisc.edu/realestate/

Stefano DellaVigna
UC Berkeley and NBER

­ Ethan Kaplan
IIES, Stockholm University

Does media bias affect voting? We analyze the entry of Fox News in cable markets and its impact on voting. Between October 1996 and November 2000, the conservative Fox News Channel was introduced in the cable programming of 20 percent of U. S. towns. Fox News availability in 2000 appears to be largely idiosyncratic, conditional on a set of controls. Using a data set of voting data for 9,256 towns, we investigate if Republicans gained vote share in towns where Fox News entered the cable market by the year 2000. We find a significant effect of the introduction of Fox News on the vote share in Presidential elections between 1996 and 2000. Republicans gained 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points in the towns that broadcast Fox News. Fox News also affected voter turnout and the Republican vote share in the Senate. Our estimates imply that Fox News convinced 3 to 28 percent of its viewers to vote Republican, depending on the audience measure. The Fox News effect could be a temporary learning effect for rational voters, or a permanent effect for nonrational voters subject to persuasion.

P.S. I do remember the conclusion in <Freakonomics> written by Steven D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner that was on the basis of lots of election campaign data was “what really matters for a political candidate in not how much you spend; what matters is who you are”. In another word, money cannot buy election, which is in sharp contrast to the truism. As we know, every channel in America has his own stand, conservative or liberal, Demecratic or Republican. The money for campaign does not affact Fox News or other news channels? I really have no idea about what the campaign money goes for.

Looks like I’m a day too late in sharing this site with you all given the number of track backs I see, have no idea how I missed it on BoingBoing. You may have seen the technical Illustrator pieces in the past such as Hulsey’s work but I never ever fathomed creating photo-realistic images of people! Take a look for yourself and check out the mind blowing work done by the Illustrator artists. From afar you can’t tell the difference, it’s only when you look up close and see the various shapes they used to create the different body parts, only then are you able to discern the difference (hard borders between the different shapes). For example, check out the Jolie piece done by Forrest. The eyes, nose and lips are near perfect, the only way you can tell it’s a drawing is the jawline and the ear… really amazing stuff.

written by Darren Chan

Highlighting the risks of a “slowdown” in the property market, the chancellor has called on mortgage providers to be more responsible in their lending.

Interviewed in Thursday’s Daily Mail, Alistair Darling said some banks and building societies have been fuelling an “unsustainable” boom in house prices.

The comments came as the International Monetary Fund predicted that the American sub-prime mortgage market crash would spread to Europe

It said in a new report that “there would clearly be a sizeable impact on the housing markets in the event of a widespread credit crunch”.

But Darling insisted that Britain is well-placed to weather the storm.

“I am confident we can get through this, but we are going to go through a turbulent period,” he said.

“That is why I downgraded my expectations for growth quite sharply because of what is happening in the United States and in Europe as a whole.”

“While there is likely to be a correction in the housing market “what you want to avoid is a very rapid unplanned adjustment,” Darling added.

“Our economy is quite heavily influenced by housing because we have such a high level of home ownership.

“The housing market will slow down but that is a relative thing because our housing market has been growing so strongly.

“Most people would agree that unsustainable house price inflation is not good for individuals and is not good for the economy.”
Lending

Following last month’s Northern Rock crisis, in which the Bank of England had to bail out the lender with emergency funding because of its over-exposure to the American market, the chancellor said the Financial Services Authority would be asking “more searching questions” of City institutions.

“The FSA needs to look at how it regulates banks and whether the alarm bells should have rung much earlier,” Darling said.

He added that it should also be asking banks “what’s your fallback position?” if repayments are not made.

“I think that lenders need to be clear that firstly somebody can afford to meet the repayments whatever they are – that they haven’t overstretched themselves,” he said.

“We have got to make sure we have a far better surveillance system to spot these problems and take action to head them off.”

And he said banks should not rely solely on the advice of credit ratings agencies, who should “simply be giving advice to companies”, when making lending decisions

“People shouldn’t think that if they [the ratings agencies] say it’s okay, that it is okay.”
CGT

Meanwhile Darling appeared to be digging his heals in over the changes to capital gains tax announced in his pre-Budget report last week.

Reports had suggested that the business community is increasingly hopeful that he will rethink his plans to introduce a flat rate of of 18 per cent, which critics have said will damage small businesses.

Former Labour deputy chief whip George Mudie, a close ally of the prime minister, had called for a delay on the proposal to end the taper relief that led to the tax being levied at just 10 per cent in some cases.

And employers’ groups were thought to have been encouraged by two meetings on Wednesday with business secretary John Hutton, who apparently agreed to relay their concerns to the chancellor.

But Darling indicated that he would be sticking by the changes, due to come into force next April.

“It is not a tax on entrepreneurship,” he claimed. “It was striking that nearly 75 per cent of those who pay CGT need an accountant to tell them how to calculate their liability.

“That tells you it is quite complex, so going for a simplified rate is hugely beneficial. If you look at the rate internationally, it is competitive.”

“The goal was to narrow the differential between taxes on income and capital,” he added. “I wanted to keep it as low as possible.”

Speaking at Treasury questions in the Commons on Thursday, shadow chancellor George Osborne called for a “U-turn”.

“Millions of small businesses are going to lose out, millions of employees who have shares in their own company could be at risk and the whole entrepreneurial culture… is under threat,” he said.

However Darling insisted that: “A single rate of capital gains tax is the right thing to do. Therefore I intend to proceed with the changes that we are making.”

Many of us rely on coffee to get us going in the mornings, wake us up in the afternoons, and prepare us for that special business meeting. Go ahead, have a cup of coffee. It’s much healthier than you may be thinking right now.

Coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world. No matter where you go, coffee is usually available. Yet, until recently there’s been very little research on the effects of coffee on our health. The researcher’s are waking up however. There have recently been studies completed on a variety of health benefits to drinking that simply delicious cup of coffee.

In a study in Italy, it was proven that that brewed coffee contains many antioxidants and consumption of antioxidant-rich brewed coffee may inhibit diseases caused by oxidative damages. When compared to other caffeine containing beverages like tea and cocoa, coffee proved to be the best in helping to prevent disease.

Caffeine in Coffee - Good or Bad?

The caffeine in coffee has often been a source of concern for many. Most people have problems sleeping when they drink coffee right before bedtime. Others will drink coffee to give them that boost of energy caffeine provides. Some even feel their heart rate increase if they drink too much coffee.

Did you know there are also benefits to the caffeine found in coffee? Coffee intake ( due to the caffeine) was associated with a significantly lower risk for Alzheimer’s Disease, independently of other possible confounding variables. These results, with future prospective studies, may have a major impact on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

Another benefit of drinking coffee has been studied in China. Their research clinically proved the caffeine in coffee helps to prevent Parkinson’s disease. Many of us have been led to believe that caffeine is bad for us. True enough, large quantities may hurt us, but the evidence is strong for the benefits it provides.

Coffee - Healthy Tonic for the Liver?

Studies completed in Japan indicated that people who drink more than a cup of coffee a day are less likely to develop liver cancer than those who do not, Japanese researchers say. Coffee also helped lower the risk of cirrhosis of the liver. Chlorogenic acid present in coffee beans has been proven in studies to also reduce the risk of liver cancer.

Harvard Medical School completed a study in 2004 that strongly suggest coffee has preventative qualities for Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. The authors found an inverse association between coffee intake and type 2 diabetes after adjustment for age, body mass index, and other risk factors. Total caffeine intake from coffee and other sources was associated with a statistically significantly lower risk for diabetes in both men and women. These data suggest that long-term coffee consumption is associated with a statistically significantly lower risk for type 2 diabetes.

Coffee and Physical Fitness

The amounts of water, carbohydrate and salt that athletes are advised to consume during exercise are based upon their effectiveness in preventing both fatigue as well as illness due to hyperthermia, dehydration or hyper hydration. The old issues concerning coffee and caffeine were that it acts as a diuretic, thus causing more fluid loss during activity. Studies have caused researchers to re think this point. These studies suggest that consuming caffeine does not have this effect and can even have beneficial effects on keeping the body fit.

Caffeine does not improve maximal oxygen capacity directly, but could permit the athlete to train at a greater power output and/or to train longer. It has also been shown to increase speed and/or power output in simulated race conditions. These effects have been found in activities that last as little as 60 seconds or as long as 2 hours. There is less information about the effects of caffeine on strength; however, recent work suggests no effect on maximal ability, but enhanced endurance or resistance to fatigue. There is no evidence that caffeine ingestion before exercise leads to dehydration, ion imbalance, or any other adverse effects.

What about the negative effects of coffee?

Coffee is enjoyed as a drink by millions of people worldwide. It contains caffeine, which is a mild stimulant, and in many people coffee enhances alertness, concentration and performance. Although it contains a wide variety of substances, it is generally accepted that caffeine is responsible for many of coffee’s physiological effects. Because caffeine influences the central nervous system in a number of ways and because a small number of people may be particularly sensitive to these effects, some people have attributed coffee to all sorts of health problems.

Caffeine is not recognized as a drug of abuse and there is no evidence for caffeine dependence. Some particularly sensitive people may suffer mild symptoms of withdrawal after sudden abstention from coffee drinking. A 150ml cup of instant coffee contains about 60mg caffeine, filtered coffee slightly more; for those who like coffee but are sensitive to caffeine, the decaffeinated beverage contains only 3mg per cup.

Coffee drinking can help asthma sufferers by improving ventilator function.

There is no evidence that coffee drinking is a risk for the development of cancer. For several types of cancer there is disagreement between studies but again, other aspects of lifestyle may be implicated. There is even a strong suggestion that coffee may have a protective effect against colon cancer. A possible explanation may lie in the many antioxidant substances present in coffee and which are currently subjects of active research.

In some sensitive individuals, ingestion of coffee after a period of abstinence may cause a temporary rise in blood pressure but there is no hypertensive effect in the long term. Coffee made by the Scandinavian method of boiling or by the cafetiere method may cause mild elevation of plasma cholesterol concentration in some people, but instant, filter coffee, and liquid coffee extract have no such effects. Overall there is no influence of coffee drinking on heart disease risk.

There is no sound scientific evidence that modest consumption of coffee has any effects on outcomes of pregnancy or on the wellbeing of the child. Bone health is not affected by coffee drinking. Adverse effects in some published studies have been attributed to aspects of lifestyle that are often shared by coffee drinkers, such as smoking and inactivity. Coffee drinking can help asthma sufferers by improving ventilator function.

There is no reason for people who are prone to ulcers to avoid coffee.

Research continues and must be subjected to critical scrutiny and re-evaluation. At the present time, there is no reason to forego the pleasurable experience of moderate coffee drinking for health reasons. Go ahead? Have a cup of delicious coffee!

Hilda Maria is a stay at home mother of five, who enjoys writing about coffee and giving custom coffee mugs and coffee cups as gifts!