Travelers have traditionally fought this 3 with sleeping pills or alcohol. There are actually healthier ways that can work just as 4.
For example, the moment you get on the airplane, start 5 your biological block to the destination's time. If it's daytime in your destination, try to stay 6 . Walking around the cabin（客舱） can be of help. When it's nighttime, try to sleep. In that case, eat before the flight, 7 an empty stomach will prevent you from sleeping. These tips will help you start a new 8of sleep and wakefulness.
If you studied pictures that ancient people left on rock walls and you tried to determine their meaning, you would not detect interest in romance among the artists. 1, you would see plenty of animals with people running after them. Life for ancient people's earned to center on hunting and gathering wild foods for meals.
In modern times, when food is available in grocery stores, finding love is more 2 in people's lives. The 3is all around us. It is easy to prepare a list of modern stories having to do with love. An endless number of books and movies qualify as love stories in popular culture.
Researchers are studying whether love, a highly valued emotional state, can be 4. They ask, what is love? Toothpaste companies want us to think attraction is all about clean teeth, but clean teeth go only so far. Scientists wonder how much the brain gets involved. You have probably heard that opposites attract but that 5attract, too. One thing is certain: The truth about love is not yet set in stone.
First Impression
To help determine the 6 of attraction, researchers paired 164 college classmates and had them talk for 3, 6 or 10 minutes so they could get a sense of each other's individuality. Then students were asked to7what kind of relationship they were likely to build with their partners. After nine weeks, they reported what happened.
As it turned out, their 8judgments often held true. Students seemed to9at an early stage who would best fit into their lives.
The 10 Knows
Scientists have also turned to nonhumans to increase understanding of attraction. Many animals give off pheromones — natural chemicals that can be detected by, and then can produce a response in, other animals of the same species. Pheromones can signal that an animal is either ready to fight or is feeling 11 to partnerships. In contrast, humans do not seem to be as 12 as other animals at detecting such chemicals. Smell, however, does seem to play a part in human attraction. Although we may not be aware of chemicals like pheromones consciously, we give and receive loads of information through smell in every interaction with other people.
Face Value
Being fond of someone seems to have a number of factors, including seeing something we find attractive. Researchers had people judge faces for 13. The participants had 0.013 seconds to view each face, yet somehow they generally considered the images the same as people who had more time to study the same faces. The way we14attractiveness seem to be somewhat automatic.
When shown an attractive face and then words with good or bad associations, people responded to 15words faster after viewing an attractive face. Seeing something attractive seems to cause happy thinking.
Today's students learn more in school than just reading，writing and arithmetic. They also learn how to 1.More and more students are using 2 means to get good grades in order to get into top 3Increasingly，tomorrow's leaders are today's cheaters.
Over the last decade，the number of students cheating academically has 4 dramatically. Duke University conducted a(n)5 of 50,000 universities and 18,000 high school students in America. More than 70 percent of the students 6to having cheated.However,10 years ago，only 56 percent of the students cheated.
This 7 extends far beyond the US. In Asia，where students face great 8 to excel (胜过)，the cheating problem is especially 9In many Asian countries，a student's performance is measured 10 by exam scores. And admission to a top school 11 passing standardized tests. This test driven culture makes cheating an easy way for students to get 12 in a super competitive academic system.
Last year,24 students in Taiwan 13 chances and ended up in prison 14 they were caught cheating on the University Entrance Exam. The students received answers to test questions 15 cell phones and other electronic devices (设备). But the pressure to perform well on tests isn't the only thing turning16into cheaters. For one，new technology makes cheating 17 than ever. Students now have more choices than just “cheat sheets”18 in pencil boxes.
Today's students use text messaging to send each other test19Some post questions from standardized tests on Internet bulletin boards (公告牌). Students in Asia，20 ， have posted questions from the TOEFL and the GRE.
How to prepare for exams?
Here are some tips you can read with your child.
The first step in preparing for examinations is to set a fixed time each day to study and a schedule to say when to start the revision and for which subject. The plan should include how many chapters to revise and how many worksheets (活页练习题) to work on. Parents who do not know the examination schedule can search “exam timetable” to see the official examination schedule.
The second thing is to decide on the place to study. Some need total silence in a library before they can concentrate while others like to have some background music like in the cafeteria, So there is no need to tell your child to change the study place if he is producing the desired results.
For lessons, pupils must participate in lessons and discussions actively. For exercise, work on the simple ones in the textbook. For theory, pupils can use the mind map method to summarize the facts.
At last, be smart. Focus on chapters that are the core of the subject or difficult chapters.
A. Next the most effective way to revise is to use an active approach.
B. Making good preparations counts.
C. The mind map can help you a lot in your revision work.
D. Your child has to be self-disciplined (自律的) to follow the plan.
E. It is not necessary to read from the first to the last page.
F. The best time to start revision is one or two months before the examination.
G. Both are alright as long as your child is comfortable with it.
As science developed rapidly in the direction of technology, it supplies man a better and more comfortable 1. Men will be working shorter and shorter hours,2 and housewives will also be able to have more free time. Can you 3 doing housework without a housewife? Scientists believe this will 4 into realities in not very long time, and perhaps during your lifetime house-robots will take 5 of housewives.
When I 6 this kind of machine with housewives, some 90 percent of them replied 7 “How soon can I buy one?” The other 10 percent said, “I would be terrified to see it8 about my house.” But when I explained to them that it could be turned 9 or stopped, they quickly realized that it was a 10 object.
In my own 11 we have found that the washing-up machine is regarded as a good12in the room. There's no greater13than to go to bed in the evening and 14 that the washing-up is being done downstairs after we are 15.
Some families would 16 to have their robot slaves 17 all the downstairs housework after they were in 18 at night, while others would have it19 in the mornings. But this would be entirely a matter of20.
Food has always been one of the greatest wants of humankind. The search for food is the 1 human behavior. Thus, 2 food were easier to get and prepare, it would be really 3 to humankind. It would reduce a great burden (负担). The development of processed foods (加工食品) has made food easier to get and prepare. 4 every coin has two sides. Apart from its advantages, the 5 of cooking also has its disadvantages.
Though processed foods seem a great way to save 6, they offer much less nutritional (营养的) value than traditional foods. People today are so 7 that they are not able to spend enough time preparing their food. As a result, many people 8 to eat processed foods, ready-to-cook meals and various fast foods. But what will 9 if one eats such food all year round? It will damage your 10. The nutritional value of the food is not so high. Worse still, research shows that preservatives (防腐剂) used in these foods are 11 to children. That's why health experts warn people not to eat too much of such 12 food.
Besides, since people spend little time 13 food, the culture of cooking is slowly 14. Cooking is not done just to satisfy hunger; it is also a(n) 15 form of art. Across the world, there are thousands of 16 cooking styles. If young people are used to processed foods, few of them will develop great cooking 17. And when they become parents, it will be hard for their children to enjoy a(n) 18 home-cooked meal. What's more, cooking is a great time for 19 to connect. There is a lot of 20 when family members are preparing food together.
In a word, I believe though processed food has made the preparation of food much easier, it has not been a good step for humankind.
Molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn shared a Nobel Prize for her research on telomeres (端粒)—structures at the tips of chromosomes (染色体)that play a key role in cellular aging. 1 she was frustrated that the important health implications of her work weren't reaching beyond academia.
So along with psychologist Elissa Epel, she has published her findings in a new book 2 a general audience -- laying out a scientific case that may give readers3 to keep their new year's resolutions to not smoke, eat well, sleep enough, exercise regularly, and 4stress.
The main message of The Telomere Effect, being published Tuesday, is that you have more control over your own aging than you may imagine. You can actually 5 your telomeres—and perhaps your life—by following sound health advice, the authors argue, based on a review of thousands of studies.
"Telomeres listen to you, they listen to your 6, they listen to your state of mind," said Blackburn, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolia, Calif.
Telomeres sit at the end of the strands of DNA, like the 7 caps on shoelaces. Stress from a rough lifestyle will shorten those caps, making it more likely that cells will 8 dividing and essentially die.
Too many of these cells accelerate9, the pair say. This doesn't cause any particular disease, but research suggests that it speeds up the time when whatever your genes have in store will occur -- so if you're 10 to heart disease, you're more likely to get it younger if your telomeres are shorter, said Epel, director of the University of California, San Francisco's Aging, Metabolism and Emotions Center.
"We can provide a new level of specificity and tell people more precisely with clues 11from telomere science, about what exactly 12 is related to long telomeres, what exact foods are related to long telomeres, what aspects of sleep are more related to long telomeres," Epel added.
Other researchers in the field praised Blackburn and Epel's efforts to make telomere research relevant to the general public, 13 several warned that it risked 14 the science.
"I think it's a very difficult thing to prove that lifestyle can affect telomere length and therefore lifespan," said Harvard geneticist and anti-aging researcher David Sinclair. "To get cause-effect in humans is 15, so it's based on associations."
Our school lunch menu needs a makeover(改进). Many students think school lunch tastes bad, and they either don't1 it, or they throw it away. With the growing 2 of overweight kids, the school needs to make a3lunch menu with healthier, tastier options. One option I think the school should 4 is a daily pizza option.
Almost every kid 5 pizza. If you ask kids, they'll tell you that pizza tastes great. 6 the school had a pizza option, students would eat lunch more, so less food would be 7. The school lunch program could make a lot more 8 .
Even though pizza 9 good, it can also be a very healthy food. In addition to pizza made with whole-wheat dough(全麦面团)，low-fat cheese pizza or even pizza without cheese could be offered. Today，with the school 10 vegetables like broccoli(西兰花) or spinach(菠菜), most food goes in the garbage. 11, kids will eat almost any kind of vegetables —and even some fruits —if they're on pizza.
Pizza can also be very fast and 12 to make, which would be good for our cafeteria (餐厅)staff. The staff could make the dough 13 time. They could also buy frozen dough. Then, all the staff 14 to do is add toppings, cheese, and bake (烤) it. You also eat pizza with yours hands, which 15 the staff would have fewer knives and forks to wash.
Some people will probably 16 the idea of a pizza option because pizza is often considered "junk food" 17 a regular, healthy meal. Most take-out pizza is made with unhealthy ingredients(原料). But pizza can also be made with 18 ingredients. The school should add a daily pizza option to the new lunch menu. Not only would 19 pizza be great for the students, but it would also 20 the school lunch program.
High school students who take music courses score significantly better on math, science and English exams than their non-musical peers, according to a new study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology.
School administrators needing to cut budgets often look first to music courses, because the general belief is that students who devote time to music rather than math, science and English, will 1 in those disciplines.
" Our research proved this belief 2 and found the more the students engage with music, the better they do in those subjects," said UBC (University of British Columbia) education professor and the study's principal investigator, Peter Gouzouasis." The students who learned to play a musical instrument in elementary and 3 playing in high school not only score significantly higher, but were about one academic year ahead of their non-music peers with regard to their English, mathematics and science skills, as measured by their exam grades, 4 their socioeconomic background, race, previous learning in mathematics and English, and gender."
Gouzouasis and his team 5 data from all students in public schools in British Columbia who finished Grade 12 between 2012 and 2015. The data 6 , made up of more than 112,000 students, included those who completed at least one standardized exam for math, science and English. Students who studied at least one instrumental music course in the regular curriculum counted as students 7 music.
The researchers found the 8 relationships between music education and academic achievement were more pronounced for those who took instrumental music rather than vocal (发声的) music. The findings suggest skills learned in instrumental music 9 very broadly to the students' learning in school.
" Learning to play a musical instrument and playing in a band is very 10 ," said the study's co-investigator Martin Guhn, an assistant professor in UBC's school of population and public health. " A student has to learn to read musical notes, develop eye-hand-mind coordination (协调), develop keen listening skills, develop 11 skills for playing in a band and develop discipline to practice. All those learning experiences, and more, play a role in 12 the learner's cognitive capacities (认知能力), executive functions, and motivation to learn in school."
The researchers hope that their findings will be brought to the 13of students, parents, teachers and administrative decision-makers in education, as many school districts over the years have emphasized mathematics and literacy 14 other areas of learning, particularly music." However, the amusing aspect is that 15 education can be the very thing that improves all-around academic achievement," said Gouzouasis.
An artificial intelligence can accurately translate thoughts into sentences, at least for a limited vocabulary of 250 words. The system may bring us a step closer to1speech to people who have lost the ability.
Joseph Makin at the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues used deep learning algorithms (算法) to study the brain2of four women as they spoke. The women, who all suffer from a certain kind of brain disorder, already had electrodes attached to their brains to monitor disease attacks.
Each woman was asked to read aloud from a set of sentences as the team 3brain activity. The largest group of sentences4250 unique words. The team fed this brain activity to a network algorithm related to nerves, training it to5regularly occurring patterns that could be linked to repeated aspects of speech. These patterns were then fed to a second network, which tried to turn them into words to6a sentence.
Each woman repeated the sentences at least twice, and the final repetition didn't form part of the training data,7the researchers to test the system. Each time a person speaks the same sentence, the brain activity associated will be similar but not exactly the sane." Memorizing the brain activity of these sentences wouldn't help,8the network instead has to learn what's similar about them so that it can generalize to this final example," says Makin. Across the four women, the AI's best performance was an average translation error rate of 3 per cent.
Makin says that using a small number of sentences made it9for the AI to learn which words tend to follow others. For example, the AI was able to10that the word "Bear" was always likely to follow the word "Teddy" in a certain set of sentences, from brain activity alone.
The team tried transforming the brain signal data into11words at a time, rather than whole sentences, but this12the error rate to 38 per cent even for the best performance." So the network clearly is learning facts about which words go together, and not just which brain activity13with which words," says Makin.
This will make it hard to scale up the system to a/an14vocabulary because each new word increases the number of possible sentences, reducing15. Sophie Scott at University College London says we are a long way from being able to translate brain signal data comprehensively.
Fujian puppetry(木偶戏) has a thousand-year history. It is one of the1of Chinese performing art to the world's culture and has2a set of characteristic techniques of performance and puppet making, as well as a repertoire (全部剧目) of plays and music.
No3has yet been reached on the4and development of Chinese puppetry. 5the Shang dynasty (16th-11th century B.C.), pottery figurines (陶俑) used as burial objects (随葬品) have been discovered at the Yin Ruins. Wooden figurines6during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods (770-221 B.C.). In a Western Han tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan province, an army of wooden figurines of singers, dancers and musicians have been discovered. These were a great7on those from previous dynasties 8craftsmanship, variety and modeling, which represent the9_Chinese puppets. Over time, figurines as burial objects10into puppets for entertainment during holiday11. 12, just like many other traditional forms of art, Fujian puppetry has fallen out of favour with the younger generations. The number of young people learning puppetry has 13due to socioeconomic changes 14their lifestyles and the long period of training15to master the sophisticated (复杂的) performing techniques.
In response,16communities, groups and bearers (传授者) worked out the 2008-2020 Strategy for the Training of Coming Generations of Fujian Puppetry Practitioners. The key 17are to safeguard the spread of Fujian Puppetry and provide professional 18to raise a new generation of puppetry practitioners.
In 2012, the strategy was selected by the UNESCO to be part of the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices. With the wide 19of practitioners, local people and education institutions, Fujian Puppetry can20a brighter future.
When discussing the causes of animal endangerment, it is important to understand that individual species are not the only factors involved in this difficult situation. Endangerment is a broad 1, one that involves the habitats and environments where species live and interact with one another. Although some measures are being taken to help specific cases of endangerment, the universal problem cannot be solved until humans 2 the natural environments where endangered species live. There are many reasons why a particular species may become endangered, but habitat destruction is on top.
Our planet is continually changing, causing habitats to be altered and modified. Natural changes tend to occur at a(n) 3 pace, usually causing only a slight 4 on individual species. However, when changes occur at a fast pace, there is little or no time for individual species to 5 and adjust to new situations. This can create disastrous results, and for this reason, rapid habitat loss is the primary cause of species endangerment. The strongest 6 in rapid habitat loss are human beings. Nearly every region of the earth has been affected by human activity, particularly during this past century. The loss of microbes in soils that 7 supported tropical forests, the extinction of fish and various aquatic species in polluted habitats, and changes in global climate brought about by the 8 of greenhouse gases are all results of human activity.
It can be difficult for an individual to 9 the effects that humans have had on specific species. It is also hard to identify or 10 human effects on individual species and habitats, especially during a human lifetime. But it is quite 11 that human activity has greatly contributed to species endangerment. 12, although tropical forests may look as though they are thick and healthy; they are13 highly susceptible (易受影响的) to destruction. This is because the soils in which they grow 14 nutrients. It may take centuries to re-grow a forest that was cut down by humans or destroyed by fire, and many of the world's severely threatened animals and plants live in these forests. If the current rate of forest 15 continues, huge quantities of plant and animal species will disappear.
A true reality of retirement planning is that your future is riding on the quality of your assumptions. Humble 1 can be dangerous.
For example, eight years into this bull market, expecting stocks to deliver as strong returns over the next decade is an uncertain proposition many are nonetheless 2.
Another potential 3 assumption is that you will be able to keep working past 65. Yet the recently released 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute finds that more than half of workers say they expect to still be on the clock past age 65. 4, less than 15 percent of today's retirees kept working that long.
"If you plan on working longer as a way to get by in retirement, you are going to be in trouble," says Craig Copeland, senior research associate at EBRI. "It should be a 5 to a solid savings and spending plan, not the foundation."
It's simply too 6 to assume you will indeed be able to work longer. A survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that nearly two-thirds of retirees left the workforce earlier than expected because they were laid off, reorganized out of a position, or due to general unhappiness with a job. Only 16 percent of retirees who 7 the work force earlier than they expected did so because they felt they could 8 afford to.
9, a new report from Prudential puts a dollar value on why your current employer may not be inclined (倾向于) to do back flips to keep an older you happy and engaged. The estimated one-year cost to a firm when an employee 10 retirement: $50,000.
Prudential estimates that on a company-wide level, delayed retirement can 11 overall workforce costs by 1 percent to 1.5 percent. That's not nothing. And it goes a long way in explaining why employers may be more inclined to focus on "financial wellness" strategies to get workers ready to retire 12 than programs to help workers delay retirement.
Fewer than one-third of employees surveyed by TCRS report their employer has some sort of "transition" program such as flexible work schedules, reduced hours or 13 to a different role.
"Workers' vision of retirement is changing faster than employers' business 14," said Catherine Collinson, president of TCRS. That makes it ever more crucial for pre-retirees to take the steps today that will increase the 15 they can continue to work longer, if that's part of the plan.
Body language is the quiet, secret and most powerful language of all! It speaks 1than words. According to specialists, our bodies send out more2than we realize. In fact, non-verbal(非言语) communication takes up about 50% of what we really 3. And body language is particularly4when we attempt to communicate across cultures. Indeed, what is called body language is so 5a part of us that it's actually often unnoticed. And misunderstandings occur as a result of it.6, different societies treat the7between people differently. Northern Europeans usually do not like having 8contact(接触)even with friends, and certainly not with 9. People from Latin American countries, 10, touch each other quite a lot. Therefore, it's possible that in11, it may look like a Latino is12a Norwegian all over the room. The Latino, trying to express friendship, will keep moving13. The Norwegian, very probably seeing this as pushiness, will keep14— which the Latino will in return regard as 15.
Clearly, a great deal is going on when people 16. And only a part of it is in the words themselves. And when parties are from 17cultures, there's a strong possibility of18. But whatever the situation, the best19is to obey the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be20.
Music produces profound and lasting changes in the brain. Schools should add classes, not cut them. Nearly 20 years ago a small study advanced the 1 that listening to Mozart's Sonata could boost mental functioning. It was not long 2 trademarked "Mozart effect" products appealed to anxious parents aiming to put toddlers (刚学步的孩子) on the fast track to the famous universities like Harvard and Yale. Georgia's governor even 3 giving every newborn there a classical CD or cassette.
The 4 for Mozart therapy turned out to be weak, perhaps nonexistent, although the 5 study never claimed anything more than a temporary and limited effect. In recent years, 6, scientists have examined the benefits of a continuous effort to study and practice music, as opposed to playing a Mozart CD or a computer-based "brain fitness" game 7 in a while.
Advanced monitoring 8 have enabled scientists to see what happens inside your head when you listen to your mother and actually practice the violin for an hour every afternoon. And they have found that music 9 can produce profound and lasting changes that 10 the general ability to learn. These results should 11 public officials that music classes are not a mere decoration, ready for being given up in the budget crises that constantly troubles public schools.
Studies have shown 12 instrument training from an early age can help the brain to 13 sounds better, making it 14 to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to mathematics. The musically experienced are better able to 15 a biology lesson despite the noise in the classroom or, a few years later, to finish a call with a client when a colleague in the next office starts screaming at a subordinate (下属). They can be engaged in several things at once, which is an essential skill in this era of multitasking.
We can find different kinds of animals in the world. Some animals, such as tigers and lions live in big forests and they are called 1 animals. Some others like sheep and dogs are 2 by men and they are called domestic(驯养的) animals. These animals are very different from one another, but we can 3 them into big groups:those that eat other animals and those that eat grass and leaves. Animals like the 4 belong to the first group.
Animals are 5 great use to human beings. Men 6 wild animals for their fur and meat. Domestic animals are 7 more important to men. Without them, life will be 8. People make use of animals in many 9. Cows and pigs are useful to men's 10. They are 80% of the 11 men eat every year. Skin of some animals can be 12 into expensive overcoats and shoes, which are warm and comfortable and 13 a long time. They are very welcome in 14 countries. Wool, which is now one of the most15 materials for textile(纺织品)factory, comes from a special kind of animals. From cows, we get milk. And we shouldn't 16 that some domestic animals are kept for transport. Many people still ride horses 17 the horse is uncommon today. Arabs ride on camels 18 travel in deserts for days without 19. In some places animals are still used to plough the field. 20 is clear that men just can't live without these animals.
Body language is the quiet, secret and most powerful language of all! It speaks 1than words. According to specialists, our bodies send out more2than we realize. In fact, non-verbal(非言语) communication takes up about 50% of what we really 3. And body language is particularly4when we attempt to communicate across cultures. Indeed, what is called body language is so 5a part of us that it's actually often unnoticed. And misunderstandings occur as a result of it.6, different societies treat the7between people differently. Northern Europeans usually do not like having 8contact(接触)even with friends, and certainly not with 9. People from Latin American countries, 10, touch each other quite a lot. Therefore, it's possible that in11, it may look like a Latino is12a Norwegian all over the room. The Latino, trying to express friendship, will keep moving13. The Norwegian, very probably seeing this as pushiness, will keep14— which the Latino will in return regard as 15.
Clearly, a great deal is going on when people 16. And only a part of it is in the words themselves. And when parties are from 17cultures, there's a strong possibility of18. But whatever the situation, the best19is to obey the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be20.
Mice are at their best at night. But a new analysis suggests researchers often test the nightly creatures during the day, which could alter results and create 1 across various studies, if they record time-of-day information 2. Scientists assume that waking up lab mice in the daytime may twist research.
Of the 200 papers examined in the new study, more than half cither failed to report the timing of behavioral testing or did so 3. On the contrary, they found only 20 percent reported 4 testing. The analysis was published in Neuroscience & Bio-behavioral Reviews.
West Virginia University neuro-scientist Randy Nelson, the study's lead author, says this is likely a matter of human 5. "It is easier to get students and schools to work during the day than at night," Nelson says. But that advantage 6.
"Time of day not only impacts the intensity of many 7, including mice activity, aggressiveness of their behavior, and hormone levels," but changes in those factors can only be 8 during certain parts of the daytime cycle, says University of Wyoming behavioral neuro-scientist William D. Todd. This means that "failing to report time of day of data collection and tests makes 9 of results extremely difficult," adds Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center staff scientist Natalia Machado. Neither Todd nor Machado was involved in the new study.
10, the study researchers say it is critical that scientists report the timing of their work and consider the fact that animals' behavioral and physiological responses can 11 with the hour. As a first step, Nelson says, "obviously, taking time-of-day into consideration seems like 12 fruit in terms of line assing behavioral neuroscience research reliability, reproducibility and rigor (严谨性)
University of Calgary psychologist Michael Antle, who was also not involved in the analysis, says such differences in how studies are run 13 a "reproducibility crisis" in science, with other laboratories unable to 14 study results. "Running a study at the wrong time," he says, "could lead to us completely 15 a finding altogether."
Ask people to name the world's tallest peak and anybody with sound general knowledge will name Mount Qomolangma. But quiz them on its exact 1and many will be not sure.
In 1975, Chinese surveyors 2 that Mount Qomolangma （Mount Everest） was 8848. 13 meters high. As 3 improved, satellites, photoelectricity, radars and gravity measurement technologies were 4 to get more exact figures. Of course, someone still had to carry 5 to what is the world's rooftop.
In 2005, a Chinese team scaled Qomolangma and found that it was not as high as that, as they 6 the height to be 8844. 43 meters. Scaling Qomolangma is no 7 task. The average air temperature there is -29 degrees Celsius, even four degrees8 than in Antarctica. The snow there is 4 —5 meters thick and hurricane-like 9 blow all the time. Team members were training to 10the extreme conditions.
In a nutshell, measuring the Qomolangma's height is a tall order, 11 huge amounts of money and human resources, But it is worth the12. Qomolangma is the perfect 13 for observing crustal (地壳的)movements. And changes to the peak's height could 14 whether the two plates are heading toward or away from each other.
Besides, the condition of snow and other natural materials at the top is an indicator of upcoming climate change on the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau. That's 15 measuring the Qomolangma's height is so significant. Put to good use, it can benefit mankind.
Like online shopping, patients can now book their appointment ahead of time and pay for the physical examinations and medicines by smartphone.
A medical center in Guangzhou adopted the new1 on Friday. "The easy online payment is able to reduce the clinical 2 by 60 percent," said Yang xiufeng who is in charge of information at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, the first in China to 3 the online payment with the offline medical service.
During peak hours, it might 4 at least five hours for a patient to run through the whole process from 5 to checkup to getting medicine. But with the easy access to paying fees via smartphone, the process can be 6 to around one hour, Yang said.
The new approach also will 7 the medical center's efficiency, he said, adding that on the first day, around 580 people tried the 8 method.
Alipay, a third-party online payment company under the Alibaba Group, started the 9 effort, known as Future Hospital, with medical service providers.
After the pilot program in Guangzhou, Alipay plans to 10 its cooperation to other major hospitals, 11 in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, aiming to ease the difficulties in getting medical 12 .
"More than 10 major hospitals from the big four cities expressed their 13 of cooperation, said Zhao Liansheng, manager in charge of the medical service Alipay.
Hospitals will need to 14 two conditions: a high-performance information system and15 patients who are more likely to use the system.
Zhao expects that users in the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center will 16 30 percent of all patients in three months, 17 the parents of sick children are in their 30s and 40s,a group that 18 shops online.
But Lin Wenbin, an analyst 19 IT consultancy Analysis International, said the new approach is not good 20 to reduce overcrowding in hospitals in major cities.
