Oyster

What is an Oyster card?

    Oyster is the easiest way to pay for journeys on the bus, Tube, tram, DocklandsLight Railway (DLR), London Overground and National Rail journeys in London Youcan store your travel cards, Bus & Tram Pass, season tickets and credit topay for journeys as you go.

Where to get an Oyster card?

There are a number of ways for you to get an Oyster card:

• At over 3,900 Oyster Ticket stops

• At Tube and London Overground station ticket offices

• At some National Rail stations

• At London Travel information Centres

• Online at tfl. gov. uk/oyster

How to use an Oyster card?

    To pay the correct fare on the Tube , DLR, London Overground andNational Rail services, you must always touch in on the yellow Oyster cardreader at the start of your journey, and touch out at the end. If you don't, amaximum cash Oyster fare will be charged. When using the bus or tram, you mustonly touch in at the start, but not at the end of your journey.

   What happens if I don't visit London very often?

    Don't worry. Any pay as you go credit on your card will notexpire (过期), so you cankeep it for your next visit or lend it to a friend.

Fares

Traveling by Tube from Central London (Zone l)to Heathrow (Zone6)

Adult Oyster single fare

£ 4. 20 Monday to Friday 06:30 - 09:30 and 16:00 - 19:00

£ 2. 70 at all other times including public holidays

Adult single cash fare £ 5.00

For further information，visit tfl.gov.uk /fares.

    The U.S. Postal Service(USPS) is losing billions of dollars a year. The government company that delivers "small mail" is losing out to email and othertypes of electronic communication. First-classmail amount fell from a high point of 104 million pieces in 2000 to just 64million pieces by 2014.

    Congress permits the 600,000-empIoyee USPS to hold a monopoly (垄断) overfirst-class and standard mail. The company pays no federal, state or local taxes; pays no vehicle fees; and is free from many regulations on other businesses. Despite these advantages, the USPS has lost $52 billion since 2007, and will continue losing money without major reforms.

    The problem is that Congress is preventing the USPS from reducing costs as its sales decline, and is blocking efforts to end Saturday service and close unneeded post office locations. USPS also hasa costly union-dominated work force that slows the introduction of new ideas ormethods down. USPS workers earn significantly higher payment than comparable private-sector workers. The answer isto privatize the USPS and open postal markets to competition. With the riseof the Internet, the argument that mail is a natural monopoly that needs government protection is weaker than ever.

    Other countries facing declining letter amounts have madereforms. Germany and the Netherlands privatized their national postal companies over a decade ago, and other European countries have followed suit. Britain floated shares of the Royal Mail on its stock exchange in 2013. Some countries, such us Sweden and New Zealand, have not privatized their national postal companies, but they have opened them up to competition.

    These reforms have driven efficiency improvements in all of these countries. Additional number of workers have been reduced, productivity has risen and consumers have benefited. Also, note that cost-cutting measures—such as closing tone post offices—are good for both the economy and the environment.

    Privatization and competition also encourage new changes. When the USPS monopoly over "extremely urgent" mail was stopped in 1979, we saw an explosion in efficient overnight private delivery by firms such as FedEx.

    The government needs to wake up to changing technology, study postal reforms abroad and let businessmen reinvent our out-of-date postal system.

Walk For Charity

Dear Friend,

    Please join us for our annual Walk For Charity.Starting in Weldown,you and your friends can choose a delightful 10,20 or 30 kilometers' route.

    The money raised will provide support to help people all over the world.Start collecting your sponsors now and then simply come along on the day.Please read the instructions below carefully,especially if you require transport to and from Weldown.

    See you on Sunday 15 April.

    V Jessop: Walk coordinator

    PS.Well done to last year's walkers for helping to raise a grand total of ￡21,000.The money has already been used to build a children's playground.

    START TIME:

    30 km: 8-10 am      20 km: 8-10:30 am      10 km: 8-11:30 am

    The organizers reserve the right to refuse late-comers.

    CLOTHING should be suitable for the weather.If rain is forecast,bring some protection and be prepared for all possibilities.It is better to wear shoes that have been worn in,rather than ones that are new.

    ROUTE MAPS will be available from the registration point.The route will be sign-posted and arranged.Where the route runs along the road,walkers should keep to one side in single file,facing oncoming traffic at all times.If you need help along the route,please inform one of the staff.

    Free car parking is available in car parks and on streets in Weldown.

    BUSES:

    For the 10 and 20 kilometers' routes,a bus will be waiting at Fenton to take walkers back to Weldown.The bus will leave every half hour starting at midday.The service is free and there is no need to book.

    A drug that is used to treat serious bleeding could save thousands of lives of mothers giving birth. A world test of the drug found it reduced (降低) the risk of bleeding deaths during childbirth by nearly one third. The study included 20,000 women in 21 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. The test was carried out by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The drug is called tranexamic acid (凝血酸). It is low-cost and researchers said it does not cause serious side effects (副作用) for mothers or babies.

    The drug is used to treat mothers for serious bleeding during childbirth. Postpartum hemorrhage (产后出血) is the main cause of mothers' death around the world, according to the World Health Organization.

    Haleema Shakur is the project director for the test. She said though medical condition is improved in many countries, serious bleeding after childbirth remains a big problem in some parts of the world. “It's one of the biggest killers of mothers. In Africa and Asia, about 10% of women will end up with serious bleeding.” The drug works after a mother gives birth.

    Shakur said the best results were reported when the drug was given to women as soon as possible after childbirth. “The earlier you give it — within the first three hours after giving birth — the better the result is.”

    The next step will be to provide training for doctors and nurses on how to use it and then to find where the drug is needed. During the test, women were given the drug in a hospital. But researchers are looking for easier ways to use the drug so it can be more widely used in small clinics and the countryside.

    Tess was eight years old. Her little brother Andrew was very sick and their parents were completely out of money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother, "Only a miracle can save him now."

    Tess took her money and made her way six blocks to Rexall's Drug Store.

    "And what do you want?" the chemist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen for ages."

    "Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really sick. He has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

    "We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the chemist said, softening a little.

    "Listen, I can help you." The chemist's brother was a well-dressed man. He asked Tess, "What kind of miracle does your brother need?"

    "I don't know," Tess replied. "Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

    "How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago. "One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more, if I need to."

    "Well, what a coincidence (巧合)," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents － the exact price of a miracle for your little brother. Take me to where you live. Let's see if 1 have the kind of miracle you need."

    That man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon in neurosurgery (神经外科). The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well．

    Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost… one dollar and eleven cents… plus the faith of a little child.

    If American waterways had ever been voted on the yearbook, the Buffalo River could easily have been named Ugliest. It could be hard to find hope there. It took decades for public perception of the river to shift. But activist citizens, who collaborated with industry, government, and environment groups never gave up on their polluted river—the Buffalo River gradually went from being considered a lost cause to a place worth fighting for. And by now the cleaned—up water is one of Buffalo's biggest attractions.

    By the 1960s, the river was seen as one of the worst sources of pollution pouring into the Great Lakes. The Buffalo River had caught fire many times. The surface had an oily layer, and any fish caught there were not eatable.

    The waterway's fate started shifting in the mid-1960s. Stanley Spisiak was a local Polish—American jeweler by day, but by evening he was the kind of guy who'd chase down dumpers(垃圾车)he spotted on the Buffalo River. By 1966 he found himself winning the National Wildlife Federation's “Water Conservationist of the Year” award. And before long he got a nickname:“Mr. Buffalo River.” But there was only so much he could do—the river was still declared biologically dead in 1969.

    Jill Spisiak Jedlicka is his great-grandniece. She picks up where he left off by directing the river's protector organization, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. Professor Schneekloth and seven friends founded the organization as an all-volunteer nonprofit in 1989, after organizing the first river cleanup that year. Today the group employs 27 full-time workers and has helped oversee the Buffalo River's $100 million restoration.

    So far, the Buffalo River's water quality has restored, but it is still an ongoing issue, as sewage(污水)can overflow into the river after storms. Habitat restoration continues as well; fish and plantings are still being sampled to measure how well it's gone.