The plan had been made to create a beautiful nature park with a large man-made lake on the outer parts of the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province. However, thanks to a terrible trick played by nature, what the officials have ended up with, is a natural sandy mess!

The government wanted to create a beautiful place where people of this busy industrial city could come to relax. But things did not quite turn out that way—shortly after digging up thousands of tons of sand, the underground water dried up. As a result, the dry sand has changed into a Sahara-like desert. While official reports show that the sand is piled up to 10 meters high, some people say that it is ten times more or about a 100-feet high in certain areas.

    If that is not bad enough, the sand hills that now spread across an area the size of four football fields, have influenced the environment. What's worse is that on windy days, the dry sand moves into the city center, making it almost impossible to drive and forcing people to wear face masks and protective eyewear to prevent the sand from getting into their eyes, nose, and mouth.

    In an act of trying to keep the sand and provide the illusion(幻想) of green fields, the officials have even tried covering it with a green plastic netting. However, that has not done much to improve the terrible situation!

    As you can imagine, many of Zhengzhou's residents are upset by the disaster. They think that desert wasteland that looks nothing like the green landscape they were promised, has resulted in polluting their pleasant city environment. Some think it is even stopping businessmen from coming to the city.

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    Many of the world's famous cities are known by some special names. Paris is known as the "City of Light". Hong Kong is the "Wall Street of Asia". One small city in Pennsylvania may be the sweetest place on Earth. That is town of Hershey, which is known as the "Chocolate Town". It is named after Milton Hershey, the founder of the largest chocolate factory in the world.

    Milton Hershey built his first candy factory in the early 1900s. At the time, Hershey was developing a technique for milk chocolate. Eventually he succeeded. Hershey was also the first to produce individually wrapped chocolate bars. His factory grew and produced more and more types of chocolate. To this day, Hershey's chocolate factory is the largest in the world. Hershey used his success to give back to the community. He built a town around the factory for his employees. He gave streets fun names like Chocolate Avenue. He built schools, parks and shops. This generous man gave millions of dollars to charity. He built an amusement park with rides, trains for children and a swimming pool. Over the years, the town grew. People from near and far came to visit this special town, whose beauty and fame continue to attract lots of tourists. Every year close to three million tourists visit the Chocolate Town.

    Today visitors to the city can enjoy a variety of attractions and activities. The Hershey chocolate factory offers tours. Visitors can learn all about chocolate and how it is made. A gift shop sells all kinds of chocolate and toys made to look like chocolate. Even if you don't buy a souvenir, there is one thing that is impossible to forget: the wonderful aroma of fresh chocolate everywhere. In this special place even the streetlights are shaped like chocolate.

    Another attraction is the Hershey Hotel. It has an unusual mineral spring where guests can enjoy a variety of special treatments. The treatments all have one thing in common: chocolate.

    Recently there has been a discussion on a website about “what would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island?”

    Here are some of the answers:

Post 1

    Steve USA—Hi, everyone. What would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, it would be the changing seasons in New England. I guess this will sound stupid but I'd probably miss the rain, too. I wouldn't miss getting up at six every day to go to work, though! What about you?

Post 2

    Tomas Germany—Good question. Steve, I think I'd miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I'd miss the food most. What would I miss least? My mobile phone—I'd like to be completely quiet—at least for a little while.

Post 3

    Paola Italy—I would miss the company of people because I know I'd like to have someone to share experiences with. I'd go mad on my own. And I sure wouldn't miss junk mail—I hate coming home every evening and a pile of junk mail in my post box.

Post 4

    Miko Japan—Hi, I would miss Manga cartoon, the Internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I'd also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes… In fact, I'd miss everything.

Post 5

    Roger UK—I would miss my daily newspaper and listening to the news on TV and radio. I'd feel very cut off if I didn't know what was happening in the world. What I'd miss least would be traffic jams in the city, particularly my journey to work.

Post 6

    Jayne Russia—Why hasn't anyone mentioned their family? I'd be lost without my husband and two kids. They're the most important for me. And I can't get started in the morning without a cup of black coffee. I wouldn't miss doing the housework!

Post 7

    Jaime Mexico—It would have to be music. I couldn't live without my music. I wouldn't miss going to school at all or doing homework!

    A 16-year survey on the arctic Norwegian island of Svalbard found the reindeer（驯鹿）there have declined in weight by an alarming 12 percent. The reduction in average body-mass is being blamed on global warming.

    In research presented lately at a meeting of the British Ecological Society in Liverpool, scientists will explain how rising temperatures are making female reindeer difficult to obtain nutrients during important periods of being pregnant.

    Snow in Svalbard typically covers the ground for eight months of the year, which, combined with low temperatures, limits grass growth to June and July. But as summer temperatures have increased by around 1.5℃, grasslands have become more productive, allowing female reindeer to gain more weight by the autumn and therefore to conceive（孕育）more calves.

    However, warmer winters have brought with them greater rainfall which freezes when is settles on the snow, therefore locking out the reindeer from the life-supporting food below. As a result, female reindeer are becoming starved, causing them to give birth to much lighter young. The average mass of an adult reindeer in 1998, when the survey began, was 55kg, but by 2016 IT had dropped to 48kg.

    Professor Steve Albon, an ecologist at the James Hatton Institute in Aberdeen , said that, because the mammals have a relatively high surface-area-to-volume ratio（表面积与体积比）, they are no particularly energy efficient.

    Reindeer can often access the inadequate food sources beneath the snow by clearing IT away with their antlers（鹿角）, but they cannot break through the hard ice. Without access to the food in winter, calves are being born far lighter than they should be. Numbers of reindeer have also increased rapidly in the past 20 years, meaning that those which are born are facing greater competition for food. “The implication（含义）are that there may well be more smaller reindeer in the Arctic in the coming decades, but possibly at the risk of catastrophic die-offs because of increased ice on the ground,”said Professor Albon Despite the gloomy findings, reindeer appear to be suffering less from the impact of climate change than some other arctic species.

    A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

    “It's extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just a bunch of individual components (零件),” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. “The added difficulty with such a project is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to make them all on our own,” he said.

    They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, and then has to be matched well to everything it's connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.

    Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect- scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications (应用). “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”

    Bangkok Destination Guide

    Travel in Bangkok is often described as a whirlwind—it's hot, chaotic, crowded, and full of exotic energy. This popular tourism destination is a city of extremes with majestic temples, floating markets, romantic rooftop restaurants, and a wide range of accommodations to suit every budget. Read through our brief guide to learn about this exciting city and begin planning your journey.

    Must-See Attractions

    Bangkok is sometimes referred to as the “Venice of the East” because of its network of canals, so take a boat tour to see sights like the Khmer wats (僧院) and the riverside houses. While exploring the city, you'll definitely want to sample some of the street food options—often fresher and more unique than in the surrounding restaurants! To get a dose of Thai culture, visit the Wat Arun, the Grand Palace, Wat Parkeaw, and Wat Pho.

    Transportation

    There are two airport that serve Bankok, Suvamabhmi Airport and Don Muang Airport, and both are located about 30 kilometers from city centre. Most travelers who fly into Suvarnabhumi take the airport rail link to get downtown. The most important train station is the Hua Lamphong Station, and railway lines extend in all directions. It's not a good idea to travel around Bankok by car since traffic is very congested.

    Recommended Restaurants

    Food is a big deal in Thailand, and there are plenty of cheap eats, high-end restaurants, and street food delights to keep your taste buds satisfied every meal.