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    On the Mediterranean island of Majorca in Spain, the locals are angry. Too late. In the last quarter of 20th century, they obtained profit from foreign visitors wanting to buy up property on their beautiful island. Suddenly, it occurred to Majorca that the island no longer belonged to them. Its 630,000 inhabitants（居民）are increasingly convinced that the 14 million visitors a year are far too much of a good thing. Water is in short supply, pollution is worsening, and there is no affordable housing left for them to buy.

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    Tourism is the world's largest and fastest growing industry. In 1950, 25 million people traveled abroad; last year, it was 750 million. The World Tourism Organization predicts that 1.6 billion people, by 2020, will travel each year, spending over two trillion（万亿）US dollars.

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    The host country may not see many benefits. In Thailand, 60% of the $ 4 billion annual tourism income leaves the country. Tourists arrange by travel companies tend to stay at a big foreign-owned hotels, buying few local products. Mass tourism（团队旅游）usually leaves little money inside the country and most of the money goes to the airlines, the tour operators,and the foreign hotel owners, who are the final winners of tourism.

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    These days the industry's most urgent question may be how to control the flow of tourist. A typical example of this is Italy, where great cultural centers like the Florence and Venice can't handle all the tourists they get every summer. In Florence, it's half inhabitants have to live with the pollution, traffic jam, and crime caused by 11 million visitors a year. Now there is talk about how to solve these problems, like raising hotel taxes, or even changing admission to some public squares. The idea is to discourage at least some visitors, as well as to pay for cleaning up the mess.

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    For many poorer countries, tourism may still offer the best hope foe development. The Vietnamese are doing their best to open up their country. Libya has paid $ 1 million for a study. They all wanted tourists. Yet if something isn't done, tourism seems certain to become the victim of its success. Its effect on the environment is a major concern. For this reason, tourist organizations need to have second thoughts about what exactly they are trying to sell.

How to Choose a Good Book

    You love reading, and you're dying to get your hands on a book. But you've read all your books several times, and you're getting tired of reading the same ones. You're planning to go to the library, but don't know what kind of books to get. With the right knowledge, it's easy for you to choose a good book.

    Make a list answering these questions:

    What kind of books do you like? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Is there a type of book that you would like to try? What are your interests? By doing this you will find books that you might like.

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    Very often good books are quietly collecting dust in your own house. Maybe you forget about one, or someone who is living with you has a couple of good books. Also by searching your house, you can find books that you can read, and they won't even cost you any money.

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    Read best-seller lists published in most newspapers or weekly magazines. Find out which new books are making headlines, and why.

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    If it does, then use its search engine to find a certain book or books by a certain author. You can also do this at home.

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    If you would rather have Book 1 over Book2，put Book2 back. If you would prefer Book 3 to Book 1, put Book 1 back.

A. Search your house.

B. What books have you read?

C. Ask someone to recommend a good book.

D. See if the library or bookstore has computers.

E. Read book reviews in newspapers and magazines.

F. Narrow down your choices.

G. What authors do you like?

    We know that hugs make us feel easy inside. And this feeling could actually ward off stress and protect the immune (免疫) system,  according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University.

    It's a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that comes with interpersonal conflict.

    "We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety," the study's lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. "We have tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and thus protect a person against infection."

    In the experiment, over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知到的) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks. They were asked about the frequency that they engaged in interpersonal conflict and received hugs that day.

    Then, the researchers exposed the participants to a common cold virus, and monitored them to assess signs of infection. They found that both perceived social support and more frequent hugs reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. Regardless of whether or not they experienced social conflicts, infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms.

    "This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress," Cohen said. "The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection."

    If you need any more reason to wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fears, improve heart health and decrease feelings of loneliness.

    In this Pennsylvania city, Pittsburgh is shrinking but getting wealthier. Since 2000, its population has declined by 95,000 while its income per capita (人均) has shot up 24 percent. The trend is taking hold in many other cities, like Buffalo in New York, Providence in Rhode Island and New Orleans.

    Some of these areas have created more high-paying jobs in energy, health care or education. Others have managed to reshape their producing industry for a new economy. Higher-paying jobs have a greater effect because they create demand for additional services. "The story in Pittsburgh is very positive, and other areas are looking at it as an example of the transformation that might be possible," said Guhan Venkatu, who wrote an economic history of the area called “Rust and Renewal" for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have helped bring tech jobs and innovation(革新) to the area by sponsoring tech centers that help graduates start companies without moving to Silicon Valley or San Francisco. This has helped keep Pittsburgh's educated young population growing even as the entire population in the city has dropped.

    Pittsburgh has more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs than other shrinking cities, about 80, 000 or 7% of all jobs. STEM jobs add productivity and income growth to the area. Manufacturers of high-tech medical equipment in the Pittsburgh area also have doubled employment in the last 10 years.

    However, some experts question whether growing income per capita can really make up for a declining population. According to Patrick Adler, a researcher at the University of Toronto, population loss does matter if it means lower-skilled workers have fled because of a lack of opportunity. What's more, high-paying jobs in education and health care can disappear if the population declines too greatly. So it'd be wise to find ways to increase the population.

    Learning a foreign language can be interesting. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In order to increase your chances of success, it is important to consider which method of language learning will provide you with the most benefits. So think about the three ways of learning a language: self­study at home, attending classes and online courses.

    The main disadvantage of learning by yourself is that there is no one available to answer your questions. One way to deal with this is to make a list of your questions and ask for the help of a native speaker of the language regularly. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Learning a foreign language in a classroom is probably the most popular choice. The regularity(规律性) of the lessons will encourage you to attend classes. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In most cases, the enthusiasm of the other students may also encourage you to make progress.

    Online learning is the newest method of learning a foreign language. It suits both the students who prefer to learn alone and the students who may prefer to attend a class but are unable to do so. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is also possible to ask questions and to communicate with other students online.

    Whichever method you choose, keep in mind the reasons why you are learning the language. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This will help you stay focused throughout the learning process.

A.Many students prefer to learn by themselves.

B.But it can also be difficult, frustrating and boring.

C.You should also make sure you will benefit from it.

D.You will be able to ask the teacher questions face to face.

E.You may even decide to ask others sometimes to help your self­study.

F.Online learning makes the whole process more interesting and fun.

G.Your personality should be considered when deciding which method of learning to use.

    We love the sea. We swim into it, live near it, build beside it, and even imagine about living under the sea. But we're terrified of it, too. For much of our history, we have turned to "hard engineering" to control the marine (海洋) environment and manage its influence on us. We build dams, sea walls and channels. But all these efforts seem to fail. The sea has a habit of taking back its own. And we suffer.

    Johnston, a marine ecologist, is advocating for "blue engineering" ­ the marine version of the "green engineering" movement on land that has seen nations like Singapore building the walls and roofs of the concrete jungle with plant life.

    We are expanding further into the marine environment. This practice does harm lo marine ecosystems. We're loving the sea to death, but we've not been thinking about design of structures (建筑物) with respect to ecology. Some coastal structures create shade, which reduces the growth of seaweed. Bright lights at night contuse species such as turtles. That's why blue engineering comes in.

    Throughout the world people are starting to turn things around. Researchers with the World Harbour Project are creating tiles (瓦片) similar to the natural structures found on rocky shores with 3D printing technology. These make more attractive homes for marine creatures. Researchers are also actively seeding these tiles with local seaweeds and creatures such as the Sydney rock oyster, which is particularly good at improving water quality. Twelve harbours around the world are taking part in this marine tile experiment, each working with their own unique marine life.

    It's a far cry from, he days when huge number, of old tyres were thrown, into the sea to build "artificial reef" (礁石). Those clumsy early attempts are now costing millions to remove, showing just how far we have yet to go in understanding how best to co-habit with the underwater world.