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Safety and Security Procedures

   Your safety and the security of your personal property(财产) are of the primary concern to those of us who welcome you as our guest. We urge you to take advantage of the following suggestions.

    This is not a diet. It's a simple way to lose weight. You don't have to give up the food you love or join a gym. You just follow some habits thin people have. Keep them, and you'll become thin.

    Wake-up

    When you wake up in the morning, sit up slowly without using your hands. With legs straight out, lean forward(前俯) until you feel sore(酸痛的) in your back. It will use up 10 calories.

    Start with soup

    Order a clear soup, and have it before the main food. In this way, you'll feel fuller, so you'll eat less when the main food comes.

    An apple or more a day

    Apples are full of fiber(纤维) and water, so your stomach will want less. Studies show that people who eat at least three apples or pears a day may lose weight.

    Talk it up

    Every time you use the cell phone, stand up and walk around. Heavy people sit on average two and a half hours more each day than thin people. This skill is very important as standing up and walking around will burn up 50 or more calories. Use these skills, and you will have a big weight loss.

    As a little girl growing up in the early 1960s in a suburb of Pittsburgh, it was not always easy to find role models. But I was lucky. In my childhood, I knew smart, strong women who had accomplished much, one of whom invented the world's first computer compiler (编译器).

    Recently, though, I learned about a role model who was right under my nose—my own mother.

    Growing up, I knew she had worked as a secretary before I was born. I knew that she had joined the WAVES—the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve (海军预备队)—during World War Ⅱ. And I knew she'd worked in an office that was involved with codes (编码). But when she talked about it—rare, because she had been sworn to secrecy—she described her duties as ordinary, routine. I never questioned it. After all, the woman I knew was a reserved suburban mom.

    Not long ago, a chance conversation with a colleague led me to the book, Code Girls. It tells the story of the WAVES, who decrypted (解码) and encrypted secret messages during the war. They worked around the clock, knowing that the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers—their brothers, husbands, fathers—were on the line.

    Inspired, I began a journey to explore the mystery of my mother's service that continues to this day. I got some of her working records about her unit, OP19. In two years, she was promoted three times. She was no secretary, and her duties were hardly ordinary.

    My mother always encouraged my interest in science and insisted to my father that I go to college. “You're going to grow up to be another Madame Curie,” she told me. She was always pointing at other women. She did not see herself as someone to model on. Neither did I. Now I see her differently.

    I'd like to share a little story with you about something that happened when I was four. I remember it clearly. Our loving family dog was nearing the end of his life. My father picked him up and put him in a little bed we had made for him. Our dog, my companion, whom we had cared for, bit my father when he attempted to help him. How could he? Why? I couldn't understand it. I didn't like him anymore.

    I hadn't thought about that story for a long time but something that happened last week brought it back to me. I went to speak with a friend. When I knocked on the door, I met in an instant an angry look and a few harsh(尖刻的)words. When the door was slammed(砰地关上)in my face, I stood there shocked, and in a rush, I was reminded of my dog bit my father 20 years ago or so. What brought that story back was that same feeling of betrayal.

    Both stories taught me something the next day. You see, when I got up in the morning and was told my dog had died, it became clear to me that he must have been in great pain. For him to have bitten a family member, he could not have been himself. Much the same for the other story when I learned that my friend's wife had just left him.

    We are all beings of our environments, our opinions and feelings. And all of those things can cause you to say and do things that can't be understood by those who are not in the same situation with you.

    If you meet someone either behaving out of character or acting in a way that doesn't seem to fit the situation, put out your hand and be patient when you think it is least possible for him to do so. You may turn around a story that has a sad ending simply by your actions.

    Bright Side did some research on many places throughout the world where you can buy a house for 1 dollar or for free!

    Roubaix, France

    If you like France, Roubaix located in the north of France is just for you. The local authorities want it to be populated and attractive. You can buy a small house in the industrial district for just $1. The buyer is supposed to live in this house for 3 years.

    Buffalo. USA

    Buffalo offers whoever qualifies to buy a house for $1. All you need is to be a lawful citizen of the city and invest amount of money into its decoration. Doing this, the authorities are hoping to make the city beautiful again without spending money.

    Liverpool, Great Britain

    In Liverpool, most of houses were abandoned by the working class during the years of unemployment. The government is trying to sell the houses for just $1. If you want to buy such a house, it has to be your first deal on buying property (不动产).

    Candela, Italy

    If you still have any doubts about spending SI on a house, you should know: the government will pay you some money, if you move to Candela. In order to be paid, you need to become a permanent citizen and have an income of $7500 per year. If moving a, one, you will get S800, and if you are going with your family, the pay can be four times as much as only one person.

    For more information of other cities, please Click Here.

    Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been catching global headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change and threaten biodiversity(生物多样性).

    As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called "the lungs of the world". It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million local people. The vast lands of rainforest play an important role in the world's ecosystem because they take in heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide (二氧化碳)and produce oxygen, making sure that less carbon is given off, mitigating the effects of climate change.

    "Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity," Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. "The shocking threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere," he stressed. "Facing the global climate change, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

    Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago. A total of 71,497 forest fires were recorded in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. "It's reported that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

    Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose drop could have severe results for global climate and rainfall. The size of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended(超出）Brazil's borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian areas.