Banks view online banking as a powerful “value-added” tool to attractand keep new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling or teller（出纳员）interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment.

    Today, most large national banks, many local banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking, variously known as PC banking, home banking, electronic banking or Internet banking. Online banks are sometimes referred to as “brick-to-click”banks, both to tell them from “brick-to-mortar” banks that haven't yet offered online banking, as well as from “virtual”（虚拟）banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever.

    The challenge for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it. Most of the large banks can now offer fully safe , fully functional（功能的）online banking for free or for a small cost. As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites, fully functional online banking will likely become as common place as automated teller machines (ATM).

    Online banking has a lot of advantages. Unlike your corner bank, online banking sitesnever close; they're at hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they're amouse click away. If you're out of state or even out of the country when a money problem appears, you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business. Online bank sites generally carry out and confirm deals at or quicker than ATM processing speeds. Many online banking sites now offer fashionable tools to help you manage all of your valuable items more effectively.

    Experiments under way in several labs aim to create beneficial types of genetically modified foods, including starchier potatoes and caffeine-free coffee beans. Genetic engineers are even trying to transfer genes from a cold-winter fish to make a frost-resistant tomato.

    A low-sugar GM strawberry now in the works might one day allow people with health problems such as diabetes (糖尿病) to enjoy the little delicious red fruits again. GM beans and grains rich in protein(蛋白质) might help people at risk of developing kwashiorkor. Kwashiorkor, a disease caused by severe lack of protein, is common in parts of the world where there are severe food shortages.

    Commenting on GM foods, Jonathon Jones, a British researcher, said: "The future benefits will be enormous（巨大的）, and the best is yet to come". To some people, GM foods are no different from unmodified foods. "A tomato is a tomato," said Brian Sansoni, an American food manufacturer.

    Critics of GM foods challenge Sansoni's opinion. They worry about the harm that GM crops might do to people, other animals, and plants.

    In a recent lab study conducted at Cornell University, scientists tested pollen(花粉) made by BT corn, which makes up one-fourth of the U.S. corn crop. The scientist dropped the pollen onto milkweed, a plant that is the only known food source of a butterfly caterpillar(毛虫). Within four days of feeding on the leaves, almost half of a test group of caterpillars died. "This is a warning bell." said Cornell researcher Linda Raynor.

    Some insects that are not killed by GM foods might find themselves made stronger. How so? The insecticides are used on the crops to kill the pests. But GM plants produce a continuous level of insecticide. Insects relying on those crops may develop resistance to the plants and they may also develop a resistance to the insecticide.

    At the forum on GM food held last year in Canada. GM crops that have been made resistant to the herbicide might crossbreed with wild plants, creating "superweeds" that could take over whole fields.

    So where do you stand? Should GM food be banned in the United States, as they are in parts of Europe? Or do their benefits outweigh（胜过） any of the risks they might carry?

    The more hours that young children spend in child care, the more likely they are to turn out aggressive and disobedient by the time they are in kindergarten, according to the largest study of child care and development ever conducted. Researchers said this correlation (相关性) held true regardless of whether the children came from rich or poor homes, were looked after by a relative or at a center, and whether they were girls or boys.

    What is uncertain, however, is whether the child care actually causes the problem or whether children likely to turn out aggressive happen to be those who spend more hours in child care. It also remains unclear whether reducing the amount of time in child care will reduce the risk that a child will turn into a mean person. What's more, quality child care is associated with increased skills in intellectual ability such as language and memory, leading some academics to suggest that child care turns out children who are “smart and naughty”.

    The government-sponsored research, which has tracked more than 1,300 children at 10 sites across the country since 1991, is bound to cause the debate over child care again: How should people balance work and family? And how should parents, especially mothers. Resolve the demands that are placed on them to be both breadwinners and supermoms?

    That debate was already on display at a news briefing yesterday, where researchers themselves had different opinions about the data and its implications (含义). “There is a constant relationship between time in care and problem behavior, especially those involving aggression and behavior,” said Jay Belsky of Birkbeck College in London, one of the lead investigators of the study who has previously annoyed women's groups because of his criticisms of child care. “On behalf of fathers or mothers?” interrupted Sarah Friedman, a developmental psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and one of the other lead scientists on the study. “On behalf of parents and families,” responded Belsky.

    “NICHD is not willing to get into policy recommendations.” said Friedman, contradicting her colleague. “There are other possibilities that can be entertained. Yes it is a quick solution—more hours in child care is associated with more problems. The easy solution is to cut the number of hours but that may have implications for the family that may not be beneficial for the development of the children in terms of economics.” In an interview after the briefing, Friedman said that asking parents to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children usually meant a loss of family income, which adversely(不利地) affects children.

    Scientists said that the study was highly reliable. But the researchers said they had no idea whether the behavioral difficulties persisted as the children moved to higher grades.

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    Virginia Wildlife is your ticket to learning more about Virginia's spectacular(壮观的）wildlife, fisheries , and breathtaking habitats. Whether you hunt, fish, boat, or take in the wildlife from your easy chair, Virginia Wildlife offers you stories and insight on the natural world, supplied by the state's leading wildlife and outdoor experts.

    Virginia Wildlife magazine has been dedicated to bringing its readers the best in hunting, fishing, boating, and wildlife resource information from around the state. Its award winning design, feature articles, spectacular color photography, and original artwork is an excellent way to explore Virginia's great outdoors.

    Published for nearly seven decades by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Wildlife offers its subscribers twelve months of information-packed articles and award-winning images captured by nationally recognized photographers. Each month you will be treated to a magazine that includes something for the entire family: for example ,instruction on becoming a better bow-hunter, tips on tacking(对付） that monster catfish (鲇鱼),unique game and fish recipes, stunning(绝妙的）photographs, and much, much more.

    Let this 36-page, full-colour magazine be your guide to Virginia's great outdoors! Subscribe for one year only for $12.95.Receive a two-year subscription for only$23.95.

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Four of the world's greatest national parks

 Komodo

 Location: Indonesia

 Area: 1,733km²

 Home to the world's largest lizard (蜥蜴), the Kcomodo dragon, Komodo National Park is made up of 29 islands in the centre of the Indonesian archipelago (群岛). The park's three main islands of Komodo, Rica and Pada r make ideal destinations for divers, as the surrounding coral reefs support a vast amount of oceanic diversity. With over 1,000 species of fish, 260 species of coral, and countless sea animals, this is an ideal spot to swim with sharks, whales, dolphins and more.

 Namib- Naukluft

Location: Namibia

 Area: 49,768km²

 In the world's oldest desert, the landscape moves. The golden dunes (沙丘) shift as winds blow and seasons pass. Visitors come to explore the dunes and it can be a real adventure. Jump in a 4×4 or hike across the sands on foot for a multi- day trail and you' ll soon find yourself deep in the Namibian wilderness. You' ll need a permit and doctor's letter to take on the longer hikes, but one- day hikes give anyone a chance to see more of the Namib.

 Tongariro

 Location: New Zealand

 Area:795km²

 As New Zealand's oldest national park, Tongariro National Park is home to three active volcanoes. And here's the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 19.4- kilometre hike that takes you across beautiful landscapes. This park also draws in skiers during the winter seasons. The biggest ski area, Whakapapa, covers 5.5km² and has 15 lifts in all.

 Teide

 Location: Tenerife, Spain

 Area: 190km²

 This park is home to Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain. With a height of 3,718 metres, Mount Teide is also the third largest volcanic structure on the planet. Besides, Teide National Park possesses unique plants. The most unusual among the 139 recorded species is red bugloss, which has become the symbol of the park.