Nuclear power's danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.

    Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can't be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can't detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can't sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.

    At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being immediately by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no levels of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be serious. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed immediately. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.

    This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(辐射)and feel fine, then die for cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.

    Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.

    A Hobby is a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure（闲暇的） time. By continually taking part in a particular hobby, one can acquire practical skill and knowledge in that area. Is travel a good hobby? Travel, in the youngest sort, is a part of education and, in the elder, a part of experience. Some may think otherwise. To them, visiting churches, castles, libraries, etc. is an absolute wastage of time. They may further say that one can read the account of these or see the films of the important places of the world. They forget that touch of actuality gives a different type of sensation and satisfaction.

    Travelling may be an expensive hobby but it makes up for the financial loss. If a traveller has interest in life and its manifestations（表现）, one can find much to keep oneself absorbed and happy. A student of any stream can definitely find something of his own interest and studies. One can definitely find everything that satisfies his cravings for knowledge and feelings.

    As a hobby, travelling keeps us busy during leisure time; it is the best method to make use of time. Till a person breaks from dull routine, physically and mentally, one cannot find satisfaction. Travelling helps us to achieve this break. At a new place, one is curious to know and eager to gather all the unknown information about the place which he has neither read nor heard before and he gets thrills and surprises which keep the interest and enthusiasm alive and encourage us to keep our journey on.

    While travelling, one comes across a number of people from varied backgrounds and places. By interacting with them, he comes to know about their traditions also. In case one has psychological bent of mind, one increases one's experience and power to understand others. Understanding human nature is, perhaps, the best part of education. Travelling satisfies all demands of a good hobby-it is absorbing education and refreshment to the mind, body and soul.

    Pappadavada, a popular restaurant in Kochi, India, is urging customers and the community to put their leftover food in a fridge located outside of the restaurant for the hungry to take.

    People who are in need of a meal are encouraged to take from the fridge at any time, for any reason. Minu Pauline, who runs Pappadavada, has nicknamed the fridge, which was placed there on March 23 and is shaded by a neighboring tree, "tree of goodness".

    The fridge is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and stays unlocked. Pauline asks that people write the date they left the food, so those who take know how long it's been there. But most food doesn't stay in the fridge for long. In spite of a huge response from the community and plenty of donations, the fridge needs to be brought more in to replace in time. Pauling herself adds around 75% to 80% of food from Pappadavada a day in the fridge.

    The idea to put a fridge on the street came to Pauline late on night when she saw a lady searching in a dustbin for food. She was especially saddened because that particular night, her restaurant had made a ton of food that they could have easily given the woman, instead of her searching for it. She felt like she contributed to waste, and avoiding waste is what Pauline pays her attention to.

    "The only thing I want to say no is that people are actually buying food and putting it in the fridge. But I'd rather people put their food they bought but aren't going to eat in the fridge instead of the dustbin," she said.

    Traffic jam and cities, it seems go hand in hand. Everyone complains about being stuck in traffic, but, like the weather, no one seems to do anything about it. In particular, traffic engineers, transportation planners, and public officials responsible for transportation systems in large cities are frequently criticized for failing to solve traffic jam.

    But is traffic jam a sign of failure? Long lines at restaurants or theater's box offices are seen as signs of success. Should transportation systems be viewed any differently? I think we should recognize that traffic jam is an unpreventable by-product of successful cities and view the “traffic problem” in a different light.

    Traffic jam occurs where there are lots of people but limited spaces. Culturally and economically successful cities have the worst traffic problems, while decaying cities don't have much traffic. New York and Los Angeles are America's most crowded cities. But if you want access to major brokerage houses（经济行）, you will find them easier to reach in crowded New York than in any other large cities. And if your company needs access to post-production film editors or satellite-guidance engineers, you will reach them more quickly through the crowded freeways of LA than through less crowded roads elsewhere.

    Despite traffic jam, a larger number and wider variety of social communications and economic dealings can be made perfect in large, crowded cities than elsewhere. Seen in this light, traffic jam is an unfortunate result of success, not a cause of economic decline and urban decay.

    So while we can consider traffic jam as increasing costs on the areas of big cities, the costs of inaccessibility in uncrowded places are almost certainly greater.

    There is no doubt that traffic jam brings the terrible economic and environmental damage in places like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Lagos. But mobility（移动性）is far higher and traffic jam levels are far lower here in the US, even in our most crowded cities. That's why, for now, we don't see people and capital streaming out of San Francisco and Chicago, heading for other cities in California, and Illinois.

    Have you ever considered all the English expressions that include words about clothes? Let's have a look.

    People wear pants to cover the lower part of their bodies. We sometimes say that people who are nervous have ants in their pants. Sometimes, people may get caught with their pants down. They are found doing something they should not be doing. And, in every family, one person takes control. Sometimes a wife tells her husband what to do. Then we say she wears the pants in the family.

    Pants usually have pockets to hold things. Money that is likely to be spent quickly can burn a hole in your pocket. Sometimes you need a belt to hold up your pants. If you have less money than usual, you may have to tighten your belt.

    I always praise people who can save their money and not spend too much. I really take my hat off to them. Yet, when it comes to my own money, I spend it at the drop of a hat, which means I instantly spend it.

    Boots are a heavy or strong kind of shoes. People who are too big for their boots think they are more important than they really are. I dislike such people.

    My father is an important person. He runs a big company. He wears a suit and tie, and a shirt with sleeves that cover his arms. Some people who do not know him well think he is too serious and never shows his feelings openly. But I know that my father wears his heart on his sleeve.

    Last year, on report card day, my son and a bunch of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald's. "Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cell phone," one boy said. "Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPod Nano, and she's only in third grade," said another. "And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A."

    I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell phone, and the portable laptop?

    I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle vanish before my eyes — no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!

    I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal attained by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns(橄榄球触地得分(, runs-batted-in(棒球打点得分(? What about orchestra(管弦乐团(? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.

"We never paid anything for good grades," said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. "He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it."

    Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the latest electronic products, and she's spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation.