US President Barack Obama visited the Badaling section of the Great Wall in Beijing on Nov. 18th, 2009. The Great Wall was the second sightseeing program for Obama during his visit to China.

    Built originally as the biggest defense work in ancient China, the Great Wall today has become one of the must-see places for visiting foreign leaders to the country in the past sixty years.

    “ I'm inspired by the majesty(雄伟壮观) of the Great Wall and grateful for the warmth of the Chinese people,” Obama said after his half-hour tour.

    “It's magical,” Obama said when walking along the Great Wall, “it reminds you of the sweep of history and our time here on earth is not that long. We better make the best of it.”

    “I brought back the admiration(钦佩) for the Chinese civilization(文明), I bring here the greetings of American people.” Obama said when climbing a watchtower to enjoy a distant view at the Badaling section of the Great Wall.

    Obama is the fifth US president to visit the Great Wall. Richard Nixon visited the Great Wall in 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Bill Clinton in 1998, In 2002, former US President George W. Bush and his wife Laura toured the same sections Obama did.

    See a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer. You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object as you would a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modem 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.

    Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂) and certain metals. The thinner each layer is — from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair —the smoother and finer the object will be. This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.

Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry — printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000, while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC. Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of — flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.

    However, as 3-D printing becomes more common, it may bring about certain problems —such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?", an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?

There's a song by the great Jamaican singer Bob Marley called So Much Trouble In The World. Marley understood that part of the reason why there are so many problems in the world is the lack of tolerance between people. The UN understands this too — that's why it made Nov 16th "International Day for Tolerance".

But first of all, what is tolerance? According to French philosopher Voltaire, tolerance "s the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty (脆弱) and error; let us pardon each other's fool — that is the first law of nature."

    Very often, people don't realize that they're intolerant. This is because intolerance has a lot to do with ignorance. For example, the UN's campaign is in part about the treatment of females by males. But often, the behavior of men toward women is intolerant because men don't put themselves in the shoes of women.

    It's worth thinking a little about the words "tolerance" and "intolerance". Are they the best words to describe the evils of which we're speaking here? To agree to be "tolerant" of someone isn't necessarily a very respectful thing. When someone is tolerated, it implies that there's something wrong with them.

    Still, what Voltaire said stands: We humans are not perfect and this weakness is something that we all share. That's the reason we should be tolerant. It's a little like generosity. We can give things to another person, and we can also give our forgiveness.

    King's College Summer School is a training program every year for high school students at all levels who want to improve their English. Courses are given by the teachers of King's College and other colleges in New York. Trips to museums and culture centers are also organized. This year's summer school will be from July 25 to August 15.

    More information is as follows:

    A young woman sits alone in café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: "Where are the toilets please?" This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafes", where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainly, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a "one woman wedding" – a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression – "botchi-zoku", referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the café, Miss Higashikokubaru said: "I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere."

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million "hikikomori" – a more extreme example of social recluses（隐士）who withdraw completely from society.

Dear editor(编辑),

    Can't your newspaper do something about the custom (习惯) of hitchhiking?

    A short time ago, on a car travel I counted at least 50 people standing beside the road, asking for rides. Many of them were young women.

    Don't they understand how dangerous it is to get into the car driven by a stranger? How much do they know about the driver? Is he a good driver or not? They know nothing!

    Many of these young hitchhikers may come from good families. Don't their parents teach them anything about the world? I always taught my children not to talk to strangers. I never let them take rides from people they didn't know.

    Isn't there enough crime (犯罪) today without asking for trouble by hitchhiking? On the other hand, hitchhiking may bring some traffic trouble. Don't you think what I said is true?

    A Worried Grandfather