Freelance writers Wanted

    Associated Content is an online publishing platform that enables anyone to earn money by writing articles on the Web.

Writing for AC is a great work opportunity for students, stay-at-home parents and freelance writers –you can work on your own time and submit papers, reviews, essays, etc. on any topic that you have interest in. This is a job you can do from anywhere—all you need is access to the Internet.

    Here's how you get started:

    1) Go to www. associatedcontect.com/join/hotjobs.

    2) Follow the instructions to register.

    3) Fill in your profile(简介),making note of your previous experience and your areas of experience (if any).

    4) Start submitting articles. You'll begin earning money as soon as your articles are published and the amount is based on the page views it receives.

    In addition to our own library of content, we have hundreds of partners (Partner Content Team) who work with AC to obtain high-quality. As such, there are lots of opportunities for our most talented and productive writers to accept “Partner Assignments” on an as-needed basis.

    If you're interested in accepting higher paying Partner Assignments, send us a link to your AC profile once you have submitted at least five articles. We will review all submissions and pass them along to our Partner Content Team. If selected, you will start receiving special paid assignments from us on a regular basis, which you are free to accept or ignore.

    NOTE: we pay our writers via PayPal daily.

    Any questions? Email me: dernel@asociatedcontent.com

    BEIJING—Lu Na thinks that the 4,000 yuan ($630) she spent in traveling to the Republic of Korea(ROK) was worth every penny.

    “Apart from the exotic outfits and tasty kimchi, I really appreciated local people's friendliness and the convenient language environment there,” said the 27-year-old woman, who traveled to the country in October 2011 and came back with bags of fashionable dresses and cosmetics.

    “We have provided many services to Chinese visitors, including free transport cards, handbooks for individual tourists, and more liberal visa policies.”

    “We believe that no country can compare with the ROK in providing services for individual Chinese travelers,” said Zhu Linlin, media manager of the Korea Tourism Organization's Beijing branch.

    Favorable visa policies contribute to the popularity of the ROK as a destination for Chinese tourists. Only a passport and an ID card are needed for a Chinese citizen to get a visa to the ROK.

    However, some suggest that ROK hotels should provide special dining rooms for Chinese customers due to different eating habits. “ROK people often cross their legs when they have meals, but for most Chinese people, especially those who are elderly or fat, it's very hard for them to sit cross-legged without feeling numb.”

    In 1998, China granted the ROK approved destination status, which allowed Chinese citizens to travel to the country in tour groups.

    According to statistics from China Tourism Academy, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the ROK reached more than 2 million by the end of October 2011, up 19. 9 percent compared with that of the same period last year. China recently became the Republic of Korea's main source of foreign tourists in both number and spending.

    In my generation, most people assume. We assume that after getting a driver's license, we should see a brand new car sitting in our driveway. We assume that the latest iPhone product should be in our hands as soon as something goes wrong with our old one. We also assume that college, being as expensive as it is, is given. However, what we don't realize is that all of these things are very special privileges.

    New cars, the latest technology and college fees are something that most people have in the place where I live. I'm not necessarily complaining about this. I live in a very fortunate area, and I try to remind myself of that every day.

    Getting nice things is great, but sometimes, the competition that rules our lives gets too fierce. When someone else gets something great, you begin to think, "Why can't I have that?" When everyone around you goes to college, you think that one day you will obviously do the same, because who doesn't?

    Even now, being almost done with my first year of college, I constantly see people who forget why we're here, and how lucky we are to be on this campus. All of the distractions can surely keep you from doing your best, and they can easily make you forget your real purpose at college. The parties, friends, events, and overall social life can move you into a never-ending whirlpool (旋涡）of not doing schoolwork. Having fun is a part of life, but balance is the key when it comes to college.

    Appreciation nowadays is slowly fading into a distant thought. We constantly forget how lucky we are to have the things and the life that we do. Surely, who doesn't dream of a new car waiting for them, or that brand new iPhone that you see in all of the commercials? But wanting something is different from expecting it. Setting yourself up with an "I should get this" attitude will only push appreciation further away.

    Appreciate what you have, but don't expect what you don't have. Say thank you to those who help and support you, and realize that whoever you are, you're lucky in a great way.

    The English language has a lot of words which can be used in many different ways and in many different experiences.

    One such example is the word matter. In fact, matter can mean just about anything. It could be one of the most useful words in the English language.

Let's get to the heart of the matter —- a matter of principle(原则).

    If someone says that you owe(欠) him $50, but you don't, a friend might say, "Well, you could pay him the $50. It's not that much money. Then you won't have to hear him say it anymore." But if you do not owe him the money, do not pay him the money. It's a matter of principle.

    There is another way to use the word matter. But be careful with your choices of words.

    If you ask someone, "What's the matter?", it shows you are worried about the other person. But saying, "What's the matter with you?" has a completely different meaning. And it usually sounds rude. In fact, when you say, "What's the matter with you?", you are suggesting that the person did something wrong or stupid.

    Another expression that could sound rude is to say, "It doesn't matter to me." Here, it depends on the context, and how you say it.

    Let's say you tell someone that a friend just got a big raise at work. That person answers with, "It doesn't matter to me." Here, it means he or she does not care. And it sounds rude.

    But saying, "Oh, you pick where we eat dinner. It doesn't matter to me." does not sound rude. In the situation, "it doesn't matter" shows you are easy-going.

    No matter how you look at it and what you say, matter is a very useful word. And it's only a matter of time before you will become an expert on the use of matter.

    However exciting space exploration sounds, there's a necessary and important point about it that needs to be considered: food supplies. Right now, astronauts typically rely on dry food in airtight bags and cans, since there are strict weight limits on items taken into space. Foods that we take for granted, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, are out of the question for space explorers.

    For those who've made an effort to try to grow food during space flights, they've faced many difficulties, including the absence of gravity, and a lack of soil, air and humidity (湿度). However, growing food to add and minimize (最小化) the food that must be carried to space will be increasingly important on long-duration flights into space. Great efforts have been made to explore the concept (idea) of space farming. Recently, a team led by Federico Maggi at the University of Sydney in Australia have worked out how plants can absorb nutrients from human urine (尿), as was reported by New Scientist on March 27.

    After over 20 years of experiments, the results suggested that human urine could supply three to four out of the six nutrients that plants need. The researchers also found out that urine-fertilized plants produce no harmful by-products, such as carbon dioxide or ammonia.

    According to New Scientist, human urine is 95 percent water, with the other 5 percent made from nutrients which are harmful to the human body but not to plants. The advantage of this urine-fueled life support system is obvious: By recycling liquid waste and producing food, an efficient cycle will be created.

    And most importantly, said New Scientist，the duration of space flights will be greatly extended to “20 years of flight”, meaning we may be soon sending astronauts on flights to Mars, or even beyond.

Consumer behavior is the study of how people make purchase decisions to satisfy their needs or desires and how their emotional, mental and behavioral responses influence the buying decision. By understanding it, businesses can make their marketing efforts to focus on specific groups, improve brand images, and predict the trends. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Anyway, understanding consumer behavior is vital to any successful marketing strategy.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Among them, marketing campaigns influence purchasing decisions a lot. If done right and regularly, with the right marketing message, they can even persuade consumers to change brands or choose more expensive alternatives.

For expensive products, like houses or cars, economic conditions play a big part. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The consumer's decision — making process is longer for expensive purchases and it can be influenced by more personal factors at the same time.

Consumer behavior can also be influenced by personal factors: likes, dislikes, morals, and values. In industries like fashion or food, personal opinions are especially powerful. Of course, advertisements can influence behavior. However, finally, consumers choices are greatly influenced by their preferences. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Last but not least, our purchasing power plays a significant role in influencing our behavior. Unless you're a billionaire, you'll consider your budget before making a purchase decision. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

However, if you don't have the money for it, you won't buy it.

A. Education levels and social factors can have an impact.

B. Consumer behavior is often influenced by different factors.

C. The product might be excellent and the marketing could be great.

D. This knowledge can also help businesses stay ahead of their competition.

E. Vegetarians, no matter how many hamburger ads they see, won't start eating meat.

F. A positive economic environment can make consumers willing to buy them.

G. A consumer purchases a different product just because he or she wants to seek diversity.