ID systems are used as a means for people to prove their identity, as a means of access control, or for many other situations. ID cards also contain a lot more information than simply the name of the holder. All ID cards contain information that is relevant to the institution that released them, so there is no single model that applies to all ID cards.

    Different institutions have different rules when it comes to ID cards, and ID cards used by students, in universities, will not have the same security features as those used in the military, for example. The more important the institution is, the more important the security is, and the more security features will be used to prevent duplication(复制) of an ID card.

    Anyone with a printer that can print ID cards can duplicate in ID card, if it does not have any security measures. There have been lots of cases, especially in low security institutions, where ID cards have been duplicated and this was not noticed, since the person holding the card usually flashed it when it was requested, and that was not enough to notice that it is a fake.

    That may not be extremely important when it is simply a case of a student trying to enter the campus of another university, but it can be of vital importance if it happens in a military institution. Checks in military institutions are much stricter and the personnel checking the card are always trained to spot fakes in a short amount of time.

    Some may think that creating an ID card is extremely difficult, but it is not. All it takes is a special printer that can print ID cards, a model and a photo ID. The fact that such printers can be freely ordered online has raised security issues with lots of companies and institutions, and most have decided to either create their own ID cards, or simply use more advanced security features that regular home-users do not have access to. This includes magnetic stripes(磁条), chips, barcodes(条形码),and other methods. This does increase the cost of the card per person, so the total cost of the cards increases based on the number of employees the company has, but it also reduces security risks to a minimum.

    So ID systems, as basic as they seem, are an excellent security measure for any institution. To ensure that the IDs look good and function properly, the company that handles the card printing services should be top-class. Trying to save some money by choosing a cheaper provider is not really wise. While some companies offer bonuses for large orders, if the quality provided is not of the highest standard, it is not worth it.

    China is making great effort to protect its cultural relics. In early May, State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) added 1,943 unmovable cultural relics sites to the list. So the number of these sites on this list will increase to 4,295.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}The newly added sites were reviewed(评审) by more than 130 experts. They spread around Shanxi, Henan, Hunan, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces, including 795 pieces of ancient architecture and 516 ancient ruins.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}In an interview, the head of the SACH said that new types of cultural relics sites have been newly listed to get protection at first, including industrial relics, rural architecture and cultural landscapes.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}For example, some are in the north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.Despite great achievements during the years of effort, problems still exist.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Historic relics get stolen and antiques are taken abroad secretly.The head of the SACH said that people has faced a challenge to the protection of cultural relics for a long time. So, balancing the relationship between economic development and protection of history is important. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} He also used good examples of protection, describing how some cultural relics sites have become education bases for young people and popular tourist places, where a lot of people spend their holiday.

Happiness begins from appreciation

    If you are feeling that life just cannot be any worse for you, it can be challenging to think positive. When stressed, depressed, upset or otherwise in a negative state of mind because you are aware that misfortune keeps occurring, it is important to shift those negative thoughts to something positive. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It is often very hard to think positive when so many things are negative, but be sure that someone, somewhere is worse off than you. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you start with one small, positive thing and appreciate it during the course of your day, you will begin to move into a more positive situation and people will start showing up in your life. With appreciation, you will find that over time, you will change your outlook and choose to be happy, regardless of the events around you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Begin and end each day with a “Thank you for this wonderful, glorious day!”

    When you see the rise of gas prices, say “I am so glad to have a vehicle in which to get around.”

    When your boss is too hard on you, say “I am grateful for my job as I know that many don't have one.”

    If you are having health problems, be grateful for what does work: “I really do appreciate it that my eyes see, my ears hear, my mouth tastes, my legs walk, my arms lift and my mind thinks and everything else works.”

    Write down what you're grateful for each day. In moments when you're feeling really down, read loud what you wrote previously. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you practice this regularly, you will find your list getting longer and longer.

    The key is to move yourself into a positive thought and keep it there long enough to make it a moment of appreciation. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. This will certainly help uplift your spirits.

B. If not, you will only attract more misfortune.

C. It is of great importance to learn to be grateful.

D. The more you appreciate, the happier you'll be.

E. If you have made some achievements in your career.

F. Here are a few common examples for you to practice.

G. You can choose to think differently by beginning with the smallest of steps.

每个空格只填一个单词。

    Do pretty school uniforms lead to early romance?

    A technical secondary school in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province, planned to order Korean-style school uniforms for students, but parents opposed the move, believing that the new uniforms looked too good and would encourage early romances among the students, the Jinling Evening Paper reported Monday.

    Parents

    "My daughter was so excited about the Korean-style uniform, saying it's her dream to wear mini-skirt to school every day," a mom surnamed Cheng complained. "My daughter also called her classmates to talk about how handsome the boys looked in the uniform!"

    Cheng looked on the Internet and found that most Korean schoolboy uniforms are similar to western suits. "They are so handsome! My daughter is a fan of Korean fashion, that's why she is crazy about the uniform!" Cheng said. "If the students wear such beautiful uniforms, how can they study well? I prefer the sports wear which makes me think of health and positive thinking."

    School

    "The plan to change the current school uniform from sports wear has been cancelled," an employee of the school told the Jinling Evening Paper.

    "The students dislike the present uniform, so the school took advice from the students last November, knowing that most of students prefer Korean-or Japanese-style school uniforms. We know cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou have changed their sports wear school uniforms to more fashionable uniforms," an employee surnamed Lin said.

    "However, we had to stop the plan because many parents are strongly against it. Some parents think it's just a way for the school to make money, and others think the new uniforms will take students' attention away from their studies," Lin said.

    When asked about the possibility of problems with early romance between students because of the more fashionable uniforms, Lin said he hadn't considered it. He, however, agreed that the Korean-style uniform makes the students more charming.

    Students

    The students are very disappointed about the school's final decision. They think the sports wear uniforms make them look androgynous (难分性别).

    They said the Korean-style uniform has many advantages such as raising interest in class and lifting confidence. It is also considered to be a good way to develop their sense of pride for the school and help then create good temperaments(气质).

    As for concerns about romance, the students believe that love is love and bears no relationship to the uniform.

    Education department

    "We don't have a unified (统一的) standard for school uniforms. The schools can choose their own styles. Either sports wear or uniforms are ok," an official from the Nanjing Bureau of Education said.

Yellow Robot deliver snacks to your home

    A robot makes its way back to a supermarket after making a delivery during a demonstration in Beijing.

    Along a street on the outer edges of Beijing, a yellow and black cube about the size of a small washing machine moves leisurely to its destination. This “little yellow horse” is a delivery robot, transporting daily essentials like drinks, fruit and snacks from the local store to the residents. Equipped with GPS system, cameras and radar, the robot is seen by its creator as the future of logistics(物流) in China.

    “The weak point is that it can't deliver directly to the door like a human.” said one customer, who does not live on the ground floor. “But it is still quite practical. The robot delivers relatively quickly.”

    The robot takes off for Chinese customers' love of cashless payments and smartphone shopping. China is the world's biggest online shopping market with more than half of its population making at least one smartphone purchase per month, according to professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Whether buying electronics, toilet paper or clothes, Chinese customers are used to simply tapping a button on their smartphone and getting a home delivery.

    To get a delivery via the “little yellow horse”, customers select the desired products, tap in the address and pay via their phone. Then, the supermarket staff place the items in the robot.

    Liu Zhiyong, founder and CEO of Zhen Robotics, which manufactures the robot, sees a bright future for his creation. “At the moment, there are 100 million packages delivered every day in China. It will be one billion in the future,” Liu said. “ There will not be enough humans to make the deliveries. We need more and more robots to fill this gap and reduce costs.” These costs are especially high in the last kilometer of a delivery.

The Cost of Thinking

    Despite their many differences, all human beings share several defining characteristics, such as large brains and the ability to walk upright on two legs.

    The first unique human characteristic is that humans have extraordinarily large brains compared with other animals. It seems obvious that evolution should select for larger brains. Mammals (哺乳动物) weighing sixty kilograms have an average brain size of 200 cm². Modern man has a brain averaging 1200-1400 cm². We are so fond of our high intelligence that we assume that when it comes to brain power, more must be better. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

    The fact is that a huge brain is a huge drain—consumption of energy—on the body. I's not easy to carry around, especially when boxed inside a massive skull (倾骨). It's even harder to provides energy. In modern man, the brain accounts for about 2-3%of total body weight but it consumes 25% of the body's energy when the body is at rest. By comparison, the brains of apes (类人猿) require only 8%of rest-time energy. Early humans pad for their large brains in two ways. Firstly, they spent more time in search food. Secondly, their muscles grew smaller and weaker. It's hardly an obvious conclusion that this is a good way to survive. A chimpanzee (黑猩猩) can't win an argument with a modern man, but it can tear the man apart like a rag doll.

    Another unique human characteristic is that we walk upright. Standing up, it's easier to find food or enemies. In addition, their arms that are unnecessary for moving around are freed for other purposes, like throwing stones or signaling. As a result, humans can perform very complex tasks with their hands.

    Yet walking upright has its disadvantage. The bone structure of our ancestors developed for millions of years to support a creature that walked on all fours and has a relatively small head. Adjusting to an upright position was quite a challenge, especially when the bones had to support an extra-large skull. Humankind paid for its broad vision and skillful hands backaches and painful necks.

    We assume that a large brain makes huge advantages. It seems obvious that these have made humankind the most powerful animal on earth. But humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they remained weak and marginal creature. Thus humans who lived a million years ago, despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, lived in constant fear of meat-eating animals.