“One thing I enjoy about my job is that I can work on something that is actually active,” says Game McGimsey, an American volcanologist (火山学家). Part of his job includes keeping an eye on Alaska's many active volcanoes and giving people a heads-up when a volcano might erupt (喷发).

    Like most jobs in the sciences, volcanology requires a lot of education. McGimsey received an undergraduate degree in geology at the University of North Carolina, then landed an internship (实习期) with a geologist at the USGS (美国地质勘探局) whose area of expertise was volcanoes. After earning a graduate degree at the University of Colorado, McGimsey accepted a job with the USGS and has been with the Alaska Volcano Observatory for 25 years.

    Volcanoes can influence the world in ways we might not think about. For example, on Dec. 15, 1989, a 747 jetliner (a large airplane) flew through a thick ash (灰) cloud produced by Mount Redoubt, an Alaskan volcano that hadn't erupted in 25 years. The ash caused all four engines to die, and the plane's electronics went dead.

    “The plane was within several thousand feet of flying into the mountains below when the pilots got a couple of the engines restarted and landed safely in Anchorage,” McGimsey says. It cost nearly $80 million to repair the damage to the plane.

    Such situations show just how dangerous volcanoes can be. However, volcanologists know the risks and are prepared to protect themselves.

    “There is certainly a higher danger level in volcanology than some other jobs,” McGimsey admits. “We understand how serious the danger is, and we don't like taking unnecessary chances. We avoid getting too close to an erupting volcano, because it's not worth injury or death simply to get a rock or a photograph.”

    The National Gallery

    Description:

    The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of Trafalgar in London. It houses a diverse collection of more than 2,300 examples of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.

    Layout:

    The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th-to15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, Van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.

    The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titian and Veronese.

    The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.

    The East Wing houses 18th-to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.

    Opening Hours:

    The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm（Fridays 10am to 9pm）and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.

    Getting There:

    Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross (2-minute walk). Leicester Square (3-minute walk), Embankment (7-minute walk), and Piccadilly Circus (8-minute walk).

    In every British town, large and small, you will find shops that sell second-hand goods. Sometimes such shops deal mostly in furniture, sometimes in books, sometimes in ornaments（装饰） and household goods, sometimes even in clothes.

    The furniture may often be “antique”, and it may well have changed hands many times. It may also be very valuable, although the most valuable piece will usually go to the London salerooms, where one piece might well be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. As you look around these shops and see the polished wood of chests and tables, you cannot help thinking of those long-dead hands which polished that wood, of those now-closed eyes which once looked at these pieces with love.

    The books, too, may be antique and very precious; some may be rare first printings. Often when someone dies or has to move house, his books may all be sold, so that sometimes you may find whole libraries in one shop. One the border between England and Wales, there is a town which has become a huge bookshop as well. Even the cinema and castle have been taken over, and now books have replaced sheep as the town's main trade.

    There are also much more humble shops, sometimes simply called “junk shops”, where you can buy small household pieces very cheaply. Sometimes the profits（利润）from these shops go to charity（慈善事业）. Even these pieces, though, can make you feel sad; you think of those people who once treasured them, but who have moved on to another country or to death.

    Although the British do not worship（崇拜）their ancestors, they do treasure the past and the things of the past. This is true of houses as well. These days no one knocks them down; they are rebuilt until they are often better than new. In Britain, people do not buy something just because it is new. Old things are treasured for their proven worth; new things have to prove themselves before they are accepted.

    We don't know how different our future will be in the future. We can only try to imagine it.

    At first we think about human relationship. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will be making new friends through the Internet—even our husbands or wives will be met in this way. It will be much faster and easier for us. On the other hand, our relationships with people won't be as important as they are today—we will feel a little lonely.

    Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050.For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.

    Spending holidays will also be completely different. Traveling to other planets or to the moon will be available for everyone. Means of transport will, of course, change, too. We will be using solar­powered cars, which will be much more environmentally friendly.

    We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn't true. We will pay more attention to protecting the environment. And, scientists will probably find cures for many dangerous diseases, like cancer or AIDS. Therefore, our surroundings as well as health will be in better condition.

    Although we can't predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children's future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather optimistic about our future. We should be happy and believe good things will happen.

    If you love eating and drinking for free and are looking to make some pocket money, there's a job in China with your name on it. A new type of online service allows people to hire others either to eat or drink their favorite treats or satisfy their appetite without the calories that usually come with it.

    Chinese media recently reported on an increasingly popular service on online platform Taobao that's as startling as it is appealing. People can now go online and hire others to consume certain foods and drinks, and ask them to provide video evidence of them eating or drinking the said treats.

    Fees usually range from two to nine yuan ($0.30 - $1.35) plus the cost of the food. It's not exactly a get-rich-quick job, but there are quite a lot of people willing to do it for the free treats alone.

    "Bubble tea drinking" is a particularly popular service, as the chewy tapioca(木薯粉) balls and popping drink is all the rage in Asia these days, but there are also ads from people willing to eat fried chicken or hot pot for anyone willing to pay for them.

    Advertised as being "fat-free" and "free of queues", those who pay for the service will receive the full experience, which includes a 360-degree video of the drink, photos, and a detailed description. Prices of the service are based on the drink's sweetness level, its price, and popularity. Some clients even require a short written review to be sure that the person they hired actually does what they are supposed to.

    Sellers explained that most customers buy their "Bubble tea drinking" service maybe because they're trying to shake off desires while they're on a diet. Drinking bubble tea by proxy may help customers avoid high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and other health problems that the sugar-laden drink may cause.

    So why would anyone pay a total stranger to enjoy a treat rather than consume it themselves? Well, apparently, the online service is so cheap that some people simply do it out of boredom, while others get satisfaction from watching others indulge in their favorite treats.

    This indulging-by-proxy service(代享受服务)has received a lot of attention on social media in China, with some people describing it as the job of their dreams.

     At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

     It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of the use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when email is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.  

     Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just an online email, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

     Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. "I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling," said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity.

     The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.