growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants. The electronic waste stream is

increasing three times faster than traditional garbage as a whole.

        Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver. A Swiss study reported that while the 

weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste, the 

concentration (含量) of gold and other precious metals was higher in            So-called e-waste than in naturally 

occurring minerals.

         Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals. Even when the machines are recycled and the harmful 

metals removed, the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries, in practically uncontrolled ways which 

allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.

         Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material, up to 100 times more, than the 

material contained in the finished products. Consider again the cell-phone, and imagine the mines that produced 

those metals, the factories needed to make the box and packaging(包装) it came in. Many wastes produced in the

producing process are harmful as well.

        The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that “the production, 

distribution, and use of products — as well as management of the resulting waste — all result in greenhouse gas 

release.” Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start — for instance, buying 

reusable products and recycling.

        In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been put in place 

as an incentive (动机) for reducing waste. If producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their 

products, would they reduce the packaging in the first place?

Governments' incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce is usually

based on money. Why, they ask, should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap (气

泡垫) that encased your television?

From the governments' point of view, a primary goal of laws requiring extended producer responsibility is to

transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from the government and tax-payers 

back to the producers.

    A student's life is never easy. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} A lot of preparations are needed so you can be sure to go back home with a diploma and a bright future waiting for you. The following are some basic things you need to do before even seizing that passport and boarding on the plane.

Knowing the country.

    You shouldn't bother researching the country's hottest tourist spots or historical places. You won't go there as a tourist, but as a student. It'll be helpful to read the most important points in their history and to read up on their culture. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You surely don't want to face legal problems, especially if you're away from home.

Studying their language.

    Don't expect that you can graduate abroad without knowing even the basics of the language. Before leaving your home country, take online lessons to at least master some of their words and sentences. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Doing this will also prepare you in communicating with those who can't speak English.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Check the conversion（兑换）of your money to their local currency, set up your bank account so you can use it there, get an insurance, and find an apartment. The Internet or your intended school will be very helpful in finding an apartment and helping you understand local currency.

    Remember, you're not only carrying your own reputation but your country's reputation as well. If you act foolishly, people there might think that all of your country men are foolish as well. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Packing your clothes.

B. Preparing for other needs.

C. Most importantly, read about their laws.

D. This will be useful in living and studying there.

E. That would surely be a very bad start for your study abroad program.

F. Going with their trends will keep it from being too obvious that you're a foreigner.

G. And it is even more difficult if you will have to complete your study in a foreign land.

    The World Health Organization, the WHO, says the disease Ebola is spreading in West Africa. The situation frightens both local citizens and travelers.

    There is no vaccine(疫苗) or special treatment. And the fatality(致命) rate is very high. That rate represents the number of people who get sick from Ebola and then die. Ebola can kill up to 90 percent of those infected.

    It is difficult to stop Ebola from spreading. It moves easily from person to person. The disease strikes its victims through direct contact with the blood or other liquid from the body of an infected person. For that reason Ebola patients must be kept away from other people. The bodies of victims still contain the virus days after they die. Local traditions and burial customs also make the sickness hard to control. Doctors say it is important to identify an Ebola case early to prevent others from becoming infected. Patients suffer from high body temperature, bleeding and so on.

    Only a few prevention measures exist. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, the CDC, and the WHO suggest staying away from countries with confirmed(被证实的) Ebola cases. People at increased threat include those working in animal research, health care workers and others caring for patients in the community.

    As of July 15, 2014, the WHO says Ebola killed 68 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the three countries where the disease has been confirmed. A patient in Ghana was suspected of having Ebola, but tests did not show the sickness. Ghanaian observers say the man has since died from unknown causes. The victim was an American citizen.

    In the past, cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Sudan, and Uganda.

    Doctors advise careful protective measures if you must go to an area where Ebola exists.

    Wash your hands often. If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer（消毒杀菌剂）—or cleaner —containing at least 60 percent alcohol. Avoid eating monkeys or other wild meat. Stay away from mines and places where bats and other rodents may live.

    If Ebola has been identified directly around you, the CDC and WHO strongly suggest wearing protective clothing. Cover your face and hands. Goggles(护目镜) can help protect the eyes. Try to remove Ebola germs (细菌) with cleaners that fight infection.

    As businesses and governments have struggled to understand the so-called millennials—born between roughly 1980 and 2000—one frequent conclusion has been that they have a unique love of cities. A deep-seated preference for night life and subways, the thinking goes, has driven the revitalization of urban cores across the U.S. over the last decade-plus.

    But there's mounting evidence that millennials' love of cities was a passing fling(放纵). Millennials don't love cities any more than previous generations.

    The latest argument comes from Dowell Myers, an urban planning professor at USC. As they age, says Myers, millennials' presence in cities, will "be evaporating(蒸发) through our fingers, if we don't make some plans now." That's because millennials' preference for cities will fade as they start families and become more established in their careers.

    It's about more than aging, though. Demographer William Frey has been arguing for years that millennials have become stuck in cities by the 2008 downturn and the following slow recovery, with poor job prospects and declining wages making it harder for them to afford to buy homes in suburbia.

    Myers, too, says observers have confused young people's presence in cities with a preference for cities. Survey data shows that more millennials would like to be living in the suburbs than actually are. But the normal career and family cycles moving young people from cities into suburban houses have become, in Myers' words, "a plugged up drain."

    But unemployment has finally returned to healthy lows (though participation rates and wages are still largely stagnant), which Myers says should finally increase mobility for millennials.

    Other trends among millennials, supposedly matters of lifestyle preference, have already turned out to have been driven mostly by economics. What was once deemed their broad preference for public transit may have always been a now-reversing inability to afford cars. Even decades-long trends towards marrying later have been accentuated as today's young people struggle for financial stability.

    Investors are already taking the idea that millennials will return to old behavior patterns seriously, putting more money into auto manufacturers and developers. But urban lifestyles, up to and including trendy bars, aren't just hip—they're a part of what powers a city's economic engines, bringing people together to explore new ideas, create companies, and build careers.

    From the 1960s to the 1990s, we saw that suburbanization(城市郊区化)also means an economic and social hollowing out for cities. Now that the economic shackles are coming off today's young city residents, cities that want to stay vibrant(充满生机的) have to figure out how to convince them—and their growing families—to stick around.

Things to Do in Atlanta

    Need a rundown of the top things to do this weekend? Here is what's on in Atlanta.

    In the Mood

    Date: May 22 through May 26, 2019

    Time: 2:00 p.m. ~ 5:30 p.m.

Phone: 770-916-2800

    If you love the music of the 1940s, then here's what you need to do this Sunday. Go to a 1940s musical show at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. The music of Glenn Miller has a distinctive sound. No need to ask me twice. Are you “In the mood”?

    Party With the Penguins (企鹅)

    Date: May 20 through May 25, 2019

    Time: 11:30 a.m. ~ 2:00 p.m.

Phone: 404-581-4000

Celebrate Penguin Awareness Day at Georgia Aquariums annual party with the penguins. The party will feature fun activities, including the chance to see an African penguin up close and learn how to help protect these endangered species.

    Callanwolde Arts Festival

    Date: May 21 to May 22, 2019

    Time: 10:30 a.m. ~ 5:30 p.m.

Phone: 404-872-5338

    Located at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, this event is a festival for artists and by artists, letting them have a voice in the creation and operations of the festival. If you are of the artistic persuasion or enjoy a creative scene, don't miss out.

    Foollio's Hoodilly Storytime

    Date: May 21 through May 27, 2019

    Time: 1:00 p.m. ~ 4:30 p.m.

Phone: 404-523-3141

    We make up a brand-new story every week. Come and enjoy a new story each time at Dad's Garage Theater. Little ones will get to help provide key parts of the story and even add in their own jokes. Interactive and out-of-the-ordinary fun for kids and parents!

    The Huaqing Palace Heritage Site

    Address: At the foot of Lishan Mountain in Lintong, 30 kilometers east of Xi'an.

    Opening hours: From March to November: 7:00-18:00;

    From December to February: 7:30-18:30.

    Bus routes: 914, 915, U5, and 306.