The plan had been made to create a beautiful nature park with a large man-made lake on the outer parts of the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province. However, thanks to a terrible trick played by nature, what the officials have ended up with, is a natural sandy mess!

The government wanted to create a beautiful place where people of this busy industrial city could come to relax. But things did not quite turn out that way—shortly after digging up thousands of tons of sand, the underground water dried up. As a result, the dry sand has changed into a Sahara-like desert. While official reports show that the sand is piled up to 10 meters high, some people say that it is ten times more or about a 100-feet high in certain areas.

    If that is not bad enough, the sand hills that now spread across an area the size of four football fields, have influenced the environment. What's worse is that on windy days, the dry sand moves into the city center, making it almost impossible to drive and forcing people to wear face masks and protective eyewear to prevent the sand from getting into their eyes, nose, and mouth.

    In an act of trying to keep the sand and provide the illusion(幻想) of green fields, the officials have even tried covering it with a green plastic netting. However, that has not done much to improve the terrible situation!

    As you can imagine, many of Zhengzhou's residents are upset by the disaster. They think that desert wasteland that looks nothing like the green landscape they were promised, has resulted in polluting their pleasant city environment. Some think it is even stopping businessmen from coming to the city.

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    Lots of people like a good fright at Halloween. Yet, the most frightening thing of all about the night is that twice as many children are killed while out and about on Hallween compared to any other day of the year, according to a study by Safe Kids Worldwide. It can also be a worrying time for others, especially elderly people living alone. Bu many people think it's just harmless fun.

    But is it harmless fun?

    Police forces across Britain are giving warnings about Halloween night. They are asking all those wishing to celebrate Halloween this year to respect those who don't want to join in.

    Some forces, like West Mercia Police, have produced “Sorry, No Trick or Treat” posters which can be downloaded from their website, and put up in windows. They want people to send them to the old or anyone who may be frightened by ghosts(鬼)knocking on their doors.

    A spokesman said: “Children should not call on houses where the posters are put up, neither should they call on strangers, as this can put young people at risk and also make some house owners anxious, especially those who are elderly or living alone.”

    The police want all trick or treaters to remember that disturbing other people or throwing objects at their homes or cars are all criminal offences(刑事罪). “What may start off as a bit of fun could end up with someone getting a criminal record,” they warn. “Parents may want to consider having a Halloween party at home, instead.”

Kent Police are warning young people never to go into the home of someone they don't know—and to remember not to frighten people.

    Warwickshire Police are also warning that tricks may seem like harmless fun but can cause trouble to others. They say behaviour such as throwing eggs can quickly cross the line between being anti-social and causing criminal damage. This can result in fines of ￡2,500 for small offences.

Guide to Stockholm University Library

    Our library offers different types of studying places and provides a good studying environment.

    Zones

    The library is divided into different zones. The upper floor is a quiet zone with over a thousand places for silent reading, and places where you can sit and work with your own computer.  The reading places consist mostly of tables and chairs. The ground floor is the zone where you can talk. Here you can find sofas and armchairs for group work.

    Computers

    You can use your own computer to connect to the Wi-Fi specially prepared for notebook computers; you can also use library computers, which contain the most commonly used applications, such as Microsoft Office. They are situated in the area known as the Experimental Field on the ground floor.

    Group-study Places

    If you want to discuss freely without disturbing others, you can book a study room or sit at a table on the ground floor. Some study rooms are for 2-3 people and others can hold up to 6-8 people. All rooms are marked on the library maps. There are 40 group-study rooms that must be booked via the website. To book, you need an active University account and a valid University card. You can use a room three hours per day, nine hours at most per week.

    Storage of Study Material

    The library has lockers for students to store course literature. When you have obtained at least 40 credits (学分)， you may rent a locker and pay 400 SEK for a year's rental period.

    Rules to be Followed

    Mobile phone conversations are not permitted anywhere in the library. Keep your phone on silent as if you were in a lecture and exit the library if you need to receive calls.

    Please note that food and fruit are forbidden in the library, but you are allowed to have drinks and sweets with you.

    All of us spend a large part of our lives at home — eating, sleeping, relaxing and communicating with our family members. Our home is a shelter for us, away from the noisy, busy, and polluted world outside — a place where we can let down our hair and dress casually. Eco­friendliness (环保) is a hot word today and we all know we should make our environment as eco­friendly as possible. This is not only good for our health, but also good for the outward environment. Here are some easy and helpful tips to make your home eco­friendly.

    Kitchen

    Plan the kitchen to be bright and airy so that you don't have to turn on the lights at daytime. Don't make wasteful use of the gas. Keep all ingredients for cooking ready before lighting the gas. Turn it to low when not required — always using it on "high" burns a lot of gas.

    Indoor plants

    Plants are extremely eco­friendly and can be used to make your home look lively. Apart from adding life to home, they give out O_2, thus making the air inside fresh. You can keep plants in your home, but be sure to show them some sunlight regularly. Also, if they are kept outside, clean their leaves with a wet cloth, as dust may be added to them. A home decorated (装饰) with plants looks attractive. Plants are a natural home decorating gift that shows concern about the environment. A green plant is a wonderful gift which will protect the earth and is sure to be appreciated.

    Saving water

    Most of the time, we take water for granted — we keep water running while brushing our teeth or washing clothes. Needless to say, this is a huge waste of natural resources (资源). Try to recycle water. For example, the water used for washing vegetables can be used for watering plants; the soapy water used for washing clothes can be used to clean the bathroom and kitchen.

    When an ice cube melts, it creates a puddle (水坑). When an ice sheet (冰盖)melts, it raises sea levels. It sounds simple, but scientists have debated for decades whether both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets actually were shrinking, and how much that melting contributed to rising sea levels.

    Now, a new study has provided the best evidence of how the polar ice sheets are responding to our warming world. In the study, an international team of scientists looked at 20 years of' data in the ice sheets collected by 10 satellite missions. The team's conclusion: The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets both are losing ice overall. The researchers also found that between 1992 and 2011, melt water from those shrinking ice sheets caused sea levels to rise by about 11 millimeters.

    Over the 19 years studied, the Greenland ice sheet lost 2.7 trillion metric tons of ice. The Antarctic ice sheet also shrank by about 1.3 trillion metric tons. Previously, some scientists disagreed whether the Antarctic sheet, the largest mass of ice in the world, was shrinking or growing or neither.

    While the Earth is warming overall, the effect of climate change varies from region to region. Over the last 15 years, for example, scientists have something disagreed over how climate change has affected the polar ice sheets. Many studies found that the sheets lost a lot of ice and that not enough snow fell on the sheets to compensate for the loss. But other studies found that the loss of ice was balanced by the gain in snowfall.

    Richard Alley, a glacier scientist at Penn State University, said that many of those studies looked at different areas, and over different time periods. In addition, the studies didn't all use the satellite data in the same way. Those differences made, it difficult to compare the results.

    The data in the new study matched time periods and areas. The study also combined measurements from kinds of satellites.

    The weather affects many aspects of people's daily life. Knowing and understanding what the weather is doing is useful.

    However, the weather is also one of the most unpredictable elements in the world. Although many people watch the morning news and gather the information about the weather, this is often wrong. Whole days can be ruined by believing that the weather will be one thing, when it turns out to be another. However, owning wireless weather stations allows the owners to monitor the weather for themselves.

    Not only will these weather stations allow the owners to see what the weather is doing, but it is personalized(个性化)to them and their area. Wireless weather, stations are specifically prepared for the immediate neighborhood. Plans will be able to be made, and important decisions will no longer be ruined by bad weather.

    Although these weather stations are typically seen in homes, they can also be used very easily on farms and fishing boats. Both farmers and fishermen rely on the weather for their business and using up-to-date weather information is quite indispensable. By using the wireless weather stations, it can determine for them when to harvest crops and head back to the shore. Because of the size of the weather station, they can be moved very easily and used wherever necessary for people.

    The wireless weather stations are great for all homes, especially for areas that suffer from extreme weather conditions. The up-to-date, instant weather reports will allow a person to monitor what the weather is doing and if the bad weather is heading in their direction. Extreme weather tends to come very quickly; therefore, any information that is received is helpful.

    The weather stations are very simple to set up and are run by solar panels(太阳能板), ensuring they will work even if there is a power-cut. They are far smaller than those in previous years and give a couple of very simple read-outs for the owner. They are easy to use and fascinating to understand.