Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world.

    When it comes to cancer, the sooner you know you have it, the better your chances of surviving are.

    A new blood test could change the way doctors and researchers find cancer in patients. Researchers say the test could provide some hints of the early forms of the disease.

    Gareth Jenkins is a professor at the University of Swansea. He says he and his team did not look for cancer. They instead looked for a by-product of cancer, mutated (突变的) red blood cells. They looked for, what Jenkins calls, the collateral (附带的) damage of cancer—the damage left by the disease.

    “In this blood test we don't measure the presence of cancer，we measure the presence of mutated red blood cells which are the collateral damage that occurs—a by-product of the cancer developing.''

    The researchers used normal laboratory equipment to perform the tests. This equipment looks for changes in the structure of millions of red blood cells. Those mutated cells lack a surface protein (蛋白质) that healthy cells normally have.

    “The goal of the test is looking for very rare cells which have picked up a mutation. The number of mutated red blood cells in a healthy person is around 5 or so mutated cells per million; so, you have to look at millions of red blood cells to discover those rare events. The number increases in cancer patients—it goes up to 40 or 50 on average.”

    The researchers tested blood from about 300 people, all of whom have cancer of the esophagus (食管). Patients with esophageal cancer have high levels of mutated red blood cells. Jenkins says that at this point he is not sure if other cancers would produce similar results.

    The hope is that the new test could one day become part of commonly used medical methods to find out if a person has cancer. These new technologies could save millions of lives.

    More companies and recyclers are taking steps to ensure that old electronic devices such as TVs and computers aren't sent to poor countries.

    The Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based non-profit that largely exposed the overseas discarding (丢弃) of US electronic waste, on Thursday launched a programme to use third-party employees to certify (证实) recyclers who don't export dangerous electronic waste.

    The so-called e-Steward recyclers will also agree not to discard the waste in US landfills and agree to meet other criteria. The certification is intended to provide companies and consumers with some assurance that the waste, which can include toxins (毒素) such as lead and mercury, is disposed of safely.

    The Government Accountability Office, in a 2008 report, declared that US electronic waste was often disposed of unsafely in such countries as India. There, workers recycle gold, silver and copper from the waste, often in open-air acid baths.

    The Basel Network also says it won assurances from 13 organizations, including Samsung, Bank of America, Wells Far-go, that they'll use e-Steward recyclers whenever possible. Wells Fargo had already been using recyclers who declared not to export. So far, Basel has certified three recyclers and seven sites.

    Before e-stewards, even, companies that wanted to avoid export of electronic waste had to “hope for the best”, when, they handed their waste to recyclers, says Robert Houghton, president of Ohio-based recycler Redemtech. It is an e-Steward that counts major companies among its customers. “Now, they can get some proof,” Houghton says.

    Basel's standards compete with another set launched in January. It was made by industry and backed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

    That standard, called R-2, doesn't ban the export of dangerous electronic waste but requires that it be handled safely. Instead of a ban, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries says, efforts should be made to help poor countries develop safe recycling.

    La Tomatina, Spain

    Tomato juice flows through the streets of Bunol on the last Wednesday of August as the worlds largest tomato fight happens. Festivities begin in the town square where there is a huge pole covered in soap and with a leg of ham at the top. Participants try to climb up the pole to get the ham as watchers throw buckets of water to them. After a gun is fired to signal the beginning of the fight, people catch the tomatoes and throw each other in the streets until the gun sounds again, marking the end of the event.

    Holi, India

    This spring festival is celebrated throughout the country in late February or early March. The two-day event celebrates the legend of Prahlad, who escaped unharmed from the fire of the evil Holika Dahan. People mark the event by lighting fires and throwing colored powder on one another Children load colored water into toy pistols called pichkari and take aim at passers-by. Holi is known as a happy celebration of the victory of good over evil.

    Burning Man, Nevada

    This infamous festival began in 1986 with the burning of a large figure to mark the summer solstice (夏至). It's since grown into a week-long annual event that draws more than 48,000 people to the Black Rock Dessert. It is held during the week before Labor Day. Participants set up camp in the desert to celebrate art.

    Songkran, Thailand

    This festival marks the Thai New Year, which is celebrated in the second week of April. This is the hottest time of the year in Thailand, so it makes sense that the biggest Songkran tradition is to throw water on people. Thais of all ages join in water fights, using buckets, hoses (软管) and water guns to celebrate the event.

    It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers (生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features (特征) of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men's clothes tend to button from the right, and women's from the left. Considering most of the world's population—men and women—are right-handed, the men's standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women's clothes button from the left?

    History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women's shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men's shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.

    Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard f0r them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all Women's shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women's shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men's shirts.

    There are quite a few advantages of wearing school uniforms. The idea may seem disagreeable at first, but considering all the positive effects coming from wearing uniforms you would be more likely to enjoy them.

    Teachers love school uniforms because it helps provide an orderly learning environment. Having students dressed in uniforms may teach them how to present themselves in a neat and professional manner. It gives students the opportunity to learn how to dress like young ladies and gentleman. And they can focus their attention on academics rather than style.

    Purchasing(购买) school uniforms is easy and needs less hesitation and consideration. No matter what the school's policy is, there are only specific essential(基本的) pieces to the wardrobe(服装) that are necessary, so it won't break the bank. A few wardrobe items can last a long time. Parents could also enjoy an easy morning, as it will take less time to choose a set of clothes for the school day.

    Students wearing uniforms will feel less pressure about what to wear or not to wear when their classmates are dressed similarly. Getting dressed before school becomes less of a chore(琐事) when students are limited in their choices, so there shouldn't be any trouble about choosing an outfit for the day and getting ready quickly. Some students may not like the lack of individuality(个性) with a uniform, but some school dress code policies may offer them the opportunities to show their unique styles.

    Uniforms today are also becoming trendier and can be seen in many areas of pop culture. Celebrities(名人)and fashion designers are using uniforms as inspiration for new looks which also appeal to students.

    A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

    First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs. Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

    In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

    One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

    To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.