Ad 1

April Fool's party

On Friday, April 1, Inner Affair goes back to the days of funk! Classic Tunes from the 70's and 80's by DJs Den & Sion, 9pm till late.

Tickets: Free entrance for those in costume, otherwise 50 yuan (US$6)

Time/Date: 9 pm, April 1

Place: Inner Affair, 1/F Qiankun Dasha, 6 Sanlitun Xiliujie, Chaoyang District

Tel: 8454-0321

Ad 2

The "worst" party

Organized by ozone productions, the party is set to be "the worst ever", with the lamest music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Special prizes will be awarded to the worst dressed or for bad fashion sense.

Tickets: Free entrance

Time/Date: 9 pm, April 1

Place: Pula Pula, Tianze Lu, Oriental Seven Colours Plaza, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6466-8575

Ad 3

La Nuit Francaise

Again on the 2nd Thursday of the month La Nuit Francaise will be held at Le Rendezvous. The monthly event is an opportunity for all French people and everyone interested in France or speaking French to gather together.

The evening features three glasses of wine for participants and a special exhibition.

Time/Date: 7 to 10 pm, April 14

Place: Le Rendezvous, 3 Gongti Beilu, across from the Pacific Century Plaza, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6462-9110

Ad 4

Marco V

Dutch DJ Marco V drops by Banana for a gig which is supported by Hong Kong's DJ Spark.

Marco V has been around for many years, as an inventive, style blending deejay and a successful and devoted producer. His spinning is energetic, crowd pleasing and never sees an empty dance floor. He was ranked No. 15 in this year's international DJ MAG DJ Top100.

Tickets: 40 yuan (US$4.80) in advance, 50 yuan (US$6) at the door, both including a free drink

Time/Date: 10 pm to 4 am, March 31, April 1

Place: Banana, in the lobby of the Scitech Hotel, 22 Jianwai Dajie, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6528-3636

    The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world's supply of water. With 97% of the world's water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage(短缺)seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world's agricultural industries experience constant water shortages.

    Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution(重新分配)are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys(山谷)are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements. This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation. In Texas, farmers' overuse of irrigation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores.

    In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.

    Saudi Arabia's attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    A heated debate is currently going on in our town.Should we allow the cinema to be constructed in the Havenswood Shopping Center? There is just one large lot left to build on,and the theater would use up all of that space.Some people are excited at the idea of finally having our own movie theater.Others would rather travel ten miles to the nearest theater to keep our quiet town the way it is.They say it is enough to have Marvin's Movie Video Rentals.After all,Marvin's store keeps thousands of the latest videos.

    There are certainly benefits to renting videos.For one thing,you can plan your own schedule when it is convenient for you.You can relax on your sofa,and take a break whenever you need one.You can also talk to others without bothering any strangers seated nearby.In additional,it is a less expensive way to view a movie compared to going to a theater.

    On the other hand,seeing a movie in a theater is an experience all its own.First,you can see the movie on wide screen as the filmmaker intended.To be viewed on a television screen,a film must be changed in some way to make it smaller.One is the “pan-and-scan” method,which involves removing some of the details in the picture.The other way,called “letterboxing”,keeps the image the way it is on the big screen,with one annoying exception; because the big-screen version is wide,the same picture on a television screen must be long and narrow.

    Another problem is sound.The sound from a television cannot compare to the sound system in a theater.Your experience of a movie improves when you can clearly hear all of the sounds.Furthermore,at home,viewing companions often talk during a movie,which makes you miss out on what's happening in the film.

    Besides,having a movie theater will not mean that you can't still go to Marvin's! You will just have a choice that you didn't have before.Isn't it time for Havenswood residents to enjoy a little progress?

    Venus, the Wildest Adventure in 3016!

    A trip to the moon, to Mars? You are out. Venus (金星) is your choice! Our spaceship carries you there at the speed of light!

    Amazing Venus Facts

    Temperature range: ALWAYS about 450 degrees Celsius. Great for barbecues!

    Seasons: No seasons. Always visit during best season!

    Gravity strength: 0.91 of Earth's gravity. Makes you lighter and more alive than ever!

    Water: NONE. All boiled away.

    Day length: 1 day=243 Earth days. Longest days in solar system» so fun never ends!

    Rate of turning: 0.002 km/second. Turns in opposite direction of the earth, so able to see sun rise in the west and set in the east.

    Year length: 1 year=224.7 Earth days or 0.62 of an Earth year.

    Rate of revolution: 35.03 km/second.

    Atmosphere:

    Very thick.

    96% carbon dioxide; 3% nitrogen, and 0.1% water vapor.

    Can't support life: Suffocating carbon dioxide, thick clouds of sulfuric acid, and gases create greenhouse effect so very hot and no water.

You might think people all over the United States have Wi-Fi—wireless Internet service—and mobile phones. But there is no such service in Green Bank, West Virginia, a tiny town four hours from the U.S. capital, Washington D.C. Fewer than 150 people live in Green Bank, which has two churches, an elementary school and a public library. It is also home to the largest radio telescope in the world.

    There is a ban on Wi-Fi in Green Bank, along with anything else that can create electromagnetic(电磁的)waves. Officials say the waves could disturb the signals the telescope receives.

For many Americans, a visit to Green Bank is a little like returning to the 1950s. To get there, you must read road signs—because there is no GPS service in the town. People can connect with the Internet through telephones, but wireless service is not allowed.

    The observatory(天文台)is one of the largest employers in the area. The federal National Science Foundation(NSF) spends about ＄8.2 million a year to operate the observatory, telescope and educational center.

    Jonah Bauserman is a technician. If he supposes there is signal that is not allowed in the zone, he drives to the house where the signal is coming from and checks it. But once a week, when the device is cleaned, some banned devices are allowed near it.

    People in the town respect the work of the scientists. And they say they are happy to live without Wi-Fi and mobile phones. "You know, instead of sitting here on our phones and other devices we're out fishing and hunting and going to each other's houses." Everyone knows each other and communication is almost always face-to-face.

    We talk continuously about how to make children more "resilient (有恢复力的)"，but whatever we're doing, it's not working. Rates of anxiety disorders and depression are rising rapidly among teenagers. What are we doing wrong?

    Nassim Taleb invented the word "antifragile" and used it to describe a small but very important class of systems that gain from shocks, challenges, and disorder. The immune (免疫的) system is one of them: it requires exposure to certain kinds of bacteria and potential allergens (过敏原) in childhood in order to develop to its full ability.

    Children's social and emotional abilities are as antifragile as their immune systems. If we overprotect kids and keep them "safe" from unpleasant social situations and negative emotions, we deprive (剥夺) them of the challenges and opportunities for self-building they need to grow strong. Such children are likely to suffer more when exposed later to other unpleasant but ordinary life events, such as teasing and social rejection.

    It's not the kids' fault. In the UK, as in the US, parents became much more fearful in the1980s and 1990s as cable TV and later the Internet exposed everyone, more and more, to those rare occurrences of crimes and accidents that now occur less and less. Outdoor play and independent mobility went down; screen time and adult-monitored activities went up.

    Yet free play in which kids work out their own rules of engagement, take small risks, and learn to master small dangers turns out to be vital for the development of adult social and even physical competence. Depriving them of free play prevents their social-emotional growth. Norwegian play researchers Ellen Sandseter and Leif Kennair warned: "We may observe an increased anxiety or mental disorders in society if children are forbidden from participating in age adequate risky play."

    They wrote those words in 2011. Over the following few years, their prediction came true. Kids born after 1994 are suffering from much higher rates of anxiety disorders and depression than did the previous generation. Besides, there is also a rise in the rate at which teenage girls are admitted to hospital for deliberately harming themselves.

    What can we do to change these trends? How can we raise kids strong enough to handle the ordinary and extraordinary challenges of life? We can't guarantee that giving primary school children more independence today will bring down the rate of teenage suicide tomorrow. The links between childhood overprotection and teenage mental illness are suggestive but not clear-cut. Yet there are good reasons to suspect that by depriving our naturally antifragile kids of the wide range of experiences they need to become strong, we are systematically preventing their growth. We should let go­and let them grow.