Name: Dean (49712059)

Date: 27/3/2009

Article# 2

My reaction:

When reading this article, I think that the century of expensive car is changing, and replaced by small cars.

There are two reasons due to the rise of that Indian car. As we know, the economy of the world is withering and hasn't reached to the end. Everyone starts to spend less money in case any unexpected. As for the vehicles users, it would be a burden if they drive the former car that consumes lots of energy, especially in USA. Those cars are large and heavy and consume much more fuel than small ones; the most important one is the high price. That makes the consumers reluctant to purchase car and then the economy is getting worse. Therefore, Nano, the ultra cheap cars produced in India have become popular because of the light weight and cheap price. That would help the buyers ease the financial burden. In addition, global warming is getting serious than before. Consequently, people start to concern about the environment. For example, they use bio fuel instead of fossil fuel and purchase more small cars.

The next one is the drawback. Since it is small cars, normally the gasoline container is small as well. Therefore, it isn't appropriate for long distance drive. If you want to go somewhere remote, you have to take public transport. That would be inconviniet. (203words)

Name: Dean(49712059)

Date:12/3/2009

Article# 1

My reaction:

While reading this article, I am interested in it. As I know, there are many ways to advise people not to drink frequently but most of them are boring.

At first, the new ways include sending mobile phone text messages, posting video clips that feature the consequences of drinking and writing articles. These are relevant to our daily life. Therefore, we will be constantly and chronically edified. For example, the former one is a good idea. When people receive the message before starting to drink, they would think twice as for considering what they do like driving, also it is a pretty caring advice that we found that some one consider us as well as not be alone, just as a friend's reminding.

However, we should think of the effect of it. Since the economy of the entire world is going to the dogs, we might have heard of the news of lying off employees. Those unemployed prefer drinking in order to escape from the reality. Consequently, the number of drinkers is increasing. Most of them are in bad mood during drinking and they are unwilling to be disturbed from outside world. Thus, the above measures are useless. In my opinion, the best way is to seek for professional's help and tell them your situation.

In addition, some liquor companies support this idea, but their intention is making money. Not purely for it. They do this for getting famous and then sell their products easily. That is not only save the advertising cost but also fulfill their goal. The idea at last carries an odor of commerce. (206words)

Japanese whaler reported missing

Name: Dean (49712059)

Date: 8/1/2009

Article# 13

From: BBC

Japanese whaler reported missing

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7812820.stm)

My reaction:

The news is about a tragedy that happened in whaling ship in the Antarctic. A sailor was missing for several until now.

At the beginning, I think that whaling is one of the most dangerous industries in the world. Alike fishermen, the whalers have to deal with the problem most of their time: The weather. As we know, weather always plays a role of death in the sea world because of its unpredictable character. Sometimes it is sunny, sometimes it is stormy. You can't predict it even though you have sophisticated equipment. Therefore, the seamen depend on the seasons that often happens hurricanes or other disasters. However, the time which harvests the most is in the hurricane season. Thus, some of the sailors would take risk sailing. If you win the weather, you will get your reward; otherwise, you will pay your life. That sounds like gambling, but it is true.

Next, it is about living problem. Since the sail takes several months or maybe a year, it is crucial to store medicines. In a wild sea, there is no way to seek for help if something happens. For instance, scurvy is a common disease which is found among sailors. If someone suffers from it, you have no way to help unless you get any medicines.
Then, why the whalers risk their life working? I think it is because of the high profit. Since whale's whole body can be made into something like lipsticks. It consists the fat of whales' and the cost of extraction is low; In addition, women like making-up. They would spend all of their money on cosmetics. Then lipsticks would become their target. This business is worth millions of dollars.

On the other hand, many environmentists and animal protectors go against with them because of the way of hunting whales. The way they use is cruel. They drag the wounded whales and kill them alive. It is a bloody scene. The animals should not suffer this kind of pain and we, human, have no rights to do this. Therefore, the animal protectors often shoot that video in other to sue the whaling companies. (190words)

Mosquito blood 'identifies thief'

Name: Dean (49712059)

Date: 25/12/2008

Article# 12

From: BBC

Mosquito blood ‘identifies thief’
(http://www.news.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7795725.stm)

My reaction:

The news is about a car stolen case that was solved by Crime Scene Investigation which found the suspect’s blood in a mosquito.

At, the beginning, I felt quiet interesting that depended on such a tiny little bug to find out the truth. It was ridiculous. However, we shouldn’t lookdown any creature’s ability. Since the mankind has become the master of the world, they ignored everything as they thought they can solve all problems by the intelligence. That is arrogance. For example, there is a story about a rat and a lion. One day, the lion was trapped by hunting net. The rat wanted to help it but was laughed by the lion because of its size. Nevertheless, the rat saved the lion by biting the net.
What I learned was no matter how great we are, we ought to learn from other species’ strength. Learning is essential to human development as well as the way to improve our society. If we keep ignoring anything, we will be out in the food chain. We could use their strength on technology. For instant, we train dolphins to detect the water bombs. That could decline the number of injuries.

In addition, I found that there is no way to escape the net of justice if you committed crime. Every criminal leaves glues in the crime scene no matter how well you organize. Therefore, to those wanted, you will fall into the net finally.(190words)

Boost for 'light' cigarette cases

Name: Dean (49712059)

Date: 18/12/2008

Article# 10

From: BBC

Boost for 'light' cigarette cases

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7784323.stm

My reaction:

The news is about a tobacco company which has been sued for fraud in the United state.

In my opinion, it is an approach that cheats the smoker that “light” cigarettes are healthier than normal ones. In fact, they are more or less the same. The smoker thought light cigarettes are less harmful ingredients like nicotine, tar than the normal ones. Therefore, they are misled by the advertisements and start to try the former one. However, the more they puff at, the more chances they get cancer.

This is a common phenomenon that I have often seen. Some apparently harmful materials are added in commodities that are made in china. But the ethical traders still claim that those “qualified” products have problems after we had used. For example, milk powder, being added the industrial used chemical “melamine”, proved that it makes people easily get disease such as kidney stones as well as affects children’s intelligence. In this case, their dishonest behaviour has broken our heart and has trod our faith. They did it for money. I wonder if they felt guilty while spending the dirty money. If they still have conscience, just stop earning the dirty money. In addition, the customs unit has the responsibility to forbid the hazardous goods. Once it gets the job done, we won’t be deceived by the dishonest traders. (200words)

Child obesity 'may harm thyroid'

Name: Dean (49712059)

Date: 11/12/2008

Article# 10

From: BBC

Child obesity 'may harm thyroid'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7762471.stm

My reaction:

The news is about the problem which the children in England suffered from obesity.

First, the problem has been bothering to the English society. Most children have a habit of picking food which means they eat a certain kind of food and rule out the food they dislike of their list. They choose the fast food because of the heavy flavour like salting, sweetie and so on. Therefore, chefs in schools or in restaurants provide this kind of meal to the children. That cultivates a bad habit so that they have less chance to absorb other nutrients and weaken their immune system that causes some kind of chronic decease such as high blood pressure, diabetes.

Second, because of the concept of time-is-money, many people on work prefer fast food to normal food. Fast food is mainly deep-fried; it requires no skill but some oil, then you merely take five minutes and have the meal. Therefore, it becomes popular. However, this kind of food is not healthy. A research showed that fast food like fried chicken, French fried provides five or six times of calories than normal food while being cooked. It is not easy to consume the excessive energy from fast food if you don’t exercise at least twenty minutes. In addition, most children like playing computer games instead of joining outdoor activities. Thus, they lack of a way consuming calories.

As a result, I think the cure depends on the government. If it forces schools not to sale any food exceeding too much calories, the situation will be better. (200words)

Wal-Mart worker dies in sale rush

Name: Dean (49712059)

Date: 4/12/2008

Article# 9

From: BBC

Wal-Mart worker dies in sale rush

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7755278.stm

My reaction:

The news is about a tragedy that happened at a Wal-Mart store in the New York suburbs. One of the staff died of being trampled by customers.

First, it happened after the Thanksgiving Day. The Wal-Mart store promoted a serious of steep price reduction in order to attract consumers. Therefore, many bargain-hunters who shop for cheap goods queued up in front of it. When the store was opening, those bargain-hunters stormed in it without any consideration, just grabbed what they want. It exposed that the people lacked of moral education and the manager of the store under estimated the number of crowd.

In USA, the Thanksgiving Day is one of the important festivals. Many families would spend much money celebrating it no matter rich and poor. It almost holds the half of the income of all retailers. However, this time, the Wal-Mart store couldn't consider about the loss of control happened in New York's branch. They thought they could control the situation In fact, they couldn't. They didn't expect how zealous the crowd was and the crowd flocked into the store as it opened. After that, the staff didn't try to calm them down. Moreover, I think those people lost their mind for cheap stuff. As a citizen, we should show our respect and politeness. Those crowds were afraid of losing the chance of buying their favourites. Therefore, they pushed each other for getting a good place where they could enter the shop faster. That was a bad example for children. If they learn that behaviour, the entire society will be in chaos.

As a result, we should learn more about the toleration. If someone pushes you in the above case, you should tell the person politely instead of pushing him back. If any had done the above movement, the tragedy wouldn't have happened.(203words)