Ashkelon Academic College
English for Academic Purposes
Steps
to
Academic Reading
Beginners Two
)2 ‫(מתחילים‬
Compiled and edited by the English Department
‫לשימוש פנימי ולצורכי לימוד בלבד‬
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 2: Reading Passages
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The Power of the Mind
Good Luck Superstitions
Reading Hands
1. Identity Theft
Virgin Olive Oil and a Mediterranean Diet Fight Heart Disease
The Pace of Life
7.
8
.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16
17.
18.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Were You Born to Rebel?
Older People Eating Enough Fruit and Vegetables Might Cause
Serious Problems for Rural England
Surfing the Net
Adaptation : The Key to Survival
Secondhand Smoke
Multitasking
Teen Dating Violence
It's War on Supermarket Waste
Web Plagiarism
Psychologically Speaking: Feeling SAD
In a Digital Future
Five Ways Women Can Save the World
2
3
5
7
10
12
14
16
18
21
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
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The Power of the Mind
1.
It looked like a medical miracle, and in a way it was one. Before undergoing
brain surgery for her Parkinson's disease, the patient could hardly take a step. A
month or two later, the same woman could walk easily across the room. The
miraculous part is that her
operation was a sham. As part of a remarkable study of
cell transplantation, researchers had placed her under anesthesia and made holes
in her skull - but they hadn't placed any new cells in her brain. Her dramatic
improvement was due entirely to what is known as the placebo response. That is,
she recovered because she thought the doctors had operated on her. The study
concluded, in fact, that patients, who had the sham procedure, benefited almost as
much as those who had cells implanted in their brains.
2.
For decades, the placebo response has been considered as the last solution of
doctors who had no real treatments to offer, and the fantasy improvement of patients
with imaginary illnesses. But the placebo response has finally become the subject of
serious scientific study. In one recent experiment, kids who have asthma were given a
vanilla smell with their asthma medicine. Eventually, they reduced their asthma by the
vanilla smell alone. Clearly the mind can heal the body when given hope and
expectation. The question is whether we can use the power of placebos in other
treatments. I believe we can.
3. Researchers have found several ways in which mental states are connected to
physical health. We know, for example, that calming thoughts slow the production of
harmful stress hormones. Mental states can also affect the immune system and
trigger the release of internal painkillers known as endorphins. Physicians may
someday manipulate these systems mechanically, by controlling nerves. But until
then, sugar pills and sham surgeries are not the only tools we have. Almost anything
that sends a patient the message - someone is listening to me; other people care
about me; there's an explanation for my symptoms - can significantly improve health.
3
In one study, Canadian researchers followed people who had recently gone to their
family physicians about headaches. The patients who said their doctors had listened
closely to them also reported getting more relief. The difference was still considerable
a year after the visit.
4. We can get more out of medical treatment by getting a sense of control. In one
study, researchers taught their patients how to be more assertive when they visit
their physicians. The patients who learned to be "in charge" showed less disability
than their untrained peers. In another study, researchers taught a group of older
patients how to make more choices in their daily lives. For the next year they
enjoyed better health and lower mortality. Anyone can apply these strategies to
achieve better health. That's why sugar pills are such powerful medicine. The
power lies not in the pills, but in ourselves.
Bibliography/Works Cited: Harrington, Anne, ed. 1997. The Placebo Effect: An
Interdisciplinary Exploration. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Christopher G.
Goetz, MD, et al: “Placebo response in Parkinson's disease: Comparisons among 11
trials covering medical and surgical interventions” Movement Disorders. January 2008.
Becky Levine: “Putting the Patient in Charge.” Duke University Medical School Office of
Publications. December 2006.
4
Good Luck and Bad Luck Superstitions
1.
Napoleon feared black cats; Socrates feared the evil eye; Julius Caesar feared
dreams. Henry VIII claimed witchcraft trapped him into a marriage with Anne Boleyn.
Peter the Great was terrified of crossing bridges. Bad luck superstitions still keep
many people in different countries from walking under a ladder, opening an umbrella
indoors, or planning activities for Friday the 13th.
2.
Because of their irrational nature, superstitious beliefs should have disappeared
with the development of education and the progress of science. Yet, even today,
most people would admit to cherishing one or two superstitions such as seeing a
symbol of good luck, a wishbone, or a symbol of bad luck, a broken mirror.
Nowadays, there seems to be no logical reason for these superstitions.
www.associatedcontent.com
3.
The origins of superstitions lie in earlier man's need to understand his world.
Primitive man was seeking explanations for natural phenomena such as lightning,
thunder, eclipses, birth and death. At the same time, he lacked knowledge of the laws
of nature so he developed a belief in spirits. He was sure that there is a miracle of a
5
tree sprouting from a seed, or a frog developing from a tadpole, that pointed to the
influence of these spirits. Primitive man's daily existence was full of hardships and
evil. As a result, he assumed that these spirits were more often cruel than kind.
4.
Our ancestors (forefathers) believed in miracles, in signs and wonders, eclipses
and comets, in the virtues of bones, and in the powers attributed to evil spirits. The
world was supposed to be full of magic; the spirits were sleight-of-hand performers -magicians. There were no natural causes for events. A devil wished, and it
happened. Natural causes were not believed in. Delusion and illusion, the monstrous
and miraculous, ruled the world. While our ancestors filled the darkness with evil
spirits or enemies of mankind, they also believed in the existence of good spirits.
These good spirits protected the faithful from the temptations and snares of the
Satan.
5.
Now we are convinced of what is called the "uniformity of nature." We believe
that all things act and are acted upon in accordance with their character. We believe
that the results will always be to a large extent the same if the conditions are the
same.. A person who can analyze, think, investigate and evaluate evidence cannot
believe in signs. No person can believe in lucky days or unlucky days, in lucky
numbers or unlucky numbers. He knows that Fridays and Thursdays are the same;
that the number 13 is no more deadly than the number 12.
6.
Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll * once said: “Man should think; he should use all
his senses; he should examine; he should reason. The man who cannot think is less
than man; the man who will not think is traitor to himself; the man who fears to think
is superstition's slave.”
[*Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll (August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899) was a Civil War veteran,
American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, is noted for his
broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism.]
Bibliography/Works Cited: Wikipedia on Robert G. Ingersoll. Josh Sens, "Some Don't
Count on lucky", Via Magazine, January 2004.
6
Reading Hands
(Adapted) The Hand Reveals - Download Version
A Complete Guide To Cheiromancy, The Western Tradition of Handreading
by Dylan Warren-Davis
1.
Palmistry, the reading of hands, is the ancient practice of telling a person's
character from the lines, size, shape and texture of the hand. Even though palm
readers still flourish in the Orient as well as in the western world, scientists and other
scientifically minded people have not supported the art of palmistry enthusiastically.
Despite acknowledging the importance of the development of the hand to our human
evolution, science has generally viewed palmistry with great doubts. Are the crease
marks in the skin connected to the mechanical folding of the hand or are they linked to
the consciousness of the person? If linked, do they relate to specific events and
experiences in the person’s life? Scientists have regarded such an idea as nonsense.
2.
Palmists assume that the lines develop on the fetal palm between the seventh and
tenth weeks of embryological development, whereas only by the twelfth week are the
muscles sufficiently developed to begin the first primitive movements of the hand.Thus,
the lines are clearly present on the palm two weeks before hand movement is possible.
3.
Supporters contend that it isn't mysticism but that there are logical principles
to the marks on the palms. First of all, they claim that our skin often shows emotions
and state of mind because of the connection between the brain, the nervous system
and the skin. Furthermore, in the same way that specific brain cells control different
cognitive and emotional processes in our character, the lines and the shape of the
palm reflect them.
4.
In palmistry, the fleshy parts of the palm are called mounts and the wrinkles are
called lines. The main lines include the lines of the heart, the head, life, fate, and
health. The length, color and distinction of a line show to what degree the person
possesses that quality. For instance, a strongly marked line of the head is supposed to
show superior intelligence. Contrary to the popular misconception that the life line
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shows how long a person is going to live, the life line actually reflects his attitude
towards life and what life has to offer.
5.
In order to read someone's hands accurately, both hands must be carefully
examined, because only together do they create a complete picture. One hand,
whether it is the right hand or the left, is the dominant hand, which reflects the
conscious mind. The non-dominant hand is the "blueprint" of the subconscious mind.
In other words, the non-dominant hand shows the potential qualities and talents
we're born with, while the dominant hand reflects what we've actually done with
these assets.
6.
Finally, professional palmists stress that every conclusion they reach must be
based on at least three features in the hands that repeat the same quality. Novice
palmists tend to jump to conclusions based on one feature alone, irresponsibly
creating high hopes or needless fears in their client.
8
7.
"Cheiro," the public name of Count Louis Hamon who lived from 1866 until 1936
raised the popularity of palmistry to a new height, especially in the English-speaking
world. Then it was used by royalty and distinguished individuals of his time. He wrote a
number of books on palmistry. These were frequently reprinted in both England and the
United States. and generations of palmists were taught and inspired by his writings.
Modern palmistry is largely an outgrowth of his efforts.
8. Today, people are feeling alienated in an increasingly technological environment. As
more and more rediscover the cultural importance of hand reading it provides inner
meaning to their lives. At a time when science is increasingly investigating the
interrelationship of consciousness with matter, the study of hand reading could
significantly enrich scientific investigation.
Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/palmistry
9
Identity Theft Is Becoming More Common
1.
Identity theft is when someone uses, without your permission, your personal
information in order to commit a fraud or crimes. Identity theft is a felony that is
becoming more and more common. Because some of us do not guard personal
information carefully, we make it easier for others to steal our identity. We should
always be careful with information like our Identification number (ID), credit card
number, birth date, employment information, driver's license number, etc., because if
such numbers get into the wrong hands, the consequences can be very serious. People
that have been victims of identity theft have spent months trying to repair what others
have damaged, and in the meantime they have been unable to get a bank loan or they
have lost a job opportunity or, sometimes, they have gotten arrested for something they
did not do.
2. If you have the slightest suspicion that someone has gained access to your personal
information, acting quickly is a must. First of all, you should call the fraud department of
the bank where you have your accounts and request them to initiate a credit alert on
your accounts. This way the creditors are obligated to contact you before taking any
actions regarding your accounts. At the same time, you should close the accounts you
believe are corrupted. The second step would be filing a police report and keeping a
copy of it so to have a proof of the crime.
3. It is difficult to deal with an identity theft and it is very difficult to repair what others
have messed up for you. We cannot completely prevent identity theft, but we can take
some simple precautions to minimize the risks. The most important thing to do is to pay
attention to your bank statements: they should arrive on time and you should check
them very carefully. Your bank statement should always arrive almost at the same date
each month. If you don't get your statement one month, this could mean that someone
has changed your billing address to prevent you from discovering any unauthorized
activity in your account. Also, you must check every statement as you get it and be sure
that you have made all the purchases recorded on it.
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4.
Another simple precaution for preventing identity theft is to be careful with your
personal papers. Never carry all of them with you, as this is not safe. If you don't need
your ID card, birth certificate or passport, leave it at home in a secured place. Carry
personal papers with you only when you need them for a specific reason. Also, you
should be careful with your mail as it often contains personal information. Either put a
lock on your mailbox or have your mail delivered to a post office box.
5.
Nowadays, purchases made over the Internet are very common and some thieves
have turned their attention to this domain. The way to protect your personal information
when shopping online is to never release it unless you are using a secure browser. If
you don't have a secured browser or the website you're visiting is not secured, place
your order by phone or email. Also, for the websites that require a password or a
personal identification number (PIN) don't use common names or dates as anyone can
guess them, but create your own password or PIN made of numbers and letters.
6.
These precautions do not really guarantee that you'll not be an identity theft victim
but they will surely minimize the chances that you'll become one. Being careful with your
personal information should not be a hustle but a routine. This way you can be sure
you'll not spend months or years and lots of money to restore your credit record and
your name after thieves have messed it up. Precaution is the name of the game.
Bibliography/Works Cited: United States Department of Justice: <
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html> LynnG3: “How to Prevent
Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft.” < http://www.ehow.com/> Jon Arnold: “Steps You
Can Take To Avoid Becoming An Identity Theft Victim” <
www.idtheftprotectiontips.com>
11
Virgin Olive Oil and a Mediterranean Diet Fight Heart Disease
Adapted from Science Daily
1.
July 2010
Everyone knows olive oil and a Mediterranean diet -- the diet of Greece, Crete,
southern France, and parts of Italy that emphasizes fruits and vegetables, nuts, grains,
olive oil (not butter), grilled or steamed chicken , seafood (not red meat) and a glass or
two of red wine -- are associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease. This is a
disease of the heart or blood vessels.
2.
Atherosclerosis, (ath-er-o-skler-o-sis) comes from the Greek words athero --
meaning paste -- and sclerosis meaning hardness. It is a disease that eventually
blocks blood flow in arteries, the blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart.
When this occurs in the heart, it leads to a heart attack. Although a heart attack can be
quick, the events that lead up to this acute event begin very early in life. Early artery
changes are seen in young adults and even infants. Hardening of the arteries is the
most common cause of heart disease.
3.
Precisely what causes atherosclerosis remains unknown. However, research
suggests that it is a slow and complex disease that may start in childhood. As people
age, it develops faster. As a rule, it does not cause symptoms until an artery becomes
narrowed or blocked. Once this happens, symptoms of the disease may include angina
(chest pain or shortness of breath) and cramping leg pain when the flow of oxygen to
different parts of the body is reduced. Serious consequences, including heart attack,
stroke, or even death can result.
4.
A new research report published in July 2010 gives a surprising explanation:
these foods change the function of the genes associated with atherosclerosis. "Knowing
which genes can be affected by healthy eating can help people select proper diets,"
said Maria Isabel Covas, D.Pharm., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work of the
research group in Barcelona, Spain. "It is also a first step for future nutritional therapies
with selected foods."
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5.
Scientists worked with three groups of healthy volunteers. The first group was
given a traditional Mediterranean diet with virgin olive oil rich in polyphenols.
Polyphenols are a group of chemicals found in many fruits, vegetables, and other
plants, such as berries, walnuts, olives, tea leaves and grapes. They remove the
chemicals that have the potential to cause damage to cells and tissues in the body.
Polyphenols have a variety of potential health benefits, including cancer prevention and
reducing the risk of getting heart disease. Some studies have found that these
substances lower cholesterol levels in the body. The second group consumed a
traditional Mediterranean diet with an olive oil low in polyphenols. The third group
followed a habitual diet that included both kinds of olive oil without specific polyphenols.
The olive oil types had a concentration of polyphenols ranging from 2.7 mg/kg of olive
oil (low-type) to 366 mg/kg (high) in the olive oils.
6.
After three months, the first group had fewer atherosclerosis-related genes.
Additionally, the olive oil polyphenols made a significant impact on the genetic changes,
influencing heart disease. "This study is ground breaking because it shows that olive oil
and a Mediterranean diet affect our bodies in a far more significant way than previously
believed," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D. "Not only does this research offer more
support for encouraging people to change their eating habits, it is an important first step
toward identifying drug targets that affect how our genes express themselves."
7.
In another research, results also showed that the consumption of virgin olive oil in
conjunction with a Mediterranean diet can cure infection, influence the process of
normal cells being transformed into cancer cells and put and end to a tumor.
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from
materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology,
viaEurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100630111035.htm
13
The Pace of Life
Adapted from "The Pace of Life in 31 countries" by Robert V. Levine
It can be measured in simple ways, such as noting the accuracy of public clocks and
the speed of postal clerks
1. When I was teaching in Brazil some years ago, I noticed that students there were
more casual about arriving late for class than those in the United States. I was puzzled
by their tardiness, since their classroom work revealed that they were serious students
who wanted to learn. I soon found, however, that they were likely to be late not only in
arriving for class but also in leaving it afterwards. Whatever the reason for the students'
lateness, they were not trying to minimize their time in the classroom.
2. In my classes in the U.S., I do not need to wear a watch to know when class is over.
My students gather their books at two minutes before the hour and show signs of anxiety
if I do not dismiss them on time. At the end of a class in Brazil, on the other hand, some
students would slowly drift out, others would stay for a while to ask questions, and some
would stay and chat for a very long time. As I observed the students during the year, I
came to realize that this casual approach to punctuality was a sign of differences
between American and Brazilian attitudes toward the pace of life.
3. My experience in Brazil inspired an ongoing research. Its aim was to develop ways
of measuring the pace of a culture and to assess peoples’ attitudes towards time.
Every traveler has observed the pace of life in different parts of the world, and even
from place to place within a single country differs. We collected data from six countries,
focusing in each country on the largest city and a medium-size city.
4. We examined three indicators of speed in each city. First, we measured the
accuracy of outdoor bank clocks in the main downtown area. Second, we measured
the average walking speed of randomly chosen pedestrians over a distance of 100
feet. The measurements were made on clear summer days during business hours.
Third, as an indicator of working pace, we measured the speed of service provided by
postal clerks.
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5. Our results revealed a number of significant differences between the six countries.
The Japanese cities rated the highest on all three measures: they had the most
accurate bank clocks, the pedestrians there walked the fastest, and their postal clerks
provided the quickest service. In contrast, the Indonesian cities had the least accurate
public clocks and the slowest pedestrians. The slowest postal clerks were found in the
Italian cities, where buying a stamp took nearly twice as long as it did in Japan.
6. What impressed us most about these findings was the high correlation between the
three pace-of-life measures for each city. The accuracy of the bank clocks strongly
correlated with walking speed. There is also a strong correlation between clock
accuracy and the speed of the postal clerks. The high correlation between these
measures supports the notion that a city has a distinct pace, which can also be seen in
the behavior of its inhabitants.
7. These measures not only show us differences between cultures, but they may also
explain relations between the pace of life of a city and the psychological and physical
health of its residents. One interesting finding was the association between fast pace
of life and a high incidence of heart disease. One possible explanation for this
association is that a stressful, time-pressured environment leads to unhealthy
behaviors, such as cigarette smoking and poor eating habits, which in turn increase
the risk of heart disease
8. However, this connection does not work for everybody. For some individuals time
pressure is not always stressful; it may also be challenging and energizing. The
optimal pressure seems to depend on the characteristics of the task and the
personality of the individual. Given that, heart disease remains the largest cause of
death. The most important personal goal is to fit yourself to the type of environment
that is beneficial for you.
Bibliography/Works Cited: Robert V. Levine and Ara Norenzayan: "The Pace of Life in 31
Countries" Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 30, No. 2, 178-205 (1999)
15
Were you Born to Rebel?
1.
One of the most famous scientists of the 19th century, Charles Darwin proposed
the Theory of Evolution and many people applauded this revolutionary concept. But not
all were pleased. There were many other groups of people who were shocked because
this theory contradicted traditional religious beliefs. The question arises: "Why do some
people come up with untraditional ideas while the ideas of others remain conventional?"
Or, in other words, ‘What makes one person a rebel and another a reactionary?' The
answer, according to Frank Sulloway, a science historian at The Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), is simple: "family structure" or birth order.
2.
But in the same family, there are individuals who are often no more similar in
personality than people from different families. Why, within the same family, do some
children do the accepted thing, whereas others rebel? The family, it turns out, is not a
"shared environment" but rather a set of niches that provide siblings with different
outlooks.
3.
Sulloway spent two decades gathering data on thousands of people who caused
social change. He concluded that these rebels had one thing in common: their place in
the family. In his book, Born to Rebel, he suggests that the oldest son or daughter is the
one who will be traditional in attitudes and behavior (similar to the family’s attitudes)
while the younger siblings will be the revolutionaries. Darwin was among the youngest
in his family, and that was what encouraged him to explore new ideas.
4.
Sulloway, who himself is a younger member of his family, claims the key to social
behavior is the amount of support the child gets from his parents. The oldest child
traditionally holds a special place in the family. In some societies, only the firstborn
inherits property. There is also the simple fact that the first child receives 100% of his or
her parents' attention before other siblings arrive. He or she is brought up as an only
child for a significant period of his/her life.
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5.
These differences in upbringing create children with different attitudes: the eldest
tends to support his/her parents' views because they had special treatment. The
youngest in the family, on the other hand, become experts at adaptation. These are the
children who have probably had to get used to a variety of caretakers, including older
siblings and
babysitters who all had their own attitudes. Since other people often
surround them, Sulloway claims, these children are more outgoing. They have the
added advantage of learning from the mistakes of the older child who must often be the
pioneer at school, in the army, work and marriage.
6.
Sulloway's findings offer conclusive evidence that the family, with its powerful
interpersonal dynamics, resembles a boiling kettle, a cauldron, for great revolutionary
advances that result in historical changes. In addition to psychological research,
Sulloway studied examples from history. He compiled biographies on over 6,500
famous people to determine whether or not their "openness to experience" was
influenced by their place in the family. Sulloway reports that the primary engine driving
history is located within families. He claims that he found a clear pattern reflecting his
theories.
7.
This landmark work researches crucial influence that family niches have on
personality. It also documents the profound consequences of sibling competition not
only on individual development within the family, but also on society. Born to Rebel's
insights promise to revolutionize the nature of psychological, sociological, and historical
inquiry. His claims may be bold and oversimplified. They are not popular with social
scientists. However, they do offer food for thought.
Bibliography/Works Cited: Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and
Creative Lives, by Frank J. Sulloway. http://www.sulloway.org/Birth_Order(SalmonOxford-2007).pdf
17
Older People Eating Enough Fruit and Vegetables Might Cause Serious Problems
for Rural England
Science Daily
May 20, 2009
Eating more healthily might be better for us as individuals, but would it be bad
news for farmers?
1. Older people -- people aged 50 and over in the UK today – may need to change how
they eat if they want to stay healthy. Dr. Katherine Appleton from the School of
Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland recently said: "Fruit
and vegetables are vital for psychological as well as physical health. In our research,
we found that fruit and vegetable consumption became lower with aging and that the
least amount was eaten by men and among people living in poor areas.
2. "Older people in Northern Ireland are eating on average four portions of fruit and
vegetables per day. This is higher than levels in the rest of Britain, but remains
below current government recommendations. Our research reveals that often older
people are not familiar with these recommendations.
3. "Twenty-two per cent of the participants of the research were not aware of the
current government guidelines on eating five portions of fruit and vegetables
every day In fact, some of them who were eating only two portions a day
thought they were eating enough.
4. "Older people should eat more fruit and vegetables. They are more likely to do this if
they are aware of the five-a-day recommendations and associated health benefits.
We recommend that more should be done to raise older people’s awareness of
these issues and increase their exposure to products and recipes that contain fruit
and vegetables.
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5. "The research recommends improving awareness of the health benefits, and of
adequate products or dishes. It also recommends that specific strategies may be
used to increase older people’s motivation and willingness to change eating
behaviors."
6. However, fixing the problems of the older people who are not eating enough fruit and
vegetables may lead to another problem for the British nation. A different research
project found that if the British people all followed government advice to eat five
portions of fruit and vegetables a day, this could have serious implications for the
farmers in Britain. An interdisciplinary team examined several inter-related
questions: How could the UK produce healthy foods that consumers wish to buy at
prices they are willing to pay? What would be the impact on land use, the rural
environment and the rural economy if older people change their eating habits?
7. Much of the current demand for fruit and vegetables is met by imported food. The
research shows that if the percentage of imports remains constant, much more land
in Britain would be needed in order to produce the quantity of fruit and vegetables for
the recommended healthy diet.
8. At the same time, if eating habits change, the demand for meat production would
change. Regions of Britain such as Wales and South West, which are most suitable
to raising animals rather than growing crops, would suffer a severe decline in such
production. For example, in Wales, cattle numbers would fall by some 400,000 head
and only half of sheep numbers will remain. In addition, in the north of England,
both sheep and cattle numbers would fall by 200,000 head each.
19
9. Britain can increase fruit and vegetable crops but increased production of fruit and
vegetables in the east and south east of England would be unlikely to bring more
employment. Rather, there will be more use of machinery for many of the required
garden operations and farmers would probably rely on temporary foreign workers
where labor is required. In addition, pressure would increase on water supplies
because of the need to water crops.
10. Professor Bruce Trail said: “Undoubtedly the UK Government has a duty to promote
the health of the population. Therefore, within this research project we have
been looking at the most effective ways of doing that, whether by economic
measures or by trying to improve the nutritional qualities of the foods that
people eat.
There is a potential in all of these approaches, if they are
targeted effectively.
11. “However, we also have to consider the potential unintended consequences
of the new nutritional policies. For rural communities, such as the dairying
industry of south west England and upland areas of the UK, these could be
far-reaching and need to be taken into account: smaller farms would
disappear and be absorbed into larger land holdings. This will result in
unemployment and migration from these areas”
Adapted from materials provided by University of Reading and Institute of Governance,
Queen’s University
Web address:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/
090519075845.htm
Older People Eating Enough Fruit and Vegetables Might Cause Serious Problems for
Rural England
20
Surfing the Net
1.
For many computer owners, searching for information on the Internet -
commonly known as "surfing the Net" - has become a daily routine. "Surfers" of the
Net can be divided into three groups. The first group consists of those who know
exactly where they are planning to go. The next group is the surfers who are in it
for the sport. They don't really care where they end up or how they get there, as
long as they have fun on the way. They begin at any given point and move from one
site to another. The third is surfers who are looking for specific information, but don't
know where to find it.
2.
The truth -- everything from motorcycles to dating-on-line, from homework
helpers to job listings -- is online, just waiting to be retrieved with the click of a
mouse. For those in the third group of surfers, how does this novice surfer make
sense of what seems to be a hopeless web of random information? The first
"friend" you must make on the Net is called "search engine", one of the data locating programs. How do search engines work? An engine will sift through tens of
thousands of sites and millions of documents to find just the ones you are
looking for. It does this by using keywords. Most of the popular search engines ask
you to type in one or more keywords. For advanced or refined searching,
remember to read the instructions carefully.
3.
But why do I need a search engine? You need a search engine for the
same reason you need a card catalogue in a library. There is a lot of great and
useful information in a library, but it's physically impossible to examine all the
books personally. Similarly, not even the most tireless web-surfer could hyperlink to
all the documents on the Web .It has millions of pages. And every minute of the day,
folks are posting more
21
4.
It's important to give some thought to your search strategy.
Are you just
beginning to amass knowledge on a fairly broad subject? Or do you have a specific
objective in mind? Using your "friend" on the Net -- your search engine -- when you are
planning a vacation to a dinosaur park, you can look for information on a dinosaur
theme park. If you type in "theme park" as your keyword, you will get hundreds of items
containing that keyword, but most of the sites will not pertain to what you are
looking for. So narrow the search engine's scope by searching for links for the exact
place, and information you need on "Dinosaur Theme Park" will appear.
5.
Let's take a less obvious example. Suppose you're a fan of murder mysteries
and you want to search the Web for the home pages of all your favorite authors in
that genre. If you simply enter the words "mystery" and "writer," most search
engines will return hyperlinks to all Web documents that contain the word "mystery" or
the word, "writer." This will
probably include hundreds-or even thousands-of
URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), most of which will have no relevance to your
search. If you enter the words as a phrase, however, you stand a better chance of
getting some good hits.
6.
In addition to narrowing the search keyword, you can increase the number of
sites displayed as a result of your search. For example, if you are searching for
sites of song lyrics, you can leave the default settings as they are and 20 sites for
song lyrics will be displayed. But if you want to find as many sites as you can for
lyrics, you can ask to increase the number displayed to 50, 100 or even 1,000!
Consequently, it is important to keep keywords as specific as possible and to read the
instructions.
7.
Most sites offer two different types of searches-"basic" and "refined" (also called
"advanced"). In a "basic" search, you just enter a keyword without sifting through any pull
down menus of additional options. Depending on the engine, though, "basic" searches
can be quite complex.
22
8.
“Advanced” search options differ from one search engine to another. However,
some of the possibilities include the ability to search on more than one word, to give
more weight to one search term than you give to another, and to exclude words that
might be likely to muddy the results. You might also be able to search on proper names,
on phrases, and on words that are found within a certain proximity to other search
terms. These techniques will help narrow down the search so you can find exact
information quickly and easily. In conclusion, if you understand how search engines
organize information and find it, you can maximize your chances of getting hits on
appropriate URLs.
Bibliography/Works Cited: Internet and personality by Y. Amichai-Hamburger* Department of
Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, IsraelComputers in Human Behavior (18)
2002
http://www.cybeing.net/articles/internet2002.pdf
23
Adaptation: The Key to Survival
from Open Content Curriculum
1.
A traveler who gets off a plane at La Paz, Bolivia, is going to have a worrying
experience: breathing the rarefied air of this highest big city in the world. Although his
first few breaths may leave him cheerful, talkative and happily giddy, the pleasant
feeling does not last. Suddenly he may become nauseated and develop a violent
headache and a strange inability to climb even a few stairs. If he reacts as some people
do, he will soon move with difficulty, and his feet will turn icy. He may become irritable
and even irrational, and his mood may swing from one extreme to another. Whatever
his symptoms may be— and they are usually unpleasant — their only cure is time: it
may take several weeks for his body to adapt to the high altitude.
2.
La Paz is 11,900 feet above sea level; at this height, the air is so thin that people
from lowland areas inhale only half as much oxygen as they normally do at lower
elevations. Since they are not breathing more quickly, their tissues feel the need of
oxygen. In addition, because the brain is very sensitive to oxygen deficiency, symptoms
of mental confusion are among the first reactions to appear. Fortunately, the visitor
finally gets used to the new environment : he begins to breathe more deeply and his
body begins to increase its production of red cells so that there are more of them to pick
up the oxygen that is available. At this point, he is able to function almost normally,
though his mental and emotional processes are still a little disturbed.
3.
People who were born and raised at high altitudes suffer no such difficulties. The
Indians of Morococha, a Peruvian mining town - 14,900 feet up in the Andes - regularly
put in long, hard days of physical labor in the mines, and in their spare time play a great
deal of soccer. Comparative studies showed they could run much longer on a treadmill
in their sky-high town than could a group of Peruvian sailors who were tested in the
nation's capital, Lima, at sea level. The Indians ran an average of 59 minutes before,
feeling exhausted while the sailors could run for only 34 minutes.
24
4.
This impressive difference must be related to the mechanisms of physiological
adaptation that the Indians have developed: they have a larger number of red blood
cells to carry oxygen to the tissue, and they breathe more quickly and more deeply. As
a result, 20 percent more air reaches their lungs than in the case of those people who
live at sea level.
5.
It is clear from these examples that every man is a creature of his environment,
and his physical responses are powerfully influenced by the world he lives in. When he
shifts to a new environment, his body makes a violent effort to adapt to it. In this
respect, a child born at high altitudes and a visitor who has lived in a lower area face the
same problem. Yet, natural selection must also play a role: it encourages the
reproduction of people well fitted genetically to adapt to high altitudes. People born at
low altitudes have smaller rib cages than the Andean Indians. In addition, it has been
frequently noted that people from the lowlands become much less fertile when they
move to high altitudes, while native Indians reproduce normally.
6.
One of the most interesting kinds of genetic adaptations is body shape. In hot, dry
climates there is a big number of tall, thin people, whose body shape doesn’t keep heat
In cold areas, on the other hand, people may tend towards a rounder shape, which
conserves heat.
7.
Skin color provides another example of genetic adaptation. In areas with strong
sunshine and clear skies, dark-skinned people have an advantage: dark pigment helps
to filter out some of the more harmful solar rays. People who live in forests need less
protection from the sun. They have lighter skins. And the lightest skins of all may be
found among people who live in cool and cloudy climates of Northern Europe.
25
8.
While genetic adaptation becomes obvious after many generations, physiological
adaptation develops quite soon after the individual is exposed to a new environment.
Fishermen, whose hands are frequently exposed to cold water, develop better blood
circulation in their hands. As a result, their local resistance to low temperatures is
greater
9.
A more common example of short-term adaptation has been experienced by most
of the people living in Northern Europe. In midwinter the temperature of 12 degrees
centigrade feels quite warm if it comes immediately after freezing days. In summer,
though it seems very cold. In conclusion, all organisms need to adapt in order to
survive.
26
Secondhand Smoke Linked to Hyperactivity and Bad Behavior in Children so
What about Third Hand Smoke?
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
09 Dec 2010
1. Breathing in secondhand tobacco smoke -- smoke from cigarettes as inhaled by
people who are not smoking -- may have mental health consequences for a child, as
well as physical ones. According to a report by the United States Surgeon General,
secondhand smoke affects children. Children exposed to it can suffer middle ear
infections, impaired lung function and are more susceptible to sudden death.
2.
British researchers reveal an association between secondhand smoke and more
psychological
distress
among
children.
Children
who
are
regularly
inhaling
environmental tobacco smoke have a higher risk of developing hyperactivity, "conduct
disorder" (bad behavior), and some other mental health problems. There has been
growing evidence over the last few years that parents and guardians should make every
effort to make sure children are not exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.
3
Mark Hamer, PhD, from University College London gathered data on the physical
and mental health of 901 children aged 4 to 8 years, all of them non-smokers. Exposure
to secondhand smoke (SHS) was determined from salivary cotinine level, a by-product
of tobacco smoke. Their saliva was tested for cotinine in order to measure the levels of
secondhand smoke exposure. The participants were also asked to report on how
frequently they were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.
4
The children's parents were asked to complete a “Strengths and Difficulties”
Questionnaire in order to assess psychological distress, i.e., the questionnaire helped
the researchers determine what emotional, behavioral or social problems the children
might have. The questionnaire had a top score of 40 -- the higher the score meant the
more problems the child had.
27
5
Forty percent of the sample demonstrated high SHS exposure (cotinine level
>0.70 ng/mL). Children with higher cotinine levels were more likely to live in areas of
greater socioeconomic needs; with chronically sick parents or in single-parent families.
The difference in the results was quite evident.
The investigators found that the presence and severity of mental health problems was
closely linked to whether a child breathed in secondhand smoke, as well as how
regularly. The two main problems were hyperactivity and conduct disorder. Hyperactive
children and those with conduct disorders had high salivary cotinine levels.
6
When environmental smoke was breathed in, it was most likely to occur in the
child's home. Objectively assessed SHS exposure was associated with poorer mental
health among children. Nobody knows what the link between secondhand smoke and
mental problems may be due to. Genetics may play a factor, or perhaps chemicals in
tobacco smoke may influence brain chemicals, such as dopamine.
7.
If you’re in a room where people are smoking, you are breathing in secondhand
smoke. The next question: What are the dangers of third hand smoke? If you’ve ever
owned a car that was previously owned by a smoker, you’re familiar with the smell.
That’s third hand smoke. If you’ve ever shared an elevator with someone who has just
smoked a cigarette, you are being exposed to third hand smoke.
8.
Dr. Carl Werntz, WVU Community Medicine stated recently, "There are people
doing research, looking at the risks of third hand smoke and how it might be affecting
people who are exposed. We know there are health risks from smoking, and health
risks from secondhand smoke, and there are also concerns that third hand smoke is
dangerous."
28
9.
Whether by choice or by law, smokers now take their cigarette outside the room,
classroom, school, office, department store, thus sparing the people inside from
secondhand smoke. But even after the cigarette has been stubbed out, smokers carry
toxic chemicals on their hair and clothing. "People will sometimes say 'I don’t expose my
children to smoking because I do that outside', Werntz added. “The problem is their
clothes and their hair are still going to have the smoke on it when they come inside
where they expose their children to third hand smoke. Third hand smoke stays in any
soft surfaces in the home like in a carpet. That means children are especially at risk to
third hand smoke exposure, since they frequently crawl or sit on the floor.
Although it is known that toxins from cigarette smoke remain in carpets and
10.
furniture, it is not known exactly how harmful third hand smoke is. That remains to be
seen. Research looking into the effects of third hand smoke is new and ongoing.
SOURCE: Secondhand Smoke: "Objectively Measured Secondhand Smoke Exposure
and Mental Health in Children - Evidence From the Scottish Health Survey"
Mark Hamer, PhD; Tamsin Ford, PhD; Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD; Samantha
Dockray, PhD; G. David Batty, PhD
Arch
Pediatr
Adolesc
Med.
Published
online
December
6,
2010.
doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.243
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/210948.php
SOURCE: Third-Hand Smoke: Copyright 2010 West Virginia Media
29
Multitasking Can Make You Lose Focus
The New York Times
October 24, 2008
By Alina Tugend
1.
While you are reading this article, are you listening to music on the radio? Yelling
at your children? If you are looking at this article online, are you e-mailing or instantmessaging at the same time?
2.
Since the 1990s, we've accepted multitasking as a natural part of daily life.
Multitasking is shifting focus from one task or responsibility to another in quick
succession. It gives the illusion that we're simultaneously "tasking" – actively taking care
of important things -- but we're really not. In fact, all of us spend part or most of our day
either switching from one task to another or doing two or more things at the same time.
While multitasking may seem to be saving time, psychologists, neuroscientists and
others are finding that it can put us under a great deal of stress and actually make us
less efficient.
3.
On the one hand, reading an article while listening to music, then switching to
check e-mail messages and talking on the phone can be a way of making tasks more
fun and energizing. On the other hand, “you have to keep in mind that you sacrifice
focus when you do this," said the psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell.
4.
Of course, this depends on what you're doing. For some people, listening to music
while working actually makes them more creative because they are using different
cognitive functions. However, you cannot simultaneously e-mail and talk on the phone. I
think we're all familiar with what Dr. Hallowell calls "e-mail voice," when someone you're
talking to on the phone suddenly sounds distracted.
30
5.
We all know that initially computers, then the smart phone and the cell phone have
created a world very different from that of several decades ago. Then a desk worker
had a typewriter, a phone and an occasional colleague who dropped into the office to
chat. In the days before the cordless phone, talking on the telephone meant sitting
down, putting your feet up and chatting — not doing laundry, cooking dinner, sweeping
the floor and answering the door.
6.
Nowadays researchers are trying to figure out how the brain shifts attention from
one subject to another. According to Earl Miller, a professor of neuroscience at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “human brains have a very large prefrontal
cortex. This part contains the "executive control" process, which helps us switch and
control tasks. We can do a couple of things at the same time if they are monotonous,
but if they demand more cognitive process, the brain has "a severe bottleneck," he said.
7.
Although the time it takes for our brains to switch tasks may be only a few
seconds, the seconds add up. When doing two jobs that can require real concentration,
such as text-messaging and driving, this can be fatal.
8.
The RAC (Risk Assessment Council) Foundation, a British nonprofit
organization that focuses on driving issues, asked drivers, aged 17 to 24, to use a
driving simulator to see how texting affected driving. Their reaction time between a
stimulus and the response to it was around 35 percent slower when writing a text
message — slower than driving drunk or stoned.
9.
Thus, there are definitely times we should not try to multitask. In fact, we may
think it's nice to say that we should focus on one thing at a time, but the real world
doesn't work that way. We are constantly interrupted. A 2005 study found that
people in an office were interrupted and moved from one project to another about
every 11 minutes. In addition, each time it took about 25 minutes to return to the
original project.
31
10.
A later study "The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress," found that
"people actually worked faster under conditions where they were interrupted, but they
produced less. Besides, people were as likely to self-interrupt as to be interrupted by
someone else. Further research needs to be done to know why people work in these
patterns, but our increasingly shorter attention spans probably have something to do
with it. During the experiment, after only 20 minutes of interrupted performance, people
reported significantly higher stress, frustration and pressure.
11.
Dr. Hallowell has termed this effort to multitask "attention deficit trait." He wrote:
“Unlike attention deficit disorder, which has a neurological basis, attention deficit trait
comes entirely from the environment. As our minds fill with noise, the brain gradually
loses its capacity to attend fully to anything, desperately trying to keep up with a
multitude of jobs; we constantly feel panic and guilt."
12.
Dr. Hallowell suggests we should reconstruct boundaries; training ourselves not
to look at a iPhone every 20 seconds, or turning off a cell phone, and banning such
devices at meetings. He adds that sleeping less to do more is a bad strategy, since we
are efficient only when we sleep enough, eat right and exercise.
13.
So the next time the phone rings and a good friend is on the line, try this trick:
Sit on the couch. Focus on the conversation. Don't jump up, no matter how much you
feel the need to clean the kitchen. It seems weird, but go for it. You, too, can learn the
art of single-tasking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/business/yourmoney/25shortcuts.html?_r=1
32
Teen Dating Violence
By Jane Powers and Erica Kerman
February 2006
Cornell University
Family Life Development Center
1. In the past several decades, dating violence has developed as a significant
social and public health problem. Much of the dating violence research,
however, has focused on adult couples or college students. Only recently has
attention been paid to dating violence among teens who are high school
students. Teen dating violence is a significant problem not only because of its
alarming frequency and physical and mental health consequences, but also
because it occurs at a life stage when romantic relationships are beginning
and communication patterns are learned that may carry over into adulthood.
2. Teen dating violence ranges from emotional and verbal abuse to rape and murder.
Adolescents often have difficulty recognizing physical and sexual abuse as actual
abuse and may perceive controlling and jealous behaviors as signs of love. Perhaps
due to their need for independence and greater belief in their peers, teens involved
in dating violence seldom report the violence to a parent or adult; if it is reported,
most tell a friend and the incident never reaches an adult who could help.
Frequency Rates
3. A large amount of research has been conducted to measure frequency of dating
violence. A recent national survey found that approximately 12% of high school
students reported experiencing physical violence in a dating relationship (Center for
Disease Control, 2000). The wide range in frequency rates may be due to several
factors. There appears to be no standard definition of dating violence. Whereas
some researchers include psychological and emotional abuse in their definition of
dating violence (e.g., intimidation, verbal abuse, and monitoring a partner’s
whereabouts), others use a more restrictive definition that includes only physically
violent acts such as slapping, pushing, hitting, kicking, choking, etc. Complicating he
matter is that sexual violence is often excluded in the definition of dating violence.
33
4. Another reason for the difference in frequency rates is that many studies consider
violence in a single or recent relationship and others consider violence occurring in
multiple relationships. Confusion regarding rates of violence also arises because any
exposure to dating violence either as a perpetrator or as a victim is merely added
together.
5. Some researchers have noted that rates of violence may be inaccurate. For
example, since most dating violence research relies on self-report, males may tend
to underreport and deny or minimize their own aggression whereas females may
over report to accept blame. Despite the problems in estimating frequency rates, it is
not unlikely that physical aggression occurs in one of three adolescent dating
relationships. Among high-risk youth who are youth in disadvantaged urban
communities, dating violence may be even more commonplace. One study found
that among a sample of 14 to 16 year old girls from poor families, over half had
experienced sexual and physical violence at the hands of a dating partner. Another
study found that 68% of males and 33% of females attending in high school for atrisk youth reported being violent against a current or recent dating partner.
Mutual Aggression
6. Studies consistently indicate that non-sexual violence in teen dating
relationships involves the give-and-take use of violence by both partners.
Several studies have found that girls inflict more physical violence than boys.
When sexual violence is examined, however, dramatic gender differences
emerge with females suffering significantly more sexual violence than males.
7. Comparing or measuring suffering is a problem. Most obvious is the greater
physical harm that can be inflicted by male violence due to males’ oftengreater size and strength. Compared to boys, girls are more likely to sustain
injuries and require medical treatment as a result of the violence. Another
problem when comparing suffering is the need to understand meaning,
context, or consequences of the violence. For example, much of the dating
violence research overlooks whether female use of violence was in self34
defense or in response to male physical or sexual violence. Another study
found that males and females perceive being the victim of dating violence
very differently. One study found that adolescent boys were less likely than
girls to perceive incidents of dating violence as physically or psychologically
threatening
or
damaging.
Females
report
more
negative
emotional
consequences of the violence including experiencing greater fear for their
safety. Whereas female victims indicate “emotionally hurt” and “fear” as the
two primary effects for them, males indicate “thought it was funny” and
“anger.”
8. Gender also appears to influence motives for violence. One researcher reported that
whereas both males and females cited anger as the most frequently mentioned
motive, self-defense was the second most frequently cited motive for girls, but for
boys it was the desire to get control over their partner.
Prevention Programs
9. The current research does provide enough information to guide professionals
to design prevention programs and target high-risk individuals. The research
points to several key factors that should be targeted to prevent dating
violence. Changing customs associated with dating violence, including
throwing out myths that underline the acceptance and justification of violence,
should be a priority. If teens have friends in violent dating relationships, they
will expect and allow their own relationships to use violence. Violence must
not be condoned, justified, or glamorized. A primary prevention program
should include education regarding the different forms of relationship
violence, early warning signs, understanding the dynamics of intimidation,
power, and control that underlie relationship violence, and teaching skills for
building healthy relationships such as communication and conflict resolution.
Importantly, given the possible effects of community violence on intimate
dating violence, programs that focus on reducing community violence will
likely reduce violence in adolescent dating relationships.
35
It's War on Supermarket Waste: Supermarkets Forced To End Needless Packaging
By Sean Poulter
www.dailymail.co.uk
September 2010
Sainsbury’s, the third largest chain of supermarkets in Britain, the United
Kingdom, is in court over beef that is packed in plastic shrink-wrap inside a
plastic tray with a plastic lid and a cardboard cover.
There is pressure on Britain’s supermarkets to end wasteful food packaging.
1.
Sainsbury’s, the third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, is
being taken to court for using excessive wrapping. The store is the first supermarket to
face official action over wasteful packaging. Lincolnshire Trading Standards launched
the case against Sainsbury’s following a complaint from a resident earlier this year. The
executive of trading standards, Peter Heafield, said he had ‘a duty to enforce
regulations’.
2.
Grocery giants have cleverly avoided charges over wasteful packaging for years
because this is an area of law full of loopholes. But trading standards officers who work
with consumers' problems have acted authoritatively over a Sainsbury's beef product
called Taste the Difference Beef. It not only comes in a plastic shrink-wrap, but also is
placed inside a plastic tray with a transparent plastic lid and surrounded with a
cardboard cover. The meat is a typical example of supermarkets’ excess packaging as
well as the resulting waste that campaigners against excessive packaging say is turning
the country into the ‘dustbin of Europe’. Chairman of the Local Government
Association's Environment Board, Paul Bettison, said: “For decades people have got
used to being able to throw away their waste and rubbish without worrying about the
consequences. Those days are now over.”
3.
Sainsbury’s said it was ‘surprised’ by the legal action and is in the process of
changing packaging. But it will be hard to appease campaigners who point out that
more rubbish goes to landfill in Britain than in any other European country. Other
36
examples of such packaging excesses include shrink-wrapped coconuts, single
bananas sold in plastic trays and biscuits and cakes wrapped in many layers of trays
and boxes. In addition, campaigners claim that shoppers are routinely charged extra for
buying fruit and vegetables that are wrapped in plastic rather than sold loose.
4.
As the consumer increases his sensitivity to the impact of waste, the producer
and manufacturer will have to respond with more environmentally friendly packaging.
Around 5% of the average shopping basket is packaging. Shockingly, the UK produces
9.3 million tons of waste packaging a year – the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets
every week.
5.
The law on excess packaging was introduced in 1999 and appears to offer a
simple route to outlawing waste. However, the rules banning wasteful packaging have
too many loopholes to be effective and the maximum fine of only £5,000 (30,000 NIS)
does not pose any real deterrent for large companies. “The law which is supposed to
ban excessive packaging is a toothless tiger. The fact that there have only been four
successful prosecutions in the UK demonstrates the law simply isn't working. Until this
current court case against Sainsbury’s, the most recent prosecution for excess
packaging was in May 2006 when a Cambridgeshire biscuit firm was given a fine for
filling its cookie boxes only two-thirds full.
6.
The Local Government Association and the Local Authorities Coordinators of
Regulatory Services (LACORS), which advise and support council trading standards
services, have been calling for much tougher regulations to make sure that shops and
manufacturers cannot justify excess packaging on the basis of 'consumer acceptance'
and marketing purposes. They say packaging should be limited to ‘the minimum
adequate amount’ to ensure safety and hygiene.
7.
Councils argue that small print loop-hole clauses make it so difficult to prosecute
offenders that no one has tried to take a store or manufacturer to court since 2006.
They have called for the law to be tightened up and backed up by an increase in the
37
maximum fine to £50,000 (300,000 NIS).
8.
The Sainsbury’s company said it has been working on reducing packaging on
products across the store. This includes a new way to wrap and present its Taste the
Difference Beef, which, it claims, reduces the total amount of packaging by 53%. A
spokesman said the store was hopeful the council would drop the case because of the
changes. Some of the old packaging was still in stores yesterday, but the firm said this
should be replaced by the new version immediately.
9.
Margaret Eaton, of the Local Government Association, said, “Families are fed up
with having to carry so much packaging home from the supermarket. Stores need to
take more responsibility so it’s easier for people to share in keeping the environment
clean.” Friends of the Earth welcomed the prosecution, saying, “There is far too much
packaging on our food and I hope this prosecution will encourage other supermarkets to
solve their own problems.” Councils are listening to local residents and taking action
over their concerns about protecting the environment and ensuring practical, good value
rubbish bin services.
10.
People are working hard to increase recycling but are deeply concerned about
needlessly over-packaged products. People power is now needed to put pressure on
producers to cut down wasteful packaging. Manufacturers have a vital role to play in
cutting unnecessary packaging and making sure all essential packaging is made from
recycled and recyclable material. The vast majority is moving in the right direction, with
more recyclable materials being used than ever before. But there is still a minority of
suppliers who are undermining the best efforts of councils, consumers and producers.
The law must allow councils to take action against these businesses in the best
interests of consumers and the environment.
11.
Stating their concerns, the British Retail Consortium said stores are making great
efforts to reduce packaging and waste because excess wrapping is a ‘pointless cost’.
Sainsbury’s added that packaging is essential to keep food fresh and therefore prevent
food waste.
SOURCE
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1312599/Sainsburys-landmark-case-force-supermarkets-endneedless-packaging.html#ixzz17pZEDA4C
38
Web Plagiarism is Easy, but is also Easier to Detect
Katie Hamer - New York Times Service, Jury 2001
1.
A student at Spring Lake Park High School outside Minneapolis said he had a
formatting problem: The margins on the research paper he was trying to print out for an
English class this spring were not aligning correctly. But when he complained to Jane
Prestebak, a librarian whose duties include running the school's computer lab, she
immediately suspected the actual cause. Ms. Prestebak took the first five words of the text
and put them in a search engine. Up came the Web site from which the student had
taken the paper in its entirety, margin formatting and all. "Maybe a teacher who wasn't as
computer literate as I am wouldn't have known to be suspicious," Ms. Prestebak said.
She alerted the student's teacher, who decided to turn the incident into a lesson in ethics.
2.
At a time when degrees of Internet literacy seem to be in inverse proportion to age, a
new generation of students is faced with an old temptation made easier than ever - taking
others' work and passing it off as original. In this era of cut and paste, hundreds of sites
offer essays and research papers on a wide variety of topics - some at no charge. E-mail
has made it simpler for students to borrow from one another's work.
3.
Donald McCabe, a management professor at Rutgers University who conducts
periodic surveys on cheating at college campuses, recently surveyed 4,500 high
school students at 25 schools around the country. When it comes to plagiarizing from
the Web, he found high schools seem to present a far larger problem. More than half
the high school students surveyed admitted either downloading a paper from a Web
site or copying a few sentences from a Web site without bothering to cite the source.
4.
On the college level, Mr. McCabe said, just 10 to 20 percent of those surveyed
acknowledged such practices. .Often, certain clues make teachers suspicious. "If a
student hasn't done a lick of work, or produced anything during the stages of a
research paper, then suddenly this beautifully typed-up paper materialized, that's a
sign," said Cathy Aubrecht, an English teacher at Hononegah High School in Rockton,
39
Illinois.
5. At other times, the problem presents itself in a more subtle fashion. "I have kids
every year who have a hard time understanding that ideas can be plagiarized as
well," she said. 'If you get a good idea from some place, or a concept is related to
you via a book or Internet site, it needs to be recognized. But they assume that everything
is public domain." Mr. McCabe said he was deeply concerned about the cavalier -arrogant attitude toward plagiarism among students coming up through high school and
beginning to enter college. "Many students say, "We're way ahead of our teachers when
it comes to the Internet," Mr. McCabe said. "And they say, 'Everybody's doing it."'
6. In high school, however, the consequences are not as grave as in college. High school
students caught cheating are usually given a stern lecture or, at worst, a failing grade. On
rare occasions, seniors will not be allowed to graduate. College students caught
plagiarizing, especially at institutions with strict honor codes, are often suspended and
may even be expelled, Mr. McCabe said.
7. The Web, in addition to providing opportunities for plagiarism, has made it much
easier to detect plagiarism. A growing number of educators now routinely use Web-based
services to detect unoriginal work. Turnitin.com, one popular service, offers a simple
method that allows both teachers and students to submit papers to electronic
scrutiny. The service compares the paper against millions of Web sites, as well
as a database of previous submission. It also compares the paper against those
offered by the so-called term-paper mills. Turnitin.com then sends a report with the
results to the teacher. High schools using this service pay around $1,000 a year for an
unlimited number of submissions. Colleges pay roughly $2,000. John Barrie, a founder
of Turnitin.com, estimated that of all the work submitted to the site, nearly one-third is
copied in whole or in part from another source.
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8.
"When it comes to cheating, at the top of the list is plagiarism, and at the top of that
list are students cutting and pasting, mostly from the Internet," Mr. Barrie said. He said
about 1,000 institutions subscribe to the service. Roughly 60 percent are high schools and
the rest are colleges. Such services are surprisingly effective, especially as a deterrent
Steven Hardinger, a chemistry lecturer at the University of California at Los Angeles, said
he had students submit their own papers to Turnitin.com with the results sent to him. "The
use of Tumitin.com as a deterrent is perhaps much more valuable than as a way to ferret
out plagiarism," Mr. Hardinger said. "We really hate to see plagiarists and hate to punish
them, but we want them to know we're watching." ssid Jamie McKenzie, editor of From
Now On – The Educational Technology Journal, an online publication at www.fno.org.
9.
He went on to say he saw a more disquieting problem associated with youthful
plagiarists - what he calls "mental softness." Students are caught up in a cut-and-paste
mentality that relates to an old belief that longer is better. They're confusing the size of their
pile, of what they've accumulated, with wisdom. Instead of finding the right stuff, they're just
finding lots of stuff. "They don't think of it as cheating," McKenzie added. "They are simply
collecting information and don't understand the whole concept of intellectual property."
10.
Even when caught, many high school students are relatively blasé about their
transgression. Peter Mehas, superintendent of schools in Fresno County, California,
blames parents, at least in part. Each spring, he receives about 200 calls from parents,
asking why someone's little darling isn't graduating. Mr. Mehas said, "In the cases where
the child has been caught plagiarizing, what I hear is, 'Well, it's really not cheating, he just
didn't cite all the sources.' Mr. Mehas stands firm on his decision to deny graduation to
plagiarists. "It blows your mind when you see within some of the high schools four or five
term papers that are exactly the same," he said.
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Psychologically Speaking: Feeling SAD
Dr. Batya L. Ludman
Jan. 1, 2009
The Jerusalem Post
1.
Each year, the weather seems to have changed quickly, and as the warm, sunny
days of summer become a distant memory and the long, cold, dark, winter days seem
to be slowly descending on us, many people wait in dread. These people are afflicted
with a mood disorder known as Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD -- also known as
winter depression or winter blues. SAD is a mood disorder in which people, who have
normal mental health throughout most of the year, experience depressive symptoms in
the winter. Some know they have this mood condition and others just know that they
feel "blah" and "devoid of energy" and then "absolutely awful" the further they get into
the winter months, but often they can't seem to pinpoint the reason for their moods.
2.
Symptoms tend to start around September each year and continue until April, but
are at their worst in the darkest months. Symptoms include:
 Sleep problems -- oversleeping but not feeling refreshed; cannot get out of
bed; need a nap in the afternoon
 Overeating -- craving carbohydrates that leads to weight gain
 Depression, despair, misery, guilt, anxiety – resulting in normal tasks
become frustratingly difficult
 Family / social problems – causing one to avoid spending time with groups;
irritability, loss of libido, loss of feeling
 Lethargy -- too tired to cope; doing anything and everything is an effort
 Physical symptoms – suffering from joint pain or stomach problems; having
a lowered resistance to infection
 Behavioral problems – observed especially in young people
 A sense of hopelessness and helplessness that may lead to a serious risk
of suicide
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3.
What makes SAD different from clinical depression is the cyclical or seasonal
nature of the disorder. If one were able to look for a pattern, SAD rears its ugly head -becomes obvious after lying hidden -- about the same time each year, and thankfully
begins to improve as the weather starts to improve. Like other forms of depression,
females are about four times more likely than males to develop SAD. To make a
diagnosis of SAD, the condition must be of a repeated duration of at least two years.
Recent studies suggest that SAD is more common in northern countries, where the
winter day is shorter. Deprivation from natural sources of light is also of particular
concern for shift workers and urban dwellers, who may experience reduced levels of
exposure to daylight in their work environments.
4.
SAD may affect some children and teenagers, but it tends to begin in people over
the age of 20. The risk of SAD decreases with age. This can seriously affect almost
every aspect of the sufferer's daily life, resulting in an inability to attend work or go to
school and lowering the desire to be with other people.
5.
While the actual cause of the disease is unknown, it does seem to be related to a
lack of bright light in the winter, which has an impact on natural circadian rhythms and
results in a disruption in the sleep-wake cycle. As one might expect, SAD is more
common the further one gets away from the equator, and in northern countries, places
where there is less daylight, the nights are long, and interestingly, where there is less
snow. A decrease in serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is found in the brain and is
related to depression, has also been connected with the disease. In addition, melatonin,
a naturally occurring hormone associated with sleep, is considered a factor.
6.
When the fall season fades into winter, if you or a loved one start to feel depressed
for seemingly no apparent reason, and remember that last year at the same time you
weren't feeling well either, you may want to check out whether you are suffering from
SAD. The good news is that there are many things you can do on your own to keep help
yourself and actually feel better. So, if you have had thoughts of hibernating, try and
resist the temptation and instead get into a routine where you get up every morning,
even when it may seem extremely difficult.
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7.
Find a partner and take yourself outside as often as you can, especially in the
morning hours, and create an exercise routine that works for you. When you are at
home, keep your shutters open during the day to let in as much natural sunlight as
possible, and work to maintain a balanced and healthy diet devoid of sugary and high
carbohydrate foods, which may leave you feeling sluggish and unwell. Be aware of what
some of your stressors are and see what you can do to reduce them.
8.
If you still feel depressed after a few days and can't seem to overcome this feeling,
speak to someone familiar with depression to get professional help. Treatment might
include bright light therapy, melatonin hormone supplements, cognitive behavior
therapy, relaxation, breathing and imagery techniques, and psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. Light therapy is a way to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder,
depression and certain other conditions by exposure to bright artificial light. During light
therapy, you sit or work near a device called a light therapy box. The light therapy box
gives off bright light that mimics natural outdoor light. Exposure to bright light from a
light therapy box is thought to alter your circadian rhythms and suppress your body's
natural release of melatonin. Together, these cause biochemical changes in your brain
that help reduce or control symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and other
conditions. Light therapy is also known as bright light therapy or phototherapy.
9. Although Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) usually is present in the fall and winter,
there are those people who suffer from this condition during the summer instead of, or
in addition to, during the fall or winter. Researchers are continuing to investigate what
leads to SAD, as well as why some people are more likely than others to experience it.
As is seen in clinical depression, SAD can put tremendous strain on your relationships
and on your family life. Depression in any form can be serious. If you think you have
symptoms of any type of depression, talk to someone who can help you get treatment;
your family or partner may want to be included in treatment as well.
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In a Digital Future, Will Textbooks Disappear?
By Tamar Levin
1.
At Empire High School in Vail, Ariz., students use computers that are provided by
the school to get their lessons, do their homework and hear pod casts of their
teachers’ science lectures. At Cienega High School, students who own laptops
can register for “digital discussion groups.” A Beyond Textbooks Initiative
encourages teachers to create and share lessons that incorporate their own
PowerPoint presentations, along with videos and research materials that they
find on reliable Internet sites.
Kids are wired differently these days
2.
Textbooks have not gone the way of the ancient parchment scroll yet, but many
educators say that it will not be long before such books are replaced by digital
versions or by lessons from free courseware, educational games, videos and
projects on the Web. “Because kids are wired differently these days,” said Sheryl
R. Abshire, chief technology officer for the Parish school system in Lake Charles,
La. teachers need digital resources to find those documents, those blogs, those
wikis that get them beyond the boring curriculum in the textbooks.” She adds,
“Kids multi-task, transpose, extrapolate and think of knowledge as infinite. They
don’t engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote”
The California Initiative
3.
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced an initiative
that would replace some high school science and math texts with free, “open
source” digital versions. With California in dire financial straits, the governor
hopes free textbooks could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year. In
addition, since students already get so much information from the Internet, Pods
and Twitter feeds, digital texts could replace “antiquated, heavy, expensive
textbooks.”
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4.
“In five years, I think the majority of students will be using digital textbooks, which
can be better than traditional textbooks,” said William M. Habermehl,
superintendent of the 500,000-student Orange County schools. Schools that do
not make the switch, Mr. Habermehl said, could lose their constituency. “We’re
still in a brick-and-mortar, 30-students-to-1-teacher paradigm,” Mr. Habermehl
said, “but we need to get out of that framework. The new paradigm will be 200 or
300 kids taking courses online, at night, 24/7. The threat to schools in Orange
County,” he added, is the digital world. There someone will offer brilliant $200
courses in French or in geometry by the best teachers in the world and students
will opt to study digitally and not in the classroom.”
There is still a large digital divide
5.
But the digital future is not quite on the horizon in most classrooms. For one
thing, there is still a large “digital divide.” This means there is a gap between
people with access to digital and information technology and those with very
limited or no access. Not every student has access to a computer, an electronic
reader device or a smartphone, and few school districts are wealthy enough to
provide them. So digital textbooks could widen the gap between rich and poor.
For example, in California’s 24,000-student Chaffey Joint Union High School
District, where almost half the students are from low-income families, a large
portion of the kids don’t have computers at home, and it would be too costly to
print out the digital textbooks.
6.
At the same time, elsewhere in California, education authorities are reviewing 20
open-source high school math and science texts. They will announce the ones
that meet state standards so teachers can begin to use them now. Digital
textbooks, let students and teachers use the best lessons taught by the most
dynamic teachers,” according to John A. Roach, superintendent of the Carlsbad,
Calif., schools who assures us, nonetheless, that they’re not going to replace
paper texts right away.”
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7.
Many educators expect that the number of digital textbooks and online courses
will start small. Perhaps only those who want to study a subject they cannot fit
into their school schedule or those who need a few more credits to graduate will
take advantage of this option.
A Threat to Traditional Textbook Publishers
8.
Whenever it comes, the online attack —the competition from open-source
materials — poses a real threat to traditional textbook publishers. To cope with
this, Pearson, the nation’s largest textbook publisher, has four texts already
available online. California can use them as free supplements to their texts,
according to the publisher. Pearson believes the world is going digital, so they
provide digital and print, and see what our customers want.
9.
CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit group that develops free “flex books” that can
be customized to meet state standards, and added to by teachers. “The good
part of our flex books is that they can be anything you want,” said Neeru Khosla,
a founder of the group. “You can use them online, you can download them onto a
disk, you can print them, you can customize them, you can embed video. When
people stop demanding textbooks as the only legitimate teaching tool, they’ll see
that there’s no reason to pay $100 for a textbook when you can have the content
you want free.” Most of the digital texts submitted for review in California came
from this nonprofit group.
10.
The move to open-source materials is well under way in higher education.
President Obama has proposed creating free online courses as part of his push
to improve community colleges. Around the world, hundreds of universities,
including M.I.T. and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi
Arabia, now use and share open-source courses.
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11.
Vail’s Beyond Textbooks effort in Colorado has moved in that direction. In an
Empire High School history class on elections, for example, students created
their own political parties, campaign Web sites and videos. “Students learn the
same concepts, but in a different way,” said Matt Donaldson, Empire’s principal.
Our teachers have identified whatever resources they feel best covers their
courses, such as a project they created themselves or an interesting site on the
Internet but they generally do not take chapters from textbooks.”
12.
For all the attention to the California initiative, digital textbooks are only the start
of the revolution in educational technology. “We should be bracing ourselves for
many more interactive, many more engaging videos, activities and games,” said
Marina Leight of the Center for Digital Education, which promotes digital
education through surveys, publications and meetings. But given the economy,
many educators and technology experts agree that the K-12 digital revolution
may be further off. But it is really going to happen.
Published in the Education section on August 9, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090826wednesday.html
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Five Ways Women Can Save the World
Posted by Sharon Cummings
Source: ttp://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-ways-women-can-save-the-world.html
Apr 26, 2010
It is up to women to make the wisest decisions about how to feed our families as well as
how to nurture our homes, our souls and our bodies. By following the advice of experts,
women can save the world.
Decide wisely and protest disappointing products
1. The duty of deciding what happens in the kitchen is often women’s primary
responsibility in a family. Women have the opportunity to choose healthy foods
and make nutritional decisions. Although many supermarkets deliberately offer
tempting choices, the choice of products a woman brings home shouldn’t be
based only on the convenience factor or what the label promises. By paying
attention to the route that food took to get to the grocery store from the factory
that produced it and the animals that have been harmed in making it, the woman
can judge the company’s values and its environmental effect. Then she can
choose wisely. This choice also reflects the best decision for the health of the
family and the planet.
2. Although we have many choices in our food products, we should focus on
buying foods that are clean, choosing local and organic fruits and vegetables,
and judging how much meat and how many dairy products are necessary and
healthy. If you think a product does not meet high standards, do not be afraid to
protest. In fact, encourage friends to do so, too. Many successful boycotts and
protests have been initiated by women, such as environmentalist Rachel
Carson’s call-to-action in the book Silent Spring; or, more recently, Stacy
Malkan leading the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
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Spend time with Nature
3. When a woman observes the beauty that surrounds her, she sees how other
living organisms breathe, wake up, grow and even sing, so she becomes more
grateful for her own and her family's existence on this green planet Earth. As we
become more aware of the cycles of nature — such as daily solar patterns, or
monthly lunar cycles, or bird migrations — we become more aware of our own
human cycles and how they relate to our natural world and especially to women.
4. Women should appreciate nature on a daily basis. In just a few moments
outdoors, we can listen to the birds singing, breathe in fresh air, watch
neighborhood wildlife grow, or appreciate the playful dog in the park. Our
modern routine of commuting to work by car, staring at a computer throughout
the day, and returning home only to switch on the TV, make us less sensitive to
our real home — Mother Nature.
Support women’s education worldwide
5. With the world population reaching 9 billion by 2050, we can’t break the cycle of
overpopulation without encouraging women’s education. Population control is
getting worldwide attention. Mother Jones magazine [May/June 2010] stresses
the need for population control since "overpopulation together with overconsumption is leading to a major crisis with our world’s bio-capacity."
Biocapacity is the ability of an area to provide resources and absorb wastes. We
are using our resources faster than we can possibly restore them. Fertility rates
in developing countries are straining local resources.
6. If young women had access to birth control, and the education necessary to
understand their own fertility rights, the population crisis might diminish.
Understanding one's own fertility rights is often challenging in cultures of the
world where religious fanaticism becomes a reality. Some girls have no choice
but to get married early and give birth to as many babies as their husbands
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demand. In underdeveloped countries, this forces families into poverty,
starvation and death and decreases women's educational opportunities.
7. Ending violence and injustice against women has become the work of specific
organizations and this is a necessity for all women. Educated girls and women
throughout the world can receive small loans that will help them start local
businesses, and move them closer to independence. But this can become a
reality only if they have been able to gain an education during their lifetime. Only
independent women can protest against violence.
Protect our precious waterways
8. Women need to get active with ocean preservation and demand clean drinking
water for our communities. This is essential for our health in our own lifetimes.
We are 70 percent water; the Earth’s surface is similarly 75 percent water, yet
most of our population has not noticed this dynamic correlation. It is known that
besides the rapid pollution of our oceans, we can’t keep the sources of our
drinking water protected. This lack of protection leads to enormous suffering in
both highly populated and developing areas of the world when diseases are
spread through drinking polluted water and living near polluted waterways.
9. We are also threatening most of the world’s fish population and destroying
creatures’ amazing habitats through our careless behavior with water. Recent
incidents of oil spilling on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and in the Gulf of
Mexico illustrate the human negative influence on our oceans and on the fish in
the seas.
10. Furthermore, the lack of water is and will continue to be a household topic in
many nations. We must respond not only with urgency, but also with an
understanding and compassion. We have no choice but to save water in our
daily lives and learn what we can about protecting surrounding waterways.
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Women must teach their children well
11. Human relationships are evolving as the Earth turns. While our human
population explodes, we are finding ways to make our world smaller -we connect across the globe through new technologies. Children today
know this better than anyone, with many students using cell phones and
interacting on Facebook and Twitter daily. The people of the world must
use these technologies to connect to each other and organize protests
and demonstrations, rather than divide and isolate.
12. Women, teach your children compassion for all people and animals, so
these privileges are used in our interactions with the world. Imagine
worldwide online communities of children discussing issues that matter to
them — such as healthier schools, foods, religious freedom, human
rights; and at the same time, demonstrating global support and
commitment to mutual action. This generation of children will grow up
making radical global change, using these connections to create real
movement that does not see race, borders, or difference in background,
but uses them to make the world a better place to live in. It’s already
happening!
13. It is women's shared responsibility to guide children in understanding our
natural world. Activities that women start when children are very young
are likely to last a lifetime. These can include biking to school, hiking
through the woods, growing your own food, sprouting a seed, or planting
a tree. Our family is our foundation — creating roots for the rest of our
lives. Then in the future online communities, children will share these
experiences and use them in their own backyard and community.
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