Comprising over 70% of the Earth?s surface, water is undoubtedly the most precious natural resource that exists on our planet.  Without the seemingly invaluable compound comprised of hydrogen and oxygen, life on Earth would be non-existent: it is essential for everything on our planet to grow and prosper.  Although we as humans recognize this fact, we disregard it by polluting our rivers, lakes, and oceans. Subsequently, we are slowly but surely harming our planet to the point where organisms
are dying at a very alarming rate.  In addition to innocent organisms dying off, our drinking water has become greatly affected as is our ability to use water for recreational purposes.  In order to combat water pollution, we must understand the problems and become part of the solution.

According to the American College Dictionary, pollution is defined as:  ?to make foul or unclean; dirty.?  Water pollution occurs when a body of water is adversely affected due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water.  When it is unfit for its intended use, water is considered polluted.  Two types of water pollutants exist; point source and nonpoint source.  Point sources of pollution occur when harmful substances are emitted directly into a body of water.  The Exxon Valdez oil spill best illustrates a point source water pollution.  A nonpoint source delivers pollutants indirectly through environmental changes.  An example of this type of water pollution is when fertilizer from a field is carried into a stream by rain, in the form of run-off
which in turn effects aquatic life.  The technology exists for point sources of pollution to be monitored and regulated, although political factors may complicate matters. Nonpoint sources are much more difficult to control.  Pollution arising from nonpoint
sources accounts for a majority of the contaminants in streams and lakes.

Many causes of pollution including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates.  In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae.  Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters.
This, in turn, proves very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability or fish and other invertebrates that reside in water.
     Pollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as soil, washoff plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas, and eroded river banks when it rains.  Under natural conditions, lakes, rivers, and other water bodies undergo Eutrophication, an aging process that slowly fills in the water body with sediment and organic matter.  When these sediments enter various bodies of water, fish respirationbecomes impaired, plant productivity and water depth become reduced, and aquatic organisms and their environments become suffocated.  Pollution in the form of organic
material enters waterways in many different forms as sewage, as leaves and grass clippings, or as runoff from livestock feedlots and pastures.  When natural bacteria and protozoan in the water break down this organic material, they begin to use up the oxygen dissolved in the water.  Many types of fish and bottom-dwelling animals cannot survive when levels of dissolved oxygen drop below two to five parts per million.  When this occurs, it kills aquatic organisms in large numbers which leads to disruptions in the food chain.

To most if not all of us has a cd or tape that we always are listening to. We use music ti exercise and entertainment are just two for them. But if we did not have artist like Delta Goodrem, Korn, and other artists that have their emotions drive their music makes them succeed. What would we do.

During his two year tenure, Medicine Hat College security guard Ed Mollin has become familiar with all areas of the college, including the Conservatory and the Cultural Centre.  While performing his evening rounds, he often thought that the recital hall needed a more dynamic entrance, so he enlisted the help of his wife Diane, a wood carving enthusiast.

Inspired by German philosopher Friedrich Neitzsche, the Mollins set to work creating a wood carving of the phrase “Life without music would be senseless”. After drawing a rough outline, they approached local graphic artist Don Klink, who provided a professional trace that Ms. Mollin could use as a template. Each letter of the phrase was hand carved, sanded and lacquered, then mounted on a wood staff (complete with treble clef) using a very old “French-brace” technique, which is virtually indestructible.

Mollin started wood-carving and fretwork as a hobby about three years ago, and has since expanded into other areas including stepping stones and yard figurines. One of her pieces was featured in the Centennial Display at the Cultural Centre Gallery and she also sells her work at local craft shows. Though she is very modest about her work, husband Ed holds high praise for her talent.

The finished piece was graciously donated by the Mollins and now hangs above the recital hall entrance as a beautiful reminder of the value of music in our society.

Photo caption: Ed and Diane Mollin stand beneath the newly installed “Life without music” carving at the Cultural Centre recital hall.

We are keen to attract creative and dynamic Producers / Directors, Assistant Producers, Researchers and Production Crew who are happy to work with us at reduced rates to reflect our not-for-profit status.

We also have opportunities for production volunteers from time to time. These positions are for three months and we pay lunch and travel expenses within London.

The Republic of China of 1999 is quite different from what it was even ten years ago. As Taiwan’s economic miracle continues to mature, and democratic ideals have become a reality, changes in the economy and government have led to revolutionary changes in the roles of Taiwan’s media.

      First, the media must inform the public. In an information age that has no boundaries, the struggle to create a better life is dependent on sharing information. Never before in history has this crucial role affected so many.

      Second, the media must educate. The complexities of our ever-expanding body of knowledge can be explained clearly and incisively through the miracle of modern technology.

      Third, the media must entertain, bringing joy into our lives through entertainment and joining us into a shared community.

      Finally, the media must perform its duties as the “Fourth Estate.” With its special constitutional protections, the media has a duty to inform the public on all issues of concern. The media must be vigilant, for a free and honest democratic government can only be assured through the fair and authoritative reporting of our news media.

We have recently entered the Age of Knowledge．Often you might hear the phrases．“knowledge is power’’and“content is king’’。when discussing business on the Internet．Events in the short course of e-business and e-commerce history have demonstrated that successful e-businesses are those that recognize the needs of their target audiences and match those needs with relevant content．。Building an e—business to accomplish this is not limited to seasoned professionals–many successful online ventures have been started by students on college campuses．This unit aims at presenting a general overview of e—business and e—commerce．

1．Two Confusable Terms     The terms e—business and e．commerce，often confused with one another，are different．According to Andrew Bartel，vice president and research leader of ecommerce trends at Giga Information Group，Inc．，  E—commerce involves exchanges among customers，business partners and the vendor．For example，a supplier interacts with a manufacturer，customers interact with sales representatives and shipment providers interact with distributors．3 E-business is composed of these same elements．but also includes operations that are handled within the business itself．For example，production，development，corporate infrastructure and product management．

 2．Influences on Business     E-business and e-commerce have increased the speed and ease of business transactions and，as a result，competition is intense．Businesses must adjust constantly to new technologies，integrate newer and faster systems and meet the needs of people around the world．Inventories are no longer kept in preparation for。orders；rather，products are prepaid specifically for consumers.5 Good employees are hard to find and even harder to keep．Competing entities must now collaborate to survive，and must realize the customers do not have far to go to buy from the next available vendor．

Do not have blind faith in foreign teachers. Native speaker does not necessarily make a good language teacher nor does it a prerequisite. It is easy to understand because most of us, as native Chinese speakers, are not qualified as good Chinese teachers, so do those English speakers. Compared with foreign teachers, bilingual teachers have their advantages in teaching a foreign language. They can better understand their students, both their needs and difficulties, they can explain to students in their mother tongue, and, most of them are qualified teachers hold degrees from normal universities or language institutes.

English is a language rather than a science. Although there are many rules in English language, such as semantic rules, lexical rules and syntax rules; they are useful but not always strictly observed. So do not be panic when you find something do not obey the common rules and just try to memorize them, such as irregular verbs and nouns and the idioms, collocations etc.
Learn by practicing, practice by imitating. That is the basic pattern for learning a language. It is especially useful for adult language learners. As adults, we some times reluctant to imitate others and dash to use the language in the ways that we think are right. By this way we just keep on making mistakes rather than progress. While by imitating, we will familiarize ourselves with authentic speeches and texts so that to produce it in the right way.
Finally, get a good dictionary. I myself like Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and Collins COBUILD English Dictionary.

Pronunciation and listening
Among many aspects of learning a foreign language I consider pronunciation as the most important one. By saying pronunciation, I mean the pronunciation of words, sentences, and, giving speech, in a word, oral English. There are several reasons for it. For one thing, it is your pronunciation that other people will have as a first impression about your language ability and thus to make judgment about it. You may argue that it is unfair, but it is the fact most times. For another thing, good pronunciation will help get you understood by others. You will be more confident if you can be understood by your interlocutor while vice versa will make both definitely frustrate and the conversation may even not be able to continue. What more, good pronunciation will always help you gain approves from teachers and classmates and colleagues which will encourage you keep on studying. I remember it vividly that almost every teacher praised my pronunciation publicly and how happy I was at it!
Now the question goes on to how to improve pronunciation. My experience can be summarized as following: practicing, imitating and practice pronunciation and listening simultaneously. Find some audio materials accompanied with text scripts, e.g. text books with cassette tapes, or download MP3 with scripts for internet. Then listen to it and imitate it until your pronunciation is close to it. You may record yourself and compare yours with the original audio and pay attention to the differences. I used to listen to tapes and read aloud in the mornings when I was in middle school and it really helped me to pronounce correctly. Be careful in choosing audio materials because there are many dialects and accents but only BBC English and Standard America English are widely accepted and privileged and stick to either one but do not change frequently. By this way, we could improve both our pronunciation and listening at the same time.

Finance Minister Jin Renqing speaks at a press conference in Beijiing March 9, 2007. He said the unified corporate income tax rate for domestic and foreign-funded enterprises would not dampen foreign investors’ enthusiasm in their China investment. [Xinhua]

The draft corporate income tax law is unlikely to cause a big financial burden to overseas-funded firms, or dampen their investment enthusiasm, said Finance Minister Jin Renqing Friday.

The draft bill, which has been submitted to the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, planned to unify the rate on domestic and overseas-funded companies at 25 per cent. Under the current laws, the domestic firms are subject to a 33 per cent rate while their overseas counterparts pay 25 per cent.

However, the draft offered a special treatment of 15 per cent rate for high-tech companies, said Jin on the sidelines of annual session of the parliament.

The minister revealed that the draft gave special consideration to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao funded companies.

“Given that most of, roughly 60 per cent, the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao funded companies are relatively small in scale, the draft specifically set a rate of 20 per cent for small and low-profit enterprises,” said Jin.

“As a result, a very limited number of enterprises will experience a hike to 25 per cent from 15 per cent,” said the minister.

Moreover, a preferential grace period was incorporated in the draft, according to Jin. For small companies, the increase to 20 per cent from 15 per cent can be phased in during a course of five years, meaning a rise of just one per cent per year, he elaborated.

The overseas firms are expected to pay 43 billion more in tax in an increase to 25 per cent from 15 per cent, Jin estimated. However, considering the granting of the five-year grace period, the burden will increase just 8 billion per year, said he.

Therefore, he concluded that this, out of their rich profit, would not cause great influences on them or dampen their interest in investing in China.

If passed, the law will be effective from January 1 next year, giving the overseas firms a transition period, noted Jin.

The scholar made the remarks at the International Conference OnYangtze Delta Development 2002 (ICYDD 2002) which ended Sunday in this capital city of east China’s Zhejiang Province.

The delta covers Shanghai, the largest city and economic centerof east China, and parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which are also economically developed.

Thanks to an urbanization rate of about 40 percent, Chen said, the Yangtze River Delta now boasts a gross industrial output valueequivalent to 21 percent of China’s total, as against an area thataccounts for only 1 percent of the nation’s total.

As the urbanization is proceeding at a quickened pace, nine cities along the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou highway and railway as well as along the Grand Canal, have actually joined with each other. They are now powerful in finance, trade, education, scienceand technology as well as in culture, helping drive up the economic development in the whole Yangtze River valley.

The cities also play an important role in gearing up domestic to overseas markets, attracting foreign capital and pushing forward technological transfer.

Currently, the major cities on the delta including Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Suzhou are suburbanizing for further expansion.

Take Shanghai as an example. It is working on a unified development scheme for 100 towns in its suburban areas, as part ofits plan to have some 8 million residents at suburbs outside its outer belt roads, including 6 million of urban dwellers, in 2020.

By then, no skyscrapers will be allowed to be built in new-typeresidential quarters in the areas, from which it will take 15 minutes at most for efficient commuter cars to get to the expressway network of the city.