Topic Reading-Vol.118-8/7/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Truman grandson visits Hiroshima A-bomb memorial.

Two atomic bombs have ever been used to kill people and destroy everything on the ground in human history, one was on Hiroshima on the 6^th day and the other on Nagasaki on the 9^th day of August in 1945, both of which had been authorized by the then US president Harry Truman. Each bomb killed over a hundred thousand innocent people and ruined the cities. Very little remained on the sites and those who were near the sites suffered from the effects of radiation for the rest of their lived. The total number of victims is estimated to be around 350,000.

67 years later, the commander-in-chief’s grandson is paying a visit to both cities trying to keep talking about the consequences of the bombings with the survivors and their families.

Enjoy reading, learning and thinking about the meaning of such event.

http://news.yahoo.com/truman-grandson-visits-hiroshima-bomb-memorial-123905648.html?_esi=1

Topic Reading-Vol.117-8/6/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Syria crisis: Kofi Annan quits as UN-Arab League envoy.

The ex-Secretary General of the U.N., a man of respect and honor criticized the UN security council, the second to the highest but actively the top decision making function of the U.N., as “finger-pointing and name-calling”. It’s a sheer shame but a fundamental problem of the world organization that grants veto, a right to say no without rationale, to five states that claimed victory in the last world war over a half century ago, while innocent people are being killed and suffered even at this right moment.

The honored diplomat is still being respected but hasn’t been supported by a couple of the most influential members of the Security Council.

Enjoy reading and learning about this disappointing resignation of this special envoy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19099676

Topic Reading-Vol.116-8/5/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Olympic badminton players disqualified for trying to lose.

It’s hard to believe having been working so hard to win a medal and not trying to win a match in the Olympic Games? The badminton players who disqualified for trying to lose their games were even booed by the spectators as they played! They seemed to care about winning medals and patriotism but definitely didn’t about the spirit or people who had come to see the world top players play at their best.

Enjoy reading and learning about this disappointing incident.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/01/sport/olympics-badminton-scandal/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Topic Reading-Vol.115-8/4/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Hundreds of millions without power in India.

What it’s like not to have electricity in two days in a row in a metro cities like New York or Tokyo in the middle of summer? How many people could be trapped in elevators, trains or buildings, not to mention the cars, trucks and busses on the road that are no longer controlled by signals? It’ll make not only the transportation or traffic but also communication including your favorite smartphone or the Internet. Foods and drinks would be spoiled and restaurants would be all closed.

Balancing economic growth with stable infrastructure, distribution of wealth, regions, demographic, job opportunities human rights and environment, seems to be the biggest challenge for those rapidly growing and developing nations.

Enjoy reading and learning about this massive blackouts in one of the hottest and most populated countries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19060279

Topic Reading-Vol.114-8/3/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Education reform would make gaokao only one factor in China.

In June every year, nearly ten million Chinese students take this national college entrance tests called gaokao to enroll in universities across the nation, which currently simply ranks them by test scores and gives approximately six out of ten test takers tickets to enroll in the universities accordingly to their test scores. The country initiated its testing system over a thousand years ago to select intelligent government servants and the people seem to have been very acceptant of the practice. Now they seem to want to review the practice not to lax the students but to have them focus more on academic achievement rather than test scores or to give more flexibilities to universities to select students to stay competitive in the global education market.

Enjoy reading and learning how the testing practice is reviewed.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-07/30/content_15628889.htm

Topic Reading-Vol.113-8/2/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Soldiers fill empty Olympic VIP seats as storm grows.

Empty seats at such popular sport games look even emptier than actually they are as so many eager fans have missed the chance to watch those historic, for some even once-in-a-lifetime, event.

If those empty seats are scattered, those may not be as recognizable as sections of empty seats here and there. As the organizers say, the more the seats are filled, the higher and better the atmosphere of the events will be.  

Enjoy reading and learning how the seats of the Olympic Games are organized.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/29/sport/empty-seats-olympic-venues/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Topic Reading-Vol.112-8/1/2012

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Nothing to Sneeze At: Cats Worse Than Dogs for Allergies.

Do you sneeze where there are any cats or dogs around? It seems more people have allergy to cats than to dogs, not because of their finer fur but of their protein found on their skin.

Do cats have more protein than dogs?  

Enjoy reading and learning about how pet allergy is caused.

http://news.yahoo.com/nothing-sneeze-cats-worse-dogs-allergies-140155686.html