（Headline）China looks for blue-sky solutions as smog worsens

By Euan McKirdy for CNN

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(Lead)(CNN) -- Beijingers are once again choking as smog levels hit "heavy or even worse" levels in the capital and a number of other cities across the country.

(Body) Persistent problems with city air have prompted officials and entrepreneurs to consider ways to protect their citizenry from the pollution.

Beijing was under an "orange" smog alert Monday, which marks the first time the second-highest warning level of a new system introduced last year has been raised. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) Tuesday continued the alert for another 24 hours.

Heavy smog routinely blankets the capital, all but blotting out the sun and forcing residents inside. Australian Open champion Li Na revealed she's had to train indoors in Beijing due to the high levels of pollution, while smog across most of northern and eastern China has prompted officials to send teams of investigators to the worst-hit parts of the country.

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[经济报道]非洲贸易限制阻碍经济发展

The African Union has held countless meetings and conferences on how to increase trade betweenAfrican countries, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has organizedsimilar gatherings. Yet these efforts have failed to lead to a increase in intra-Africa trade.

Currently, African countries do only 11 percent of their foreign trade with other countries on thecontinent. By comparison, Asian countries do 50 percent of their trade with Asian countries. Lastyear, the world bank reported that Africa loses billions of dollars every year because of tradebarriers.

This past July, a U.N. report urged African governments to provide more support to privatebusinesses, reduce trade barriers and expand public services. The slow progress makes it difficultfor companies to do business in surrounding countries.

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阅读下列新闻材料，然后写一篇400字左右的评论，评论要求自拟标题。   

       近日，有媒体报道称，当地最大的经济适用房项目——湖南郴州惠泽园小区存在严重的质量问题，频频出现房屋楼板掉落、楼板开裂、墙体漏水等现象。质量确有问题吗？是何原因所致？目前有何处理措施？记者对此进行了调查采访。
　　质量问题属实
　郴州市住房和城乡建设局介绍，惠泽园小区项目，一期30栋，二期46栋，总建筑面积19万平方米，其中经济适用住房13.3万平方米，商品房5.7万平方米。二期于20##年7月开工，20##年12月建设单位组织了竣工验收。
　　“今年7月8日，惠泽园小区二期6栋202房住户在装修过程中发现主卧室顶板有开裂现象。”郴州市建设工程质量安全监督管理站副站长王志华坦 承。随后施工单位郴州宏发建筑公司3次邀请设计人员到现场查看，并与住户协商，决定采用凿除主卧室预制楼板、整体现浇混凝土的方案处理。
　　但在凿除开裂楼板并安装好模板后，小区内其他住户因担心该房屋存在安全问题而要求停止施工。为慎重起见，施工单位专门委托湖南省检测中心对此楼 板进行了鉴定，结论为裂缝属施工时堆载过大引起的，楼板凿除后由原设计单位出具加固设计图、施工单位按设计图纸和相关规范施工，可保证结构安全。8月22 日，楼板得到修复。
　　记者了解到，今年8月底，37号楼204室的业主在装修时，同样发现地板出现横向断裂，如果不重新安装，可能会有坍塌的风险。惠泽园小区开发商郴州市城建开发实业公司向记者出具了施工单位根据设计院提供的方案，专门拟定的104房楼板加固施工方案。
　　“11月19日下午，本来准备进行人工凿除施工，但部分住户因担心出现质量问题而阻止施工，所以到现在仍然没有完工。”开发商总经理曹晓明说。
　　有业主表示，之所以阻工，主要是担心自己房屋也会出现这种问题，希望政府能够出面给个合理的说法。

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1、Hello, everyone, I am glad to be able to stand here today to share with you the latest news.I am not good at English, if the play is not good please bear with me.First, let us look at a foreign news.Have you seen a movie in 1997 called the

Titanic?Do you know this year is the Titanic shipwreck 100th anniversary?Let's look at news.

****Titanic's dead mourned 100 years later in poignant ceremony at sinking site

At the shrill sound of a ship's whistle in the North Atlantic, relatives of some of the more than 1,500 people who died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg remembered their ancestors in a poignant ceremony a century later. On a still, starry night and with little glare from the moon, the memorial cruise ship MS Balmoral floated above the wreckage of the famous 'unsinkable' luxury liner precisely 100 years to the day it foundered.

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Rural Woman Adopts 80 Kids

Xiao Xingying, a rural woman from southwest China’s Guizhou Province, has adopted more than 80 children over the past 12 years, most of whom are disabled, and all of whom she has surnamed Min, which means “people” in Chinese. [Baidu Image]

A rural woman from southwest China’s Guizhou Province adopted over 80 children over the past 12 years, most of whom are disabled, and all of whom she has surnamed Min, which means “people” in Chinese.

Xiao Xingying, from Anshun City, in the mid-west of Guizhou, who only ever attained a junior middle school level of education, became locally famous for her kindness and has been dubbed “Leifeng Mom.” Lei Feng was a young Chinese soldier in the 1960s, known for devoting almost all of his spare time and money to selflessly helping the needy.

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Interview

How do you feel if you could rewind the clock some years ago? Well, yesterday I interviewed Mr. Branagh, a psychologist in Harvard and learned his provocative experiment in which people feel as if their body clock has turned back to their young age because of the special surroundings Branagh offered.

I recorded all the details about the interview. (J=Journalist, B= Branagh)

J: Mr. Branagh, how do you do this experiment?

B: Well, the experiment took place in an isolated old England hotel, which had been retrofitted to like what it was like 20 years ago. Then, a group of men----in their 70s----were told not to reminisce about the past, but to actually act as if they had traveled back to 20 years before. Also, we have a control group for comparison.

J: That’s interesting! What’s the purpose of this experiment? B: Uh, I want to see if changing the men’s mindset about their own age could lead to actual changes in health and fitness. J: So, what did you find in the experiment?

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The Syrian civil war began with the conflicts between government forces and opposition factions in early 2011. The conflicts, which were just demonstrations initially, soon escalated into armed clashes. Following interventions from major powers, for instance, the US, the EU, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the civil war has incessantly grown bitter. Each armed faction has gained control of some areas. Divided by the Islamic State (IS), the Bashar al-Assad regime and opposition forces, Syria today is a highly fragmented nation.

During this year's Munich Security Conference, the US and Russia clinched a Syrian cease-fire deal. All warring parties are required to stop hostile military action before Saturday. This is the first truce deal for Syria in its five-year-old civil war. Washington and Moscow, as two significant external parties intervening in the Syrian civil war, are unable to dominate the situation in Damascus on their own. However, other involving forces, except IS, have to rely on the two powerhouses for support. Therefore, the US-Russia decision has a constraining effect on all sides of the civil war. There is no urgent need for the Kremlin to intervene in the Syrian crisis, which does not relate to Moscow's core interests. By stepping into the crisis, the Kremlin aimed to back up the Assad regime and uphold his authority in Syrian affairs.

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