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How North Korea makes its money

2017年5月4日

World News - Expert

North Korea’s economy is one of the most closed economies in the world but they find ways to get money out of their people. North Korea’s source of foreign banknotes come from selling tons of coal to China every year, exporting other merchandise and basic goods, hacking financial organizations in 18 countries and sending North Koreans to work abroad under force labor. They are believed to work in industries like mining, logging, textiles, and construction. John Park, director of the Korea Working Group at the Harvard Kennedy School, believes Pyeongyang kept a lot of money in China that the government can use to fund its weapons programs. By keeping the…
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Tokyo taxis lowered fare

2017年5月4日

Japan - Expert

Riders delightfully welcomed the new Tokyo taxi fare, which is fairly affordable for people who use cabs for short distances. Leaflets were handed out to the public to introduce the new fare system to interested passengers at taxi stands. Commuters, especially elders, were so pleased to know about the new and improved fare system. The new fare for the first 1.052 kilometers is ¥410. It used to be ¥730 for the first two kilometers. Taxis have stickers of the new fare system in both English and Japanese. This fare revision was set in motion to address the continuous plunge in the the number of taxi passengers. Taxi companies also hope…
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Standford University offers program for older professionals

2017年5月2日

Education - E

  Stanford University opened a new course for retirees who are planning their careers for the next 20-30 years. A former Stanford Dean, Dr. Phil Pizzo, believes that the transition from middle age to retiring age is overwhelming so he opened up an opportunity for retirees to study and do more in life. The Stanford’s Center of Longevity agrees to this plan, saying that universities are not only for people starting their careers, but also for people who successfully ended their careers. Students, also known as fellows have flourished from their chosen careers. Fellows like David Gensler from Gensler, Mary Ittelson from Ittelson Consulting, and Pradeep Jotwani from HP Inc….
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Facebook denies responsible over fake news

2017年4月27日

technology

  Facebook is on a hot seat for fake news circulating on the site. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed his disappointment in the issue as the management too is a victim. It is also speculated that these kinds of news are passed off as fake just because some people disagree with them. Facebook is careful on handling the situation. Mark said that an important part of democracy is to share things that other people might disagree with. Facebook is not going to delete or ban posts just because other people felt offended.   Vocabulary: hot seat – bad situation circulating – to be distributed over against – opposed to;…
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Drug use in sports becoming a crisis

2017年4月25日

Sports - Expert

  According to the poll conducted by BBC, a wide range of substances – both legal and illegal – are taken by amateur sports men and women to support their performance. They also found that 49% thought performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) were easily available among people who play sports regularly. More than 50 types of anabolic steroids are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), the independent body responsible for the list of substances prohibited in sport. The possession of steroids, which are class C drugs, is not illegal under UK law as long as they are only for personal use. Performance-enhancing substances can also include recreational drugs and prescribed medications…
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Foreign interns face tough road in Japan

2017年4月21日

Business - E

  Foreign interns in Japan hailing from neighboring countries find it exacting to adapt and keep their lifestyle. Most of them leave their home countries in hopes of living a better life abroad. Vietnam, one of the countries that contributes to Japan’s labor shortage, offers training about the country’s culture and language to their citizens who will be deployed as technical interns. Despite the project’s success, some trainees disappear in a sudden upon deployment. Problems with pay and inferior working conditions are deemed to be the cause of these disappearances. Some trainees start believing that their dream of living a better life is impossible due to the high cost of…
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Harvard Law School starts to consider GRE scores

2017年4月21日

Education - I

  Harvard Law School experimented with a new program that considers GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score as an admission requirement for law students for the coming school year 2018. The said law school, who produced globally known leaders such as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and President Barack Obama, is the second accredited law school in the United States to accept GRE scores for admission. Assistant Dean and Chief Admission Officer Jessica Soban said that “it will encourage more students in the United States and internationally from a greater degree of disciplines to apply.” LSAT and GRE are both standardized tests used as a prerequisite for graduate school. LSAT,…
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Yoga may beat depression

2017年4月20日

Health - Intermediate

  Major Depressive Disorder, also known as MDD, is a medical condition that can affect one’s mood, behavior, and even physical functions. Up to 40% of people who have the disorder do not achieve desirable results even with proper medication. But who could have thought that the calming, deep-breathing exercises of yoga can become a complementary therapy for overcoming depression? Researchers believe that yoga is helpful to those who are not taking any medications and to those who are taking medications but with unfruitful results. In line with this, individuals with MDD were randomly assigned into “high-dose” and “low-dose” groups. Both groups were involved in 90-minute classes with home practice…
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Software can identify skin cancer

2017年4月18日

technology

A team from Stanford University developed an image-scanning software that can identify skin cancers with an accuracy that’s comparable to that of a licensed specialist’s. The software’s technology uses an algorithm, which tells objects apart based on images. This software has over 130,000 images in its database. The algorithm used for this software has been further refined by computer scientists to combine visual processing with a type of artificial intelligence called deep learning. The results are amazing! The software was pitted against licensed dermatologists to check 370 images. Dermatologists can tell malignant lesions based on school training and clinical experience. Armed with their respective training and technology, the software and…
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The surprising friendship of former president George W. Bush and former first lady Michelle Obama

2017年4月11日

entertainment

  There are two main political parties in the United States; the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Ever since then, there’s a conflict between the two parties because of their respective beliefs. We can read some tweets on Twitter like “#BigLeagueTruth: Not all Republicans are #racist, but all racists VOTE #Republican.” and “Anyone who expects #Republicans to do what is best for the country hasn’t been paying very close attention for a while now.” Opinions like those are really not new issues for many people, but who would have thought that there will come a time when two powerful people who come from different parties will be friends? At…
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