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第一期

主办：高兴富

based on views from hoteliers

across Europe said Wednesday.

London's Big Ben clocks up 150 years

London's Big Ben celebrates the 150th anniversary of its

first chiming on Saturday.

The Great Bell, housed in Saint Stephen's Tower which

adjoins the House of Commons, first struck the hour on July 11,

1859, and has been interrupted only occasionally for

maintenance and bad weather ever since.

To mark the anniversary, the message "Happy Birthday Big

Ben, 150 years, 1859 - 2009" will be projected（投影）on the

tower.

These days, the name Big Ben is frequently used to

describe the tower, one of the capital's most photographed sites, but the nickname was first given to the bell alone.

The origin of the name is thought to come from Sir Benjamin Hall, the First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings, whose name is inscribed（雕刻，铭记）on the bell.

Mike McCann, Keeper of the Great Clock, said: "After 150 years, Big Ben still holds a special place in the hearts of Londoners and the world as a magnificent example of engineering and building genius."

The 96-metre (315-foot) high tower which houses the clock was built as part of the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament by architects Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin following a major fire in 1843.

MP3成青少年听觉杀手

EU warns youth: turn your MP3 players down!

Millions of youngsters across Europe could suffer permanent hearing loss after five years if they listen to MP3 players at too high a volume for more than five hours a week,

EU scientists warned Monday.

The scientists' study, requested by the European Commission, attacked the concept of "leisure noise," saying children and teenagers should be protected

from increasingly high sound levels -- with loud mobile phones also coming in

for criticism.

"There has been increasing concern about exposure from the new generation of personal music players which can reproduce sounds at very high volumes without loss of quality," the Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a statement.

"Risk for hearing damage depends on sound level and exposure time," it said. More and more young people were exposed to the significant threat that leisure noise posed to hearing, it said.

Commission experts estimate that between 50 and 100 million people listen to portable music players on a daily basis.

If they listened for only five hours a week at more than 89 decibels, they would already exceed

EU limits for noise allowed in the workplace, they said. But if they listened for longer periods, they risked permanent hearing loss after five years.

The scientists calculated the number of people in that risk category at between five and 10 percent of listeners, meaning up to 10 million people in the European Union.

Sales of personal music players have soared in EU countries in recent years, particularly of MP3 players.

Commission experts estimate unit sales between 184 and 246 million for all portable audio devices just over the last four years, of which MP3 players range between 124 and 165 million. Mobile phones used at excessive volume also came under fire from Meglena Kuneva, the EU's consumer affairs commissioner.

"I am concerned that so many young people ... who are frequent users of personal music players and mobile phones at high acoustic levels, may be unknowingly damaging their hearing irrevocably," she said in the statement.

冬季来临 工作积极性下降？

Monday Oct 26 is most unproductive day

Y esterday was the most unproductive day of the year, according to a survey , as workers' morale is hit by the darker evenings brought on by the clock change. Researchers found productivity will drop by 50 per cent this week as depressed staff around the country

struggle to come to terms with the dark nights closing in.

A staggering 52 per cent of workers admitted they struggled to get to grips with their work-load on Monday.

And 14 per cent said last year's slump was so bad that they were spoken to by their boss about it.

Worryingly for employers, eight per cent even admitted to phoning in sick because they were so depressed at the thought of going to work amid the shorter, darker days.

The stats emerged in a study of 2,000 workers by Promotur, The Canary Island tourism board. On Sunday, Dr. Christian Jessen of Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses, said: "The Winter Blues are no joke .

"They can affect your work performance by making you unable to concentrate and carry out your normal routine, your relationship by affecting your libido and your social life by making you feel irritable and anti-social.

"Feeling low as the nights draw in and the days get shorter is something many people experience, but some will struggle with lack of motivation, tiredness and depression.

"If you find the winter months tough, particularly during December and January you may suffer