The Consumer Protection Act in Taiwan was enacted on January 11, 1994. The Act demonstrated the government’s efforts to protect consumers’ rights and interests. The Consumer Protection Commission, the current Consumer Protection Committee, 11 the supervisor and coordinator for the various consumer protection organizations that put this law into practice. In order to improve the well-being of consumers in Taiwan, the Committee advocates fair trade and 12 pricing for goods and services. The Committee also organizes educational programs to raise consumer awareness, and is active in assisting consumers involved in 13 with businesses or manufacturers.

 Since its establishment, the Consumer Protection Committee has taken measures that emphasize product safety and sanitation. These measures also ensure that all labels and advertisements 14 to regulations. In addition, the Committee collaborates with various international consumer protection organizations to respond to problems involving cross-border trade and business. 15 its regulatory power and administrative resources, the Committee plays a crucial role in protecting consumers in Taiwan.

 The planet’s deepest point is in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, which lies miles below the sea surface. According to a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, even in this remote locale, creatures cannot escape pollution. 

     A team of researchers recently sent a remotely operated vehicle into the depths of the Mariana Trench. They found that extraordinarily high levels of forbidden industrial chemicals are contaminating marine life more than 7 miles deep in the trench. The small hard-shelled marine life that the robotic submarine brought to the surface was polluted with toxic chemicals, with toxin levels 50 times greater than those of the most heavily polluted rivers in the world. 

   These pollution levels were not the only alarming aspect of the discovery. The types of compounds found were all considered “persistent organic pollutants” (POPs), meaning they stick around in the environment for a very long time. Two of the most prevalent types are PCBs and PBDEs. PCBs were once used in many industrial applications, but were outlawed in the United States in the 1970s after being linked to cancer. Similarly, PBDEs were used in a wide range of products—from electronics to couch cushions. Neither chemical breaks down in the environment. 

  These compounds stick to the surface of materials like plastic. Many creatures mistakenly eat this colorful but toxic material, causing the POPs to build up in their bodies, lurking in their fat tissues. When these sea creatures die, their POP-riddled bodies sink to the ocean floor, where deep-sea marine life eat their remains. POPs are therefore transferred to other creatures along the food chain. 

  The Mariana Trench is many miles away from any industrial source. This suggests that these pollutants travel over long distances despite having been prohibited worldwide decades ago.

I am one of those people who spend much time in coffeehouses talking to and observing others. One time I met half a dozen gentlemen who were talking about the different kinds of people in Europe. One of these men stated that he had all of the wonderful qualities of the English in his person. He went on to say that the Dutch were all greedy and hungry for money. The French were not to be trusted. The Germans were a bunch of drunks. The Spanish were too proud. In bravery, kindness, generosity, and every other virtue the English were better than the rest of the world. The rest of the company, all Englishmen, accepted his statements as truth. I sat there and said nothing, so a companion of mine asked me if what that man said was not true. I replied that I could not judge until I had spent some time in those countries. Perhaps I might find that the Dutch were thrifty and saved their money, that the French were very polite, that the Germans are hard-working, that the Spanish were very calm and quite, and even that the English, although brave and generous, might be too bold and free-swinging when things went well and too sad when they did not. Soon after I said this, I lost the goodwill of my companions, and they all left me alone. 

 I paid my bill and went home. There I began to think about the silliness of national prejudice. I thought of the ancient wise man, when asked the country of his citizenship, replied that he was a “citizen of the world.” We have now become so English, French, Dutch, Spanish, or German that we are no longer citizens of the world. We are so much the citizens of one small society that we no longer think of ourselves as members of that grand society that includes all of humankind.

       London is the most diverse city in the world, with more than 300 languages    16    in the city and  people of 50 nationalities    17    there. What are the causes underlying London’s ethnic diversity? One is that London is a business center so that people all over the world come here to find jobs and    18    money. But the cause that makes people    19    in London is language, because they want their children to build up the    20    in English, which is a great gift and advantage in the global context.    21    cause is surprising. Londoners tend to leave people    22   , and this gives newcomers much space to live their own lives. Finally, food is also an important cause bringing people all over the world to London. Londoner’s    23    for foreign food creates    24    of job for new communities, which invites more foreigners, and at the same time more foreign    25    , into the city.

        A hard hat is a helmet used mostly at worksites to protect the head from injuries due to falling objects. Since its introduction in the early 20th century, the headgear has saved countless lives and is considered the number one safety tool for construction workers. 

       The hard hat was invented in 1919 by Edward W. Bullard, who had just returned from World War I. Before the war, workers used to smear their hats with coal tar for protection of their head. Bullard, having witnessed the life-saving power of the metal helmet in the War, decided to produce a head protection device that was affordable for every worker and lightweight enough to be worn all day long. The Hard Boiled Hat was thus born, using steamed canvas and leather, covered with black paint, and featuring a suspension system to reduce impact. Soon, hard hats became widely used. The headgear was later made mandatory at construction sites in major construction projects, such as the Hoover Dam in 1931 and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933. 

        Over the past century, hard hats have advanced considerably, evolving from canvas and leather to aluminum, fiberglass, and, eventually, to thermoplastic. Recently, new models have been introduced and accessories added to meet the needs of laborers working on various job sites. For instance, a ventilated hard hat was developed to keep wearers cooler, and see-through face shields were attached to better see the hazards lurking above. Today, attachments include radios, sensors, cameras, and a lot more. A common color code has also been developed for recognizing people and their roles on site. Yellow is used for general laborers and contractors, white (or sometimes black) for supervisors and managers, and green for inspectors and new workers. 

        New products continue to expand the market. Global sales of hard hats totaled USD 2.1 billion in 2016, and are expected to reach USD 3.19 billion in 2025.

    Today, we all know that we should wash our hands to stop the    27    of disease. But this idea was not always accepted by   28   in the past. In 1846, Ignaz Semmelweis worked in a hospital. At that time, childbirth was dangerous for women. Many women had a deadly infection   29   childbed fever after giving birth. Everyone was afraid   30   it, and nobody knew what caused it. Ignaz   31   that doctors often did autopsies before helping with childbirth while the midwives never did this. He   32   to suspect that the infection was spread from dead bodies through touch. He ordered hospital workers to wash their hands after autopsies. Soon, the rate of childbed fever dropped   33   the hospital. However, when Ignaz told other doctors about the importance of washing hands, they didn’t agree. Back then, they had not even discovered   34   yet. The doctors thought that washing hands had nothing to do with avoiding infection. Ignaz got angry with people’s responses. He was so rude to those 35 disagreed with him that he got himself fired. He ended up in a mental hospital, 36 he died two weeks later from an infection like the one that had cost him his career.

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       Gravity has been at the top of the science agenda since the start of Mars missions. In the earlier days of space travel, scientists tried to overcome the force of gravity so that a rocket could shoot  16  Earth’s pull in order to land humans on the moon. Today, they are more interested in how reduced gravity affects the astronauts’  17  condition. 

     Our bodies have evolved to exist within Earth’s gravity (1 g), not in the weightlessness of space (0 g) or the microgravity of Mars (0.3 g). When on Earth, we have more fluids in our lower body because they are pulled down by Earth’s gravity. However, with the absence of gravity in the outer space, our body fluids  18  , shifting toward the upper body and the head. As a result, the astronauts have swollen, puffy faces, very much resembling that of the round-headed Charlie Brown in the famous comic strip. This “Charlie Brown effect” will be more  19  when the astronauts go on their Mars missions, which will take about three years to complete, much longer than missions to the moon. Moreover, the effect is often  20  space motion sickness, headaches, and nausea. Such a syndrome is considered the top health risk for the astronauts, and scientists are still trying to figure out how it may be prevented.