How to work your virtual work - Chinadaily.com.cn Virtual work programs are proliferating rapidly in organizations all over the world. Millions of employees now use portable electronic tools to do their jobs from a "virtual office" with extensive flexibility in the timing and location of work. Virtual work has been prevalent in Western countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, but has been relatively new in developing countries, such as China, until recently. The spread of the COVID-19 virus has precipitated the practice of remote work. However, employees have not been prepared for this new practice mentally and behaviourally, and managers do not have the relevant experience to tackle the challenge of managing virtual work. Does virtual work always hinder productivity? A study of IBM employees explored influences of the virtual office on aspects of work and work/life balance as reported by virtual office teleworkers and an equivalent group of traditional office workers.
Coronavirus panic: Why are people stockpiling toilet paper? Image copyright Getty Images Perhaps the worst doomsday scenario is this: being stuck on the toilet and finding you're down to the last square. At least that appears to be the nightmare prospect scaring many Australians right now, who have become the latest group to respond to coronavirus fears by buying toilet paper en masse. This is despite authorities stressing there is no shortage - given most of the nation's rolls are made locally. However in Sydney, the nation's largest city, supermarket shelves have been cleared in minutes, forcing one chain to enforce a four-pack buying limit. Police were even called to a dispute on Wednesday, with reports saying a knife was pulled out in an argument over toilet roll between panic buying shoppers. On social media, #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis were top trending on Wednesday. Image copyright KATHERINE QUIRKE/TWITTER The situation in the past 48 hours has unravelled so much there are also reports of people stealing from public loos.
Study: Speaking foreign languages strains vocal cords Regular use of different languages affects the voice, says new research on multilingual communication from Finland's University of Tampere. Kati Järvinen’s PhD study "Voice Characteristics in Speaking a Foreign Language: A study of voice in Finnish and English as L1 and L2" found that pitch rises when speakers articulate a foreign language, causing more strain to the voice cords. "It appears to be the case that when you speak a foreign language, you speak it in a different way than your native tongue. Vocal cords close more tightly, and produce a more pressed sound. The tenser muscles then increase the vocal load," says Järvinen. Voice changes Twenty Finnish and 23 English speakers were asked to read a text in their native language and then in other foreign language. The samples were then perceptually and acoustically analyzed for sound pressure levels. "Finns tend to raise the pitch of their voices when they speak English. Hoarseness and nodules Multicultural life Learning optimal voice use
Quebec denies French student's immigration over English thesis chapter Image copyright Courtesy Emilie Dubois Canada's Quebec province has denied immigrant status to a French citizen because she was unable to demonstrate adequate French-language proficiency. Quebec rejected Emilie Dubois' application apparently because part of her university thesis was in English. Ms Dubois came to Quebec from France in 2012 and completed a doctorate at a French-language university. The biology graduate said she alternated between "laughing and not understanding" when she got the letter. Quebec is a predominantly French-speaking province and Ms Dubois, 31, was applying to settle under a provincial programme for foreign students that requires applicants to display a strong ability in the language. "If someone who is French and born in France, going to a French-speaking university and doing everything in French and they are still denying this, it's nonsense," she told the BBC. She had planned to settle in Quebec and build her life there. You might also be interested in:
Coronavirus: the week explained Welcome to our weekly roundup of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic, which is continuing to pose unprecedented challenges around the world. By Friday morning the outbreak had grown to more than half a million confirmed infections – more than double the figure a week ago – with the US, China, Italy and Spain accounting for more than half of these, according to trackers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The true number is certain to be far higher since many countries are not aiming to test all cases. Addressing world leaders at a virtual summit on Thursday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization director general, described the pandemic as “the defining health crisis of our time”, warning that millions of people could die without decisive action from leaders. “We are at war with a virus that threatens to tear us apart,” he said. On Thursday the US overtook China as the country with the most cases. Science Weekly
In pictures: The battle of the oranges Image copyright Andrea Capello Once a year, in the run-up to Shrove Tuesday, the citizens of the old medieval town of Ivrea, in Italy, gather in the main square to hurl oranges at each other. As the town prepares to celebrate once more, we look at the pictures by photographer Andrea Capello who documented the event last year. The origin of the so-called Battle of the Oranges dates back to medieval times and is said to commemorate the day the townsfolk were liberated from the harsh rule of an evil duke. The legend goes that the miller's daughter, Violetta, cut off the duke's head when he tried to claim his right to sleep with young brides on their wedding night. What is Shrove Tuesday? The battle represents the struggle between the supporters of the duke and those of Violetta. Image copyright ANDREA CAPELLO All photographs courtesy Andrea Capello.
Midsummer madness: Why 'Juhannus' is Finland's best and worst celebration In the UK, the only people who celebrate midsummer, or summer solstice as it’s more commonly known, are New-Age hippies, pagans and wannabe Druids. The celebration is so obscure that every year TV news cameras congregate at Stonehenge, the famed ancient rock circle, to film people frolicking with midsummer madness. It’s a novelty news item, in the same vein as "Cat rescues boy from tree". Simply put, we Brits don’t take midsummer very seriously. We’re not alone. Don’t get me wrong. However, for a summer celebration to work, there is one crucial ingredient necessary. If the summer has yet to deliver by Midsummer, you’re in for a very painful realisation: you’re halfway through and you’ve still not been warm enough to even have a terrace beer in shorts. When it comes to weather, Juhannus is a more extreme version of Vappu, as May Day is known in Finland . Thankfully, like everything in life, even midsummer clouds have a silver lining. That, if anything, takes sisu.
China facial recognition: Law professor sues wildlife park Image copyright AFP A university professor is suing a wildlife park for enforcing facial recognition, in one of the first significant legal challenges to China's rapidly growing use of the technology. It is an issue that has become a matter of heated debate. Prof Guo Bing says the Hangzhou Safari Park is "violating consumer protection law by compulsorily collecting visitors' individual characteristics", after it suddenly made facial recognition registration a mandatory requirement for visitor entrance. The park has since compromised by offering visitors a choice between using the previous fingerprint system and high-tech facial recognition, China Daily reports. The park is one of many institutions to introduce facial recognition at its entrances. However, since Prof Guo questioned the necessity of it, there have been bigger conversations about the extensive amount of data kept on citizens. What happened at the park? In previous years, he has used fingerprint recognition to enter.
Healthy injection | Global Weekly | China Daily Outbreak brings new opportunities for China’s burgeoning digital economy Wang Jiayi, a 31-year-old fashion magazine editor in the Tongzhou district of Beijing, is relying on a vending machine powered by artificial intelligence at her residential compound to supply her with fresh fruit, vegetables and other necessities. “I select products displayed on the transparent door of the machine and use my mobile to scan a quick-response code,” Wang said. “Once it is scanned, the door opens and payment is processed automatically after I make my selection and close the door,” Wang said. The entire process is convenient and requires no human-to-human contact, she added. The AI vending machines, developed by e-commerce giant JD’s logistics innovation laboratory, are being rolled out in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing due to the rising demand for unmanned shopping experiences amid the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak. Contact the writers at fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn
'Get robbed in Rio': Brazil tourist board mistakenly publish rant Image copyright Getty Images Come for sunshine, beaches and the violent crime is not the typical message a tourist board broadcasts. But Brazil's national tourism board surprised its social media followers when it inadvertently shared a tourist's rant about her holiday in Rio de Janeiro. "Rio is such a beautiful city," begins the post by user Withlai on Tuesday. But it goes on: "My family and I were robbed and my 9-year-old sister witnessed a violent robbery." "I can't recommend a visit to a city where I felt afraid of even leaving the apartment." Brazilian news site G1 shared a screen grab of the post. Image Copyright @g1 @g1 Violent crime rates are high in Brazil, with Rio de Janeiro state registering nearly 4,000 murders and 120,500 muggings last year. But this homicide rate is the lowest since records began in 1991. "The message was shared by mistake. Just 5.7% of its annual tourism income comes from foreign arrivals, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council in 2019.
Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) Test Prep exercises The following quizzes and exercises are to help you prepare for Cambridge Proficiency examination. Paper One - Reading and Use of English Part 1 - Multiple Choice Cloze The first part of the Reading and Use of English paper in the Proficiency Examination is multiple choice cloze where you have to choose the correct word from four similar given words. This is a test of your vocabulary knowledge primarily, your ability to use the correct word (noun, verb, adjective) depending on context. View quizzes and exercises for Proficiency, Multiple Choice Cloze Part 2 - Open Cloze The second part of the Reading and Use of English paper in the Proficiency Examination is open cloze, in which you use one word to fill each space in a short text. View quizzes and exercises for Proficiency, Open Cloze Part 3 - Word Formation View quizzes and exercises for Proficiency, Word Formation Part 4 - Key Word Transformations View quizzes and exercises for Proficiency, Key Word Transformations Part 6 - Reading: Gapped Text
German students say fines for stealing supermarket waste 'absurd' Image copyright AFP Two students who were fined for taking food from a supermarket waste bin have lodged an appeal with Germany's highest court. Franziska Stein (26) und Caroline Krüger (28) were each handed a €225 (£194) suspended fine and told to spend eight hours helping in a food bank. That ruling from Bavaria's top court upheld a local court's verdict that they were guilty of theft. The women argue that they are helping society by reducing food waste. In a blog, they call the Bavarian ruling "absurd" because "in a time of climate crisis, the protection of our livelihoods is being downgraded". In June 2018 they unlocked an Edeka supermarket waste bin at night in Olching, near Munich, and fished out still-edible fruit, yoghurt and vegetables. But they were then stopped by two police officers who emptied their rucksack and made them put the food back in the waste bin. Media playback is unsupported on your device The case went to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on Friday.