【Part 1】
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'mYun Feng in Beijing. Here is the news.Microsoft has stopped providingtechnical assistance for Windows XP, a major operating system for Chinesecomputer users. The move has opened up opportunities for China's IT companies.
Since April 8, technical assistancefor Windows XP has no longer been available from Microsoft and the company hasstopped providing security updates. Microsoft says computers can still runXP but it will become more insecure and prone to viruses. The company advisedusers to upgrade to Windows 8.1 and get a new PC if necessary.China has about200 million XP users which account for 70 percent of the entire PC market, andthe majority has no plans to switch.
According to an online survey, manyusers think updating the system is too expensive.The price of Windows 8 isalmost 1,000 yuan, or about 160 U.S. dollars, and to run the system, one wouldneed to buy a new computer.To protect the 13-year-old operating system andhelp users continue to use it, Chinese security providers have releasedspecialized XP-protection products. Microsoft China, Tencent and Lenovo jointlylaunched a Windows XP user support plan last month for security and anti-virusservices in China.
A group of other Chinese IT companieshave joined in the plan and will provide defense solutions for XP users untilthey upgrade their systems. They will keep "building a hedge"for a transition period expected to last two to three years or even longer.
【Part 2】
This is NEWS Plus SpecialEnglish.Global warming makes feeding the world harder and more expensive. Thatwas according to a United Nations scientific panel.
The Inter-governmental Panel onClimate Change says a warmer world will push food prices higher and trigger"hotspots of hunger" in the world's poorest regions. The panel saysthe world is facing the specter of reduced yields in some of the key crops thatfeed humanity.
Even though heat and carbon dioxideare often considered good for plants, the overall effect of various aspects ofman-made warming is that it will reduce food production compared to a worldwithout global warming. The last time the panel reported on the effects ofwarming was in 2007. It said it was too early to tell whether climate changewould increase or decrease food production.
But in the past several years,scientists have been overwhelming in showing that climate change hurts foodproduction. But experts say this doesn't mean in 50 years there will be lessfood grown. Thanks to improved agricultural techniques, crop productionis growing about 10 percent per decade, while climate change is likely toreduce yields by 1 percent a decade. So crop production will still go up, butnot as fast.
【Part 3】
You're listening to NEWS Plus SpecialEnglish. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing.Tourist attractions across Shanghai reportedrecord visitor numbers over the three-day Qingming Festival holiday as localstook advantage of the warm weather to have fun in the sun.
It is a tradition for families toenjoy a spring outing, or ta qing, after paying their respects to theirancestors on tomb-sweeping day. At Shanghai Wildlife Park in the Pudong NewArea, the number of visitors in the three day holiday rose 350 percent fromlast year, to 80,000.It was a similar story at Dongping Forest Park in ChongmingIsland, where visitor numbers doubled to reach almost 30,000.
Likewise, Jinjiang Amusement Park,Happy Valley, Century Park and Shanghai World Financial Center all reported 100percent increases in visitor numbers. Attractions with a floral theme also drewthe crowds, with the Shanghai Peach Blossom Festival, Cherry Blossom Festivaland Rape Flower Festival reporting a combined 570,000 visitors.
【Part 4】
This is NEWS Plus SpecialEnglish. In a related development, Qingming Festival is also celebratedby various ethnic groups in China. And different groups have differenttraditions to honor their ancestors. Early in the morning, the Gelao ethnicgroup in Guizhou Province, southwest China, began their annual sacrificialceremony. First, the host serves up sacrificial offerings including grains,fruit and home-made fabrics. Then there comes the showcase of folk danceaccompanied by the group's traditional music.
Thousands of tourists witnessed theceremony, which is held near the mountain where the god was born. The localpeople hold this sacrificial ceremony there every year, praying for god'sblessings of health and fortune. Qingming Festival is also a time to get closeto nature. In Longli County, people of the Buyi ethnic group go to pick a kindof wild herb to make offerings to their ancestors. The herb is very rare andcan only be found around the festival.
The offering is made from the herbmixed with sticky rice flour. The local people offer the food to theirancestors in a simple ritual held at home. After that, the tasty dish is sharedby the family. Qingming Festival is celebrated by many ethnic groups across thecountry, but in very different ways.
【Part 5】
You're listening to NEWS Plus SpecialEnglish. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing.Smoking is a big problem in China, and thecountry is the world's largest tobacco consumer. Now the World HealthOrganization wants tobacco warning labels to be more vivid.
WHO experts say China's warnings, suchas "Smoking is hazardous to your health" no longer reduce smokernumbers, and they need to be replaced by graphic warnings.The suggestion comesin a report by the WHO and the International Tobacco Control Policy EvaluationProject. The report says China can bring down the number of smokers byputting large format graphic warnings on cigarette packages. The WHO sayssmokers have a better chance of noticing graphic health warnings.