July 18 READ ME Koreans Ecstatic Pyeongchang Will Host 2018 Winter Olympics The South Korean resort of Pyeongchang

has been selected to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. It took only one round of voting in Durban, South Africa, for Pyeongchang to defeat Munich, Germany, and France's Annecy. Now many South Koreans hope that by having the games, it will also put them on the map as a winter sports hot spot. After two consecutive failed bids to host the Winter Olympics, the ski resort area of Pyeongchang, about 180 kilometers east of Seoul, finally will get its chance. Ahn Kyoung An, 23, who sounded a little hoarse from cheering, says she is really happy South Korea won this time. "We are also very stunned, because we tried a lot of times," said Ahn. Pyeongchang is already the center for winter sports in Korea, but many here say the 2018 Olympics could turn the area into an international hub. That sounds a little overambitious, says Jason Lee, a long time sportscaster with Korea's Arirang TV. But he says the resorts there have already done a good job at luring some foreign skiers. "They are bringing people from countries that do not have snow, from South East Asia, from Africa," said Lee. "They have got good intentions in trying to make Pyeongchang an area that is just not central to Korea." But Lee says the hard part is making Pyeongchang's facilities meet international expectations. The area does not have much in the way of an after ski culture, and major transportation projects are planned to make the three-hour trip from Seoul a little less of a trek. But Lee says he's confident the Koreans will have it all done by 2018. "There are a lot of things that need to be built, but it has been one of those things," Lee added. "We will do it once we are promised these games

and I think they definitely do have a long way to go. But the fact that they have the support of the Olympic committee, the nation is fully behind it." South Korea becomes the second Asian nation, after Japan, to hold the Winter Games. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 1) Do you think Olympic games are good to upgrade national image? 2) Winter Olympic Games have been the playground for European and North American nations. Why? 3) What is the most important and urgent matter to solve in preparation of Pyeongchang Olympic Games?

July 19 READ ME Fans, stars and Hollywood mourn end of Harry Potter magic Film farewells dont get much bigger than Harry Potter, and thousands of fans prepared on Thursday to say goodbye to their beloved boy wizard at the world premiere of the final movie in the record-breaking series. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is the eighth installment - and first in 3-D - of a franchise that has generated more public excitement and media hype than any other in living memory. For Hollywood studio Warner Bros it has been a magic pot of gold, with the seven films released so far grossing $6.4 billion in ticket sales and billions more from DVDs and merchandise. For a generation of Potter fans, the movies have extended the wizarding world created by British author J.K. Rowling in her seven-book saga which began in 1997 and concluded in 2007. More than 400 million copies have been sold around the globe, making Rowling the first author billionaire and providing a huge support base upon which the films built. Weve grown up in the Harry Potter generation - I read the first book when I was 5 so now its weird that its coming to an end... like the end of childhood, said Rhys, an 18-year-old who braved the rain in Londons Trafalgar Square. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 1) Why did Harry Potter series become so popular in movie and book? What are the reasons? 2) Do you like fantasy novels/films? Why or why not? 3) When the same contents exist in film and in book, which one do you prefer? Why?

July 20 READ ME How to goof around without your boss knowing Office workers who spend everyday glaring at a computer screen find it hard to keep their concentration throughout work hours. It is difficult to access Facebook, Twitter or other websites when the boss is watching. Here comes my boss, provided by popular site Humor University, is a simple route to avoid being caught slacking: It returns the screen immediately to a desktop setting. Double monitor programs provide an upgraded version of this. Available on numerous download websites, they allow users to have several screens in one monitor; just by pressing a key the screen can switch back to that of a diligent workers at a glimpse. Recently, Bay Gross, a computer science major at Yale University, made Hardlywork.in, a site that automatically converts Facebook news feeds into an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is carefully engineered to help those feel as professional as possible. Users can see what friends are doing with updates appearing as new spreadsheet rows. They can also like entries by clicking on the like column. The Excel file is also named daily cash reconciliation to make it seem legitimate. Gross thought of the idea when his friend with a government internship said she could only check her Facebook after work. The site is attracting around 10,000 unique users everyday. Bay Gross, said it only took 15 hours to develop. Visitors are greeted to the site with: Feeling unprofessional when you check your Facebook profile at the office? Well theres nothing more professional than a nice

spreadsheet. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 1) Many companies block some websites. Do you think it is necessary? 2) Do you think Korean workers do more personal things at work? 3) Some people say that some time with web surfing is breathing room for employees. What is your opinion?

July 21 READ ME For-profit hospitals The long drawn-out controversy over the establishment of for-profit hospitals in Korea has been rekindled as the government and the ruling Grand National Party seek to pass bills allowing such hospitals on Jeju Island and in the Incheon Free Economic Zone. If passed through the National Assembly in August as planned, the bills will allow private investors to set up and operate hospitals in the two areas to make money, just as a company is run to earn profits. Allowing private investors to establish for-profit hospitals was one of President Lee Myung-baks campaign pledges. But the incumbent government has been split on this issue. Advocates argue that for-profit hospitals, if allowed, would open the floodgates for investment in hospitals, making medical services one of the nations new growth engines. According to the Bank of Korea, the introduction of for-profit hospitals would boost gross domestic product by 21 trillion won and create 250,000 jobs in the medium to long term. But critics argue that for-profit hospitals would drive up the costs of medical services for ordinary people, given the small number of state-run hospitals that they can rely on. Furthermore, detractors say, for-profit hospitals would monopolize high-caliber doctors and research personnel, making it difficult for low-income people to access high-quality medical treatment. In the face of strong resistance from opposition parties and civic groups, the government has been promoting the establishment of for-profit hospitals on Jeju Island and in the Incheon FEZ on a trial basis. But opposition parties and civic groups even oppose these pilot projects on the grounds that they would pave the way for a full-fledged

introduction of for-profit hospitals across the nation. Blind opposition to the pilot projects does not make sense. For-profit hospitals have both positive and negative aspects. But it is difficult to calculate the benefits and costs without actually operating the new type of hospitals. In this sense, it is logical to give the pilot projects a try. We can scrap the whole idea if the trial hospitals fail to meet expectations. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 1) What are the benefits of for-profit hospitals? 2) Some say these hospitals could be a beginning to stall the national health insurance system operated by the government. What do you think? 3) Do you think we should try the pilot projects of for-profit hospitals in Jeju in order to know if they meet our expectations?

July 22 READ ME Three children stuck in a car at 40 while mother goes shopping A British mother has been accused of leaving her three children unattended in a sweltering car for 45 minutes while she went shopping, the Daily Mail reported. Kelly Langham, 26, abandoned her three kids aged two, five and eight to go to a Cash Converter store as the temperature inside the car rose to 40 degrees Celsius. A witness reported that the youngest child was strapped into a car seat and was screaming, crying and red in the face. Suffering from the heat, the children began honking the cars horn to call for help. Once a passer-by called the police, the dehydrated and severely traumatized youngsters were rescued. Langham, who ran up to the car just when the police arrived, explained she was stuck in a queue at the store and had not realized how hot it would become inside the vehicle. Her lawyer claimed that Langham had not intended to leave the children in a dangerously high heat and she had wound down windows, genuinely having no idea that the car would heat up to 40 degrees Celsius. However, the mother admitted having taken amphetamine earlier that day as she has become a drug addict after struggling with parenting since her husband went to prison last year. She pled guilty to committing willful child neglect and possessing amphetamine and court magistrates warned her that she could be jailed. The case was adjourned until August 1. Her three children are being cared for by another family member.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? 1) There are some parents who don't know how dangerous it is to leave children in the car in summer. If you see children left in the car, will you report it to the police? 2) What are other rules you should keep in the car with children? 3) Many mothers are very much stressed by raising kids/babies alone, and that stress affects kids directly. What are the possible ways to cope with the stress during the kid nurture period?