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Do you shop online with websites like Taobao? The money you pay doesn't go directly to the seller. Instead, it goes through Alipay, which keeps your money for a while. After you receive your goods and click the "confirm receipt" button, Alipay then gives the money to the seller.
The process is called "third party online payment". There is a transfer station, or a third account, between sellers and buyers to make online shopping safe. Buyers don't need to worry about paying for goods and then receiving nothing. Sellers also get rid of the risk of receiving no money after sending out goods.
These transfer stations are usually set up by payment service companies such as Alipay, Tenpay and Yeepay. Among them, Alipay is the biggest in China. It has more than 270 million active users, according to Xinhua.
While most online sellers and shoppers like the third party online payment system, banks are not very happy. That is because companies like Alipay are fighting over money with the banks. Users can invest in financial products through Alipay and make money. Thus lots of people choose to put money in Alipay rather than in banks.
But WeChat payment is not the same. WeChat doesn't have its own account. When paying through WeChat, the buyers' money goes directly to the sellers. That's why so many people are excited about receiving and handing out "red envelopes" or gift money to their friends on WeChat.
Whether Alipay or WeChat payment, they are all trying to attract more users and make online shopping easier. These two companies are also promoting payments through fingerprints. New payment methods such as quick response codes have become popular too.
It seems that food deliverymen (送货员) are always rushing in haste. We can always see them running every minute, and they seem to have lots of things to do the next minute. They wear blue, red or yellow helmets (头盔) and many of them don't follow traffic rules. They drive on the wrong side of the road and run red lights. They use mobile phones when they are driving.
However, not everything goes well with food deliverymen. In the first half of 2017, food deliverymen had 76 traffic accidents in Shanghai. That means every two and a half days, a food deliveryman will die or get hurt on the road.
What makes deliverymen take such risks? The strict rules of the food delivery companies and the worried customers may be the answer. Many companies will fine (罚款) a deliveryman up to 2,000 yuan if he can't deliver the food on time, reported China Daily. Fines also go to those who get bad reviews from customers.
To solve the problem, food delivery service companies need to do some changes. Some cities are also taking action. Shanghai has asked companies to train their deliverymen on traffic rules and safety. Now in Shenzhen, if a deliveryman breaks traffic rules more than twice, then he can't do the job for a whole year.
Homestays are becoming more and more popular, and people around the world are offering their homes as hotels. Homestays offer cheap places to stay and the chance for guests to see the area like local people. " They are very popular with students who want to stay in another country and learn a language. We asked three families who run homestays to tell us about where they live.
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The Atal family Our family home is in the north of Nepal, in the Himalayan Mountains, in the village of Manang. The village is small and quiet. It is a very friendly place. The mountains are very beautiful, You can go for long walks and swim in the rivers, but there are no shops, cinemas or café. |
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Kate and Julian Foxton Our two-bedroom house is by the sea in the southwest of England. It is 15 minutes' drive to the nearest village of Portreath. There are lots of beaches, rivers and forests, and it is very quiet. We spend a lot of time reading books, watching films and going for walks. Our area is great for sports like swimming and mountain biking. There are no buses or trains here, so it can be difficult to get around without a car. |
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Chafic and Aline Halwany Our home is near the historic city center of Beirut, Lebanon, a large city in the Middle East. There are lots of cafe and restaurants, which are open late at night. We love it here because it's so friendly and you can always find what you need. Lots of people can come here to learn Arabic and French. There are also a lot of jobs and businesses here. However, it can be noisy at night and there is a lot of traffic during the day. The best thing about Beirut is the weather. It is nice all year round; it rains in the winter, but there is no snow. |
A few years ago, my sister in-law started to feel worried about her teenage daughter. What was she doing after school? Where was she spending her time? Her daughter was an excellent student, and took part in all kinds of after-class activities. Even so, she decided to put a tracking (跟踪) app on the kid's phone.
At first, this made my sister-in-law "feel better". Then the good situation suddenly ended, She recalled, "I found out that she was someplace that she said she wasn't. I went out in the middle of the night and found her walking without shoes in the middle of the street with some friends,"Things went quickly downhill for the mother and the daughter after that.
With 83% of teens having their own phones now, according to a study in 2020, more and more of their parents are facing the question to watch or not?
Ann Homayoun, expert from Harford University, has advised many parents and their kids about this. "I've found tens are more acceptable to tracking apps when it is included as part of a family agreement to improve safety than when it is placed as a secret tool to watch them," she said.
Mark Bell, a father of a teenage girl, said, "We don't have tracking apps, but we have set some ground rules that my daughter must follow in exchange for us providing a phone," he said. For example, his daughter must "friend"him on social media (媒体) so that he can read posts, and must share all passwords. When you're trying to build trust, you need to create an environment that encourages it. So, to win their trust, you always need to be straight with your children,
"Parents must let children know how and when they'll be watching them," said Doctor White. "If they're not open about it", he warns, "it can greatly harm the parent and child relationship."
Can you imagine walking in, sitting next to a stranger and asking for the latest news or putting a recent novel down next to someone's coffee and asking for their opinion before giving yours?
But more than 300 years ago, this kind of behaviour was encouraged in thousands of coffeehouses all over London. In 1712, the Starbucks site(位置) today was occupied(占据) by Button's coffeehouse Inside, poets, writers and members of the public gathered around long wooden tables drinking, thinking, writing and discussing literature into the night. On the wall, near where the Starbucks community notice board now stands, was the white marble(大理石) head of a lion with wide-open mouth. The public was invited to feed it with letters and stories. The best of the lion's digest(文摘) were published in a weekly edition of Joseph Addison's Guardian newspaper, named "the roaring of the lion".
Today, few people know Button's. It's just one of London's forgotten coffeehouses.
London's first coffeehouse was opened by a Greek named Pasque Rosee in 1652. While a servant for a British merchant in Turkey, Rosee developed a taste for the exotic(异国情调的) Turkish drink and decided to import(进口) it to London. People from all walks of life came to his business to meet, greet, drink, think, write, and joke.
