lesson 88

部分职业不待见性感女性

据路透社报道，科罗拉多大学一项研究显示，好的相貌可能会扼杀女性步入“阳刚型”职业的机率。性感女性应聘不注重相貌的职位时会受到歧视，这些职位包括研 发主管、财务主管、机械工程师与工程建设监理等。另外，安全主管、硬件营销人员、狱警与拖车司机等职位也不怎么待见性感女性。研究人员斯蒂芬妮·约翰逊 说：“在这些行业，性感对女性往往极度不利。”

默多克出售星空卫视控股权

鲁珀特·默多克领导的传媒集团新闻集团即将把其旗下的三个华语电视频道控股权出售给 华人文化产业投资基金，该基金是由上海东方传媒集团和中国国家开发银行共同发起的国有私募股权基金。按照协议，华人文化产业投资基金将控股星空卫视普通话 频道、星空国际频道、Channel[V]音乐频道，以及星空华语电影片库业务。据雅虎英国财经新闻报道，双方并没有透露持股细节，但有消息称新闻集团仍 将持有近50%的股权。

“烟城”莫斯科1天700人亡

英国《卫报》报道，俄罗斯卫生部高级官员今天表示，骇人的热浪与有毒烟雾已经使莫斯 科每天的死亡人数达到了700人。许多莫斯科市民忍受不了刺鼻的浓烟和污染物，纷纷从家里和工作间跑出来，转而奔到开着空调的商场﹑电影院﹑咖啡馆等地。 科学家称，上周晚些时候空气中的一氧化碳含量已经高达安全值的六倍，其它有毒物质则使空气更加污浊。俄罗斯联邦环境监测局已经下令，要求莫斯科市内的工厂 将气体排放量临时削减40%。俄罗斯森林大火已经使52人丧命，3千多人无家可归，1.7万公顷的土地上目前仍有550多处火情。

英国人走完亚马逊全程

据《卫报》报道，在走完4千英里，经历了约5万次蚊虫叮咬，多次遭黄蜂蜇刺，与水 蟒、蝎子多次不期而遇后，英国人艾德·斯塔福德于昨日创造了纪录，沿亚马逊河徒步走完了全程。他成为有史以来第一位沿着世界上最长河流徒步走完全程的人。 他现年34岁，曾是英国陆军上尉，于2008年4月2日从秘鲁的南海岸出发。这次长达2年半的旅行花费了约6.3万英镑，由某些公司和民众资助。斯塔福德 希望他的壮举可以提高人们对破坏雨林行为的关注，但表示他“并非生态斗士”。

拉登将有双胞胎孙辈

据英国《每日邮报》报道，同意为奥萨姆·本·拉登生育孙辈的英国代孕妈妈怀上了双胞 胎。近日，怀孕8周的路易斯·波拉德在英国曼彻斯特的一家私人诊所做检查时被告知怀的是双胞胎。本·拉登的儿子奥马尔只有29岁，而他的英国妻子赛纳已经 54岁。波拉德是通过试管受精才成功受孕的。报道称，奥马尔夫妇2007年结婚后一直无法生育，于是在一家代孕网站上找到24岁的波拉德。上个月，赛纳离 开丈夫前去陪伴怀孕的波拉德；而奥马尔被诊断患上了精神分裂症，其行为古怪，有时竟然会听见父亲本·拉登的声音。波拉德说，她怀上双胞胎的消息在很大程度 上改善了这对夫妻的关系，两人现在每天都会通话。

张健成功横渡兴凯湖

历经36.5小时的顽强拼搏，中国游泳健将张健9日成功横渡兴凯湖，创造人类横渡最 长距离淡水湖的记录。考虑到不利的天气情况，张健横渡过程中出现了迂回，实际距离达到69公里。尽管如此，他本次横渡的直线距离为50公里，仍打破纪录。 张健还曾于2001年7月横渡英吉利海峡，成为挑战该项成功的中国第一人。

格陵兰发生最大规模冰川崩裂

美国《探索》频道报道称，科学家近日发现格林兰岛西北部一座名为彼得曼的冰川发生大规模崩裂，断裂浮冰面积等同于4个曼哈顿岛大小。本次冰川崩裂是1962年以来最大的一次，研究者估计彼得曼冰川的冰舌部分损失了近1/4的体积。

地震电影票房破五亿

据新华社报道，截至上周日，讲述唐山1976年毁灭性地震的影片《唐山大地震》在中 国大陆地区的票房已达到创纪录的5.32亿元。这部冯小刚执导的电影自7月22日公映不到3周，便成为中国最赚钱的国产电影。此片也是第一部以IMAX格 式发行的中文影片，在首映当天就赚了3620万元，这也是大陆影片最高的首日票房纪录。此片的成本预算为1.5亿元。

女子假装癌症骗巨额捐款

路透社报道，一名多伦多女子承认谎称患上癌症，并编造了一个不存在的慈善机构，募集 了上万元捐款。据报道，去年10月，23岁的阿什利·安妮·科瑞罗开始在自己的交友网站主页上谎称自己得了癌症。她剃光头发和眉毛，拔掉眼睫毛并让自己挨 饿，以至于看上去像个化疗病人。她结识不同的地方团体和招募志愿者，来帮她举办募捐活动和慈善捐款演唱会。甚至还有一个善心的癌症组织 “Skate4Cancer”满足了她死前想要去迪斯尼乐园游玩的愿望。她总计骗得约19,400美元的捐款。近日，她主动联系报社，为自己的所作所为感 到抱歉。她说她这么做只是想引起关注，使自己一家团聚。

----------------------------

Attractive women bypassed for jobs

Good looks can kill a woman's chances of snaring jobs considered "masculine," according to a study by the University of Colorado, Reuters reported. Attractive women faced discrimination when they applied for jobs where appearance was not seen as important. These positions included job titles like manager of research and development, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction supervisor. They were also overlooked for categories like director of security, hardware salesperson, prison guard and tow-truck driver. "In these professions being attractive was highly detrimental to women," researcher Stefanie Johnson said.

Murdoch sells China TV channels

News Corporation, a media group headed by Rupert Murdoch, is to sell control of its three Chinese television channels to the Chinese state-controlled private equity fund China Media Capital (CMC), which is backed by Shanghai Media Group and China Development Bank, both state-owned. CMC will acquire a controlling stake in Xing Kong, Xing Kong International, Channel [V] Mainland China, and its Fortune Start Chinese movie library, News Corp and CMC said. Yahoo! Finance UK reported that the two companies did not announce financial details of the deal, but sources familiar with the situation said News Corp would hold on to close to 50% of the assets.

Moscow death rate doubles

Oppressive heat and waves of toxic smog in Moscow have seen the death rate reach 700 a day, a senior Russian health official said today. The Guardian reported that an acrid cocktail of smoke and pollutants had forced many Muscovites to flee their homes or workplaces in search of air-conditioned malls, cinemas and cafes. Scientists say levels of carbon monoxide peaked at six times the acceptable norm late last week and other toxic particles have clogged the city's air. The federal environmental-monitoring agency has asked factories in Moscow to temporarily cut emissions by up to 40%. Wildfires in Russia have claimed 52 lives and left more than 3,000 people homeless, and more than 550 fires covering 17,000 hectares were still burning across Russia.

Captain Ed, first to walk Amazon

After 4,000 miles, an estimated 50,000 mosquito bites, hundreds of wasp stings and encounters with anacondas and scorpions, Briton Ed Stafford, yesterday completed his record-breaking trek along the path of the Amazon, the Guardian reported. He became the first man known to have walked the entire length of the world's longest river. The 34-year-old former British army captain set out from the south coast of Peru on April 2, 2008. The two-and-a-half year journey, which has cost around £63,000, has been funded by sponsorships from companies and the public. Stafford hoped his feat would raise awareness of the destruction of the rain forest, but said he is "no eco-warrior."

Osama twin Laden

A British surrogate mother who agreed to have Osama Bin Laden's grandchild is expecting twins, the Daily Mail reported. Louise Pollard was given the news during her eight-week scan at a private clinic in Manchester. She had conceived via IVF using the sperm of Bin Laden's 29-year-old son Omar and the eggs of his 54-year-old British wife, Zaina. The couple, who married in 2007, had proved unable to have children together and contacted the 24-year-old Pollard through a surrogacy website. Mrs. Bin Laden left her husband last month and spent time with Pollard. Omar was diagnosed with schizophrenia following weeks of erratic behavior during which he began to hear the voice of his father. The surrogate mother said news of the twins made reconciliation more likely. Omar and Zaina have been speaking every day.

Zhang swims across Xingkai Lake

On Monday Chinese swimmer Zhang Jian successfully completed his record-breaking challenge to swim across Xingkai Lake after 36.5 hours in the water. Considering the unpleasant weather conditions, Zhang made some detours in the voyage that extended his actual distance to 69 km, but even so, his 50 km direct-line mileage still set a new record. Previously in July 2001, Zhang successfully swam across the English Channel, becoming the first Chinese to do so.

Giant glacier cracks in Greenland

Scientists discovered recently that a huge mass of ice four times the size of Manhattan had broken free of Petermann glacier in northwestern Greenland, Discovery News reported. The "ice island" was the largest calving event on the glacier since 1962, and researchers estimated Petermann lost nearly a quarter of its floating ice tongue in one go.

Quake film sets record

Aftershock, a film about the earthquake that devastated Tangshan in 1976, had raked in a record 532 million yuan (US$79.4 million) at the Chinese mainland box office as of last Sunday, Xinhua reported. Directed by Feng Xiaogang, the film has become the highest-grossing Chinese-made movie in less than three weeks after its national premier on July 22. The first Chinese movie released in IMAX format took in 36.2 million yuan on its opening day -- the highest for a mainland movie on its opening day. The film had a budget of 150 million yuan (US$22 million).

Woman faked cancer for cash

A woman in the Toronto area has admitted to faking cancer, running a bogus charity and collecting thousands of dollars, Reuters reported. Ashley Anne Kirilow, 23, began claiming to have cancer from last October on her Facebook page. She shaved her head and eyebrows, plucked her eyelashes and starved herself to look like she was going through chemotherapy, according to the report. She befriended different local groups and recruited volunteers to help her organize events and benefit concerts, and even convinced a cancer awareness organization -- Skate4Cancer -- to fly her to Disney World to fulfill what she said was a dying wish. All told, she raised US$19,400. Recently, she contacted the paper, saying she was sorry for what she had done. She said she was just trying to be noticed and to get her family back together.