CRI听力:Survey Reveals too Much Trust in Internet Encyclopedias

China Daily

Survey reveals too much trust in Internet encyclopedias

A survey on Thursday revealed that 86.2 percent of respondents have consulted Internet encyclopedias, with 41.6 percent admitting frequent use, while only 46.9 percent have ever questioned the credibility of the content.

The China Youth Daily surveyed over 3,000 people last week, and found that 62.6 percent of correspondents are aware that free Internet encyclopedias can be edited by any random person with a computer.

Nearly 50 percent said that free editing rights will promote better understanding of the truth, while 20.5 percent disagreed and 27.3 percent chose "hard to say."

"As long as the Internet is open to all, there is bound to be deliberate tampering with the articles," said Wu, former editor-in-chief of Hudong Encyclopedia.

The authority of online encyclopedias is not guaranteed, which makes questioning necessary. According to the survey, 56.6 percent of people expressed concern over a lack of skepticism among netizens, especially the young.

China News Service

China to further develop village tourism

Local township and village tourism in China will receive a boost in investment this year, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said today.

Ten thousand villages will transform into tourism hotspots and 200,000 households will be turned into farm stay accommodations, Wang said at the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit.

Over 13.5 million people were employed in the tourism sector last year, with more than 1.7 million households in the farm stay business.

China is the second largest travel and tourism economy in the world with each Chinese person making an average two trips last year. This is expected to grow 7 percent annually for the next 10 years, according to the WTTC.

The Chinese tourism market is expected to exceed 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars within five years and the country will roll out more supportive policies to nurture the tourism sector, Wang added.

The Telegraph

British students 'being driven overseas by fees hike'

Rising numbers of students are considering taking courses overseas, driven by an increase in tuition fees in the UK and the need for "travel and adventure".

A report by the British Council found that more than a third of young adults were preparing to take courses overseas – which is nearly double than one year ago.

Figures show a "thirst for travel and adventure" and experiencing other cultures were cited as the most popular reasons for wanting to take a university or college course abroad.

But more than half of students said they were considering moving overseas because of the sharp rise in tuition fees at British universities, which can now charge up to ?9,000 a year for a degree.

The scale of overseas study has prompted concerns in the past that British business could be losing thousands of talented graduates to companies overseas.

Yahoo News

Wellness programs grow more popular with employers

More US companies are starting or expanding wellness programs that aim to reduce their medical costs by improving their employees' health.

That little voice nagging you to put down the cakes and lace up the running shoes might start coming from your employer as a federal health care overhaul looms.

A survey of nearly 600 large U.S. companies by benefits consultant Towers Watson found that 22 percent of companies that use financial incentives to encourage wellness program participation structured them as penalties. That's up from 18 percent last year.

Along with that, many companies also are dangling the threat of higher monthly insurance premiums to prod workers into action.

The Affordable Care Act is one reason the programs are spreading. The federal law calls for a 40 percent tax on expensive benefit plans starting in 2018, and many companies that offer employer-based coverage already have begun looking for ways to lower costs and avoid that tax.