India is one of the world’s  largest producers of fruits and vegetables, but a third of its produce rots because of poor storage, transport and distribution. rot:腐烂 The lack of cold storage and infrastructure is one of the main reasons why food price…

Early one morning last week I queued outside Sri Gopi Iyengar Coffee and Tiffin Center, a coffee bar just outside the monumental Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. My long wait under a scorching sun was rewarded with a small glass…

It's a nightly dilemma in many households: A student hits a wall doing homework, and parents are too tired, too busy—or too mystified—to help. dilemma:困境,进退两难 mystified:困惑的,使难解 Ordering up a tutor is becoming as easy for kids as grabbing a late-night…

The appointment of India-born Satya Nadella as Microsoft Corp.'s CEO has caused a bit of a stir in China, where people are questioning why Indians but not Chinese are getting top jobs in the U.S. Language and familiarity with Western culture are the…

With startup-themed conferences, hackathons, meet-ups and cocktail hours regularly taking place, entrepreneurs are in no short supply of opportunities to meet people who could be helpful to their startups. cocktail:鸡尾酒 But there's a lot more to devel…

Much has been said about what the 'China Dream' really means to many Chinese -- whether it is national strength, cultural renewal or more modest personal goals. For many of those living in the vast countryside, the dream is a life in one a city and s…

The conference call is one of the most familiar rituals of office life -- and one of the most hated. ritual:典礼,宗教仪式 Abuses are rife. People on the line interrupt others, zone out or multitask, forgetting to hit 'mute' while talking to kids or slurpin…

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 people aboard, lost contact early Saturday with the airline shortly into the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Government and airline officials said they weren't ready to speculate about what caused the Boe…

For much of the last year, intellectuals and officials in China -- land of world-beating students and, in a bygone age, the scholar official -- have been wringing their hands over the country's declining interest in reading. bygone:过去的        wringin…

Where are Chinese tourists going to next? Pop culture may hold some clues, from blockbuster rom-com 'Finding Mr. Right' to U.S. sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory.' blockbuster:轰动,巨型炸弹 China is the source of most of the world's tourists as well as its bigge…

'What's celebrity sex, Dad?' It was my 7-year-old son, who had been looking over my shoulder at my computer screen. He mispronounced 'celebrity' but spoke the word 'sex' as if he had been using it all his life. 'Celebrity six,' I said, abruptly closi…

Detroit is beautiful-though you probably have to be a child of the industrial Midwest, like me, to see it. As you may have heard, the city is in trouble. At the end of the 2013 fiscal year, Detroit had a balance sheet with liabilities of $9.05 billio…

Forget the breathless coverage of China Mobile offering the iPhone for a moment. Yes, it's huge news for China's biggest wireless carrier and Apple (AAPL) -- and we've heard plenty to the point. But the real game changer for China is another mobile m…

In a year that featured one of history's biggest corporate buyouts, a stock-market surge reminiscent of the dot-com bubble and an American energy boom that kept on booming, there was plenty to write about in the business world. buyout:收购,买断 reminisce…

China's recent clampdown on foreign media is crimping the expansion plans of Western news organizations, at a time when many experts believe the Chinese market for news and financial data could be poised for explosive growth. stymie:妨碍,阻挠           …

Last month's Third Plenum meeting of Chinese leaders seemed to signal Beijing's intention to experiment with more economic and financial freedom. Leaders now acknowledge the old model of cheap inputs—inexpensive labor, low-cost capital for state-owne…

As we continue examining this season’s DVR success stories in The Blacklist and Sleepy Hollow it makes one wonder, just what other shows caused networks to change the way they think about how their audience watches television? 24 (2001) Jack Bauer is…

The casino billboards lining America's roadways tantalize with the lure of riches. 'Easy Street. It's Only a Play Away,' screams one in Arizona. '$7.1 Million Every Day. We're a Payout Machine,' reads another. casino:赌场,俱乐部 lining:内层,衬套 tantalize:逗弄,…

A newly discovered 1.8 million-year-old skull offers evidence that humanity's early ancestors emerged from Africa as a single adventurous species, not several species as believed, drastically simplifying human evolution, an international research tea…

Many students cruise along just fine in math until fourth grade or so. Then, they hit a wall -- fractions. cruise:巡航,巡游,漫游 fraction:分数,片段The wall is about to get taller. With mastery of the topic seen as a crucial stepping stone to progressing in mat…

Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Maybe a fireman? A baker? A ballerina? You probably have some sort of idea what you ultimately want to do with your life. BUT are you actually doing it? Are you working towards it? Or have you g…

Li Shan's oldest son was the perfect candidate to join the throngs of Chinese students studying abroad. But he chose Tsinghua University in Beijing. throng:人群,拥挤,众多 That is an unusual choice for a graduate of the elite Hong Kong International School,…

Why is the first day on the job often the worst? New employees tend to be greeted with stacks of benefits paperwork, technology hassles and dull presentations about company culture. hassle:激战,争辩,麻烦事 But some companies -- hoping to create a first impr…

In a country as obsessed with education as China, it makes sense that online teaching has huge potential. obsessed with:着迷于,非常喜欢 Wealthy Chinese spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to send their children abroad for what they perceive as a better e…

A Chinese agricultural official's unsupported claims about the carcinogenic risks of consuming genetically modified soybeans have rekindled a fervent debate about the use of genetically modified crops in a country with ever-expanding food needs. carc…

The fate described by Dostoyevsky is a nightmare we all hope to escape. But we're surrounded by naysayers who deride that hope as unrealistic. 'You hate your job?'they ask. 'Everyone hates their job!' No. Not everyone hates their job. If you have the…

When the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new record this past March, Brent Kessel awoke at 3:30 a.m. But the financial adviser, who co-founded a firm that manages more than $800 million, wasn't up early because he was giddy about the market. He wa…

Billions of dollars are flowing into online advertising. But marketers also are confronting an uncomfortable reality: rampant fraud. rampant:猖獗的,狂暴的 About 36% of all Web traffic is considered fake, the product of computers hijacked by viruses and pro…

China has tried your form of government and found it wanting. That was the message delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping during an expansive address at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, this week that capped off his first visit to Western…

Buying real estate involves weighing a lot of factors: location, price . . . smell? Some condo developers are betting that the best way to a buyer's heart is through the nose. The latest sales tools are signature scents designed to enhance a buyer's…