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Wave power Engineers are building machinery to harness the power of ocean waves. As an abundant source of clean energy, wave power can be categorised along with (34) _______ sustainable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. Wave power is extracted by wave energy converters, or WECs, which are placed along ocean (35) _______ that produce strong waves. The first wave farm, (36) _______ comprises three WECs, was built off the coast of Portugal in 2008. It was set to produce over two megawatts of energy – enough to power 2,000 homes. Sadly, the project hit a (37) _______ block two months into operation and has remained offline ever since, demonstrating the high probability of technical difficulties that can still arise. Engineers are continuing to build wave farms worldwide, (38) _______ it is worth cultivating the extraction of wave power. The amount of power that could potentially be extracted is three terawatts – enough for billions of homes and businesses. (Adapted from “Use of English for advanced”)
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Millions of people in the UK are putting their sight at risk by continuing to smoke, warned specialists. Despite the clear connection, only one in five people recognise that smoking can lead to blindness, a poll for the Association of Optometrists (AOP) finds. Smokers are twice as likely to lose their sight compared with non-smokers, as tobacco smoke can cause and worsen a number of eye conditions. Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can irritate and harm the eyes. Additionally, Smoking can make diabetes-related sight problems worse by damaging blood vessels at the back of the eye. Smokers are also around three times more likely to get age-related macular degeneration - a condition affecting a person's central vision, meaning that they lose their ability to see fine details. Moreover, they are 16 times more likely than non-smokers to develop sudden loss of vision caused by optic neuropathy, where the blood supply to the eye becomes blocked. The AOP says stopping or avoiding smoking is one of the best steps you can take to protect your vision, along with having regular sight checks. Aishah Fazlanie, Optometrist and Clinical and Regulatory Adviser for the AOP, said: "People tend to know about the link between smoking and cancer, but many people are not aware of the impact that smoking can have upon the eyes.” In the UK, 17% of men and 13% of women - around 7.4 million people - are smokers. More than half (61%) of them say they want to quit. In 2017, around 2.8 million people - 5.5% of the UK - were using e-cigarettes, and the most common reason given for this was to help quit smoking.
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It is estimated that by 2050 more than two thirds of the world's population will live in cities, up from about 54 percent today. While the many benefits of organized and efficient cities are well understood, we need to recognize that this rapid, often unplanned urbanization brings risks of profound social instability, risks to critical infrastructure, potential water crises and the potential for devastating spread of disease. These risks can only be further exacerbated as this unprecedented transition from rural to urban areas continues. How effectively these risks can be addressed will increasingly be determined by how well cities are governed. The increased concentration of people, physical assets, infrastructure and economic activities mean that the risks materializing at the city level will have far greater potential to disrupt society than ever before. Urbanization is by no means bad by itself. It brings important benefits for economic, cultural and societal development. Well-managed cities are both efficient and effective, enabling economies of scale and network effects while reducing the impact on climate of transportation. As such, an urban model can make economic activity more environmentally-friendly. Further, the proximity and diversity of people can spark innovation and create employment as exchanging ideas breeds new ideas. But these utopian concepts are threatened by some of the factors driving rapid urbanization. For example, one of the main factors is rural-urban migration, driven by the prospect of greater employment opportunities and the hope of a better life in cities. But rapidly increasing population density can create severe problems, especially if planning efforts are not sufficient to cope with the influx of new inhabitants. The result may, in extreme cases, be widespread poverty. Estimates suggest that 40% of the world's urban expansion is taking place in slums, exacerbating socio-economic disparities and creating unsanitary conditions that facilitate the spread of disease. The Global Risks 2015 Report looks at four areas that face particularly daunting challenges in the face of rapid and unplanned urbanization: infrastructure, health, climate change, and social instability. In each of these areas, we find new risks that can best be managed or, in some cases, transferred through the mechanism of insurance.