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　　Recently there has been something of a recovery in cycling, and in many areas it is a very useful way of getting around, especially where bike routes have been built．You may well want to buy, hire or borrow a bike．

　　There are two important results of this earlier drop in cycling in the USA．One is that many people do not know how to cycle．That is, cyclists often behave more like walkers than motorists：they ride in the sidewalk or on the wrong side of the road; they do not care for stop signs or traffic lights; they ride without lights at night; they give no signals．

　　The other result is that cycling is regarded by many people not so much as a way of getting from one place to another but as way of life, a form of exercises, etc．As a result, large numbers of young Americans have ten-speed racing bikes．These are very high and fast and great if you are cycling long distance, riding up mountains or racing．At first, though, you may find them convenient for cycling in town, sightseeing or shopping－they are expensive, uncomfortable and hard to control until you get used to them, and unsuitable for rough stony roads．

　　There are also ordinary bikes around．If you get hold of one of these, you may find that brakes work by pedaling(踩踏板)backwards．This is perhaps safer than ordinary brakes when it is wet, but it seems to be less effective．This arrangement also means you can’t pedal backwards in order to get the pedal in the right place for getting off．

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China crackdown on‘dirty’mobile messages

　　China has ordered telecom operators to clean up the content of spam short messages spread on their mobile phone networks as part of an ongoing fight against“unhealthy” influences．

　　“Recently, there has been a lot of dirt hidden in the telecommunication networks．The situation is serious, ”the ministry of information industry said in a notice on its website Friday．

　　Messages containing text or pictures with pornographic(色情)or superstitious content such as fortune telling and sex chat are frequently sent to mobile phone users in masses, the ministry said．

　　This is in breach of national regulations that ban the production and spreading of such content, which has“polluted the society and spread very bad influence, ”it said．

　　Throughout October, the ministry will check telecom companies for compliance(依从)and will prosecute(起诉)those that breach the rules, Beijing News reported．

　　China has more than 100 million Internet users and some 358 million mobile phone users, with both areas growing rapidly as the country’s economy booms．

　　The government’s latest move signifies a step-up in its campaign to rein in the spread of information outside official media, such as via mobile phones and the Internet, which it fears could cause unrest．

　　A set of revised Internet rules was issued last month that requires Internet operators to re-register their news sites and police them for content that could“endanger state security”and“social order”．

　　They target sites that publish fabricated(捏造)information or pornography and forbid content that“harms national security, reveals state secrets, subverts(暗中破坏)political power, (and)undermines national unity, ”state media said．