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　　We are now living in a time that science is developing at a great speed．With the development of science many countries have improved not only their economy but also their people’s living conditions．In our daily life we can get a lot of benefit from science．

　　If we look at the things around us we’ll find how closely our daily life is connected with science．For example, at home we can turn on the central heating or air conditioner when we feel cold or hot, and we can watch TV or listen to the tape recorder for entertainment, and we can use a gas stove to cook our meals, and we have computers to help us with our work when we are working in the office, and we also have cars, buses, even airplanes as traffic tools when we go out．All these things are the results of the development of science．Without science our society cannot make rapid progress and our life cannot be comfortable and convenient．

　　Since science is so important in our daily life, we should try to make as much contribution as possible to the development of science．As college students, we must first of all study hard to gain useful scientific knowledge, and then put what we have learned into practice．We should take advantage of science to serve our society．

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　　Disposing(处理)of waste has been a problem since humans started producing it．As more and more people choose to live close together in cities, the waste-disposal problem becomes increasingly difficult．

　　During the eighteenth century, it was usual for several neighboring towns to get together to select a faraway spot as a dumpsite．Residents or trash haulers(垃圾托运者)would transport household rubbish, rotted wood, and old possessions to the site．Periodically(定期地)some of the trash was burned and the rest was buried．The unpleasant sights and smells caused no problem because nobody lived close by．

　　Factories, mills, and other industrial sites also had waste to be disposed of．Those located on rivers often just dumped the unwanted remains into the water．Others built huge burners with chimneys to deal with the problem．

　　Several facts make these choices unacceptable to modern society．The first problem is space．Dumps, which are now called landfills, are most needed in heavily populated areas．Such areas rarely have empty land suitable for this purpose．Property is either too expensive or too close to residential(住宅区的)neighborhoods．Long-distance trash hauling has been a common practice, but once farm areas are refusing to accept rubbish from elsewhere, cheap land within trucking distance of major city areas is almost nonexistent．

　　Awareness of pollution dangers has resulted in more strict rules of waste disposal．Pollution of rivers, ground water, land and air is a price people can no longer pay to get rid of waste．The amount of waste, however, continues to grow．

　　Recycling efforts have become commonplace, and many towns require their people to take part．Even the most efficient recycling programs, however, can hope to deal with only about 50 percent of a city’s reusable waste．

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　　Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the cleverest animals．British scientists said last Wednesday human may have underestimated(低估)the woolly creatures．They could be much smarter than we think．

　　Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern．England, have shown that animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces－which they think is a sure sign of intelligence．

　　Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish(区别)25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes(电极)to measure their brain activity, which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years．

　　“If they can do that with faces, the fact is that they have to have reasonable intelligence, otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering anything else, ” Kendrick said in an interview．

　　So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all．

　　Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything．

　　“All animals, including humans, once they are frightened don’t tend to show signs of intelligent action, ” he explained．

　　In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain, which allows them to distinguish between many different faces that look extremely similar．

　　“The most important findings of the study is that they are able, both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized, to remember a large number of faces of individuals for a very long time, ” said Kendrick．“It is a very strange system．They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans．”

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　　When I opened my e-mail the other day, a pretty woman named Rachel appeared on my computer screen．She greeted me by name and started talking with great enthusiasm．Every now and then she stopped to smile at me or blow a kiss．She was reading to me an e-mail from my brother, and a lot of it was about his getting the phone company to give him a high-speed Internet connection．It was pretty cool．

　　Rachel was there thanks to a new technology called Facemail．Facemail lets you send e-mail that gets ready to the receiver by an attractive male or female form or by a clown(小丑)．The software, which is free, can be downloaded at www．Facemail．com．

　　Facemail faces are lifelike, and they simulate(模拟)emotions based on emotions that you put in your text．For example, type in-X, and Rachel blows a kiss．

　　LifeFX, the company that develops the Facemail, is sure there are broad business uses．The reason e-business is not popular, the company says, is that buying over the Internet lacks the human touch．But what if you went to the Nike website and Michael Jordan greeted you by name, waited on you and personally closed the sale?And it is talking with Whirl(惠而浦公司)about using the technology in a computer screen on a fridge．Then if mom can’t be home when the kids get back from school, she can leave a note with voice and image telling them what there is to eat．

　　Facemail could get hot fast．Personally, I’m a fan．But Facemail should be used with care．The clown looks lively and funny at first．But if you select the clown, put a few rude words in an e-mail and add some angry emotions, you’ve got a psycho-mail(疯人型电子邮件)．

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　　Alzheimer’s disease is a major national health problem．Nearly 2 million Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease．It is a leading cause of death among the elderly．But Alzheimer’s disease is not confined(限于)to the aged．There may be a million or more people under the age of 65 suffering from the disease．

　　At one time, people suffering from the disease were said to be “getting old”．The disease was thought to be a natural part of growing old, but it is now known that Alzheimer’s disease strikes young and old alike．It is an organic(器官的)disease that destroys brain cells．

　　Alzheimer’s disease affects the patient’s memory, speech, and movement．In the beginning stages of the disease, the patient may seem slightly confused．He may have trouble speaking．Then the patient’s memory begins to fail．He may forget dates, telephone numbers, names and plans．

　　As the disease progresses, the patient may not recognize family and friends．These symptoms　(症状)often cause terrible anxiety in the patient．He may feel lost and frightened．Sometimes the patient reacts with wild and bad behavior．

　　In the last stages of the disease, the patient may not be able to take care of himself．He may have lost the ability to speak and walk．

　　Scientists don’t know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s disease．It may be caused by a virus(病毒)．It may be caused by a poisonous substance(物质)in the environment．At present, there is no cure for the disease．But there are ways to slow its progress．Exercise and physical treatment can help the patients of this disease．

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　　When Lew Alcindor was 13, and obviously still growing, a group of schools began offering him scholarships(奖学金)．The Alcindors decided to send their only child to Power Memoria Academy, a small school on Manhattan’s West Side．

　　At Power, Alcindor came under the control of Coach Jack Donohue, a strict young man who already gained his fame as one of the best coaches in the city．Donohue brought Alcindor along slowly．As a first-year student, the boy was not able to do much but wave his long skinny arms and shoot a basket now and then．But by the second year, when he was 15 years old and nearly 7 feet tall, Alcindor was quick and skillful enough to make the high school All-American team and to lead Power to an undefeated season．

　　From then on he simply got better．Some rival coaches(对方教练)used to take their teams quickly away from the floor before Power warmed up so that their players would not see him any sooner than they had to．Wearing size 16D shoes and sucking a lollipop(棒棒糖), Alcindor would loosen up by starting his leaping lay-ups(擦板球)．Then he would casually shoot the ball with either hand, to the delight of the fans．

　　When reporters and photographers began to follow Alcindor closely, Donohue protected his boy firmly．He simply ordered Lew to talk to no member of the press, and this suited Lew fine．He was not comfortable talking to grown-ups, perhaps because he towered over them．Discouraged photographers began following him in secret as though he were an easily-frightened giraffe．Once after ducking into a subway to escape, Alcindor told a friend that it was all becoming like policemen and robbers．“People want you not for yourself, ”Donohue warned him, “but because you’re a basketball player．Don’t forget that．”

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　　Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours．They work much longer than in Europe．This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed．

　　In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less．In other words they have decided to “spend”a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life．Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply．But not in the United States．We do not fully know why this is．One reason may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives．

　　Longer hours does of course increase the GDP(国内生产总值)．So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France．The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home．The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40％ higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same．

　　It is not clear which of the two situations is better．As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in interest．It is too early to explain the different trends(趋势)in happiness over time in different countries．But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe．Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance(平衡)?

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　　Susan Sontag(1933-2004)was one of the most noticeable figures in the world of literature．For more than 40 years she made it morally necessary to know everything－to read every book worth reading, to see every movie worth seeing．When she was still in her early 30s, publishing essays in such important magazines as Partisan Review, she appeared as the symbol of American culture life, trying hard to follow every new development in literature, film and art．With great effort and serious judgement．Sontag walked at the latest edges of world culture．

　　Seriousness was one of Sontage’s lifelong watchwords(格言)．But at a time when the barriers between the well-educated and the poor-educated were obvious, she argued for a true openness to the pleasure of pop culture．In “Notes on Camp”, the 1964 essay that first made her name, she explained what was then a little-known set of difficult understandings, through which she could not have been more famous．“Notes on Camp”, she wrote, represents“a victory of ‘form’ over’ content’, ’beauty’over’morals’”．

　　By conviction(信念)she was a sensualist(感觉论者), but by nature she was a moralist(伦理学者), and in the works she published in the 1970s and 1980s, it was the latter side of her that came forward．In illness as Metaphor－published in 1978, after she suffered cancer－she argued against the idea that cancer was somehow a special problem of repressed personalities(被压抑的性格), a concept that effectively blamed the victim for the disease．In fact, re-examining old positions was her lifelong habit．

　　In America, her story of a 19th century Polish actress who set up a perfect society in California, won the National Book Award in 2000．But it was as a tireless all-purpose cultural view that she made her lasting fame．“Sometimes, ” she once said, “I feel that, in the end, all I am really defending is the idea of seriousness, of true seriousness．” And in the end, she made us take it seriously too．

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　　Jack Evans quarreled with his neighbour, Ellen Brown．Mrs．Brown had a dog．Jack did not like dogs．He wanted Mrs．Brown to give away or sell her dog, but she refused．

　　“I’ll take you to court if you don’t, ” he said．

　　Mrs．Brown laughed at him．She was not worried．

　　Jack thought, “I must talk to a lawyer, but lawyers are expensive．I don’t want to waste my money．I will waste it if I don’t win my case against Mrs．Brown and her dog．”

　　Then Jack had an idea．There was a young lawyer in the town．He did not have much work．Not many people knew about him．“I’ll visit him,” Jack thought．“He needs work．”He visited the young lawyer in his office．“I need some advice,” he said．

　　“Certainly, ” the young lawyer said．“What is your problem? I am here to help you．”

　　“Good．I want to take my neighbour to court．However, I will pay for your ?advice? only if you think I will win the case in court．”

　　The lawyer was not pleased by this suggestion．However, he had very little work．Here was a chance to get some．

　　“All right, ” he said．“I agree．I will listen to your problem．I will give you honest advice．You will pay me only if I think you can win in court．”

　　Jack told him about the problem．The lawyer listened carefully．Sometimes he made notes．When Jack finished, the lawyer sat back in his chair and said, “You will win your case．I have no doubt about it．May I take your case to court? ”

　　Jack stood up and walked towards the door．“No, thank you, ” he said．“I will not take it to court．”

　　“What about my fee?” the lawyer asked．“You have to keep your promise．”

　　“I am keeping my promise,” Jack said．“I will not win in court．You see, I did not tell you my case．I told you Mrs．Brown’s．”