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　　Last week, about 600 teenagers in the US imagined a future changed by technology in which their lessons are taught by robots and they learn about celebrities and alien languages．They believe they will use jet packs(喷气背包)，and hoverboards(旋转飞盘)，as everyday transport．

　　All the participants of the survey are teenagers born into the Internet age．The study is to show how the first cyber(计算机的)generation dream about a future life created by advanced technology．

　　Most believe there will still be schools to go to, but that technology will play an increasingly important role in learning．The 600 teens surveyed think there will still be teachers, but 37 per cent imagine them to be robots．Some 24 per cent believe that teachers will still be human but they will have interchangeable microchips(微型芯片)so that one person can teach all subjects．

　　More than one in two believe hoverboarding will be popular, while one-third say that wearing rocket boots will be their favourite activity．Another third think jet packs will be popular．Nearly 30 per cent think football and bike-riding will remain popular．

　　When it comes to the curriculum, they think future generations will be learning about robot building(63 per cent)，alien languages(47 per cent), celebrities(26 per cent)and R&B music(22 per cent)．

　　Children will wear virtual reality helmets(可视头盔)to bring lessons to life, say 40 per cent, while over 20 per cent believe they will not need lessons because microchips implanted(植入)in their head will send relevant(相关的)information into the brain．

　　Matt Whyman, adviser to the chief medical officer on youth issues at American Online, said：“The kids seem very aware of the liberating qualities of technology．”

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　　As students across the country have their yearly flu shots(打流感疫苗)，doctors across the world are preparing against a possible outbreak of bird flu that few current vaccines(疫苗)will guard against．The likelihood of a bird flu spreading among humans is very high, the World Health Organization warned recently．European countries worry about bird flu very much, since many migratory birds(候鸟)start to fly back from the North．

　　There are at least 15 different types of bird flu virus around the world．The possible outbreak may be caused by a virus known as H5N1．It was first found to have spread from a bird to a human in Hong Kong in 1997．In addition to Asia, this bird flu has been found among birds in Romania, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan．

　　The outbreak in 1997 in Hong Kong was quickly controlled at a cost of 18 people ill and six dead．About 1.5 million chickens were collected in an effort to remove the source of the virus．But scientists say that the virus can change itself rapidly．Also, if the virus mixes with the human flu virus, it could be spread through person-to-person contact in the same way as ordinary human flu is spread．Bird flu can cause fever, coughing, sore throats and muscle aches in humans．With the introduction of vaccines, flu is not as deadly as it used to be．But throughout history it was a huge cause of death around the world．The outbreak of Spanish flu in 1918-19 killed about 40 to 50 million people worldwide．

　　Currently there is no vaccine against bird flu that can be used on humans．Scientists are working to develop one．This will probably take several months to complete and may not be ready in time to stop a widespread outbreak of the disease．

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　　Have you noticed a change in NBA players’ dress since the new season began in November?

　　All players, including Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson, put on business casual clothes whenever they participate in team or league activities．

　　Don’t be surprised．It’s not like your idol is saying goodbye to hip-hop culture．

　　They do so only because of the new dress code that NBA has introduced to distance the sport away from gangster chic(痞子气的时髦)．

　　The rules ban baggy jeans, sneakers(运动鞋)and oversized gold and silver jewellery on many occasions including when players arrive and leave games and make promotional(宣传的)appearances．Jeans must be smart dress jeans．

　　Players will also now be required to wear a sport coat on the bench when they are not in uniform．The NBA already requires its coaches to wear sport coats, dress shirts, slacks(便装裤子)and shoes on the bench．

　　Suns forward Shawn Marion thinks it’s a good move：“I think it is appropriate, definitely, on the bench．I think you should be in a nice shirt and slacks．”

　　But others have a different view on the dress code．Denver Nuggets centre Marcus Camby and Charlotte Bobcats guard Brevin Knight said that players should receive extra money to cover clothing costs．Allen Iverson has even said he would fight such a rule．

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　　AwimAway Thailand ＆Cambodia

　　Tour Reference 109359

　　Seasons January-December

　　Tour Length 9 days

　　Destinations Cambodia, Thailand

　　Activities Cultural Exploration

　　Tour Operator AwimAway

　　Start Price ￡1449.00

　　* Price per person(Half price for U-15s, Free for U-7s)

　　* Land cost only-International airfare not included．

　　Ratings Difficulty

　　Comfort

　　Exclusivity

　　Brief Overview：

　　Thailand is a rush for your senses：a bustling, exotic, and vivid culture that never ceases to amaze visitors．On this cultural tour, you’ll visit Thailand’s gilded temples, one more gorgeous than the next, in the cities of Bangkok, Ayutthaya, and Chiang Mai．Other highlights include a cruise through Bangkok’s canals, a visit to a rural hill tribe village, riding elephants through the jungle and exciting shopping opportunities in Chiang Mai’s famous night bazaar．

　　Continue to Cambodia, where you’ll visit the bustling capital of Phnom Penh．Tour the Royal Palace with its dazzling Silver Pagoda．Then it’s on to Angkor Wat, where you have two days to explore the spectacular carved stone temples of this World Heritage site．

　　Features of this trip：

　　Exclusive tour, guided privately by a multilingual guide throughout the trip．

　　Customize your own itinerary(路线)to create a holiday of your dream．

　　Designed for 4 to 5 star luxury accommodation and services．Hotels can be changed to lower budget．

　　Depart and return whenever you choose－shorten or lengthen the tour to suit your wishes．

　　Outstanding value, costing you 25-30％ less than similar guided tours of the same flexibility and quality．

　　Group discounts are available．Call 020 7430 1766

　　NOTE：Prices shown are effective as of date of publication of web page, and are subject to changes due to currency fluctuations, changes in availability, seasonal increases or variations in local costing at the time of booking．

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　　Buy now, pay later．Credit cards give people that choice．Those billions of small pieces of plastic in use all over the world make it easy to buy things．But people who use credit cards irresponsibly can soon find themselves heavily in debt．

　　Cardholders may not think about it, but they borrow money from a bank or other lender each time they charge something．They avoid interest charges if they pay their bill in full each month．But if they only make the minimum payment, the lowest required, it may take years to pay off a debt．Interest is continually charged on the unpaid balance．

　　A credit card may have a number of costs．First, there is the interest charge on purchases, known as the annual percentage rate, or A.P.R．In the United States right now, the average is between thirteen and fourteen to keep them．

　　Cardholders may have to pay cash advance fees if they withdraw money from a credit card．There are also fees if they go over their credit limit, or if a payment is late．Lenders may also raise interest rates as punishment．

　　In the United States, credit card fees have become a political issue．Congress has threatened to take action against what critics call abusive behavior by lenders．

　　Yet getting a credit card has become a lot easier for most people．Maybe too easy：People receive offers in the mail of pre-approved cards that they never asked for．Many cards offer low rates at first, especially if people agree to move their balance from another card, absolutely for free．

　　About half of all Americans have at least two credit cards．And the credit rating agency Experian says fourteen percent of the population has more than ten．

　　Jeanne Hogarth at the Federal Reserve, the central bank, says the average family has four credit cards．But families that carry a balance, meaning they do not pay off their statements each month, have an average of five．

　　In nineteen eighty-eight Americans had three hundred thirty billion dollars in credit card debt．Last year it was eight hundred forty billion．

　　In the latest government study, the average credit card debt for all households was more than three thousand dollars．But for those that carried a balance, the average was five thousand three hundred．

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Dress Down

　　Dress-down seems to have originated in places where people work through the heat of summer．Dress-down, restricted to Fridays, allows staff to head straight for their out-of-town retreats on Friday evenings without going home to change．But in New York it has now become a week-round state of affairs．

　　For me, a manager in the head office of a bank, dress-down is a real headache for two reasons．The first is that it actually requires a new wardrobe(衣柜)．For my male colleagues in the US, it seemed to mean a change from one uniform to another．I basically only own two types of clothes-suits for working in and truly casual clothes for relaxing weekends in the countryside．

　　Later in London, I was rather confused to discover that my employers had started summer dress-down．At first, I tried to sidestep it in my suit as usual, but my staff complained that they then felt pressured into doing the same．So, I found myself having to buy “smart casual” clothes specifically to wear to work; a ridiculous expense．Even more annoying is the fact that I still have to prepare a suit in my office in case I’m suddenly called to a meeting, where dress-down is banned．

　　For the other great inconvenience of dress-down is that it makes it easier than ever to spot when colleagues are going to job interviews．For the rest of the year, it is easy enough to arrange these during the working week, but in the summer when dress-down sales, it’s a dead giveaway to arrive in smart clothes for such a formal appointment．However, I would normally applaud this state of affairs, as most of my time used to be spent trying to prevent valued employees from moving elsewhere．

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　　It is now common to find whole pages of classified advertisements when you go through papers．Classified advertising is that advertising which is grouped in certain sections of the paper and is thus different from display advertising．Such groupings as “Help Wanted”, “Real Estate”, “Lost and Found” are made, the rate charged being less than for display advertising．Classified advertisements are a convenience to the reader and a saving to the advertiser．

　　The reader who is interested in a particular kind of advertisement finds all advertisements of that type grouped for him．The advertisers may, on this account, use a very small advertisement that would be lost if it were placed among larger advertisements in the paper．

　　It is evident that the reader approaches the classified advertisement in a different frame of mind from that in which he approaches the other advertisements in the paper．He turns to a page of classified advertisements to search for the particular advertisement that will meet his needs．As his attention is voluntary, the advertiser does not need to rely too much on display type to get the reader’s attention．Formerly all classified advertisements were of the same size and did not have display type．

　　With the increase in the number of such advertisements, however, each advertiser within a certain group is competing with others in the same group for the reader’s attention．In many cases, the result has been an increase in the size of the space used and the addition of headlines and pictures．In that way, the classified advertisement has in reality become a display advertisement．This is particularly true of real estate advertising．

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　　Once while being prepared for a television interview, I was chatting with the host about stay-at-home fathers．I made the point that one reason why we’re seeing more stay-at-home dads may be that many families now take earning power into account when deciding which parent will stay home．

　　At that point, one of the male crew members commented, “It should be the better parent who stays home．” A lot of guys say things like that．I was a stay-at-home father for eight years, so his declaration made me exited．It implied that our family’s choice could only have been correct if I was a “better” parent than my wife．

　　I suppose an argument could have been made that when I began staying home my wife was the “better” parent：She spent more time with Ray, could read him better and calm him more quickly．And given a choice, he’d have picked her over me．But as she was the more employable one, my wife went out to work and I looked after our son．

　　Because of the increased time I spent with him, I soon knew Ray well, and could look after him more or less as well as my wife．Actually, the experience helped me unlock one of the world’s great secrets：Women are good at looking after children because they do it．It’s not because of any innate(先天的)female gift or a mother’s instinct．It’s because they put in the time and attention required to become good at the job．

　　Women obviously get a biological head start from giving birth and nursing, but over the long term experience is more important．When I got the experience myself, I was good, too．As good?I don’t know．Who cares?

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　　I was 9 years old when I found out my father was ill．It was 1994, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it were yesterday：“Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS．Be very careful when you are around him．”

　　AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in my country when I was growing up．From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret．My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone．For a while, he could take care of himself．But when I was 12, his condition worsened．My father’s other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him．

　　We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and because dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t even buy food for dinner．I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher’s words muffled as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage．

　　I did not share my burden(负担)with anyone．I had seen how people reacted to AIDS．Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease．And even adults could be cruel．When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too weak to feed himself．

　　I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret．I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days．Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support．That day, she kept me on the phone for hours．I was so lucky to find someone who cared．She saved my life．

　　I was 15 when my father died．He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me．He didn’t want to call attention to AIDS．I do．

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