The private automobile (私家车）has long played an important role in the United States. In fact, it has become a necessary and important part of the American way of life. In 1986, sixty-nine percent of American families owned at least one car, and thirty-eight percent had more than one. By giving workers rapid transportation, the automobile has freed them from having to live near their place of work. This has encouraged the growth of the cities, but it has also led to traffic problems.

    For farm families the automobile is very helpful. It has made it possible for them to travel to town very often for business and for pleasure, and also to transport their children to distant schools.

    Family life has been affected（影响）in various ways. The car helps to keep families together when it is used for picnics, outings, and other shared experiences. However, when teenage children have the use of the car, their parents can't keep an eye on them. There is a great danger if the driver has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs, or showing off by speeding or breaking down traffic laws. Mothers of victims（受害者）of such accidents have formed an organization called MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). These women want to prevent further tragedies (悲剧）. They have worked to encourage the government to limit the youngest drinking age. Students have formed a similar organization, SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) and are spreading the same message among their friends.

    For many Americans the automobile is a necessity. But for some, it is also a mark of social position and for young people, a sign of becoming an adult. Altogether, cars mean very much to Americans.

    I'm Mr. Lockwood and have been to see my landlord Mr. Heathcliff today. He was standing at the gate to his farm when I arrived. His black eyes looked at me suspiciously.

    The name of Mr. Heathcliff's house is Wuthering Heights. 'Wuthering' means 'stormy' or 'windy' in the local language and it describes the place well. The house stands on the top of a hill. On one side of it there are a few trees. They all lean in the same direction, blown by the strong north winds.

    Then we went into the sitting room. The floor was made of smooth, white stone. There was a big fireplace at one end of it and a large dresser at the other end. Several large hunting dogs were lying in the dark corners of the room. I sat down in one of the chairs near the fire. But unfortunately, when Mr. Heathcliff was out for his servant, Joseph, I was attacked by his hunting dogs.

    To my surprise, I enjoyed our conversation very much, though. When it was time for me to leave, I said, 'I'll come and see you again tomorrow'. I set out after lunch the following day. But Mr. Heathcliff wasn't in, and a young man led me to the sitting room. His manner was proud and free, so I couldn't decide if he was a servant or not. He was dressed like one and spoke like one.

    A few minutes later, Heathcliff walked in. We all drank our tea in silence and there was a very tense atmosphere in the room. I thought it was my fault so I tried to be sociable.

    This is a beautiful part of the country,' I said, 'but very isolated. However, you seem very happy here, with your wife and family…'

    'My wife!' Heathcliff exclaimed looking around him. 'Where? Are you talking about her spirit?'

    How stupid of me! Of course the girl wasn't his wife! She was much too young for him. She must be married to the young man.

    'Mrs. Heathcliff is my daughter-in-law', said Heathcliff, reading my thoughts. There was hatred on his face as he spoke.

    Ah, yes,' I said. 'You are very lucky to have such a lovely wife, young man.'

    The youth went red and looked down at his plate.

    I said she was my daughter-in-law, sir. She was married to my son,' said Heathcliff.

    And this young man is…'

    Not my son.'

    My name is Hareton Earnshaw,' growled the youth angrily.

    The atmosphere began to depress me. After a long silence I asked, 'Perhaps one of your servants is free now to take me home?'

    There's only Heathcliff, Hareton, Zillah the housekeeper, Joseph and me here', said the girl.

    Then I suppose I'll have to stay until the morning.' I replied

    That night, I was arranged in a house where the master didn't usually allow people to stay. I closed the door and got into bed. I put my candle on a small shelf next to a pile of old books. To my surprise, I saw that the shelf was covered in writing. These names were scratched in the paint: Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff and Catherine Linton.

    I picked up one of the books on the shelf. It was a diary. On the first page I read, 'Catherine Earnshaw, her book', and a date of twenty-five years ago. Curious to know more about this Catherine, I started to read. I understand the following: Catherine Earnshaw's father was dead and she lived with her cruel older brother Hindley. Catherine and Heathcliff were close friends, but Hindley and his young wife Frances heated and abused the adopted Heathcliff.

    I had terrible dreams that night. There was a lot of noise-rapping and tapping sounds. I woke up. The branch of a tree outside was hitting the glass in the window. I got up, pushed my hand through the glass and pout out my arm. But instead of the branch my fingers closed on a little ice-cold hand. The hand held mine tightly and a sad voice sobbed, 'Let me in!'

    Who are you?' I said.

Catherine Linton' it replied. 'I've come home. I lost my way on the moor! Let me in!"

    E-mail systems at thousands of companies and government offices around the world were attacked by a virus(病毒)called “Melissa” that disguises(伪装)itself as an “important message from a friend. In spite of a weekend of warnings，more than 50 000 computers at about 100 places around the world have been attacked by the virus，computer security experts said on Monday.

    The virus began to show up last Friday and spread rapidly on Monday by making computers fire off dozens of infected(被传染的)e-mails. Although the virus causes no serious damage to a computer，its effect was far reaching.

    To make matters worse，a similar virus called “Papa” was discovered on Monday. Papa is programmed to send out even more infected e-mails than Melissa.

    The Melissa virus comes in the form of an e-mail，usually containing the subject line“Important Message”. It appears to be from a friend. The body of the e-mail message says，“Here is that document you asked for...,don't show it to anyone else.” Attached(附)to the message is a document file.

    Once the user opens that file，the virus digs into the user's address book and sends infected documents to the first 50 addresses. E-mails from the Papa virus include an attached spreadsheet(电子数据文件)file. When the user opens that file，the virus sends 60 infected e-mails.

    The reason why this is spreading so fast is that you are getting it from people you know. You should never open documents or attachments from people you don't know. People who get an unexpected e-mail with the “important message” subject line should delete it immediately and not open the message.

    Ten minutes of gentle exercise can immediately change how certain parts of the brain communicate and coordinate (协调) with one another and improve memory function, according to an encouraging new study.

    The scientists invited 36 people of different ages to the lab and had them sit quietly on a fixed bicycle for 10 minutes or, on a separate visit, pedal the bicycle at a pace so gentle that it barely raised their heart rates. It also was short, lasting for only 10 minutes. Immediately after each session of the sitting or slow pedaling, the people completed a computerized memory test during which they would see a brief picture of, for instance, a tree, followed by a variety of other images and then a new image of either the same tree or a similar one. The people would press buttons to show whether they thought each image was new or the same as an earlier shot. The test is difficult, since many of the images closely resemble one another. It requires rapid, skillful scanning recent memories to decide whether a picture is new or known. Next, the scientists had each people repeat this process--riding or sitting on the bike for 10 minutes and then completing memory testing--but the testing now took place inside an M. R. I. machine(磁共振成像仪)that scanned the people's brains while they responded to the images.

    Then the researchers compared results. The effects of the exercise were clear. The people were better at remembering images after they had ridden the bike, especially when the images most closely resembled one another. In other words, the harder their memories had to do their best, the better they performed after the exercise. The M. R. I. scans showed that memory parts of each people's brain lit up at the same time with parts of the brain associated with learning, indicating that these physically separate parts of the brain were better connected now than when the people had not first exercised.

    On April 8th, 2013, the world felt sorry because of the death of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who died at the age of 87. Besides being the country's longest leader (1979-1990) in the 20th century, she was the first woman to lead Britain. She worked hard and did well in her work, so she was called" Iron Lady".

    Whatever you think of Margaret Thatcher, the thing everyone does agree on is that she was a woman with great decisions. When she took over Britain in 1979, she led a country that was in economic trouble. She faced a lot of problems because of the poor economic position.

    In order to make the country become strong again, Ms. Thatcher had to make some hard and special decisions like raising interest rates and even taxes at a time when most British people were living a hard life. In this way she led Britain to run out of economic troubles.

    Early in her second term, just as things were looking a little better, she faced another problem — a strike by the British Miners Union. Once again, the Iron Lady stood her ground to stop the longest strike in the country's history.

    In 1982, Argentina said that they had owned the Falkland Islands since the 19th century. Britain, however, considered the islands to be one of their overseas dependent territories (领土). Margaret Thatcher tried to talk about the problem with Argentines. But Argentines didn't agree with her ideas, so Ms. Thatcher did what any strong leader would do — send in the British Army. It took 74 days, and on 14th June 1982, the Argentine army finally failed and Britain controlled the Falkland Islands again.

    When Ms. Thatcher resigned in 1990, she left behind a country that was very strong. Unluckily, during the last few years of her life, something was wrong with her mind. She hardly remembered anything that was happening around her and even what she had done during her wonderful lifetime.

Intuition Robotics, an Israeli company, has developed ElliQ, an artificial intelligence robot designed to help older Americans from loneliness. ElliQ offers companionship to seniors, engaging them in conversations, playing music, leading exercises, and providing reminders for health-related activities. The device resembles a small table lamp with a glowing, moveable head, creating an interactive experience that remembers the user's interests and tailors conversations accordingly.

Joyce Loaiza, 81, from Florida, is among the first users of ElliQ, who enjoys the device's company and the personalized nickname "Jellybean" given to her. Furthermore, in New York, ElliQ entertainment 92-year-old Marie Broadbent with games and music, while Washington state's Jan Worrell, 83, uses it to develop new friendships.

The AI assistant works privately, with conversations not heard by company employees and data stored only on the owner's device. According to Intuition Robotics CEO DorSkuler, users interact with ElliQ over 30 times daily, and over 90% report experiencing less loneliness. The project idea arose from personal experience when Skuler's grandfather needed a companion who shared his interests after losing his partner.

While ElliQ is primarily distributed through state agencies in New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington, it can also be purchased for an annual fee of $600,plus a setup cost of $250. The goal is to have more than 100,000 units in use within five years.

State officials emphasize that ElliQ is not meant to replace social interaction, but it provides a valuable service for those who may be home-bound or lack social connections. Despite concerns raised by Julianne Holt - Lunstad, a professor at Brigham Young University, regarding the potential of such devices to reduce social connections, agencies see EliiQ as a beneficial tool, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic increased social isolation among the elderly.