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    “People today prefer living together to putting their signatures on a marriage certificate because they refuse to accept responsibility for the relationship,” said social worker Ken Yip, “and this is what is causing a lot of family problems.” When we sign a paper, for example, a business contract or a bank document, the signature is a seal of consent, an agreement to take the matter seriously. Most governments and many organizations will not process written complaints if they do not bear the writer's signature. The absence of a signature, they explain, tells us that the writer cannot be too serious and therefore does not deserve a reply.

    There are people who wish to remain anonymous(匿名的) for various reasons. Multi-billionaire Mr. King donates generously to charity several times a year. He gives simply because he wants to help but not for the publicity his donations may bring, and he does not want his good deeds to make news. In other cases, people insist on anonymity because they are afraid of the consequences of revealing their identity. Crime witnesses may be willing to assist the police, but most are unwilling to give their names when reporting a crime.

    Name or no name? The answer is very personal and lies in how much we want to get involved. We all have a name. It is a matter of responsibility to use it when we make a statement, a claim or an accusation. We all want to honor our own name, and it is only by stamping our expression of an opinion with our own name that we honor what we say.

    The tough economy is bringing new shoppers to the secondhand market.Plato's Closet in Charlotte,NC is a private company,which mainly buys and sells used clothes.While Charlotte has outstanding secondhand stores offering high-end and graceful brands for women,most of their stock applies to adults.Plato's closet targets teens and those in their 20s.

    Plato's Closet,with stores in Matthews and the university area,sells clothes and accessories（装饰品）that are currently popular at about one third the retail（零售）prices.

    The two hottest brands,for buying and selling,are Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch.Even though the offerings tend to be suitable for young people,there are a variety of shoppers at Plato's Closet of varying ages.Women in their 30s,40s,and older could easily find a purse,jacket or piece of jewelry they like.

    If you are selling

    Unlike higher-end resale stores which usually work on consignment（寄售）,Plato's Closet buys on the spot.

    Items can be gently used,but must be in very good condition.

    Clothes should be less than two years old and styles should be the same as those still being sold at the shopping center.

    There is no negotiation;prices are set company-wide.If what you sell amounts to $30 or less,they'll give you cash.More than that,you'll get a Visa cash card.

    Secondhand success

    Don't get discouraged if you can't find something on your first trip.Resale shops are always getting new lists of goods and change their styles with each season.

    Be sure to check each piece carefully before buying.

    Price comparison

    Jackets: New York & Company black blazer,$12; retail: $37.

    Pants: Express Editor-style pants,$12; retail: $69.90.

    Shoes: Nine West black peep-toe pumps,$12; retail: $89.

    Jewelry: Necklaces,$3-$5; retail: $18-$30.

    Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like Francia Raisa. On Thursday, singer and actress Selena Gomez, 25, used Instagram to explain why she was “laying low” this summer. She posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed with her friend Francia Raisa holding hands. She said she recently received a kidney transplant from her best friend because of complications（并发症）from lupus（狼疮）, an autoimmune disease, which means it is the result of the immune system attacking normal tissue, including the kidneys, brain, heart and lungs.

    People with lupus may first experience tiredness, joint pain or a little bit of rash（皮疹）on their bodies and can go for a long time before their doctors realize it is more serious. Many people see two or four doctors before the real problem is picked up. According to Dr. Kyriakos Kirou, roughly a third to one-half of people with lupus develop kidney disease, and up to one in five of them will eventually need a transplant, sometimes because they weren't treated with effective drugs to prevent the immune system from attacking the kidneys. Though Gomez said that she was “very well now,” she warned about the dangers of not taking medical diagnoses seriously, like she initially did.

    Her Instagram post also called attention to two major health topics: the need for living organ donators and the fact that Gomez represents three groups more likely to be diagnosed with lupus and lupus-related kidney disease. Nine out of 10 people diagnosed with lupus are women, and most develop the disease between the ages of 15 to 44. And lupus is two to three times more common among women of color, including Hispanic women, according to the Lupus Foundation.

    Raisa is Latina, and Gomez's father is of Mexican origin. While it's not essential that the organ donator and receiver be of the sane ethnicity, people who share a similar background sometimes are better matched, according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing.

    I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.

    Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. "But the desk," she said again, "is for Elizabeth."

    I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.

    They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was" too emotional". But she lived "on the surface".

    As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.

    I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.

    My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally peace. It seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

    Now the presence of her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside—a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times.

    Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always choose the act that speaks louder than words.

    Regulating a complex new technology is hard, particularly if it is evolving rapidly. With autonomous vehicles(AVs) just around the corner, what can policymakers do to ensure that they arrive safely and smoothly and deliver on their promise?

    The immediate goal is to make sure that AVs are safe without preventing innovation. In America, experimental AVs are allowed on the road in many states as long as the companies operating them accept responsibility. Chris Urmson of Aurora says American regulators have got things right, working closely with AV firms and issuing guidelines rather than strict rules that might prevent the progress of the industry. “It's important that we don't jump to regulation before we actually have something to regulate.” he says.

    On the other hand, Singapore's government has taken the most hands-on approach to preparing for AVs, says Karl Iagnemma of Nutonomy, an AV startup that has tested vehicles in the city-state. For example, it has introduced a “driving test” that AVs must pass before they can go on the road. This does not guarantee safety but sets a minimum standard.

    Elsewhere, regulators have permitted limited testing on public roads but want to see more evidence that the vehicles are safe before going further, says Takao Asami of the Renault issan-Mitsubishi alliance(联盟). “Simple accumulation of mileage(里程) will never prove that the vehicle is safe.” he says. Instead, regulators are talking to car makers and technology firms to develop new safety standards. Marten Levenstam, head of product strategy at Volvo, compares the process to that of developing a new drug. First, you show in the laboratory that it might work; then you run clinical trials in which you carefully test its safety and efficiency; and if they are successful, you ask for regulatory approval to make the drug generally available. Similarly, autonomous cars are currently at the clinical-trial stage, without final approval as yet. It is not possible to prove that a new drug is entirely safe, but the risk is worth taking because of the benefits the drug provides. It will be the same for AVs, he suggests. After all, nowadays human-driven vehicles are hardly risk-free.

On August 1, 2023, new rules went into effect in the United States thạt make it against the law to sell most incandescent (白炽的) light bulbs.

Incandescent light bulbs have been common since the late 1800s. They use electricity to create light by heating a metal wire, which glows. Over 90% of the electricity used by the bulbs goes into making heat — not light.

Since 2005, countries around the world have been banning incandescent bulbs. That's what's happening in the US. The new rules don't actually make incandescent bulbs illegal. They just say that light bulbs that are sold must be able to create a certain amount of light (45 lumens) with a certain amount of energy (l watt). Most incandescent bulbs can only create about 15 lumen s with I watt.

These days, the best way to replace incandescent bulbs is with LED light bulbs. These bulbs can create about 75 lumens with 1 watt of electricity. And they can last 25 or more times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Though the rule just took effect at the beginning of August, it was first created in 2007. Since then, the rule has been delayed many times, usually for political reasons. In the early 2000s, LED bulbs cost more money than they do today, and weren't nearly as good. But in recent years, people have been switching over to LED lights, even without the rule. The lights have become more and more popular, since they use less energy and save people money by lasting longer.

The new rules will also help the environment. Over the next 30 years, LED bulbs are expected to help prevent a huge amount of pollution in the US — about as much as would be used by 28 million homes in one year. That will be an imperative step in tackling the climate crisis.