Given Australia's size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably homogeneous (同种的). The way of life in the major cities and towns is much the same, however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to tell the differences between regional accents.

    However, there is some difference in lifestyle between people in the city and those in the countryside. Almost 90 per cent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert. The major cities keep some colonial (殖民的) heritage, but the overall impression is modern, with new buildings reflecting the country's youth. By comparison, the rural communities tend to be slow-moving. For many years, Australia was said to have “ridden on the sheep's back”, a reference to wool being the country's main money-earner. However, the wool industry is no longer dominant. Much of Australia's economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. On the whole, Australia is a society without hierarchies (等级制度), an attitude generally held to stem from its prisoner beginnings.

    Yet, contrary to popular belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere. Australia's liberal postwar immigration policies (政策) led to a growing number of survivors from war-torn Europe, most notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.

    The emphasis has changed in recent years and today most of the new immigrants are from Southeast Asia. Today Australia is a ‘blend of nations' and although some racial (种族的) problems exist, it has generally been a successful experiment and the country is proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural communities in the world.

    Mr. and Mrs. Gordon were sitting on the sand, reading their magazines. Mr. Gordon was too stingy (吝啬的) to rent (租) a chair. Their twelve-year-old daughter, Sandra, was playing at the water's edge. Suddenly a huge wave lifted Sandra up and carried her out to sea. Fortunately, a lifeguard (救生员) was on duty and he saw the wave carry Sandra away. He ran along the beach and dived into the sea. He swam quickly to where the girl was, with her head only just above the water, was shouting for help. She was very frightened. When the lifeguard reached her, she struggled with him, as drowning people often did. However, he was a skillful lifeguard and quickly took hold of her and swam with her back to the beach. By the time he reached it, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon had realized what had happened. They had run down to the water's edge. Neither of them could swim. They just stood in the shallow water, and worried about their daughter. Had the lifeguard reached her in time? Fortunately, he had. “That was quick work, young man,” Mr. Gordon said. He turned to his wife, “Give the lifeguard a dollar.” “A dollar!” Sandra cried. “Dad, how can you give him a dollar! He saved my life. I was half dead.” “Quite right, girl,”Mr. Gordon said, pleased by his daughter's awareness of the value of money. He turned to his wife again and said, “She's right. She was only half dead. Give him fifty cents.”

    You know the feeling—you have left your phone at home and feel anxious, as if you have lost your connection to the world. "Nomophobia(无手机恐惧感)" affects teenagers and adults alike. You can even do an online test to see if you have it. Last week, researchers from Hong Kong warned that nomophobia is infecting everyone. Their study found that people who use their phones to store, share and access personal memories suffer most. When users were asked to describe how they felt about their phones, words such as "hurt" (neck pain was often reported) and "alone" predicted higher levels of nomophobia.

    "The findings of our study suggest that users regard smartphones as their extended selves and get attached to the devices," said Dr Kim Ki Joon. "People experience feelings of anxiety and unpleasantness when separated from their phones." Meanwhile, an American study shows that smartphones separation can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

    So can being without your phone really give you separation anxiety? Professor Mark Griffiths, psychologist and director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, says it is what is on the phone that counts—the social networking that creates Fomo (fear of missing out).

    "We are talking about an Internet-connected device that allows people to deal with lots of aspects of their lives," says Griffiths. "You would have to surgically remove a phone from a teenager because their whole life is ingrained in this device."

    Griffiths thinks attachment theory, where we develop emotional dependency on the phone because it holds details of our lives, is a small part of nomophobia. For "screenagers", it is Fomo that creates the most separation anxiety. If they can't see what's happening on Snapchat or Instagram, they become panic-stricken about not knowing what's going on socially. "But they adapt very quickly if you take them on holiday and there's no Internet," says Griffiths.

    In the near future, daily newspapers and monthly magazines will probably disappear. Electronic media（媒体） can provide the same information faster and cheaper. The Internet, together with laptops and mobile phones, makes it possible that almost everyone can at any time and in almost any place get some news for free or for few fees.

    You'll browse the computer newspapers or magazines just like turning on TV. An electronic voice will tell you stories about the latest events. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on the brief story？ A simple touch makes the whole text appear.

    There are the predictions from the experts working on the newspapers of the future. Imagined as part of home media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers and magazines would unite printed and broadcast news, offering information and analyzing video images of news events.

    The continuing loss of readers will lead to a small number of advertisements in newspapers. It makes no sense to spend millions of dollars to print ads.

    With the development of technology, more and more electronic media have been created until now, but replacing the traditional newspapers and magazines has a long way to go, because the resistance to computer newspapers and magazines from journalism（新闻业） may be much stronger. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be not until the present journalists（新闻工作者）, who aren't used to it, die off that the newspaper industry is not considered as an industry any longer. Anyway, technology is making the traditional newspapers and magazines disappear gradually.

    As people age, the body changes in all sorts of predictable ways. Brains can slow. Wounds take longer to recover. And sleep patterns(模式) shift, too. This can come as news to many, says Michael V. Vitiello, a psychologist at the University of Washington who is expert in sleep in aging.

The most noticeable—and often most annoying—changes are how sleep and wake-up times change and sleep gets lighter, often beginning in middle age. Gone are weekend sleep to 11 a.m. and the ability to sleep through a noisy garbage truck down the block.

But not every restless night can be ignored. Studies have found that poor sleep can create a particular threat to older adults—Falls, depression and anxiety, problems with memory, and increased suicide(自杀) risk are among the effects of sleep issues in this population group that researchers have found. But scientists are still unsure why those risk connections exist.

    What is clear is the connection between good sleep and psychological well-being in older adults. A 2010 study showed us that connection when it came to sleep quality, but sleep quantity didn't show the same effects. And that, experts say, may be the key to understanding sleep as you age. If you're sleeping less, but don't feel negative effects out of bed, the changes you notice may just be normal age-related.

    Over time, Vitiello says, sleep patterns simply change. "A lot of older adults recognize that they don't sleep the same as they did when they were 18, but they can still function and they're OK. And all is well with the universe."

    I must have always known reading was very important because the first memories I have as a child deal with books. There was not one night that I don't remember mom reading me a storybook by my bedside. I was extremely inspired by the wonderful way the words sounded.

    I always wanted to know what my mom was reading. Hearing mom say, "I can't believe what's printed in the newspaper this morning," made me want to grab it out of her hands and read it myself. I wanted to be like my mom and know all of the things she knew. So I carried around a book, and each night, just to be like her, I would pretend to be reading.

    This is how everyone learned to read. We would start off with sentences, then paragraphs, and then stories. It seemed an unending journey, but even as a six-year-old girl I realized that knowing how to read could open many doors. When mom said, "The C-A-N-D-Y is hidden on the top shelf," I knew where the candy was. My progress in reading raised my curiosity, and I wanted to know everything. I often found myself telling my mom to drive more slowly, so that I could read all of the road signs we passed.

    Most of my reading through primary, middle and high school was factual reading. I read for knowledge, and to make A's on my tests. Sometimes, I would read a novel that was assigned, but I didn't enjoy this type of reading. I liked facts, things that are concrete. I thought anything abstract left too much room for argument.

    Now that I'm growing and the world I once knew as being so simple is becoming more complex, I find myself needing a way to escape. By opening a novel, I can leave behind my burdens and enter into a wonderful and mysterious world where I am now a new character. In these worlds I can become anyone. I don't have to write down what happened or what technique the author was using when he or she wrote this. I just read to relax.

    We're taught to read because it's necessary for much of human understanding. Reading is an important part of my life. Reading satisfies my desire to keep learning. And I've found that the possibilities that lie within books are limitless.