Our living environment is being polluted faster than before and it seems nobody can prevent it. Time brings us more people, and more people bring us more industry, more cars, larger cities and growing use of man-made materials.

      How can we understand and solve this problem? The fact is that pollution is caused by man —by his desire (欲望）for a modem way of life. So we are often ready to offer everything: clean water, good food, our health and the future of our children. There are more people from the countryside moving into the cities and enjoying the modem society. But as the technological momentum (势头) has grown in the last twenty years, pollution has become a serious problem.

      Now we have to stop to ask ourselves where we are going and why. It makes one think of the story about the airline pilot who told his passengers over the loudspeaker, “I've got some good news and bad news. The good news is that we're going at 530 miles per hour. The bad news is that we're lost and don't know where we are going.” The sad fact is that this problem becomes a true story when speaking of our modem society.

    The computers changed our lives in the 1980s, the Internet changed our lives in the 1990s, and the robots will change our lives in the new century.

    Do you think there will be robots in people's homes? It's not a dream that every home will have a robot.

    Now, robots are not only able to help people do the housework, they can also help the doctors do the difficult operations, play chess with people, play the piano and so on.

    A new cooking robot is used in Beijing. It can cook all the dishes on the menu; you only need to wait two to four minutes. In the future, the robot will be a nurse, a security (安全）guard, or a partner in your life.

    Experts believe robots will be used everywhere from the industrial (工业的） robots to service robots. In the future, robots will become part of the family, and provide close service for people. We all look forward to the new robot age.

    It took 13 years of international effort to map the human biological blueprint of all the genes (基因) that make us different people. The first rough draft (草图) made in 2000. The last of our 23 chromosomes (染色体) was clearly described in 2006. Ever since then, the age of personal genetic testing has been upon us. Since that time, a growing number of private companies have come on the market mostly through the Internet, offering to scan your personal DNA and compare it to some disease markets of the blueprint, called DTC genetic tests.

    But over the last five years the medical world has been discussing excitedly about whether these DTC tests are helpful or harmful, scientifically believable or completely useless. One of the usual criticisms (批评) is that the science is so new that no one really knows yet how to explain the information.

    "At present they largely remain in the period of research studies," notes Dr. Greg Ferro, special advisor to the director of genomic medicine at the US National Human Genome Research Institute. Ferro says there are two reasons." The first is that when they offer a test, are they really checking what they should check? And then the next is that even if it is believable, does what the test is checking really mean anything to your health?"

    Other worries include the privacy of the results and how your personal genetic information might be used by insurance (保险) companies to refuse your insurance or your boss to dismiss you. Or you could learn information with a huge social or personal impact (冲击), such as finding out that genetically you cannot possibly be the father of your child. It can also give you risks that may break your life, such as whether you are at high risk of cancer, Parkinson or other terrible diseases.

    Criticisms over the tests are such that some countries, such as Germany, have banned them. In 2011, some scientists advised the US government that most tests should be done under the guidance of medical professionals (专家). The UK government also expressed its worries about DTC genetic tests and in August 2010 made a set of rules to guide the development of genetic tests.

    In 2011, three medical researchers published a review article in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, saying that such tests offered more risks than benefits. The most important reason is that the tests might create worries or unreal results or drive unnecessary medical treatments. They also noted some of the genetic information the tests are based on at present is far from being perfect.

    It is a cold and dry winter morning. When you wake up, you feel that your throat hurts. You begin to sneeze and later you may cough. You must have a cold！Wait a moment. Could it just be a common cold or the flu(流感)that's been going around？

    A cold gives you a runny nose and cough. But it's usually easy to deal with. Some people take medicine while others drink herbal tea or chicken soup. Usually you feel better after a week.

    On the other hand, the flu can be much more dangerous. It usually gives you fever. Sometimes it can cause death. According to an American magazine, the worst flu killed about 50 million people from 1918 to 1919.

    Don't worry. If you get a flu vaccine(疫苗), it can stop you from getting the virus(病毒).Flu vaccines work by giving the body a small number of flu viruses. This causes your body to develop antibodies(抗体). So next time you get the flu, the antibodies will help you.

    The flu virus changes every few years. Therefore, there are so many types of flu, such as HlN1 and H5N1.The antibodies for one type of flu can't help us against all types of flu. That's why we need to get the vaccine every year.

    However, good healthy habits may also help stop you developing a cold or flu. Washing your hands often helps stop you from getting viruses. It is also important to get regular exercise and eat healthy food. All these can help you strengthen(增强)your immune system(免疫系统).