Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one's personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person's ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead a better way of doing things. All these, however, remains true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.

    However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who missed the “good old days”, efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish to. The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadgets, such as mobile phones and ipads, people often do not take the effect to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with it the additional feature of having to be in the person's presence for as long as the visit lasts. We cannot unnecessarily excuse our selves or turn the other person off.

    With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handcrafts(手工艺品) are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handicraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.

    Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.

    It is people's attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people's attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to rethink their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new “past” is created.

    A new study by Chinese researchers has found differences in the brain activity of men and women addicted(上瘾的)to Internet gaming.

    The study says addicted men have lower impulse control compared with women, indicating that men are more likely to become addicted to internet gaming.

    Researchers from Renji Hospital, which is connected with Shanghai Jiaotong University, recruited 105 Chinese participants for the study, which had two groups - one with 32 men and 23 women addicted to gaming, and the other with 30 men and 22 women who were not addicted.

    They completed a questionnaire for gaming addiction, and reported their gaming history and number of hours playing per week. Researchers also talked with their families to collect the information.

    Through FMRI (磁共振扫描), researchers found that men addicted to gaming had lower brain activity in the brain region associated with impulse control, than nonaddicted men. The lower the activity levels, the poorer the impulse control. Addicted women, however, showed no differences compared with the healthy female group.

    Researchers also studied the functional connectivity between brain regions, which were lower in men with addiction than in nonaddicted men, but showed no differences in the female groups.

    Although there are some limitations, the findings suggest that activity levels displayed in the brain region could be biomarkers to evaluate the behavioral inhibitions of gaming-addicted men, they said.

    Gaming disorder was listed as a mental disorder by the World Health Organization earlier this year. People with the disorder have impaired control over gaming and give it increased priority in their lives－to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities.

    It was a mid-winter's day. My Mom had ordered me and my two brothers outside so she could get a little housework done.

    My brothers were seven and five years older than me and much bigger as well. Still, it was I who decided to start the snowball fight. I hit one of them when they weren't looking and soon we were all making and throwing snowballs as fast as we could. Being little helped me avoid the first dozen or so snowballs that came my way until the one that caught me in the back of the head and sent me sliding into the two foot deep snowdrift. I felt two hands grasp my shoulders as my oldest brother lifted me out safely. I laughed as I dusted the snow off.

    Later Mom called us back inside for a lunch of hot, chicken soup. I drank it slowly and then sat near the old, wood stove in our living room and let the warmth quickly dry my damp socks and jeans. It felt so nice. I couldn't describe the feeling back then but I know now that it was pure happiness.

    In those innocent days of childhood there was no regret for the past or worry for the future. Each moment could be enjoyed just the way God intended. Each day could be filled with fun, laughter, and love. I think that we all need to re-experience that feeling in our lives. We need to live with childlike joy while keeping our adult wisdom. We need to throw a few snowballs and drink a few bowls of soup afterwards. We need to trust in our Heavenly Father's love for us and share our love with others as well. Life here is too brief not to enjoy all of its precious moments.

    Three important changes that will affect people's everyday life in the future.

    The cashless society

    Cash and bank notes will disappear almost completely. They will be replaced by smart cards with microchip (微芯片) "loaded" with some money. When we pay for goods, we will put our smart cards into a payment terminal (终端) and money will be transferred (转) from our cards to the retailer's (零售商的) card. When all the money is used up, we will be able to "reload" it by inserting it into a telephone, dialing our bank account and putting money to the card from the account. If we want to transfer money from our cards to a bank account, we will use the same method. Smart cards will be able to hold several different currencies at the same time. So if we go abroad, we will be able to use our smart cards in the same way.

    Interactive telephones

    Human telephones will be replaced by talking computers. These computers will recognize speech, ask us what information we need, find the information and change it to speech. If we want to book a flight or pay a bill by phone, we will ask a talking computer to do it. Of course, this won't happen until all the technology is in place, but when it is we will soon get used to using computers in this way.

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    Traffic congestion (拥挤) in cities will be reduced because drivers will use electronic maps to find the quickest way to their destinations and avoid traffic jams. Because people have to pay to drive in cities, they will stop using their cars and use public transport instead. Speed control systems will be built into cars. These systems will control the speed of the car according to the traffic and weather conditions and prevent accidents.

    If you are planning on travelling, there are few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey.

    First of all, always check and doublecheck departure(出发) time. It is surprising how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at the airport a few minutes after ten. My secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10:50. When I arrived at the airport, the person at the departure desk told me that my flight was closed. Therefore, I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.

    The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards(信用卡), it is still important to have some local money in cash(现金). Once I arrived at a place at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi but because I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead. "Listen! I only take real money!" the driver said angrily. You can image how terrible I felt at that moment.

    The third and the last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination before you leave. I feel sorry for some of my workmates who travel in heavy suits and raincoats in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome or Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day.

    How did the sea horse get its name? It's not hard to guess. The top half of this fish looks like a small horse. But looking at the sea horse's tail, you might think "sea monkey" is a better name. Then there's the sea horse's pouch(袋). "Sea kangaroo" might also be a good name for this fish.

    Sea horses live in warm ocean waters all over the world. They keep safe from other fish by hiding in plants and grasses that grow under the sea. They can also change colors to match their surroundings(环境). A sea horse remains in one place for hours at a time by winding(缠绕)its tail around a plant. It feeds on live food, such as small shrimp. For a fish that doesn't move around much, the sea horse eats a lot--in just one day, a sea horse can eat 3,000 shrimp!

    A sea horse keeps the same mate for its whole life, and it's the male(雄的)sea horse that gives birth to baby sea horses. How does this happen? Baby sea horses start out as eggs, which come from the female's body. The male carries the eggs in its pouch for about three weeks until they hatch(孵化). Soon after the babies are born, the female gives her mate a new set of eggs. The male sea horse spends most of its life carrying eggs.

    Sadly, the number of sea horses is becoming smaller. Why is this happening? Some places where sea horses once lived have been filled in to make new land. Also, many sea horses are caught and sold as aquarium（水族馆，养鱼缸）fish. This really is not a good idea because most sea horses don't live long in aquariums. The best place for a sea horse is the ocean.