Mary went out at night. She never forgot the night when she met a robber many years ago. That evening, she was invited to a birthday party which lasted until two o'clock in the morning. Without company Mary walked along the quiet street.

    Suddenly from the shadow of a dark building a tall man with a sharp knife in his right hand ran out at her. "Good evening, lady," the man said in a low voice, "I don't think you wish to die here."

    "What do you want?" Mary asked.

    "Your earrings（耳环）. Take them off!"Slowly Mary's eyes looked down. She tried to cover her necklace with the collar（领子）of her overcoat while she used the other hand to take off both of her earrings, and then she quickly threw them on the ground.

    "Take them and let me go." She said. The robber looked at her only feeling uncertain. He saw the girl didn't care for the earrings at all, only trying to protect the necklace. He realized the necklace would cost more. So he said, "Give me your necklace."

    "Oh, sir. It's not worth much. Please let me keep it."

    "Stop rubbish. Quick!"

    With shaky hands, Mary took off her necklace. As soon as the robber disappeared, she picked up her earrings and ran as fast as she could to one of her friends.

    The earrings cost 480 pounds and the necklace the robber had taken away cost only six pounds ten shillings.

    In the future those who are taking care of old people may get help from the house itself.

    Over the last few years, new technology, such as the Internet, Wi-Fi and flat TV screens, has changed our homes and the way that we live. Now, another technology revolution is happening. A new project at the University of Hertfordshire wants to create a home that monitors people living in it who are elderly.

    The researchers have developed a wristband device（装置）which helps us to watch the elderly person who is wearing it. The device collects information to see if the person has fallen or has wandered away from where he or she should be.

    The assisted-living project is part of the university's wider Interhome project, which is the development of a smart house. The house remembers the habits of the person who lives there and it uses very low amounts of energy. The Interhome team hope that offering this service will help take care of the elderly. They say, "It's very important that these technologies are there to help and support and not replace any of the existing services."

    The Interhome is not just a research method. It's also a way for students from different scientific backgrounds to learn and develop technology. The university uses the latest technology to help students get experience by developing new hardware and software themselves. The team includes design, engineering and computer science students working together.

    "We are working on a smart-home project in Watford with some companies at the moment," says the project leader. "We are looking at how a smart home can provide even more services." This could help millions of old people around the world have a better and safer life in the future.

    Ever since mobile phones became widely used around the world, there have been concerns about how safe they are. All mobile phones give off a small amount of radiation when in use, which many believe could be a cause of cancer. However, two recently published studies tried to finally answer the question of whether using mobile phones actually brings a dangerous risk to humans.

    Carried out by the US government, the studies exposed rats and mice to radiation over the course of two years. A small number of the rats were found to have developed heart tumors (肿瘤) as a direct result of the radiation exposure. However, John Bucher, one of the study's authors, said that the animals were exposed to far more radiation than even the heaviest mobile phone user would usually be, reported The New York Times. Bucher also added that the findings didn't make him want to change his or his family's mobile phone usage habits.

    Indeed, the US Food and Drug Administration said it believes that it has “not found enough evidence that there are negative health effects on humans” from mobile phone use. Although mobile phones do give off radiation, it's a different type of radiation than that given off by dangerous sources.

    High-energy radiation – such as that given off by nuclear waste – is known to be very dangerous to humans as it is able to damage our DNA, leading to cancer or even death. On the other hand, low-energy radiation – such as the one given off by mobile phones – is considered to be harmless.

    We're exposed to this all the time, as it's given off by everyday objects like WiFi routers (路由器), televisions, and even bananas. Some argue that when it comes to human health, however, you can't be more concerned, even if the risk is only small. For those people, an earphone is advised when they are making phone calls and the time spent using mobile phones can be limited.

    But don't worry: there's no need to take bananas off the menu.

    When I first married my wife, I lived and worked in Ontario, moving from small town to big city as I pursued my career as a radio broadcaster. We have two sons, both of whom were born in Toronto and moved with us to Ottawa. They went to school, grew up there, and then pursuing their own careers, they also moved. One went to Canada's east coast near a city called Halifax and the other headed to the west coast Vancouver. We had a dilemma; we were left in the middle.

    The problem wasn't pressing at the time because I was still working and my job was in Ottawa. However, as we began to considering retirement we wondered where we should spend our final years. We couldn't be close to both of our children and there was no telling when they might again relocate. For several reasons, we settled on a small town on Vancouver Island. At least we were close to one of them. However, he had his sights set on Hollywood and, when an opportunity presented itself, he left Canada and headed south. So, there we were, and still are, in our little west coast town. We love our little corner of paradise (乐园）but we paid a price. We have not been there for some important events such as the births of two of our grandchildren. We have missed watching them grow up, backyard barbecues, and the normal, noisy households. Our home, while comfortable, is also very quiet.

    Every fall we travel to see the children and try to spend a week or more with them and we make the even longer trip to see our grandchildren, who are now teenagers, actually into their twenties. They seldom come to visit us. The distances are just too great and it is costly.

    Fortunately, both our boys are doing well and our grandchildren are growing straight and tall. We love all of them and they love us but the reality is that they don't need us. We have done our jobs and at least in theory，we can sit back, relax and enjoy the time remaining to us. In fact, we're happy but there were times I think about the things we didn't see. They have also missed having a set of parents and grandparents around.

    Life has been good for our family but we have paid a price.

    I didn't know how to say no, and was afraid to tell people what I wanted. Instead, I got myself tangled (纠结的) in a web of obligations, anxiety, and white lies.

    The worst thing was that I didn't even realize what I was doing. I thought I knew how to say "no"—but couldn't remember the last time I had. Like a lot of people, I just wanted to be accepted, appreciated, loved—and that the only way to get those things was to put everyone else's needs before my own.

    I never seemed to have time for things I really wanted to do. I'd like to learn Spanish, write more fiction, and travel. These aren't huge, unrealistic goals. And yet, my people-pleasing ways dramatically cut into my free time to pursue these desires.

    But recently, I decided I'd had enough. As an experiment, I began standing up for myself, even at the risk of alienating (使疏远) myself from everyone and having my entire life come crashing down around me. Several days ago, a good friend asked me to go for coffee at 5 p.m. I was planning to hit the gym and then binge—watch Mad Men for the millionth time. I said, "Sorry, I've got things I want to do tonight." She said, "That's fine. Maybe another time." It was all so painfully simple that I wanted to cry.

    Saying "no" is so much easier. If someone asks me to do something I have zero interest in, I'm polite but honest. "I'm sorry, I don't think that's really for me." The words slip out my mouth faster than some other lame excuses.

    Learning how to say "no" has added several extra hours to my days, days to my weeks, and what feels like months to my years. I no longer have to back-burner my plans to help friends with their job search, or set aside a weekend to read a book draft by someone I barely know. Saying "no" has set me free.

Everyone has a phone in their pocket nowadays, but how often do we really use them for their original purpose-to make a call? Telephone culture is disappearing. What brought us to this moment, and what are its effects?

"No one picks up the phone anymore," wrote Alex C. Madrigal on The Atlantic. The reflex of answering-centu20^th—telephonic culture—is gone."

The shift is of course due in large part to more communication options: Texting with photos, videos, emojis, reaction gifs, links and even voice messages can be a more attractive option.

Texting is light and fun, not nearly as demanding of your attention as a phone call. It can also be done with multiple people at the same time. Social media, email and video calls have also eaten away at traditional phone calls.

In recent years, another reason has caused people to ignore phone calls completely: robocalls. Robocalls are automate messages from organizations verifying your phone number or telemarketers trying to sell something. Americans received 22.8 billion robocalls halfway through 2020, equaling an annual rate of 45.6 billion, slightly below 2018 numbers, according to YouMail, a robocall protection service and blocking app.

As telephone culture disappears, what is the loss of a singular family phone doing to the family unit? Early landline phones unified family members, whereas mobile phones isolate them.

"The shared family phone served as an anchor for home," said Luke Fernandez, a Weber State University computer-science professor and co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Feelings About Technology, From the Telegraph to Twitter. "With smartphones we have gained mobility and privacy. But the value of the home has been diminished, as has its ability to guide and monitor family behavior and perhaps connect families more closely," Fernandez said.

Of course, as technology progresses, lives always change for better or for worse. With the loss of telephone culture, families will need to find other ways to unite.