Both men and women are living longer these days in industrialized countries. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In general, they can expect to live six or seven years more than men. One reason for this is biological.

    One important biological factor that helps women live longer is the difference in hormones between men and women.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Between the ages of about 12 and 50, women produce hormones that are involved in fertility(生育能力). These hormones also have a positive effect on the heart and blood flow. In fact, women are less likely to have high blood pressure or to die from heart attacks.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They help the body defend itself against some kinds of infections. This means that women generally ger sick less often and less seriously than men. The common cold is a good example: women, on average, get fewer colds than men.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Scientists are still not exactly sure how influence aging, but they believe that they do. Some think that a woman's body cells have a tendency(向) to age more slowly than a man's. Others think that a man's body cells have a tendency to age more quickly.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    A new phone app uses shaking from smartphones to warn people about earthquakes. The new app is called MyShake, which is the work of four researchers at the University of California. Berkeley.

    Smartphones are equipped with accelerometers(加速器). MyShake uses phone accelerometers to measure seismic (地震的) activity. It has been programmed to know the difference between normal activity and earthquake movement. The software developers say their app is right 93 percent of the time. A smartphone sends seismic information to the app developers. If the developers receive several warnings from one area, it recognizes that an earthquake may be taking place or will take place soon. Using information sent from the app, the network then judges the location and strength of the quake in real time. MyShake can record 5.0 earthquake at distances of 10 kilometers or less.

    MyShake uses very little power, according to its developers. Only when seismic activity is sensed by the app does it become active and sends data to the network. The app works best when your phone is resting on a flat surface, like a table.

    The developers hope that MyShake can add to information collected by the U.S Geological Survey. That U.S agency has created the Earthquake Early Warning System, also known as the EEW. The EEW has used sensors for measuring quakes in many areas. In places where no such equipment exists, MyShake may be the only method of early quake detection (发现). The app also shows ways to stay safer during an earthquake. The developers say it will become more effective as more people use it.

    The developers say they hope to add a feature that will warn people about possible tsunami after an earthquake.

    Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I'd like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.

    The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy wine in this country if you are under 18 years old, nor may your friends buy it for you.

    Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves, but please don't make unnecessary noise. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.

    Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings（人行道） and don't take any chances（冒险） when crossing the road.

    My next point is about rubbish. It isn't a law to drop rubbish in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a dustbin.

    Finally, about smoking. It is against the law to buy cigarettes if you are under 16.

    If you request any help, you should contact the police, who will be glad to help you. You can call, write, or directly go to ask any policeman.

    A few weeks ago, I called an Uber to take me to the Boston airport for a flight home for the holidays. As I slid into the back seat of the car, the warm intonations(语调) of the driver's accent washed over me in a familiar way.

    I learned that he was a recent West African immigrant with a few young children, working hard to provide for his family. I could relate: I am the daughter of two Ethiopian immigrants who made their share of sacrifices to ensure my success. I told him I was on a college break and headed home to visit my parents. That's how he found out I go to Harvard. An approving eye glinted at me in the rearview window, and quickly, we crossed the boundaries of rider and driver. I became his daughter, all grown up — the product of his sacrifice.

    And then came the fateful question: "What do you study?" I answered "history and literature" and the pride in his voice faded, as I knew it might. I didn't even get to add "and African-American studies" before he cut in, his voice thick with disappointment, "All that work to get into Harvard, and you study history?"

    Here I was, his daughter, squandering the biggest opportunity of her life. He went on to deliver the age-old lecture that all immigrant kids know. We are to become doctors (or lawyers, if our parents are being generous) — to make money and send money back home. The unspoken demand, made across generations, which my Uber driver laid out plainly, is simple: Fulfill your role in the narrative(故事) of upward mobility so your children can do the same.

    I used to feel anxious and backed into a corner by the questioning, but now as a junior in college, I'm grateful for their support more than anything. This holiday season, I've promised myself I won't huff and get annoyed at their inquiries. I won't defensively respond with "but I plan to go to law school!" when I get unrequested advice. I'll just smile and nod, and enjoy the warmth of the occasion.

     At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

     It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of the use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when email is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.  

     Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just an online email, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

     Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. "I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling," said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity.

     The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.

Huang Shunjie might have the best job in the world. The 24-year-old is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} panda photographer and zookeeper. Huang spends each day {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (look) after 18 baby pandas at the Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in China. He prepares their meals, checks on their health and{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (carry) them between their sleeping pens and their public enclosure (围场).

"I can get very close to the baby pandas, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} makes many people jealous (忌妒的)," Huang says.

Any job{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (certain) has downsides. In Huang's case, it's the regular scratches (抓伤) he gets from the 45 - to 55-pound bears. But it's a small price to pay to spend each day with the cute pandas.

"I'm a full-time daddy for these baby pandas," says Huang. "If I take some{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (day) off to go home, I feel empty inside."

For many years, giant pandas were one of the world's most endangered creatures as construction destroyed their {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (nature) habitat in bamboo forests.

But populations have recovered in recent years due {#blank#}8{#/blank#} programs to help pandas breed (繁殖). Today, there {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) 1,864 pandas in the wild, up from only 1, 114 in the 1970s, according to China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Two-thirds of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (they) live across 67 nature reserves.