Your next car might drive itself. After years of trials on city streets, driverless vehicles are now nearing the live phase. Last moth, a driverless bus began carrying passengers through Lyon, France, Most in the automobile industry think self-driving vehicles will be on the road by 2020 or before.

    Driverless cars will at first be huddled with human-driven cars. But the first places where they will become dominant（统治的）are dense urban areas — precisely the spots most damaged by the automobile age. Many advanced cities are already reducing the role of human-driven cargo. Driverless cars will quicken that process and will bring us enormous benefits.

    Driverless cars will reduce accidents by around 90 percent. That's big—the annual death toll on the world's roads is about 1.2 million a year. Pollution and carbon emissions will drop, because urban driverless cars will be electric. The old, otherwise they would stay at home most of the time and the disabled and teenagers will suddenly gain mobility.

    On the other hand, driverless cars will bring catastrophe. The best thing about the automobile age was that it employed tens of millions of people to make, market, insure and drive vehicles. Over the next 20 years, the mostly low-skilled men who now drive trucks, taxis and buses will see their jobs reduced. Carmakers are especially scared. The few cars of the future might be made by tech companies such as Apple, Baidu and Google. Imaging the impact on Germany, where the automotive sector is the largest industry.

    Dramatic change is coming, and driverless cars could arrive by 2020. But governments have barely begun thinking about it. Only 6 percent of the biggest US cities have factored them into their long-term planning.

    A decade ago anyone hardly saw the Smartphone coming. It has bought an epidemic of mass addiction. Let's hope we do a better job of handling the driverless car.

    The Boy Made It!  One Sunday, Nicholas,a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine．In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area．Unable to see far,he accidentally turned off the path．Before he knew it,Nicholas was lost,all alone!He didn't have food,water,a phone,or other supplies．He was getting colder by the minute．

    Nicholas had no idea where he was．He tried not to panic．He thought about all of the survival shows he had watched on TV．It was time to put the tips he had learned to use．

    He decided to stop skiing．There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put．The first thing he did was to find shelter from the freezing wind and snow．If he didn't,his body temperature would get very low,which could quickly kill him．

    Using his skis,Nicholas built a snow cave．He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle．Then he piled branches on top of himself,like a blanket,to stay as warm as he could．

    By that evening,Nicholas was really hungry．He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn't lose too much water．Not knowing how much longer he could last,Nicholas did the only thing he could—he huddled(蜷缩)in his cave and slept．

    The next day,Nicholas went out to look for help,but he couldn't find anyone．He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave,because without shelter,he could die that night．On Tuesday,Nicholas went out again to find help．He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him．After two days stuck in the snow,Nicholas was saved．

Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV．He had often watched Grylls' survival show —-Man vs．Wild． That's where he learned the tips that saved his life．In each episode(一期节目) of Man vs．Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out．

    When Grylls heard about Nicholas' amazing deeds,he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive．

    Students in many countries are learning English. Some of these students are little children. Others are teenagers. Many are adults. Some learn at school, others learn by themselves. A few learn English over the radio, on TV, or in films. One must work hard to learn another language.

    Why do all these people want to learn English? It's difficult to answer this question. Many boys and girls learn English at school because it is one of their subjects for study. They study their own language, math, English, and so on. Some people learn it because it is useful for their work. Many people learn English for their work and higher studies, because at colleges or universities some of their books are in English. Other people learn English because they want to read newspapers or magazines in English.

Life in the Clear

    Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet — as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, "These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they're eating it, or unless something is eating them."

    And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see­through? It's trickier than you might think.

    The objects around you are visible because they interact with light.  Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter (散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks.  Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.

    But a transparent object doesn't absorb or scatter light, at least not very much. Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn't look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don't see it — you see the things behind it.

    To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments (色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn't have pigments, so its tissues won't absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.

    Animals are built of many different materials — skin, fat, and more — and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat.  Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see­through. Others build a large, clear mass of non­living jelly­lie (果冻状的) material and spread themselves over it.

    Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they're doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process.  When they die, they turn a non­transparent milky white.

    Just ask any new parent: Adding a baby to a household can also add stress to a career. Now, a new study backs that up with some astonishing numbers: After science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM)professionals become parents, 43%of women and 23% of men switch fields, transition(转变)to part-time work, or leave the workforce entirely.

    Many researchers and parents already knew that STEM can be unwelcoming to parents, particularly mothers. But" the considerable departure was astonishing, "says Erin Cech, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and lead author of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For both genders, "the proportions were higher than we expected."

    The surprisingly high reduction rate for men also highlights that" parenthood in STEM is not just a mothers' issue; it's a worker issue, "Cech says. She hopes that the findings" might motivate changes, "such as more paid parental leave from both government and employers and policies that better support flexible work time without a tight routine. "We are not suggesting that people who want families should avoid STEM; that's not the solution," she emphasizes.

    By 2018, 78% of new fathers were still working in STEM, the vast majority full time. For new mothers, 68% were still in STEM, but only 57% worked full time. For professionals without children, on the other hand, 84% of men and 76% of women were predicted to still be working in STEM full time in 2018. For the new parents across all fields, 16% of women were working part-time and 15% had left the workforce, as compared with just 2% and 3%, respectively, for men. These sharp differences make clear that, even though the reduction rate for fathers is higher than expected, mothers still face particular career challenges.

    AHerb Garden

    A delightful walled garden with old varieties of fruit trees and flower borders, Herb Garden is planted with over 200 medical and culinary(烹饪用的)herbs. Dogs on leads(狗链) are welcome to woodland walks. Children's activity sheets are available.

    Open Time: 10:00a. m—5:00p. m, daily except Mon. and Tue.

    Tearoom: 11:00a. m—4:30p. m

    Shop:10:00a. m—5:00p. m

    Price: Adult:￡3 Child: ￡1. 50

    The Beatrix Potter Gallery

    Original sketches(素描) and watercolors by Beatrix Potter for her children's tales. This year's exhibition will feature The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Wrinkle and The Tale of the Pie. Also on display is information on Beatrix Potter's life. Children's quiz sheets and goods bags are available.

    Open Time: 10:30a. m—4:30p. m, daily except Thur. and Fri.

    Price: Adult:￡3.50 Child: ￡1.70

    Hill Top

    Beatrix Potter wrote and drew for many of her famous children's stories in this farm house. You can view her personal treasures and step into the garden which is planted with flowers and vegetables, just as it would have been in Beatrix Porter's time.

    Please note that this is a small and popular house, which gets very busy especially on school holidays. At peak time there are queues and by the end of the day not all visitors may be able to visit the house. Please collect a timed ticket from the park for your car parking on your arrival. Tel: 051394 36269

    Open Time: 10:30a. m—4:30p. m, daily except Thur. and Fri.

    Shop and garden: Thur. and Fri. ,10:00a. m—5:00p. m

    Price: Adult:￡5 Child: ￡2