The life expectancy is the length of time that a person is normally likely to live. As it increases nowadays, the average person lives beyond the age of retirement. As a result, the elderly make up an ever-increasing percentage of society, which makes it more important to make effort to improve the lives of senior citizens.

    First of all, one way would be to make sure that the elderly have enough money on which to live. Obviously, when a person stops working, they still require a source of income to cover their basic needs such as food, accommodation and heating. A clear solution to the problem is for the government to make sure that the state pension(养老金) is enough for these needs.

    Measures should also be taken to overcome the health problems the elderly face. The government should also provide access to the best health care available, which may necessitate paying for residential homes where the elderly can have round-the-clock nursing, or, at least, providing medication free of charge to all people over a certain age.

    If we try to address the problem of social isolation (社交孤立), the lives of old people could be improved. If we organize trips for the elderly to community centers, visits from social workers, their problem of loneliness can be reduced a lot which marks the lives of so many old people living alone and far from their families.

    The last helpful suggestion is to change the attitude of the community towards its older members, who are all too often seen as a burden on society. We need to be taught from an early age to respect the views of old people, and appreciate their broader experience of life. This would help society as a whole, and encourage appreciation of the role that old people can still play today.

    Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms, which can cause deaths and destroy a neighborhood in seconds. A tornado appears as a funnel-shaped (漏斗状) cloud from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling (飞快移动) winds that can reach 300 miles per hour. Damage paths can be over one mile wide and 50 miles long. Every state is at some risk from this disaster.

    Some tornadoes can be seen clearly, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds obscure others. At many times, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible.

    Before a tornado hits, the air may become very still. A cloud of debris (散片) can mark the location of a tornado even if a funnel can not be seen. Tornadoes generally occur near the edge of a thunderstorm, when the strong wind may die down. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado.

The following are facts about tornadoes:

    The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 MPH, but may also vary from still to 70 MPH. Debris is picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.

    The average tornado moves from southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction. Tornadoes are most often reported east of the Rocky Mountains during spring and summer months.

    Tornadoes can happen together with tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water.

    The tornado season in the southern states of America is March through May; in the northern states, it is late spring through early summer. Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.

    After returning from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes me 12 pounds，” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office. “You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me 12 pounds.”

    Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, Madam，” he said politely. “I'll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”

    The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt.” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey？”

    “Yes,” she answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”

    “That's fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course，she's only three ...”

    “I'm four，” the child said proudly. “I'll be four and a half.”

    Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, Madam.” he said. “But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you？”

    “Er, well ...” the woman looked at the child. “I mean .., she hasn't started school yet. She's only four.”

    “A four­-year­-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child's return ticket from Jersey costs .., let me see ... 13.50 pounds. The law is the law, but since the mistake is mine ...”

    The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.

    I have just arrived in a country where I don't know the language, where I have no family roots and where I find myself all alone. It may sound frightening. But let me tell you a little secret: it is not.

    When you travel abroad by yourself for whatever reason—exchange program, internship, volunteering, or simply as a tourist—a new and fascinating world will open up for you. A world you would have never been able to see if you had just stayed at home.

    People from a different country are not aliens. They are simply people like you who happened to be born in another region. They have pretty much the same wishes and worries as people from your own country.

    I know that you see a lot of news on TV saying terrible things people do all the time. Your family may have spent a great deal of time telling you not to trust strangers. However, when you travel alone you will realize that people are just as good as you. Everyone is just leading their lives, working, studying and having a good time with their friends. Most people will be happy to help you and get to know you.

    Maybe in the past when you would need months to travel from one place to another, traveling could be expensive. Nowadays, the world is just so connected that it is perfectly possible to find cheap flights, accommodation for all budgets and cheap and quality food.

    You will get lost, but it's fine! I can't even count how many times I didn't know where I was going or how to find the right direction. Everything looks great on Google maps, but sometimes your phone will die or your data will end. Just calm down. Go to a store or stop someone in the street and ask! Or simply walk around and be curious.

A Teenage Inventor

    The world could be one step closer to quick and inexpensive Ebola detection thanks to a teenager from Connecticut.

    Olivia Hallisey, a junior at Greenwich High School, was awarded $50,000 in the Google Science Fair for her new method that detects Ebola, a virus that causes bleeding from different parts of the body and usually causes death. Olivia's method is to ask patients to put their saliva (唾液) onto a testing card. The card changes color if the person is catching Ebloa. Present Ebloa tests take up to 12 hours and cost $1,000. Olivia's method, however, can be done just in 30 minutes for about $25. Besides, the sample (样本) doesn't have to be put in a refrigerator thanks to the silk material Olivia uses to produce the testing cards.

    Olivia was inspired to deal with this global problem after watching the news that more than 10,000 people died from Ebola in West Africa. She was particularly worried about the fact that, while the acts of involvement can improve survival rates, present detection methods are costly, time-consuming and require complex tools. Olivia got help from her science research teacher. She drew out directions from past research, and figured out detection systems that have proven to work with other diseases, including Lyme disease and yellow fever.

    "What affects one country affects everyone," Olivia told CNBC. "We have to work together to find answers to the huge challenges which cause harm to the global health." The Connecticut's teen, who hopes to become a doctor one day, was named the Google Science Fair winner in the competition of 20 competitors from across the globe. The fair is open to young people between the ages of 13 and 18 in most countries.

    Olivia hopes her success will inspire other girls interested in science and computers. "I would just encourage girls to try it in the beginning, and remind them that they don't have to feel naturally drawn or feel like they have a special talent for maths or science," she told CNBC, "but just really look at something they are interested in and then think how to improve something or make it more enjoyable or relate it to their interests."

    One of the features of a successful business is its ability to employ creativity to constantly push into new territory. Without growth and innovation, businesses eventually fade away. Those with staying power, however, have mastered an often-overlooked factor that allows them to focus on the future clearly: empathy (共情). While that may surprise many, I am certain that the ability to connect with and relate to others—empathy in its purest form—is the force that moves businesses forward.

    Though the concept of empathy might go against the modern concept of a traditional workplace competitive, the reality is that for business leaders to experience success, they need to not just see or hear the activity around them, but also relate to the people they serve.

    Some may think they want the results from doggedly (顽强地) pursuing their goals without much thought for other people. This attitude works for some, but at some point often sooner rather than later everyone needs to rely on their relationships and established personal and professional connections. These relationships are the product of taking an honest and dedicated interest in others and their businesses. Successful people do not operate alone; each of us needs the support of others to achieve positive results that push us toward our goals. True empathy combines understanding both the emotional and the logical rationale(根据) that goes into every decision.

    Effectively understanding empathy involves viewing it as each person's connection to the people and marketplace that surround them. A biological principle known as co-evolution explains that the adaptation of an organism is caused by the change of a related object. Similarly, businesses and their leaders participate in co-evolution-type relationships. Business success depends on empathetic leaders who are able to adapt, build on the strengths around them, and relate to their environment. When businesses fail, it is often because leaders have stopped focusing on understanding their environment and instead stay separated in their own operations. Successful business leaders are receptive to disturbance and aware of what is going on in their organizations both internally and externally.

    To develop an effective workforce, we must be willing to give in and meet people where they are. This can be frustrating and uncomfortable, particularly when you feel like your position makes more sense or offers a better solution. A critical part of developing empathy, however, is learning to understand, respect and implement another individual's point of view rather than forcing your own.