"If there is one thing I'm sure about, it is that m a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.

    The nature of what is news may change .What basically makes news is what affects our lives - the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though .It's already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic（基因的） engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do - as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.

    It's quite possible that in the next century newspapers will be transmitted（传送）electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact ,I'm pretty sure how it will happen m the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read sports and international news, etc.

    I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media（媒体）．They actually feed off each other.  Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn't happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet. it's never really pleasant to read something just on a screen.

    Expensive perfumes (香水) come in tiny bottles, but many hide a whale-sized secret.

    To perfect a particular smell, perfume-makers often use an ingredient that comes from sperm whales, called ambergris (龙涎香). But using ambergris, which helps a perfume last longer, is strongly opposed by many people who think it is wrong to kill whales just so we can smell sweet. Joerg Bohlmann is neither a perfumer nor a whale expert. He's a plant biologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada. But his discovery of a new plant gene (基因) might push whales out of the perfume business.

    The gene comes from fir trees, found throughout North America and commonly used as Christmas trees. The trees produce a chemical that can be used in perfume in place of ambergris-but with a catch. "There's a problem that many people wouldn't consider. In the tree, the chemical is mixed with many others. That makes separation a challenge," Bohlmann says. "lt's like trying to isolate sugar from a biscuit. "

     This is where science becomes useful. When Bohlmann learned that fir trees produce the ambergris-like chemical, he decided to use his gene know-how to find the instructions for how to make the ambergris-substitute.

    Bohlmann found that gene and took it out of the tree cells. Then he did something that might sound strange to someone who doesn't work in genetics: Bohlmann put the gene from the tree into yeast (酵母) cells.

    Yeast may sound familiar because it's used to make things like bread, wine and beer. Biologists like to work with yeast because it easily adopts new genes and changes its features and behaviour. When Bohlmann put the fir tree gene into the yeast, the yeast started making the same chemical that had been produced by the tree.

    Perfumers pay big money for ambergris because it is a fixative, which means it holds a smell in place on a person's body.

    "Cheap perfumes smell good in the first hour or so and then everything is gone," explains Bohlmann. "But expensive perfumes are much more stable.  Their smell lasts much longer, for hours or even a day after you apply them. "

    The new chemical, made from the tree genes, can be used as a fixative, too. And using yeast to make it is far cheaper than acquiring ambergris.

    Bohlmann admits he never thought he'd get into the perfume business. But now, he says, producers have been calling to find out how to use his technology in new perfumes.

    Every pet owner loves his pet. There is no argument here.

    But when we asked our readers whether they would clone their beloved animals, the responses were split almost down the middle. Of the 228 readers who answered it, 108 would lone, 111 would not and nine weighed each side without offering an opinion.

    Clearly, from readers' response, this is an issue that reaches deeply into both the joy and eventual sadness of owning a pet. It speaks, as well, to people's widely differing expectations over the developing scientific procedure.

    Most of the respondents who favored the idea strongly believed it would produce at least a close copy of the original; many felt the process would actually return an exact copy. Those on the other side, however, held little hope a clone could never truly recreate a pet, many simply didn't wish to go against the natural law of life and death.

    Both sides expressed equal love for their animals. More than a few respondents owned “the t dog/cat in the World”. They thought of their pets as their “best friend”, ''a member of the family,” “the light of my life.” They told moving stories of pets' heroism, intelligence and selfless devotion.

Little wonders the loss is so disturbing—and the cloning so attractive. “People become very lose to their animals, and the loss can be just as hard to bear as when a friend or family member dies,” says Gary Kowalski, author of Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet. “For me, cloning feels like an attempt to turn death away... It's understandable. Death is always painful. It's difficult to deal with. It's hard to accept.”

    But would cloning reduce the blow? This question seemed to be at the heart of this problem.

    Many people believe that you lose the ability to learn new languages as you get older. Language experts, however, will tell you that you're never too old to learn a new language. As you get older, it can be more difficult to learn a new language, though.

    Children and adults learn new languages in different ways. For children, language is their life. They study for thousands of hours every year, because they need to learn languages to become part of their communities. Adults, on the other hand, are already part of a language community. Learning a new language means becoming part of another language community, and adults rarely get the chance to practice as much as young children do.

    Moreover, children learning a new language are expected to make mistakes. This gives them freedom when learning to be daring and confident. Adults, however, often feel pressured to be perfect when learning a new language. This can discourage many people and make it even harder to learn a new language.

    When young children learn a new language, they come to see various languages as a “normal” part of society. This mindset(思维模式) helps them embrace learning a new language without feeling like they're doing something unusual or “too hard”.

    So if you want to learn a new language, go for it! It's never too late to learn a new language. If you're older, it may take more work, but it can be done. If you're a young child, though, now is the time to step out and learn a new language!

    Last week the British university system offered a record number of places. That sounds like good news—but do we really need more people to go to university? For that matter, does the world need more universities?

    The answer feels like it should be yes.

    Education is good, is it not? But everything has a cost.

    Education takes time. We could insist that everyone study full-time until the age of 45 but that would surely be too much. And perhaps half the population studying until they're 21 is also too much. As for universities, they consume financial and intellectual resources—perhaps those resources might be better spent elsewhere.

    My own personal opinion is strongly in favor both of going to university, and of simply having universities around.

    The main skill I learnt at university was to write about economics, and I use that skill every day of my professional life, even an abstract education seems practical to me. And I now live in Oxford, one of the world's most celebrated (著名的) university cities. Oxford's experience certainly suggests that universities have much to offer.

    The city's architecture and green spaces have been shaped—greatly for the better, on balance —by the 900-year-old institution at its heart. The beauty attracts tourists and locals too.

    But these are samples of one. Many people do not find themselves using the skills and knowledge they accumulated at university. And Oxford's dreaming spires (尖顶) aren't terribly representative of global universities as a whole.

    From American Express, wedding guests will, on average, spend $673 on each wedding they attend this year. It includes airfare （$225）, hotel （$170）, dining out （$116）and dressing up （$95）and the gift. If you have weddings to attend this year, here are some tips for you to avoid breaking the bank.

    ⒈Book flights in advance

    The moment you decide to attend a wedding is the time to check flight prices at the best time. Plane fares are higher in the summer, especially in July and August. Booking in advance will save you money, as will watch for sales on lower﹣cost carriers like JetBlue and Frontier. You can check Google Flights for a calendar of prices showing the cheapest days to fly from apps like Hopper to get real﹣time alerts when a fare is at its lowest price point.

    ⒉Don't blow your budget on the gift

    If you've got the money, an expensive gift is lovely. But there's no need to take out loans to prove your love for the happy couple. Skip an expensive necklace by giving （an appropriate amount of） cash instead. To save on the gift, consider making one： A photo album or scrapbook of memories with the bride and groom shows how much you care. You could also share the gift with other guest(s) or even make gifts with DIY ideas by yourself to save money.

    ⒊Use old dresses and suits

    You don't always have to be on a new dress for a wedding. While men have the option of repeating their suits, women are more likely to spend money on new clothes for the special occasion. But before you take out your wallet, consider reinventing something already in your closet. Belts, colorful scarves, shoes can bring life to any outfit.