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　　TOKYO, Japan(AP)– Japan is very serious about robotics(机器人技术)．If the droids are going to fit in, they probably need to learn the Japanese custom of serving tea．Fortunately, researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that．In a show this week, a humanoid(有人特点的)with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc．poured tea from a bottle into a cup．Then another robot on wheels delivered the cup of tea in an experimental room that has sensors embedded in the floor and sofa as well as cameras on the ceiling, to simulate(模仿)life with robot technology．

　　“A human being may be faster, but you'd have to say ‘Thank you,’” said University of Tokyo professor Tomomasa Sato．“That's the best part about a robot．You don't have to feel bad about asking it to do things.”

　　Sato believes Japan, a rapidly aging society where more than a fifth of the population is 65 or older, will lead the world in designing robots to care for the elderly, sick and bedridden(卧床不起的)．

　　Already, monitoring technologies, such as sensors that automatically turn on lights when people enter a room, are becoming widespread in Japan．

　　The walking, child–size Asimo from Honda Motor Co．greets people at showrooms．NEC Corp．has developed a smaller companion robot–on –wheels called Papero．A seal robot available since 2004 can entertain the elderly and others in need of fuzzy companionship．

　　Sato says his experimental room is raising awareness about privacy questions that may arise when electronic devices(设备)monitor a person's movements down to the smallest detail．

　　On the bright side, the tea – pouring humanoid has been programmed to do the dishes．

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　　Are you stressed out, scared or worried all the time? Do you avoid going to certain places, seeing friends or doing certain things because of your worries? Do your worries keep you awake at night? If you've answered yes, you may be suffering from anxiety．

　　Anxiety is a normal and necessary part of life．Anxiety is your brain's way of telling you about danger．It is anxiety which helps you jump out of the way if a car is speeding towards you．But if it gets out of hand, anxiety can get in the way of you getting on with life and can become a real problem．If this is the case for you, treatment may be a helpful way for you to get your anxiety under control．

　　Anxiety is a normal part of life．Some people may feel uneasy if moving to a new place and some may get overly anxious in certain situations．There are lots of reasons for this．One main reason is after a stressful thing which has happened in your life．So, if you are involved in a car crash, it's quite likely that you will be more worried than other people around cars and driving．

　　Being anxious also probably runs in families．If your parents suffer from anxiety then you are more likely to be anxious too．This is probably partly due to genetics, and partly because of how things are when you're growing up．

　　Even though people don't talk about it much, anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems．About 1 in 4 people will have an anxiety problem at some time in their life．

　　If you have an anxiety problem it's hard for other people to understand why something that doesn't worry them, like being in a crowd of people, can be so scary for you．This can make you feel separated and lonely, as may become worse and worse．

　　The good news is there are lots of excellent treatments available for anxiety．These include talking therapies(疗法)and drugs．

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　　Harvard University named historian Drew Gilpin Faust as its first female president on Sunday, ending a lengthy and secretive search to find a successor(接任者)to Lawrence Summers．

　　The seven-member Harvard Corporation elected Faust, a noted scholar on History of the American South and dean of Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, as the university's 28th president．

　　“This is a great day, and a historic day for Harvard,” James R．Houghton, chairman of the presidential search committee, said in a statement．“Drew Faust is an inspiring and accomplished leader, a superb scholar, a dedicated(献身的)teacher, and a wonderful human being.”

　　Her selection is noteworthy given the heated debates over Summers' comments that genetic differences between the sexes might help explain the lack of women in top science jobs．

　　Faust has been dean of Radcliffe since 2001, two years after the former women's college was combined into the university as a research center with a mission to study gender issues．

　　Some professors have quietly groused that the 371-year-old university is appointing a fifth president who is not a scientist．No scientist has had the top job since James Bryant Conant retired in 1953; its last four have come from the fields of classics, law literature and economics．

　　Faust is the first Harvard president who did not receive a degree from the university since Charles Chauncy, a graduate of Cambridge University, who died in office in 1762．She attended the University of Pennsylvania．

　　“Teaching staff turned to her constantly,” said Sheldon Hackney, a former president of the University of Pennsylvania and historian who worked closely with Faust．“She's very clear．She has a sense of humor, but she's very strong-minded．You come to trust in her because she's so solid.”

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　　It was once thought that air pollution affected only the area around large urban districts with factories and heavy automobile traffic．Today, we know that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is literally(=really)worldwide．On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the entire eastern half of the United States and led to health warnings even in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing(制造业的)and automobile traffic．In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be affected by air pollution．Some scientists feel that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels is creating a “greenhouse effect” – holding in heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature．If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be under water．

　　Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particulate matter(颗粒物质)in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature – a result that would be equally disastrous(损失惨重的)．A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to new ice age and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas．At present we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen(though one recent government report prepared by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very likely)．Perhaps, if we are very lucky, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now．

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　　When people ask your children to “get an education”, they tell you only half the truth．What they really mean is to get just enough education to give manpower for your society．

　　Get a high school diploma, at least．Without that, you are occupationally dead, unless your name happens to be George Washington or Thomas Edison and you can successfully stop study in primary schools．

　　Get a college degree, if possible．With a BA, you should start to find a job．You have to put on the brakes now．If you do go for a master’s degree, make sure it is an MBA and only from a first – class university．Otherwise, the famous law of diminishing(报酬递减率)begins to work．

　　Do you know, for example, that long – distance truck drivers make more money a year than full professors? Yes, each driver was paid $28,000 in 1997 while a full professor managed to get $27,930．

　　A PhD is the highest degree you can get, but except in a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry, where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial aim, you are facing a not very bright future．There are more PhDs unemployed in this country than in any other part of the world by far．

　　If you became a PhD in English or history or political science or languages or – worst of all – in philosophy(哲学), you take the risk of becoming over – educated for our national demands．

　　Thousands of PhDs are selling shoes, driving taxis, waiting on tables and filling out applications month after month, and then may be taking a job in some high school or college with the pay much less than a door–keeper makes．

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　　As De Witt Wallace lay in bed recovering from injuries that he unfortunately came by in World War I, he found there was a wealth of interesting information to read．Realizing few people would have the time to get through all this information, he knew exactly what to do．In 1920, this young American presented a sample magazine containing shortened articles to publishers across America．However, all turned him down．

　　Undeterred, De Witt and his new bride Lila Bell Acheson published the first issue of Reader’s Digest in February 1922．Working from home, the Wallaces printed 5,000 copies, which were sold by mail to 1,500 people and priced at 25 cents．From these humble(卑微的)beginnings grew the world’s most widely – read magazine．

　　The magazine became popular and, by 1935, sales topped one million．In 1938, the first international edition was published in the United Kingdom．During World War Ⅱ, editions were published for the first time in Latin America and Sweden．After the war Reader’s Digest moved into Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland．In 1950, Reader’s Digest published its shortened Books(now known as Select Editions in Australia)．In 1959, music, the first non – print product line, was introduced．In 1962, Reader’s Digest revolutionized direct mail by introducing easy – to – enter Sweepstakes and a year later the first Reader’s Digest general book was published．In 1986, video was added to the Reader’s Digest product line．

　　In 1973, the Wallaces gave up active management of Reader’s Digest．De Witt died in 1981, aged 91; Lila in 1984, aged 94．With no heirs(继承人)to the Wallace empire to take control, Reader’s Digest became a public company in the early 1990s and is now headed by a Chief Executive Office and Chairman of the Board．

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　　Trevor Baylis the inventor has a swimming pool just inside his front door and a hot tub(盆)on the front．This energetic former stunt man(替身演员)with a training in structural engineering and a swimming-pool business heard some TV talk about the difficulty of sending out warnings of Aids in Africa because without power or batteries, radios were useless．So he invented a clockwork(发条)wind-up radio：turn round the handle for 60 seconds and you can hear the whole of The World At One and The Arches．He got mentioned in a BBC programme．There was a meeting with Nelson Mandela and an OBE from the Queen．There are his spots on radio and television．

　　As a secondary school dropout from Hendon in London, however, he wants to do something to help all the inventors less lucky than him．He wants to set up an Academy of Invention．

　　“I’ve learned something in my 62 years,”he says．“I don’t mind anybody looking down on me, as long as they don’t expect me to be looking up．If someone’s got a problem with me, it’s their problem．They say,‘You’re rather strange．’Well, if being strange means you live in a house with an indoor swimming pool and a hot tub on the front, let’s be strange．People may think I am out of the trees, but to believe convention(惯例)is something that prevents answer．You may give a conventional person a problem, they’ll come up with a conventional answer．Conventional people can’t deal with the questions of unconvention．”

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　　For many years it was common in the United States to associate Chinese Americans with restaurants and places that wash clothes．People did not realize that the Chinese had been driven into these occupations by the prejudice and discrimination that faced them in this country．

　　The first Chinese to reach the United States came during the California Gold Rush of 1849．Like most of the other people there, they had come to search for gold．In that largely unoccupied land, the men staked a claim(立界标表明所有权)for themselves by placing markers in the ground．However, either because the Chinese were so different from the others or because they worked so patiently that they sometimes succeeded in getting a mining claim to make a profit(where others saw no way to do so), they became the target of their competitors．They were troubled and attacked in many ways．Often they were prevented from working their claims; some places even passed regulations forbidding them to own claims．The Chinese therefore started to seek out other ways of earning a living．Some of them began to wash clothes for the white miners; others set up small restaurants．(There were almost no women in California in those days and the Chinese filled a real need by doing this“women’s work．”)Some went to work as farmhands or as fishermen．

　　In the early 1860’s many more Chinese arrived in California．This time railroad companies brought the men in to construct the first railroad line from California to the East．They were sorely needed because the work was so hard and dangerous, and it was carried on in such an isolated part of the country that the railroad company could not find other laborers for the job．As in the case of the first Chinese in America, these Chinese were almost all males; and like them, too, they encountered a great deal of prejudice．The hostility grew especially strong after the railroad project was completed, and the Chinese laborers returned to California－thousands of them, all out of work．

　　Many of today’s Chinese Americans are the descendants(后裔)of some of the early miners and railroad workers．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　That“Monday morning feeling”could be a crushing pain in the chest which leaves you sweating and gasping for breath．Recent research from Germany and Italy shows that heart attacks are more common on Monday morning and doctors blame the stress of returning to work after the weekend break．

　　The risk of having a heart attack on any given day should be one in seven, but a six-year study helped by researchers at the Free University of Berlin of more than 2,600 Germans showed that the average person had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack on a Monday than on any other day．

　　Working Germans are particularly not protected against attack, with a 33 percent higher risk at the beginning of the working week．Non-workers, by comparison, appear to be no more at risk on a Monday than any other day．

　　A study of 11,000 Italians proved 8 a.m.on a Monday morning as the most stressful time for the heart, and both studies showed that Sunday is the least stressful day, with fewest heart attacks in both countries．

　　The finding could lead to a better understanding of what is the immediate cause of heart attacks, according to Dr．Stefan Willich of the Free University．“We know a lot about long-term risk factors such as smoking and cholesterol(胆固醇)but we don’t know what actually causes heart attacks, so we can’t give clear advice on how to prevent them．”he said．

　　Monday mornings have a double helping of stress for the working body as it makes a rapid change from sleep to activity, and from the relaxing weekend to the pressure of work．

　　“When people get up, their blood pressure and heart rate go up and there are hormonal(内分泌)changes in their bodies．”Willich explained．“All these things can have an unfavorable effect on the blood system and increase the risk of a clot(血凝块)which will cause a heart attack．”

　　“When people return to work after a weekend off, the pace of their life changes．They have a higher workload, more stress, more anger and more physical activities．”said Willich．

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　　“Soon, you’re going to have to move out！”cried my neighbor on seeing the largest tomato plant known to mankind, or at least known in my neighborhood．

　　One tiny 9-inch plant, bought for $1.25 in the spring, has already taken over much of my rose bed, covering much of other plants, and is well on its way to the front door．

　　Roses require a good deal of care, and if it weren’t for the pleasure they give, it wouldn’t be worth the work．As it is, I have a garden full of sweet-smelling roses for most of the year．Bushes must be pruned(剪枝)in early spring, leaving ugly woody branches until the new growth appears a few weeks later．It was the space available in the garden that led me into planting just one little tomato plant．A big mistake．

　　Soil conditions made just perfect for roses turn out to be even more perfect for tomatoes．The daily watering coupled with full sun and regular fertilizing(施肥)have turned the little plant into a tall bush．The cage I placed around it as the plant grew has long since disappeared under the thick leaves．

　　Now the task I face in harvesting the fruit is twofold：First, I have to find the red ones among the leaves, which means I almost have to stand on my head, and once found, I have to reach down and under, pick the tomatoes and withdraw(缩回)my full fist without dropping the prize so dearly won．I found two full-blown white roses completely hidden as I picked tomatoes in June, but they were weak and the leaves already yellow for lack of light．

　　Here I am faced with a painful small decision：To tear up a wonderful and productive tomato plant that offers up between ten and twenty ripe sweet tomatoes each day or say goodbye to several expensive and treasured roses．Like Scarlett in Gone With the Wind, I’ll think about that tomorrow．

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