A TIME columnist bears witness to an operation to help triplets with cerebral palsy walk like other boys.
   Cindy Hickman nearly bled to death the day she gave birth--three months prematurely--to her triplet sons. Weighing less than 2 lbs. each, her babies were alive, but barely. They clung so tenuously to life that her doctors recommended she name them A, B and C. Then, after a year of heroic interventions--brain shunts, tracheotomies, skull remodeling--often requiring emergency helicopter rides to the hospital nearest their rural Tennessee home, the Hickmans learned that their triplets had cerebral palsy.
   Fifteen years ago there wasn't much that could be done about cerebral palsy, a disorder caused by damage to the motor centers of the brain. But pediatric medicine has come a long way since then, both in intervention before birth, with better prenatal care and various techniques to postpone delivery, and surgical interventions after birth to correct physical deficiencies. So although the incidence of cerebral palsy seems to be increasing (because the odds ofpreemies surviving are so much better), so too are the number of success stories.
   This is one of them. Lane, Codie and Wyatt (as the Hickman boys are called) have spastic cerebral palsy, the most common form, accounting for nearly 80% of cases. "We first noticed that they weren't walking when they should," Cindy recalls. "Instead they were only doing the combat crawl." Their brains seemed to be developing age appropriately, but their muscles were unnaturally stiff, making walking difficult if not impossible.
   Happily, spastic cerebral palsy is also the most treatable form of CP, largely thanks to a procedure known as selective dorsal rhizotomy, in which the nerve roots that are causing the problem are isolated and severed. Among the first to champion SDR in the U.S. in the late 1980s was Dr. T.S. Park, a Korean-born pediatric neurosurgeon at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., who has performed more than 800 of these operations and hopes to do an additional 1,000 before he retires.
   Having performed the operation myself as a resident in neurosurgery, I was eager to see how the country's most prolific SDR surgeon does it. Last month I got an opportunity to stand by his side as he operated on 3-year-old Lane Hickman.
   Peering through a microscope and guided by an electric probe, we were able to distinguish between the two groups of nerve roots leaving the spinal cord. The ventral roots send information to the muscle; the dorsal roots send information back to the spinal cord. The dorsal roots cause spasticity, and if just the right ones are severed, the symptoms can be greatly reduced.
   Nearly half a million Americans suffer from cerebral palsy. Not all are candidates for SDR, but Park estimates that as many as half may be. He gets the best results with children between ages 2 and 6 who were born prematurely and have stiffness only in their legs. He is known for performing the operation very high up in the spine, right where the nerve roots exit the spinal cord. It's riskier that way, but the recovery is faster, and in Park's skilled hands, the success rate is higher.
   Cindy and Jeremy Hickman will testify to that. Just a few weeks after the procedure, two of their sons are walking almost normally and the third is rapidly improving.

   Modern lore has it that in England death is imminent, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
   Death is normal. We are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under optimal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved, shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's futile. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. A vast industry pushed for aggressive and expensive therapy for prostate cancer, despite a lack of demonstrable benefit for many patients. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient--too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
   Meanwhile, the kind of palliative care provided in hospices is taught derogatorily to medical students as a treatment of last resort. In 1950 the United States spent $12.7 billion, or 4.4 percent of gross domestic product, on health care. In 2002 the cost will be $1.54 trillion--nearly 14 percent of GDP, by far the largest percentage spent by any developed country.
   Anyone can see that this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some ethicists conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age- say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way" so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
   I wouldn't go that far. Not long ago similar arguments were used to justify mandatory retirement ages as young as 55 for employees in industry, academia and government. The message was "Step aside--I want your desk and your paycheck." Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the maladies that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I aspire to age as productively as they have.
   Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit, or should. I've watched as the lives of my family members and friends have been painfully prolonged. It's a stark contrast with the inexpensive and compassionate deaths of my parents a generation ago.
   As a medical consumer, I may want Medicare to buy me multiple coronary bypass operations or a desperate round of bone-marrow transplantation. As a taxpaying citizen, I know--intellectually, if not emotionally--that the value of such measures must be weighed against other social goods, such as housing, defense and education, And as a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve peoples' lives. For example, the field of alternative and complementary medicine receives just 0.5 percent chunk of the National Institutes of Health budget.
   To create a humane system of health care, we must acknowledge that death and dying are not themselves the enemies. As the post-World War Ⅱ British epidemiologist Archie Cochrane once observed, cures in medicine are rare, but the need for "care"--attention and reassurance from approachable, sympathetic physicians and caregivers--is widespread. Cochrane worried that by pursuing cures at all cost, we would restrict the supply of care that patients can receive. This is precisely the crisis of contemporary medicine: billions for cures, and pennies for care. Medicine can accomplish great things for the generation now passing 50, but only if we're wise enough not to ask too much of it.

   In economics, demand implies something slightly different from the common meaning of the term. The layman, for example, often used the term to mean the amount that is demanded of an item. Thus, if the price were to decrease and individuals wanted more of the item, it is commonly said that demand increases. To an economist, demand is a relationship between a series of prices and a series of corresponding quantities that are demanded at these prices. If one roads the previous sentences carefully, it should become apparent that them is a distinction between the quantity demanded and demand. This distinction is often a point of confusion and we all should be aware of and understand the difference between these two items. We repeat, therefore, that demand is a relationship between price and quantities demanded, and therefore suggests the effect of one (e.g., price) on the other (e.g. quantity demanded) . Therefore, knowledge of the demand for a product enables one to predict how much more of a product will be purchased if price decreases. But the increase in quantity demanded does not mean demand has increased, since the relationship between price and quantity (i.e., the demand for the product) has not changed. Demand shifts when there is a change in income, expectations, tastes, etc., such that a different quantity of the product is demanded at the same price.
   In almost all cases, a consumer wants more of an item if the price decreases.  This relationship between price and quantity demanded is so strong that it is referred to as the "law of demand". This "law" can be explained by the income and substitution effects. The income effect occurs because price increases reduce the purchasing power of the individual and, thus, the quantity demanded of goods must decrease. The substitution effect reflects the consumer's desire to get the "best buy". Accordingly, if the price of product A increases, the individual will tend to substitute another product and purchase less of goods A. The negative correlation between price and quantity demanded is also explained by the law of diminishing marginal utility. According to this law, the additional utility the consumer gains from consuming a product decreases as successively more units of the product are consumed. Because the additional units yield less utility or satisfaction, the consumer is willing to purchase more only if the price of the product decreases.
   Economists distinguish between individual and market demand. As the term implies, individual demand concerns the individual consumer and illustrate the quantities that individuals demand at different prices. Market demand includes the demand of all individuals for a particular goods and is found by summing the quantities demanded by all individuals at the various prices.
   The other side of the price system is supply. As in the case of demand, supply is a relationship between a series of prices and the associated quantities supplied. It is assumed that as price increases the individual or firm will supply greater quantities of a product. There is a positive correlation between quantity supplied and product price.
   Economists also distinguish between a change in supply and quantity supplied. The distinction is similar to the one made with respect to demand. Also, as in the case of demand, economists distinguish between individual firm supply and market supply, which is the summation of individual supply.
   Taken together, supply and demand yield equilibrium of price and quantity. Equilibrium is a state of stability, with balanced forces in which prices and quantity will remain constant. Moreover, there are forces in the market that will act to establish equilibrium if changes in demand or supply create disequilibrium. For example, if prices are above equilibrium, the quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded and surpluses occur that have a downward pressure on prices. These pressures will persist until equilibrium is established. If prices are below equilibrium, the product will become scare and there will be an upward pressure on price.

   Home schooling appears to be a great success for middle-class and wealthy families when one parent is home most of the time. However, home schooling does not work in inner-city neighborhoods because parents either work during the day or actively look for work. Numerous estimates between 1 and 2 million have been made regarding the number of home-schooled children in this country. Home schooling will grow in the future as course materials and tutoring systems vastly improve.
   Not too many years ago, learning at home meant reading a book and doing homework with tutoring from a parent or older sibling. Today, homes have an outstanding tutor available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This tutor never loses its patience, becomes upset, tums critical, or scolds a child for poor performance. In fact, the new tutoring system constantly recognizes good performance and provides praise for progress in learning. This tutor is the multimedia personal computer. For decades, students have been learning via television programs. In recent years, students have learned how to use a personal computer. Now technology is bringing together the Internet, video, slides, CD-ROM, and the interactivity of a computer to create multimedia presentations that students enjoy.
   The cost of this tutoring system is about $1,200. It can be used for at least six years, so the annual cost is $200. If there are two students in the family, the annual cost drops to $100 per student. In many households, the parents also use the computer, which reduces the annual cost even further.
   The tutoring system allows home schoolers to explore subjects without a parent or teacher telling them what to do next. The computer also provides a safe environment for students to take risks. They see and hear immediate, positive reinforcement every time they learn something. Immediate, positive remediation also is available when the student doesn't fully understand the lesson. The computer is truly a breakthrough in student learning and in building self-esteem.
   At first, courseware developers thought they had to sell their products to curriculum directors, teacher committees, and school boards. Now, these companies sell courseware directly to parents. For example, instead of buying a leather-bound edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, working parents can purchase a computerized encyclopedia for $35 or less.
   Courseware quality and course materials improve annually because parents and students buy only high-quality and motivational courses. With millions of home schoolers and other children using these materials, the price per subject now varies from $20 to $40. In the early school years, one or two courseware systems are sufficient for the entire school year. The courseware market has become a multi-million-dollar industry in which quality increases and costs decrease constantly.
   Studies have shown that interactive courseware speeds learning by 30 to 50 percent over conventional teaching methods. Lesson retention also improves. Many home schoolers need to study only three or four hours, leaving them more than enough time for extracurricular activities.
   How will courseware impact the public schools? It can either be viewed as a sideshow that has no place in a school system, which would be a mistake, or public schools can study why courseware and home schooling have succeeded, Investing in outstanding course materials, learning systems, and tutoring systems have been home schooling's keys to success. This is exactly what most public schools do not do, even though they spend more than $300 billion in taxpayers' money. Instead, they claim they have no money for outstanding course materials, learning systems, and tutoring systems.
   It should also be noted that most home-schooling parents are not former teachers. Many of them just have high school diplomas or have studied a year or two in community colleges. This information indicates that certified teachers within inner-city schools could be more successful if their classrooms had outstanding course materials, learning systems, and tutoring systems.
   Home schooling will grow in response to the violence in schools and to the constant drone of massages about poor student performance, but it cannot replace our public school systems because most parents are simply not available to provide home schooling. It is hoped, however, that public schools will begin to adopt the successful aspects of home schooling. In some communities, school districts are working with home-schooling families on special classes and extracurricular activities. This partnership helps solve the problem of overcrowded schools and helps reduce the massive building costs associated with new school buildings.

In order to control and reduce environmental pollution caused by discarded waste electronic information products, save resources and promote sustainable development of the electronic information industry, according to the provision of the Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products, the electronic information products sold in the market within the territory of China shall satisfy with the following requirements: the environmental protection materials，technologies and processes shall be introduced according to the national standards or sectoral standards；the safe-use life，names and contents of toxic and harmful substances contained therein and recovery marks shall be clearly indicated Off the products． non-toxic，harmless，readily degradable and recyclable materials shall be used as the packaging materials，and the materials ingredients of the packaging shall be clearly marked．

During our lives a11 of us are exposed to the possibility of a variety of risk events such as： work accidents，major illness，death，etc．If our finances are vulnerable to the consequences of a risk event，it would be wise to protect ourselves and our dependents against those consequences． This can be done in a number of ways，from taking steps to ensure that we are not endangered to purchasing insurance that would compensate for the financial consequences of the risk event occurring．

铁杵成针
   李白是中国唐朝的一位大诗人。
   传说，他小时候很贪玩，怕困难，读书进步很慢。
   有一天，李白放学回家，路过一条小河边，看见一位老婆婆正在磨一根很粗很粗的铁杵。 他觉得很奇怪，就走到老婆婆跟前问：
   “老婆婆，您磨这根铁杵干什么?”
   老婆婆说：“磨成针。”
   这时候，李白更觉得奇怪了，又问：
   “这么粗的铁杵，您怎么能磨成针呢?”
   老婆婆告诉他说：
   “能，一定能!只要工夫深，铁杵就能磨成针。”
   李白听了老婆婆的话，心里忽然明白了。
   从此，李白刻苦读书，进步很快。后来，他终于成了一位有名的诗人。

从全职工作过渡到完全休闲可能是我们一生中最大的转变之一。很多成功的退休者 都提到他们从退休以后的各种活动中感觉到更大程度的自我价值感。他们不用再忍受严酷或 有害健康的工作环境。他们不再需要把精力放在职位的升迁或财富的获取上。拥有毅力和幽 默感，退休生活就可能成为你一生中最幸福的阶段之一。

You are to write a composition of no less than 250 words and do your composition neatly Off the Answer Sheet．Your composition should be based on the following topic：
   My view on the Internet