题目内容
I have no statistics on this, but conversation with friends and dozens of person-on-the-street interviews I saw and heard last month convince me that a lot of Americans felt a sense of personal loss at the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. Their grief was palpable and clearly genuine. Yet I couldn't help wondering how many would have reacted this way to the death of a relative, a mother or father, sure. But what about uncle John, who lives across town; or Cousin Tara, who moved to another state; or even, Grandma, whom we see once or twice a year, from the other side of the country？
For many of us, the concept of family is a lot narrower than it used to be. Today children go away to college, and take up careers wherever opportunity seems greatest. So instead of growing up in an extended family, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins involved in our day-to-day lives, many of us are truly connected only to our parents and siblings. Many kids today knew little of the lives of relatives outside the nuclear family, and don't care deeply about them.
Whether we're aware of it or not, this estrangement creates a void. "People have an inherent need to feel connected," says Joy Browne, a psychologist and talkshow host in the U.S. "And they'll do it in what- ever ways are easiest for them. "When family members are distant, what could be easier than forming a connection to celebrities--especially glamorous, public- spirited ones like the Kennedys".
This sort of false intimacy isn't new, of course. People wept when Rudolph Valentime died in 1926 and when the Lindberghs lost their baby in 1932. It's natural and in most ways harmless to identify with the famous. But todays combination of busy lives, fragmented families and saturation media coverage of celebrities. means this is the only intimacy many of us experience outside our immediate family. And that's unhealthy, because these celebrity relationships are not two way.
For that, we need to stay connected to our own families. We'll never turn back the clock to keep families from scattering. But parents can help by telling their kids stories about their grandparents, aunts and cousins, and by keeping the relatives informed of the kids'latest activities and interests.
Technology can encourage more frequent, more casual contact. It's no chore to dash off an email to Granddad.
Better yet, take a vacation with members of your extended family--and not at anyone's home. A week or so of relaxed interaction can be a great way to turn up family ties. And when tragedy happens, there's no substitute for family. Because no matter how much we cry for the Kennedys, they can't be there to cry for us.
Thank you for today's program. Now let's listen to a song.
The author is ______.
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What important role did the diary really play？
What is a smart card, exactly, and how does it work？
Also called a chip card because of the tiny mixcroprocessor embedded in it, a smart card looks like the other plastic in your wallet. To make things more confusing, some smart cards pull double duty as regular ATM bank cards. The difference is that when you swipe your ATM (or debit) card at the grocery- store checkout, you're draining cash from your bank account. Smart cards, on the other hand, are worthless un- less they are "loaded with cash value", pulled directly from your bank account or traded for currency. The chip keeps track of the amounts stored and spent. The advantage, in theory, is Convenience: consumers bother less with pocket change and are able to use plastic even at traditionally cash -only vendors. The electronic transaction doesn't require a signature, a PIN number or bank approval. Downside: lose the card, lose the money.
Most people are probably more familiar with stored-value cards equipped only with a magnetic strip, such as fare card issued to riders on the Washington metro or the New York City subway. The newer chipenhanced versions, armed with more memory and processing power, have popped up in various places in the past years or so, from college campuses to military bases to sports stadiums. Other experiments are under way. A health -care claims processor in Indianapolis, Ind, hopes smart cards will streamline medical-bill payments. In Ohio, food-stamp recipients receive a smart card rather paper vouchers.
Smart cards issued for general commerce are rarer, unless you happen to live in a place designated for a test run, such as Manhattan's Upper West Side. But big bank and plastic-purveying kings Visa and MasterCard are hot for the idea, promising more extensive trials and more elaborate, multipurpose cards capable of rendering everything else you carry -- plastic, paper or coin-- superfluous.
Today's smart cards may not be revolutionizing the way we buy the morning paper yet, but they could turn out to be right tool spur Internet commerce and banking. For the time being, though, smart cards are just another way to buy stuff. And it could be a while before even that catches on. Remember: some people still don't trust ATMs either.
Why are smart cards not nearly so common in American？
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
听力原文： South Korean law - makers mounted a lash - ditch at- tempt to stop the use of a controversial Japanese history text- book yesterday’ and announced plans for an Asia - wide coalition against Tokyo’s "white washing" of history.
The four MPs are applying to a Tokyo count for an injunction against the distribution of a series of textbooks that have sparked outrage in the region and increasingly souked Japan's diplomatic relations. Japan's neighgouring countries have said the textbooks brush over Japan's military aggression in World War Ⅱ ,from which many of their people still bear scars.
While a ruling in their favour is seen as Unlikely, the four MPs plans to continue their campaign against the text-books by forming a region -wide body to oppose "historical distortion" by Japan, said Hahm Seung - heui of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party.
"We also propose to set up a neutral independent justice body - the Asia History Count--to settle historical disputes in Asian nations. "said Hahm, a former public prosecutor. Habm was speaking only hours after the final version of the eight textbooks, written by a group of nationalist scholars, was unveiled.
The textbooks, approved by the Japanese Government in April, have sparked diplomatic disputes with many Asiancountries, together with new Japanese Prime Minister Junickiro Koizumi's plan to visit a Tokyo warshrine, the final resting place of several convicted war criminals.
Protests in South Korea have escalated into civic campaigns nationwide, including calls for a boycott of Japanese goods, prompting Seoul to postpone joint military exercises with Tokyo.
South Korean Law - makers planned for an Asiawide coalition against ______.
听力原文： George W. Bush on Friday presented to Congress a letter formally requesting an extension to the Normal Trade Relations(NTR) status to China for another year.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Bush said that trade with China has benefited both American businesses, which boosted exports to China by 24 pen: em last year, and American farmers, who exported to China more than US $ 3 billion worth of farm produts in the same period.
"Trade is in the interest of American consumers, especially those who live from paycheck to paycheck and depend on inexpensive goods, from China to enhance their quality of life, "Bush said.
He said that the normal trade status requested for China is what "virtually every other country in the world" now en-joys.
"Fair trade is essential not only to improve living standards for Americans, but also for a strong and productive relationship with China," he said.
Bush said that the United States has a huge stake in the emergence of" an economically open, politically stable and secure China", and "not only do we need to speak frankly and directly about our differences, but we also need to maintain dialogue and co-operation with one another in those areas where we have common interests."
Last year, Congress passed Legislation granting China permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) as soon as the country enters the World Trade Organization, abandoning what China had seen as the unfair practice of annual review by the US Legislature over its trade status.
The PNTR legislation, however, has not yet come into effect since China is still negociating its access to the globel trading block. Therefore, the annual review will continue on the Capital Hill this year.
When did George W. Bush present a letter to Congress？
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