Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks sec silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting.
By "Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet" (Line 1, Paragraph 1 ), the author means _______.
A. Spero can hardly maintain her business
B. Spero is too much engaged in her work
C. Spero has grown out of her bad habit
D. Spero is not in a desperate situation
Richard Satava, program manager for advanced medical technologies, has been a driving force bringing virtual reality to medicine, where computers create a "virtual" or simulated environment for surgeons and others medical practitioners(从业者).
"With virtual reality we'll be able to put a surgeon in every trench," said Satava. He envisaged a time when soldiers who are wounded fighting overseas are put in mobile surgical units equipped with computers.
The computers would transmit images of the soldiers to surgeons hack in the U.S. The surgeons would look at the soldier through virtual reality helmets(头盔)that contain a small screen displaying the image of the wound. The doctors would guide robotic instruments in the battlefield mobile surgical unit that operate on the soldier.
Although Satava's vision may be years away from standard operating procedure, scientists are progressing toward virtual reality surgery. Engineers at an international organization in California are developing a tele-operating device. As surgeons watch a three-dimensional image of the surgery, they move instruments that are connected to a computer, which passes their movements to robotic instruments that perform. the surgery. The computer provides feedback to the surgeon on force, textures, and sound.
These technological wonders may not yet be part of the community hospital setting but increasingly some of the machinery is finding its way into civilian medicine. At Wayne State University Medical School, surgeon Lucia Zamorano takes images of the brain from computerized scans and uses a computer program to produce a 3-D image. She can then maneuver the 3-D image on the computer screen to map the shortest, least invasive surgical path to the tumor(肿瘤). Zamorano is also using technology that attaches a probe to surgical instruments so that she can track their positions. While cutting away a tumor deep in the brain, she watches the movement of her surgical tools in a computer graphics image of the patient's brain taken before surgery.
During these procedures-operations that are done through small cuts in the body in which a miniature camera and surgical tools are maneuvered-surgeons are wearing 3-D glasses for a better view. And they are commanding robot surgeons to cut away tissue more accurately than human surgeons can.
Satava says," We are in the midst of a fundamental change in the field of medicine."
According to Richard Satava, the application of virtual reality to medicine _______.
A. will enable surgeons to be physically present on every battlefield
B. can raise the spirits of soldiers wounded on the battlefield
C. will greatly improve medical conditions on the battlefield
D. can shorten the time for operations on soldiers wounded on the battlefield