活得更久
以前的人活到40岁就过完一生而死亡是很平常的。但是现在，我们认为40岁的寿命很短。人们活到八十几岁、九十几岁，有些甚至到100岁，是很平常的。而且，人们还能活得久而且又健康，精力充沛地迈入他们的“黄金时代”（退休期）。
人类会长寿主要是因为科学及科技的进步。医学上的重大突破已经根除了以前十分普遍的致命疾病。而更重要的也许是，大众健康的改善首先意味着人们不大可能得传染病。人们变得更健康也有助于预防罹患一些会使身体状况日益衰弱的疾病，例如心脏病。这些疾病常会夺走年轻的生命。又因为文明的进步，我们的生活环境以及食物来源已经变得比较卫生。此外，现在的工作比较安全，且对人体而言没有那么繁重。我们不会因为只辛苦工作几年就变得疲惫不堪。
现代人比以前长寿的原因有很多，但更重要的是，人们活得更久，而且也活得更好。我的看法是，我们进提那的进步得益于科学和科技的发展。
2004年8月4日
The Media and Famous People
In almost every form of media, including television, newspapers and magazines, a great deal of attention is paid to the personal lives of celebrities. It seems that the public cannot get enough of this kind of news. However, I believe that the media have a responsibility to present a balanced view of the world, as well as respect the lives of public figures. Therefore, I believe that the media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people.
For people who are fascinated with the lives of public figures there are some forms of media devoted exclusively to this topic. They can satisfy their curiosity by buying fan magazines and watching TV shows devoted to entertainment news. The general media should present all types of information because people have different interests. Furthermore, the practice of dwelling on the private lives of celebrities can lead people to pay more attention to these matters than they otherwise would. Perhaps most importantly, the media should respect the privacy of every individual, including public figures. They may have chosen to be in the public eye, but that does not give the public the right to know everything about them. Moreover, many stories about celebrities are untrue; they are only gossip reported to increase sales of magazines and other media. They are unfair to the famous and mislead the public.
For all of these reasons, I believe that the media should pay more attention to matters other than the private lives of public figures. In this way, they can appeal to a wider audience and encourage people to develop other interests. In my opinion, the media currently pay too much attention to the private lives of public figures.
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