TEXT 1

You’ve been working and saving for decades for just this moment:
retirement. Even though you may be ready to stop working full-time,
now comes the hard part: letting yourself use your savings, since you
no longer will be bringing in that paycheck, which until now has
covered your monthly expenses. Making the psychological shift from
saver to spender is no small effort for most people.

“Now you have this lump sum and have to draw it down. For some it’s
almost physically painful,” said David John, a senior strategic policy
advisor. Unpredictable factors like market performance, life
expectancy and health issues make spending your money easier said
than done. That’s why people may be hesitant to tap their savings
because they think, “I have X dollars and it has to last me my whole
life, but I have a very uncertain future. So, if I touch that I’m  putting
myself at risk.”

Research shows that among retirees with savings, many do not draw
down very much, choosing instead to live off fixed sources of funds,
such as Social Security or pensions or income from part-time work they
take up. A study found that the vast majority of retirees in America
still have at least 80% of their savings after two decades in retirement.
No doubt this is partly because they are among the last generation of
workers to benefit from corporate pensions.

The psychological reluctance to tap one’s savings is a factor for most

people regardless of their financial condition. It may become more
acute for soon-to-be retirees as they face inflation, unstable markets
and a lack of pensions, John said. They’re trying to figure out who they
are now that their primary career is over and figuring out what they can
and can’t do financially
TEXT 2

The railroad was not the first institution to impose regularity on

society or to draw attention to the importance of precise timekeeping.

For as long as merchants have set out their wares at daybreak and
communal festivities have been celebrated, people have been in rough
agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day.

The value of this tradition is today more apparent than ever. Were it
not for public acceptance of a single yardstick of time, social life
would be unbearably chaotic: the massive daily transfers of goods,
services, and information would proceed in fits and starts; the very
fabric of modern society would begin to unravel.
TEXT 3

Satellite Space-eyes does not look like the satellites of the 1980’s. It
has large wings that gather solar power. The power is for the motor. It
keeps the satellite in the same place above the earth. All the big
farmers in the area have paid for the cost of Satellite Space-eye.

Constants in one of those farmers, his home computer makes the

connection with Satellite Space-eye. He asks to see picture of the
field in the south-west corner of his farm. The picture appears on a
TV screen. It is a picture of a green wheat field. Everything looks
fine. He then asks the computer to show the same area, but in colors.
The colors show the different temperatures in the field. He knows
healthy wheat plants will all be green. The TV screen blinks and a
beautiful pictures appears. It has many shades of blue, red, and green.

Constants looks closely at the large red spot near the middle of the
wheat field. He knows that something is wrong in the wheat field. He
knows that something is wrong in the wheat field. The red color
means the spot is warmer than its surroundings. It may be due to-lack
of moisture or not enough nutrients in the soil. Insect eating the wheat
can also show a red spot.

Constants tells the computer to tell him more about the warm spot.
The computer points out that the problem is a shortage of nitrogen in
the soil. He asks the computer to predict the harvest if he adds the
fertilizer. He then tells the computer the current market price for
wheat. He also tells the price of the fertilizer. He asks for a costing.
He wants to know if it will give him a profit to add the fertilizer. The
computer gives him the answer, is it a science fiction? No, it is
happening now.
TEXT 4

Uday and Qusay are dead and the
governments suggest that Iraq will
may well feel safer. And with the
forever, Iraqis are more confident
against the American occupies.
delighted British and American
be a safe place. Yes, the Iraqis
dictator’s sons out of the way
about continuing the resistance

Shortly before their deaths were announced, Richard Gephardt,

Democrat presidential hopeful, delivered a blistering attack on Bush’s
foreign policy which was driven, he said, by “machismo” and
“arrogant unilateralism”. Bush, he continued, treated U.S. allies “like
so many files on America’s windshield”. He added: “Foreign policy
isn’t a John Wayne movie.”

The attack on the villa where Saddam’s sons were hiding might be
seen as driving home the point. Instead, the announcement that they
had been killed by the U.S. troops in a shoot-out is welcomed by
Tony Blair as “great news”.
TEXT 5

The use of narcotics and illegal drugs does not merely have an impact
on mental and behavioral disorders. Even worse, drugs damage the
heart and can lead to death. The effects of drugs on the heart vary,
ranging from mild, severe, to death.

There are three types of drugs that cause death in the heart muscle:
cocaine, amphetamines, and ecstasy. These three types of drug
substances have a similar effect on the heart. They cause an increase in
the catecholamine hormone which makes the heart work harder. The
effect of consuming it is a sudden increase in blood pressure. As a
result, the heart muscles’ demand for oxygen increases. The long-term
effect of using this type of drug can damage (tie walls of the blood
vessels, both the arteries and coronary arteries. This condition causes a
tear in the blood vessel wall. In addition, damage to the heart muscle
can interfere with the heart’s pumping function and cause heart rhythm
disturbances. The heart rates can become very fast and a cardiac arrest
can happen.

Other groups of drugs that damage the heart are LSD (Lysergic Acid
Diethylamide) and psilocybin, which causes hallucinations. The effect
of these substances on the heart is an increase in the heart rate and
blood pressure though it is not as high as that caused by cocaine or
amphetamines. A rare but quite serious effect is a heart rhythm
disorder in the form of tachyarrhythmia where the heart rate increases
very rapidly. The next prohibited substance is morphine and its
derivatives.

Besides LSD, there is morphine which is a strong antidote to pain, but

excessive use of this substance will lead to addiction. The higher the
dose is consumed, the greater is the effect in reducing the heart’s
performance. The fatal effects comprise, among others, shocks and
cardiac arrest. Another disorder found in morphine users is pulmonary
edema, which is submerged lungs that can be fatal. The last group is
marijuana. In high doses, marijuana causes a decrease in blood
pressure and heart rate, which can lead to fatality. The most severe
condition due to marijuana are cardiac arrest and death.