In the not-too-distant future, we     1     (live) in smart homes     2     will keep us secure, save us energy, and provide a more comfortable environment. Intelligent controls will control just about everything in our home. For example, they will use integrated     3     (sensor) to go into an energy-efficient mode when we leave home while     4     instant we get home, we’ll find everything     5     (prepare) for us, including dinner, our favourite music or TV programmes. In addition, smart homes will be monitoring our health every day. If they find there is something     6     (normal) or we have a critical illness, they will give us a warning early on and     7     (potential) save our life. Smart homes will also be able to prevent serious damage from accidents. If they find something wrong, they will detect it and provide us     8     the relevant information for us     9     (fix) the problem.

In a word, this smart technology is not a fantasy. Nevertheless, it will be some years     10     most new homes begin to use it.

Researchers have, for the first time, found the meaning of the neural (神经) signals associated with writing letters, and then displayed various typed     1     (version) of these letters in real time. They hope their invention could one day help people with paralysis (瘫痪) communicate.

At present, scientists     2     (explore) a number of ways for people with disabilities to communicate with their thoughts. Researchers have studied the brain activity associated with trying to write letters     3     hand. Working with a participant with paralysis who has sensors (传感器) put in     4     (he) brain, the team used a system to identify letters as he made an attempt     5     (write) them. Then, the system displayed the text on a screen in real time. “The invention could, with further     6     (develop), let people with paralysis rapidly type without     7     (use) their hands,” says study coauthor Krishna Shenoy, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at St an ford University. By attempting handwriting,     8     study participant typed 90 characters per minute—more than double the previous record.

“This technology and others like it may     9     (probable) help people with all sorts of disabilities,” says Jose Carmena, a neutral engineer at the University of California, Berkeley,     10     was not involved in the study.

About 15 years ago, Andrew McLindon,     1     cycling lover, was riding his bike in Texas when he     2    (think) about a friend’s 12-year-old son. The boy had never known the joy of biking because he suffered from hydrocephalus (脑积水).

When he got home, McLindon, now 60, went online and found a three-wheel bike with a seat belt, perfect for a child with some balance     3    (problem). Soon the boy was riding around the street,     4    (have) fun with his peers. McLindon says, “I’ll never forget the smile on the boy’s face.”

That smile launched the McLindon Family Foundation.     5    (fund) by donations, the group works with clinics to find children     6     can benefit from owning a special bike. A bike may include personalized equipment, from a headrest     7     a seat belt. For kids lucky enough     8    (get) one, it’s a life changer.

So far, the Foundation     9    (donate) 450 bikes, and that’s just a start. “I do a lot of things.” McLindon says, “But getting these kids their bikes is the     10    (important) thing that I do.”

A HILLARYS resident has shaved off her long hair in support of a friend who has a hair loss condition. Kam Waihi shaved her hair on May 12 in recognition of her friend Kathi Tait, who has been dealing with alopecia areata (斑秃)    1     she was nine years old.

“It all happened very quickly. I started getting large bald patches and     2     no time I lost 40 percent of my hair. ” Ms. Tait said. “My sister passed away from blood cancer the year before, so it was an     3    (extreme) tough time. I managed to get through primary school. However, high school was a different story. It was terrible; I got bullied (被欺负) because of my alopecia. “

Ms. Tait     4    (wear) a wig (假发) for the first year of high school and her hair grew back, only    5    (fall) out again after a year and a half. This pattern of growth and loss was frequent until her 30s when most of her hair fell out and didn’t grow back.

A few years ago she shaved off     6     small amount of    7    (remain) hair, stopped wearing wigs and started living a life as a bald woman-calling    8    (her) the “bald warrior”.

Miss Waihi,     9     has known Ms. Tait for more than 12 years, said her friend still faced    10    (judge) every day. “I want more people to know about the condition and to send out the message that it is OK to be bald.