注意：1. 词数100左右;
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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Herbal medicine，which has been used for medicinal purposes，is the use of plants to treat disease. Many herbalists use the entire plant，from the flowers，stems，leaves，and roots，in the form of everything from teas to tablets. These plants contain natural，chemical things that can treat the body for a variety of diseases，such as allergies（过敏症），asthma（哮喘）and cancer，among others.
Nowadays an increasing number of people prefer to adopt these plants to treat their diseases because，compared with chemical medicine，herbal medicine has its own advantages. Herbal medicine is more effective than chemical medicine for certain diseases. The chemical medicine prescribed by a chemist could have negative side effects，which，however，many of the herbal medicine does not have. If any，they are softer than chemical medicine. Obesity is the cause of many of the health problems. Herbal medicine can help weight loss more effectively and improve overall health.
However，cure using herbal medicine would take some time，and therefore people are supposed to possess enough patience. Worse still，herbal medicine contains a variety of ingredients（成分）and people have to be sure that their body agrees with the ingredients and that it is not allergic. A point worth mentioning here is that some herbal medicine for certain illnesses may have negative side effects. These side effects may not be shown at once，but would take months or even years. In the first stages，if the herbal medicine is not agreeing with you，it is wise to stop using it.
When used correctly，herbs can help treat a variety of diseases. But keep in mind that the herbal medicine industry is not regulated，so herbal products are sometimes labeled wrongly and may contain additives that are not listed on the label. Some herbs may cause allergic reactions or interact with conventional drugs，and some are poisonous if used improperly or at high doses（剂量）. Taking herbs on your own increases your risk.
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Living to 100
Since the mid-1950s, life expectancy around the world has increased dramatically, and many scientists believe that this trend is likely to continue in the future. The main reason for the increase during this period was the decline in infant mortality. Fewer children died at an early age, and this was mainly because of improved healthcare and better food production.
Most experts believe that people will continue to live longer in the future because of medical advances. Researchers predict that at least half of the North American and Japanese babies born since the year 2000 will live to an age of 90, and ten percent to 100 years old. Furthermore, new drugs are being developed which will slow down the ageing process. These will be available in a few years, and they will enable people to live 20 years longer.
If the current older populations in many countries become healthier, wealthier and live longer, the trend will have important consequences for people and governments. The cost of medical care for older people will rise, and governments will have to start thinking hard about how to fund state pensions for older citizens. Some people will want to keep on working later in their life, which could lead to changes in the age of retirement in many countries. Others would prefer to retire early to enjoy having more time for themselves. This will create business opportunities for companies in the leisure and entertainment industries and open up new segments of the market. The effect on the world population will be great. Europe’s population has been in decline for several years now as people prefer to have fewer children and families tend to be smaller. However, “the population will not decline as anti-ageing drugs start to become widely available”, as an expert on population, Professor Shripad Tuljapurkar, says in his recently-released book.
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Ellie is a psychologist, and a good one at that. Smile in a certain way, and she knows precisely what your smile means. She listens to what you say, processes every word, works out the meaning of your pitch, your tone, your posture, everything. She is at the top of her game but, according to a new study, her greatest advantage is that she is not human.
When faced with tough or potentially embarrassing questions, people often do not tell doctors what they need to hear. Yet the researchers behind Ellie, led by Jonathan Gratch at the Institute for Creative Technologies, in Los Angeles, suspected from their years of monitoring human interactions with computers that people might be more willing to talk if presented with an avatar, that is, a virtual figure. To test this idea, they put 239 people in front of Ellie to have a chat with her about their lives. Half were told (truthfully) they would be interacting with an artificially intelligent virtual human (AIVH); the others were told (falsely) that Ellie was a bit like a puppet, and was having her strings pulled remotely by a person.
Dr Gratch and his colleagues report that, though every participant interacted with the same avatar, their experiences differed markedly based on what they believed they were dealing with. Those who thought Ellie was under the control of a human operator reported greater fear of disclosing personal information, and said they managed more carefully what they expressed during the session, than did those who believed they were simply interacting with a computer.
