Thefollowingparagraphsaregiveninawrongorder.ForQuestions1-5,youarerequiredtoreorganizetheseparagraphsintoacoherentarticlebychoosingfromthelistA-Gtofillineachnumberedbox.ThefirstandthelastparagraphshavebeenplacedforyouinBoxes.[A]TeslaMotorsaimstoalterthatperception.Theventure,basedinCaliforniaandfinancedbyElonMusk,thefounderofPayPal,andLarryPageandSergeyBrin,theco-foundersofGoogle,hasunveiledatwo-seatsportscar.Itwillcost$89,000,andTeslaaimstosellacoupleofthousandofthembeforeintroducingacheaper,four-seatversion.[B]Therewasonegripe,though.SomeofthepetrolheadsatTesla"slaunchpartycomplainedthatthesilenceoftheelectricmotorwastooalien.Theymissedthegruntandgrowlofaninternal-combustionengine.ATeslaengineernearbycamebackwithanidea:"We"llprogramthesoftwaretohaveavarietyofengineroars,justlikeringtonesonmobilephones."[C]Thereisnodoubtingitsbreathtakingquickness.Andtherangeof400kmisaheroicaccomplishment,madepossiblebytheuseofadvancedlithium-ionbatteriesandlightweightcarbon-fibrebodywork.Dr.Musk,thefirm"schairman,concedesthatracingFerrarisallthetimewouldreducetherangesomewhat,butpointsoutthat,usingtheAmericangovernment"smethodology,thecar"sfuelefficiencyistheequivalentof52.5kmperlitreofpetrol(135milesperAmericangallon).TheaveragenewAmericancargetslessthan12kmperlitre.[D]Tesla,though,aimstobeevengreenerthanthat,accordingtoDr.Musk.Thefirmplanstoofferoptionalsolar-photoelectricsystems,tobesetupasacarportathome,thatwillbeabletopowerthecarsfor80kmadaywithouthavingtodrawonthegrid.Giventhattheaveragedrivertravelslessthanthis,theideapromises,asDr.Muskputsit,to"makeourcarsenergypositive"—forthosewithSantaMonica"sreliablesunshine,atleast.[E]Askpeopleiftheywouldbuyanewelectriccarandmostwillrespondblankly.Afterall,electriccarshavenotbeenseeninlargenumbersfornearlyacentury,andthegolfcartsandmilkfloatsthatrepresentelectrifiedtransporttodayarehardlythesortofvehicletowinmanypeopleover.[F]Thegrandclaimsofgreenerymightsoundabitfishy,giventhatmostelectricityismadefromfossilfuels,butseveralstudieshaveshownthatelectricvehicleswhichdrawtheirpowerfromagridthatisitselfhalfcoal-fired(asAmerica"sis)producelessinthewayofgreenhousegasesthananaveragepetrol-drivencar.[G]Thecar"sdesignaloneislikelytoturnold-fashionednotionsofelectricvehiclesontheirhead.Beyondthat,Teslamakesthreeaudaciousclaims.Thefirstisthatthevehicleacceleratesfromnoughtto100km(60miles)perhourinjustfourseconds.ThatisfasterthanaFerrari.Thesecondisthatitcantravel400kmonanovernightchargefromanordinary240voltsocket.Thethirdisthatitismoreenvironmentallyfriendlythanapetrol-drivenequivalent.Order:

You are going to read a list of headings and a text about the amazing success of the novel The Da Vinci Code. Choose the most suitable headings.A. The marketing of the novelB. The value of the novelC. The successful distribution channel is a helperD. The special writing style attracts the reader successfullyE. Feedback from the sellerF. Chain reaction of the novel Two years ago this month, Doubleday published a historical thriller with an announced first printing of 85,000 and high hopes that a little-known writer named Dan Brown would catch on with the general public. "We surely expected to have a huge success, but I don"t think anyone dreamed it would become a historic publication," says Stephen Rubin, president and publisher of the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group. (41)______. If the "Harry Potter" books stand as the essential popular read for young people, then "The Da Vinci Code" has captured the crown for grown-ups. A word-of-mouth sensation from the moment it came out, Brown"s controversial mix of storytelling and speculation remains high on best-seller lists even as it begins its third year since publication. (42)______. Twenty-five million books, in 44 languages, are in print worldwide and no end is in sight. Booksellers expect "The Da Vinci Code" to remain a best-seller well into 2005. A planned film version by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard should bring in even more readers. And at a time when consumers are supposedly minding their budgets, sales for the $24.95 hardcover have been so good that Doubleday still has set no date for a paperback. (43)______. "It"s been our No. 1 fiction book for two years in a row, and I can"t remember another time that happened," said Bob Wietrak, vice president of merchandising for Barnes & Noble Inc. "People come into our store all the time and ask for it or ask for books that are like it." (44)______. Thanks to "The Da Vinci Code", about the only books that seem able to keep up are Brown"s previous novels. "Deception Point," first released in 2001, now has 3.7 million copies in print, according to Simon & Schuster, Brown"s previous publisher. "Angels and demons," published in 2000 and featuring "Da Vinci" protagonist Robert Langdon, has more than 8 million copies in print. (45)______. The unprecedented success of "The Da Vinci Code" has been helped by wide access, with the book on sale everywhere from Wal-Mart to airports to supermarkets, often proving more popular than the mass market paperbacks available at the same outlets. "The Da Vinci Code" has also thrived during a time when both literary and commercial novels struggled, when a tight economy, competition from other media and election year tensions drove the public to nonfiction works or away from books altogether. Publishers and booksellers say Brown"s novel has worked by combining narrative excitement and provocative—and disputed-historical detail.

Norwood, Ohio—in this town, which is surrounded by Cincinnati, there is a field surrounded by a high chain-link fence. Across a street on one side of the field is a residential neighborhood of modest homes. On another side is an upscale shopping center. The field used to be a neighborhood with 99 houses and small businesses, but almost all the structures have been destroyed. One of the homes that remain—the developer of the shopping center wants to level all so he can expand his domain—was for 35 years the first and only home owned by Carl and Joy Gamble, who are both in their mid-60s. Now they live across the Ohio River in Kentucky, in the basement of their daughter"s house, as they wait for the Ohio Supreme Court to decide their home"s fate. Norwood"s government seized it to enrich itself by enriching a taxpaying developer who has a $125 million project. The Gambles say that when the city offered them money for their house, they were not interested. "We had everything we wanted, right there," says Joy, who does not drive but could walk to see her mother in a Norwood nursing home. "We loved that house—that home." Past tense. Norwood"s government, in a remarkably absurd deal, accepted the developer"s offer to pay the cost of the study that—surprise! — enabled the city to declare the neighborhood "blighted" and "deteriorating." NEWSWEEK reader, stroll around your neighborhood. Do you see any broken sidewalk pavement? Any standing water in a road? Such factors—never mind that sidewalks and roads are government"s responsibility—were cited by the developer"s study to justify Norwood"s forcing the Gambles and their neighbors to sell to the developer. Norwood"s behavior is part of a national pattern: From 1998 through 2002, state and local governments seized or threatened to seize more than 10,000 homes, businesses, churches and pieces of land, not for "public use" but to enrich private interests, some of whose enhanced riches can be siphoned away by taxes. Such legalised theft—theft by government—does not use a gun, it just abuses the power of eminent domain. The Gambles" plight—a quiet, blue-collar couple"s life in ruins just as they are entering retirement— vividly illustrates what happens when property rights become too attenuated to protect the individual"s zone of sovereignty against governmfnt power. Because such abuses are proliferating nationwide, people are pressuring state legislatures to forbid the seizure of property simply to give local governments—who never say they have enough revenues—the revenues they say they need. And Congress may forbid the use of federal funds for projects benefiting from such seizures.

You heard that one of your friends has been accepted by a foreign university. Write a letter of congratulations including (1) your congratulations; (2) some advice; (3) reminding him to keep in touch with you. You should write about I00 words. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Li Ming" instead. You do not need to write the address.

TheArtsClassandtheScienceClassWriteanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthedrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.

BuildaHarmoniousWorldWriteanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthedrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.

One month ago, you booked two copies of Concise Oxford Dictionary, but haven"t received the books until now. So you write a complaining letter to the bookstore:1. telling your book of two dictionaries;2. not receiving the books;3. complain for the delay and ask for reply.You should write about 100 words, do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Martin" instead. You do not need to write the address.

In the Middle Ages widespread use was made of arguments from analogy, on the belief that the universe formed an ordered structure that the macrocosmic pattern of the whole is reproduced in the mi-crocosmic pattern of parts so that it is possible to draw inferences by analogy from one to the other.

Three hundred years ago news travelled by word of mouth or letter, and circulated in taverns and coffee houses in the form of pamphlets and newsletters. "The coffee houses particularly are very roomy for a free conversation, and for reading at an easier rate all manner of printed news," noted one observer. 【F1】 Everything changed in 1833 when the first mass-audience newspaper. The New York Sun, pioneered the use of advertising to reduce the cost of news, thus giving advertisers access to a wider audience. 【F2】 The penny press, followed by radio and television, turned news from a two-way conversation into a one-way broadcast, with a relatively small number of firms controlling the media. Now, the news industry is returning to something closer to the coffee house. 【F3】 The Internet is making news more participatory, social and diverse, reviving the discursive characteristics of the era before the mass media. That will have profound effects on society and politics. In much of the world, the mass media are flourishing. Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009. But those global figures mask a sharp decline in readership in rich countries. Over the past decade, throughout the Western world, 【F4】 people have been keeping up with events in profoundly different ways, most strikingly among which is that ordinary people are increasingly involved in compiling, sharing, filtering, discussing and distributing news. Twitter lets people anywhere, report what they are seeing. Classified documents are published in their thousands online. Mobile-phone footage of Arab uprisings and American tornadoes is posted on social-networking sites and shown on television newscasts. Social-networking sites help people find, discuss and share news with their friends. And it is not just readers who are challenging the media elite. Technology firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter have become important conduits of news. Celebrities and world leaders publish updates directly via social networks; many countries now make raw data available through "open government" initiatives. The Internet lets people read newspapers or watch television channels from around the world. The web has allowed new providers of news, from individual bloggers to sites, to rise to prominence in a very short space of time. 【F5】 And it has made possible entirely new approaches to journalism, such as that practiced by WikiLeaks, which provides an anonymous way for whistleblowers to publish documents. The news agenda is no longer controlled by a few press barons and state outlets. In principle, every liberal should celebrate this. A more participatory and social news environment, with a remarkable diversity and range of news sources, is a good thing. The transformation of the news business is unstoppable, and attempts to reverse it are doomed to failure.

"I"m a total geek all around", says Angela Byron, a 27-year-old computer programmer who has just graduated from Nova Scotia Community College. And yet, like many other students, she "never had the confidence" to approach any of the various open-source software communities on the internet—distributed teams of volunteers who collaborate to build software that is then made freely available. But thanks to Google, the world"s most popular search engine and one of the biggest proponents of open-source software, Ms Byron spent the summer contributing code to Drupal, an open-source project that automates the management of websites. "It"s awesome", she says. Ms Byron is one of 419 students (out of 8,744 who applied) who were accepted for Google"s "summer of code". While it sounds like a hyper-nerdy summer camp, the students neither went to Google"s campus in Mountain View, California, nor to wherever their mentors at the 41 participating open-source projects happened to be located. Instead, Google acted as a matchmaker and sponsor. Each of the participating open-source projects received $500 for every student it took on; and each student received $4,500 ($500 right away, and $4,000 on completion of their work). Oh, and a T-shirt. All of this is the idea of Chris DiBona, Google"s open-source boss, who was brainstorming with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google"s founders, last year. They realised that a lot of programming talent goes to waste every summer because students take summer jobs flipping burgers to make money, and let their coding skills degrade. "We want to make it better for students in the summer", says Mr. DiBona, adding that it also helps the open- source community and thus, indirectly, Google, which uses lots of open-source software behind the scenes. Plus, says Mr. DiBona, "it does become an opportunity for recruiting". Elliot Cohen, a student at Berkeley, spent his summer writing a "Bayesian network toolbox" for Python, an open-source programming language. "I"m a pretty big fan of Google", he says. He has an interview scheduled with Microsoft, but "Google is the only big company that I would work at", he says. And if that doesn"t work out, he now knows people in the open-source community, "and it"s a lot less intimidating".

It has been justly said that while" we speak with our vocal organs we (1)_____ with our whole bodies". All of us communicate with one another (2)_____, as well as with words. Sometimes we know what we"re doing, as with the use of gestures such as the thumbs-up sign to indicate that, we (3)_____. But most of the time we"re not aware that we"re doing it. We gesture with eyebrows or a hand, meet someone else"s eyes and (4)_____. These actions we (5)_____ are random and incidental. But researchers (6)_____ that there is a system of them almost as consistent and comprehensible as language, and they conclude that there is a whole (7)_____ of body language, (8)_____ the way we move, the gestures we employ, the posture we adopt, the facial expression we (9)_____, the extent to which we touch and the distance we stand (10)_____ each other. The body language serves a variety of purposes. Firstly it can replace verbal communication, (11)_____ with the use of gesture. Secondly it can modify verbal communication, loudness and (12)_____ of voice is an example here. Thirdly it regulates social interaction: turn taking is largely governed by non-verbal (13)_____. Finally it conveys our emotions and attitudes. This is (14)_____ important for successful cross-culture communication. Every culture has its own" body language", and children absorb its nuances (15)_____ with spoken language. The way an Englishmen crosses his legs is (16)_____ like the way a mate American does it. When we communicate with people from other, cultures, the body language sometimes help make the communication easy and (17)_____, such as shaking hand is such a (18)_____ gesture that people all over the world know that it is a signal for greeting. But sometimes—the body language can cause certain misunderstanding (19)_____ people of different cultures often have different forms behavior for sending the same message or have different (20)_____ towards the same body signals.

The housing market has been for two years propping up consumers" spirits while the rest of the economy lies exhausted on the floor, still trying to struggle to its feet. According to the National Association of Realtors, the national median existing-home price ended the year at $164,000, up 7.1 percent from 2001. That"s the strongest annual increase since 1980. Although residential real estate activity makes up less than 8% of total U.S. GDP, a housing market like this one can make the difference between positive and negative growth. Most significantly, consumer spending is 66% of GDP, and the purchase of a new home tends to have an "umbrella effect" on the homeowner"s spending as he has to stock it with a washer/dryer, a new big-screen TV, and maybe a swing set for the yard. The main factor in housing"s continued strength is a classic economic example of zero-sum boom: the persistent weakness everywhere else. As the 2003 recovery continues to be more forecast than reality. Falling stock prices raised investor appeal for U.S. Treasury Bonds, which in turn, allowed most interest rates to drift even lower. But there are not many signs that there"s a bubble ready to burst. December"s new record in housing starts, for example, was nicely matched by the new record in new home sales. If you build it, they will buy and even if an economic pickup starts to reduce housing"s relative attractiveness, there"s no reason why modest economic growth and improved consumer mood can"t help sustaining housing"s strength. "The momentum gained from low mortgage interest rates will carry strong home sales into 2003, with an improving economy offsetting modestly higher mortgage interest rates as the year progresses", said David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. Just as housing has taken up much of the economic slack for the past two years, both as a comforting investment for fretting consumers and a driver of consumer spending itself, a big bump elsewhere in the economy in 2003 could be housing"s downfall. If stocks roar back this spring, capital inflows could steal from the bond market, pushing up long-term interest rates. Or Alan Greenspan and the Fed could do the same to short-term rates, as a way to hit the brakes on a recovery that is heating up too fast. In other words, if everything possible goes wrong for housing, homeowners should have plenty to compensate them in terms bf job security and income hikes.

Optimism among the UK's banks and building societies has soared over the past three months as firms grew profits and took on more staff despite falling business volumes, according to results from the latest CBI/PwC survey. The recruitment【C1】______is set to continue over the next quarter with an【C2】______"strong recovery" in volumes【C3】______falling costs will provide a further boost. CBI director of economics Stephen Gifford said: "With profitability growing, this is an【C4】______quarter for the financial services sector despite a fall in business volumes in banking." Firms are expecting positive【C5】______to carry into the next three months【C6】______a strong recovery in business volumes【C7】______will boost profits further. "Financial services companies are less【C8】______than they were about a【C9】______lack of demand but dealing with regulation is increasingly【C10】______plans for business expansion." Kevin Burrowes, PwC's UK financial services leader, added: "We expect the full【C11】______of the UK's economic recovery to be reflected in bank【C12】______in the coming months and their solid profitability is【C13】______by predicted cost reductions and increasing【C14】______on growth." Financial firms' improving fortunes are【C15】______across the wider business community, with accountants BDO's business trends report showing【C16】______improving for an eighth【C17】______month in September to reach its highest【C18】______since the coalition Government was formed. There was a strong improvement in【C19】______expectations among services and manufacturing sectors, which【C20】______make up the overwhelming majority of Britain's output.

Recently you were a visitor wanting to exit a gallery and you were confronted with misleading signs that read rather awkwardly, "Way Out" or "Export". Write a letter to the department concerned, politely suggesting they rectify the mistranslations. You should elaborate an effective way to deal with this problem. Write your letter in no less than 100 words and write it neatly. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter, use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write the address.

Most plants can make their own food from sunlight, (1)_____ some have discovered that stealing is an easier way to live, Thousands of plant species get by (2)_____ photosynthesizing, and over 400 of these species seem to live by pilfering sugars from an underground (3)_____ of fungi(真菌). But in (4)_____ a handful of these plants has this modus operandi been traced to a relatively obscure fungus. To find out how (5)_____ are (6)_____, mycologist Martin Bidartondo of the University of California at Berkeley and his team looked in their roots. What they found were (7)_____ of a common type of fungus, so (8)_____ that it is found in nearly 70 percent of all plants. The presence of this common fungus in these plants not only (9)_____ at how they survive, says Bidartondo, but also suggests that many ordinary plants might prosper from a little looting, too. Plants have (10)_____ relations to get what they need to survive. Normal, (11)_____ plants can make their own carbohydrates through photosynthesis, but they still need minerals. Most plants have (12)_____ a symbiotic relationship with a (13)_____ network of what are called mycorrhizal fungi, which lies beneath the forest (14)_____. The fungi help green plants absorb minerals through their roots, and (15)_____, the plants normally (16)_____ the fungi with sugars, or carbon. With a number of plants sharing the same fungal web, it was perhaps (17)_____ that a few cheaters—dubbed epiparasites—would evolve to beat the system. (18)_____, these plants reversed the flow of carbon, (19)_____ it into their roots from the fungi (20)_____ releasing it as "payment".

The human nose is an underrated tool. Humans are often thought to be insensitive smellers compared with animals, 【B1】______this is largely because, 【B2】______animals, we stand upright. This means that our noses are【B3】______to perceiving those smells which float through the air,【B4】______the majority of smells which stick to surfaces. In fact,【B5】______, we are extremely sensitive to smells, 【B6】______we do not generally realize it. Our noses are capable of 【B7】______human smells even when these are【B8】______to far below one part in one million. Strangely, some people find that they can smell one type of flower but not another, 【B9】______others are sensitive to the smells of both flowers. This may be because some people do not have the genes necessary to generate【B10】______smell receptors in the nose. These receptors are the cells which sense smells and send【B11】______to the brain. However, it has been found that even people insensitive to a certain smell【B12】______can suddenly become sensitive to it when【B13】______to it often enough. The explanation for insensitivity to smell seems to be that the brain finds it【B14】______to keep all smell receptors working all the time but can【B15】______new receptors if necessary. This may【B16】______explain why we are not usually sensitive to our own smells—we simply do not need to be. We are not【B17】______of the usual smell of our own house, but we【B18】______new smells when we visit someone else' s. The brain finds it best to keep smell receptors【B19】______for unfamiliar and emergency signals【B20】______the smell of smoke, which might indicate the danger of fire.

It is not just Indian software and "business-process outsourcing" firms that are benefiting from the rise of the internet. Indian modern art is also on an upward spiral, driven by the aspirations of newly rich Indians, especially those living abroad, who use the internet to spot paintings and track prices at hundreds of gallery and auction websites. Prices have risen around 20-fold since 2000, particularly for prized names such as Tyeb Mehta and F. N. Souza. There would have been "no chance" of that happening so fast without the internet, says Arun Vadehra, who runs a gallery in Delhi and is an adviser to Christie"s, an international auction house. He expects worldwide sales of Indian art, worth $200million last year, to double in 2006. It is still a tiny fraction of the $30 billion global art market, but is sizeable for an emerging market. For newly rich—often very rich—non-resident Indians, expensive art is a badge of success in a foreign land". Who you are, and what you have, are on your walls", says Lavesh Jagasia, an art dealer in Mumbai. Indian art may also beat other forms of investment. A painting by Mr. Mehta that fetched $1.58 million last September would have gone for little more than $100,000 just four years ago. And a $22 million art-investment fund launched in July by Osian"s, a big Indian auction house, has grown by 4.1% in its first two months. Scant attention was paid to modern Indian art until the end of the 1990s. Then wealthy Indians, particularly those living abroad, began to take an interest. Dinesh Vazirani, who runs Saffronart, a leading Indian auction site, says 60% of his sales go to buyers overseas. The focus now is on six auctions this month. Two took place in India last week; work by younger artists such as Surendran Naif and Shibu Natesan beat estimates by more than 70%. Sotheby"s and Christie"s have auctions in New York next week, each with a Tyeb Mehta that is expected to fetch more than $1 million. The real question is the fate of other works, including some by Mr. Souza with estimates of up to $600,000. If they do well, it will demonstrate that there is strong demand and will pull up prices across the board. This looks like a market with a long way to run.

You can't be too careful when you drive a car.

You are going to read a text about different types of friendship, followed by a list of examples. Choose the best example from the list for each numbered subheading. I was thinking about how everybody can"t be everything to each other, but some people can be something to each other, thank God, from the ones whose shoulder you cry on to the ones whose half slips you borrow to the nameless ones you chat with in the grocery line. (41) Buddies: They are the workhorses of the friendship world. They are the people out there on the front lines, defending you from loneliness and boredom. (42) Working Friend: Then there is that special guy at work. Like all the other people at the job site al first he"s just part of the scenery. But gradually he starts to stand out from the crowd. (43) A Faraway Friend He/she is someone you grew up with or went to school with or lived in the same town as until one of you moved away. (44) The Former Friend: Ah, a sad thing. At best a sad memory, at worst a dangerous enemy who is in possession of many of your deepest secrets. (45) Friends You Love to Hate: And lest we forget, there are the friends you love to hate. A New Friend is a tonic unlike any other. Say you meet her at a party, in your bowling league. At a Japanese conversation class, perhaps. Wherever, whenever, there"s that spark of recognition. The first time you talk, you can"t believe how much you have in common. Suddenly, your life story is interesting again, your insights fresh, your opinion valued. Your various shortcomings are as yet completely invisible. It"s almost like falling in love.A. They call at inopportune times. They say stupid things. They butt in, they boss you around, they embarrass you in public. They invite themselves over. They take advantage. You"ve done the best you can, but they need professional help. On top of all this, they love you to death and are convinced they"re your best friends on the planet.B. They call you up, they listen to your complaints, they celebrate your successes and curse your misfortunes, and you do the same for them in return. They hold out through innumerable crises before concluding that the person you"re dating is no good, and even then understand if you ignore their good counsel. They accompany you to a movie with subtitles or to see the diving pig at Aquarena Springs. They feed your cat when you are out of town and pick you up from the air port when you get back.C. While so many family relationships are tinged with guilt and obligation, a relationship with a Relative Friend is relatively worry-free. You don"t even have to hide your vices from this delightful person. When you slip out Aunt Joan"s back door for a cigarette, she is already there.D. Your friendship is cemented by jokes about coworkers and thoughtful favors around the office. Did you see Ryan"s hair? "Want half of my bread." Soon you know the names of his turtles, what he did last Friday night, exactly which model CD player he wants for his birthday. His hand writing is as familiar to you as your own.E. But what was it that drove you apart? A misunderstanding, a betrayed confidence, an un-repaid loan, an ill-conceived flirtation. A poor choice of spouse can do in a friendship just like that. Going into business together can be a serious mistake. Time, money, distance, religions: all noted friendship killers. You quit doing drugs, you"re not such good friends with your dealer anymore.F. Without them, you would never get any mail addressed in handwriting. A Faraway Friend calls late at night, invites you to her wedding, always says she is coming to visit but rarely shows up. An actual visit from a Faraway Friend is a cause for celebration and parties of all kinds. Cigarettes, Chips Ahoy, bottles of tequila.

The day was star-crossed: Friday the 13th in the month of October, on the eve of the second looming anniversary of a devastating market crash. "I"m telling you, psychology is really funny. People get crazy in situations like that", said portfolio strategist Elaine Garzarelli. Last week Friday the 13th lived up to its frightful reputation. After drifting lower at a sleepy pace for most of the day, the Dow Jones industrial average abruptly lurched into a hair-raising sky dive in the final hour of trading. The Bush Administration moved swiftly to avert any sense of crisis after the market closed. Declared Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady: "It"s important to recognize that today"s stock market decline doesn"t signal any fundamental change in the condition of the economy. The economy remains well balanced, and the outlook is for continued moderate growth". But Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, who chairs a House subcommittee on telecommunications and finance, vowed to hold hearings this week on the stock market slide. Said he: "This is the second heart attack. My hope is that before we have the inevitable third heart attack, we pay attention to these problems". Experts found no shortage of culprits to blame for the latest shipwreck. A series of downbeat realizations converged on Friday, ranging from signs of a new burst of inflation to sagging corporate profits to troubles in the junk-bond market that has fueled major takeovers. The singular event that shook investors was the faltering of a $6.75 billion labor management buyout of UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, the second largest U.S. carrier. On one point most thoughtful Wall Streeters agreed: the market had reached such dizzying heights that a correction of some sort seemed almost inevitable. Propelled by favorable economic news and a wave of multibillion-dollar takeovers, stocks had soared more than 1,000 points since the 1987 crash. But by last August some Wall streeters were clearly worried. The heaviest blow to the market came Friday afternoon. In a three-paragraph statement, UAL said a labor-management group headed by Chairman Stephen Wolf had failed to get enough financing to acquire United. Several banks had apparently balked at the deal, which was to be partly financed through junk bonds. The take-over group said it would submit a revised bid "in the near term", but the announcement stunned investors who had come to view the United deal as the latest sure thing in the 1980s buyout binge. Said John Downey, a trader at the Chicago Board Options Exchange: "The airline stocks have looked like attractive takeover targets. But with the United deal in trouble, everyone started to wonder what other deals might not go through".