【正文】 to speak to him. The cl erk i mm edi atel y changed hi s atti tude. Cl ai re thanked Tony, tel li ng him that he was a “dear”. As she turned around, there stood Gl adys Claffern. H ow awful to be di scovered by her, Cl ai re thought. By the am used and surpri sed l ook on her face, Cl aire knew that Gladys thought she was havi ng an affai r. After al l, she knew Cl ai re’s husband’s nam e was Larry, not Tony. When Cl ai re got hom e, she wept with anger i n her arm chai r. Gl adys was everythi ng Cl ai re wanted to be. “You can be l ike her, ” Tony told her and suggested that she i nvi te Gl adys and her fri ends to the house the ni ght before he was to l eave and Larry was to return. By that tim e, Tony expected the house to be pl etel y transform ed. Tony worked steadi ly on the im provem ents. Cl ai re tri ed to hel p once but was too cl um sy. She fel off a l adder and even though Tony was in the next room, he managed to catch her i n tim e. H e hel d her fi rml y i n hi s arm s and she fel t the warmth of his body. She scream ed, pushed him away and ran to her room for the rest for the day. The ni ght of the party arri ved. The cl ock struck ei ght. The guests woul d be arrivi ng soon and Cl ai re tol d Tony to go i nto another room . At that m om ent, Tony fol ded hi s arm s around her, bendi ng hi s face cl ose to hers. She cri ed out “Tony” and then heard hi m decl are that he di dn’t want to l eave her the next day and that he fel t m ore than just the desi re to pl ease her. Then the front door bel rang. Tony freed her and di sappeared from si ght. It was then that Clai re real i zed that Tony had opened the curtai ns of the front wi ndow. H er guests had seen everythi ng! The wom en were im pressed by Cl aire, the house and the deli ci ous cui si ne. Just before they l eft, Cl ai re heard Gl adys whi spering to another wom an that she had never seen anyone so handsom e as Tony. What a sweet vi ctory to be envi ed by those wom en! She mi ght not be as beauti ful as them , but none of them had such a handsom e l over. Then she rem em bered—Tony was just a m achi ne. She shouted “Leave m e al one” and ran to her bed. She cri ed al l ni ght. The next m orni ng a car drove up and took Tony away. The pany was very pl eased wi th Tony’s report on hi s three weeks with Cl aire. Tony had protected a hum an bei ng from harm . H e had prevented Cl ai re from harmi ng hersel f through her own sense of fail ure. H e had opened the curtai ns that night so that the other wom en woul d see him and Cl ai re, knowi ng that there was no risk to Cl aire’s mari age. But even though Toby had been so cl ever, he woul d have to be rebui lt—you cannot have wom en fal ing i n l ove with machines. A BIOGRAPHY OF ISAAC ASIMOV Isac Asimov was an Am eri can scientist and wri ter who wrote around 480 boks that i ncluded m ystery stori es, sci ence and hi story books, and even books about the H ol l y Bi bl e and Shakespeare. But he i s best known for hi s sci ence fi cti on stori es. Asi m ov had both an extraordi nary i m agi nati on that gave hi m the abi l i ty to expl ore future worl ds and an am azi ng m i nd wi th whi ch he searched for expl anati ons of everythi ng, i n the present and the past. Asi m ov’s l i fe began i n Russi a, where he was born on 2 January, 1920. It ended i n N ew York to si t around feeli ng sory for m ysel f. As wel as goi ng to the m ovi es and footbal l m atches with m y friends, I spend a l ot of tim e wi th my pets. I have two rabbi ts, a parrot, a tank ful of fi sh and a tortoi se. To l ook after m y pets properl y takes a l ot of tim e but I fi nd i t worthwhi l e. I al so have to do a lot of work, especi al y i f I have been away for a whil e. In m any ways m y di sabi li ty has helped m e grow stronger psychologi cal y and be e more i ndependent. I have to work hard to l i ve a norm al l i fe but it has been worth it. If I had a chance to say one thi ngs to heal thy chi l dren, i t woul d be thi s: havi ng a di sabi li ty does not m ean your l i fe i s not satisfyi ng. So don’t feel sorry for the di sabl ed or m ake fun of them , and don’t i gnore them either. Just acept them for who they are, and gi ve them encouragem ent to li ve as ri ch and ful l a l ife as you do. Thank you for readi ng my story. A LETTER TO AN ARCH ITECT Ms L Sanders Al i ce Major Chi ef archi tect 64 Cam bri dge Street Ci nem a Desi gns Bankstown 44 Hi l Stret Bankstown 24 Septem ber, 200— Dear Ms Sanders, I read i n the newspaper today that you are to be the archi tect for the new Bankstown ci nem a. I hope you wil l not mi nd m e writi ng to ask i f you have thought about the needs of di sabled custom ers. In parti cul ar I wonder i f you have consi dered the fol owi ng thi ngs: 1 Adequate acces for wheel chai rs. It woul d be handy to have li fts to al parts of the ci nem a. The buttons i n the l i fts shoul d be easy for a person i n a wheel chai r to reach, and the doors be wi de enough to enter. In som e ci nem as, the l ifts are at the back of the ci nem a in col d, unatracti ve places. As di sabl ed peopl e have to use the li fts, thi s m akes them feel they are not as i mportant as other custom ers. 2 Earphones for peopl e who have troubl e heari ng. It woul d hel p to fi t sets of earphones to al l seats, not just to som e of them. Thi s woul d al ow heari ngi m pai red custom ers to enjoy the pany of thei r heari ng fri ends rather than havi ng to si t i n a speci al area. 3 Raised seati ng. Peopl e who are short canot al ways see the screen. So I’d l i ke to suggest that the seats at the back be pl aced hi gher than those at the front so that everyone can see the screen easi l y. Perhaps there coul d be a space at the end of each row for pe