In the past, people used words to express their ideas and feelings. Now people have a new way to share their life with their friends on WeChat Moments (微信朋友圈).

To make WeChat Moments, people can use pictures, sounds, videos and their words to express what they want to say. Some people don’t write anything. They share what they are eating, drinking, listening to, buying and having a fun time by sharing pictures.

Someone says that WeChat Moments are like personal TV stations. People don’t have to spend money putting them on the Internet, so it is easy for people to make them and watch them on their phones. Only friends on the users’ list can watch your WeChat Moments. WeChat businessmen even put the advertisements of their products (产品) on the WeChat Moments for their friends to choose and buy. WeChat Moments are becoming more popular among people. When we post something on it, we must be sure that the information should be healthy for people to read and watch.

2 . The British have been sending greetings cards since the 19th century and send more cards per head than any other country. They spend about ￡1.7 billion on cards every year. Between March 2021 and March 2022, the Royal Mail—Britain’s postal service—delivered (投递) almost eight billion letters and cards around the country. However, that number is falling. A report in 2022 showed that about a third of UK children have never sent or received a handwritten letter. Some people think that writing cards and letters is an important and meaningful way to keep in touch with others. However, some think it is out of date and unnecessary in our digital (数字的) world. What do you think—should we stop sending cards and letters?

       Yes—It is old-fashioned and wasteful.

We live in a digital world and using snail mail (普通邮件) is not necessary. Carrying letters and cards around the world produces pollution that is harmful to the planet. Making paper uses up energy and resources, and some cards are hard to recycle. What’s more, cards are expensive to buy and so is posting them (a first-class stamp is now ￡1.10 just to send in the UK). For different reasons, you can’t even make sure that your cards and letters will reach their destination (目的地) on time. Electronic alternatives such as emails or texts are quick, easy, reliable and usually free. Also, you can use video and other clever effects to make them special. Traditional cards and letters are out dated and boring. It’s no surprise that most of them end up in the bin.

       No—It is meaningful and brings happiness.

The tradition of writing to friends and family has been around for hundreds of years and should stay. Sending someone a handwritten letter or carefully chosen card shows that you care and you made an effort—and the receiver can keep it as a souvenir. Electronic (电子的) messages are so quick and easy to create that they can seem meaningless, and they can easily be missed. Sending letters is good for children because it is a chance to practise writing skills, be creative and express feelings. Plus, It’s fun! Not everyone likes using technology and not everything needs to be digital. Receiving post makes you feel special and it’s important if someone lives far away or is lonely—just imagine a birthday without cards.

In the past, my old grandmother didn’t enjoy     1     (talk) on the phone. Actually, she hated it so she was always refusing     2     (use) it. She told us that she’d like     3     (speak) to people in person. It always     4     (make) her sad that she couldn’t see the person she was talking to. The other day, we chatted with my grandmother, and mentioned video calling over the Internet. It     5     (invent) for people to see each other while talking online.

Then we came up with an idea. We bought her a laptop. One of my     6     (cousin) went over to her house and     7     (teach) her how to use it.     8     (lucky), she was a quick learner. Now, she feels     9     (excite) when talking with us every day. She is     10     (happy) than before and you can tell from the expression on her face. Sometimes she even talks to us while she’s in the kitchen cooking.

10 .

Video calls are a common thing in our daily life, but have you imaged being able to touch the person on the other end of the line? Scientists are making this a reality.

Researchers have invented a soft skin stretch device (SSD), a haptic device (触觉设备), that can recreate the sense of touch. Haptic technology copies the experience of touch by stimulating (刺激) part of the skin in ways that are similar to what is felt in the real world, through force, vibration (振动) or movement.

Vibration is the most common haptic technology today, such as one used in laptops, which is similar to a button clicking. However, haptic feedback with vibration becomes less sensitive when used continuously. The existing technology also has great difficulty recreating the sense of touch with objects in virtual (虚拟的) environments or located remotely, according to Mai Thanh Thai, lead author of the study.

The new technology overcomes problems with existing haptic devices. The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, man-made “muscles”.

“Our three-way directional skin stretch device, built into the fingertips of the wearable haptic glove, is like wearing a second skin — it’s soft, stretchable and similar to the sense of touch — and will enable new forms of haptic communication to improve everyday activities,” said Thanh Nho Do, senior author of the study.

It works like this: Imagine you are at home and you call your friend far away. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a haptic glove. If your friend picks up an object, it will physically press against your friend’s fingers. And his glove will measure these interactions. The force signals can be sent to your glove so your device will make the same forces, making you experience the same sense of touch as your friend.

The haptic devices could be used in various places, allowing users to feel objects inside a virtual world or at a distance. This could be especially beneficial during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people depend on video calls to keep in touch with loved ones. Or it could be used in medical practices. Doctors can feel a patient without touching him.