【推荐1】The New York Times published an article recently that shows great regret for the “death of conversation”. It suggests that while technology such as cell phones, e­mails, and Internet posting makes us feel more _______ than ever, they’re also driving us _______ from people around us.

Users get final connectivity _____ the price of _______ face­to­face conversation. Sherry Turkle, author of the article in The New York Times says people are _______ to a different way of being “alone together”．

Actually, ________ text messages or wring micro­blogs allows us to_______ thoughts. _______ bits and pieces of online cannot _________ a “real conversation.” Lan Guo, 19, a freshman English major from Changsha University, said that she would like to hear people’s tone of voice and see their faces in a(n)________. “The give and take of ideas in a conversation sharpens our minds.” she said. She also mentions that ________ourselves in mobile technology reduces our chance of starting conversations with strangers and ________ people.

Turkle mentioned the popular ________ of “I share, therefore I am” among this generation. Liu Xuan, a young writer from Taiwan and psychology graduate from Harvard University, thinks it’s a mindset adopted by most young people. They are so busy creating or polishing their online persona (网络人格) that they forget how to live a(n) ________ life. For example, they may ________ more about blogging about attending a party rather than enjoying being_________.

________, experts remind us that it’s unfair to blame mobile technology. Chen Chen, a sociology expert at China Youth & Children Research Center, points out that it is still owners of gadgets, such as cell phones and tablets, who’re avoiding personal ________. We take advantage of these devices to hide ourselves ________others. Texting messages or calling may be a(n) ________ to avoid contact with others, such as having eye contact. “Only by strengthening conversation can we understand each other. Simply throwing away the mobile gadgets is not a solution.” she said.

【推荐2】Do video games have a negative effect on our children? Today, our children spend more and more time online.

For many people, video games are fun and _________. They have funny cartoons and exciting stories. Everywhere you look, you can see children playing these games. They play on buses and trains, in restaurants and _________ at school. Video games also make you think in a creative way and use your _________. This can improve the way that a child’s brain works. Besides, video games are also a good way to teach children about _________. They can learn about computers and how they work.

However, a recent study suggests that video games can be _________ for children. Firstly, children can download many online games for free. They don’t need money, so they don’t need to _________ their parents. This _________ that their parents often don’t know what they are _________. Children could be playing games that are violent or scary. Furthermore, many children spend too much time playing games on the computer. This can lead to _________ problems—children who spend too much time on the computer can become overweight. However, if children spend too long on the computer __________ doing their homework, they can have problems at school and they can get bad grades. Video games can also __________ children’s social skills. Playing and working with friends is very __________ for children. It teaches them how to talk to other people. __________ children spend too much time playing by themselves online, they don’t learn how to play with their friends.

In conclusion, it seems clear that video games have some advantages and some disadvantages. On the one hand, they are fun and have many educational __________ for children. On the other hand, they can _________ problems with children’s health and social skills.

【推荐3】Whenever Michael Carl, the fashion market director at Vanity Fair, goes out to dinner with friends, he plays something called the “phone stack” game: Everyone______their phones in the middle of the table; whoever looks at their device before the check arrives______for dinner.

Brandon Holley, the former editor of Lucky magazine, had trouble ______ her mobile phone when she got home from work. So about six months ago, she ______ putting her phone into a milk tin the moment she walked in. It remains there until after dinner. And Mare Jacobs, the fashion designer, didn’t ______ to sleep close to a noisy phone. So he ______ digital devices from his bedroom—a house rule he ______ with audiences during a recent screening of Disconnect, a film that shows how technology has alienated (使疏远) people from one another.

As smart phones ______ to make their way into our lives, and wearable devices like Google Glass ______ to destroy our personal space even further, users are carving out their own device-free zones. Whether it’s a physical barrier (no ipads at the dinner table) or a conceptual one (turn off devices by 11 p.m.), users say these disconnecting ______ are improving their relationships - and ______ their brains.

“Disconnecting is something that we all ______,” said Lesley M. M. Blume, a New York writer who keeps her phone away from the dinner table at home. “The expectation that we must always be ______ to employers, colleagues and family creates a real problem in trying to ______ private time. But that private time is more important than ever.”

A popular method for disconnecting is to choose a box for your cellphone, like the milk tin that Ms. Holley uses. “______ my phone is buzzing or lighting up, it’s still a distraction, so it ______ in the box.” said Ms. Holley. Others choose new ______. “No screens after 11 p.m.” said Ari. Melber, a TV host. “Now evenings are more ______ and I am sleeping better.” he added.

Sleep is a big factor, which is why some ______ to leave their phones out of their bedrooms. “I don’t want to sleep next to something full of photos and emails.” said Peter Som, a fashion designer, who keeps his phone charging in the living room overnight. “It ______ is a head­clearer and distinguishes daytime and sleep time.”

【推荐2】It's easy to forget to take a break in the rush of our COVID-19 lives. But we have to______to do it.

During the hard time, we______read about heartbreaking news. Our day-to-day routines are______and more stressful than ever.______you feel OK today, tomorrow you could get depressed. Some regular breaks into our lives can help______this stress.

So here's my______: for this weekend, take breaks, big or small. Take mental health days______if you have that chance. Get up and walk around your home once an hour. And when you head back to work on______, eat lunch away from your desk. Don't check your______frequently after you send it.______your news and social media intake. Anything______is OK.

My colleague Charlie Trepany______it so briefly that the corona-virus pandemic has______many things, but FOMO doesn't appear to be one of them.

FOMO,______the fear of missing out, is a real kind of anxiety. FOMO is described as "anxiety that's______by the idea that others are successful______we aren't, or that others are all experiencing a______life. "

You might think that with so many activities canceled due to COVID-19, we might be worried less about what we're______out on. But that's not what's happening.

Instead of disappearing, FOMO has "shape______". It might not be looking at pictures of someone's vacation or swimming with dolphins. It now becomes "They're making cooking starters or going for a hike with their family, but I'm just on the couch, surviving and trying to find my______. "

【推荐3】We're told that writing is dying. Typing on keyboards and screens   _______ written communication today. Learning cursive(草书)，joined-up handwriting was once _______ in schools. But now, not so much. Countries such as Finland have dropped joined-up handwriting lessons in schools _______ typing courses. And in the U. S. , the requirement to learn cursive has been left out of core standards since 2013. A few U. S. states still place value on formative cursive education, such as Arizona, but they're not the _______•

Some experts point out that writing lessons can have indirect   _______. Anne Trubek, author of The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting, argues that such lessons can reinforce a skill called automaticity. That's when you've perfected a task, and can do it almost without thinking, _______ you extra mental bandwidth to think about or do other things while you're doing the task. In this sense, Trubek likens handwriting to _______.

"Once you have driven for a while, you don't _______ think ' Step on gas now' [or]   Turn the steering wheel a bit'，'‘ she explains. "You just do it. That's what we want children to _______ when learning to write. You and I don't think ' now make a loop going up for the T ' —or ' now look for the letter ' r' on the keyboard. "Trubek has written many essays and books on handwriting, and she doesn't believe it will die out for a very long time, "if ever". But she believes students are learning automaticity faster with keyboards than with handwriting: students are learning how to type without looking at the keys at   __________ages, and to type faster than they could write, granting them extra time to think about word choice or sentence structure. In a piece penned (if you'll pardon the expression) for the New York Times last year, Trubek argued that due to the improved automaticity of keyboards, today's children may well become better communicators in text as __________ takes up less of their education. This is a(n) __________ that has attracted both criticism and support.

She explains that two of the most common arguments she hears from detractors regarding the decline of handwriting is that not __________ it will result in a “loss of historyand a   loss of persona] touch ".

On the former she __________that 95% of handwritten manuscripts can't be read by the average person anyway—"that's why we have paleographers," she explains, paleography being the study of ancient styles of writing一while the latter refers to the warm __________we give to handwritten personal notes, such as thank-you cards. Some educators seem to agree, at least to an extent.

【推荐2】How do doctors and hospitals decide who gets potentially lifesaving treatment and who doesn't? Facing this _______ position recently— who gets a ventilator(呼吸机) or a bed in hospital— Italian doctors sought advice on conscience and were told to consider a/an_______ . that draws on utilitarian(功利主义) principles.

In the words which are easy to understand, a utilitarianism approach would maximize(使最大化) overall health by directing _______ toward those most likely to _______ the most from it. If you had only one ventilator, it would go to someone more likely to _______.

In addition, they say pulling the _______ of front-line health care workers first is   _______to maximize the number of lives saved. We may _______ a shortage of such workers, and some have already fallen _______.

In a recent article in The New York Times, a British researcher said, “There are arguments about ________ the young over the old that I am personally very uncomfortable with,” he added. “Is a 20-year-old ________more valuable than a 50-year-old, or are 50-year-olds actually more useful for your economy, because they have ________ and skills that 20-ycars-olds don't have?”

Dr. Emanuel ________ with that statement: “The 20-rcar-old has lived fewer years of life; they have been seized of a full life ________. If they nearly have the same prediction of the course of the disease, then the fact that 20-year-old has not had a full life counts in their favor for getting ________ that are rare at this special moment.”

【推荐3】As a general rule, all forms of activity lead to boredom when they are performed on a routine basis. As a matter of fact, we can see this ____ at work in people of all ages. For example, on Christmas morning, children are excited about playing with their new toys. But their ____ soon wears off and by January those ____ toys can be found put away in the basement. The world is full of ____ stamp albums and unfinished models, each standing as a monument to someone’s ____ interest. When parents bring home a pet, their child ____ bathes it and brushes its fur. Within a short time, however, the ____ of caring for the animal is handed over to the parents. Adolescents enter high school with great ____ but are soon looking forward to ____. The same is true of the young adults going to college. And then, how many adults, who now complain about the long drives to work, ____ drove for hours at a time when they first ____ their driver’s licences? Before people retire, they usually ____ to do a lot of great things, which they never had ____ to do while working. But ____ after retirement, the golfing, the fishing, the reading and all of the other pastimes become as boring as the jobs they ____. And, like the child in January, they go searching for new toys.