【推荐1】Throughout history, people have been interested in ________ how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. ________, we do know a lot about ________, the languages of today and also the languages of ________ times. There are several thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language ________ the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by millions of people. ________, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.

There are several important ________ of languages in the world For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family ________ the Indo-European language family. The ________ language of this family was spoken about 450 years ________. Many of the present languages of Europe and India are modern ________ of the language of 450 years ago.

Languages are ________ changing. The English of today is very different ________ the English of 500years ago. In time some even ________ completely. About 1,000 years ago English was a little-known relative of German ________ on one of the borders(边界) of Europe.

【推荐3】The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind: we enjoy reading books that belong to us much more than if they are borrowed. Some people regard a borrowed book as a _________ in the house. It must be treated with care and considerate formality. _________ attitudes are forbidden. Because the book is borrowed, it tolerates no damage which means it must not _________ while under your roof. While reading the book, you are not allowed to make any mark or underline the important _________ when a flash of creative idea emerge. This is huge _________ to one’s imagination.

_________, your own books belong to you and you can treat them with so much closeness that you are not afraid to mark it up or to place it in a dirty place. Your own books are there for use, not for _________. You don’t need to display them in front of others. Private ownership also encourages _________ marking. A good reason for marking instructive passages in books is that this practice enables you to remember more easily the significant sayings, to _________ them quickly and then review them more frequently in the future.

Given the importance of owned books to a man, everyone should begin collecting a private library, making up his own __________ property. One should have his own bookshelves, which should not be having doors, glass windows, or keys. They should be free and __________ to the hand as well as the eye. Like the jewellery to a woman, the best moral __________ to a man is books. They are more varied in colour and appearance than any wall-paper. Their variety indicates __________ out of brains of different book writers. The knowledge that books are in plain view is also stimulating. Your body and mind are both __________. With books at hand, your mind is free to land any __________ or even strange possibility, which eventually gives birth to new discoveries or inventions.

【推荐2】While working as a graduate student in Chicago, Andria Zafirakou was given the much exhausting job of collecting survey data in Ellis Ave, as part of an academic research project.________ she approached a passer-by, she thought she would hear them tell her how annoyed they were. Yet the bad responses ________ came, many more people were ________ to answer the questionnaires than she had ________.

Was it possible, she wondered, that most of us are wrong about ________ people want to respond to our requests? Over the following decade, she conducted multiple studies that ________ this was indeed the case: under many different ________, people are often far more likely to ________ than we assume.

________, it seemed that the results provided a refreshingly ________ view of human nature. “It started as a positive thing —it is ________ to know that people are more likely to do things for you than you think.” However, with time going by and more reflections on the results, Andria has come to ________ that her results reflect a broader tendency that we usually ________how much influence our words can have ________ others, whether we’re asking them to ________ actions that are good or bad. People often agree to do what they are asked because they find it too ________ to say no, even when they feel uncomfortable with our ________.

Knowing this can help us understand how our demands might ________ other people—particularly in the workplace and help us adjust our requests accordingly in ways that respect peopled ________ and without ________ what they have done for us for granted.

【推荐3】The concept of solitude（独处）in the digital world is almost non-existent. In the world of digital technology, e-mail, social networking and online video games, information is meant to be ______. Solitude can be hard to discover once it has been given up. In this respect, new technologies have ______ our culture.

The desire to be connected has brought solitude to a(n) ______ as we've known it. People have become so ______ in the world of networks and connections that one can often be contacted even if they'd rather not be. Today we can talk, text, e-mail, chat and blog, not only from our ______，but from our mobile phones as well.

Most developed nations have become ______ on digital technology simply because they've grown accustomed to it, and at this point not ______ it would make them an outsider. Also, many jobs and careers require people to be ______．From this point of view, technology has changed the culture of work. Being reachable might feel like a ______ to those who may not want to be able to be contacted at all times.

I suppose the positive side is that solitude is still possible for anyone who ______ wants it. Computers can be shut down and mobile phones can be turned off. The ability to be "connected" and "on" has many ______, as well as disadvantages. Travelers have ended up ______ on mountains, and mobile phones have saved countless lives. They can also make people feel ______ and forced to answer unwanted calls or ______ to unwanted texts.

Attitudes towards our connectedness as a society ______across generations. Some find today's technology a gift. Others consider it a curse. Regardless of anyone's view on the subject, it's hard to imagine what life would belike without daily advancements in technology.