Many of us in developed societies    1    (trap）in a spending circle. We work hard so that we can earn more money. Sometimes we try to deposit a little or change our money into different countries’ currencies in the hope of    2    (make）even more money. But    3    (strange）enough, the more money we earn, the less often we see it. Because we are taxpayers, the more we earn the more tax we should pay to those    4    govern us. In this spending circle, on the one hand, we accumulate    5    (possess）but never feel like we have enough. On the other hand, we work hard for    6    ( big）and better houses and cars but have no time to enjoy    7    (they）. They seem like a big burden. There is a growing resistance to the consumer society which is especially affecting the youth of today. The government should make some laws.    8    laws came into being, a huge adjustment would be required and there would be diverse reactions. As    9    society, it's high time that we    10    (take）these issues more seriously.

Jane was walking round the department store.She remembered how difficult    1    was to choose a suitable Christmas present for her father. She wished that this year she could    2    ( easy ) buy a special one     3    ( please ) him, just like her mother, who was always delighted to receive her gift.

Besides, shopping at this time of the year was not     4    pleasant experience: people stepped on your feet or     5    ( push ) you with their elbows ( 肘部 )，hurrying ahead to get to a bargain.

Jane paused in front of a counter     6    some attractive ties were on display. “ They are real silk, ” the assistant tried to attract her.“ Worth double the price. ” But Jane knew from past experience that her     7    ( choose ) of ties hardly ever pleased her father.

Jane stopped where a small crowd of men had gathered. She found some good quality pipes on sale. She did not hesitate for long: although her father smoked a pipe only once in a while, she knew that this was a present which was bound to please     8    .

When Jane got home, with her small but well-chosen present in her bag, her parents were already     9    table having supper. Her mother was excited. “ Your father has at last decided to stop smoking,” Jane     10    ( inform ).

Cyber Monday is a shopping holiday which falls on the Monday following Thanksgiving. It is a day on     1     retailers (零售商) often give huge discounts to online shoppers. As a result, tens of millions of shoppers shop on this day     2     (get) the best gift for holiday shopping season. Although it     3     (consider) as a strict American holiday at first, it has since spread all over the world.

A current belief is that Cyber Monday is leading     4     the decline of Black Friday as more and more     5     (consumer) decide to do their shopping online. This is either due to     6     (convenient) or the lower prices of goods purchased online.

Cyber Monday is not     7     public holiday. So it isn’t observed in the U.S on either the state or federal level, which means that all businesses that are     8     (normal) open on this day are open as usual.

Unfortunately, some of the online shoppers spend lots of time     9     (look) for bargains during working time on Cyber Monday. Some employees were even fired because they used their companies’ Internet for non-work related activities. After all, it isn’t     10     (suit) to do shopping online during working time.

Heard of the “metaverse (元宇宙)” lately? It has been hard not to.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg mentioned tech’s latest word 16 times on his company’s most recent meeting last month. Subsequently, Facebook     1     (rename) Meta. The future of Facebook, he said, is a metaverse — a virtual environment     2     you can be physically present to hang out, play games, work and create.

A virtual world,     3     (feature) digital objects and economies, is a world in which technology is all encompassing (包罗万象的，无所不包的) and not     4     (simple) a independent tool. So naturally, the world’s largest technology companies want to play     5     leading role. Facebook sells virtual reality headsets, while Microsoft sells reality devices     6     (design) for business use. Apple Inc. is widely reported to be working on AR devices of its own.

But a world through VR has plenty of     7     (drawback). For many, the experience can be hot, sweaty, and even uncomfortable. And much like social media     8     (it), whether it is physically safe is still hotly debated.

Mostly, though, a virtual world hands even more power     9     technology giants that many argue have already accumulated too much. Big tech can probably build the metaverse. But consumers     10     (think) hard about whether they want to be there.

Running individual official accounts on social-networking app WeChat has become a new channel for Chinese people to express themselves, according to a survey.

At present many media     1    (organize), companies and individuals in China have launched official accounts on WeChat,     2    (attempt) to attract more subscribers to expand their reach. Over 66 percent of 2,001 respondents said they are willing to set up individual official WeChat accounts, while 27.2 percent said they have already started such accounts. The survey,     3    (publish) Tuesday by the China Youth Daily, also said expressing feelings and views, as well as gaining popularity, are the top three reasons people want individual official accounts. More than half of individual official accounts offer content concerning     4    (person) views and feelings, as well as entertainment and recreation information, the survey said.

Despite only having 75 followers, Wang Yiran,     5     college student in Shandong Province, said she will keep posting updates, as she considers     6     a meaningful way to keep record of her daily life and to share opinions with others.

    7     more than 540 respondents     8     have individual public accounts on WeChat, 5 percent claimed that they     9    (build) popular "self-media" brands using their accounts,     10     12.2 percent said they had made money from the accounts through advertising.