I had spent an hour in the bank with my dad, since he had to transfer money (转账). I asked, “Dad, why don’t we do it with your Internet banking?” He already opened one a few months ago.

“Why would I do that?” he ________.

“Well, then you won’t have to ________ an hour here for things like transfer. You can even do your shopping online; everything will be so ________ !” I was so excited to tell him all kinds of advantages of Internet banking.

He asked, “If I do that, I won’t have to step out of the house?”

“Yes, yes!” I said. I told him how Amazon delivers (递送) everything.

His answer made me ________. He said, “Since I entered this bank today, I have met four of my friends; I have chatted a while with the people who know me very well by now. You know I’m lonely … this is ________ what I need. I like to get ready and come to the bank. I have enough time and it is the ‘physical touch’ that I ________ .

Two years ago when I got sick, the store owner from whom I often buy fruits came to see me and chatted with me. When your mum fell down a few days ago while on her morning walk, the flower shopkeeper saw it and soon got his car to drive her home ________ he knows where we live.

Would I have that “human” ________ if everything became online? Why would I want everything delivered to me and look at my computer all the time? I like to know the person that I’m dealing with and not just the “seller”. It creates ________; does Amazon deliver all this as well?

Technology isn’t ________. Spend time with people. Not with devices (设备).”

How do people find their talent(才能)? British writer and speaker Sir Kenneth Robinson talked about this at TED. He told the story of Gillian Lynne, a dancer who has worked on famous musicals like Cats and Phantom of the Opera(《歌剧魅影》).

    46     She couldn’t sit for long and found herself moving restlessly(不安地) because she was bored.

Her mother was quite worried about her. She took Lynne to a doctor. For 20 minutes, she talked about the problems Lynne was having in school. Then, the doctor said to Lynne, “I need to talk to your mother first. Wait here.” As they left the room, the doctor turned on the radio. He then said to Lynne’s mother, “Just stand and watch her.”     47     The doctor then turned to Lynne’s mother and said, “Mrs. Lynne, your daughter isn’t sick. She’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.”

So she did.     48     Lynne later went to the Royal Ballet School, one of the world’s greatest dance schools, and became a great dancer.

After leaving the school, she worked on some of the most successful musicals in history. It is hard to believe that years ago, somebody else would just put her on medical treatment and tell her to calm down. Those who never did well in school needn’t worry. Find your inner talent like Lynne, you can also succeed.

The main goal of volunteering is to help others. But it turns out volunteers also benefit(对……有益)from their activities. Allan Luks is one of the leaders of research on the health benefits of kindness. He led the first research which connected the emotion(情感)with physical health benefits achieved by those who regularly help others. The study that Allan Luks did on 3,000 volunteers has proved volunteering is good for both the body and mental health.

Long long ago, there was a piece of wood. It was not an expensive piece of wood. Just a common block of firewood, one of those thick logs that are put on the fire to make cold rooms warm.

I do not know how this really happened, one fine day this piece of wood found itself in the shop of an old carpenter(木匠). Everyone called him Mastro Cherry, for the tip of his nose was so round and red that it looked like a ripe cherry.

As soon as he saw that piece of wood, Mastro Cherry was filled with joy. Rubbing his hands together happily, he said to himself: “This has come in time. I’m in need of a leg of the table.” But as he was about to give it the first blow, he stood still with arm uplifted, for he had heard a little voice say: “Please be careful! Do not hit me so hard!” What a surprise!

He tried to find out where that voice had come from and he saw no one! He looked under the bench—no one!

He searched the room—no one! He opened the door to look around the street and still no one!

“Oh, I see!” he then said, laughing and shaking his head “There may be something wrong with my ears.” “Well, well—to work once more.” He struck another blow hard on the piece of wood.

“Oh, oh! You hurt me!” cried the same far-away little voice.

Mastro Cherry’s mouth opened wide, turned frightened eyes and his tongue hung down on his chin( 下 巴 ).” Where did that voice come from? This piece of wood has learned to cry like a child? Here it is—a piece of common firewood, the same as any other. Yet—might someone be hidden in it? If so, the worse for him. I’ll fix him!” With these words, he started to knock it. He threw it to the floor, against the walls, and even up to the ceiling.

He listened for the tiny voice to cry. He waited two minutes—nothing; five minutes—nothing; ten minutes— nothing. “Oh, I see,” he said, trying bravely to laugh and touching his hair. “Well, well—to work once more!” So he tried to sing a merry song to get power, and worked on.

“Stop it! Oh, stop it! You tickle my stomach.” This time poor Mastro Cherry fell as if shot. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the floor.

In the park, you see a group of people, all looking up at the sky. Without thinking about it, you look upwards, too. Why? In the concert, someone begins to clap and suddenly the whole room joins in. You do, too. Why?

Sometimes we feel we are acting correctly when we do the same as others. The more people follow an idea, the better or truer we think the idea is. It’s the social proof(社会认同感) that works.

The scientist Asch carried out an experiment. It shows how social proof can influence us. In a room, a man is shown Line 1, and next to it are three lines(A, B, C). A is longer, C is shorter and B is as long as Line 1. He must tell which of the three lines is as long as Line 1. When the man is alone, he gives the correct answer B. Then, five other man enter the room, and each of them gives the answer C as they were told to. Now the man changes his idea and gives the answer C. Asch got the same result many times among different subjects(实验对象).

Why do we act like this? Well, in the past, following others was a way to keep away from danger. Suppose that 5000 years ago you were hunting(打猎) with friends. Suddenly, they all ran away. What would you have done? Would you have stayed? No, you would have run, too. We are descendants(后代) of those who copied others’ action. It is so deeply planted in our mind that we still use it now.

Social proof has special power. The advertising industry, for example, often makes use of it. So be careful whenever a company says its product is “the most popular”.

86. 人生如旅，在你的成长过程中，许多人影响着你，比如父母、老师、朋友、公众人物或者身边的普通人。最近，你校正开展以“The person who has influenced me most”为题的英语征文活动，请你根据以下提示完成征文。

1.必须包含表中所有提示内容，并作适当发挥；

2.文中不得出现你的真实姓名和学校名称；

3.表达清楚，语句通顺，意思连贯，书写规范；

4.100 词左右（文章开头已给出，不计入总词数）。

The person who has influenced me most

The person who has influenced me most is ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________