Future history books might record that we were robbed of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we fail to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world—or even less if the wing of the plane happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train, you are moving so quickly that you do not see the countryside clearly. Car drivers are forever thinking about going on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the great motorways that attract them, or what?

And as for sea travel, here are some words of an old song: “I joined the navy (海军) to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.” You name the place in the world like El Dorado, and someone is sure to say “I’ve been there”, meaning “I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else.”

When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. By traveling like this, you suspend (终止) all experience.

The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives in the present. For him traveling and arriving is one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes and the whole of his body. In the end, he feels tired. Satisfying sleep will be: the reward of all true travelers.

With International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach’s applause and the cheering of flag-waving audience, China’s 18-year-old freestyle skier Gu Ailing Eileen, with hands on her head and a look of great excitement, captured the gold medal of the women’s freeski big air (自由式滑雪大跳台) final at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

The win not only brings Team China to the top of the current Olympic medals table, with the host country having won three gold medals, but is also a historic achievement as Gu is China’s ________ women’s Olympic gold medalist on snow sports.

“This is the best moment in my life, moments like this make everything so worthy,” Gu said in a post-game interview and she thanked the home audience for their huge ________.

Gu’s performance was steady and faultless in her first two runs, giving her a good score. On her final run, which made Chinese spectators breathless, Gu nailed a double cork 1620 (双周偏轴转体1620), with great ________, to take over first spot, surpassing Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland who finished third and Tess Ledeux of France who got the silver.

With a combined score of 188.25 points—93.75 from her first run and 94.50 from the third—Gu came back strong from third place ________ the final run to take the gold as the event made its Olympic debut (首次登台).

In the festive atmosphere of the Chinese Lunar New Year season, topics on Gu’s gold medal exploded like fireworks as the 18-year-old prodigy, on the day she snatched the gold medal, occupied about 30 of the top 50 topics on the trending list, ________ including discussions on her grandmother’s birthplace and her habit of 10-hour sleep.

Gu’s gold medal inspired Chinese netizens on Sina Weibo, in ________ discussions about her exploded with over 670 million views and millions of comments about an hour after her historic victory.

Gu is like most other new-era Chinese teens: They love to post selfies on social media platforms; they like fancy food, travel and fashionable outfits. The prodigy was admitted to Stanford University with a near-perfect SAT score in the run-up to the Winter Olympics.

If you suffer from shyness (羞怯), you are not alone, for shyness is a universal phenomenon.

It is not surprising that social scientists are exploring its environmental causes.

The first environmental cause of shyness may be a child’s home and family life. Today’s children are growing up in smaller families, with f    51     relatives living nearby. Growing up in homes in which both parents work full time, children may not have the socializing experience of frequent visits by neighbors and friends. Because of their lack of social skills, they may begin to feel shy when they start school.

A s    52     environmental cause of shyness in an individual may be one’s culture. In a large study made in Japan, 57 percent of people rated (评估) t    53     as shy. Researchers Lynne Henderson and Philip Zimbardo say, “One explanation is that in Japan, a person’s s    54     is credited externally to (表面上归因于) parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and others, while failure is entirely blamed on ( 完全归咎于) the person.” Therefore, Japanese learn not to take risks in public and rely i    55     on group-shared decisions.

Technology may also play a role. In the United States, the number of young people who report being shy has r    56     from 40 percent to 50 percent in recent years. Due to our huge advances in technology, watching television, playing video games, and surfing the Web have taken the place of recreational activities that involve social interaction (涉及交际互动) for many young people. Adults, too, are becoming more isolated as a result of technology. Face-to-face interactions with bank clerks, gas station attendants and shop assistants are no longer n    57     because people can use machines to do their banking, fill their gas tanks, and order goods. In short, they become shy.

It appears that most people have experienced shyness at some time in their lives. Therefore, if you are shy, you have lots of company.

Drama and the performing arts are excellent methods of building confidence in children and adults alike. Learning through drama allows children to explore their creativity, have fun and leave their shyness and worries behind. Drama also works by supporting the growth of imagination and other skills.

Entertainment has become rather passive with cinema, television, and computer games becoming more popular. These screen-based methods have had a negative effect on communication. However, drama puts the “get-up-and-go” back into entertainment. Children have the opportunity to connect with others in a more meaningful way as drama encourages speech development and awareness of body language.

Play and drama are closely linked. When children play a game, they are pretending and using their imagination and so are moving away from reality to create their own story. Drama is a vehicle through which children can express themselves more freely through mime (哑剧表演), gesture, movement, and speech to make education fun.

Children gain confidence by understanding that there is no final answer in drama and that their opinion and actions are valued. Children are able to give a personal response to many issues and situations such as poverty, bullying, global warming and recycling. The issues that drama can deal with are endless. Drama and education have a strong link as drama can encourage children to take an active interest in other subjects such as geography, history, and English and so have a more rounded education. As a drama teacher, I have witnessed children at their first class holding onto their parent’s arm——unwilling to let go. Then to see the same child later running into my class with a smile is an excellent sight. Drama installs confidence in children by allowing them to improvise (即兴创作) and experiment. Everyone is given the opportunity to shine within drama.