1 . How do people greet one another in countries around the world? A kiss, a hug, a handshake, or a bow? It depends on the country and culture. In the US, as in most places around the world, the handshake is a ________ greeting to show friendliness and trust.

In many places in ________, people prefer kisses, and ________ of them have very strict rules about how many times they may kiss someone’s cheeks and on ________ cheek to start. Parisians kiss four times from cheek to cheek, always with the left cheek first. If you are in Brittany, a city in the northwest of France, kiss three times, and in ________ parts of France, keep it to two. Two kisses are ________ the rule in Spain, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. In the Netherlands, people usually kiss three times. More kisses are for the elderly and close family members. ________is also a factor (因素) for Belgians, who kiss once for people as old as themselves, and three times for people ten years older.

________ handshakes and kisses are not the only way to say hello around the world. In Japan, people usually ________ to greet each other. The different greetings around the world ________ make you feel confused (迷惑的). But don’t worry. When you are not sure, remember that a firm (坚定的) but gentle handshake, a smile, and an open mind won't be wrong.

4 . What will our world be like in 2050? Maybe no one knows. Because we never know what will happen in the future. But it’s very interesting to make some prediction. Here are some exciting predictions.

Languages English should still be the most popular 1anguage, but Chinese should be the second. Now, many foreign people are studying Chinese A their second language.

Water ①Water will become as expensive as oil because many rivers will disappear. We will have to save water and pay more for clean water.

Education and Science Students won’t go to school. They will stay at home and study online. Students from all over the world may study together B the Internet. We may eat more genetically modified (转基因的) food. And more robots will be around us. ②Lots of danger housework will be done by them.

Living People will live and work under the sea. Perhaps there will be big towns, factories and farms under the sea, too. Everyone will carry a pocket computer, ③computer, the, answers, will, all, the, to, their, people, questions, give. Everyone will have telephones in the pockets, too. And they will be able to talk to their friends all over the world.

6 . What will our life be like in 50 years? No one knows the answer exactly (确切地), but we are sure that it will be very different from the life today. My brother Jim Green makes some predictions. Here are some of his ideas.

First, people will have less work to do, and robots will do most work. People will use robots to make cars, do the housework, look after sick people and teach students. People will spend most of their time playing sports and traveling. So people will become stronger and healthier, and they will live to be about 200 years old.

Second, cars will become very small and computers will control (控制) their speed. So there will be fewer accidents on the road. Planes will be very popular and most people would like to take them to travel.

Third, people will be able to live in the sea, on the moon or on Mars. The earth won’t be crowded or noisy. So there will be more space for people to plant trees. There will be less pollution, and the air will become much fresher.

Finally, water shortage will become one of the most serious problems. If people don’t save water now, there will be water wars in 50 years.

7 . Do you know the movie I, Robot? It tells us a story about the future. The year is 2035 and robots are just as common as mobile phones. People depend on their robots to do lots of things, for example, babysitting, cooking, doing chores and taking their dogs for a walk. Robots have to obey (听从) human’s orders, because their designers make them do so. A police officer called Spooner hates robots. He doesn’t think humans can get on well with their robots at all! But the scientist Susan has different opinions. Susan works on robots’ mind and she thinks one day robots will become more powerful (强大的) than humans and help humans to make progress (进步).

When Spooner and Susan work together, they find that something is wrong with the world’s robots. A few robots have their own thoughts and they’re trying to get out of humans’ control (控制)! Of course these robots’ dream doesn’t come true. Humans work hard to control their robots again and they succeed at last.

8 . We are now living in the 21st century. Is your classroom living in the 21st century, too? Tony is a student in Grade 8 at an American middle school. He was surprised when he saw his modern ______ on the first day of school.

In Tony’s classroom, there are many new electronics, like iPads. This semester, they will ______ the electronics to take notes, watch videos and do projects and homework. “It’s ______,”said Tony,“ I prefer using an iPad to work on math or other projects ______ my team members.”

The school uses new technology in classrooms to help students see, hear, touch and sometimes experience their tasks, “Technology is pretty common in most of our classroom now,” the head teacher said, “We’re trying to use technology to ______ the world up to kids. It can bring the outside world in. ” Science teacher Mr. Miller agrees. “It is a ______ way for students to know the outside world.” he said.

Mr. Miller now regards himself as a guide of learning ______ as a teacher. “If they have a question for me, I will try to teach them ______ to find the answers rather than tell them what the answers are,” he said. Dale, another student, loves technology. He was not really interested in class before. ______ now he likes the classes very much. “It helps me use what I know about technology at school,” Dale said, “Most importantly, I ______ the classroom. This, of course, will help my studies.”

9 . Computers are u    1     in the daily life. For example, they can help people save much time to do their work, and they can help people work out many problems they can’t do     2     (容易地). Our country called on everyone to learn to use     3     in the Twenty-first Century.

Today more and more families have     4     own computers. Parents buy computers     5     their children. They hope computers can help them with their studies in school. Yet, many of their children     6     computers to play games, to watch video or to sing karaoke instead of studying. So many teachers and parents complain (抱怨) that computers can not help children study     7     make them fall behind. So computers are locked in boxes by parents.

Acturally in some     8     countries many years ago, even some scientists also hated computers. They said computers let lots of people     9     (失去) their jobs or bring them a lot of trouble.

Will people use computers more or     10    ? Time will tell.

10 . 青春，是心里有火，眼里有光，我们这一代人的想象力，不足以想象你们的未来！青春路上，你对未来职业的憧憬是什么？请你以“I want to be a/an...”为题写一篇短文。须涵盖以下几个内容：