We can’t remember clearly since when we start to take our mobile phones to a dinner table. This happens a lot, especially when we gather together with family or friends to eat out. Once a d    1     comes onto the table, instead of lifting our chopsticks, we take out our mobiles and click. Later, we post the photos onto Weibo or WeChat, waiting to be “liked”. Then we check our mobiles frequently during the meal, to see whether we get “liked” or not. We just cannot l    2     our mobiles for just a meal’s time.

Does that sound familiar to you? Do you do that often? If not, how do you feel when others do that when having dinner with you?

A recent study shows that what we are used to doing is not that g    3    . Spending time taking photos of food makes the food less satisfying. To test this, some scientists did an e    4    . Some people were asked to take photos before they could enjoy food. It turned out that the more photos they took, the less delicious the food seemed to them. So, why not stop taking photos and just enjoy the food ahead of you?

As is mentioned at the beginning, besides the scientific result, there is also another bad i    5     of taking photos of food before meals. One will probably check his mobile many times a    6     posting the photos onto the Internet. “Does everyone like my photo? I hope a lot of people love it!” It seems like your mobile secretly calls your name all the time, even when you are with real people.

So, next time you go out to have dinner with your family or friends, how about not taking photos of food? Let the food be delicious as it is and s    7     your life with people around you. Trust me, it will be a wonderful time.

2 . Imagine walking into a movie theater without being greeted by the smell of popcorn. It’s hard, isn’t it? For decades, popcorn and movies have gone hand in hand. H    1    , the relationship between the two is younger than you may think.

Back in the 1920s, movie theaters were places of luxury (奢华) with elaborate decorations.And their owners hated popcorn. It wasn’t because popcorn was u    2    . The snack had been loved by people, especially kids. Sold usually from a cart, popcorn was considered a street food. Movie theater owners were a    3     popcorn because they believed it would damage the top—quality atmosphere they wanted to create.

In the mid-1920s, more movie theaters opened. Not all of these new theaters were luxurious. They allowed people to eat popcorn while watching movies. A few years later, America f    4     into the Great Depression. Lots of people lost their jobs. In order to survive, theaters had to lower their ticket p    5    . And movie goers would often buy a bag of popcorn since it was the only snack that had remained cheap. Soon, movies and popcorn became a popular pairing across the United States. Some theater owners even bought machines to produce popcorn t    6    . The smell of popcorn filled movie theaters all over the country.

Today, popcorn has long been an essential part of the movie-going experience. Mike Goles, a theater owner in the US, said, “Sometimes, people come to theaters just for the popcorn. They don’t even care what movie is currently playing!”

Like most children growing up in the countryside, Mike loved being outdoors and travelling around. With a deep love for the land, he had a strong wish to p    1     it. When Mike saw rubbish floating in the rivers, he got a    2    . He knew he had to do something. When he was only 10 years old, Mike started a group, hoping to clean up the countryside and teach other young people about p    3     and its dangers.

But Mike faced a problem. As he was shy, it was d    4     for him to speak out in public. However, with his mom’s help, Mike finally dealt with his fear (恐惧). He said, “I took responsibility (责任) and did what needed to be done. When your heart is into it, n    5     will stop you.”

Mike worked hard to introduce his idea to the public. He handed out leaflets (传单) and even a    6     on radio and TV to let more people know about his idea. His hard work paid off (有回报). He won support from several thousand people. And his group collected and recycled more than 22,000 pounds of rubbish.

Now as a college student, Mike’s wish is still the same. He often says, “I want to make a much b    7     life for my kids and grand-kids. It’s beautiful countryside, where I’m from, and I want my kids to see it like I see it.”

A growing number of young people are now looking to the past for fashion advice. If you look c    1     around your city, you might see “hanfu” or “Han clothing”, the traditional clothing of the Han people, which was worn about two thousand years ago. In a report by Tmall, more than 2 million sets of hanfu were s    2     in 2019. The number of hanfu buyers was much more than the year before.

The average (平均的) age of buyers was 21, with about 52% between 19 and 24 years old.

But why has this traditional clothing become p    3     among young Chinese people? Some of them think it is beautiful. Some young people like hanfu because of the culture behind it. Some fans have started to bring the traditional clothing to f    4     countries. Sohu reported on a Bilibili vlogger who wore hanfu took part in an international exhibition last summer. She received praise (赞美) from tourists who came from many different c    5    .

“Many Chinese people are taking a liking to hanfu, as it helps them build their sense (意识) of national belonging (归属),” said Zhang Yiwu, a teacher of Peking University.

I’m very h    6     to see that more and more people have become interested in this kind of clothing.

What are some successful foods? McDonald’s Big Macs are popular. Instant noodles have also become a global success. Now instant noodles are c    1     their 55th birthday!

Instant noodles were invented in Japan by Momofuku Ando (安藤百福).Trying to find a way to make noodles last longer, Ando began experimenting and in 1958 he made the first—ever pack of instant noodles. Now, 55 years on, they’re eaten all around the world. In fact they’re so popular that the Japanese voted (投票) instant noodles as their best i    2    .

Each year, 95 billion packets of instant noodles are eaten around the world, a    3     to the World Instant Noodle association. In the UK, people call instant noodles “pot noodles”. University students like them a lot. During your first semester at college, you may be given a gift b    4     that includes instant noodles! But watch out—people may think you’re lazy if you are an instant noodle lover. Why? Because they are cheap and easy to eat!

Despite their reputation (名声) for being “lazy food”. The UN often sends instant noodles as part of its food aid (援助) packages. This is because of their long shelf life and high fat content, which makes people feel f    5     for longer periods.

H    6    , instant noodles aren’t totally innocent (无辜的). They’re high in fat and salt. Health experts say they’re bad for us and we shouldn’t eat them too often.

9 . Father of Hybrid Rice-Yuan Longping 杂交水稻之父——袁隆平

Yuan Longping was born in 1937 in Chongqing, China. He was from a p    1     family. After he graduated from (毕业于……) Southwest Agriculture College in 1953, he worked as a teacher in a school in the west of Hunan. He began his research (研究) in rice in 1964 and he developed a new kind of rice. Farmers could get much m    2     rice than before. A    3     a few years, he got the First National Special Prize for Invention in 1981．

He was honored as (被誉为) ‘Father of Hybrid Rice’. He was so famous, but he cared little for money. His work brought great changes to the w    4    .

S    5    , he left forever on 22 May, 2021. He had ever said, ‘Chance favors the prepared mind.’ As the youth, we should respect him and r    6     his words. He will live in our heart forever.