1 . It was a comfortable sunny Sunday. I was going to meet an old university friend I hadn't seen for years, and was really excited.

My train was running a little late, but that was no big problem—I could text him to say I would be late. He would understand. But where was my mobile phone? I had that familiar sinking feeling. Yes, I'd left it at home.

No mobile phone. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling anxious, on edge and worried when I don't have my phone with me. In fact, I know I'm not alone: two­thirds of us experience nomophobia (无手机恐惧症), the fear of being out of mobile phone contact.

That's according to a study from 2012, which surveyed 1,000 people in the UK about their relationship with mobile phones.

It says we check our mobile phones 34 times a day, and that 18—24­ year olds, especially girls, are the most likely to suffer fear of being without their mobiles: 77% of them say they are unable to be apart from their phones for more than a few minutes.

Do you have nomophobia?

·You never turn your phone off.

·You frequently (频繁地) check for texts, missed calls and emails.

·You always take your phone to the bathroom with you.

·You never let the battery run out.

It's funny to think that around 20 years ago the only people with mobile phones would be businessmen carrying their large, plastic ‘bricks’. Of course, these days, mobile phones are everywhere. A UN study from this year said there would be more mobile phones than people across the world by the end of 2020.

And when there are more phones than people in the world, maybe it's time to ask who really is in charge (主管). Are you in control of your phone, or does your phone control you?

So, what happened with my university friend? When I arrived a few minutes late, he just laughed and said, “You haven't changed at all—still always late!” And we had a great afternoon catching up, full of jokes and stories, with no desire (欲望) to check my phone.Not having the mobile phone with me makes me feel strangely free. Maybe I'll leave it at home on purpose next time.

2 . When I was 25 years old, I had a big dream in my mind and lots of things in my backpack. I wanted to travel around Africa with my _______ So I left my hometown with great confidence and ______ in Cape Town on a one-way ticket, not really ______ what to do next. Luckily, before my trip actually started, I met a kind, old Nigerian man. He gave me the best travel ______ I ever received: “Be like a student on your way around the world.”

It sounds ______, but it really changed my mind about travelling. He helped me realize that travel is about learning and observing different ______ “It’s far to easy to go into ______ country for you and believe your ways are better. But if you study, ask questions, and ______ to learn from the locals, you’ll have far richer experience, ” he promised me.

On other trips ______ I was on my tour way to Cancun, I didn’t know the man so I was just a tourist. I only stayed there for a week to see the ______ and places of interest and then left. The culture didn’t ______ me. I left the cities and towns without really ______ anyone or anything. Those people and things existed in those very places to which I had ______ a visit.

This time, I promised myself that I would be a ______ student traveller. After seven months of ______ travelling from Cape Town to Cairo, I returned home. Having a student-like attitude helped me learn a lot. This trip satisfied me more than any other trip ever did to me.

6 . I once had my Chinese MBA students brainstorming on “two-hour business plans.” I separated them into six groups and gave them an example: a restaurant chain. The more original their ideas, the better, I said. Finally, five of the six groups presented plans for restaurant chains. The sixth proposed a catering service. Though I admitted the time limit had been difficult, I expressed my disappointment.

My students were middle managers, financial analysts and financiers from state-owned enterprises and global companies. They were without talent or opinions, but they had been shaped by an educational system that rarely stressed or rewarded critical thinking or inventiveness. The scene I just described came in different forms during my two years teaching at the school. Papers were often copied from the Web and the Harvard Business Review. Case study debates were written up and just memorized. Students frequently said that copying is a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.

In China, every product you can imagine has been made and sold. But so few well-developed marketing and management minds have been raised that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand.

With this problem in mind, partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established. And then there's the “thousand talent scheme.” this new government program is intended to improve technological modernization by attracting top foreign-trained scientists to the mainland with big money. But there are worries about China's research environment. It's hardly known for producing independent thinking and openness, and even big salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.

At last, for China, becoming a major world creator is not just about setting up partnership with top western universities. Nor is it about gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It's about establishing a rich learning environment for young minds. It's not that simple.

9 . It was a dark night. Thick, dark, gray clouds had made sure that there was no starlight or moonlight to ________ me as I walked out of my porch (门厅). Still, I kept the porch light off because I didn’t want to be ________ by bugs and moths (飞蛾) on this sticky ________ evening. I stood there for a while letting my eyes adjust to the lack of ________.

It was then, though, that I saw them. First one blink of light at the far end of the ________ followed by another and then another. I ________. I recognized them at once as my firefly (萤火虫) friends, my lightning bug buddies who always ________ this time of the year.

When I was little I used to sit in the grass and watch them ________ fly around blinking on and off. I never ________ and put one in a jar as some kids did because I never wanted to hurt these messengers of light. Their time on this earth was so ________ as it was. I tried to enjoy them each night they were here. It always ________ me when they disappeared in the fall and it always made my heart ________ when they reappeared the next summer.

We are like them in a lot of ways. Our ________ here on earth is brief. Often our light of love is more like on and off blinks rather than a ________ shine. Still, we do our best to share it and take ________ in knowing that others will be shining their light long after we are gone.

10 . A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington D. C.. I saw many of our nation’s treasures, and I also saw a lot of unfortunate people like beggars and homeless folks in the streets.

Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, "Can you help me?" When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended. In a natural reaction, I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it in her hand. I didn’t even look at her. I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar.

But the blind woman smiled and said, "I don’t want your money. I just need help finding the post office."

Immediately, I realized what I had done. I acted with prejudice—I judged a person simply for what I thought she was.

The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant. I left Honduras and arrived in America at the age of 15. Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, cashier, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other jobs, and finally I became a network engineer.

In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice. I remember a time, at age 17—I was a busboy, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well at school, he would end up like me.

But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going. That blind woman on the street of Washington D. C. cured me of my blindness. She reminded me to always keep my eyes and heart open.