1 . Mr. Jackson was tired of living in his old house in the countryside and wanted to sell it and buy a better one. He tried to sell it for a long time, but was not successful, so at last he decided to go to an estate agent.

The agent advertised (登广告) the house straight away, and a few days later, the owner saw a very beautiful photo of his house, with a wonderful description (描述) of his garden in an expensive magazine.

Having read the advertisement through, the house owner hurried to phone the estate agent, saying, “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones, but I’ve decided not to sell my house after all.” “Why?” the agent asked in a surprised voice. “Because from the advertisement in that magazine I can see it’s just the kind of house I’ve wanted to live in all my life.”

2 . I received a private message on Facebook. It began harmlessly enough: “Hey, girl. Wanted to invite you to join my next challenge group --- we'll be focusing on fitting in 30 minutes of exercise and balanced nutrition.”

It was all becoming too much. Facebook was running my life, not me.

But what killed Facebook for me was when I posted a photo, and five minutes later my son asked me how many “likes” it had got. His question was a wake-up call.

“Likes” are signs of acceptance and approval(认可). I had forgotten that acceptance and approval need to come from within and had unknowingly set him a bad example.

Before Facebook, surfing the internet was an occasional distraction(使人消遣的事) and I spent a lot more time reading books and magazines. I checked in with friends through texts, emails and phone calls.

To recreate the simplicity (质朴) of those days and set a healthier example for my son, I deactivated my Facebook account.

I'd been in the habit of checking Facebook many times a day, so I had to come up with some new habits. I carried a novel and a crossword puzzle book around with me. I rediscovered knitting(针织). I started taking yoga classes.

I started to remember a few things. My body is fine just the way it is. I have friends who will help me out when I'm in trouble, and I will help them out. I do my best to be a good mother, and our son is happy and healthy. We are very lucky to be able to afford two vacations a year.

I stopped looking at the world through my cellphone. I felt completely present in the moment.

The break left me feeling better about myself, my family, my home and my life.

After a few weeks, I returned to Facebook. Now I look at the photos of my friends' kids growing up and treasure how social media allows me to keep in touch with family far and wide. I look in on a daily basis, but no longer with the desire constantly to post updates.

It is not an addiction any more

This morning on my way to school, I was deep moved by what I saw outside a bank. An old man was counting his money in the front of the bank. Suddenly a young man came running and knocked him down. To make things bad, his money was lying in all direction. In no time the people around rush to pick the money up while the old man stood there, not know what to do. Surprisingly, everyone gave back the money they had just picked. The old man counted the money again and found that not a single bill was missed. To my great joy, there are now a lot nice people in your life. It’s true what honesty is more important than money!

5 . It’s 2035. You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 years old. Welcome to our future life.

Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror. “Turn red,” you say. Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red. Tiny preprogrammed electronics (智能电子元件) are rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe you’re 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old. You’re not even middle aged!

As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal（谷物） into a bowl, you hear, “To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that,” from your shoes. They read the nutrition details on the cereal box. You decide to listen to your shoes. “Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?” A list of possible foods appears on the table as the kitchen checks its food supplies.

“Ready for your trip to space,” you ask your son and daughter. In 2021 only specially-trained astronauts went into space---and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for daytrips or longer vacations. Your best friend even works in space. Thanks to medical advances, vaccination shots (防疫针) are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods like strawberries contain specific vaccines(疫苗). With the strawberries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.

It’s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. “My office,” you command. Your car drives itself down the road and move smoothly into traffic on the highway.

Fifty years ago, China successfully launched its first satellite, Dongfanghong 1, and started     1     new chapter in space exploration.     2     (mark) its 50th anniversary, the China National Space Administration announced the name for the country’s Mars planetary exploration program on April 24.

The mission, Tianwen got its name from a long poem Tianwen     3     (write) by Qu Yuan, a famous poet of the Warring States Period. In the poem, Qu raised a series of questions     4     (concern) the sky, stars, natural phenomena, myths and the real world, reflecting his doubts on traditional ideas     5     his pursuit (追求) of truth.

So far, China     6     (make) remarkable progress in space exploration. In 1970, China launched its first man-made Earth satellite, becoming the fifth country in the world to launch man-made satellites     7     (independent). Over the past few years, China’s missions, including the Shenzhou and Change series were designed to explore outer space, expanded           8     (mankind) understanding of Earth and the universe.

This time, the Tianwen series will carry out the first Mars exploration mission,     9     represents a milestone for Chinas move toward deep space.

Famous scientist as he is, Yuan Longping considers himself a farmer. As a young man, Yuan Longping saw the great need for     1     (increase) the output. At that time, hunger was a     2     (disturb) problem in China. He wanted to increase rice harvest without expanding the area of the fields. In 1973, a special strain of rice made     3     possible to produce 20% more of the crop in     4     same fields.     5    (thank) to his research, the UN has     6     (much) tools in the battle to rid the world of hunger. He is now     7     (circulate) his rice knowledge in less developed countries to increase their rice harvests and he wants to export his rice so     8     it can be grown around the globe. Though he has     9     (struggle) for the past five decades, Yuan Longping is quite     10     (satisfy )with his life. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to violin music, playing mah-jong, swimming and reading.

10 . I was 9 years old when I found out my father was ill. It was 1944, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it were yesterday, “Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him.”

AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him.

We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t even buy food for dinner. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher’s words muffled(消声) as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage. I did not share my burden(负担) with anyone. I had seen how people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too weak to feed himself.

I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support. That day, she didn’t know any about me and my father, but kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who was so kind. She saved my life.

I was 15 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn’t want to call attention to AIDS. I do.