1 . The universal use of technology has resulted in a constant current of information interrupting the “flow” of our life. This ________ pattern was initially marketed as “call-waiting” for our phones. But now our eyes, ears, and fingers are glued to our technology 24/7. We are ________ by emails, texts, or the news on our Facebook pages. My friend Ron refers to this technology as “weapons of mass distraction.”

But how is this mass distraction ________ us? According to a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation report, children from eight to eighteen spend an average of seven hours and thirty-eight minutes a day using entertainment media. In addition, a study found that exposure to ________ media was associated with attention problems in a sample of 210 college students.

The ________ is just part of the larger picture. Dealing with a crowd of daily text messages and emails makes it difficult for us to be by ourselves when all that activity stops. Although a sense of ________ is natural at times, our addiction to the nonstop interaction afforded by technology deepens that feeling when access to the technology is unexpectedly ________. Just think how you feel when you lack cell phone or web access. Is it possible that our obsession with continually checking our emails and text messages has contributed to our ________ to genuinely relate with others?

Apart from the effects of technology on our ________ and our ability to be at ease without technology, let’s examine how interacting with our devices ________ the development of our fundamental communication and social skills. Many researchers observe that everyday conversation between human beings is becoming increasingly ________.

Many of today’s children are growing up with a built-in dependence on devices, making it difficult for them to feel ________ in everyday social situations. Often they find it ________ to make eye contact or deal with even the simplest face-to-face interactions without the aid of technology as an intermediary (媒介).

Over time these children forget how to relate with each other because they have become habituated to using technology to ________ direct contact with others and life itself. ________, some neuroscientists believe that use of the internet actually rewires our brains.

3 . In the clinic, I asked if Michael could be retested, so the doctor tested him again. To my ________ , it was the same score.

Later that evening, I ________ told Frank what I had learned that day. After talking it over, we agree that we knew our ________ much better than an IQ test. We ________ that Michael’s score must have been a ________ and we should treat him ________ as usual.

We moved to Indiana in 1962, and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year. He got ________ grades in the school, especially in biology and chemistry, which was a great ________ .

Michael ________ Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student, soon afterwards, his teachers permitted him to take more courses than ________. In 1968, he was accepted by the School of Medicine, Yale University.

On graduation day in 1972, Frank and I ________ the ceremony at Yale. After the ceremony, we told Michael about the ________ IQ score he got when he was six. Since that day, Michael sometimes would look at us and say ________ . “My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn’t be a doctor, not until after I graduated from medical school!” It is his special way of thanking us for the ________ we had in him.

Interestingly, Michael then ________ another IQ test. We went to the same clinic where he had ________ the test eighteen years before. This time Michael scored 126, an increase of 36 points. A result like that was supposed to be________.

Children often do as ________ as what adults, especially parents and teachers________ of them. That is, tell a child he is “________”, and he may play the role of a foolish child.

5 . Flying can be stressful even for the most experienced business traveler. No matter how many times we _______ our pre-flight “to-do” list,sometimes the best plans go ________That's just what happened to one unlucky passenger who accidentally _______ a painting worth $340,000 at Dusseldorf Airport when he _______ his flight to Tel Aviv. The businessman had wrapped（包）the _______ carefully in cardboard. He immediately_______ airport authorities to ask them to look for the 16 x 24-inch work by French _______ Yves Tanguyart, but it seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

With no _______ coming, the businessman’s nephew decided to take matters into his own________ After taking a flight from Belgium to Dusseldorf in a hurry, the would-be detective （侦探）met with the police in person. ________ ,from that point on,________to the puzzle began to take shape. An investigator________that the cardboard-coated painting had found its way into a paper recycling bin. When, afterwards, a search was ________ in what might be the most valuable bin in history, the precious package was found,________, at the bottom of the bin. Tragedy （悲剧）avoided. Artwork saved.   

“This was definitely one of our ________ stories this year，” police spokesman Andre Hartwig said. “It was real detective work.”

6 . Pennsylvania is full of mysterious places! One of those is an old turnpike （收费高速公路） _______ for decades. My dad loves history, and he learned it was open to the public. _______, when I was 14, we took a bike trip to _______ this road!

My dad chose a 16-mile _______ of the road for us to ride. Part of it included an old tunnel called Sideling Hill which is over a mile long! To _______, we checked our tires and made sure our lights had batteries. In the morning, we loaded our bikes into the car and set off. As we approached the tunnel, I felt _______ as it was absolutely black inside! But Dad encouraged me. He said he would be beside me. He reminded me to stay _______ and keep my light on!

When we _______ the tunnel, the sound of our bikes was heard through the darkness. I shined my flash light around and saw walls _______in graffiti （涂鸦）.And I felt like I was being __________! I was pretty scared, but __________ on following Dad helped me relax. After riding half-way through, I could see light coming from the other end, motivating me to keep going. And I was so delighted to ride out into the bright afternoon!

Whenever going through __________ in life, I remember this trip. It reminds me that my father is always beside me. He turns on the light of hope in my __________, as well as gives me __________ to keep riding through life's   __________ tunnels.

7 . The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.- Eleanor Roosevelt.

My home is a place of great beauty and agricultural richness, as well as of war and natural disasters. When I was only fourteen years old, I was filled with ____ in spite of the terrible surroundings. The families living here, who tried to make their living from the land,____ great losses.

I felt sorry especially for the children , but I ____ to be hopeless, I decided that where I was, I could do ____ to help them. I began knocking on every door and saying to each person who ____ my knock, "I know that you are ____ and give the birds that come to your yard a little ____. Please consider me your bird. Give me only a handful of rice each week when I come to your ____ . I will take it to the temple where it can be given to the   ___ children."

No one seemed to mind giving me a handful of rice, even ____ they had little themselves. On Sunday, I would go to the ____ and give my handfuls of rice to the monks to give away to the children.

One day, I came to a house that had ____ kinds to give. I told my story and asked if I could be their bird. The woman called her daughters, and ____ gave me fifty cents, as well as the handful of rice! I began to ask for change and rice from the other "bird feeders", and they gave them to me. Everyone was happy to help those who were suffering, even ___ only this small way. The temple was soon able to help everyone who came to them for food and clothing. "Consider me your bird." My childish idea had not stopped the war, but anyway, it was ____ some peace.

8 . Cake and birthdays go hand in hand. However, on her first birthday, Akeesha Rose __ an extra special treat. Her aunt, Leah O'Brien, had placed an order for a Peppa Pig themed ___at a bakery. Little did she know that when she went to____it, another customer had paid for it and left a __ for the ^“birthday girl". It read： " __ what would have been my little girl’s first birthday, I have chosen to pay for your birthday cake. I am __ to buy my daughter a cake of her own today, but I hope you enjoy this one and have a fantastic birthday. Hannah's __ ."

Ms. O'Brien told BBC News NI she was "overjoyed". "I'd never heard of anything like this happening before. It was such a kind __."

Determined （坚定的）to find out more about Hannah, and to thank her dad, Ms. O Brien ___pictures of the cake and card on Facebook.

"I __ wasn't sure if the family would be happy with me doing so, but I really wanted to reach out to them," she told BBC News NI.

With thousands of people liking, __ and commenting, it wasn't too long before Ms. O’Brien uncovered the __ of Hannah's father — Gareth Bronte.

Tuesday 10 September would've been my daughter's first birthday,” he told BBC News NI. "Unfortunately, she died after eight days and I wasn't going to get the __ to buy her a birthday cake. But I wanted to share some___ about in her memory. I walked into the bakery. said I wanted to __ for someone else's birthday cake and explained the reason why. And it just so __ that there was a cake ordered for the one-year-old girl."

"Some people said my actions had restored some faith in humanity （人，性）for them, but I just___ it for Hannah."

Kristy, Gareth's wife, said she hoped his actions would open a __ for other parents who had lost children and help ___their sadness.

After Mr. Bronte's act of kindness, Ms. O'Brien felt driven to follow suit and put money towards another __ cake at the bakery.

9 . Jake and Max Klein are twin brothers who have a passion for volunteering. Their family have always done community _______ .At a young age, they chose to _______ family's gifts at their birthday parties, but asked them to donate money to a charity. When they were seven, Jake and Max were interested in _______ with a family friend at the local homeless shelter to help cook. _________， he turned them down because they were too _______ and they had to be fourteen to cook. This led them on an endless _______ to come up with a way to help other kids who were also facing a _______ challenging: wanting to help but _______ because of their age.

So, Kids That Do Good was _______ to show ways to kids or adults, at any age, they could join the community and make a ________ .The small ________ has grown into a large website that brings thousands of ________ visitors each year. Jake and Max say that their website brings 35,000 unique viewers, of those viewers, Kids That Do Good has ________ kids to 16,000 organizations.

Jake and Max are ________ with school and after-class activities and other community service promises. Kids That Do Good also has blog posts that advise kids on ________ their own charitable event.

10 . 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. _______, 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 _______ that travel is about learning and observing different _______. “It’s far too easy to go into a(n) _______ 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 ________, ”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 ________. 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 ________ 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.