1 . We're told that writing is dying. Typing on keyboards and screens   _______ written communication today. Learning cursive(草书)，joined-up handwriting was once _______ in schools. But now, not so much. Countries such as Finland have dropped joined-up handwriting lessons in schools _______ typing courses. And in the U. S. , the requirement to learn cursive has been left out of core standards since 2013. A few U. S. states still place value on formative cursive education, such as Arizona, but they're not the _______•

Some experts point out that writing lessons can have indirect   _______. Anne Trubek, author of The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting, argues that such lessons can reinforce a skill called automaticity. That's when you've perfected a task, and can do it almost without thinking, _______ you extra mental bandwidth to think about or do other things while you're doing the task. In this sense, Trubek likens handwriting to _______.

"Once you have driven for a while, you don't _______ think ' Step on gas now' [or]   Turn the steering wheel a bit'，'‘ she explains. "You just do it. That's what we want children to _______ when learning to write. You and I don't think ' now make a loop going up for the T ' —or ' now look for the letter ' r' on the keyboard. "Trubek has written many essays and books on handwriting, and she doesn't believe it will die out for a very long time, "if ever". But she believes students are learning automaticity faster with keyboards than with handwriting: students are learning how to type without looking at the keys at   __________ages, and to type faster than they could write, granting them extra time to think about word choice or sentence structure. In a piece penned (if you'll pardon the expression) for the New York Times last year, Trubek argued that due to the improved automaticity of keyboards, today's children may well become better communicators in text as __________ takes up less of their education. This is a(n) __________ that has attracted both criticism and support.

She explains that two of the most common arguments she hears from detractors regarding the decline of handwriting is that not __________ it will result in a “loss of historyand a   loss of persona] touch ".

On the former she __________that 95% of handwritten manuscripts can't be read by the average person anyway—"that's why we have paleographers," she explains, paleography being the study of ancient styles of writing一while the latter refers to the warm __________we give to handwritten personal notes, such as thank-you cards. Some educators seem to agree, at least to an extent.

2 . You get an e-mail from your friend. It says Bill Gates will send you cash if you just click on a certain Web page. Your friend swears this is official, and that his friend says it _______. Will you believe it?

Stories like that are known as urban legends (传说). They are called this _______ they are like old country folk tales, but told in a modern city context.

Why do people tell urban legends? Why do listeners believe them? _______ is true of many legends, there is usually a grain of truth in an urban legend that seems to confirm it. That small seed of truth helps keep the story alive. _______, many urban legends are meant to serve as warnings to children and teens. This fact could explain why a lot of urban legends are _______: Do not take candy from strangers, because it might have poison in it.

Some urban legends, however, reflect what people want to believe. After the disastrous Asian tsunami (海啸) of 2004, for example, one heart-warming tale spread around the world.

_______ the story, elephants near a Thai resort sensed that the huge waves were coming. They led people to high ground and went back into the floodwaters _______ other people. The Denver Post was one of many newspapers to _______ this story: “Elephants became superheroes, raising people with their trunks and pulling them from harm’s way.” There were elephants near the resort, and they did move to higher ground as the waves came ashore — but that is all that _______ be confirmed. The rest is wishful thinking.

With quick access to the Internet today, it is easy to spread urban legends, but it is also easy to fight them. Remember your friend’s e-mail mentioned earlier? __________ to Snopes.com, the Internet headquarters for sorting out truth from fiction, and you will find it is false. Next time you hear what sounds like an urban legend, take some time to stop and think and maybe even do some research. The story may be true, but it might just be an urban legend.

3 . More people are travelling than ever before, and lower harriers to entry and falling costs means they are doing so for _______ periods.

The rise of “city breaks” --48-hour bursts of foreign cultures, easier on the pocket and annual leave balance has increased tourist numbers, but not their _______ spread. The same attractions have been used to market cities such as Paris, Barcelona and Venice for decades, and visitors use the same infrastructure as residents to reach them. “Too many people do the same thing at the exact same time,” says Font. “For _______, the city no longer belongs to them.”

This starts with marketing, says Font, who notes that Amsterdam has started advising visitors to seek _______ outside of the city centre on its official website. “That takes some balls, really to do that. But only so many people will look at the website, and it means they can say to their residents they’re doing all they can to ease congestion.”

But it also _______ a better way, it is called “detourism”: sustainable travel tips an _______ itineraries for exploring an authentic Venice, off the paths beaten by the 28 million visitors who flock there each year.

A greater variety of _______ for prospective visitors ------ ideas for what to do in off-peak seasons, for example, or outside of the city center ------ can have the effect of diverting them from already saturated landmarks, or _______ short breaks away in the first place. Longer stays _______ the pressure, says Font. If you go to Paris for two days, you’re going to go to the Eiffel Tower. “If you go for two weeks, you’re not going to go to the Eiffel Tower 14 times.”

Similarly, repeat visitors have a better sense of the __________, “We should be asking how we get tourists to __________, not how to get them to come for the first time. If they’re coming for the fifth time, it is much easier to integrate their behavior with ours.”

Local governments can foster this sustainable activity by giving preference to responsible operator and even high-paying consumers. Font says cities could stand to be more selective about the tourists they try to attract when the current metric for marketing success is how many there are, and how far they’ve come. “You’re thinking, ‘yeah but at what cost...’.”

He points to unpublished data from the Barcelona Tourist Board that prioritizes Japanese tourists for spending an average of €40 more per day than French tourist as a(n) __________ that fails to take into account their bigger carbon footprint. __________ tourists are also more likely to be repeat visitors that come at off-peak times, buy local produce, and __________ to less crowded parts of the city ------ all productive steps towards more __________ tourism, and more peaceful relations with residents.