The Silk (丝绸) Road was a route that connected people from the East and the West for hundreds of years and allowed     1     (they) to trade valuable goods with each other. But there’s more to the story. The Silk Road should     2     (real) be called the Silk Roads. The Silk Road,     3     started in China, went west and branched out into many routes.

The Silk Road started to take shape (成形) in the second century BC. Most people know that valuable goods travelled along the route: silk and tea from China; jewels and wood from India; gold and animals from East Africa. These goods     4     (trade) in cities along the route or ended up as far west     5     in Europe.

But the people     6     (travel) along the Silk Road were carrying something far     7     (valuable) than their goods. They were carrying ideas and technology. European travelers returned home with stories of huge Chinese ships they had seen. The compass (指南针) is an example of an     8     (invent) that came west from China. Europeans learned from Korean maps, which were advanced for the 1400s.

    9     was the Silk Road that shaped the world we know today. Many routes were a way for different people     10     (meet) each other and talk about the developing world.

4 . Do you have trouble trying to create the next big idea? Sometimes the answer isn't to just force (逼迫) an idea out of your mind. Instead, you might want to try sitting back, relaxing and letting your mind wander. Yes, you heard that correctly. If you are in need of a new idea, try daydreaming.

Researchers from the university of California, Santa Barbara, found an association (联系) between daydreaming and creative problem-solving. Their study includes having participants (参与者) first do an “unusual-use task”. They had to try to come up with as many different ways to use an object as they could.

Then, the participants chose to do one of the following four things before doing the “unusual-use task” again: complete a difficult task; complete an easy task; take a 12-minute break; or skip the 12-minute break and move right on to the task exercise again.

Surprisingly, the group that performed best was the one that completed the easy task. Many participants reported that they were daydreaming while performing the easy task. So the researchers believed that this daydreaming might have helped unlock their creativity.

But how could daydreaming help the brain come up with creative ways? The answer is something known as “unconscious (无意识的) thought”. Even when you are not actively working to solve a problem, it is still in the back of your mind. Your brain is still thinking about the problem, but in a much more subtle (不易察觉的) way.

When you daydream, your mind is allowed to think in ways it normally would not. Because it is free of control, it can create completely new and out-of-the-box ideas.

Great ideas never come easily, but that does not mean you always have to work hard to get them. Feel free to do what you want and let your mind wander.

5 . 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.”

6 . 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

8 . There was once a young ballerina (芭蕾舞演员) who had taken ballet lessons all through her childhood. She wanted to be a first-class _______ but she wanted to be sure that she had the talent (天才). When a ballet company came to her town, she went to the backstage after the performance and spoke to the ballet master.

"I want to be a _______ ballet dancer but I don't know if I have the talent," she said. "Dance for me!" The master asked. After a(n) _______ or two, he shook his head and said, "No, no, no, you don't have what it _______ to be a great ballerina."

The young woman went home heartbroken. She _______ the ballet shoes into the closet (柜子) and _______wore them again. Instead she got _______, had children. When the kids were _______ enough, she took a part-time job and worked as a cash register at a corner shop.

Years later, the _______ ballet company came to her town. She ________ it and on the way out, she ran into the same old ballet master who was then in his eighties. Then she asked, "There is just one thing that ________ has worried me. How could you tell me that I don't have what it takes to be a great ballerina?" "Oh, I hardly looked at you when you ________. That's what I told ________ of them who came to me," he said.

"But... but, that's ________! What you said years ago has destroyed my ________ , I could have been a great ballet dancer!" she cried.

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!

10 . 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.