I’m Li Hua, a student from Xinhua school.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

2 . Traditionally, the number of meaningful social relationships one can maintain is around 150. This concept finds its roots in the natural development of the human brain. However, in the digital age, where our social connections extend far beyond the geographical boundaries (界限), we easily create more connections with the help of the rising online platforms. Then, a question arises: Does the digital age rewrite the rules of social connection?

A study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking explored the effect of social media usage on the size of social circles and the closeness of relationships. The researchers found that more time spent on social media made for a larger number of online “friends,” but not a larger number of offline friends. Further, the findings were not linked to feelings of closeness towards online or offline friends.

Another study from the European Journal of Information Systems studied the link between social media usage and “social overload” — the feeling that too much of the energy for socializing is being used up by online relationships. The authors found that social media usage directly contributed to the experience of social overload, related to digital tiredness and dissatisfaction with social media.

With social media platforms rising, one’s ability to connect with people challenges the traditional concept. The brain, used to manage a limited number of relationships, now fights against the difficulties of dealing with a large number of digital connections, leading to a less attention and feeling investment (投入) in a relationship. And the online shallow connections can not develop meaningful, lasting relationships that stand the test of digital distance.

Therefore, in the digital age’s social whirlwind, instead of drowning (淹没) in a sea of weak interaction (互动), choose to engage in meaningful conversations and focus on the handful of relationships that truly fit your heart. Hug the beauty of face-to-face connections, allowing the richness of human interaction to flower beyond the digital world. By doing so, we create digital and physical spaces that truly improve our well-being.

Ballet is a formal kind of dance performance with     1     interesting and rich history. The word “ballet” comes from the French language. Ballet’s early roots began in Italy in the late 1400s. But it was in France     2     ballet developed into the form we know today.

The French ruler Louis the Fourteenth had a big influence     3     the direction of ballet in its early history. He ruled France for seventy-two years,     4     (start) in 1643. He started dancing as a boy and worked hard daily.

Louis the Fourteenth turned ballet into a form of dance that reflected     5     (he) power and influence. Ballet’s many rules and     6     (extreme) detailed movements expressed a person’s power and social relations. The king made sure that ballet became a requirement for the people of his court. He was also the     7     (found) of the Royal Academy of Dance, an institution     8     important people could learn this art. The aim of this dance was self-control, order and perfection.

Ballet slowly changed from a dance at the king’s court to one     9     (perform) by professional dancers. When Louis the Fourteenth died in 1715, ballet     10     (bring) to other parts of Europe and was developing in other ways.

8 . During my first three years of college, I put on about 30 pounds of weight. Between classwork and a part-time job, I had zero time for _______. Besides, I ate a lot of fast food. Not surprisingly, I got a fat stomach.

After leaving college, I _______ to take exercise. Invited by a friend, I began working out with exercise machines three times a week. I was the kind of person who did not try something _______. I ate the same foods; I did the same things. Clearly, I _______ my routines (习惯). My friend, however, became _______. One day, he said, “We’re not getting enough exercise. We should play tennis instead.”

Me? Play tennis? No way. I was strongly against his _______. 1 was not good at sports. Besides, I was _______ the exercise machines. However, weeks later, I found myself standing on a tennis court (球场). As I held my racket (球拍), I felt _______. I gave my friend some looks that could kill. I ran after every ball he served to me, completely _______ about 90% of them, and hitting the rest into the other court. The first few months were quite __________. But one day, as the ball enough came flying toward me, my racket and the ball finally met in the place where it is most effective to hit a ball. I watched __________ as my return landed where I had aimed (瞄准) it, I had finally. __________ how to play tennis properly!

Tennis would finally become my __________. I played it for several years, only __________ because of a knee injury. I learned a lesson during my journey toward learning to play tennis: I can do whatever I set my mind to. I just __________ to put in the work, and the results will follow.

About two years ago, I worked hard and entered a locally key school, which my parents were proud of it. From then up, I got up early and got to the school on time. After school, I went back home in time to help my parents do some housework while enjoy some light music. However, one day my mother persuading me to live at school to learn to be independent, preparing the future life. As I was unhappy, I understood my parents and followed their advices. Before living at school, I found it helped me save time and learn what to get on with others.

10 . Recently whenever I turned on my computer or my mobile phone, news about the great effect of Hurricane Harvey on thousands of people caught my eyes. We saw many unfortunate events. However, there were also the bright news that confirmed the goodness of mankind. As a journalist, I wrote many human interesting stories during my career. That's why the story about the guys in the bakery caught my eyes.

When the staff at a Mexican bakery chain in Houston were trapped inside the building for two days, they didn't sit there feeling sorry for themselves. They used their time wisely after flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. While they were waiting for the eventual rescue that came on Monday morning, four decided to make as many loaves of bread as possible for their community.

The flood water rose in the street outside. They took advantage of their emergency power supply to bake bread. They used more than 4,200 pounds of flour to create hundreds of loaves and sheets of sweet bread. Although the water kept rising, they continued baking to help more people. By the time the owner managed to get to them, they had made so much bread that we took the loaves to loads of emergency centers across the city for people affected by the floods.

The store manager, Brian Alvarado, told The Independent，“Whenever a disaster occurs, nobody should just feel _forlorn_. Instead，we should take positive action to save ourselves and help others. Our acts of kindness will make a big difference.”