I’ve read your discussion on how to behave properly when we’re traveling abroad.

Yours,

Li Hua

The Power of Silence

Joe was an old man aged 75. He lived happily in a beautiful family. His children grew up and moved to different cities in pursue of good career and future. He lived in a small village carrying the memories of his deceased wife.

Joe had four grandchildren. They used to visit him during their holidays. It was now their vacation time and Joe was eagerly waiting for their arrival. He prepared his home for the kids, cleaning the house, mowing the garden, and buying their favourite foods and dresses.

In the busy arrangements, he lost his watch. The watch was gifted by his dead wife when their first child was born. Joe treasured the watch. After his wife’s death, it became his sole companion with its ‘tick, tick’ sound throughout the silent night.

He was happy with the kids at home. He forgot the watch missing. It was only the next day when he was about to take bath, he remembered the watch was lost. He saw it last when he was arranging things in the barn.

He was very upset. His grandchildren asked him why he was so dull and what troubled him. Joe said, “Dear children! I lost the most precious watch I have ever had and ever got in my life. It was a gift from your grandma. I lost it while cleaning the house! I feel like I’m missing my heart.” The children tried to comfort him. One granddaughter asked, “Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last time before it was missing?”

Joe said, “I guess when I was cleaning the barn!”

The children rushed to the barn to search for the watch. The barn was full of waste materials. They searched for more than two hours with the help of Joe, but could not find it. Joe was completely lost, and he asked the children to stop searching.

5 . When I was a boy there were no smart phones or computers. Still, I never felt ________. The fields, hills and woodlands around my home were the perfect playground. I can remember once hiking to a nearby ________ and walking slowly around it. At the back of it I was amazed to find an old dirt road that I had never seen before. It was full of muddy tyre tracks and deep woods bordered it on both sides, but ________ it still seemed like a fine adventure.

I ________ on and on for what seemed like hours. I was sure my guardian angel was ________ In my ears to turn around and ________ back home but I was ________ and even a bit stupid, so I walked on. There was still neither a car nor a house ________. My legs were getting tired. I noticed that the sun was starting to go down and I grew ________. I didn’t want to end up ________ on this road in the dark of night, and I was worried that it would be dark ________ I could make my way back to the lake again.

I continued to walk on with the fear growing inside of me. My heart was ________ faster and my legs were aching more seriously than before. When I ________ one last corner and saw a house that I ________. I jumped up and down and laughed out loud. I knew the way home! It was still over a mile away, but my ________ felt like feathers. I ________ into the house with a big smile just in time for dinner. Then I ended my adventure with a good night’s sleep.

I remembered this recently when I saw a sign, ________, “All roads lead home”. This is true. I also remembered a sage (圣人) compared life to a journey. Are we going to make this life a ________ trip or are we going to make the life a terrible one? It ________ our own choice.

All roads no matter how they twist and turn, can ________ us home in our hearts. May you always walk your path with love! May you always help your fellow travelers along the way!

7 . As the international demand for narrative(叙事的) film/TV content continues to increase with popular streaming services like Netflix and others the two questions then come: will the coming generations receive most of their entertainment through visual means rather than through the written word and will such an increase of narrative film/ TV reduce the importance of reading?

Growing examples of this trend include the diminishment(减少) of fiction in the common core (核心的)curriculum, the ever－rising culture of computer games, the wave of streaming services of wide international reach, and movies filled with special effects made for children and teenagers. Nor must we ignore the economic dangers that lie ahead for the written word. The narrative film industry is a moneymaker that dwarfs(使相形见绌) the publishing industry.

The other underlying question, of course, is “does it really matter if the written word bows to the world of film/TV?” From my point of view, any diminishment of fiction delivered by words is a loss for mankind.

There is no greater human feature than the imagination. It lies at the very soul of the human species. It is the brain’s most powerful engine. It is the essential muscle of life and like all muscles it must be exercised and strengthened.

Writing and reading are the principal tools that inspire, create and empower our imagination. Anything that diminishes that power is the enemy of mankind.

It should be known that I am not opposed to new media and technological advances. Instead, I have always felt it necessary to adapt to advancing technology. In fact, a number of my novels are in various stages of development for film, TV, and live stage productions. My hope is that the written word will only stand to be complemented(补充)by its visual counterparts(对应物), not pushed to the edge of extinction.

Of course, there are those who will present arguments for the superiority of the moving image over the written word. Each has its place. My argument is for finding the right balance between it and the moving image.

8 . Just several days ago, a violent storm hit our community. I looked out of the window and witnessed a tree being ____ by the fierce winds. The branches bent, and swayed back and forth, thanks to their ____ to avoid breaking. The leaves desperately stuck to the branches because their life ____ the tree. The powerful trunk that ____ the tree upright bent slightly backwards from the force in a battle to ____ its position.

After the storm had passed, the tree gracefully returned to its ____ position standing tall among the chaos. It managed to ____ the storm. It didn’t look the same as leaves had shed from its branches and the soil had loosened a bit, but what ____ is that the tree won the fight for its life.

For a long time I couldn’t understand why this tree ____ my attention the way it did. As time passed, it became ____ that it wasn’t just about the tree but about the roots, which, although unseen, dig deep into the soil providing ____ and nutrition. The roots allow the tree to be able to take a ____ because they are there to support them.

I couldn’t but ask myself how deep the roots are in my life. ____, the next time you catch your kids ___, when the job is driving you crazy, when you are underpaid and the ____ is tight, and when the storms of life are raging, go back to your roots. Life is full of ____. They will make you sway, make you ___, make you lose some leaves but the deeper your roots the stronger you stand.

Faced with ____ you might bend but don’t break. No matter how hard the wind blows don’t let life ___ you into an uncomfortable position. Your ____ lies in your roots.

9 . Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month.     1    

Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right.     4    The synapses in the mice taken at the end of a period of sleep were 18 per cent smaller than those taken before sleep, showing that the connections between neurons weaken while sleeping.

If Tononi’s theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night’s, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.

Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size.     5     “You keep what matters,” Tononi says.