2 . In one of my classes today we discussed the question of how our lives would be without a mobile phone. I actually felt quite sad to hear how some kids cannot _______ without their phones these days. _______, I think nowadays we are _______ by our technology to keep up. So let’s see some of the points that _______ in the discussion and see if our generation really is addicted to electronic connections rather than true communication. 

It is true that everything works at a fast pace these days. For example, you can contact someone who lives on the other side of the world within _______. This is great if you think about how connected we can stay to the _______ who are far away from us. However, on the contrary, can we be too connected to the people who are _______ to us? An argument arose about the _______ that it is easier to message someone from your sofa than to meet them _______ and talk. Social skills are important to have and if you are not going to put effort into real-life __________, then you are not going to progress in this ability. 

Another point was that phones are very handy for __________ something that you are wondering about. For example, if you don’t know a word in another language, you can quickly and simply use an on-line translator to help you out. This can be very __________ in many situations, but it can also make a person dependent on the __________ to help with anything. 

All in all, this question is very interesting to __________ for oneself as we become day by day more dependent on technology. We should realize how much we really need to be connected by our phones while considering the __________ and damages it can cause us.

3 . We’ve been having a heat wave on the East Coast this summer. So the absolute thing you wouldn’t want to do is _________ in a hot car! That’s what I _________ when I saw a woman doing just that. Well, she wasn’t asleep at the time, but I guessed that was her plight (困境) when I noticed that the _________ of the car was piled high with her _________ from the passenger seat to the back seats. I’d been noticing this car _________ in the same space on this parking lot for a few weeks.

I finally _________ to the car and asked if I could get her some _________ from the store nearby. She _________ but at least I got a close enough look to see that she was not in any immediate _________ in spite of how it looked. This made me more curious. The woman said her name was Justine. As we talked, darkness began to __________, so I told her I had to __________. Thinking I’d return another day, I started for home.

A week later, I was back shopping at a store near the __________ and there was Justine in that car on a hot day! I went over to the car hoping to hear her __________. But how many people would have simply __________ without stopping? I was there to __________, not to judge or criticize.

4 . I was a stay-at-home dad, which gave me plenty of time to cook. Ever since I was a kid, cooking had been one of my _________. My dad had given me some great advice. “If you’re gonna cook,” he began, “you might as well make sure it’s tasty.” So with that _________, I’d set about making each dish as _________ as I could. I figured that if something looked and _________ good then, chances were, it would taste great too.

One day, I was on the Internet when I noticed my best friend, Dave had _________ a video of him cooking. He was _________ with The Fathering Project, a non-profit organization that helped men be the best dads they could. “We’re always looking for content,” he said, “Can you _________ your videos with us?” I was more than happy to _________ other fathers to get into the kitchen. So I started to _________ videos of my cooking. I also gave viewers plenty of __________. “The kitchen can be a place to __________ with others,” I told them. My son and daughter helped me with washing and cutting, but most importantly, we all shared a __________ with each other, My videos grew so __________ that dads around the country were setting out for my suggestions. It’s been an enormous __________ to transform my enthusiasm into something that’s helping others. I hope my videos will keep giving dads a taste of the __________ cooking brings to our lives.