Have you ever forgotten to lock the door of your house or switch off the TV? These kinds of things often happen to us,     1     may lead to serious problems. However, in the near future, we will be living in smart homes that will lock the door and switch off the TV     2     (automatic). These smart homes will provide us     3     a comfortable environment.

Your home will learn your daily routine and     4     (preference), so everything will be ready for you when you get home each evening. For example, lights will come on     5     (instant) you enter the door along with your favourite music. All controls will respond to voice commands, so you just say     6     you want and the home system will obey. Besides, it will give you suggestions on a     7       (healthy) diet and how     8     (sleep) better.

This smart technology is not     9     fantasy. Nevertheless, it will take some years     10     most new homes begin to use it.

Xiaoxihu Block, once a run-down area in Nanjing, housed 810 families in     1     area of 46,900 square meters. Life there was     2     (convenient) due to narrow roads, old buildings without kitchen and bathroom, and poor access to utilities (公共设施) such as water, gas, electricity, and Internet. However, with a history of over 600 years, the neighborhood had abundant historical     3     (remain). Many locals     4     (attach) to their old houses and the memories of several generations.

After many surveys and consultations, the local government adopted a new approach to the improvement of living conditions while     5     (preserve) the historical elements. In 2019, the renovation (改造) project broke ground.

The developer improved water, electricity, Internet, and gas access with a utility tunnel,     6     fits well the narrow roads. The locals were given options of remaining in their homes     7     moving elsewhere. Those who were willing     8     (leave) could rent their old houses to the construction company for commercial purposes after renovation, while those who stayed would be offered a specialized renovation plan     9     (base) on the house’s practical conditions.

    10     more empty space, coffee shops, homestays, libraries, restaurants, and other kinds of business have opened up and more public spaces have appeared.

6 . Kenny Eating House is always crowded in the late afternoons right up to midnight. You will see many people   ____ around the tables. They will be on the watch for a table most likely to be ______ Once there is the slightest ______ that the customers are leaving their table, you will see a few people ______ it. The winner will stand at the table proudly and ______ his relatives or friends over, while the losers will be down in the mouth.

But having found a place to sit is not the ______ of the wait. You next have to get the attention of the busy waiters rushing about to ______ the customers. You will usually hear the words hot water being shouted out as they pass, ______ they are not holding any such thing! This is in fact their   ______ way of clearing the way. In between trying to catch the attention of the waiters and looking through the menu, you will hear ______ complaining about the slow service.

Once the waiter comes to ______ your orders, he is impatient. Sometimes, these waiters would just walk away from   ______ customers and the latter would have to work hard at getting some attention again. ______， the waiters shout the orders out to the cooks located deep in the kitchen. And such behavior adds to the busy   ______ of the place.

Whenever the crowd gets too thick. the tables will be ______ by two different groups of people. People clank (发出叮当声) plates and talk loudly, thus making the loudness incredibly ______.By the midnight the crowd begin to ______ and the noise dies down. The ______ waiters can finally sit down for a chat or have their cigarettes. The activity at the eating place ______ , ready to recover before the next day of ______ arrives.

I like the sea. Bringing up by the sea, I’m deeply attached of the blue sea. In the morning, when there are not many passer-by, I like to go to the seaside alone and feel the charm of the sea.

As breeze comes, the ripples (涟漪) in the sea will rise and fall, just like fairies dancing merry on the water. As I watch a waves, I can also smelt the saltiness of the sea. When the sun gradually rise from the east, the sunshine seems give the sea a golden cover. At this very moment, I cannot help but to shout, “How beautiful scenery it is!”

8 . A walk around the workplace is also a trip back in time. The office is where colleagues meet, work and bond. But it is also a time capsule, a place where the traces of historic patterns of working are visible everywhere. The pandemic has heightened this sense of office as a dig site for corporate archaeologists.

The most obvious object is the landline phone (固定电话), a reminder of the days when mobility meant being able to stand up and keep talking. Long after people have junked them in their personal lives — less than 15% of Americans aged between 25 and 34 had one at home in the second half of 2021— landline phones survive in offices.

There might be good reasons for its persistence: they offer a more secure and stable connection than mobile phones, and no one worries that they are about to run out of battery. In practice, the habit of using them was definitely lost during the pandemic. Now they sit on desk after desk, rows of buttons unpressed, ring tones unheard. They witness those who are in low spirit.

Landline phones were already well on their way out before covid-19 struck. Whiteboard charts have suffered a swifter reverse. These objects signal a particular type of pain — people physically crowded together into a room while a manager sketches a graph with a marker pen and points meaningfully to the top-right-hand corner, giving requirements never to be satisfied. This manager is still making graphs but is now much more likely to use a PowerPoint. The crowd is still being tortured (使痛苦) but is now much more likely to be watching on the screen. The office still has whiteboards, but they are left in corners and the charts on them are slowly yellowing.

Real archaeologists need tools and time to do their painstaking work: brushes, shovels and picks. Corporate archaeology is easier; you just need eyes and a memory of how things used to be. But you also need to be quick as more and more work places are revamped for the post-pandemic era. Now its time to take a careful look around the office: you may see something that will soon seem outdated.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua