3 . Today’s grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media, but the different generations’ online habits couldn’t be more different. In the UK the over-55 s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site’s second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55-64 and 2.9 million over-65s.

Sheila, aged 59, says, “I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It’s a much better way to see what they’re doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. That’s how we did it when I was a child, but I think I’m lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.”

Interestingly, Sheila’s grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 in the UK are leaving the site - only 2.2 million users are under 17 -but they’re not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. “It’s my alarm clock so I have to,’ she says. “I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.”

Unlike her grandmother’s generation, Chloe’s age group is spending so much time on their phones at home that they are missing out on spending time with their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn’t heard from in forty years. ”We use Facebook to arrange to meet all over the country,” she says. “It’s changed my social life completely.”

Parents have an important role to play if they want their kids to spend more time in real life. Peter, 38, who spends most of his time in front of a screen, is recently determined to set a better example to his kids. In the evening or at weekends, he would leave his smartphone home and take his kids out to nature.

4 . After bikes and umbrellas are made sharable across China, some companies started eyeing the fitness market, so shared gym rooms have hit the streets in Beijing.

Unlike common gyms that provide large, open spaces for many members to share at the same time, the newly built shared gym rooms are small, stand-alone rooms for a person to use, often set up near living communities.

Every four-square-meter room is equipped with a treadmill (跑步机), an air cleaner, a mirror, a television and an air conditioner, and users can let down the curtains for privacy. When exercising, users can listen to music, watch movies and check emails by connecting to the Internet by the screen fixed on the treadmill. There’s no shower or washbasin.

Similar to using a shared bike, users can locate a shared gym room by smartphone application, book a room in advance and then need to scan a QR code for use. A refundable deposit (保证金) of 99 yuan is required, and users are charged 1 yuan every 5 minutes.

The shared gym rooms are created by Misspao, a Beijing-based technology company founded in July. Within several months since it was founded, the company has already raised over 100 million yuan, Yicai Global reports. The idea of the shared fitness experience is not entirely nascent. Last December, the Shanghai-based technology company VRUN set up shared treadmills in office and apartment buildings.

The sharing economy is still becoming popular in China. According to Yicai Global, confident investors are pouring millions into sharing start-ups. In March, the State Information Center published a report which predicts that the total value of China’s sharing economy will see a yearly growth of 40% in the coming years, and it is expected to make a great contribution to the country’s GDP.

5 . In this modern age, most of us have forgotten to be patient and get angry very quickly over minor things like a traffic jam, a baby crying and such things. It often seems so easy to get what we want right away that when we have to wait even a little while, it seems like we are waiting for ages. We used to be happy to wait 10-15 minutes it took to reheat food in the oven (烤箱), but now we’re impatient when waiting two minutes it takes in the microwave.

With the convenience provided by modern society, is patience still a virtue (美德) in the fast-paced world? To begin with, I’d like to share the meaning of the word “patience”. Generally it means being able to tolerate delay without getting impatient. However, it isn’t necessarily a passive activity. It takes an active commitment, knowing when to take action and when not to.

So I would argue that patience is still — and always — a virtue. Sure. I used to be one of those who often stared at the microwave for the full two minutes it took to heat my food. And in the end, the food tasted bad. If l had had the patience to heat the food properly in the oven, I would have enjoyed a delicious meal.

Actually the benefits of patience go beyond just heating up our food. Patience is an exercise in self-control which shows that we can handle life problems when things get tough, and that we can exercise good judgment. Lack of patience can cause us to make wrong decisions that negatively affect our health and happiness, waste our time, put us under a lot of stress and affect our relationships in a very negative way.

Everything in life happens for a reason. Sometimes we face an obstacle (障碍) because we need to grow in ways we didn’t realize. It’s not always obvious when that was happening, but with patience we will soon see clearly why it happened; and what we were meant to learn from it.

Taking time to think about our actions and being patient are a small price to pay when we determine the best possible solution to any problems.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Every day many teens wake up frightened of     1     (go) to school. School bullying (校园欺凌) is a problem     2     affects millions of students, and it makes everyone     3     (worry), not just the kids. Yet because parents, teachers and other adults don’t always see it, they may not understand how bad bullying can be.

School bullying can threaten students’ physical and mental     4     (safe) at school and can influence their ability to learn. There     5     (be) a number of things you can do to make schools safe and prevent bullying.

For younger kids, the best way of solving the bullying problem is to tell     6     trusted adult. For teens, the tell-an-adult way depends on the bullying situation. If you see or hear someone being beaten, you should step in     7     (stop) the bullying right away. If you cannot stop it by     8     (you), then find someone who can. It is important to keep the bully away from the person he or she is bullying. Do not force the two parties to be in the same room together.

Bullying is a problem that can cause serious damage unless the problem     9     (solve) in time. Take any bullying that you hear about very     10     (serious). You might even need to call the police in some situations.

Teenage life is full of adventures and challenges. Doing voluntary work is popular among some teenagers. And extra-curricular activities     1     (prefer) by others, such as organizing debates, studying literature, dancing ballet and cleaning up the greenhouses. But more people sign up for advanced     2     (course) out of curiosity.     3     (actual), some teenagers feel confused in their youth, and their behaviors are sometimes confusing. They think there is a generation gap between     4     (they) and adults, so experts are trying to find a suitable solution. Johnson is     5     outgoing freshman. He is so attracted to Chinese literature that he     6     (give) up his studies in Chicago and come to China since he was 10 years old. Obviously,     7     the help of his teacher, his Chinese has improved greatly and he can speak fluent Chinese on campus now. As scheduled, he will graduate from the school     8     he has stayed for a long time next year. What he is concentrating on is the ancient Chinese literature and he is     9     (interest) in Tang poetry. The topic of his research content is “the differences between Eastern and Western literature”. An editor that acts responsibly has advised him     10     (read) some classical Chinese literature first. This suggestion means a lot to him.