When you are surfing the Internet, you can be anyone or anything. Avatars are a key part while people use the Internet to communicate. and express themselves. The first simple 2D avatars     1    (appear)in role-playing computer games in     2    1980s. Nowadays, avatars are everywhere and people can choose an avatar from a selection of images     3    (make) by others or create their own ones. You can also use avatars that move around and talk while     4    (type) in your message. The avatar that you choose says a lot about your personality. Most people create avatars that have similar features to their personalities and that look more or less like them. People     5    (obvious) make a few improvements to their avatars to make them look nice. Avatars not only let you express yourself but also give you much room for creativity. But the use of avatars has also caused a few     6    (concern). Some users worry that they are spending so much time in virtual worlds     7     they are becoming afraid of meeting people in the real world. Others worry that some people can use avatars     8    (cheat) online. However, there are some people     9    (view) avatars in a more positive light. They look forward to a time     10     their avatar will act like a real person.

7 . In Japan many workers for large corporations have a guarantee of lifetime employment. They will not be laid off during recessions or when the tasks they perform. are taken over by robots. To some observers, this is capitalism at its best, because workers are treated as people not things. Others see it as necessarily inefficient and believe it cannot continue if Japan is to remain competitive with foreign corporations more concerned about profits and less concerned about people.

Defenders of the system argue that those who call it inefficient do not understand how it really works. In the first place not every Japanese worker has the guarantee of a lifetime job. The lifetime employment system includes only “regular employees”. Many employees do not fall into this category, including all women. All businesses have many part-time and temporary employees. These workers are hired and laid off during the course of the business cycle just as employees in the United States are. These “irregular workers” make up about 10 percent of the nonagricultural work force. Additionally, Japanese firms maintain some flexibility through the extensive use of subcontractors. This practice is much more common in Japan than in the United States.

The use of both subcontractors and temporary workers has increased markedly in Japan since the 1974—1975 recession. All this leads some to argue that the Japanese system is not all that different from the American system. During recessions Japanese corporations lay off temporary workers and give less business to subcontractors. In the United States, corporations lay off those workers with the least seniority. The difference then is probably less than the term “lifetime employment” suggests, but there still is a difference. And this difference cannot be understood without looking at the values of Japanese society. The relationship between employer and employee cannot be explained in purely contractual terms. Firms hold on to the employees and employees stay with one firm. There are also practical reasons for not jumping from job to job. Most retirement benefits come from the employer. Changing jobs means losing these benefits. Also, teamwork is an essential part of Japanese production. Moving to a new firm means adapting to a different team and at least temporarily, lower productivity and lower pay.

The most difficult part of a Western-Chinese marriage is the cultural differences. The traditional Chinese culture is established on the Confucian philosophy, while the western culture is based on ancient Greek    1    . Cultural differences exist in almost every aspect and therefore     2    also on relationships and marriage.

From the traditional Chinese point of view, marriage is a relationship    3    many aspects such as family, friends and relatives, while from the Western point of view, marriage is a    4    signed between two people that is based on trust and love. Furthermore, Westerners’ marriages    5     more the independence and privacy of the couple.

That is why Westerners sometimes cannot understand why we Chinese need to our relatives if we are asked to do so. Chinese need to maintain their “face” and “relations”. Even in relationship, we are somehow still    6    to our family and relatives. Our partner has to understand it and at least does not    7    it.

It is not easy to maintain Chinese-Western relationship. Cultural differences may result in    8    . Young Asian ladies are fond of western men because they believe they are more gentlemanly and in addition their appearances are more    9    . Western men may think Chinese ladies are gentler and more feminine.

My suggestion for the cross-culture relationship is always trying to put yourself in other’s shoes: accepting rather than changing; always respecting your partner but clarifying your own red lines; showing your interest in his/her different culture and carefully commenting on it and so on.

There are more and more cross-culture marriages    10     recently. I would like to take this chance to sincerely wish them the very best in their love journeys.