2 . We all love our parents and turn to them when we’re in need, but would you like them to hear the conversations you have with your friends in the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites have become virtual extensions of the school hallways, so would you add your parents as “friends” and allow them to view your online activities and conversations with friends?

In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were up to date with the latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day-to-day lives as they always had because they had no need to be tech-savvy. However, more and more parents are beginning to realize just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the motivation to educate themselves about social networking sites.

These days many people are attracted to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there’s also a certain amount of control over privacy that we don’t get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is violated when we must accept a “friend” request from a parent or family member.

It’s a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our online lives. On the one hand we don’t want to “reject” their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to hide. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a sense of being watched and no longer feel free to comment or communicate the way you did before.

A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn’t take it personally if their child ignores their request: “ When a teen ignores a parent’s friend request, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of their life where they want to exert their independence.”

Perhaps talking with parents and giving explanations would help soften the blow when you do choose not to add them to your friends list.

3 . Many of us live with a roommate at some stage. Sometimes, there can be problems. Who hasn’t had an argument about whose turn it is to take out the rubbish or who should be the one to clear up after dinner? However, living with another person also comes with many benefits.

You know that there’s always someone else around, which can help you feel safer. There is always someone to talk to, so you never feel lonely. Besides these obvious benefits, there are some you may not notice. For example, we’re actually more likely to eat healthier food when living with others.

To examine the effect of living alone, Australian university researchers did much research and found that people living alone tended to eat less fresh food, which can have a significant negative effect on long-term health. However, those living with others generally benefited from a more varied diet compared to those living alone.

What could explain these findings? The researchers believe the social and cultural roles played by cooking, food preparation and eating may be important considerations. For example, those living with friends have someone else to go shopping with, and thus are likely to buy higher-quality fresh food regularly.

Cooking skills may be another factor. If people living alone find they do not have the knowledge required to prepare a particular dish or cook a certain food, they may fall back on ready-made, less healthy food. However, if they live with at least one other person, they may be able to ask for help.

In addition, people living alone can eat whatever they want at any time of the day or night. However, it’s helpful to have someone around who questions your decision to eat frozen pizza at 3 am. In other words, roommates can draw your attention to unhealthy routines.

So, if you now live alone and find yourself fighting a losing battle against poor eating habits, why not consider sharing a home with someone else? You could encourage one another to be healthier and more well-being.

4 . A night at the movies is always a good idea. But when you leave the theater and realize you just dropped $45 on a ticket and some snacks, you’ll wish you had been patient enough to wait until the movie came out on Netflix. The average movie ticket price in the United States in 2000 was $5.39; now, a ticket is over $9.

The main reason that movie tickets have gotten so expensive is because of inflation (通货膨胀). It was actually more expensive to go to the movies in the 70s than it is now. A ticket in 1978 cost $2.34. If you plug that into an inflation calculator, the same ticket would cost you $9.46 today. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average cost for a ticket today is $9.11.

Another reason you need to spend some of your life savings to see a movie on the big screen is that theaters are competing with streaming services that produce their own films, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. And let’s be honest, sitting at home on your sofa or in your bed is more comfortable than sitting in a cold theater.

Because of streaming technology, theaters have to do something to bring in customers. Attractions—including alcohol, reclining seats (躺椅), surround sound, and 3-D movies are all examples of that. And those upgrades come at a price, leading to more expensive tickets.

“There’s all that extra cost, and it’s really important for theater owners and companies to make that experience as enjoyable as possible,” Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theatre Owners told Marketplace. “Because you’re offering a superb experience—audience expectations are for the latest and greatest technology. Audiences are willing to pay more for a particular experience.”

It's time to reconsider food. Around the globe, food problems threaten wildlife, wild places and the planet itself. Today, 7. 3 billion people consume 1. 6 times     1     the earth's natural resources can supply. By 2050, the world's population     2       (reach) 9 billion and the demand for food will double.

So how do we produce more food for more people without     3     (expand) the land and water already in use? We can't double the amount of food.       4     (fortunate), we don't have to—we just have to double the amount of food available now instead.       5     short, we must freeze the footprint of food.

In the near- term, food production is enough to provide for all, but it doesn't reach everyone who needs it. About 1. 3 billion tons of food     6     (waste) each year—four times the amount     7     (need) to feed the more than 800 million people who are     8     (hunger) .

By improving efficiency and productivity while reducing waste and shifting consumption     9     (pattern), we can produce enough food for everyone by 2050 on roughly     10     same amount of land we use now.

Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? How about those who beautify their selfie (自拍) so much that they can’t be____? There must be one or more who ____ in your social media. No matter _____they choose to share, they share the best but the most unreal.

Take my friend Chen for example. Every time we went to a restaurant, she would not take a _____ until all the dishes we ____were on the table. Then, she would spend five minutes on______the dishes in a seemingly random but in fact ____ order. Then the most important part: taking pictures. After that, she would choose one of the ____ and click in the filter(滤镜) app. The food eventually looked 10 times more delicious than it really was, but we had no ____ to really enjoy it — it all went cold. Actually Chen's real life is much less elegant. For example, she hates to wash the dishes, so she leaves them in the sink for____.

Many people care too much about others’ opinions and try too hard to ___ others. They find it hard to be ____ and to accept themselves, and thus they are afraid to show their ____ life on social media. What they are trying to prove is____what they lack in reality. But this will not bring any_____ to reality, as they still____ the same old pattern of life.

If they really want an elegant life, they should put more____ into achieving it_____fabricating(伪造) it. Being more confident, _____themselves and trying their best to be better is much more meaningful than_____ their life on social media.

10 . More and more shoppers are buying things online these days, allowing them to avoid aggressive salespeople and long lines at checkout counters. In spite of online convenience, however, there are some items—like clothes—that customers prefer to examine before buying. In light of this, two companies are Ending ways to modernize stores and bridge the gap between online and in-store retail.

Hointer, a software company that also sells designer jeans, has created a fast and painless shopping experience for its customers. Shoppers walk into a Hointer store and select one of the many pairs of jeans hanging down from bars. Then they point their smartphones at the tag and activate the Hointer app, after which they select the size and press “try on” The app then directs them to a specific dressing room. German-made robots search for the desired jeans and deliver them through a chute to the dressing room in about 30 seconds. Immediately after unwanted pairs of jeans are dropped through another chute, the “outbox”, they disappear from the list in the app.

Purchases at Hointer are made with a swipe of a credit card. And a salesperson is optional. This allows Hointer to hire fewer people and focus on their goal: developing technology that supports a retail revolution.

Men's clothing retailer Bonobos has come up with a more personalized shopping experience. Although it is in fact an online retailer, Bonobos has decided to open a handful of stores called Guide shops. Shoppers make an appointment online before arriving at a Guideship, where they receive one-on-one attention from a fitting guide. Because these shops have limited stocks, shoppers aren't able to take home the clothes they select. But guides help shoppers make online purchases before they leave, after which the items will be delivered to customers in one or two days. Following the purchase, the Bonobos customer service database keeps a record of each shopper's size, making future online purchases easier.

While Hointer focuses on convenience, Bonobos Guide shops focus on customer service. But both efforts have one thing in common: giving clothing retailers a new look for the 21st century.