Today it is common to see people who walk about with colored wires hanging from their ears wherever they go. They move about in their personal bubbles, sometimes unaware of what’s happening around them. 【小题1】 Outside life is shut out. So are you one of “them”?

For me, walking around in my own personal bubble is perfect. 【小题2】 What’s even better, wearing earphones seems to give a signal to people which says, “I’m not available for chatting at the moment!”

Suppose, you’re at work and about to make an incredible breakthrough, but a colleague suddenly turns up. At this precise moment, the slightest disturbance would break your concentration. 【小题3】 Once again, those wires hanging from your ears would be sure to give that “Go away!” signal.

【小题4】It’s probably part of the growing up stage when they just want to ignore their whole family. While their mothers give them lectures about why they should do their homework, they can just turn up the volume on their MP3 player, smile, and say “Yes, Mum.” Problem solved.

Pretty soon, not only will we have pretty colored wires hanging from our ears—but also our brains will be directly plugged into some new high-tech instruments. We’ll be in a virtual(虚拟的) world, communicating with everyone else, or choosing not to, as we like. In this world, we will all be permanently plugged in. 【小题5】 And they are changing our social habits along the way.

In the end, there is a thin line between using technology as a tool for making life better and being a slave to it! It’s so strange—suddenly, I don’t feel like wearing my earphones anymore.

Let’s Help Adolescents

Whether they are male or female, adolescents feel like deciding on everything themselves in spite of parents’ instruction, 【小题1】（especial）when they face problems like sex, mental stress, etc., 【小题2】 make them feel ashamed and embarrassed. Thus they often automatically get into trouble due to their imperfect comprehension and 【小题3】（judge）. Some are addicted to cigarettes, only several packets of which 【小题4】（hurt） their lungs and make them breathless quickly. Others can’t quit drinking alcohol, whose 【小题5】（harm）effects include causing young pregnant women to abort or give birth to abnormal babies. The worst is drug abuse, 【小题6】 the withdrawal（戒毒过程）is tough once their bodies are accustomed 【小题7】 the drugs. Meanwhile, those who share needles 【小题8】（purchase）from illegal chemists are at great risk of 【小题9】（infect）with AIDS. If so, neither injecting drugs nor taking pills can guarantee their survival.

However, don’t be disappointed in or have prejudice（偏见）against our children so easily. As long as we 【小题10】（strength）communication with them instead of only forbidding this or forbidding that, we will surely help them avoid anything unfit.

I’m writing to tell you about discussion we recently had about if it is good or not for families to own cars.

As the development of people’s living conditions, more and more people have our own cars. Some of us think it’s good to own a car. Firstly, it’s a convenient, fast, and comfortable mean of transportation. Secondly, it shows that people are becoming richer, and the country much strong. It also makes relative businesses and industries to develop faster.

Others have different opinions. They think that cars give off waste gases and polluted the environment. Too many cars will have some bad effects, such as more accidents. Beside, the limited parking space is another big problem.

In my view, people should think careful before they buy a car.

Yours truly,

Li Hua

With the development of the Internet, more and more people turn to it instead of newspapers for information. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________