“The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.” That’s an old saying in English. It means that other places often look better, more interesting than the place where you live. “Let’s go to KFC for dinner and then watch some Japanese cartoons!” We all know it: more and more Chinese kids love American and Japanese food and movies. Some people worry that young Chinese are beginning to feel that way. They see young Chinese ignoring（忽视）Chinese culture and, instead, buying Japanese cartoon books, watching Korean soap operas and even celebrating western holidays.

Foreign books and soap operas are good, but Chinese writers and actors are just as good. As for holidays, Christmas is nice, but it can never have the meaning for Chinese that the Spring Festival has, and the West has nothing to compare with the Mid-Autumn Festival. China has lots of cool things in its culture: calligraphy, Beijing Opera, quick meals on the streets. And let’s not forget the part of Chinese culture I like best: its friendliness. Not all countries are as warm as China.

It’s good to enjoy other cultures and learn from them, but they can never replace your own culture. It’s good to look on the other side of the fence, but make sure you take a good long look. You will find that the grass isn’t always greener.

Although some people become worried about that, I don’t think they should. Will we get more powerful without learning from other countries? Will Chinese people live more happily without American fast food? Besides, it’s fun to learn about different cultures. Chinese kids can learn about other cultures and have fun, but they also need to learn more about their own culture. Be proud of Chinese culture and of being Chinese!

   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.

   “Can I get a light?”This question is the commonest among smokers. What if this question is to come from an unusual source? The National Health Promotion Foundation uploaded an anti-smoking advertisement onto YouTube. The anti-smoking ad has quickly been known as the“most powerful anti-smoking ad”.

The anti-smoking video, called the “Smoking Kid”, features children walking up to adult smokers asking for a light. The children in the ad are actors but the adults smoking are unsuspecting participants in the project.

The video begins with the statement “Adults know that smoking is harmful, but don’t remind themselves of this fact”. Once a “smoking kid” approaches the adults, every adult asked is shocked that the child with a cigarette in his hand is asking for a light. The first adult starts by saying “I’m not giving it to you” and the video goes on to state “every adult filmed said no and reminded the children that smoking is bad”.

Before going away, the kid hands each adult a booklet after being turned down for a light. The booklet says, “You worry about me, but why not about yourself?”Each adult looks around for the child as their faces are filled with confusion and discomfort.

The video shows that a few of the smokers quickly throw away their cigarettes or put their cigarettes away, showing that this experiment was effective at that moment.

The most influential element in the ad isn’t the use of children or the responses from the smoking adults. It comes down to something much simpler than that. Why is it that we worry about other people, forgetting to worry about ourselves?

Due to better equipment，training and diet，the records in many sports have been broken，but recently，improvements 【小题1】 (begin）to slow down. Thus some experts predict a ceiling for many events.

In order to enhance 【小题2】 (perform), some athletes take the drugs which can get people more excited and 【小题3】 (energy) than in a normal situation and which are originally developed 【小题4】 (help) people with illnesses.  Taking these drugs is known as“doping”and 【小题5】 they improve performance, they also cause serious health problems in later life for those who abuse them.

The Olympic spirit — the spirit of competition which 【小题6】 (emphasise) taking part rather than winning — 【小题7】 (violate) by the desire to succeed at all costs so far. So the sports world does not tolerate doping as it is 【小题8】 fundamental form of cheating. However, it appears as if all efforts are 【小题9】 vain to athletes.

Anyway，the fight will and must 【小题10】 (fierce) go on and we all hope the word“hero”won't lose its meaning.