A new tool of communication called the "drift diary" is doing the rounds among young college graduates.

The "drift diary", like those ancient paper messages put into a bottle left to drift on the high seas to reach hundreds of miles away, connects lonely hearts. It was first started by a Beijing woman, who goes by the screen name Little S, in 2007.It has become the preferred tool of communication among youngsters afraid to reveal their innermost self to peers, but wanting to share their lives with others. The way it works is that the initiator（发起人）of the diary mentions it on popular Internet forums such as Tianya and Douban. Those wanting to react or otherwise add to the diary then send their real names and addresses to the initiator via e-mails or text messages.

The numbers in one group are usually restricted to between 30 and 50. The diary then is passed on to another by the express delivery or personal handover. The diary writers are mostly anonymous（匿名的）but if they wish to reveal their identity they can do so by posting their contact information at the end of their postings.

The diary writers not just add words but also decorate the plain notebooks with cartoons, drawings or even dress it up with a ribbon or a new cover. Interesting experiences, travel journals, the simple joys of everyday living or sweet recollections of childhood, all find a place in these diaries. Most often, though, the writers set down their frustrations and predicaments.

It usually takes one year for a diary to return to the initiator. The last recorder is the luckiest one, with access to all previous entries, while others can request photocopies of them from the diary's initiator.

   Robyn Lee， a 15-year-old teenage girl who studies at York Community High School， US says she has four friends. But she also has 15 to 20 other friends she considers part of her regular social circle.

“It's like a bad thing to have only one， friend ，”explained Robyn. “If you have one friend， it means only one person likes you. That’s not cool，” she said.

For many years， experts studying teen friendships have known that teenagers prefer to travel in groups. In studies conducted in 1963 and in 1995， researchers found teen friendship groups averaged six people. In 2005， when teens were asked about how many friends they kept in touch with regularly， the average answer was 20.

The change to bigger -group friendships has advantages， such as increasing more connections and improving teens' self-pride by giving them a place to belong.

However， the change also has some disadvantages，say psychologists. “The meaning of friendship is becoming much more complicated，” said Bernardo Carducci， a professor of psychology at Indiana University Southeast.

MaryRose Moss， a 17-year-old in Chicago， knows how she could get more friends. She created a Facebook page when she was 14 and within months ， she had her group of 500 friends.

Text messaging has opened the door to many new connections， she says. “I'm friends with some people that I wouldn't be as close to if it weren't for technology，” said Moss. “It's so easy to send a text to somebody even if you don't know him very well. ”

Some psychologists wonder whether social-networking technology is affecting some skills children once got from making friends in the old-fashioned way.

“In the past， you argued， discussed and reached an agreement， but if somebody disagrees with you now， you can ‘defriend’ him with the click of keys，” said Carducci.

Marianne Boe， a social studies teacher in Chicago ， sees signs of changing friendships in the hallways. Ten years ago， she could easily know groups of girls who stayed friends through all four years of high school. “Today， it's harder，” Boe said.

   Nowadays, I acknowledge that a revolution has occurred. That much has been ___ by having hand-held iPads or smart phones that allow us not only to communicate while on the _____ but also to reserve parking spaces, get weather reports, and _____ tell us where, at any given moment, we are standing on the planet Earth.

But I must acknowledge a _____. Conversation used to be surprisingly _____ to start. When I took a seat next to someone on a train, bus, or plane, the first thing I would do was _____ the person. Once the ice had been broken, the following chat _____ erupt naturally.

Time has changed, and the change has been _____. Recently, while I was _____ a long distance bus, I couldn't help but notice everyone was staring at their ______, clicking. I found an empty seat next to a middle-aged man and said "Morning" to him. He threw me a ______ and said "Morning". Then he returned to his ______. So I left him in his world.

I miss the ______ conversations with fellow travelers. One never knows what will be ______, and in fact, sometimes how ______ it will be. I was once on a ______ traveling from Iceland to Denmark. I noticed an old man looking out over the North Sea. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" I said. He turned to me,______, and we were soon chatting away. _____ I told him that I didn't know how I was going to get from the port in Denmark to my destination city. He ______,"Of course you know. I have a car and I'm going to ______ you there. "

   The newspaper has been a part of our daily life for several centuries. It has been a way for the public to be informed of _____ events that are occurring around the world. Newspapers have _____ great changes over the course of history. Some of the _____ newspapers date back to Ancient Rome where important announcements (公告) were carved in stones and placed in highly populated areas, _____ in this way citizens could be informed of the announcements.

For centuries, many changes have _____ The biggest one was the use of the printing press. This change _____ the production of the newspaper, and the number of papers available to the public greatly increase    D. At the same time the change made it _____ for people to purchase one. These developments led to a (n) _____ in the newspaper industry where several different newspapers started to appear in big _____ , publishing morning, afternoon and evening editions. These papers ______ readers news, the weather and other features that informed and ______ them.

Over the course of time, however, newspaper costs continued to rise and the number of newspaper buyers continued to ______ This led to a vast reduction in the number of newspapers and newspaper editions at every market. ______ , with the increase in the use of ______ , the public no longer needed the newspaper for its source of ______ Other media such as radio, television and the Internet started to ______ the paper as an information source.

In recent years, newspapers and other media have ______ to the changing technology environment by starting to offer ______ editions to cater to (满足需要) the needs of the public. In the future, more ______ will be surely paid to the Internet, social media and other electronic methods. However, the newspaper and the industry ______ have a place in the world.