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.

E-business（电子商务）has changed the lives of people across the world. With fewer people 【小题1】（leave）home for shopping, physical stores are having a 【小题2】（difficult）time. It seems that one kind of physical store is not being hit-the convenience store.

Convenience store sales in 2016 in China increased by 13 percent 【小题3】（compare）with those of 2015, according to China Daily. There are now 【小题4】（near）100,000 convenience stores in China. And in Japan, there are 11,000 more convenience stores in 2017 than in 2010.

Why are these 24-hour stores with 【小题5】 average area of 110 square meters enjoying such rapid 【小题6】（develop）?

One of the most important 【小题7】（reason）is that young people have grown into the habit of shopping at convenience stores, noted Convenience Store News. Convenience stores not only have everything for daily use, but also have fresh food like sushi, bread and salads, 【小题8】 are all quite popular among young people.

What's more, different 【小题9】 supermarkets, many convenience stores sell things they make themselves, like bread and cakes. As these products can only 【小题10】（find） in these stores, many people go there just to buy them.

Several countries in Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year in their own way. But dragon and lion dances in Chinatowns all over the world have helped to make China's New Year the most famous. These days growing 【小题1】（number）of people who are not of Chinese origin are joining in. In Tokyo window cleaners dress up like the animals of the Chinese shengxiao. America，Canada and New Zealand published memorial stamps for the year of the Rooster. In 2016，New York City made the Lunar New Year 【小题2】 school holiday for the first time.

The spread of the Spring Festival is 【小题3】（part）due to recent immigration from China:about 10million Chinese people 【小题4】（move）abroad since 1978，many of 【小题5】 are far richer than earlier waves of immigrants.

Aware 【小题6】 China's growing economic and political influence，foreign leaders have noticed the occasion. Britain's prime minister，Theresa May，gave a video address，a tradition 【小题7】（start）in 2014 by her predecessor（前任）. The World Economic Forum in Davos in 2017 was held a week earlier than usual 【小题8】（avoid）conflicting with China's New Year.

China hopes the festival will promote 【小题9】（it）cultural soft power abroad. It may give the Chinese people 【小题10】（satisfy）to see foreigners enjoy such festivities.

   Everybody sleeps，but what people stay up late to catch or wake up early in order not to miss varies by culture.

From data collected，it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep，on average，are sporting events，time changes，and holidays.

Around the world，people change sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight-saving time（夏令时间）. Russians，for example，began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to“winter time”starting on October 26.

Russia's other late nights and early mornings generally correspond（相一致）to public holidays. On New Year's Eve，Russians have the world's latest bedtime，hitting the hay at around 3:30 a. m.

Russians also get up an hour later on International Women's Day，the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.

Similarly，Americans' late nights，late mornings，and longest sleep fall on three-day weekends.

Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey（冰球）final.

The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation. The worst night for sleep in the U. K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it，and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights，the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing，though，compared to Germans，Italians，and the French，who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the World Cup.

It should be made clear that not everyone has a tool to record their sleep patterns；in some of these nations，it's likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that's the case，the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings（明显改变）in our sleep levels throughout the year，how much sleep are the rest of us losing？