Ask helpful Hannah

Dear helpful Hannah,

I've got a problem with my husband, Sam. He bought a smart phone a couple of months ago and he took it on our recent ski vacation to Colorado, it was a great trip except for one problem. He has a constant urge{#blank#}1{#/blank#} for next messages; he checks his phone every five minutes! He's so addicted to it that he just can't stand the idea {#blank#}2{#/blank#} there may be an important text. He can't help checking even at inappropriate times like when we are eating in a restaurant and I am talking to him! He behaves{#blank#}3{#/blank#} any small amount of boredom can make him feel the need to check his phone even when he know he shouldn't. The temptation to see {#blank#}4{#/blank#} is connecting him is just too great. When I ask him to put down the phone and stop {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (ignore) me, he say, “In a minute.” but still checks to see if{#blank#}6{#/blank#} has posted something new on the Internet. Our life {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (interrupted). If we go somewhere and I ask him to have the phone at home, he suffers from withdrawal symptom. May this dependency on his smart phone has become more than an everyday problem.

I recently read an article about “nomophobia,”{#blank#}8{#/blank#} is a real illness people can't suffer from the fear of being without your phone! I am worried that Sam maybe suffering from this illness because he feels anxious if he doesn't have his phone with him, even for a short time.

  Who would have thought that little devices like these could have brought so much trouble!                                                                                                                                     

Sick and Tired Sadie

Passage 1:

    My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her own age in Holland. Last year, we were travelling across the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} and Jane put a piece of paper with her name and address on it into a bottle . She {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the bottle into the sea. She never thought of it again, but ten minutes later, she received a letter from a girl in Holland. Both girls write to each other {#blank#}3{#/blank#} now. However, they have decided to use the post office. Letters will cost a little more, but they will certainly travel faster.

Passage 2:

I had a letter from my sister yesterday. She lives in Nigeria. In her letter , she said that she would come to England next year. If she comes, she will get a {#blank#}4{#/blank#} We are now living in a beautiful new house in the country. Work on it had begun {#blank#}5{#/blank#} my sister left. The house was completed five months ago. In my letter, I told her that she could stay with us. The house has many large rooms and there is a lovely garden. It is a very modern house, so it looks {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to some people. It {#blank#}7{#/blank#} be the only modern house in the district.

Passage 3:

I enter the hotel manager's office and sat down. I had just lost £50 and I felt very upset.‘I left the money in my room,'I said, ‘and it's not there now.'The manager was {#blank#}8{#/blank#} , but he could do nothing. ‘Everyone's losing money these days,'he said. He started to complain about this wicked world but was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} by a knock at the door. A girl came in and put an envelop on his desk. It contained £50 . ‘I found this {#blank#}10{#/blank#} this gentleman's room,'she said. ‘Well,'I said to the manager, ‘there is still some honesty in this world! ‘

    Polar bears are suffering in a much {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (warm) world.

    Polar bears live in environments too cold for most animals. During much of the year, they live and hunt on the frozen Arctic sea ice. Nature has {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （prepare）them for the cold conditions. But nothing has prepared the bears for the danger {#blank#}3{#/blank#} threatens the only home they know.

    The polar bears' world is melting. Studies show that the amount of the polar ice {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（have）decreased by 9.8% every 10 years since 1978. Now about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears live in the Arctic. Polar bears rely {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the sea ice for their survival. “The sea ice is more {#blank#}6{#/blank#} just this platform that the bears walk over,” says Andrew Derocher, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} scientist who studies North American polar bear populations. “{#blank#}8{#/blank#} it, they can't exist.”

    Some melting and refreezing of the polar ice is natural. But in a warmer world, these cycles speed up, and bears have less time {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (hunt). Normally, they have three months in the spring when they gain more weight. The extra fat is used later, when the bears are not {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(active) hunting.

    Our trip was fantastic. Every driver and every tour guide{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(be) knowledgeable, and tried to meet our interests and wishes. As Erich practiced his Chinese with them, they responded in English. The locations{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(select) by us were most interesting. Although I am not used{#blank#}3{#/blank#}sub-zero weather,{#blank#}4{#/blank#}was Harbin that I would recommend to any travel lover because it was so unique. All of the sights were unique with so much to offer. If we hadn't gone on the trip to Harbin, we would {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  (have) no chance to enjoy all the sights there then.

    The hotel accommodation was comfortable. We had one experience when the power went off in a block that contained our hotel, but{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(fortunate), the power was restored within a few hours. The restaurants were as unique as the areas{#blank#}7{#/blank#}we went and a Chinese cuisine was enjoyed by all four. Our guides made certain that our meal was ready and to our{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (tasty).

    If our son and daughter-in-law stay another year, we will discuss a repeat visit next year around the same time. As Erich and Caitlin are students at an in ternational university in Tianjin, the trip revolves around their academic schedules. We are quite pleased with the nice{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (serve) provided by the relevant people {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(show) our friends and family we have taken lots of photos and videos.

    However depressed you may be feeling now, if you look back, there certainly will have been events that made you happy—maybe the time {#blank#}1{#/blank#} you bought your first bicycle or you were awarded a scholarship. When good things happen, we feel excited, proud and happy.

    But the problem is, happiness doesn't usually last. The excitement of that first bicycle purchase wears off, and the pride in the scholarship gives way to the stress of performing {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (well) on the next exam.

    Psychologists call this phenomenon hedonic adaptation (享乐适应症)—that is, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} good something makes us feel, most of the time we drift back to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} we started. An often {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (quote) example is that lottery winners are no happier than non-winners eighteen months after their win.

    But don't despair. It is possible to make happiness last. Psychologists have found two anti-adaptation tools that are effective in sustaining happiness: variety and appreciation.

    Variety is, as we all know, the spice of life. But it's also a useful weapon {#blank#}6{#/blank#} adaptation. Positive changes that {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (experience) in a variety of ways are more likely to lead to lasting happiness. For example, you will feel happier about your volunteer work{#blank#}8{#/blank#} you are able to cope with new tasks every week. The second tool, appreciation, is in many ways the opposite of adaptation. It's about focusing on something, instead of letting it fade into the background. It is only when you appreciate something {#blank#}9{#/blank#} an enduring feeling of happiness will follow.

    Human beings spend a lot of time figuring out what makes them happy, but not enough time {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (try) to hang on to the happiness they already have. This is like focusing all your energy on making more money, without giving any thought to what you will do with the money. The key to happiness is to not only look for new opportunities but also to make the most of the ones you've been given.