It seems that everywhere around the world, people are sending more time at work {#blank#}1{#/blank#} less time with their families and friends. People are {#blank#}2{#/blank#} than ever before!

    In the past in many countries, the father worked and the mother stayed home, took {#blank#}3{#/blank#} of the children, and did the food shopping, cooking and cleaning.  At present, in most of the families, parents need work on weekdays, so they {#blank#}4{#/blank#} have to do the shopping, cooking and cleaning in their free time. Parents don't have as much time with their {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, however, they often had time in the past. There are also many single-parent（单亲的）families. In these families, the single parents has to do everything.

    These days ,many children come home {#blank#}6{#/blank#} school to an empty apartment or house .A lot of children spend many hours {#blank#}7{#/blank#} day in front of the television .Even the families are together, it is common for families members to do things by themselves. For example, they {#blank#}8{#/blank#} programs on separate TVs in different rooms, they use the Internet, they {#blank#}9{#/blank#} friends on the telephone, and they do other individual by themselves.

    Isn't it strange? Thanks to technology（科技）, people are able to communicate so {#blank#}10{#/blank#} with people far away, but sometimes they don't communicate with people their own homes.

—OK.