Teenage life—better now, or in the past?

    Does this situation sound familiar（熟悉）?

    You are complaining（抱怨）to your parents about something. Maybe your computer isn't powerful enough to play the latest games.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.Then you hear…

    “When I was your age, there weren't any computers or video games. And I didn't get a bike until I was sixteen. And it was second-hand.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}”

    So, is it really true that life is better for teenagers now? It is certainly true that many teenagers have got more things nowadays.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}So parents have got more money to spend on each child. And many things are cheaper than they were when our parents were children.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Forty years ago, no one could imagine a world with tiny computers and amazing smartphones. And now these things are necessary—we can't imagine living without them!

    However, technology often means we spend more time at home. And often it's just us, with our computer or television. Teenagers don't do enough exercise.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And, although young people still get on well with their friends, some people think teenagers today don't have so many social activities as they did in the past.

    What do you think? How is teenage life better these days?

A. And it was too big for me.

B. A typical family is smaller now.

C. Or your friends' bikes are better than yours.

D. So they aren't as healthy as they were in the past.

E. Technology is probably the greatest change in our life.

    The speed and convenience of modern travel makes the faraway countries be reached quickly and easily now.

    Even though they now seem closer, they may still be different from your home country. So it is important to change your behavior so that you can get on well with local people. Following are some basic rules that will make communication easier, and your trip more enjoyable.

    First, never raise your voice in order to make yourself understood. If you don't know the word for something in the local language, try to draw a picture or point to the thing. Before you travel, you can also learn some basic words or phrases of the local language, such as words for please, thank you, and may I, as well as basic greetings

    Second, consider the culture of the country you plan to visit and read about the rules related to clothing. You ca bring some clothes such as shirts or T-shirts that cover your shoulders, and long trousers.

    Avoid topics（话题） that you think may be sensitive. If a topic is sensitive in your own culture, it will likely be the same in other cultures. Feel free to show interest in the history and customs of the place that you are visiting, but don't ask questions about why things are done a certain way, because you may make the local people unhappy.

    Keep in mind that in many cultures, showing affection in public isn't allowed. Kissing on the street or in public should be avoided. If you are unsure of how to behave, watch the local people and copy them.

    Finally, if you wish to take a gift, do some research. The idea of the perfect gift is different greatly from country to country, and one of the easiest ways to make someone angry is to give the wrong gift.

⑴题完成句子; ⑵⑶题简略回答问题; ⑷题为找出并写下全文的主题句; ⑸将文中划线句子译成汉语｡

    Don't be too surprised if you see a car going down the road without a driver in Beijing these days. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Last month, Baidu began to test its self-driving cars on open roads in Beijing.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Since then, companies like Tesla, Uber and Baidu have been working to produce and test their own self-driving cars.

    Self-driving cars are safer than regular cars. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They can remove the stress of driving and allow disabled or blind people to get around more easily.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}In one test, researchers pointed a laser pointer(激光棒) at the car's sensors(传感器) while it was moving. The car mistakenly thought that the laser beam was in its way and slowed down or changed the direction.

    The software that is used to direct the cars may not be safe enough. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}When we use our computers or smartphones, they sometimes crash (崩溃)  without any reason. But if this happened to a self-driving car, the results could be deadly. Improvements to the software could be a solution to this problem.